Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 15 Goal
After the profits were divided, the news quickly spread throughout Gothenburg. Almost everyone knew that Ivar and his men had made a fortune, and they couldn't help but feel envious, calling for the raiding of Britain in the spring of the following year.

Faced with the enthusiastic participation of his subjects, Ragnar promised to contact King Eric and launch an even larger raid.

After dismissing everyone, he called Vig aside and said, "Each pound of silver can be exchanged for eight cows, so you have the equivalent of a huge fortune of one hundred and sixty cows. How do you plan to spend it?"

"I need to buy a set of chainmail from you." After the battle with the Pechenegs, Vig had come to realize the importance of a good set of armor. If he hadn't worn his armor that day, he could have only managed to kill three nomads at most.

“Last year we successfully raided Lundnium, and I got three sets of chainmail. I’ll give you one later as a reward for killing Lord Borg with your own hands.”

so generous?

Vig followed Ragnar to the lord's bedroom, took out a large chainmail and put it on, inexplicably feeling a sense of security.

Looking down, the armor, weighing about 24 kilograms, is woven from countless iron rings, each one centimeter in diameter. Each iron ring connects to four other rings, forming a dense mesh structure.

As a top-tier piece of armor in the early Middle Ages, chainmail offered excellent protection, able to withstand sword cuts and arrow thrusts, but it could not reduce blunt force damage from axes and hammers. In addition, spear thrusts also had a small chance of injuring the wearer.

"Thank you for your generosity, I have no other requests."

Vig was quite satisfied, but then he suddenly recalled the historical descriptions of the Crusader knights, which claimed that this group was far more powerful than peasant soldiers. Now it seemed that chainmail probably played a significant role in this.

After the reward was given, Ragnar asked Vig for advice on the next raid, to which Vig replied:
"The more people the better. If we can gather three thousand people this time, we can try to attack the three 'great powers' of Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex. The benefits will be far greater than plundering those small fry forces."

“Well said,” Ragnar nodded in agreement. “In recent years, Viking raids have become more and more frequent, and those small countries can’t extract much profit from them. It’s time to launch another large-scale raid.”

Five days later, Ragnar summoned the Shield Guards and instructed them to invite nobles from various regions to a banquet in Gothenburg. Vig was assigned to Örebro in the northeast, and due to the long distance, he was permitted to travel there on horseback.

During his six-month stay with the Ross tribe, he took the time to master the most basic horsemanship.

As for the more difficult skills of mounted combat, spear charges, and mounted archery, Vig has no intention of learning them yet, because the horses in the Nordic region are of poor quality in all aspects and are not suitable as warhorses. For a long time, the Vikings generally fought on foot, and cavalry was rarely seen. Looking at Ragnar's shield guards, only Gunnar's horsemanship was outstanding, but unfortunately, he had no opportunity to use it.

Huff, huff. The cold wind howled, and the white breath exhaled by the horses condensed into tiny ice crystals on their eyelashes, their breathing becoming increasingly rapid.

Five days ago, when the horse left Gothenburg, it looked shiny and healthy. After the ordeal along the way, Vig clearly felt that its body was gradually weakening and could only slow down slightly. On the morning of the sixth day, it arrived at a fork in the road.

Looking up, he saw many wisps of smoke rising from the northeast, and concluded that his destination—Örebro—was just ahead. He then bid farewell to Nils, who had been sent to Norrköping to deliver a message and would need to ride southeast for two more days.

Take care, brother.

"You too."

After parting ways, Vig arrived at the lord's longhouse before nightfall. Pushing open the door, a mixture of the aroma of wine and the heat of roasting meat wafted out. The long tables on both sides were crowded with people, and judging from the various meat dishes on the tables, a banquet was being held.

“I am Ragnar Rothbroek’s shield bearer, and I invite Lord Leonard to a banquet in Gothenburg to discuss the raid on Britain next spring.”

After he explained his purpose, nearly two-thirds of the people responded enthusiastically, while the rest looked at Lord Leonard, who was seated in the main seat, with strange expressions.

"Ragnar invited me to plunder?"

Leonard invited the envoy to sit down, revealing a troubled expression. "Unfortunately, last month the neighboring territory stole the game from my people. I was preparing to gather troops to attack, but if we lose too many people in this battle, we won't be able to go out and plunder for the next few years."

Upon learning that the stolen prey was merely a reindeer, Vig was surprised by the man's overreaction. "Sir," he said, "my lord intends to launch an unprecedented raid. If successful, you will reap unimaginable wealth and glory. Perhaps we should set aside our differences for now."

“That’s not right. I consulted Odin three days ago, and a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. It must be His command for me to attack Konsel.”

As soon as Leonard finished speaking, a muffled rumble of thunder came from outside, instantly giving him enough confidence. "Look, Odin is urging me to hurry up and get started. We can't delay any longer."

After the banquet, Vig was put into a guest room. He tossed and turned, and came up with a brilliant idea.

Since Leonard sees thunderstorms as divine will, he can imitate Franklin's kite experiment and show these Nordic barbarians what science is.

The next day, amidst the puzzled looks of the locals, he gathered materials from all over the place, weaving a kite with silk thread, rags, and sticks, and then making a Leyden jar—an eighteenth-century capacitor that could store static electricity—using pottery and metal foil.

After lunch, noticing the sky was overcast, Vig found a stick, stuck it into the ground, tied the string to the end of the kite, and then watched his homemade kite rise into the sky.

"What are you doing?"

Leonard was terrified when he saw several streaks of bright blue lightning flash across the clouds. The cold wind, carrying sand and gravel, stung his face, so he had no choice but to turn around and run back under the eaves.

A few minutes later, sensing that the atmosphere was ready, Vig took out his homemade Leyden jar and brought the iron rod at the top of the jar to the iron plate tied to the kite string. Instantly, a tiny blue arc of electricity flashed between the two, astonishing everyone present.

After waiting a moment, Vig retrieved the Leyden jar, touched the iron bar at the jar's mouth with his finger, felt a tingling sensation, and then burst into laughter, "The thunder in the sky is in my hands, who dares to try?"

Vig walked around with the pottery jar, but the crowd avoided him as if he were a plague, until a fearless young man mustered up the courage to try it and then shouted excitedly, "I've encountered lightning!"

Led by this man, some of the bolder ones began to follow suit. By the time Leonard reached out to touch it, the Leyden jar had almost no charge left, and he only felt a slight tingling sensation.

His eyes were fixed on Vig, and a deep fear was inadvertently revealed in them. "Chosen One, you are the warrior chosen by Odin."

(End of this chapter)