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LOTR: TMCP Ch. 129
🕑 Added 2025-07-26 00:43:29 +0000 UTCAs time passed, the afterglow of the sun gradually faded away, yet the lights of the city never dimmed.
On the roadside, there were plenty of torches encased in protective covers providing illumination. The flames burned continuously, enough to turn this place into a city that never slept.
Upon seeing the signature black armor and longsword, people on the street nodded slightly in greeting to Garrett as a show of respect.
Not only the residents of Dale, but even the dwarves offered their own respect, saluting the lord of this land.
At night, he followed the route etched in his memory to the small house where Bard lived and found that the fire inside was still burning.
Bard hadn't gone to bed either.
"What are you busy with?"
Pushing the door, he didn't announce himself beforehand, he simply sat down across from Bard at the desk and started chatting.
"Some administrative matters within the city."
Bard was already used to Garrett's comings and goings. He put down his work for the moment, fetched a pot of hot water, brewed a cup of tea, and placed it in front of Garrett.
"Want a snack?"
"No need, I'm not hungry."
Garrett took a sip of the tea and gestured for Bard to continue with what he was saying.
"The road between Dale and Lake-town has been completed for quite some time. It's become very popular. On the second day after it was finished, someone had already parked their own cart by the gate to start a business shuttling quickly between the two places. These people can usually make several round trips a day."
"Cooperation with Erebor has been going very smoothly. Some talented individuals there have already learned to craft new tools, and the number of blacksmiths and other artisans has increased significantly."
Staring at the reports on the table, Bard recalled the recent developments. As he spoke, he suddenly lifted his head as if he had sensed something.
He saw Garrett nodding while holding a gold-rimmed glass lens to his eye, observing him.
"Humanus... Cognitio, Sensus, Spiritus, Motus..."
New knowledge.
"What is that?" Bard didn't quite understand.
"Your aspect composition."
Garrett put down the thaumometer.
"Don't mind it. Continue."
"All right..."
"There is something else I should mention, it's about the space along the main road. The terrain there is very suitable for expansion. We can add some houses and buildings to extend the city outward."
"Then do it."
"I'll pass the idea along."
Dale's administration didn't involve too many complications.
With two leaders as respected as them, the residents lived in a very orderly manner, and the public security was remarkably good.
Everyone in this city had personally witnessed an era of transformation.
Bard nodded and added, "By the way, if you have time, you should check out the central square. There's something new there."
"I will."
There wasn't anything urgent. After a short chat and finishing his tea, Garrett stepped out of the small house, holding the thaumometer and inspecting everything around him.
Some residents curiously watched their lord walking around with a lens, scratching their heads, unable to figure out what he was doing.
But in contrast, he had already figured them out.
Humanus (human), although things already studied couldn't be re-examined, people still differed from one another. Beyond the basic aspects, every person had some additional elements to distinguish them as individuals.
These additional aspects were particularly evident in those who possessed a skill. Such people tended to gather unique aspects not found in ordinary folk. For example, blacksmiths carried the aspect of Fabrico (craft, repair).
Different races also had slightly different aspect compositions.
Take dwarves, for instance.
They often had the aspects of Terra, Metallum (metal), and Perfodio (mining).
Every one of them, tough as iron.
After making a full circuit through the city and collecting quite a bit of new knowledge from the surroundings and the people, he suddenly looked up toward the palace at the highest point in Dale. He noticed that the building looked somewhat different from the last time he had visited.
It had almost been fully restored, though some areas appeared a bit geometric.
It seemed those parts still needed some refinement.
Still, the fact that even the palace had been repaired meant that the city's infrastructure and facilities were already quite well-developed. Otherwise, given Bard's personality, he wouldn't have assigned people to restore that building first.
Climbing up to the palace for a look and admiring the craftsmanship of the working people, he glanced down at the brightly lit city below. His gaze eventually settled on the central square, just as Bard had mentioned earlier.
"Is that... a statue?"
A moment later, standing in the middle of the square, Garrett looked up at the exquisitely crafted stone sculpture in astonishment.
It was an exact likeness.
It looked exactly like him.
It was a statue commemorating a great historical moment.
The base of the statue was a massive, menacing dragon head. Two figures stood atop it, one in front of the other.
