#349 - Rest and rest
"No."
Gandalf slowly shook his head and replied, "I wasn't captured to Mordor. Someone else was taken."
"This is urgent, Levi. Saruman is in a dangerous situation right now."
Without even entering the door, Gandalf hurriedly recounted what he had experienced.
"He couldn't even prevent that?"
Levi scratched his head.
"What about Saruman? Didn't you see where he went?"
Gandalf wiped his face, smoothed out his robes, and said, "No, after leaving the tower, I knew nothing about what was happening inside. All I can say for sure is that he's still alive, perhaps imprisoned."
"How do you know he's alive?"
"A hunch."
"That's a very convenient reason."
"Oh no, no, wizards don't have hunches for no reason. You have to believe me on this."
"Who knows? I've never had any hunches."
"Well, that's your problem."
"Is it possible that I'm not one?"
"Keep talking, I'm listening."
Levi sighed and chose to end the conversation. He opened the castle gate and said, "Come in and rest. Leave the rest to me."
Gandalf refused immediately.
"No need. I'll go with you. There will always be a place where I'm needed."
"Oh, right."
The old wizard suddenly remembered something and asked, "Frodo, did he arrive yet?"
"No."
Gandalf frowned.
"Why is he so slow?"
"Maybe he's still on the way."
Levi gently patted the head of Swift Shadow, looking at the horse that didn't seem so unruly, and said:
"You need to remember that you left riding the fastest horse in Rivendell, and returned riding the King of Horses, which is even faster than that one."
"Do the math. Less than a month has passed from when you left to when you returned. Do you expect a hobbit to run faster than these two horses?"
"Given a hobbit's speed, plus seven meals a day and a never-compromising attitude towards food, even if there are no dangers or obstacles on the road, he'd be doing well to reach Bree by now."
"I have to admit, you have a point."
Gandalf had no response. He couldn't refute that.
"But don't worry, I told Aragorn to meet them near Bree."
"Besides, judging from the density of Rangers between the Shire and Rivendell, even nine Ringwraiths sneaking over would be beaten into a retreat."
"Moreover, they should be busy dealing with Saruman and have no time to come here."
"Saruman…"
Listening to Gandalf's story, Levi couldn't help but mutter.
"His actions surprise me. After all these years, has this stubborn and ungrateful fellow finally made some progress?"
Saying that, Levi stood up.
"What are you going to do?" Gandalf asked from behind.
"Gather a large army, attack Isengard, and rescue Saruman."
"That's too rash, Levi. We don't yet know the situation in Isengard. Gathering a large army so suddenly could lead to unexpected complications. After all, that would cause too much commotion, making it hard to stay unnoticed."
Levi suddenly stopped.
"You're right, Gandalf."
He looked towards the top of the nameless tower and murmured:
"But I can… no, I can't. He'll be able to see me over there, and if he sees Frodo, that wouldn't be good."
"What are you talking about?"
Gandalf was confused.
"It's nothing. How about this? I'll send a scouting party to investigate the situation first, see if they can find Saruman's location, and then… Forget it, that's too troublesome. I'll just go myself."
Just one person, no matter how high-profile, won't be as noticeable as an entire army.
Probably.
"This…"
Gandalf instinctively wanted to offer a reminder, but after thinking about it, he felt like it might not be a problem.
"Be careful. It probably won't be as peaceful there as it used to be."
"I will."
Having made a decision, Levi acted immediately, riding his horse straight towards the southern road.
Along the way, when passing through the City of Water, he also found the commander of the City of Water's garrison and various department managers to hold a temporary meeting.
When he left, the City of Water subtly changed. On the surface, it was still peaceful and tranquil, but secretly, it had entered the highest state of combat readiness.
Like a sleeping dragon, any slight probing containing malice would be met with a violent counterattack, making the prober regret it.
On the wilderness, a figure on horseback sped south, crossing the Great River and the marshes, heading towards the cloud-covered Isengard valley.
On the other side.
After Levi left, Gandalf, feeling somewhat idle, washed his face in the castle, went out to the market to find the fastest tailor to mend his robes, and then found a skillful craftsman to repair his pipe.
After restoring himself, he went to the grass to find Swift Shadow.
At this moment, Swift Shadow and Little Pink were staring at each other, blinking back and forth.
It must be said that this King of Horses does indeed have its special qualities. As a descendant of a Valinor mythical species, its bloodline is very excellent. Its wisdom is extraordinary, it can understand human speech, its body is much stronger than ordinary horses, and its lifespan is several times that of ordinary horses, almost like humans.
Its courage is also extraordinary, neither afraid of the fear emanating from the Ringwraiths, nor overwhelmed by the majesty of the dragons.
If the last king of Gondor had ridden such a horse, he wouldn't have fallen off his horse before the battle even started.
Looking at the dragon and horse competing, Gandalf smiled and went to say hello.
"Beherdan (Little Pink), how have you been lately?"
Little Pink looked at Gandalf and nodded.
Gandalf also nodded.
Little Pink, this child, has a personality unlike any other dragon in the past, kind, gentle, and steady.
If it were another evil dragon, like Smaug, seeing a horse daring to compete with it, regardless of whether it had some Valinor mythical species bloodline, it would probably just breathe fire and roast it.
"Alright, stop looking. Let's go."
Gandalf stroked Swift Shadow's head, mounted the horse and left, instantly turning into a blur.
A few days later, Bree.
In the Prancing Pony Inn, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry were happily singing songs and chatting with humans they rarely saw in the Shire.
Frodo followed Gandalf's instructions, trying to hide his identity. He called himself "Underhill"—a name taken from the story Bilbo told him, a story about a dwarf named Thorin who was the 'King Under the Mountain'.
Although the excuse for concealing his identity was a bit clumsy, and others could tell at a glance that Frodo was using a fake name, it still managed to hide his true identity.
Beside Frodo, Sam also rigorously changed his address and called Frodo "Mr. Underhill", faithfully protecting his secret.
However, the other two temporarily joined fellows weren't so honest.
"Baggins? Easy, I know one, right over there. That's him, he's called Frodo, Frodo Baggins. Yes, the famous Baggins family from the Shire. If you want to talk about it, we're also related. He's my second cousin, from his mother's side, his mother is from the Took family…"
"Pippin!" Frodo felt like he understood Gandalf's feelings.
At this moment, he also wanted to curse 'Fool of a Took' like Gandalf, but his manners didn't allow him to do so, so he had to run over and stop him.
This run, however, caused trouble.
