Rise of Rurik

A flag suddenly hoisted from the lonely mast of the boat, and Spuyut took a closer look. Isn't that special pattern...

"Is it Ross? Is it ours?!"

In desperation, Speuter urgently ordered the crossbow to be unloaded, and the attack order was suspended.

Looking at the boat, there are some guys in black robes. The boat is constantly ups and downs on the sea. The people on the boat are not afraid of the ocean or the big boat.

As the two ships approached, I saw one person on the small boat began to dance the flag wildly, and even shouted: "I am the blue fox! The blue fox of the Gould family! Are you Ross ships? Quickly pick us up on board. !"

Speuter was clinging to the side of the boat. He couldn't hear it clearly, at least he was sure that the other party was definitely a Frankish priest. As for the Ross flag in his hand, a thought came to his mind.

For Speuter knew a lot about Esquil, and knew that the prince had given permission to build a monastery in the duchy. Those priests had no intention of fighting, they were eccentrics who could quietly chant sutras on the verge of death. There was no threat to them, and perhaps the brothers could get a little extra reward for delivering them safely to the prince.

The rope ladder was dropped, and all seven people on board, including the rower, got into the big boat.

As soon as he got on the boat, a lean man with no beard, no hair on top of his head, wearing a black robe couldn't wait to approach Speuter, and said something in his mouth: "Ah! After almost a whole year, I finally saw you like this. Old Ross."

This time, Spuut was taken aback again, only because the child spoke the standard Norse Rosberg dialect. When Blue Fox was a child, he traveled back and forth between his ancestral home, the Unglath tribe and the Ross tribe, and was thrown in Roseburg by his father for most of the time, only then did he learn a standard Roseburg dialect.

The Norse language is mastered by all Viking tribes, and Roseburg is the northernmost stronghold. The long-term blockade has made the dialect here its own faction, which is very different from the common dialect of the Lake Melaren in some specific vocabulary. Even the stress position in the pronunciation of words is different. Although there is no obstacle to communication between different tribes, the old Rus can tell whether the other is their own through words.

"You... Who are you?! We Russ?" Speuter asked subconsciously, very surprised.

"Oh? You don't know me anymore? It's no wonder that my Gould family gave me a skinny guy in a hundred years. No way, these are the will of God. I'm standing in front of my father now, and he certainly won't recognize me. Me. And Lord Rurik, who must not believe I am Blue Fox Gouldson."

"Ah? I heard that right? Are you a blue fox? You...you're not dead?!"

Speuter looked stunned,

The blue fox was as surprised, and then angrily said: "Which idiot said that I am dead? I am a servant of the prince, and good luck is with me. And now that the gods of the Franks are also protecting me, how can I die in a confused way? Yes? Now, great explorer, why are you here? Oh, it's all Odin's will."

A series of punch lines, although very absurd, Speuter is willing to believe that the man in front of him is the blue fox, at least the soul is. "Yes, all of this is Odin's will..."

At least Esquill's identity can be determined. As soon as Speuter said this person's embarrassing incident in Ross, he was immediately refuted by Esquier. Needless to say, this old guy is Eskil unmistakably.

They went to Ross to meet Lord Rurik, and the thin man who called himself Blue Fox revealed that he would report information about Frank.

In this way, there is no meaning to stay, whether the thin man is really a blue fox, let the prince judge by himself.

The big ship hurriedly turned around, fully sailed, and galloped away in the direction of New Roseburg in the east.

The brothers stayed on the ship for over a month, a period that did not even land. Their bodies exuded an indescribable odor, and the men in black with another belief who had boarded the ship came to ask questions one after another.

The blue fox, whose cheekbones were already very thin, had already had enough of the hard life of the Frankish priests, and when it was time to eat, he resumed the heavy food in the past in an instant.

