Chapter 182 Alertness

"Gandalf, long time no see!"

At night, a group of dwarves climbed the high ground of the River Valley City and walked into the reception hall one by one to attend this rare gathering.

"Oh - I'm so glad to see you at this time."

The gray-bearded Balin said as he hugged Gandalf.

"You don't know, I've been so depressed these days. I've always wanted to go out for a walk. When I heard that Levi was going to attack the Orc Town a few days ago, I even put on my armor, but unfortunately my luck was really bad. When I drew lots, I was the only one who got the option to stay."

"That's a pity, Balin."

Gandalf thought for a while and said:

"But when I'm done with my work during this period, you can go with me on the next trip."

"Great."

Hearing Gandalf say this, Balin felt much better.

"Come on, the food is ready, and there's good wine that Levi brought!"

Bofur came over and called, and the two of them went over immediately.

Not long after the dwarves took their seats, the hall became noisy, with singing and laughter, and occasional clanging sounds.

Buzz——

The remaining wine foam danced in the air. It was a special 'wine horn' of the dwarves, which could be used to hold wine and blow after drinking. It was quite interesting.

"Let me toast to your victory."

In the venue, Gandalf found Levi and clinked glasses with him.

Levi also took a sip of the wine glass.

"What are your plans recently?"

He asked.

"Me..."

At this moment, Gandalf had not yet recovered from what happened in the east, especially what happened to Blue Robe. The magic sound he used and the experience of almost falling sounded the alarm for Gandalf.

Thinking of this, Gandalf whispered: "I always feel that this matter is a bit weird, maybe... maybe Saruman will have some clues."

"My hunch tells me that some things must not be over yet."

"This matter is not good, and I don't really want to do this, but I think I shouldn't ignore some of Saruman's movements."

"Is that so." Levi nodded.

As an auxiliary role among the wizards sent to Middle-earth to deal with Sauron (he thinks so), Gandalf's attitude has always been stable and gentle.

Therefore, when Lady Galadriel proposed that he be the leader of the White Council, he chose to give in because he was worried that his wisdom was not enough to bear such a heavy responsibility.

Perhaps out of jealousy, or a competitive mind, the position of the leader of the White Council was finally proposed by Saruman.

He was eager to prove that his strength and wisdom were greater than Gandalf, although the latter didn't care about these things at all.

The more a person lacks something, the more he tends to emphasize it.

But the facts and what happened always prove that some things cannot be obtained by emphasizing and shouting.

When the wizards came to Middle-earth, Cirdan, who had the Ring of Fire, chose to entrust the ring to Gandalf. When the White Council was formed, Lady Galadriel, who had the Ring of Water, chose to recommend Gandalf as the leader.

Even before coming to Middle-earth, another Valar of the same level as the Valar served by Saruman said: Although Gandalf was chosen later, it does not mean that Gandalf's importance is ranked behind.

From all these, Saruman's mentality can be imagined. His desire for strength and power grows year by year, and his jealousy and desire for control are getting stronger and stronger.

Gandalf has always chosen to ignore and retreat from Saruman's overt and covert targeting. As long as things can be done, it doesn't matter what he does.

The main theme is to accept it.

But now...

"Now that I know something, I can't just turn a blind eye and pretend it doesn't exist."

Gandalf said: "I have to pay attention to some of Saruman's actions, even if I can't influence anything."

"It's exciting... Oh, I mean, if you need it, you can come to me." Levi agreed with Gandalf's attention.

Gandalf narrowed his eyes and was about to say something, when a "clang" sounded from the table not far away.

Bard rolled his eyes and fell down, with some beer foam still on his mouth.

"Oh--!"

The dwarves cheered.

"Winner: Bombur!"

Obviously, when it comes to drinking, the dwarves have a new goal after finding that Levi can't be knocked down.

So someone suffered.

"This won't work, I have to get back at him!"

Levi walked over with a barrel of wine: "You guys got my deputy drunk, what about tomorrow's work?"

Wouldn't it be me who should do it?

Looking at the table that became more and more chaotic due to Levi's joining, Gandalf shook his head.

But…

“It’s good.”

“It would be nice if this peace could last forever.”

Will it last forever?

No one knows.

The next morning, Bard got up with his head covered, and forced himself to pack up and walk to the palace meeting room.

“I shouldn’t have drunk so much…”

Compared to other areas, there are not many things to do in the valley town. After all, the bottom line is here. Even if the management is missing or even completely abandoned, it can still prosper day by day.

But because of this, this unprecedented prosperity has brought many new challenges to those who want to take it further.

Maintaining the bottom line is not difficult, but progress and stability are difficult.

When Bard walked to the place where he usually handled affairs, he suddenly found that someone had arrived before him.

It was Levi, who had been waiting here for a long time and had taken over some affairs.

"Have a glass of milk."

Levi pointed to a glass of milk on the other side of the main seat of the table while looking at the map of River Valley City.

Bard drank the milk without hesitation.

Then the headache and dizziness disappeared, and he regained his spirits again.

"Much better."

Bard felt his whole body lighten, and the soreness and fatigue after excessive drinking completely dissipated.

"I saw a plan to expand the farmland."

Levi also said without hesitation, "But I think there are enough wheat and potatoes, we can grow something else."

"What to grow?"

"Sugar cane, grapes."

Levi stood up and walked with Bard across the banquet hall where the dwarves were still sleeping, and walked into the golden wheat fields outside the city, planted the first grape seeds in the newly opened wet fields, and planted grape racks on them.

The River Valley welcomed two new things this year: grapes and sugar cane.

Before long, sugar entered the market and then entered every household, becoming a common seasoning. Bakers and chefs in hotels began to try new recipes with a lot of sweetness.

At the same time, the production of paper also increased significantly.

Perhaps many foreign merchants or travelers would be surprised by the new things here.

But their surprise must not be as great as those of the Dorwinians.

"Isn't this the grape we have there?"

"When did they grow so many!?"