Ch.99Grancia Island – Viking

# When the Southern Bertrand Barony was annihilated by the Sky Island, the North erupted in turmoil just like the South had.

In the northern village of Akimbo.

Just three years ago, this village had been located in the central region rather than the north. Now under the authority of Margrave Napirom of the Uldur Kingdom, the villagers of Akimbo were busy drying fish they had caught.

“Whew… oh my aching bones. This is why you should die when you get old… Back in the day, sitting for 30 minutes wouldn’t have bothered me at all, but now my back is killing me.”

“Oh, come on, old man. You say the same thing every day. Take a short break before continuing.”

“What nonsense! I may complain because I’m old, but I need to work even harder for Lady Narita who was kind enough to hire an old man like me!”

“Yes, yes, then could you please get your hands moving again?”

“Bah, young people these days have no sense of humor.”

“Hmm? Hey there. What’s that?”

Behind the young man and the old man who were chatting while working, another elderly man sitting on a bench staring at the sea pointed toward the water.

“Old man, that’s the sea. The fish we’re drying all come from there—AAAHHH!”

“You fool! There’s a limit to making fun of your elders! I taught every child in this village how to read, and now you’re trying to lecture me!”

“But Elder Betom has dementia! So he might not know—”

“I asked what that is!”

Elder Betom pressed again.

Both the old man who had hit the young man on the head and the young man who was rubbing his sore spot turned their gaze to where Betom was pointing.

“That’s… what the…!”

“Bar… barbarians… It’s the barbarians’ flag! Jenai, ring the bell for the village guards right now! Hurry!”

“Y-yes sir!”

The northern barbarians.

Three years ago, when Grancia was still part of the mainland, these barbarians would frequently come down to raid the central regions. Now, three years after Grancia had become an island…

They had once again appeared on this land.

* * * * *

While the village of Akimbo was in an uproar over the barbarian attack, the northerners who were called barbarians—the Vikings—took no action despite witnessing the scene.

Because their Great Chieftain had given no orders.

The king of the northern barbarians and Great Chieftain of the Vikings, the one who had killed the Ice Drake that once ruled the Ice Mountains and taken its power.

His strength was proven when he defeated the previous Great Chieftain, the powerful axe-wielder who was the chieftain of the White Wolf Fang tribe, and claimed the position of Great Chieftain.

The man who asked to be called “Bug,” whose entire body was made of ice, stood at the forefront, feeling the sea breeze as he watched the village of Akimbo bustling with activity at the Vikings’ appearance.

“Great Chieftain, shall we start by conquering all the land, beginning with those people over there?”

A massive woman wearing white wolf fur approached him.

Even though Bug himself was not short, this woman was taller than him by two heads, with an almost inhuman size.

“No, we came to hunt the monster that will destroy the world. There’s nothing to gain from fighting the scrawny southerners, Axe Is Powerful.”

She was the former Great Chieftain who had been defeated by Bug and sworn loyalty to him—Axe Is Powerful.

“Then… shall we wait here? My people are already taking out their tools, thinking we’re going to raid.”

She turned her head to look behind her, where her subordinates were busy taking out and polishing their weapons.

Wearing Viking helmets with impressive horns and tending to heavy weapons like axes and hammers, they looked every bit like invaders to anyone watching.

“Hah…”

Bug sighed, exhaling ice at the sight.

“Wha—?! Oh sh—?!”

One Viking who was about to curse when his weapon was snatched by the incoming ice managed to save his life by remembering who controlled that ice.

“I’m going to speak with the village chief. The rest of you wait here.”

“What?! You mean we didn’t come out to raid after three years?!”

The Vikings protested to their Great Chieftain, the master of the Ice Mountains, the one who had killed the drake that had ruled the mountains for decades and taken its power.

The man who used the name Bug, whom the Vikings had given the unflattering nickname “Ice Is Strong,” but their protest was immediately shut down.

“What?! You have complaints about the Great Chieftain’s orders? Anyone with objections, step forward now! I, Axe Is Powerful, the faithful right hand of Bug and former Great Chieftain who slaughtered the werewolf variant, will be your opponent!”

At those words, everyone shook their heads.

The already powerful Axe Is Powerful had become at least three times stronger after fighting with their monstrous Great Chieftain, making her no less of a monster to them than the Great Chieftain himself.

“Thank you.”

“Yes, sir!”

After patting Axe Is Powerful on the shoulder to thank her for standing up for him, Bug stepped off the bow of the ship and fell toward the sea.

*Crack-crack*

As his feet touched the water, the sea began to freeze. Only the area where he stood froze, clearly demonstrating what an extraordinary master he was.

“My goodness, what in tarnation is that?”

“Hey, Palchil. What happens to us if they attack?”

“We’ll all die, I reckon, if someone can walk on the sea like that…”

Meanwhile, the village of Akimbo was in its own state of panic.

