When 150 warriors from three turtle ships rushed the city walls, the defenders completely lost hope of returning. In less than half an hour, the remaining soldiers were forced to lay down their arms and surrender.
Entering the lord's hall, Vig found Ivar removing his armor and bandaging a wound on his left shoulder.
"Damn Sven, he really did ambush me with a detachment of heavy crossbowmen. Do you have any news of this man? I want to use his skull as a drinking cup."
"He escaped." In front of many warriors, Vig told his experience with a grim face, and the hall suddenly filled with laughter.
"Is this man worthy of being king? "His," Ivar's bushy eyebrows curled into a ball as he touched the wound, and he continued to treat his left shoulder wound.
That afternoon, Ivar summoned two thousand citizens and more than a thousand warriors. He and Vig climbed onto the second-story balcony side by side to declare themselves rulers of the city.
"Who is for? Who is against?"
No one dared ask the question. The sobs of women
and children could be heard dimly in the crowd. Ivar had no time to pay attention to the cries of the losers. He signaled his subordinates to pile the plundered treasures in front of the hall. Before dividing the spoils, he grabbed Vig's hand and said, "Vig Haakenson is the one to thank for this battle. The warships and strategies he devised saved the lives of many soldiers and helped us capture Durfilin early. One, let his deeds spread far and wide to the ends of the earth."
Led by Ivar, thousands of people shouted Vig's name in unison.
"The Serpent of the North!" "
The Serpent of the North!" "
The Chosen One!"
"The Serpent of the North"
...
Everywhere there were cheers. The nickname "Serpent of the North" had clearly overshadowed "The Chosen One." Apparently, everyone generally thought the five-fingered golden dragon on the flag was a strange snake.
Resisting the urge to complain, Vig took part in Ivar's money-sharing session. The ratio was as follows:
the warriors got 55%, Ivar and the protagonist got 15% each, and the remaining 15% was divided between the nobles of Manchun and Lancaster.
"Dear brother, you choose first."
"Are you sure?" After looking at each other for a few seconds, Vig realized that Ivar was not joking, so he jumped over the railing from the second floor balcony to the ground and chose the spoils of this battle.
Although Tyneburg was in dire need of labor, he had no intention of taking the slaves back. The loyalty of these people was a concern, which was tantamount to a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
After some thought, he chose two sapphire and gold brooches. Today's British nobles like to wear such jewelry on their chests. He and Heligif also had to have a decent brooch, so as not to lose their status in public.
The next moment, someone loudly reminded him: "Only ten pounds of silver, you still have two hundred and thirty pounds of silver."
In the next few minutes, Vig asked for one hundred and fifty pounds of silver, fifty suits of damaged iron armor, three intact heavy crossbows, sixty light crossbows, and all the Latin books.
Having correctly counted everything, he ordered his subordinates to load the loot into the cart and watched with interest what others chose.
For ordinary robbers, the most popular items are armor, iron swords, silver coins, and jewelry. Strong liquor and slaves are in the second tier, and cloth and iron tools are in the third tier. Food and livestock are not easy to carry, so they are the least popular.
By sunset, most people are content. Ivar's hospitality has turned the entire city into a three-day carnival.
That night, Ivar was drunk and kept patting Vig on the shoulder: "You've been a great help this time. Don't forget to ask for my help when you attack the Picts." "
It's expected to take two years."
In Vig's opinion, the difficulty of attacking the north is not great. The main thing is how to manage this unfamiliar land. If the operation is not carried out properly, it will most likely degenerate into a protracted war for security.
Weighing the pros and cons, he decided to first train a group of officers in the affairs who can read and count, and then consider sending troops north after sufficient training.
...
After the banquet, Vig's fleet sailed north along the coastline. During the voyage, he overheard the sailors mention the "Giant's Causeway" and was immediately intrigued.
"Where is this natural wonder?"
The tall young pirate replied, "Sail north for half a day."
At dusk, the fleet arrived at a deserted and strange beach. At that moment, the sea water was receding, and jagged gray stone pillars gradually emerged from the receding sea water. The hexagonal stone edges of the pillars glowed with a bronze sheen in the setting sun.
These stone pillars, about ten meters high, are arranged so neatly that they form a seawall that stretches for several kilometers, as if they were carefully carved by giants with axes and chisels.
"Gods above." One by one, the crew jumped off the ship, and someone pulled out a short axe to chop at the stone edge, leaving only white scratches where sparks flew. After a short discussion, everyone agreed that this miracle was created by a giant. Over
time, the tide receded even further, revealing even more stone pillars sleeping underwater. Yolen suddenly pointed to the junction of sea and sky:
"Look! These stone pillars lead to the sea!" Indeed, there were tens of thousands of stone pillars tightly packed outside, as if a bridge leading to Jotunheim emerged from the water.
(Jotunheim, one of the "Nine Kingdoms" in Norse mythology, is desolate and cold, and is the home of frost giants and mountain giants.)
Compared to everyone else, Vig's face was calm. Later, geographers explained that these basalt pillars had nothing to do with giants, but were formed by the cooling and hardening of magma from volcanic eruptions, some tens of millions of years ago.
"Hey, have you seen enough? Find a place to camp and cross the sea tomorrow morning."
...
Having landed at the mouth of the Derwent River, Vig spent three days on the road and returned to his territory at the end of May.
Looking at the dragon flag fluttering in the wind over Tyneburg, Vig finally cast aside his worries. When he was away from home, his greatest concern was the plundering of his own territory.
"Darling, are you back?"
Heligif was reading a book on the wall, enjoying the warm sun. When she saw her husband, she dropped the book and ran to meet him. In her panic, she even lost a shoe.
The woman ran all the way and threw herself into Vig's arms. He casually stroked his long dark brown hair several times: "How are things in the territory?"
"The summer harvest went smoothly. We successfully hosted two groups of Viking farmers, a total of 105 households."
Taking the sapphire brooch her husband had given her, Heligif placed it on her chest: "The heavy iron plough has a processing speed and plowing depth that far surpasses the light wooden plough. It is eagerly sought after by nobles and small landowners. I allow them to imitate it on the condition that a third of the land is allocated for the implementation of the three-field system. Almost half of them refused and would prefer to use the original wooden plough."
"Don't worry, wait until the autumn oat and pea harvest is over, they will naturally realize the superiority of the three-field system."
Things were going well in the territory, and Vig and his wife were enjoying a rare time of peace until they encountered a new problem in June.