Chapter 302: Tradition
Huff.
After half a month of trekking, a river appeared before him.
Aragorn looked at this river, its name surfacing in his mind: the Harnen.
Perhaps Harondor's current sovereignty remained disputed, but this river was undoubtedly Harad's border. Cross it, and one entered Harad's territory.
Precisely because of this, Harad people greatly valued the regions on both sides of this river. The specially established position of "Harnen Commander" was named after the river itself.
However, a commander—he'd killed them before.
Aragorn pulled down his hood, blending into the merchant convoy passing through.
Days later, unusual commotion erupted in the Harnen Commander's tent.
Clang!
A sturdy staff carved from mallorn wood blocked the sword thrust aimed at the Harnen Commander.
!?
Seeing this staff's distinctive style, Aragorn clearly jumped in alarm. He turned in astonishment to find a blue-robed elder who'd appeared at some point, eyes blazing as he watched him.
"You recognize this staff?" the elder asked, simultaneously raising his hand to restrain the young Harnen Commander behind him, who was sweating profusely and reaching for his sword.
"Of course I recognize it."
Aragorn watched the two across from him warily, gripping his sword firmly.
"Don't be tense, young Dúnedain."
The blue-robed wizard put away his staff, introducing himself. "I am Alatar, a wizard. Wizard—just a wizard. I think I need not explain further."
Aragorn still gripped his sword tightly.
"I knew one of your kinfolk, a powerful Dúnedain warrior who once defeated the Nazgûl, leaving a deep impression on me."
"Oh, and there was another person present at the time. His name was Levi."
Hearing this name, Aragorn perked up immediately.
"You know Uncle Levi?"
"Uncle? Oh, certainly, we've been through life-and-death together." Alatar seemed somewhat wistful.
I nearly got beaten to death by him, he added mentally.
Hearing Alatar speak this way, Aragorn finally temporarily lowered his guard, resheathing his sword.
He asked, "What exactly is the situation here?"
"Well... this requires mentioning your Uncle Levi again."
Alatar stepped aside, gesturing to the young Harnen Commander beside him. "Rest assured, this is one of our own. His father once swore loyalty to Levi, and this oath has been passed down to the present."
"Greetings to you," the young commander said, nodding slightly.
Aragorn also slowly nodded in acknowledgment.
"How has Levi been recently?"
With the misunderstanding cleared, Alatar invited Aragorn to sit, and they fell into casual conversation
He said, "I haven't seen him in decades. I wonder if he's well."
"He's well... perhaps better than you'd imagine."
Aragorn said, "Do you know of the Lord of the North?"
Alatar's brow furrowed as he shook his head.
"I've been occupied with troublesome matters here these years, neither traveling north nor hearing much news."
"Lord of the North... I've never heard this title. Perhaps you could tell me about it?"
Thus began a lengthy conversation.
Alatar listened enraptured.
"I'd really like to see it with my own eyes if opportunity permits," he concluded. "Only regrettably, much more demands my attention here."
"Next, I'm planning to go to the Far East. Khand's king has passed away; his son has succeeded him. I've yet to discern his stance."
"What of you?" Alatar asked Aragorn.
"Me?"
Aragorn hadn't expected this newly met wizard to solicit his opinion.
"Yes, you. Truthfully, I've missed it—having a Dúnedain nearby brings back many memories and lets me recapture some of those old feelings."
"Far East..."
Aragorn murmured, then suddenly nodded.
"Very well."
Wandering aimlessly through the south was hardly a good choice, especially after recently eliminating a harbor captain. Umbar remained quite tense.
The two reached a consensus.
Thus began the blue-robed wizard and the allegedly unremarkable Dúnedain's new journey together.
In Gondor's White City reception hall, Ecthelion produced an old notebook, handing it to Levi.
"Hmm?"
Levi accepted this worn journal, feeling suddenly disoriented as numerous memories surfaced.
He seemed to return to a bygone era.
When Roadside Keep's first school had just been established.
And Tarben... was still alive.
That had been a pleasant afternoon. Levi strolled through the school with Tarben, casually grading some students' assignments, adding numerous annotations. Later Tarben had specifically sought him out, asking about things he couldn't decipher in those notes.
Everything seemed to have happened yesterday.
Recovering his composure, Levi opened this aged notebook, flipping through it. Sure enough, he found his own annotations.
And subsequently, another familiar handwriting—Tarben's.
"Where did you obtain this?"
Calculating the time, even if the notebook's original owner was barely learning to write when he made those annotations, they should be quite aged by now.
"Well..." Ecthelion answered, "Some time ago, my captain of guards rescued a ranger from Roadside Keep during an expedition. The ranger was grateful, saying my captain could take anything from him."
"Of course, trust my captain's morality—he originally intended to take nothing."
"But coincidentally, this notebook fell from the ranger, and my captain happened to learn its origins."
"So my captain chose this notebook that had been carried close to the body."
Lowering his voice, Ecthelion continued, "I heard that this young man was remarkably strong. Even with several broken bones, even suffering near-fatal wounds, he didn't let out a single moan. But when this notebook was taken, he nearly wept."
"Nevertheless, my captain brought it here."
Levi stared at the notebook, genuinely perplexed.
"Why would he want such a notebook?"
"Isn't that perfectly natural?" Ecthelion saw nothing particularly strange about it.
"You probably don't realize how many people were willing to pay high prices to collect this notebook."
"After all, in a certain sense, this is a 'lord's genuine work' with several decades of history."
"Oh..."
Levi smiled somewhat helplessly, saying, "Let me take this notebook. I'll exchange something else with you."
For the person who lost it, this notebook should be quite important. Perhaps an elder family member had entrusted it to him. Losing it would surely hurt.
"Just take it. Consider it me recovering lost property on behalf of your subjects."
"That won't do. We can't assume those doing good deeds are obligated to do so."
Levi shook his head, thinking for a moment before using books and pens to replicate a complete history of Roadside Keep's founding. He affixed his personal seal and wrote a sentence of thanks.
Then he inserted a small red flower and placed an elegant gold coin bearing Roadside Keep's seal—quite substantial.
"With this proof, one can seek assistance from any person in the Free Peoples."
"You have such a tradition?"
Ecthelion accepted the book, coin, and flower, feeling quite curious.
"Not previously."
Levi reclined slightly, saying, "But now we do."