#355 - What Boromir Sees

"This is the City of Water, the most prosperous city in Eriador, and the core shipyard of the Free City-States."

South of the Lone-lands, Boromir halted his horse at the entrance to the City of Water, his heart filled with unspeakable awe as he gazed upon the many wonders and the colossal statues at the river's mouth.

"Even at its most prosperous, the Pelargir shipyards, meticulously crafted by generations of ship kings, could not have surpassed this."

The Steward of Gondor's White Tower, the High Warden, had never left his country since birth, not because he was unwilling to travel or disliked it.

It was simply that he lacked the leisure and opportunity.

As soon as he came of age, he went straight to the front lines to face fierce enemies and resist the invasions of Mordor and the Southern barbarians.

From the moment he arrived at the front, the only scenery he saw was the black earth covered with poisonous fog and dust, and the ghastly green, evil light in the night sky.

In comparison, this place was simply a land of miracles, too beautiful.

Enchanting.

The journey from Gondor to here was smooth—mainly because the roads, which had been so dilapidated as to be almost impassable, had been completely repaired by the cities of the Free City-States.

Like the North-South Road, which, according to records, had been so damaged that only fragments and potholes remained, with swamps and river beaches in between, making it extremely difficult to travel.

But now it had become a smooth, brand-new avenue paved with gray stone bricks, and the broken bridges used to cross rivers had also been repaired, allowing for smooth passage.

At this moment, Boromir remembered his father's words.

Under the protection of the Lord of the North, the people here lived peaceful and stable lives, never having to directly face fierce enemies.

In contrast, Gondor bled every day…

But there was no way around it; Gondor was where it was.

Whether out of duty, responsibility, or the pressure of survival, they had to fight against evil and guard that line of defense.

With complex emotions, Boromir sighed and continued north, traveling all the way to Bywater.

"Bywater?"

In the open space, looking up at the sigh-inducing city walls, Boromir was once again speechless.

Just hearing the name, one would think that the so-called 'Bywater' was just a relatively large castle, like the lords of Gondor, who would be considered quite powerful if they could support a few thousand people near the castle.

But who would have thought that the so-called 'Bywater' was actually a great city no less than the White City, its scale staggering.

"Huh?"

While marveling, Boromir suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked towards the city entrance.

He saw team after team of well-equipped soldiers marching out of the city and heading north.

Their system seemed quite well-organized, with a fixed number of people in each team, and each had its own commander.

"Greetings, soldiers of Bywater."

Approaching a company that seemed relatively less busy, Boromir immediately identified the company commander in the crowd and walked towards him.

"I am Boromir, Steward of the White Tower of Gondor, and I have come to visit the Lord of the North, Lee Harvey."

"May I ask what is happening here?"

"So, you are a friend from Gondor."

The company commander temporarily put down his work and said:

"Our leader is fighting evil in the far north, but he cannot stop the massive monster legions alone. We are going to the Great Wall to support the garrison there."

"Great Wall, garrison, monster legions?"

Boromir looked puzzled.

He understood each of these words and had heard of them, but how could they be gathered together?

He immediately expressed his doubts:

"I heard that the remnants of Angmar were completely purged by the army of Bywater eighteen years ago, and the former capital of Angmar, Carn Dûm, has become a stronghold of the Free City-States. How could there still be monsters there?"

The company commander replied, "It's normal that you don't know. Those monsters only started appearing in recent years. They come from the northern Wildlands further north, and their appearance is more ferocious than any enemy we have seen in the past."

"Can I join you?"

After thinking about it, Boromir requested to travel with them.

"If enemies appear, my sword can also be drawn for this."

The company commander looked at the iron sword at Boromir's waist, paused slightly, and after a moment of thought, nodded to him.

"Yes, I can make that decision."

"Welcome to join us."

"Go over there and get a supply."

The captain pointed to the supply distribution point.

Following the local customs, Boromir also went over and received a set.

"This 'march ration' is luxurious, and it is also equipped with milk and honey. I must say, the combination is quite healthy."

He said with emotion, and then picked up one of the bottles of healing potion and asked, "By the way, what is this?"

"Healing potion, which can restore a person's injuries, as long as they are not dead, it can take effect."

"Sounds a bit like the Golden Apples."

"Golden Apples? Those are not something ordinary people can get."

The company commander shook his head.

"That thing is usually given out as a valuable gift representing extremely high honor, and it is rare to see."

"Is that so."

Boromir nodded.

It seemed that his father had quite a friendship with Lee Harvey; oh right, his father did call him uncle.

With a heart full of doubts and confusion, Boromir marched north with the assembled army, eventually arriving at the foot of the Great Wall.

"Loose!"

*Thwack*—

Arrows rained down, knocking the monsters to the ground one by one.

As the familiar sounds of fighting came, Boromir immediately entered a state of combat readiness, his whole body tensing up.

"We're going up!"

The company commander issued the order, and Boromir followed closely behind, climbing the Great Wall.

"Shoot!"

Naturally, he followed the garrison and shot downwards.

An excellent general can not only be a general, but he can also be downwardly compatible, becoming an excellent soldier who follows orders and has strong execution.

*Rumble!*

Behind the scattered army that rushed over, a violent white light flashed, and then another group of monsters flew up, their bodies still burning with fire.

Boromir narrowed his eyes, looking at the place where the movement originated.

"It's Lee Harvey!"

He recognized the figure who could almost be said to be sweeping away the enemy army on the battlefield with his own strength.

The man was wearing gray-black armor with faint dark red patterns, draped in an old but clean linen cloak, holding a great sword almost as tall as a person, and valiantly blocked the rushing army.

Behind Lee Harvey was a gray figure, a person Boromir also recognized, none other than the Gray Pilgrim, Gandalf.

He mainly assisted from the side, using the sword Glamdring to clear the small minions that fell, and occasionally he would use his staff to flash a light when he was too busy, but the frequency was very low, and he mainly used his sword to chop.

While thinking, a pile of tall figures ran over with a *thump thump thump*.

"Those are… trolls?!"

"Careful!"

Boromir shouted a reminder, and to his surprise, even though he was far away and there was wind and snow interference, Lee Harvey seemed to have heard the call, but he just waved his hand and charged towards the troll group.

Whether it was an illusion caused by blurred vision, there seemed to be a star-shaped thing flashing on that hand.

*Thump!*

Before long, the trolls fell to the ground one after another, and none of the trolls could survive the third sword strike.

This kind of power can be called terrifying.

Boromir thought to himself.

Even he would need to lead at least a five-man squad to be sure of dealing with that kind of troll smoothly.

"The most powerful enemy I have faced was a war beast seven or eight meters tall, and I brought a full thirty people to take it down."

"That's already very good."

The company commander on the side responded to this.

"I have also seen the kind of giant beast you mentioned, it is quite difficult to deal with, and ordinary methods can hardly cause effective damage to it."

"Being able to bring people down with only ordinary weapons in a head-on confrontation can be called excellent here and worthy of a medal."

"It seems you are not easy either."

Boromir looked at the rows of strictly disciplined and serious-looking garrison soldiers on the city wall, and some of his thoughts were subtly changing.