Olegin and his men were very nervous. Since the other party was a Norwegian businessman, it was normal for them to do business with swords. It was even more normal for them to have a group of "slashing masters" among them. Now he was in trouble.
They drew their swords and wanted to fight, but it was not their own idea.
Olegin signaled to his men that they were not allowed to fight without orders. He really did not want to hurt the harmony between Mellaren and the Norwegians.
But what's going on with those swords reflecting the dazzling sunlight?!
Olegin took a closer look and was surprised to find that the swords they were holding were made of the same material as his own.
"They... I used ten pounds of silver coins to buy a hard sword that can cut through iron as well as mud, and then used one pound of gold to inlay its patterns. I spent the equivalent of twenty pounds of silver coins on this sword. What?! They
These people actually have strong swords in their hands?!" Thinking of these "Norwegians" wearing burqas, Olegin completely believed in their strong financial resources this time.
Looking at the children lying on the ground and shivering in the corner, Olegin felt that there was probably no connection between these wild children and the Norwegians in burqas.
His active mind has quickly given up the plan to use force. Since the other party is very powerful, are they a caravan sent by a powerful Norwegian tribe leader on the other side of the mountain? If he can do business with these wealthy guys, his tribe will face many problems.
Won’t all troubles be solved?
When he thought that they could easily throw away a pound of silver coins in the tavern, Olegin, who was short of money at that time, completely changed his expression. The sword he was pointing at could be put back into the scabbard and he opened his arms again.
Olegin took three steps forward and looked directly at Arik, who was holding two swords and looking like a majestic giant crab showing its claws.
He complimented: "Norwegian guests from afar! I am the leader of Mellaren. I already know how wealthy you are. If you are very willing to do business, I will be your good friend. I will put away my weapons and return the favor."
Please don't be nervous and please put away your weapons."
Arik was confused for a moment. He originally wanted to chop off the heads of a few idiots in a fight, but when he saw that the opponents were outnumbered and had sheathed their swords, he couldn't say anything else.
Rurik, who had his head half exposed, had been observing secretly. Since the other party had stopped fighting, he got out of his cousin's protection.
He lifted up his burqa, showed his clean little face and golden ponytail, and asked loudly: "What are you doing?! Why are you beating the child?!"
"You? A child?" Olegin squinted his eyes and felt curious: "Who are you? Are these wild dogs your dependents?"
"Not really."
"Who are you? Aren't you afraid of being beaten to death by my people, like these people?" Olegin pointed at the children lying on the ground. He felt that this strange child in front of him could be scared.
"Why should I be afraid? I know you, you are Olegin, the leader of the Mellaren people."
Olegin was slightly surprised. He couldn't help but look at the private soldiers on the left and right, and shouted with a smile: "Oh, it seems that my name has spread over the other side of the mountain, and even a child knows it."
The private soldiers laughed and laughed, as if they were mocking.
Rurik was not angry and said coldly: "Don't hurt these children anymore. All your people will leave."
"Haha, a child dares to order me?"
"No! I..." Rurik composed himself, "At least I know that a brave person should attack an even braver person. I saw you beating a child, what kind of bravery is this?"
For a moment, Olegin felt suffocated. He said in a low voice, "They are not children. At least they are not children of my tribe. They are dirty wild dogs. They often steal, and now they are trying to
Attack me. Norwegians from afar, do you want to save these wild dogs?"
Rurik looked at the children who were sitting stupidly at the foot of the wooden wall, huddled up and waiting to be beaten. He felt that Olegin was trying to teach wild children. He was clearly just beating people for fun. When he thought that he needed to
Needless to say, I feel disgusted when doing large-scale business with such a guy. He is really nothing more than the leader of a dignified tribal alliance!
Rurik originally had some beautiful illusions about the leader Olegin. He learned about some unfavorable public opinions about this person through various channels. Unexpectedly, when he met today, this guy, even the most reliable leader, was not so good.
Too far.
I hate it, Olegin is a leader, and he is also a leader. For the benefit of the Ross tribe, the business must not only be done, but also be expanded, because money and materials are the most real.
From what this man said, it seemed that the people of Mälaren were also enduring the theft by outsiders. In order to suppress public dissatisfaction, Olegin, as the leader, used cruel methods.
Rurik looked at the raised heads of the trembling children. They were indeed men and women, and they all looked at them with pleading eyes.
Suddenly, he thought of the children he met not long ago, who were also expelled by the women of Melalen.
It seems that whether they are leaders or civilians, they are expelling foreign wild children?
