Chapter 39 — Invincible Loneliness: Smaug's Struggle
Human food and wine temporarily awakened the memories of the person Gollum once was.
So after eating and drinking his fill, faced with a wooden tub of warm water—and only after carefully confirming that no one was lurking in the shadows to attack him—Gollum cooperatively climbed inside and began to bathe.
Warm water wrapped around most of his body.
And with it, memories came flooding back.
It had been a bright, sunny day.
Gollum—then still Sméagol—had been fishing on the river with his good friend Déagol, drifting lazily in a small wooden boat.
Then Déagol's float suddenly sank.
At that moment, the gears of fate began to turn.
Déagol was dragged into the river by a great fish. He failed to catch it—but in its place, he found the One Ring and brought it ashore.
And then—
Sméagol killed Déagol.
He took the Ring.
From that moment on, his life collapsed. Homeless and hunted, he eventually crawled into the underground tunnels of the Goblin Kingdom, where he lived for countless years…
In the warm water, as Gollum relived that past, his expression shifted constantly. Pain twisted across his face, raw and unmistakable.
Smaug noticed.
With nothing better to do, he guessed what Gollum was remembering—and guessed correctly.
Leaning slightly toward the tub, Smaug spoke softly.
"Sméagol… do you remember now?"
The name hit like lightning.
Gollum jerked violently, nearly leaping out of the tub.
Water splashed everywhere.
He sank back down, then slowly turned, staring at Smaug with wide eyes—pain now mixed with confusion and disbelief.
"How do you know my name?"
"I told you," Smaug said with a faint smile. "I'm your friend."
Then, suddenly, an idea struck him.
"Déagol says he forgives you."
Thump.
After all these years, hearing that name again made Gollum's body tremble. His eyes widened further.
"R-really…? Truly?"
"Truly," Smaug nodded gently.
"He said he knows it wasn't your fault."
"Not my fault… not my fault…" Gollum repeated, over and over, raising his hands to rub his face.
"I didn't want to… I don't know why I did it…"
"Precious did it… precious made me do it…"
Seeing Gollum's mind beginning to fracture again, Smaug hesitated before speaking.
"Sméagol. No matter what… it's all in the past now."
Gollum didn't seem to hear him.
He slowly lowered his head beneath the water.
Smaug stopped pushing.
He withdrew, saying nothing more.
Time passed.
At last, Gollum finished bathing and climbed out of the tub. With Bard's help, he was dressed in a set of children's clothes.
They fit surprisingly well.
Once dressed, Gollum lowered his head, staring at himself.
He touched the clothes.
Again.
And again.
Smaug had nowhere else to be, nothing urgent to do. So he waited quietly.
A long time passed.
Gollum finally lifted his head.
"Sméagol, come with me. For now, you'll live in the Lonely Mountain," Smaug said as he extended a claw.
Gollum stared at the claw for several seconds. Without a word, he stepped into it on his own.
"City Lord Bard, my thanks," Smaug said, spreading his wings and taking off.
A short while later—
Erebor, First Floor Hall.
"You'll live here. Don't wander around," Smaug said, releasing Gollum and leaving those words behind as he headed straight for the stairs.
As expected, Gollum followed instinctively, his voice urgent.
"My precious—"
"I live further below," Smaug replied without turning back.
"There's only one entrance here—the main gate. You stay and guard it. That's your first task."
"Do you remember what we agreed on? Complete the tasks I give you, and someday, I'll return your precious to you."
At that, Gollum froze.
"You promise you won't lie to us!"
"I promise," Smaug replied with a smile.
Gollum stood there, watching as Smaug descended step by step until he vanished from sight. Only then did Gollum turn and shuffle toward the great doors.
"Precious, precious… is that dragon lying to us?"
"No! He promised!"
"But promises can be lies!"
"But he gave us good food… and clothes. Maybe we should trust him, just for now."
"No! He's a dragon! Dragons can't be trusted!"
"Precious…"
Arguing with himself, Gollum curled up on the floor behind the doors, continuing his inner debate as the two voices wrestled endlessly in his head.
---
Deep underground.
Smaug once again sprawled atop his hoard, savoring the cool, comforting touch of gold beneath his scales.
Ahhh. Comfortable.
After enjoying himself for a while, Smaug summoned the system and began opening blind boxes.
Seven stone giants had earned him three Silver Blind Boxes.
The One Ring had rewarded him with his highest-tier prize yet—
A Golden Blind Box.
Naturally, that came first.
Open!
[You have opened a Golden Blind Box.]
[Congratulations. You have obtained Body Reinforcement Technique (single-use).]
[Upon use, all injuries will instantly recover. Your body will become immune to all weapons—unless empowered by divine force!]
[Additionally, this effect fully carries over after transformation.]
…Good lord.
Absolutely insane.
Worthy of a Golden Blind Box.
What did this mean?
Unless one of the Ainur—or Ilúvatar Himself—personally showed up to beat him, no being in Middle-earth could harm him.
"So… I'm basically invincible now?"
"I mean, it's not like the Ainur are actually going to descend just to kill me."
Smaug was excited at first. Then he muttered a few words to himself—
And suddenly felt oddly… empty.
Which wasn't strange at all.
After all, the moment he transmigrated, he'd been drowning in gold.
And now, he was practically unbeatable.
So what was left to look forward to?
What goal remained?
…Sigh.
"Being invincible is truly lonely," Smaug muttered with a long sigh.
After brooding for a moment, he forced himself to cheer up—and decided not to use the technique yet.
Why?
Simple.
He was already lonely enough.
He couldn't let everyone else become lonely too.
From now on, he'd make sure elves, humans, and every other creature could still see the old arrow wound in his belly—so they'd believe Smaug could be injured… even killed.
He needed them to have hope.
Otherwise, it would be far too lonely.
"I really am a good dragon," Smaug sighed again.
Then he opened the remaining boxes.
[You have opened a Silver Blind Box.]
[Congratulations. You have obtained Contract Art (1/4 fragment).]
[You have opened a Silver Blind Box.]
[Congratulations. You have obtained Contract Art (1/4 fragment).]
[You have opened a Silver Blind Box.]
[Congratulations. You have obtained Contract Art (1/4 fragment).]
All three Silver Blind Boxes contained the same thing: fragments of the Contract Art.
That meant only one fragment remained.
Once complete… the great wyrm Scatha could be summoned to serve him.
"…Great. Even more overpowered."
"This won't do."
"I need to keep striving."
Rather than excitement, Smaug felt his teeth grind together.
He resolved that unless absolutely necessary, he would rely on his own efforts to conquer Middle-earth.
After all—
If everything came too easily,
What was the point of ruling at all?