It is true that the days on the ship can not be described as leisurely. Robbery is accompanied by battle, which consumes a lot of physical strength. Afterwards, landing on the enemy ship to carry the spoils will consume more physical strength. The deck needs to be cleaned regularly, the important shipboard weapons need frequent maintenance, and raising and lowering the sails is a serious physical task.

There are still some hard buns in reserve, but they are starting to taste sour. Even though it was necessary to bake to dehydrate completely for preservation, now absorbing the salt spray from the sea, they replenished the moisture and began to mold.

The only constant is those salted fish, which are the most accustomed food of the Rus people in the past.

The sour wheat cake is still much less interesting than the sour brown bread. The blue fox eats the wheat cake and also eats the salted fish. When the big net that was thrown is retracted, the lively herring caught in the net is also in his hands. Cut the fish with a knife and swallow the flesh whole.

Although there is a cross hanging on his chest, the blue fox has returned to its former style.

The ship had already represented Ross, and he had left the Franks completely, and no longer had to obey the priestly ascetic rules of self-discipline.

As to whether the man was a blue fox or not, in his eloquent descriptions, Speuter not only fully trusted, but also admired the kid's adventures in Frank and, most importantly, the unknown incident in Hazelby. fighting.

The boring life at sea needs fresh stories to adjust. The blue fox who boarded the ship has completely become the king of the story, and it seems that other boarding people have become dispensable.

However, as Vardy revealed his identity as a Slav, the Slavic ethnic pirates who were wearing it immediately came over to get emotional. The two sides have different dialects, most of the vocabulary is the same, and they can communicate with each other. In a sense, this was also the first contact between the West Slavic Obertides and the East Slavic Ilmen.

As for the Northern Competency Esquil, the old boy has been terrified since he hit the ship. He saw the big net bag hanging on the stern of the boat, and he looked closely at it and it was full of human heads!

"Oh! God, am I on Satan's ship?!"

No one cared about his beliefs, and he was simply an outsider who was simply provided with food and water by Speuter.

Speuter didn't want to have a relationship with such a person, and by the way also asked why the blue fox accepted the faith of the Franks, and got a very utilitarian answer: "I am a businessman, I believe in Frey in the north, go to Believe in their gods after Frank. Believe in several gods, and there will always be one who can protect you."

Faith does not mean absolutely no faith, and Spuut, who has asked himself, is not the kind of person who believes in a certain god. He still couldn't figure out how the prince, who was the "son of Odin", would let someone like Eskil go to Ross. Maybe the prince had his own intentions, and mortals couldn't guess.

When the blue fox asked if his father and brother were still in Roseburg, and where the Salmon Chief would be moored.

Spuut's description made him ecstatic.

Because Gould stayed on Tombstone Island in the Åland Islands at the crossroads of the ocean, the family established a material warehouse on the island to quickly supply the Ross store at the Birka Market on Lake Mälaren, or directly with the boat. Merchant direct transactions. Tombstone Island is a self-contained commercial port, and it is also a distribution center for the transportation of goods in the Principality of Ross. Especially since the restoration of navigation in 836, the number of Ross merchant ships to and from Tombstone Island has more than doubled compared with previous years.

The Ross fleet was cruising near Tombstone Island. One of them was defending the line of communication with armed forces, and the other was fishing.

The return of the Salmon Chief's ship, by contrast, didn't show much turbulence.

The western sea has disappeared, and a huge waterway leads to the interior. The bow of the ship is already pure fresh water. The large ship sails in the waters near the huge estuary of Lake Mälaren. So someone directly hoisted the wooden barrel to collect the water, and the brothers drank it frantically. After all, their fresh water use is already very nervous these days.

Just to the north, there are a series of small islands floating on the sea, one of which is Tombstone Island.

The Salmon Chief entered the port. At first, the people and businessmen felt that this was an ordinary Ross warship. In the past, an Avrora was an eye-catching "Big Mac", but now this type of ship cruises every day, and everyone is not surprised.

Until they were shocked to notice a group of scruffy, vomit-smelling guys walking off the plank and landing like idiots with laughter. The onlookers found the source of the stench, and that was actually a rotten head?

