Harald gently took off his hat and boldly stated his purpose: "I... came to beg for peace."
Otto nodded. Of course the other party sent people here for this purpose, it was not surprising at all. The key lies in what conditions the opponent wants to put forward when begging for peace.
He first asked: "Are you a messenger? Who are you? Do your words carry weight?"
"I... I am Harald of the Hrolev family. I... am just a businessman."
"Businessman?" Otto pointed to the tent curtain and said deliberately: "There is a head stuck at the door. That is your king. The King of Gotland is dead, where is your new king? Let that guy come over, so I You can also consider your surrender."
Harald was a little panicked, but also secretly happy in his heart. The priests in charge of the altar hope that Harald will serve as the new king and then make peace with the Rus. There is no benefit in being the king in a moment of crisis. The only function is to become a victim.
Harald reiterated: "I'm just a businessman."
"Businessman? Not necessarily!" Otto twisted his neck, he was already a little impatient. At the same time, the people sitting on the left and right, including Rurik, felt that things were too strange.
"Tell the truth!" Rurik suddenly spoke, "I can restrain the soldiers. Tell the truth and no one will harm you."
Harald's eyes turned away slightly. A young pretty boy? Does this person speak with great weight?
Just as Harald was about to express his gratitude, Otto shouted angrily: "Speak quickly! Who are you? Or Visby, what is the attitude of your new king?"
"Yes! We..." Harald knew that there was no need to retain information. The current Visby was no different from a ruin. "I am indeed a businessman, and King Harald who was killed by you is also a businessman himself."
"Where is your new king?"
"There is no new king! We only have more than ten families of big merchants. Some were killed by you on the battlefield, and some were forced to row away yesterday, and were all sunk and killed by your fleet. The people of Visby wanted to rob Property was killing each other, and the streets were littered with corpses, just like...the battlefields I passed.”
Is there such a thing? !
Rurik couldn't believe what he heard. If it was true, then the enemies actually killed each other under high pressure and terror?
"Could it be that Visby is now an empty city? You didn't even elect a king." Rurik asked, leaning his head.
"Everything is over!" Harald said, pointing to the south: "Some people went there, and they will definitely die of hunger and thirst in the woods. The priests also escaped, and they were going to the Temple of Odin to take refuge. There are only a handful of people in Visby who persist, and they are all old people and young children."
Rurik had already heard the clue: "So you mean, you are the last powerful person in Visby?"
"Probably...that's it."
"Oh? Are you the new king?"
"No! I'm not a king. I've never thought of it this way. I'm just a businessman." Harald hurriedly denied it, as if claiming to be a king was a grave sin.
Otto was furious. He asked: "A businessman? What are you doing here? Are you here begging for peace? For whom are you begging for peace?"
"It's my family."
"Really? I thought you wanted to beg for peace for others, but I didn't expect that you only care about yourself?"
Listening to this, it seems that the old leader of Ross is very dissatisfied with his words? But now that the matter has come to this, Harald has no intention of changing his mind.
"Why should I care about other people? I am a businessman, not a soldier. I have a lot of money. I gave it away just to buy peace."
After saying that, Harald immediately ordered his followers to push the box in front of him. He opened the box himself and revealed the silver coins.
"This is a hundred pounds of silver."
Otto narrowed his eyes: "Do you think that this little money can buy your peace? Our Russian army killed thousands of you, and our losses were minimal. We still have an army of three thousand people. Our army I can easily possess Visby, and all the wealth is mine.”
Harald had an idea and hurriedly flattered: "This is just a meeting gift, which only represents my sincerity in surrender. My family will be very useful to you. When you enter Visby, you must not know where the merchants have hidden their money. I basically know. You will get the entire wealth of Visby in a very short period of time. Also, great leader Ross, please take a look at this woman."
Things finally reached the most critical step.
"This is my daughter Asraqi. She is as beautiful as a fairy from Asgard. I dedicate her to you to be your woman."
Otto was startled suddenly, his eyes wandering around as he looked around. Yes, everyone's eyes were fixed on the beauty's face and figure.
