Early the next morning, Einar led the group of priests out of the military camp and went to find the location of the hostile forces in Novgorod. The group of priests had not walked such a long distance for a long time. In less than half an hour, they were so tired that they staggered and lay down in a coniferous forest.
Suddenly someone shouted: "There are enemies over there!"
The priests suddenly exploded, each one dropped what they were holding and fell to the ground with their heads in their hands. But after waiting left and right, no enemy appeared, so he couldn't help but raise his head and look around in confusion.
"Ah, it seems to be just a rabbit." The priest who shouted out first said sheepishly.
The priests breathed a sigh of relief and continued to return to the shade of the trees to enjoy the shade.
"Einar, why do we do such a dangerous thing?" A priest complained at the side, "The King of Sweden has said that it doesn't matter even if it doesn't succeed, she will give us another chance to prove the power of the Asa. . Can’t you just give up on this mission and wait until next time?”
"Idiot, that sentence was not meant for us, but for the soldiers around us. That woman is trying to win over people with her generosity!" Einar cursed the priest loudly, "Next chance? Who? Know what she wants me to do next time? Who knows if it will be more difficult than this time? There are countless opportunities, to put it nicely - if we really fail so many times, even if she doesn’t do anything , there is no place for us in the Pirate Kingdom!"
Suddenly another voice sounded: "Over there! There is an ambush over there!"
The priests' buttocks were still hot, and they suddenly jumped up again.
"Eh...it seems to be just the wind."
"Don't be surprised!"
The other priests cursed and sat back.
"Einard, this won't work!" Another priest said, "We only have so many people, and we don't have the strength to run. Once the enemy discovers us, all of us will be killed!"
Of all the priests, only Einar remained seated. Hearing the priest's words, he snorted from his nostrils: "What are you afraid of? We are not going to declare war."
"But this is the land of the infidels! They have every reason to kill us!"
"Don't forget, we are the envoys of the King of Sweden. Even if the King of Sweden wants to get rid of us, in the eyes of the other party, the King of Sweden is our backer!"
After hearing Einar's words, the group of priests finally breathed a sigh of relief. Ella's 20,000 troops are stationed on the shore. Even the pagans should not take action at will under such a deterrent.
Suddenly a priest jumped up, pointed in the distance and said, "Oh no... there are many enemies over there!"
The other priests glared at him: "See clearly before you speak!"
The priest was so aggrieved that he almost cried: "Yes, it's true!"
A strange voice suddenly sounded nearby: "Haha, of course it's true! And you can't run away! Come on!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen strong men suddenly jumped out of the coniferous forest and pushed all the thin priests to the ground.
"Let us go!" Einar threatened in a low voice, "We are the envoys of the King of Sweden. Her army has reached the coast of Novgorod. You will not want to anger her."
"King of Sweden? I can't pretend that I didn't hear this. Do you mean the very flat and very small girl? Is there a very round and very big maid next to you?"
The voice just sounded again. Following the voice, an extremely tall man appeared in front of everyone. His face was red and he was swaying as he walked, as if he had been drunk. He also held an exaggerated giant hammer in his hand.
Seeing the man's face, Einar shouted in surprise: "Oh! Rurik? Why is it you?"
Rurik was obviously stunned when his name was suddenly called. He bent down, squinted his eyes and looked at Einar carefully, and then suddenly thought of something and slapped his forehead: "Huh? Isn't this Einar, the priest of Upland? How come you have time to come here? coming?"
"Rurik, why are you here? Weren't you killed by Ragnar?"
Rurik's beard twitched: "Death? Who said that? I won't die that easily! I am Rurik, protected by Thor, the God of Thunder!"
As he spoke, Rurik raised the sledgehammer in his hand, and suddenly the sky was covered with dark clouds and thunder was rolling. As soon as Rurik released the sledgehammer, the lightning struck straight down from the sky as if it was being pulled. The huge sound made Einar's left ear buzz, and he almost went deaf.
"Is this... an elf-level protection?" Einar was surprised and delighted. "Rurik, has your protection power not weakened?"
"Weakening? Why are we weakening? I have become stronger than before! After all, I am Rurik, protected by Thor, the God of Thunder!"
Rurik drunkenly swung the hammer to the other side. Another bolt of lightning struck, hitting Einar's right ear. Einar ignored the "buzzing" sounds in his left and right ears and shouted excitedly to the sky: "This is a gift given to us by the Asa clan! Thank you Thor! Thank you Odin!"
The other priests imitated Einar and shouted: "Thank you Thor! Thank you Odin!"
Rurik's body was still shaking: "Huh? What's wrong? Is this some kind of festival?"
Einar lowered his head, leaned into Rurik's ear and whispered softly: "Rurik...do you want to become the king of all Sweden?"
…
…
Ella was sitting on the Flying Zealander, counting the days one by one.
"It's the seventh day, and the priests haven't come back. Amy, do you think they were killed, or were they planning a conspiracy against me?"
Amy replied nonchalantly: "Didn't Your Majesty already know about it?"
Ella's expression showed a little sadness: "This is the first time I have attacked a political opponent like this."
The force in Novgorod was led by Rurik - this information Harald had given to Ella early on. It’s just that the priests thought that Ella didn’t know. Rurik believed in Thor and had no reason to kill the priests. Therefore, the fact that those priests did not return after the time limit can only mean that they have betrayed Ella.
"I said it doesn't matter even if they fail. I said I would give them countless opportunities. As long as they can prove that they are still useful somewhere, I can give them a proper status...Why are they just unwilling? Coming back?"
"Your Majesty, I think it's because they know they are useless without God."
