The Tarnished in LOTR with Elden Ring

After Tarnes and his companions confirmed that those so-called mercenaries were actually Orcs in disguise, they didn't linger and immediately left the area.

Bilbo looked at Tarnes and Millicent with some confusion, instinctively glancing toward the mayor's house: "What should we do now?"

Tarnes pondered for a moment, then said to Bilbo and Millicent: "The situation is far too complex now. We need to split into three groups to improve efficiency."

Bilbo blinked, waiting for Tarnes' next words.

Tarnes first looked at Bilbo: "Bilbo, I need you to return to the inn immediately and tell Thorin and Gandalf what we've discovered so the Dwarves stay alert. Azog and Thorin are blood enemies. The news of our arrival today surely hasn't spread yet. If those Orcs hear about it, I'm certain they'll go cause trouble for Thorin."

Bilbo nodded, then looked at Millicent: "What about her?"

Millicent's lips curved in a gentle smile as she looked at Tarnes and volunteered: "I suppose you want me to go to Lake-town's market to protect Balin, Fili, and Kili?"

Tarnes praised: "You guessed correctly, Millicent. Compared to Thorin and the others at the inn, the smaller group of Balin and company are easier targets for those Orcs. Not to mention that townsperson earlier warned us the mayor might cause trouble for merchant caravans. Once you find Balin and the others, immediately bring them back to the inn. If the mayor's people try to stop you, I authorize you to use forceful means if necessary."

Millicent nodded: "I'll judge based on the situation."

Bilbo tilted his head: "What about you, Tarnes? Aren't you coming back with me?"

Tarnes shook his head, then looked toward the mayor's house with a cold voice: "I need to check out the mayor's place and see what exactly is going on with him. To be honest, I'm really not good at playing conspiracy games, so my approach has always been to eliminate those who do."

From Bilbo's perspective, Tarnes simply turned a corner and vanished completely.

He'd seen this before. Back at the Prancing Pony, Tarnes had disappeared the same way to catch those plotting against Thorin.

Bilbo instinctively reached into his pocket, gently touching the golden ring inside.

He wondered which was harder to detect, the invisibility from wearing the ring, or Mr. Tarnes' invisibility.

Half an hour later, at the mayor's house.

Lake-town's mayor resembled a puppet inflated by greed. He wore an overly large purple sable-trimmed brocade robe, with gold-threaded wave patterns twisted into ridiculous curves across his bloated waist, as if even the fabric was rebelling against wrapping this mead-soaked body.

That dough-like round face held two raisin-like eyes, eyelids creased from years of fake smiling, maintaining that false benevolent curve even when silent.

His secretary Alfrid had gaunt, rat-like facial features, his sharp nose like a probe sniffing for power, sunken cheeks perpetually wearing a rigid fake smile.

Lake-town's residents called him "Alfrid the Bootlicker," but he was actually more like a parasite crawling through the mayor's house.

But whether the bloated mayor or his bootlicking secretary Alfrid, both now groveled on the warm wooden floor.

The ornate wooden chair that should have seated the mayor had been kicked over by a tall Orc, whose filthy left foot stood on it, soiling the velvet cushion.

"Not enough manpower. We need more Orc forces. You must allow more of our people into Lake-town, so those self-important Dwarf scum can taste being attacked from front and rear." This Orc had a dented skull embedded with black iron plates, using crude Common Speech with a commanding tone to give orders to the mayor.

After saying this, his ugly eyes rolled around as he added: "These are all commands from the great Smaug."

Upon hearing "Smaug," the mayor seemed to lose his soul, kowtowing heavily on the wooden floor alongside Alfrid.

Then he straightened up, revealing lifeless pupils while his lips bore an enthusiastic, fawning smile: "Of course! Of course! I will certainly satisfy my great master. Please speak well of me to Master Smaug, Lord Bolg. The golden statue I'm casting for him will be completed soon!"