"Be my woman? Haha, I'm too old." Otto waved his hands and shook his head, completely refusing.
Harald was a little flustered: "Then, I am willing to dedicate it to your son. My daughter has always longed to marry a real warrior. She is already sixteen years old. In the past four years, I have rejected all businessmen. The marriage proposal is just waiting for a true warrior. The Russians are the true warriors!"
Such flattering words made the elites of the Russian army present feel happy. Most of them also knew that behind these words was only the security that this person longed for.
Otto was so happy that he signaled to his son Rurik: "Son, this woman will be your wife..."
As if his back was stabbed by a steel needle, Rurik's head buzzed and he hurriedly stood up: "No! This is ridiculous. She is obviously much older than me."
"Oh? Is it just for this reason? You are not twelve years old, and Odin does not want you to break the rules and get married immediately." Otto looked at Harald's trembling eyes with arrogance again: "I forgot to introduce, this It is my only son Rurik, who is the commander-in-chief of our army. Do not think that he is just a child. It was he who commanded the decisive battle the day before yesterday and quickly defeated your Gotland army."
Aslaqi has given up long ago. She can marry anyone now, as long as she can gain peace in the family through this marriage. Unexpectedly, the Ross leader and his son actually refused one after another. Not only was this unexpected for her, but now she had to accept that the Gotland army was actually defeated by a beautiful boy.
In fact, Rurik also held back his energy and completely learned the woman's name. He almost laughed when he heard it.
Aslaug is indeed a Gotlander, shouldn't she be the wife of Ragnar the Dane? This woman was confirmed to be a real woman because there were only a few records recorded by Frankish historians.
Rurik tentatively believed that the rumored beauty Aslaqi was the woman in front of him. Don’t say it yet! To be fair, she is only sixteen years old and has the figure of an adult, but also has features that are almost childish. Her brows are deep and her chin is a relatively rare tapered shape, which shows that she must have eaten mostly soft food in the past days, and she is indeed a pampered fairy.
After listening to Harald's report, Riotto had no intention of using violence against the family.
"Aslaki! Your name is Aslaki? Now raise your head and look at me." Otto ordered.
The girl slowly raised her head, sniffed hard, and tried to put on a calm face.
"You long to marry a warrior? Answer me!"
"Yes! My only condition is that through my marriage, the Russians will reward my family with security."
"Yes, a woman who cares about love." Otto had always noticed the head of his eldest nephew Arik's head when he saw the beauty, and now he had made up his mind: "In this case, I will marry you to my nephew Arik. . He was a true warrior, and more than three hundred Gotlandic warriors died when he was injured! He was favored by Odin, and although he was injured, he never suffered from diseases. He also traveled to unknown lands and distant lands in the south. of the East. How about it? Only such a warrior can be your husband."
Otto thought that Aslaki would be very happy, but he really didn't expect that when he heard Arik's name, it was a complete bolt from the blue for the girl.
Even Harald's mouth was trembling. He didn't expect that "Arik the Butcher" was sitting not far from him.
"How is it? What are you in a daze? What are you afraid of?" Otto scolded, and immediately ordered Arik, who had been eager to try and was now ecstatic: "Go! Take your woman away now."
"Okay!" Arik responded.
Although there is a Peravina who takes care of the baby at home, and she is indeed the head wife, tradition also stipulates that an outstanding man can marry multiple wives and raise a large number of female slaves.
Aric, who had already controlled a large amount of money and had made great achievements in the war, was eager to achieve the most complete conquest of Gotland's enemies. Wouldn't it be nice to have the most beautiful woman in Gotland as your own?
He grabbed Aslaqi's elbow. Unexpectedly, the girl was actually struggling, not to mention that the strength of this struggle was much stronger than that of Peravina.
With a warrior's intuition, Arik dared to judge that this woman was not as weak as she seemed! She is definitely a female warrior, but Arik discovered the special characteristics of the two fingers on her right hand.
The Kovin and Finn archers all wear deer bone fingertips when drawing bows, and use the fingertips to hook the string.
The bow hunters of Rus and other tribal archers almost always hook the string with their index and middle fingers.