A human-like figure crossing the sea on foot!

In this village where most residents were elderly, this was an unprecedented sight. Everyone was watching, and only a few knowledgeable individuals were urging the younger people to flee.

“We’re all old and could die any day now, but you’re not. Go on now. If that monster attacks us, we’ll try to buy you as much time as we can.”

“What are you saying, Grandma! You and Grandpa live here—how could I run away alone?”

“Listen here. This grandmother is almost sixty now, so I’ve lived plenty. Hurry up and run away.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Grandma! We live together and we die together! We promised when Mom and Dad died three years ago when the land split! We die together or live together!”

“Oh my, I’m going to kill that girl, I swear. Why did I make such a promise?”

Seeing her granddaughter’s determined face, refusing to leave the village, the grandmother could only look back toward the sea helplessly.

The figure presumed to be a Viking walking across the sea had now reached the cliff near the village.

The strange being who had crossed the sea showed the villagers once more how he had accomplished this feat.

*Crack-crack-crack*

“Eeeek!”

As a sound similar to the earth splitting echoed, many people collapsed to the ground, recalling the nightmare from three years ago.

*Crack-crack*

“Lord have mercy, what is that? Ice? How did ice become stairs?”

Ice stairs had formed leading up the cliff.

In this rural village where magic was rarely seen, this was a fascinating sight for the elders over sixty. Those who knew even a little about magic thought that if the sea-crosser attacked, there would be nothing but death.

“My word, what in tarnation is that?”

“Is it human? Shoo, ghost, get away!”

“Elders, please don’t provoke it!”

As the ice figure approached, the startled villagers waved their hands frantically while staring with curious eyes.

Bug, feeling like an animal in a zoo cage, addressed the people of Akimbo village.

“Ah—hmm. I am Bug, the Great Chieftain who leads the Vikings.”

“What’d he say? Bug?”

“Dagnabbit, what’s this ice chunk saying?”

“Palchil, go talk to him.”

Despite the sudden conversation, the rare experience of talking with a northern barbarian seemed unlikely to cost them their lives, so the guard called Palchil stepped forward.

“Th-this is Akimbo Village! May I ask what brings Bug to our village?!”

“Oh my, was his voice always that loud?”

“He’s grown up so fast. He’ll be ready for marriage soon.”

Palchil’s face reddened at the sound of the grandmothers gossiping behind him, when Bug spoke up.

“Hmm. We have returned to this land after receiving a revelation.”

“Um… was that revelation perhaps from Lord Uldur…?”

“I don’t know. We Vikings worship strength, not gods. Anyway, the revelation that came to me one day was simple.”

“Simple…”

*Gulp*

Hearing the elderly people behind Palchil complaining that they couldn’t hear, Bug used his mana to ensure everyone gathered in the Akimbo village square could hear their conversation.

“Yes. A revelation that if we don’t kill the monster in the center of this land—the monster that split the continent—the world will end.”

“What? There’s a monster that split the continent in the center of this land?”

“What’s he saying, dagnabbit?”

“Anyway, we Vikings will not raid at all, so could you call the lord of this land so we can make contact with your kingdom?”

The Viking Great Chieftain Bug showed off his ice body while trying his best to smile kindly.

* * * * *

Inside a pure white room.

Cardinal Baxter was moving about busily.

He was organizing an inquisition team and dispatching inquisitors to gather information about the new heretics who had appeared in the northwest, calling themselves the Holy Kingdom of Agni, who had reportedly occupied the coastal city of Maltiz.

“The Bertrand Barony in the south was annihilated?”

“Yes. A woman who introduced herself as Letia Bertrand, wife of the former baron of the Bertrand family, reported that the barony was destroyed by the magical kingdom of Salion, which uses a device called a Sky Island that appeared in the south. The former baron died buying time for the territory’s residents to evacuate.”

“Sigh… We’re already busy with heretics, and now this strange business… What is this Sky Island?”

“Here are the photos they sent through the Holy Gate.”

Cardinal Baxter frowned as he looked at the photos handed to him by the informant.

There was literally an island floating in the sky.

“At least dozens of magic cannons… This won’t be easy. To float such a massive object would require either a Dragon Heart said to exist only in the mythical era, or tens of thousands of top-grade mana stones… Either way, this is troublesome.”

“Yes. They are reportedly continuing to move northward.”

“We’ll need the Magician Killer and the Hero to deal with the Sky Island. As for the heretics… let’s leave them be for now.”

“Yes, then—”

“Cardinal Baxter, urgent news!”

“Come in.”

The person who entered hurriedly produced a document.

“The Great Chieftain of the Vikings, barbarians who used to live in the northern regions, has come asking for cooperation to eliminate the one who split the continent, who supposedly exists in the center of this land?”

The northwestern heretics, the southern Sky Island, and now the northern Vikings.

The three years of peace were gradually coming to an end.