The resistance of adults is indeed stronger than that of children, but Otto obviously overestimates the situation of deer farmers.
He judged others by himself, naively thinking that the children of the deer herders could be as tough as the children of the Ross tribe. However, after Harold Zuosen's inspection, he found that three children were as hard as ice lumps.
The remaining four children were obviously older. Although their conditions were not good, their bodies were still cold, but they still had a pulse.
"There are still four alive." Harold Johnson sighed.
"Well, I thought they were all dead."
"Chief, although the children are still alive, I think their situation is one step away from death. These prisoners are afraid that they will die in the next few days. They are destined to be taken away by the Valkyrie."
"Maybe that's it." Otto shook his head. He paid more attention to the plundered deer than he cared about these prisoners. "The deer farmers are all dead. Who among us is better at raising deer than these people?"
Haro Zuosen reluctantly said: "Well, maybe raising deer is not difficult. We just need to drive them to the hillside to eat grass. Didn't you also say that our Roseburg was the pasture of deer farmers a long time ago."
"I'm afraid that if I take the deer back, they will quickly turn into barbecue and go into my stomach. I can't expect my wife to raise deer. It seems that I still need some professional deer farmers. If I fail, then let the deer Eat them all.”
"Then try to save the remaining prisoners as much as possible." Harold Zuosen held his chin and muttered. "It is estimated that the chance of the four of them returning to Roseburg alive is very slim. We should try our best. Although they are still children, at least they are better than us. Know how to raise deer.”
"That's fine. Now, I have to take good care of these people."
Otto was very happy that he left the future servant Rick selected for his son. Fortunately, this girl did not freeze to death.
He already remembered this girl's childish appearance, and even more so the rather complicated braids she wore.
"Hallo Johnson, take care of the other three children and try not to let them freeze to death and starve to death. As for this one, I will take care of her myself."
Hearing this, the young Haro Zuosen was startled: "Chief, are you... Niya... maybe you should follow his consent."
"Oh? What do you think I want? Hehe! How is this possible? I just want her to be my son's servant, that's all."
"Working as a servant for Rurik? So is this girl a little old?"
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you are a little older or not understanding our language. Because Niya and I are already old, we may not be able to accompany Rurik for more years. Poor Rurik, at least I will Leave him a sister to take care of him.”
Haro Zuosen nodded: "If so, this girl is really lucky."
"But I still don't understand Valkyrie's intention. If the fate of the captives is death, there is nothing we can do. I only hope that my long-cherished wish can be realized."
Otto did not actually notice that the reason why many children froze to death was because their clothing was too thin.
In order to allow his son's servant to insist on returning to Roseburg, he began to pay attention to the girl's warmth and was more concerned about her mental condition.
When an animal skin was draped over her body, the girl's condition gradually improved. After he regained his energy a little, Otto immediately handed him a piece of bacon jerky.
"Chew it slowly and try not to starve to death."
Hunger was irresistible. As soon as the dying girl recovered, she couldn't wait to eat bacon.
The salty taste stimulated her instinct to eat. Perhaps she ate more salt in this meal than she had in a year.
Otto was still afraid that she would struggle to escape. After she finished chewing the meat and wrapped it in fur, he continued to tie her hands and feet and carried her whole body to the sled.
He ignored the girl's unintelligible language and fixed her firmly on the sled. She was like a piece of cargo. For the next time, she quietly watched the group of barbarians heading south. Keep moving forward.
She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't pay attention to her family's situation.
However, the actual situation is very tragic!
Harold Johnson did not take proper care of the other three. He argued that "it was God who took away their lives." The real situation is that Harold Johnson did not pay attention to keeping the prisoners warm and was helpless to deal with the high fever.
On the fourth night of the return trip, the three children under his care were all turned into cold "stones" in the cold wind and abandoned in the snow.
As it turned out, Otto didn't blame his old friend.
Because the team had already arrived at the big camp with a large number of deer, they had already started the fastest return journey according to the road signs set when they came.
Those who stayed in the big camp waited for many days, and when they saw the leader returning victorious with his herd of deer, they all regretted not following him.
Of course Otto didn't blame these people.
Once upon a time, everyone said that the location of Fort Ross was close to the edge of the human world. If you continue to go further north, you will fall into the dark world under the World Tree.
The fear of the unknown world restrains the desire to explore many so-called timid people, and Otto's triumph is a reward for the brave.
Otto was even a little lucky now. If everyone participated, he obviously wouldn't be able to own a hundred deer.
Deer, still too many.
Along the way, he had to focus on taking care of a deer herder girl. He soon developed a strange feeling, which became stronger as he got closer to Fort Ross.
In principle it is a gift to the son, a servant to the son, but essentially the girl is to become a member of her own family.
Because Otto was not stupid enough to treat servants as "talking tools", the girl still had a lot of work to do before her son grew up.
He has to do various chores in his family's longhouse, help his wife Niya with her tailoring work, take care of his son's daily life, and also take on the responsibility of a deer herder - raising deer.
With so much labor, the owner naturally wants to ensure her safety in order to obtain more labor value.
This is just like in the Eastern world, a family considers a plowing ox or a grinding donkey as a family member.
But servants are human beings after all. For a few days, Otto could feel that this girl was as docile as a lamb. Now, he simply no longer restrained her with ropes.
In a situation like this, a wise man would realize that running away could only mean freezing to death.
It was not entirely because of this practical reason that Otto released her from restraint, because among all the captives, this was the only one who survived to this day.
Reindeer pulled the sleigh, making the team's journey significantly faster. Also because everyone was focused on traveling, every day except for sleeping, they basically spent time driving the deer on sleds, and some weak deer were even killed by exhaustion.
Otto did not know the name of the deer herder girl at all, but he was very sure that it was the Valkyrie who spared the girl's life.
Including those who died, only one of the nineteen deer herders survived. Why was she the only one alive? !
A surprising thought suddenly appeared in Otto's mind.
"Yes! I have already chosen this person as my son's servant. When I made the decision, the Valkyrie had already seen everything clearly in the sky!"
Otto even came up with a more interesting association. The so-called great god Odin has a group of Valkyrie servants around him, so as Rurik, the "Blessing of Odin", he should have some servants around him.
Therefore, if he does not do well and causes this girl to die on the journey, it will definitely bring disaster to himself and even to Roseburg.
Otto was such a person, especially when he saw the wooden boards collected by the priest, his whole thoughts became similar to those of the priest. He was more in awe of Odin than ordinary Rusians, and never questioned whether Odin was real.
Now he has made up his mind that he must bring back the last deer herder and as many deer as possible.
