"Look at it," said Legolas. "Even the rings of Nenya are not without their failings. Have you forgotten, then, the despair of that time when the armies of Morgoth were at our gates and the half-orcs slaughtered your kin?"
George cast an amplifying spell for himself, allowing his voice to be heard by all the elves in the Gray Elf Kingdom.
"I speak plainly," Legolas said. "The reason for the peace of Doriath is not solely due to the Queendom's rings, but also because of the Angband wall built by the Noldor Elves."
The Angband Wall blocked Morgoth and his dark armies inside Angband, bringing peace to Middle Earth.
Now that the defense of Angband has been broken, if Doriath refuses to aid the Noldor and the humans today, do you think Morgoth would spare Doriath when all the Noldor and humans are wiped out by his dark army?"
George's impassioned words made all the Gray Elves fall silent.
Are the Gray Elves foolish?
Of course not. It's hard to say who has a higher IQ, elves or humans, but since elves live longer than humans, they accumulate more wisdom over time, and on average, they are all cultivated individuals.
For example, humans are like a small percentage are college students, most are illiterate. The great truths you speak, most people don't understand.
But elves are like all of them are college students, some of them are from top universities like 985 and 211, while others are from ordinary universities. They can all understand the great truths you speak, but whether they are willing to take risks is another matter.
"Morgoth's goal is to conquer all of Middle-earth, and he will not leave any elf unscathed. They will either be killed by him or transformed into orcs to be enslaved."
"Even as a human, I couldn't endure such shame. Imagine how much more difficult it must be for you, noble elves, to bear such disgrace."
"We elves, dwarves, and humans are one people. When this people is in peril, the individual cannot be preserved. We must not forget the danger that lies ahead just because we are currently at ease."
Thus, George brought forth a variety of modified proverbs and stories, citing classics and analyzing the trends of the world, explaining various benefits and risks from the perspective of the Gray Elves. He used tactics of provocation, encouragement, and flattery. It took him two hours to stop speaking.
What was born from adversity, dies from comfort. What falls like a nest, has no complete egg. What is safe in peace, should prepare for war in advance. Elves born in the world, cannot long endure under Morgoth's rule and so on.
Anyway, he felt that he had used all his resources. If the Gray Elves still held to their views, then he could only let it be.
If he could persuade the Gray Elves to join his school, his goal would be more than half accomplished. It would be best if they could send troops, but if not, it wouldn't be a major issue.
And when George finished his speech, all the Gray Elves were open-mouthed, and even Uinen, the Maia, looked at George with amazement in her eyes.
Because George had output an information volume that was really too much in the past two hours. Those various philosophical short stories, those clear analysis, those predictions of possible future crises, overloaded the GPUs of the Gray Elves.
It took a long while for everyone to finally sort out everything from George's speech.
"George, you are truly a wise human!"
Théoden's gaze toward George was filled with admiration:
"You are right. All the elves, even those from the House of Feanor, are not at fault. The beings of Middle-earth have not committed any mistakes either."
"We Gray Elves cannot hide behind the rings of Nenya."
Actually, by the time George reached the halfway point of his speech, he was completely convinced. However, as he listened on, he found himself gaining much benefit from it and did not interrupt.
"What do you think?"
Théoden looked at the twenty-two Elven nobles.
The decision for the Gray Elves to send troops to help the Noldor against the army of fire demons concerns the fate of the entire Gray Elf Kingdom. Even as a king, he could not make such a decision on his own word.
"I agree!"
"I agree!"
"I agree!"
One by one, the Elven nobles cast their votes in favor.
In the end, the twenty-two elders, fifteen in favor of sending troops, five still hesitating, and two firmly holding their previous opinion of not sending troops.
With a majority of the Elven nobles in favor of sending troops, Théoden announced immediately:
"Very well, then. From today onwards, the Gray Elf Kingdom enters a state of all-out war. Contact the Blue Mountain Dwarves and make preparations for thousands of caves. We need to produce large quantities of weapons and armor!"
"I didn't expect it to actually work."
At the command Théoden gave at the end, George couldn't help but smile on his face. It was worth all his two hours of speech.
After careful consideration, it's not really surprising that he succeeded.
First of all, he had just demonstrated enough strength to gain the respect of all the Gray Elves.
That is important. Without sufficient strength, no one will believe you even if what you say is the truth.
Just like who would listen to a beggar giving advice on how to become rich?
But when your identity is the richest man in the world, even a sentence that slips out without thinking can be regarded as profound wisdom by others, and even become a belief.
Secondly, in this world, as it has developed to the present, it is still in a very simple period. There are not many conspiracies and intrigues, and there aren't many experiences of that nature that are passed down for future generations to learn from.
Prince II and Prince III came here to see Théoden, who were praising George and humans as powerful, and that they had together repelled the army of Morgoth. They hoped that Théoden could send troops to help them against the advancing army of fire demons.
Those statements, viewed by Théoden and many nobles, were mostly exaggerations and had no meaning or benefits. How could they agree?
It's not their fault that Prince II and Prince III have never done such things; not having experience is normal.
George, on the other hand, had a lot of strange knowledge stored in his brain thanks to the massive information explosion from his past life's historical studies and experiences. While this knowledge didn't improve his strength, it gave him a significant advantage in this area.
There are too many real-world examples out there.
"Our college has now introduced dwarves into exchanges, and the Noldor are working with dwarves on a new type of armor that can resist fire. The Gray Elves can also join in."
"This will be very helpful when dealing with the fire demons."
"It seems that sending people to your college was indeed a wise decision!"
Théoden's face is now filled with smiles.
The new armor that can resist the fire demons, the light magic that can restrain orcs, the giant magic that can enhance strength, and the joint efforts of all elves, humans, and dwarves.
With all this in mind, it seems that completely eradicating Morgoth and his orc army is no longer a dream.
Once the threat of Morgoth and the orcs is no longer a concern, then his wife, Uinen, would not need to expend so much effort to maintain the Nenya, and the Gray Elves could travel freely and gain true peace.
"Too bad, you're not an elf."