Bolg, son of The Pale Orc Azog, had come bearing his master's commands, leading a group of elite Orcs hidden in Lake-town.

Of course, Bolg's master wasn't Smaug, but The Dark Lord Sauron.

If the Dwarf army from the Iron Hills didn't notice Lake-town's situation, then when the Dwarves clashed with his father's Orc army, Bolg would lead this ambush force to give the Dwarves a big surprise.

If that damned dragon had been willing to act, Lake-town would have been destroyed long ago, and even conquering the Iron Hills wouldn't be impossible.

But after accepting his master's favor, that dragon had only circled Lake-town once before returning to sleep in the Lonely Mountain's ocean of gold coins.

Such a greedy, lazy beast didn't deserve his master's favor.

Thinking this, Bolg looked at Lake-town's mayor and Alfrid with disgust.

Bah, two puppets with souls controlled by the dragon. Truly pitiful creatures.

Bolg narrowed his eyes: "Forget about Master Smaug's statue for now. Prioritize fulfilling his commands. Where do you have enough gold to cast a statue for Master Smaug?"

The mayor immediately said: "I do! This morning my guards told me a Dwarf merchant caravan entered Lake-town. They have many good things, lots of gems and gold coins."

Bolg frowned: "Dwarves?"

The mayor maintained his fawning smile while nodding vigorously: "Yes, Dwarves. They arrived this morning and are now staying at the only inn near the west gate. Rest assured, I'll definitely keep all their goods and gold coins here."

Bolg used his brain to think for a moment, then showed a vicious grin.

He remembered his father Azog had been punished by their master for losing a group of elite warg riders.

Bolg also knew exactly why those warg riders had disappeared.

They'd been sent by his father to hunt down those Dwarves of Durin's line. Bolg knew perfectly well that those Dwarves' destination was the Lonely Mountain.

Therefore, Bolg suspected this Dwarf merchant caravan was exactly the group his father had failed to kill despite paying a terrible price.

If he killed these Dwarves, wouldn't that prove he was already stronger than his father?

Then he could gain more power and authority before his master, instead of hiding like a coward in human towns as he was now.

But Bolg also remembered those Dwarves had a powerful wizard with them.

It was because of the wizard that the elite warg rider force had been completely annihilated.

So Bolg asked cautiously: "Is there a man in white wolf armor in their group? Or a very old wizard in gray robes?"

The mayor paused, then surreptitiously kicked Alfrid, waking up this parasite who'd been crawling on the floor half-asleep.

"Wake up, fool. Lord Bolg is asking whether the Dwarf merchant caravan that entered town this morning had a man in white wolf armor and a wizard in gray robes," the mayor cursed quietly.

Alfrid looked at Bolg with equally lifeless eyes, then confidently beat his chest: "I swear to you, Lord Bolg. When that Dwarf caravan entered, I was nearby watching everything clearly. Besides Dwarves, there were only two knights in worn armor, a dirty old man, and a very beautiful red-haired swordswoman."

Bolg narrowed his eyebrowless eyes threateningly: "Are you certain? If I discover you human scum are lying, I'll throw you into Lake-town's icy lake to feed the fish."

Alfrid quickly said: "Everything I said is true. I saw it all with my own eyes. The caravan had exactly four humans total, absolutely not the two people you mentioned."

They're not here? Then these Dwarves are walking into a trap.

Bolg's eyes lit up with excitement, eager to hide his face back in his helmet and immediately call his subordinates to attack the inn.

"Where are you going?"

Bolg heard a human voice questioning him. He turned around impatiently to glare: "Mind your own business, human."

But Bolg immediately realized that voice hadn't come from the mayor or Alfrid.

At the same time, a sharp cold light flashed before his eyes, making Bolg feel terrifying dread.

"Clang!"

The black dagger met the black Orc longsword with a crisp sound.

At the critical moment, Bolg barely managed to draw his weapon and block the sudden attack.

