Being a Viking Isn’t Fun – Chapter 27

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shio
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The previous night’s surprise attack had been a great success.

Under the fierce assault of the Norsemen and Eoforwic warriors, Aella and Osberht of Northumbria had been forced to retreat their camp by several dozen meters.

As a result, we finally decided to leave the walls and settle the score with the enemy on a quiet plain, flanked by impressive forests to the left and marshes to the right.

Of course, if they agreed.

“Every battle you fight will inspire countless bards, Helgi! Even the warriors in Valhalla must be jealous of your achievements!”

The damage inflicted on the Northumbrians in the battle that had lasted until dawn the next day was enormous.

Although we hadn’t been able to clean up the battlefield as we had hurriedly left the fortress to form our lines, even now, if I turned my head slightly, I could see countless bodies lying on the dawn battlefield.

And most of those fallen were Northumbrian warriors.

‘The birds will feast.’

The thought of having to clean up that place again after all this was over already made me tired, but for now, we had to keep fighting. I didn’t hesitate to give Sigurd, who seemed overly excited, some bitter words.

“Sigurd, thank you, but the battle isn’t over yet. We still have work to do, don’t we?”

“Oh—right. Of course, my wise brother.”

Sigurd’s smiling face seemed to have been a lie, as he instantly hardened his expression and glared at the army in the distance. At that moment, Bjorn and Ivar, who had finished patrolling the camp, entered his field of vision.

“Even though Helgi has greatly repelled the enemy once, they still have large numbers.”

“But isn’t it manageable now? The warriors from Strathclyde among them will have to leave soon. A messenger arrived from Olaf two days ago. He said he’ll be attacking their home base soon.”

“Olaf? That’s good news.”

Bjorn and Ivar, befitting brothers who had been through many fierce battles, were the calmest among us.

In fact, Ivar seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this situation. Even Bjorn, upon hearing the news that Olaf would attack the enemy’s rear, showed a rare smile.

“Good. Let’s set up guards and let the warriors rest well. I’m looking forward to seeing how Aella and Osberht will move.”

Having pulled one tooth from our prey, it was time to see their next move.

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866 AD, a summer day in Britain, Northumbria.

Honestly, I wasn’t tired at all, but at the strong urging of my brothers and Hrolf, I entered the tent prepared for me, roughly spread out some cloth, and lay down.

The transfer of the wounded was aided by the reserve forces in the city, and seeing the supplies continuously brought from across the river piling up neatly in the camp, I felt there was nothing more to worry about. I was enjoying a rare moment of leisure when I sensed someone lingering outside the tent.

‘What, is it Sigurd? Or Ubba?’

Thinking these brother rascals were about to cause some incident and had come to my tent while I was resting well, I went out to check and was greeted by a face that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, with a bewildered expression.

“J-Jarl Helgi! It’s an honor! I…”

“Refil. How could I not know you?”

Refil Bjornsson.

Bjorn’s second son. By generational order, I was his uncle, but in fact, he was a year older than me. (I’m still only 18.)

His very sturdy body, resembling Bjorn’s, showed signs of diligent training.

Bright blond hair and green eyes. His eye shape was subtly different from Bjorn’s, perhaps taking after his mother. But apart from the eyes, everything else looked as if Bjorn had been pressed in a machine and stamped out.

If I had to classify him, I’d put him in the super rookie category along with Storolf under my command. Of course, their birth status was quite different.

Anyway, what on earth was this prince doing here?

“What’s going on? Has Aella moved?”

“No, my Jarl. Aella and Osberht haven’t moved directly, but they’ve sent someone instead.”

“Someone?”

“Yes. Someone waving a white flag. They want to negotiate, so Father—I mean, Jarl Bjorn asked me to bring you, Jarl Helgi.”

“I see.”

Negotiate. Negotiate?

“I’ll go right away. Wait a moment.”

“Understood!”

Perhaps because he grew up watching Bjorn, looking at Refil gave me the strange feeling of seeing a stiff steel robot. Like a prototype where the software hadn’t been smoothly installed yet.

Leaving Refil standing at attention outside the tent, I quickly tidied up where I had briefly rested and slowly put on my armor and gear.

I tied my shoelaces twice more to ensure they weren’t loose, checked the thin belt fastening the undergarments, then donned the armor made of numerous good iron rings fastened together with rivets, and draped a cloth cloak over it.

Over the armor, I added another large belt, tucked a hand axe into my right side, and adjusted the belt here and there to make my body comfortable.

After finishing this process that felt like layering on multiple layers, I finally slung my shield on my back, connected the sword and scabbard to my belt, then picked up the large two-handed axe standing at the entrance and stepped out.

‘The weather is sweltering hot.’

Even in this high latitude region, summer was still summer, and the sun’s merciless gaze was too hot.

But what could be done? A little heat was better than taking a blind blade or arrow to the bare skin. It was right to be bundled up like this.

“Let’s go, Refil.”

“Yes!”

Refil was respectful to all my other brothers, but he seemed especially so towards me. No, come to think of it, it wasn’t just Refil.

To be precise, everyone except my brothers and two mothers found me difficult to approach.

I roughly knew the reason… but it was still a bit lonely sometimes.

I had guessed it from the moment I was born as a king’s son, but I could never experience peer friendships, like doing foolish things together and getting scolded by parents—such trivial things.

Having had no true friends in my previous life either, I could only feel regret.

“We’ve arrived. I’ll see you later, Refil.”

“Y-yes! Jarl Helgi! Understood!”

The stoic Refil hesitated, looking as if he had something to say to me but couldn’t bring himself to speak. So I stopped as I was about to enter the tent and asked abruptly:

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing urgent… May I speak to you privately later?”

A rare look of embarrassment appeared on Refil’s face.