But where did these children come from? Just judging from the children's golden hair, they have a typical Nordic appearance. Rurik can be sure that they were refugees from a certain tribe at that time. I am afraid they have experienced the same thing as Carlotta last year.
Exactly the same tragedy.
Save them?
certainly!
Rurik made up his mind and said loudly: "I can save them."
"Just you? Distinguished guest from afar, please accept your kindness! I really can't imagine how you Norwegians can be so kind. Aren't you good at robbing slaves and selling them? If you don't mind, please tell me your identity.
"Olegin's disdain was already palpable.
Tell him your identity? Of course you can't call yourself a Russian.
Now that he was playing the role of a Norwegian, Rurik had an idea: "We are Balmoks, and I am the son of Balmoks. This time we have crossed the mountains to visit you."
Olegin was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly put on a fake smile and said, "Balmok? Ah, it turns out it's you!"
He didn't know that Rurik was just acting on occasion. In order to avoid embarrassment, he had to show that he knew about the so-called Balmok people.
What is the reality? The residents of Narvik Port in this era have not yet been integrated into the Norwegian tribal alliance system. They are still independent and very closed. However, they are indeed Norwegians.
"So, can you forgive them now?" Rurik continued.
"Forgive? Of course you can, but you need...you need money."
"How much money can buy their lives?"
Olegin didn't expect that this beautiful boy would be so proactive, but he was not a guy who would do whatever it took to get some money. When he calmed down, he realized that these crazy dog-like children were actually vicious dogs in every sense of the word.
Recently, there have indeed been some more refugees from the north in the tribe, and almost all of them are young children.
Some businessmen are collecting these children, and some wealthy families are selecting the men and women who can be trained. As for the remaining children, in short, the private soldiers who patrol by themselves can always get reports from their tribesmen, and they find one or two hard-bodied bodies every morning.
's little body.
This is really unlucky. The tribesmen can't stand the sight of dead bodies near their homes, and they complain that their property is often stolen.
Who are the thieves? Those foreign children who have infiltrated into the tribe must be thieves.
If anyone can take away the filthiest guys left alive, dead or alive, even if the perpetrators are a group of Norwegians, that would be the best.
Olegin didn't think much, "Give me one silver coin for each child, and let them go." After that, he counted the ones that were obviously still walking, "Give me twenty silver coins, and as for those lying on the ground,
Forget it."
After saying that, Olegin immediately started killing. Those who had sheathed their iron swords finally showed their ferocious looks and completed the killings neatly without even blinking an eye.
"Alas! You actually!" Rurik was shocked. He noticed that the eyes of the child who witnessed the death of his companion were wide open and almost blurred, and behind him there was the metallic buzz of the sword being drawn.
"Killing people in front of us? Who do you think you are!" Arik felt that he was strongly insulted. He held two swords in his hands and shouted: "A real man, just fight with me."
Olegin shook his head with regret, motioned his men to pull away the pile of small corpses, and continued: "You should thank me. Anyway, if you take these people away, you can't save them. They are too seriously injured.
I gave them pleasure. It's really strange that you raised these children, raised them as slaves and sold them, and you actually pity them! You are really the strangest Norwegian people I have ever met."
Rurik bared his teeth. Why didn't he feel insulted?
Is the value of human life only one silver coin? It is really ridiculous. Or does this Olegin feel that he has the power of life and death in all things?
Rurik was furious. He resisted the humiliation, signaled his cousin to stop trying to anger those people, and personally untied the money bag from his cousin's waist. He threw it with all his strength like he was holding a medicine ball, but was beaten by a private man.
The soldier caught it and presented it to his master.
"This is a pound of silver, and we bought their lives!"
Olegin opened his money bag and took a look, and he couldn't help but feel happy. Although there was not much money, the silver coins were of very good quality. This was a good surprise for him who was very short of money.
joy.
"Now, let them live." Rurik continued.
Olegin nodded and stretched out his hand to signal the private soldiers to move out of the way so that the controlled child could escape.
Rurik turned to look at the children and shouted: "Come with me now! If you leave, you will survive!"
However, many children were frightened by the bloodshed just now.
"Hey! Don't you understand Norse? Follow me and I will give you food and clothes."
With such a promise, the child stood up boldly and tremblingly, dragging his hungry body tentatively towards Rurik. During this period, three boys actually ran away, leaving Rurik speechless.
.
Olegin shrugged and said deliberately: "Look, you think you are a good person? These wild children don't appreciate it."
Rurik said nothing and watched the remaining children walking faster and faster. Finally, they sat panting in front of him, pulling at his legs with their dirty little hands. He was obviously of the same age as them.
