"For heaven's sake, Thorin, I beg you, just show him the map."
Gandalf's voice, sounding as if he was on the verge of madness from the dwarf's stubbornness, echoed in the pavilion, causing Elrond to look over with some surprise.
After all, for Gandalf to be so exasperated, the dwarf's stubbornness must have been extraordinary.
However, Thorin also realized that refusing to show the map, even after coming all this way, was somewhat inappropriate.
But when he saw Elrond's Elven appearance, his stubborn temper flared up again, and he said with a stiff expression, "That is an heirloom of my people, and it should be kept by me, including its secrets."
Balin also nodded.
Although Balin was a dwarf who appeared very kind, he didn't have much affection for Elves either. It was just that, being more polite, he wouldn't openly show his dislike like other dwarves.
Gandalf, huffing and puffing, said, "Stop with this dwarvish stubbornness. Your arrogance will one day be your undoing. The person standing before you now is one of the few in Middle-earth who can understand this map. Quickly, show the map to Lord Elrond."
Elrond said nothing, nor did he show any other expression, merely glancing back and forth between Gandalf, Thorin, and Balin.
Arthur also watched quietly, awaiting Thorin's response.
Thorin did not speak immediately, but pondered in silence.
Balin thought Thorin had refused, so a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth beneath his snowy white beard.
But the next second, Balin's expression froze. He saw Thorin reach into his clothes, pull out the map, and walk forward.
"Thorin, no." Balin instinctively tried to stop him, but Thorin raised a hand to refuse.
Gandalf finally breathed a sigh of relief, though Thorin handed over the map unwillingly, taking a long time to cover the short distance, and keeping his eyes fixed on Elrond.
Balin was the same, even looking at Elrond with some displeasure.
Elrond showed no sign of annoyance at the dwarves' almost "rude" stares. Instead, he politely and courteously took the map with both hands and opened it.
With just one glance, Elrond raised his eyebrows, his eyes sharpening.
"Erebor."
He recognized where the map depicted, then looked earnestly at Thorin and asked, "Why are you concerned with this map?"
Thorin, after an internal struggle, was about to lay everything bare to Elrond, but Gandalf interjected, "Uh, it's mainly an academic matter."
Huh?
Not only Arthur, but even Thorin closed his mouth again, looking over with some surprise.
Gandalf continued, "Lord Elrond, you know, these ancient artifacts sometimes contain secret information…"
Elrond was speechless. He simply took the map, turned around, and walked into the pavilion. As he passed Arthur, he gave him an expression that clearly said, "I'd be crazy to believe you."
Gandalf glanced at Thorin, then, leaning on his staff, followed and asked, "You can still read ancient dwarvish, can't you?"
Elrond did not speak, but held up the map, examining it closely under the moonlight.
Soon after, he said in a language Arthur did not understand, "Cirth Ithil."
Gandalf's eyes widened slightly in sudden realization, then he explained to Arthur, Thorin, and Balin, "It's Moon Letters… Of course, such an easily overlooked detail."
Elrond paid no attention to what Gandalf was saying, but murmured to himself, "If that is the case, the legend is true. Moon Letters only appear under moonlight, and must fulfill the conditions of the waxing and waning seasons—they must match the moon phase on the day they were written."
He turned around and sighed, looking at Thorin.
Thorin asked in a deep voice, "Then can you read it?"
Elrond made a regretful expression. He carefully put away the map in his hand and solemnly handed it back to Thorin.
Thorin tilted his head, looking at Elrond in confusion.
Gandalf also asked, "Lord Elrond, what do you mean by this? Can even you not decipher the Moon Letters?"
Elrond sighed deeply and said, "It's not that I cannot decipher the Moon Letters on this map, but rather that your luck is not with you."
Thorin asked with a slight tremor, "What do you mean, our luck is not with us?"
Elrond earnestly said to the dwarf of Durin's royal line, "The writing on the map was inscribed on a Midsummer's Eve, two hundred years ago, under the light of a crescent moon. I regret to say, your visit to Rivendell this time, fate has not favored you, Thorin, for the light cast tonight is not the light of that night."