“Hmm- Alright. Let’s talk later.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Yes, Refil’s unspoken secret wasn’t the urgent matter now.

I took a deep breath of relief and nodded to Refil, then strode into the large open tent.

Though no carpet had been laid and it was an extremely practical tent, the glinting eyes of the Huskarlar (bodyguards) vigilantly guarding all sides created a strange sense of pressure.

If an unauthorized person dared to step in, they would immediately face an axe.

Beyond that fierce guard, I saw Bjorn sitting on a chair covered with various animal hides, and my brothers standing around him. They all gave me meaningful looks, and opposite them stood a man who appeared to be Aella’s messenger.

“You’ve come, Helgi. Perfect timing. This is Earl Uhtred, who has brought Aella’s… proposal. Uhtred, this is my brother, Helgi Ragnarson.”

Bjorn’s eyes twitched slightly as he uttered the word “proposal” from Aella, and he extended his arm to indicate Uhtred of Northumbria.

Dark brown hair almost black, blue eyes. Under the characteristically long hair of the Angles, wisdom shone in his eyes. I thought his face looked familiar, and indeed, this was the Northumbrian commander who had been attacking the section of wall I was in charge of.

“It’s an honor to meet you like this, Jarl Helgi.”

His slight bow was neither servile nor insulting.

“Pleased to meet you, Earl Uhtred.”

I also gave him a slight nod in return.

A good warrior deserves respect. Moreover, wasn’t he a man who had come to a place where he could potentially die, even if it was on the king’s orders? Courage is our virtue.

“Well, I think that’s enough for introductions. Will you now tell us what message Aella has sent, Uhtred?”

However, the formal atmosphere was short-lived. The mood in the tent deepened at Bjorn’s words, which went straight to the point.

“Of course, Jarl Bjorn. Then, I will convey the words that the Cyning of Northumbria has ordered me to deliver.”

Uhtred, maintaining as calm an expression as possible without being flustered, looked carefully at Bjorn and the brothers around him as he spoke.

“The Cyning wishes to stop the fighting. In return, he offers five wagon loads of-”

“Nonsense.”

Unfortunately, Uhtred’s calm voice quickly faded. Bjorn, his eyes seeming to spark with fire, quietly cut off those words.

“Aella is playing a foolish game.”

Bjorn, speaking with cold sarcasm contrary to his usual demeanor, leaned forward, casting a shadow over his face.

“I know why you’re here, Uhtred of Northumbria. We won’t listen to a single word about ending the war, so observe everything here and report exactly what you’ve seen to Aella.”

Only then did Uhtred’s calm demeanor crack. This brave Angle’s eyes were wavering.

“We can wait here as long as we need to, but how much time does Aella have left? If he stalls any longer, he’ll lose even a place to return to.”

Bjorn’s voice, which continued to utter words that would shake Uhtred’s mind and body while maintaining an expressionless face, sounded more pleased than ever.

“Go and tell your Cyning. Tell him to face his fate instead of hiding like a coward.”

With those final words, a long silence followed. Uhtred nodded with difficulty.

“… I understand, Jarl Bjorn.”

“Good. Escort this brave man out of the camp.”

“Yes! Jarl Bjorn!”

There was no strength in Uhtred’s steps as he headed out, guided by the Huskarlar.

“It seems Olaf has struck Strathclyde, as Ivarr’s intelligence suggested. We keep getting reports that a chunk of warriors has left the enemy’s ranks. Aella has become desperate.”

“What if it’s a trap?”

Ubba, always trying to maintain composure, suggested a possibility, but Bjorn didn’t seem too concerned.

“It doesn’t matter. If so, they will truly lose their rear. We’ll just withdraw for a while, that’s all.”

Watching all of us brothers nod in unison, Bjorn put a period to the discussion.

“It’s a battle, brothers. Let’s feed our warriors well and prepare for a great fight. Soon, the ravens will feast.”

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Aella couldn’t run away. Neither could Osberht.

They had too much to lose, and now they realized that if they didn’t crush us here, they would face an even more difficult situation.

Although the warriors of Strathclyde had deserted and some disloyal earls had fled during the night, the Northumbrian forces were still strong enough to contend with us.

In terms of sheer numbers, that is.

In my opinion, battle was like rolling dice while relying on uncertainty. It would be nice if all the dice showed sixes, but we all knew that wasn’t the case.

I intended to win today without fail, and I wanted to completely finish off Aella and Osberht.

If we let them slip away here, how many more years would we have to waste? As Aella and Osberht had kindly demonstrated to us, attacking a high and well-defended fortress was not something to be done in one’s right mind.

So we had to end it here, no matter what.

I would smash the dice and directly draw the number six with the blood of our enemies.

In a wide space where both sides could sufficiently face each other.

The long line of Norse forces, with the warriors of Aros positioned at the center.

Standing at the head of my warriors, I calmly observed the enemy’s long, stretched-out formation. Certainly, it was thicker and longer than ours. But not an impossible number to defeat.

“Jarl Helgi, we are ready.”

“Good. Then let’s begin, Hrolf.”

“Understood, my Jarl.”

At Hrolf’s signal, the horn trumpets blared loudly to announce the advance, and as the beasts in the forest across from us all held their breath to watch this space, the humans of both sides finally began to close the gap in front of them.

[Buuuung- Buuuung-]

‘Hel, grant me strength.’

Faced with uncertainty, even I ended up seeking a god in the end. But I had to summon courage, even if it meant doing this.

I had to have faith.

Believe in yourself, Helgi Ragnarsson.

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IT’S TIME AELLAAA!

Anyways, thank a bunch for reading, I appreciate every single one of you so so much. If you find any errors ping Oihs in the Arcane Translations discord.