Aslaqi's two fingers were unexpectedly thick.
"Get up!" Arik pulled her up neatly with a strong force.
Otto was a little displeased: "Asraqi, woman from Gotland, is my Arik not worthy of you? You have no right to bargain here! Be honest! I'm warning you, I don't care whether you are Arik or not." Fairy of Sgard, but Odin does stand on the side of us Rus. You can refuse, and soon you and your father, along with everyone in your family, will have their heads hammered into the wood."
Harald was also anxious. Although he didn't like the cruelty of "Arik the Butcher" very much, but in this close encounter, the so-called "butcher" looked quite heroic, at least much better than those businessmen with rude faces. .
"Aslaqi, don't refuse! He is your man. For the sake of our family, you must..."
For a moment, she followed her father's instructions and gave up resistance, tilting her head and letting Arik take her away. Immediately afterwards, Asraqi actually sat next to Arik, becoming a member of many elite forces in the Ross army.
Although there was a situation, Otto felt that he had completed the task well, and his attitude became kind again: "We Russians are reasonable. If you give half of your family wealth and your daughter, I will allow you to surrender." It will also ensure the safety of your family. Don’t be a Gotlander from now on, just be us Rus. Your family will serve my family and my Rurik from now on.”
Is this a safety statement? It seems so.
Harald no longer had any nostalgia for Visby. The Ross people have become a powerful force. Looking at the courage of the Ross leader, Harald does not think that this person or even the entire Ross tribe will surrender to the Melalen people.
Of course, making money as a business family is the most important thing. Although the daughter was given to the infamous Arik, in exchange for the family's safety and future hope, the daughter's sacrifice was worth it. It was for her that she, as a father, felt really guilty.
Harald and Asraqi, father and daughter, both believed those bad rumors, and this was indeed the case. Arik was a strange man who was obsessed with revenge and even chopped down the poultry raised by his enemies. . But this never meant that he would be cruel to his women.
It is true that he is a cold-blooded man, but only for his enemies. Now that he has control over the woman who is said to be the most beautiful woman in Gotland, he just wants to complete the wedding ceremony quickly, preferably tonight.
Harald brought exciting information, and Rurik decided to believe this man, that Visby had become a decaying ghost town.
Military commander Rurik immediately made a decision, and the army stopped any repairs. After lunch, the whole army rushed to Visby and had dinner in the city.
The seemingly loose army of Ross began to gather. They quickly buried the last bones of the brothers who died in the battle and took the time to eat the dried fish.
When the vast number of warriors thought that there were a large number of cattle, sheep, gold and silver, and even wheat in stock in Visby, their stomachs began to growl uncontrollably.
The Ross army began to organize itself. Although the two warrior flag teams had reduced their numbers a lot, the teams lined up in the matrix were still heroic.
Each flag team lined up in an array, and the flag bearer carried the flag of the flag team and began to move forward in an orderly manner.
Especially the Slavic flag team, with eight hundred spears like a marching forest, their neat pace gave Harald and his entourage a huge shock.
A large number of pack reindeer were pulling carts filled with goods, and some people were pushing and pulling two-wheeled carts carrying some kind of heavy equipment.
Harald rubbed his eyes hard, and he saw a group of girls and boys. This group of extremely young warriors also lined up in a very neat line. They either carried bows, or a kind of bow parallel to the wood. Follow closely the group in front.
It seems that the Ross people also mobilized all the strength of their tribe. Even the leader of Ross was actually trained as a warrior by his children. For this decisive battle, the Ross people must have been preparing for many years!
And this was just the power of the Ross people. Harald's eyes went straight when he saw all this.
Look, it was such a neat army marching through a battlefield full of gray corpses. They seemed to have almost no losses, and there were as many as 900 Danish mercenaries lying on the battlefield.
"The Russians are so powerful. If the Danish army comes for reinforcements, the Danes will be the ones who lose in the end!" Harald no longer dared to think about it. Instead, he was busy on his way with his head raised. He was eager to leave this terrible battlefield. .
As for the future of the family, it all depends on the fate of the Russian people.