Gandalf murmured, "It's winter now… Does that mean to decipher the writing on the map, we need to wait here until next summer?"
Elrond added, "And you must also ensure that the moon phase is exactly the same as that night."
Thorin immediately said loudly, "Wait here for such a long time? Impossible! With that much time, I would have already led my people to the foot of the Lonely Mountain!"
Gandalf first closed his eyes, then frowned and looked at Thorin: "Without unraveling the map's secrets, what can you do once you reach the Lonely Mountain? Are you going to search for the Secret Door inch by inch on that towering peak?"
"Secret Door?" Elrond looked at Gandalf with interest, and chuckled when he saw the other realize he had let something slip.
Thorin stood there somewhat dejectedly at this moment, while Balin was saying something to comfort him.
Gandalf helplessly asked again, "Lord Elrond, is there truly no other way to decipher the Moon Letters on this map?"
Elrond gently replied, "There is no other way, at least in the knowledge I possess, no second method for deciphering Moon Letters is recorded. However…"
He changed his tone at the end, causing the already despairing Gandalf and Thorin to look sharply at Elrond again.
"However, my not knowing does not mean your friend does not know. After meeting him, I no longer dare to believe I possess all the knowledge in the world. Why haven't you thought of asking Arthur?" Elrond smiled, looking at Arthur, who was somewhat surprised by the mention of his name.
Arthur was originally thinking about how to comfort Thorin, but after hearing Elrond's words, he pointed to himself: "Huh? Me to decipher the Moon Letters?"
Elrond nodded.
Arthur instinctively shook his head: "No, you must be joking, Elrond. I've never even heard of Moon Letters before, and if you can't decipher them under these circumstances, how could I possibly…"
But before Arthur finished his own sentence, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he froze: "Wait."
Elrond was first surprised, then turned to Gandalf and Thorin with a faint smile: "It seems our friend has indeed thought of another way to break the Moon Letters."
Thorin, somewhat agitated, said respectfully, "Please, Arthur. This expedition is truly very important to me. I cannot afford to waste nearly half a year here."
Arthur first calmed Thorin down, then looked at Elrond and asked cautiously, "Elrond, you are very knowledgeable about Moon Letters, so I want to ask you a question: Can the mechanism that requires the same moon phase to be deciphered be considered a form of mimicry or an illusion? This question is very important, please answer me accurately."
Elrond, hearing this, also said solemnly, "This is a good question, Arthur. I can answer you with certainty that it is indeed a form of secretive mimicry, after all, the dwarf who wrote these Moon Letters probably didn't want just anyone to read them."
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I'm relieved, I can give it a try."
Elrond showed an interested expression: "How do you plan to do it, Arthur? I'm really curious what other way there is in this world to decipher Moon Letters at the wrong time."
A Holy Mark appeared in Arthur's right hand, and its faint golden glow attracted everyone's attention.
He said, "In my homeland, there is a Prayer that can cure all abnormal states, eliminate special effects, remove all mimicry, and reveal the true nature of things."
Arthur did not say that even mimicry illusions set up by a deity could be dispelled.
Because he knew that even if he said it, Gandalf and the others would probably think it was a fantasy.
The Prayer Arthur spoke of was [Regression Principle], one of the fundamental Prayers of the Golden Order.
He looked at Thorin and said to this dwarf, "Thorin, please place the map on the stone table."
Thorin had no resistance to Arthur's request and very cooperatively spread the map out on the stone table.
The next moment, Arthur's body was completely covered by golden blessed light. Although it was night, he seemed to be bathed in brilliant sunlight.
At his feet, a huge golden triangular phantom appeared out of thin air, shimmering with dazzling golden light.
But this phantom only lasted for two or three seconds before it quickly receded like a tide, leaving only a faint golden afterglow, lingering around Arthur.
"Thorin Oakenshield, I should retract my previous statement. Fate has not abandoned you; on the contrary, ever since you met Arthur, fate has always been by your side and never left."
