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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shio
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It was my mistake to expect anything from barbarians.
Edmund, whose expression had changed exactly as I expected, asked me once more, just to be sure:
“Listen here, Jarl Helgi. What on earth do you mean? Don’t I want to live? Are you threatening me now?”
Edmund appeared to have an easily excitable nature—or perhaps he possessed an exceptionally strong pride.
The cyning of East Anglia, whose previously pale face had instantly turned bright red upon hearing words he disliked, seemed ready to point his finger at me if there weren’t eyes watching around him.
“Look around you, Cyning Edmund. I am certain from the deepest part of my heart that you will fight honorably with us to the end. But look around you, I say.”
I rode my horse a bit further forward, keeping my left hand on the reins and stretching out my right hand to point from the left end of the wall spread before me to the right end.
“Look at these people, Edmund. You know, and I know, that those catapults cannot break your walls. But until we run out of things to throw, these people of Beodericsworth will have to worry about what’s over their heads day and night…! And if they’re unlucky, they’ll die!”
In truth, this was somewhat incorrect. To generalize hastily, there were no truly good people in 9th-century Europe. Everyone could turn into a plunderer given the chance. And in reality, we didn’t have many projectiles to throw. It’s not like there was a quarry nearby…
“But the situation will only become more horrific as time goes on! When we finally scale the walls and break down the gates, most of the people beyond these walls will surely die! And that includes you, Edmund!”
Edmund immediately rebutted my words, which I had pronounced definitively like a judge delivering a verdict, but his voice, lacking its previous force, sounded weak.
“… But those who follow the Lord do not yield to any trials, Jarl Helgi.”
“Then I will not ask you to kneel; instead, I will let you and all who follow you go. As you know, what I and my brothers, the forces of us Norsemen, want is to capture and kill Aella, the Konungr of Northumbria! So leave this place and go wherever you will. And on the day all our revenge is complete, let us talk about this land again.”
This had been discussed with Ivarr, Sigurd, and Sigebryht. Our plan was to negotiate first because we couldn’t conquer all of East Anglia with just 2,000 or 2,500 men.
For now, we needed to buy time. Until the main force arrived.
In the calm air that settled after my words, Edmund turned his head and carefully looked at the people standing on the wall. From left to right, the eyes that were looking only at him.
Then, squeezing his eyes shut, he spoke in a tired voice, as if it was very difficult:
“Jarl Helgi. I need a little time to think. Can you give me time?”
“Of course. At dawn tomorrow, I will stand here again. Storolf, we’re going back.”
“Yes! Jarl Helgi!”
As I turned my horse without hesitation and advanced towards the Norsemen lined up under the red-stained sunset, numerous possibilities arose in my mind.
‘From the moment he tried to stop us in the field with hastily assembled troops, the fate of East Anglia was as good as sealed. Where will you go, Edmund? To Mercia or Wessex in the west? The moment you do, even the last remaining people of East Anglia will curse your name. Or perhaps to the marshes of Norfolk in the north? Dereham? Elmham?’
It didn’t matter where. The earls of the eastern coast had already turned to us, and it wouldn’t take long for the other regions to follow. All Edmund had left were strong villages and a few monasteries.
East Anglia was essentially finished.
‘Choose, Edmund. I have given you a chance.’
Will you die gloriously or live quietly?
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That evening, we drank a lot of alcohol, or rather, something fermented from grain. I’ll say it again, only mead felt like real alcohol to me.
Anyway, Ivarr and Sigurd, saying they were taking care of their little brother for my diplomatic efforts, kept pressing fermented grain drinks on me, which ultimately just filled my belly with water.
Still, the evening passed in a warm atmosphere as we confirmed the affection between brothers, and as promised, around dawn the next day, I rode my horse towards the gray walls of Beodericsworth again, accompanied by Storolf and a few guards.
[Chirp chirp- Chirp chirp-]
When we first bustled about setting up the camp in this area, all the animals around had fallen silent, but now they seemed to have become quite accustomed to human activity and went about their business without paying us any mind. Like that unknown bird earnestly singing somewhere in the forest spreading out behind.
‘It’s beautiful.’
Beodericsworth at dawn had a strange beauty. Square walls sat on a low hill in a field that looked like a mix of half wilderness and half prairie.
The artificial structure, colored similar to dark clouds, blended surprisingly well with the surrounding scenery, standing as if it had always been there.
But such appreciation and leisure were truly things only high-ranking jarls, earls, konungrs, and cynings could enjoy. Right behind me, Storolf and the guards, following the leisurely pace of the horse, were extremely tense, glaring in all directions.
‘To have such idle thoughts on a battlefield, I really have changed.’
I had already moved away from butchering people like meat in a butcher shop, but now the 21st century felt so distant. Ah, beautiful memories! Memories of slicing minions in PC rooms!
“Jarl Helgi.”
“Cyning Edmund.”
Standing before the now familiar gate, I exchanged brief greetings with Edmund looking down at me, just like yesterday. Next to him stood Hunta, the former prisoner who had returned to his master’s side after an emotional reunion, but the expressions of Edmund and Hunta were not good at all.
‘They must have agonized all night.’
Hunta had probably told his master many facts he had learned while being held captive by the Norsemen.
Information about the group composed only of trained warriors, or about the brothers leading them… And the more they learned, the more they would have confirmed that they couldn’t win against us now.