However, that strangely shaped dagger still cut Bolg's forehead, black blood gradually dripping from the wound and blurring his vision.

"Oh? Decent skills. You're not an ordinary Orc, are you?" The slightly surprised human voice made Bolg look toward the source through his blood-clouded eyes.

Somehow, a human knight in worn armor had appeared in the mayor's house, while the mayor and that Alfrid, who'd been talking with him moments ago, both lay unconscious on the floor.

Bolg reacted quickly. He didn't ask who the opponent was or pause at all.

Instead, he planned to swing his sword to make noise so his Orc comrades outside would know he was under attack while escaping toward the exit.

That had been Bolg's plan, but suddenly he felt an agonizing pain that reached his very soul from where the dagger had cut his forehead, followed by black-red flames filling his vision.

After that, Bolg knew nothing more, as his consciousness sank into eternal darkness.

Tarnes' mouth opened slightly as he reached forward, then pulled back.

He hadn't expected that just using the Black Knife a little would make this Orc burst into flames like oil meeting sparks, ignited by the tiniest bit of Destined Death's black flame.

Not even a corpse remained. It had become ash directly.

Tarnes had only wanted to disable the Orc's resistance so it wouldn't make noise and alert those outside to what was happening inside.

After all, he'd wanted to extract some intelligence from this Orc's mouth, but somehow it had died instantly.

More than ten minutes earlier, Tarnes had used his concealing veil to infiltrate the mayor's house.

Originally, Tarnes had prepared to use extreme methods to directly interrogate the mayor about his intentions, but before he could reveal himself, he saw this Orc that would be burned to death by black flame swaggering as it kicked the mayor from his seat and arrogantly occupied his position.

Only then did Tarnes restrain his urge to act, waiting until their conversation finished before knocking out the mayor and his secretary, then attempting to capture this Orc for interrogation.

When the opponent barely blocked Tarnes' certain strike, Tarnes had thought that an Orc with such skills must be a big fish.

But it had died directly.

Tarnes looked at the Black Knife in his hand with a conflicted expression, shook his head, and put it away. After confirming the mayor's room was locked, he prepared to wake the mayor and secretary he'd knocked unconscious for interrogation.

When the mayor was awakened by Tarnes splashing cold water on him, the Tarnished immediately noticed something wrong with his eyes.

"You, you are... mmph mmph!" After seeing the unfamiliar Tarnes, the mayor immediately tried to panic and shout, but Tarnes properly covered his mouth.

Alfrid was still unconscious, though even if he woke up, he couldn't help the mayor call for help.

Because Tarnes had already bound this thin secretary thoroughly, stuffed cloth in his mouth, and wrapped it with several layers of cloth strips, ensuring he couldn't make a sound.

Through his wandering knight helmet, Tarnes looked expressionlessly at the mayor.

He found the other's eyes seemed to have lost their soul, completely inconsistent with the expressions on his face.

This eerie feeling made Tarnes frown deeply as he used his hand to pry open the mayor's eyelids for closer observation.

He murmured: "This state is somewhat like the puppet dolls that old bastard Seluvis made... Smaug actually has the means to enslave human souls?"

Tarnes found this troublesome. If the other's soul was enslaved, he definitely couldn't interrogate anything useful.

Then he knocked out the mayor again and woke Alfrid to check the secretary's condition.

As a result, Tarnes discovered that Alfrid, like Lake-town's mayor, had also had his soul enslaved by Smaug.

Just as Tarnes was at a loss, a raven's shrill cry suddenly came from outside the window. Alfrid convulsed like a marionette, his neck arching backward at an impossible angle.

His current appearance was as if a giant dragon perched on a golden mountain had just raised its head upon awakening.

"Oh, another weak human? What have you done to my enslaved servant?"

Alfrid's face showed a cunning and evil expression, but Tarnes knew he wasn't speaking to the man himself but to the dragon in the Lonely Mountain.