Elrond exclaimed upon seeing this miraculous scene.
Thorin also showed a heartfelt smile, uncharacteristically not refuting the Elf's words: "I have always been honored to have met Arthur."
Golden sparks seemed to flicker in his eyes as well, then returned to normal.
Elrond noticed some changes on the map and immediately walked a few steps to the stone table.
Arthur recovered from the state of casting the Prayer and asked somewhat nervously, "How is it, Elrond, has the mimicry of the Moon Letters been broken?"
He was mainly worried that the Regression Principle would also be useless, in which case Thorin's expedition plan would probably be greatly affected.
And as Thorin's friend, Arthur obviously did not want to see such a thing happen.
Elrond smiled faintly: "Of course, the Moon Letters on the map have been revealed. It reads: 'Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks. And the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole.'"
On the map on the stone table, a section of blue glowing text suddenly appeared in the bottom right corner. Elrond was reading these words written in ancient dwarvish to everyone present.
Balin, who was listening, nodded; he had already memorized the sentence.
Thorin, meanwhile, crossed his arms and fell into thought.
"Durin's Day, what is that?" A voice not belonging to anyone present came over; Bilbo laboriously climbed up from a nearby set of stairs.
Arthur's eyes widened slightly; this was not the first time he hadn't sensed the hobbit's presence.
Earlier, when talking with Gandalf in Farmer David's village, Bilbo also suddenly appeared behind him.
He even suspected whether this hobbit had some stealth talent, or if all hobbits had this talent that made them undetectable.
Bilbo saw that the few people in the pavilion were looking at him, and his expression was a bit awkward. He said to Arthur: "Oh, it's like this. After I finished dinner, I felt much better and was able to get out of bed and move around. So I went to return the eaten plates and that small low table to the Elves. Then I wanted to find you and Gandalf, and the Elves told me you were here, so I came over. I just got here and saw you performing a Prayer, so I didn't want to disturb."
Balin smiled gently; this kind dwarf clearly had no objection to Bilbo's arrival and proactively explained: "Durin's Day marks the beginning of the dwarf New Year. On that day, the last autumn moon and the first winter sun will shine in the sky simultaneously."
Then his expression changed, startling Bilbo: "What's wrong?"
Balin pursed his lips and said bitterly, "But Durin's Day just passed the day before yesterday. The next Durin's Day will be a year from today."
Thorin, however, laughed loudly and said, "No, no, Balin, don't be discouraged! It's not that Durin's Day just passed the day before yesterday, but that we still have nearly a year to travel to the Lonely Mountain! And after arriving at the Lonely Mountain, we will have plenty of time to find the mountain pass where the key-hole is!"
This dwarf leader nodded forcefully and thanked Arthur: "Thank you very much, Arthur. I don't know how many times I've thanked you, but if it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't know how to reach the Lonely Mountain, find that secret door, and enter the Lonely Mountain."
Balin, seeing Thorin so full of hope, was also infected by his emotion, then quickly calmed down and said, "You are right, Thorin. This way we can ensure that we are at the location mentioned on the map at the moment Durin's Day arrives. Only this way, and it must be this way, will the door be opened."
Although Bilbo had joined midway and didn't understand what they were saying, he was happy to see Balin's expression change from bitter to calm, and he nodded to his dwarf companions with whom he was traveling.
Elrond carefully rolled up the map at this time, returned it to Thorin, and then looked at Arthur and Gandalf.
He said in an "I knew it" tone, "So this is your goal, to enter the Lonely Mountain?"
Thorin put away the map, and after hearing Elrond's words, he retorted righteously, "So what?"
Elrond turned around and looked down at Thorin: "Because there are others who believe this is not a wise move."
Gandalf understood the meaning in Elrond's words, but to confirm, he still asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Elrond turned sideways and said meaningfully to Gandalf, "After all, you are not the only guardian of Middle-earth. Let you and your dwarf friends wait here for a few more days; distinguished guests will arrive soon."