Being a Viking Isn’t Fun – Chapter 11

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shio
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I felt irritation welling up inside me after blocking another arrow. I couldn’t simply brush off this situation with a “Oops, that was close!”

However, the commotion on top of the wall quelled the unpleasantness that had almost consumed my reason.

‘This is all due to the original sin of the Norsemen, who am I to complain…’

If I had been the first Dane to set foot on this land, their reaction might have been different. However, my predecessors had already sown discord, I had to assume that I would be met with hostility in areas inhabited by Angles and Saxons.

‘Come to think of it, an archbishop?’

The Archbishop of Canterbury—it sounded familiar. I couldn’t recall the details clearly, but it felt like I had heard it before in my previous life. Was he an important figure?

“Listen, Dane! I apologize for the rudeness just now. Fortunately, no one was hurt thanks to your excellent strength, so how about you withdraw now!”

The old man’s powerful voice echoed across the tense space between us and the high walls.

‘With that voice for mass, at least no one would fall asleep halfway through. Wait, did they even have mass in this period? What do Catholics even do when they go to church? They seemed to sing a lot…’

To be honest, I wasn’t religious. Wasn’t the 21st century an age dominated by reason? In an era where humans conquered the moon, you could live just fine without faith.

…

What did I know? Damn, I went to a 4-year university but never learned about the history or religion of 9th-century Europe.

“As you can see, this place is nothing but the walls built by old Rome and the weak people within! But this place is under the protection of Aethelberht, cyning of Wessex, so if you act foolishly, you will feel his wrath!”

Aethelberht, cyning of Wessex—hmm, I had never heard of him. My eyes briefly met the archbishop’s as he stood stoutly on top of the formidable stone walls, feigning a calm expression.

‘This person is bluffing?’

Although I was somewhat ignorant about this period, I still had something to rely on: the abilities granted to me by Europa Kings.

These six abilities—categorized into Administration, Martial, Diplomacy, Learning, Intrigue, and Prowess—were bestowed upon me when I was reincarnated into this world based on some unknown criteria. However, after 17 winters, I had learned that I particularly excelled at reading others’ intentions and discerning the truth.

It was nearly impossible to hide the truth from me, and right now, this old archbishop was, for some reason, more afraid of us than necessary.

“Ivarr, do you know anything about Wessex?”

“Wessex? It’s one of the countries established by our neighbors, the Saxons.”

I stared blankly at Ivarr, who had emerged from behind me and was speaking confidently. Wasn’t that information too obvious? Did he really think I would ask for information like that with arrows flying around us?

“…Ahem. It seems the cyning has changed again, when I was last in this land, the name of Wessex’s cyning was Aethelwulf.”

Satisfied with this somewhat useful answer, I discarded any further expectations of information from Ivarr and stepped forward towards the archbishop on the wall.

“Archbishop of Canterbury, and people of Canterbury! I am Helgi Ragnarsson of Aros!”

Words like ‘tension’ felt foreign to me. It wasn’t because I craved attention, but due to the traits inherent in this body. A bold spirit, able to calmly scratch its back even with an axe blade falling on its head, wouldn’t be rattled by mere words.

However, the people of Canterbury appeared visibly shaken by my voice, which seemed to echo across mountains and seas. First, I needed to calm their fears. Now that I was here in person, I could see that those walls were indeed impregnable with just 600 men.

We had to at least garner some favor if friendship was impossible.

‘Let’s be realistic, there’s no way to scale those walls with 600 men right now.’

Our force consisted of 600 men, having left 200 behind to guard the ships in Dover and watch for the potential betrayal of Eadbert. On the other hand, I could see at least 300 men on those massive walls, with no way of knowing how many more might be stationed behind them.

Considering this was their home ground, the very fact that we were intimidating such a large fortress didn’t make sense.

This was probably a testament to the fear our predecessors had instilled in them.

“I have not come here to fight! To prove this, I will now lay down my shield and spear!”

“Helgi!”

Ivarr desperately tried to stop me from behind, but I disarmed myself without hesitation. Even going so far as to lay down the famous Frankish sword Father had gifted me.

“I will not burn your land, nor will I take your people as slaves!”

They probably didn’t know that I could catch flying arrows with my bare hands, but in any case, my performance seemed to somewhat ease the invisible tension between Canterbury and us. However, the archbishop, who looked stubborn even from a distance, prevented me from approaching the walls any closer.

“Enough, enough! I see that you truly desire dialogue, son of Ragnar… Helgi!”

The archbishop’s eyes showed even greater tension as he hesitated to say Father’s name.

‘This person. He knows my father.’

“By your father Ragnar, do you mean Ragnar, son of Sigurd, the Konungr of the Danes!”

Konungr of the Danes, Ragnar.

Upon hearing that name, the people on the walls began to murmur. It stirred hostility in some, wariness in others, and fear in all.

“That’s right, Archbishop. Do you know my father?!”

“… Of course. How could I forget that name? The name of Ragnar, the plunderer of Paris…! Ah, finally what was bound to come has arrived, Aella of Northumbria. Now what are we to do about this?”

The archbishop’s words, muttered quietly as if to himself, couldn’t escape my beast-like hearing.

“There is no one here who doesn’t know your father! Helgi, son of Ragnar! Then you have come for your father’s revenge! But Canterbury has nothing to do with Northumbria! We are just poor sheep under the protection of the cyning of Wessex!”