That we were truly determined to scale those walls.
‘Above all, the fact that Sigebryht and the earls of the eastern coast have turned must be the most painful.’
The cruel 9th century. Few people would keep their oath of loyalty in the face of a blade at their neck.
“It seems you’ve had enough time, have you reached a conclusion?”
We had already crossed swords, so was there a need to ask about each other’s well-being at length? Thinking this, I thrust my question at him.
“… Although you are a heathen, how could I refuse your proposal that truly knows honor. However, my foolish heart cannot shake off its concern for the well-being of the people of Beodericsworth and their property, so I would like to receive your promise once more.”
“I swear by my father’s name, by Odin’s name, and by my name and the names of Ivarr and Sigurd. Cyning Edmund, no harm will come to you and the people of Beodericsworth, and we will not touch any property. However…”
“However?”
Still, some of our warriors were injured and died, so we couldn’t just end this with receiving one city. Let’s be a bit greedy.
“We won’t touch the people, but confirm that all the horses in this area are our property, in exchange for allowing you to leave with goods that can be loaded onto ten wagons.”
We couldn’t stay on foot forever. Let’s try to raise some cavalry.
“… Let’s do that.”
The thought ‘You’ve got their lifeline in your grasp and all you want are horses?’ appeared on Edmund’s face. He probably thought I would demand something more humiliating…
At least my desire to peacefully resolve the conflict was sincere. I had no hobby of humiliating anyone, nor did I feel satisfaction in making someone kneel. How nice would it be if we could solve problems while smiling at each other?
“Then I trust that all aggressive actions will cease from now on.”
“From now on, we will unstring our bows and lay down our spears. You can believe that.”
“Hooray!”
“Lord! Thank you! Thank you!”
The moment the representatives of the two forces reached a peaceful agreement, loud cheers erupted from beyond the walls.
However, the faces of Edmund and I did not change at all. We just calmly gazed into each other’s eyes.
‘Those are not the eyes of someone who has given up.’
I sincerely hoped that Edmund would not make a foolish decision. If we were to face each other on the battlefield again, I would never let him go alive.
… And it was clear that Edmund was thinking the same thoughts as me. This was a matter that only those who ‘lead people’ could understand.
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The interior of Beodericsworth was even more beautiful than the exterior.
These Angles, though they said they’d converted to Christianity, still had traces of worshipping the old gods everywhere. The somehow familiar geometric patterns, the appearance of houses and buildings, and the large tree planted squarely in the center of the village.
This was no different from Norsemen who had just changed their skin.
Perhaps because of this remaining cultural homogeneity, surprisingly few people chose to follow Edmund when he left.
As Sigebryht had said with a cynical voice, Edmund’s dynasty, which had succumbed to Wessex and Mercia, was also not very popular.
The fact that the warriors, thanks to the amazing quantities and money from Aros that generously provided for them, were increasingly changing to fit the image of the ‘stern army’ I remembered as the need for plunder and arson decreased, also played a part.
Therefore, the people of Beodericsworth were returning to their homes in anxiety (unfortunately, some of them would be confused due to their missing houses, but they should be satisfied with having saved their lives), while the Norse warriors were dividing into those who would stay inside the city and those who would stay outside, and familiarizing themselves with the interior of the city.
Both sides were entering a state of social assimilation, being conscious of each other.
Naturally, everyone was busy. The camp had to be reorganized, horses had to be caught, and the situation had to be explained to farmers in remote areas who didn’t understand what was happening, that the ruler of this place had changed.
Who would do all this work?
As a result, Ivarr, Sigurd, myself, and below us, Guthrum, Hrolf, and Sigurd’s section leaders were all racking their brains.
“Odin have mercy, ruling with sword and axe would be much easier on the head than this.”
“There is a Thing here too, but… now that we’ve occupied it, it’s meaningless. We need to fill it with people who suit our tastes. We should call Sigebryht.”
Anyway, such administrative work just kept expanding endlessly once you started. Putting effort into this was something that could be done gradually (by someone under me, not me), and what’s important right now was the complete stabilization of the supply route connecting this place and Rendlesham.
This supply route would become the lifeline for the large forces that Bjorn would lead over the winter.
‘Come to think of it, half of the fourth month of summer has already passed.’
Thinking about it, this summer seemed to have flown by in a whirlwind. Were they busy preparing for the festival to pray for a good harvest in Aros and Uppsala now? We’d have to offer a cow to Freyr this year.
Speaking of which, the cows here looked a bit different from the Korean cattle of the 21st century. They had much larger bodies and horns, and looked very fierce but were actually very docile creatures. (Aurochs)
‘I wonder how Mother is doing.’
Thinking of Aros and Uppsala, I felt even more curious. This era lacked a mail service, so news would probably only reach us when merchants moved by sea.
‘She must be doing well. She’s a much stronger person than me. I just need to do my job well.’
Soon the leaves would turn color, white snow would fall, and new buds would sprout again.
And with the spring wind, Aella of Northumbria would die a gruesome death.
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Aella seriously does not know who he messed with. Also, does anyone else enjoy the descriptions in this novel? I’ve had a lot of fun with them. This author really enjoys fleshing out their world.
As usual, if you find any grammar errors, ping Oihs in the Arcane Translations discord!
Thank for the chapter!
One step closer to victory…