All the truth is revealed. This is the ship of the royal pirate Speuter. When they left the port, they threatened to kill wildly in the Danish waters. Does it seem like a lie?

How much loot did they get? A batch of seized axes, spearheads, and harpoons were sold on the spot. They were all rusted utensils, all made of wrought iron. The quality was not comparable to that of Ross iron, and the price was inevitably low. Speuter did not expect these things to make money, and a piece of news spread like wildfire and spread as soon as possible.

"They got a lot of wool! Haha!"

Some people eloquently preached it, and the onlookers immediately talked about it, which directly attracted a group of leather merchants from Melalen.

Let's talk about the good thing about buying wool, why are there less people from the Gould family? After all, since the Ostara and Gran tribes, who are good at raising cattle and sheep, have fled to death, there is no important wool supplier in Sweden. The extremely cold-resistant fibre was so in short supply that it became so sought-after that merchants knew that successful blending in the wool trade would yield a lot of money.

A dramatic thing happened.

Gould was indeed aging rapidly, and he was seriously ill when he heard the news of his second son's death. He can still walk after the whole winter of recuperation, and life will continue no matter what. Don't think about the expansion of his career in Denmark. He can only focus on the trade with Sweden.

He had just heard the news reported by the servants, and he held the silver-studded wooden staff and went straight to the pier, saying, "A group of pirates, let me see what treasures you have snatched. I will reward my son for revenge. you."

The second son has the courage of his youth, but unfortunately he lacks luck. Gould was also reflecting during his serious illness. Among the many family members, the kid said that he did not believe in gods and only believed in money. If he chose to believe in a god at that time, he would probably be lucky to survive.

Gould is a big businessman. Even if he becomes an old man, he has to walk out of the mansion on Tombstone Island in a mighty way. More than 20 entourages wore leather jackets with beautiful glass beads, doing their best to show off. They also shoved those who stood in their way arrogantly, shouting: "Gould the big businessman is coming, and the poor little businessmen are avoiding!"

Gould is so arrogant, even if the people have complaints, they all let go. There is no way, this old boy has received the kindness of the prince, and has always been able to follow the dragon. It is really unwise to annoy this person who will not live for a few years.

Looking at the big ship, the big businessman's appearance with great fanfare directly attracted the attention of the blue fox.

The black robe was thrown away, along with the hat. The blue fox has lost the style of the fat-headed fish in the past, and has actually changed his skin, except for the hidden birthmarks and moles.

Dad actually appeared in person! He didn't bother to push the crowd away too much and rushed forward, but unexpectedly, he was directly blocked by his father's guards.

"Who are you? Are you blind? Dare to block the way of the big businessman?"

The blue fox is now a fighter who has driven meat. It stands to reason that he expressed his attitude to Odin, and later converted to the Lord. The two great gods in the north and the south are serving, and a little scoundrel in front of him is nothing.

He noticed that the old man had grown old, although still a fat head and big ears, the brown patches on his face had increased, the beard and hair had become pale, and the blue eyes had lost their former style. Dad didn't pay attention to himself, it was really unreasonable.

The blue fox pushed hard and pushed the guard away directly. Just when the others wanted to take it down, he shouted in public: "I am the blue fox! The head of the Rus shop in Denmark appointed by the prince. Father, I am your second. Son of blue fox!" He even said his nickname, which directly hit Gould's heart.

Gould was trembling all over, his eyes fixed on the blue fox's face: "You? Are you my son? How could it be..."

"Why is it impossible? Or is it because I'm too thin for you to recognize me? Don't you all think I'm dead?"

"..." Gould's lips trembled, making him believe that the man in front of him was the second son was too difficult.

Lanhu had no choice. He probably expected this embarrassing situation, so he sold off his shirt to reveal his chest full of chest hair, and pointed to the birthmark and mole: "You will never forget this? No matter whether I am fat or thin, birthmarks often occur. accompany me."