The one in front was Garrett, clad in black armor and wielding a sword. The one behind was Bard, holding a longbow made of yew wood, with a black arrow nocked and ready.
The statue was vivid and lifelike. It was clear that the person who carved it was a highly skilled artisan.
He stood before the statue for a long time, studying it carefully before moving on to examine other places.
And that observation... lasted all night.
Knowledge, expanded.
---
Knock knock knock.
Early the next morning, Bard's door was gently knocked.
Creak.
The door opened.
Bard was still as calm and composed as ever, looking remarkably alert, which made Garrett suspect that he hadn't slept either.
Garrett greeted him, saying, "I went to see the square. That's quite an impressive piece of art. Was it your idea?"
"No, it was suggested by a craftsman and then voted on by the residents."
"Well, it really is quite good."
With just a few words exchanged, Garrett, now quite familiar with the place, had already walked inside and taken a seat by the window-side table.
Gazing out the window in the direction of Lake-town, he said, "Speaking of which, since the people have already grown accustomed to the current main road, it's time to extend it further. Get ready. We're heading to Lake-town. I'm going to lay the groundwork for the project."
"Lay the groundwork?"
Did he mean that sky road?
Bard's expression grew more serious.
After settling matters at home, they arrived later that morning at the western edge of Lake-town, the end point of the newly built road.
Not far ahead lay Mirkwood. If they were to continue building the road on the ground, they would have to consider how to clear the obstacles in their way.
But a lord always has his methods.
"What now?" Bard asked, tilting his head.
"Now, just watch me."
Garrett pulled out a stone block, gave a light jump, and placed it beneath his feet.
Before long, a towering stone pillar reaching into the sky was erected.
From that great height, Garrett looked left to see the dark canopy of Mirkwood, and right to see the golden-red leaves glowing in the sunlight and the location of the Elven-king's halls.
This height was just about right, and the location wouldn't interfere with the elves' normal life.
Time to begin!
That day, at the boundary between Mirkwood and Lake-town, a stone platform spread outward from the top of a pillar, shading a large portion of the sunlight.
While Bard craned his neck so far upward that it started to go stiff, Garrett equipped his elytra and glided down, then resumed road construction from where the townspeople had previously stopped.
But unlike before, this new road curved slightly and gradually sloped upward.
Yes, upward.
"He just kept building until the sun went down."
---
Back in Lake-town, Bard was eating dinner at an inn. Rubbing his sore neck, he said to the road worker sitting across from him, "Let's hope none of you get nervous when construction begins."
"Weak in the knees?"
The man across from him looked visibly displeased.
"When you say that, it really makes me curious, what kind of road could possibly make the builders nervous?"
I've been building roads for years. What haven't I seen?
"You'll understand when the sun rises and you go see for yourself," Bard said. "I just hope we can gather enough people with the courage to build it."
"I'll go!"
Just as those words left Bard's mouth, Alfrid suddenly appeared from the side, drawing annoyed groans from the diners around them.
That fellow was ridiculously sneaky, if you weren't paying attention, he'd just appear from who-knows-where.
Still, despite the complaints, he had gradually redeemed himself through long months of hard work. He hadn't stirred up any more trouble, and had been quite diligent overall.
Some of the townspeople had even started to grudgingly accept him.
"You? Courage?" Bard gave him a strange look and shook his head.
The road worker beside him wasn't nearly as polite. He said directly, "You mean the courage to wear a woman's dress and hide in the back?"
As soon as he said that, the air around them filled with laughter.
Alfrid's face turned bright red, and he stuck out his neck to loudly retort, "Not every man has the guts to wear women's clothing!"
"Pffft, hahahahahaha!"
The surrounding diners burst into even louder laughter.
"Make way—"
A serving girl carrying a dish pushed past Alfrid, placed the plate down, and let out a quiet giggle of her own.
I suppose there's always a market for the comic relief type.
"Sigh..."
Bard set down his knife and fork and let out a long sigh, this fellow was giving him a headache.
"Do whatever you want. If you want to go, go. If not, then don't. I don't have time to mess around, I've got plenty of work from our lord. And right now, I need to draft a high-altitude construction safety manual..."