That was it. I had heard everything I needed to. Despite my hopes, it seemed negotiations were off the table—Canterbury had no intention of sharing bread and salt with us.

“I understand, Archbishop of Canterbury! We will withdraw now!”

I turned my back on the walls without any lingering attachment. Then I saw Ivarr, who had picked up the shield I’d dropped about fifteen paces away, keeping a wary eye out for any arrows that might come our way.

Surprisingly, I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him rolling his eyes anxiously. A grin spread across my face as I bent down to retrieve my spear and sword.

“Well, my amateur lawspeaking brother. It seems the dialogue didn’t go well, unfortunately?”

Ivarr playfully wiggled his eyebrows as he handed me the shield.

“Ivarr, are you comparing me to those stuffy lawspeakers? Those people even eat their meals according to the law.”

“Hahaha! They even sit at the Thing according to old customs. But that’s not what I meant, Helgi. Your speech with that old man was as stiff as a lawspeaker’s.”

The conversation between the brothers was remarkably calm, even as the people behind us remained tense, their bowstrings still drawn.

“Didn’t I tell you? It would be difficult to make friends in this land.”

“Still, it wasn’t entirely useless, Ivarr.”

Ivarr’s eyes glinted for a moment at my serious tone.

“Oh?”

Ivarr, holding his shield and spear, signaled the waiting warriors to return to Dover, poking my side as we marched at the center of the formation.

“What did you learn from the conversation with that old man?”

“First, clumsy attempts at making friends won’t work. These people know Father’s name too well.”

At my answer, Ivar puffed out his chest proudly, exhaling through his nose.

“Father is truly the warrior Valhalla would be most proud of.”

At those words, the shoulders of the warriors surrounding us, as if escorting us, also straightened.

‘That’s not a compliment.’

Thanks to that fame, our expedition would face numerous battles in the future. No, these warriors of Odin would actually prefer it—bloody battles were what they sought.

Fortunately, my direct warriors and I, as followers of Hel, had little desire for Valhalla, which made us a bit more calm and rational.

“Second, for some reason, the Konungr- no, the cyning of Wessex is not in a position to support Kent.”

“Oho-.”

This time, the topic seemed to interest Ivarr more, causing his eyebrows to arch.

“Aethelberht, wasn’t it? The cyning of Wessex.”

Ivarr, who had been fiddling with the coin bearing the face of Aella, Konungr of Northumbria, that he’d taken from his pocket, nodded.

“Good. When we arrive in Dover, let’s confirm this information with our collaborator, Earl Eadbert.”

“And then?”

Ivarr’s eyes twinkled mischievously once more as he stubbornly insisted on calling Eadbert by his full name.

“If your guess is correct. We don’t necessarily need to target that place surrounded by those unsophisticated walls. At least not right now.”

Leaving those meaningful words hanging, Ivarr, the commander of the vanguard, continued.

“We’ll leave Dover to Sigurd who will follow, and we should go up a bit further, Helgi.”

“A bit further up?”

“The kingdom of the Angles in the east (East Anglia). Let’s go there once.”

“Alright.”

And so, our next destination was decided.

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865 AD, the Third Month of Summer. Kingdom of East Anglia, Unnamed Beach

Earl Eadbert of Dover didn’t know much either.

Though the founder of the current Wessex dynasty was said to have hailed from the Kingdom of Kent, that was several generations ago.

Today, Winchester had become the heart of Wessex, leaving the Earl of Dover, stationed on the relative frontier, far from the center of power.

In fact, from what I understood, it was questionable whether a true ‘center’ even existed. In this era, there were no capitals in the 21st-century sense.

The king’s presence determined the center of politics, as he moved from place to place with the seasons and his entourage.

Meanwhile, areas with cathedrals, roads, and castles established by the former Roman Empire became the centers of their respective regions.

Anyway, as a result of Eadbert diligently questioning merchants who bravely traveled up to Wessex and the kingdom of Mercia above it, we were able to learn the following fact:

‘The cyning Aethelberht of Wessex doesn’t have many days left.’

In all likelihood, the next king of Wessex would be his younger brother Aethelred.

Although Aethelberht had two young sons barely able to speak, Germanic law forbade children from ascending the throne.

Of course, once these children grew a bit and reached an age where they could think for themselves, the situation would become more complicated…

‘What’s important to me right now is that Wessex truly doesn’t have the mindset to turn its attention elsewhere. At least not until Aethelred succeeds to the throne and some time passes.’

In any era, stable succession to the throne was difficult, and in the case of the current Germanic chiefdoms, which were far from absolute monarchy, it was even harder to find someone who had relinquished the throne with their life intact.

No, this problem was difficult to avoid even for the Roman Empire, the Muslim Empire, or distant Eastern nations.

In other words, this meant that an opportunity opened for us Norsemen to gain significant control over the British Isles.

The summer wind was warm, and the beach of the East Anglian kingdom, unlike the rugged shores of Dover in Kent, was graced with soft, golden sand. Welcoming our Norse dragon ships with a gentle embrace, as if questioning why we had arrived so late.

Giving us the same welcome it gave the Angles and Saxons some 300 years ago.

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Canterbury should’ve cooperated…Anyways, this chapter was definitely more appealing to me because we almost saw Helgi’s emotions overpower him. It really paints the picture of Helgi being a soon-to-erupt Volcano. Ragnar’s death impacted him far more than we thought.

Well, that’s my take. As usual, if you guys find any grammar errors, ping Oihs in the Arcane translation discord. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!