Gould was finally deeply touched. He already believed that this was his own blue fox. As the man showed his back, there were tattooed words with rune letters on them, transliterated from Latin letters as GULDEN.

There is no doubt about it. Although the second son has a very strange appearance, he is a member of the Gould family!

It's not surprising that father and son meet each other so hard. Not only is this journey too dreamy, but also the fact that the family, men, women and children, are all fat, and within a hundred years, the lean and handsome Blue Fox has emerged. Not to mention, Lanhu is much more handsome after losing weight. He has lived as an ascetic for more than half a year from fat to thin. He has thought of the sweetness of losing weight, but he just experienced the days of ascetic once again. Blue Fox is a day. I don't want to wait either.

Spuut was going to resupply at Tombstone Island, and the crew rushed to the sauna to take a bath, and then enjoy the long-awaited cleansing of sulphur soap. They bought new clothes and changed them directly, and even the Saaremaa pirates who were on the boat completely changed their outfits.

When the blue fox finally returned home, Gould was so excited that he couldn't sleep at all. In the end, Gould had to sigh with emotion that a cub who was his own really deserved to die. He asked the blue fox to explain the adventure well, so the father and son had no choice but to talk about it all night.

It was the night talk that night, and Gould was excited to see his decaying body sinking into endless melancholy.

"I've heard of a holy mountain in the south, which is covered with snow and never melts. You actually got there. You've seen so much in the Frankish interior that I can't see it with my own eyes..."

The blue fox took out some yellow-white dry flowers from the cloth pocket, which looked very strange. "This is the flower that grows on the holy mountain. The Franks call it edelweiss. Only the brave can get it. So many Franks take these flowers as tokens of good luck and proof of courage. We businessmen are very important, so I wear them on body."

The blue fox in Gould's eyes has changed too much, he began to believe in gods and made some strange amulets, which is a beneficial change.

There is an opportunity to do business with the Franks, this is what Blue Fox said. From the perspective of pure businessmen, it is also possible for the Gould family to open up a Frankish Hamburg and Bremen market.

It's just that the current blue fox has not only lost its fat, but also has a mentality closer to a warrior.

He said fiercely: "The arrogance of the Frankish nobles is a great disgrace to us. If we can't beat them, we can do business peacefully. In my opinion, we Ross can directly invade those cities and snatch all the treasures. I will tell these things to the prince, The prince will definitely kill. Even if the prince is hesitant, as far as I know, the big pirate Speuter has already wanted to make a vote."

Times have changed, businessmen are no longer peaceful trades, but have completely turned into sword-fighting businesses, and his son has grown into a ruthless man directly from this disaster, which is really a blessing in disguise for the family.

Gould knew that his son would continue to go to the East. Blue Fox was an important trader appointed by the prince. There was a big mess in the Danish market, and he had to report to the prince.

Gould finally asked, "When your debriefing is over, what are your plans for the future?"

Lanhu didn't really think about it, and only said: "I can only follow the prince's decision in the future. But I heard that the prince intends to retaliate against Denmark. If there is a large-scale war, I will lead the way for the army. I want to die for the dead. Revenge, brothers! And those arrogant Franks, we'll take care of them too."

These words should not have been uttered by a businessman.

The son has changed and become unrecognizable. Gould had an awkward feeling that the so-called fat blue fox had died in Hazelby, and the person in front of him was neither a blue fox nor a blue fox. He inherited the former's memory but had a new belief. Maybe this is because of being forced by reality to make a big change of mind!

This is also a good thing, because according to the tradition, the second son does not divide the family property, and the wealth and power must be won by one's own ability. Compared with the blue fox's travels and the fact that he personally killed the enemy, Gould felt that this kid was more suitable for inheriting the family business than the eldest son, the white fox.

However, is the second son Blue Fox really rare?

Gould asked himself, based on what he knew about Prince Rurik, that kid would definitely continue to reuse such a talent as Lanhu.