The Collection of The End

——Third Age, 3018, September 23——

Shire.Bangshui Town,

Green Dragon Tavern.

"Hey! Huo!"

"I will travel to the drunken country to heal my heartache and relieve my sorrow."

"The rain and wind have been blowing for a long time, not to mention there is still a way to go."

"The sound of rain is ruthless and affectionate, making the water in the mountain river as cold as ice."

"I was so wet that I waded across the river and brought some wine to your brother Tuke."

"Oh——" "Hahahaha——"

A group of hobbits were holding a party. They were holding wine glasses and singing a Shire ditty loudly. Each one of them followed the words very smoothly, and finally drank the wine in the glass together and laughed.

"Oh, young people nowadays don't care about current affairs." Old Knox from Waterside Town held a glass of wine: "Recently, there have been many strange races crossing the Shire. They don't eat, drink or smoke at all. I guess They must be soldiers, there is probably going to be a war nearby, and we should be prepared to supply military rations."

"Oh, come on, we don't have any food," the miller Sandy Tedman exhaled a puff of smoke: "Our extra harvest was bought by Frodo of the Baggins family. I thought old Baggins was just He was left with property and, unexpectedly, even a channel for buying and selling. The Sackville family must have been mad because Frodo looked healthy and young."

"Ha! I can live for many more years!" Frodo brought two glasses of wine and pushed them to the two elderly hobbits respectively: "Thank you for coming to the banquet, cheers, old man."

"Huh, the Hobbit tradition is not to care about things outside the Shire," Old Knox picked up the wine glass and glared at Frodo: "As long as you don't look for trouble, trouble won't come to you."

"Yes, yes, you are right." Frodo nodded and drank the juice that looked like wine in his glass.

——

"Good night everyone, be careful on the road."

After the banquet, the little men from different Hobbitons greeted each other and left. Rosei, the waitress at the door of the tavern, was the only bright spot among the many drunkards and drunkards.

"Uh, good night..." Sam said hello to her stupidly, then turned around and left.

"When are you going to confess your love?" Frodo patted him on the shoulder vigorously.

"Oh no, forget it, I'm just your gardener." Sam grinned: "She is a popular person in the entire Shire."

"Do you think 'Frodo of Baggins' is not red enough?" Frodo patted it twice more: "Isn't my gardener worthy of the roses of the Golden Tavern?"

"No, uh, let's wait until we finish our long journey. I have to think about it again." Sam gestured forward.

"Baggins", a little hobbit girl with a giant dragon inside, ran over: "Too slow!"

"Although Bilbo has left long ago, Sophie Smaug always comes here on his birthday." Frodo shrugged, then took out the snacks packed at the banquet and handed them to her: "This is called 'Sound and Rong Wan Zai' '?"

"Sophie" was the name she said herself when Frodo asked Smaug what other names he had. Although it was not a hobbit's name at all, but...who would defy a dragon for nothing.

"No, that describes dead people, right?" Sam grinned, watching the little girl gasp and swallow the package.

"I'm not sure...what?" Frodo was about to discuss the parts of speech with Sam, but he saw the little hobbit girl trying to look through his pockets.

"Ring," Sophie looked up at him: "I want to burn it today."

"But I didn't take it with me. Let's go back to Bag End." Frodo opened his pocket and showed it to her. It was empty. valley

Sophie blinked in confusion before following them in the direction of Hobbiton.

"Yes, Su, Sophie," Sam boldly spoke up: "Today is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Green Dragon Tavern, otherwise we wouldn't have traveled so far."

"Well..." Sophie puffed up her face: "This is a contract made by Baggins. If he doesn't fulfill it, he will be in bad luck."

"Why is it that you decide whether Uncle Bilbo is unlucky or not..." Frodo thought for a moment: "He should be in an elf sanctuary now, right?"

"Because he can't beat me, and he can't run away," Sophie raised her two chubby hands to make claws: "Gah oh"

"..."x2

"What kind of misfortune, then?" asked Frodo.

"If I hadn't breathed fire to cover up the words on the ring," Sophie nodded her chin and thought, "there would have been a faceless ghost in a black robe looking for him."

"Black robe?" "Faceless ghost?"

Frodo and Sam looked at each other, then shook their heads to say they had never heard anything like it.

"Uh...oh!" Sophie seemed to be aware of the distrustful attitude between the two. She tilted her head and thought for a while, then suddenly raised her hand and pointed forward: "Just like that."

Phew——chi——

Ta, tap, tap.

With the sound of heavy breathing and the sound of horse hooves, three knights slowly walked up the road ahead.

These knights wore black robes that covered their whole bodies, with no faces exposed at all. The hands holding the reins and the feet stepping on the stirrups were all wearing thick armor, and the horses they were riding were not horses, but black smoke was rising all over their bodies. , a horse-shaped monster with red eyes and black armor.

"No, it's not 'like', right?" Sam's voice trembled: "Can we run now?"

"If it were just the two of us, I would definitely turn around and run away." Frodo gestured to Sophie.

"Yes, that's right." Sam stopped shaking for a moment: "It's just a faceless ghost, it's not enough for us to stuff between our teeth."

"Shire - hiss -]" The leading knight looked at the three little hobbits and said slowly: "Baggins - hiss -]"

His voice was extremely hoarse, as if stones were rubbing against each other, or like a cold wind blowing through a forest of dead trees, making people's hair stand on end involuntarily.

"The Baggins family in Hobbiton?" Frodo took a step forward and said, "Go straight ahead, cross the bridge and follow the river. He lives in Bag End on the Bag Down Road."

"Hiss-hoo-" The dark knight looked at Frodo, as if wondering why he was not afraid of him.

"Hiss - he didn't lie -]" Another black knight behind him took a step forward and spoke.

"Let's go.]" The leading black knight picked up the reins and led the other two knights to gallop along the road.

"You, you, you, did you really tell them your home address?" After the knights walked away, Sam said tremblingly: "What should we do now? Let Sophie eat them?"

"Well... I probably understand why uncle is afraid of Sophie. Maybe she has shown a similar terrifying aura in front of him." Frodo answered the question, and then said: "Don't worry, I didn't say anything about myself just now." It’s Baggins, who lives at the address I mentioned, and Sophie probably doesn’t want to eat them, otherwise she would have eaten them long ago.”

"The Nazgûl is an empty shell, and the shell is unpalatable." The little hobbit girl nodded.

"But but, what if they can't find anyone waiting at your house?" Sam barely stopped trembling.

"Then there's no need to worry," Frodo grinned, showing his white teeth: "There is someone in my family now."