, they were as thin as skeletons, and their clothes were so damaged that they were almost non-existent, exposing their terrifying ribs, which was really terrifying.
They all complained that they were hungry, which made Rurik at a loss for a while.
Olegin turned his face and looked at the wild children who were mingling with the Norwegian travelers, and said loudly: "The rest is your own business. There are too many wild children recently, if you Norwegians can take them away
, it couldn't be better. I hope you can always have a kind heart and help me solve some troubles." He lowered his head and muttered: "Although your kindness is stupid."
Olegin and his men left one after another, and the area where the situation was once very tense returned to peace.
Those people from Mälaren who were hiding to watch the show walked out one after another, or continued to watch from a distance. There were also women approaching with baskets and some dried smoked fish.
A non-threatening old woman?
Arik lowered his guard and asked the man's purpose.
She handed over the fish in the basket and threw it directly on the ground. The hungry children grabbed it and stuffed it into their mouths, regardless of the filth.
It’s hard for Rurik to say anything. After all, the kindness of the people of Mellaren can only be maintained by an old lady?
He tried to talk to the kind old lady, but unexpectedly, the old lady also had something to say: "Are you Norwegians? It's a little different from what I saw. You'd better take all these thieves away and don't let them die in our country."
The tribe should never appear among us."
"Ah! Do you hate them so much?"
"A bunch of thieves! Please take them away, life is hard enough."
Rurik gave up now. The so-called kindness of the old lady was just a disguised eviction order.
The old lady left after delivering the fish and meat. Seeing the children, they no longer cared about the serious damage to the rags covering their bodies. They no longer cared about shame. They were just like puppies lying on the ground eating. After all, Cangli knew etiquette. They were far away from each other.
Starving to death is just one step away, so there is no need to worry about food appearance.
Rurik felt a little regretful that the three escaped boys followed him and knelt down as servants. They could have had a good future as New Rus's.
It's a pity that they ran away.
What's a little fish? Rurik ordered his men to unpack the bags where they stored dry food, took out the precious wheat cakes in the bags, broke them into pieces and distributed them to the hungry children.
The mercenaries did as they were told. Everyone knew that Master Rurik would take these boys and girls as his servants, and then they would become the subjects of training on the hills west of Fort Ross. It is very likely that these children, who eat like wild dogs, would
After a few years, it can be trained into a very combat-effective "war dog".
Rurik was not in a hurry to hear their identities. Since they could understand Norse anyway, it was time to go back soon. Taking them all back by then would be considered an unexpected gain of the trip.
"Eat quickly. After you finish eating, follow us to the beach. I will arrange a warm place for you tonight. Everyone can wear new clothes and eat good meat."
While the eyes of the boys and girls were filled with tears, their mouths kept chewing. They raised their heads and regarded the handsome Rurik with a golden ponytail as a savior sent by the gods.
At this moment, the three escaped boys actually appeared again! And this time they were not alone, but were actually followed by some children?!
They first looked around timidly, then hurriedly crossed the empty space in front of Chief Olegin's house, and sat panting in front of Rurik. This running was almost their last strength.
Rurik saw that except for the three boys, the other ten people seemed to be girls? This is strange. Oh, maybe some children ran away quickly and hid first due to the previous disaster?
"Give them something to eat and let them regain their strength."
The mercenaries obeyed the order, and each of the new children received a piece of wheat cake.
It seemed that someone had recovered some physical strength, but Rurik couldn't wait to ask: "Tell me, where did you come from?"
A shaggy-haired boy who looked to be less than ten years old reluctantly muttered: "We come from... Uppsala."
"Uppsala?!" Rurik remembered that there was a large tribe in the northeast of Lake Mälaren at that time, and its population was probably slightly larger than that of the Ross tribe.
"How did you Uppsala people end up here?"
The boy asked back: "Aren't you... Norwegian? How do you know about us Uppsala?"
There were no Melalen theatergoers around anymore, Rurik looked around and couldn't help laughing, and the mercenaries also laughed.
"Norwegian? That's a lie to that fool. We are Russians, and my status is very noble. Now kneel down and become my slave, and none of you will die."
They were so humble that they only prayed for survival, so they knelt down in front of Rurik.
"Now I declare that all of you are my servants. I am Rurik, Rurik of Rus, and I will bring you back to Rus. From now on you are not Uppsalas. You are Rus. Now you are all
Stand up and follow me."
The group of Uppsala boys and girls who had eaten something, at least they no longer walked so swaying, but they were still extremely hungry. Rurik was very happy that he landed in the market, and only brought a few rations to satisfy his hunger.
There was not much food, and even if it was given to the hungry children, they would not be starved to death.