Malphegor
patreon
LOTR: TMCP Ch. 16
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 16:18:43 +0000 UTCGarrett was extremely curious about this future "King of Men" from decades hence. If he could meet him in advance, that wouldn't be unwelcome at all.
However, traveling to Rivendell meant he probably wouldn't be able to return for quite some time. And since he couldn't summon his iron golems at the moment, his stronghold would be left completely undefended if he departed.
After considering it carefully, he decided to first return to Bree to acquire the supplies he needed and ensure the security of his territory before undertaking anything else. He left a sign at the stronghold gate, carved with "Away Temporarily." After packing several days' worth of provisions and preparing all his gear and tools, he set off westward along the main road.
Compared to when he first made this journey, the return trip was much easier.
First, he was now familiar with the road conditions.
Second, he had ample food supplies.
A third reason was that he now had a world map. He could check his position at any time and estimate how long it would take to reach his destination.
Aside from the monotony of traveling, there were no other obstacles along the way. Without incident, he arrived at the gates of Bree and submitted to the usual security inspection. However, this time, the gatekeeper's attitude surprised him.
The guard at the gate peered through the small viewing slot, looked at him, and without even asking a question, opened the gate and gestured for him to enter.
He even greeted him. "Welcome back, friend. How were the roads recently?"
Garrett was momentarily taken aback before replying, "Not bad, pretty smooth. I didn't run into any trouble on the road."
"That's good to hear," the guard nodded and returned to his post.
As Garrett walked down the street, deep in thought, he suddenly opened his faction interface and checked Bree's status.
[Bree Reputation: 34 (Friendly)]
Source: Eliminated brigands, destroyed orc war-band.
So that was how it worked. Even though the reputation system had only recently unlocked, his past actions hadn't been forgotten.
Once reputation reaches 10, the faction's attitude turns friendly.
To unlock higher-tier benefits, more reputation was required. He glanced at the next milestone, 100 points. Not dwelling too much on it, he turned his focus back to his main purpose for coming to Bree.
Shopping, purchasing materials he couldn't obtain on his own.
For example: seeds for crops like pumpkins, potatoes, and carrots.
And he also wanted to buy a horse for transportation. After all, no matter how swift a person might be, they can't outrun a horse.
Though in terms of endurance, he was definitely superior, he didn't even need to stop for rest, and his "fuel consumption" was just half a pack of jerky per hundred kilometers, but still, running everywhere on foot was growing tiresome.
Having set his objectives, he first went to The Prancing Pony, secured a room, and asked the innkeeper if he could help him acquire two good horses.
Perhaps it was thanks to the reputation bonus, or perhaps because he was once again spending generously, either way, the innkeeper agreed immediately and promised to bring him the two finest horses in Bree as quickly as possible.
Though that sounded promising, he had no idea how brief "quickly" would actually be, so he could only wait.
After settling into the room and enjoying a substantial meal at the inn, he immediately headed out to inquire where he could purchase vegetables. With his friendly reputation status, this went very smoothly, after casually asking a couple of questions, a passing townsman enthusiastically told him the locations of every market and produce vendor from the east side of Bree to the west.
Following the directions from the helpful local, he soon found a farm.
"Welcome, sir! What brings you here today?"
The farmer greeted him warmly.
Garrett immediately stated his requirements. Fortunately, the crops he was seeking were all available here.
Pumpkins, potatoes, carrots, wheat...
"Hmm, what's this...?"
He walked up to a basket and picked up something inside.
"Corn."
[Crafting Recipe Unlocked: Corn Seeds]
"I'll take a whole sack of this as well."
Garrett purchased it on the spot.
"Certainly, sir! The hardest workers in Bree are at your service!"
Then he spotted nearby some onions, ginger, and garlic still with bits of earth clinging to them.
"I'll take these too."
"Of course, sir!"
After this round of transactions, he had spent all the silver coins he carried, including the scorched ones he had recovered from the orc war-band.
As for the enthusiastic farmer, he was beaming. Today's business had been exceptional. This gentleman truly spent money like water, never haggling, just pointing at whatever crop he fancied and buying it in bulk with a wave of his hand.
"Hope to see you again soon~"
Not likely, Garrett replied inwardly.
I'll show you what real Minecraft-style farming looks like. Ever seen wheat that matures in a few days?
Leaving the farm and looking at the sacks of crops in his inventory, he felt very satisfied with his acquisitions. The only disappointment was that there didn't seem to be any melons here. On second thought, he really hadn't seen any around.
With all the crops collected, all that remained was to wait for the innkeeper to deliver the horses as promised, and then he could return home.
Crop seeds could be processed at the workbench, once synthesized there, they would gain enhanced properties and function optimally.
But he had yet to attempt animal breeding. In the wilds near his stronghold, he could occasionally find a few wild cattle, but they couldn't be led back, and their main use had been as provisions.
This time, by directly purchasing two horses, he planned to experiment with breeding them to see if he could produce enhanced horses. But before that, horse breeding required gold.
At the very least, two golden carrots. And gold ore was difficult to come by. He had been mining in the veins near his stronghold for over a month and hadn't seen even a trace.
No helping it, he'd have to trade for some somewhere.
The first place he thought of was the blacksmith's forge. Following the route from memory, he returned to a familiar location.
"What can I do for you, custom— Oh? Ah, it's you! Good day! How can I help you today?"
The blacksmith greeted him warmly, clearly recognizing Garrett.
"I'm honored you remember me."
"Of course I do, sir. I heard tell of it, a lone adventurer passing through Bree who wiped out a band of highway brigands, then went on to slaughter a whole pack of orcs and wargs."
As he spoke, the blacksmith set down his work, leaned in, and asked in a hushed tone, "They say you can work magic, is that true?"
"Just rumors."
The blacksmith gave him a skeptical look.
"Right, well then. I actually came to see if you had any materials I could buy."
Hearing talk of business, the blacksmith dropped his curiosity and responded promptly, "Tell me what you need, times have changed. Your deeds have proven you're no villain. If it were up to me, I'd say even buying arms would be no trouble these days."
Garrett shook his head. "No, I just want to know, do you have any gold? I'd like to buy some..."
The blacksmith threw his head back in exaggerated disbelief.
"I'm a blacksmith, not a goldsmith, sir."
Right, that's a dead end.
Just as Garrett sighed and was about to depart, from a familiar corner, in a familiar voice, someone spoke up.
"Excuse me, noble adventurer, I just heard you're looking to purchase something."
"Get out! You mangy peddler, stay away from my forge!" the blacksmith snapped, not holding back in the slightest.
This scene feels oddly familiar... Where have I seen this before?
Garrett turned his head and, sure enough, saw a familiar grinning face.
It was none other than Bill the Salvage Trader.
