novelraw Chapter 135: Squid
Chapter 135: Squid
Ch 135: Squid
Resting for a day in Tyne Town, Bjorn’s fleet left the dock, sailed along the coastline, and arrived at the Orkney Islands, unexpectedly encountering a one-eyed man who seemed somewhat familiar.
“You, you are…?”
“Helgi.”
Bjorn slapped his thigh, “Right, you’re Vig’s brother-in-law. I’ve heard Vig mention your name.”
The two chatted for a while. When Helgi heard that Bjorn intended to explore the unnamed islands west of Iceland, he suddenly became interested and proposed to join the expedition.
With permission granted, Helgi and nine sailors boarded Bjorn’s carrack—the Explorer.
Before departure, he instructed the remaining sailors, “Return to Isle of Skye, take Brita and Leif to Glasgow, and then travel overland to Tyne. Vig will take care of them.”
Leaving Orkney, Bjorn’s fleet sailed north to the Shetland Islands, which, according to a recent peace treaty, belonged to the Duke of Tyne.
The fleet anchored at the main island, where Bjorn found only a symbolic black banner; there were no soldiers or officials from Tyne. “Vig went to great lengths to seize this place. Did he discover some rare minerals?”
Until departure the next day, Bjorn continued to inquire about related news, harboring many questions as he sailed out to sea, deciding to ask Vig for a clear explanation at their next meeting.
Four days later, at midnight, after dinner, Bjorn and Helgi played Hnefatafl in the captain’s cabin. Life at sea was monotonous; besides playing games and chatting, the sailors couldn’t find any other pastime.
After losing three games in a row, Bjorn completely lost confidence, stretched, and went up to the deck to check on the watchmen.
Normally, a carrack merchant ship usually requires twenty sailors, including:
The captain, helmsman, sailors （ adjusting sails, loading and unloading goods, rowing oars when necessary ）, as well as a cook and a carpenter.
Including Helgi’s crew, the Explorer carried a total of thirty people. Bjorn arranged six people per group, divided into five shifts to take turns on watch, to prevent accidents.
After strolling along the deck, Bjorn woke up three men who were dozing. According to the rules, they lost their daily allowance of light beer and were responsible for cleaning the deck the next day.
“Captain, it’s not necessary, is it? We are in the western waters of Shetland, far from regular shipping lanes. It’s impossible to encounter pirates.”
“The rules cannot be changed,” Bjorn said with a gloomy face, “Even without pirates, we might encounter something else, such as floating icebergs at sea. Careful action never hurts!”
After muttering a few curses, he yawned and walked towards the cabin. Unexpectedly, the sailors’ faces turned pale, pointing to the sea on the starboard side, “Captain, you were right; there’s a sea monster!”
Bjorn abruptly turned his head and saw a huge, slender shadow swimming beneath the surface, unlike the silhouette of a whale.
Soon, the shadow approached the Explorer. Before the sailors could react, the sea suddenly erupted in bursts of spray, and three arms covered with suckers pierced the water, writhing in the air like giant pythons, and salty seawater splashed everywhere.
Faced with this strange creature never before seen, everyone was shocked. Only Bjorn reacted, picking up a four-meter-long oar and striking fiercely.
“Vahalla!”
He hit a tentacle closest to him, feeling its extremely slippery surface, gleaming with an indescribable sticky luster under the moonlight.
The next moment, the sea monster went into a rage, and three more tentacles emerged from the sea, attempting to strike the Explorer floating on the surface.
After a collision, the oar accidentally fell into the sea. Bjorn searched for a handy weapon, finding the sailors still dazed. He hurriedly urged them to act:
“What are you still standing there for? The Gods never allow cowards to enter the Hall of the Slain!”
No one answered; they remained motionless, leaving Bjorn alone to fight this monstrous sea creature that did not belong to this world.
Bang!
After several more impacts, a hole was torn in the Explorer’s sailcloth. Bjorn stumbled and fell onto the deck, watching those sucker-covered tentacles approaching, instinctively drawing the iron axe from his waist, intending to give it a final blow before he died.
Whoosh~
Suddenly, a crossbow bolt whizzed past Bjorn’s ear, directly piercing a thick, slippery tentacle. Suffering severe pain, the tentacle writhed more and more violently. After encountering a second crossbow bolt, it quickly retreated into the sea, as if nothing had happened.
“Are you alright?” Helgi walked over with a crossbow, checking Bjorn’s injuries.
“I’m… I’m fine. Thank you for saving my life and sparing me from being preyed upon by the Kraken （ the legendary sea monster ）.”
Helgi put down the crossbow and said dubiously, “Uh, this doesn’t seem like a sea monster, just a larger marine creature.”
Bjorn widened his eyes, “Have you seen this thing?”
Helgi: “No, but I heard Vig mention it. He said there is a giant squid in the North Sea, called a ‘Giant Squid’, with a length equivalent to 3-10 adult heights. Oh, we encountered the largest Giant Squid. I don’t know if it’s bad luck or good luck.”
Pausing for a moment, he continued to explain: “Vig also mentioned that the Giant Squid is the main food of sperm whales. Well, I estimate that it probably regarded the Explorer as a rather threatening whale, thinking that the Explorer was going to eat it, so it fought back.”
Knowing that these guesses originated from Vig, Bjorn didn’t know what to say for a while, “Oh well, since it’s the ‘Chosen One’s’ statement, I can only believe it.”
After surviving that night, the journey was relatively calm. The Explorer and five Viking longships reached Iceland.
The moment they stepped onto land, the Explorer’s crew eagerly shared their experiences, boasting that the “Kraken” sea monster had dozens of tentacles, which even obscured the moonlight when they extended out from the sea.
Hearing various strange rumors, the families who came to greet them were frightened and thought that continuing westward exploration was not a good idea. At their persuasion, the Explorer’s crew members successively withdrew, angering Bjorn greatly.
After three days of coercion and inducement, he reassembled an expedition team of forty people, with enough supplies and light beer onboard to last forty days.
“Departure! The eyes of the Gods are upon us!”
Bjorn ordered the departure. The crew turned the capstan to raise the iron anchor and set sail on their unknown journey.
In the years since settling in Iceland, besides Bjorn himself, three fishing boats have claimed to have seen the trace of the unnamed island, each in a different location.
It seems that this deserted island is vast. As long as you sail due west, even if you deviate slightly, you don’t need to worry about missing it.
At noon, Bjorn came to the stern deck, took out a pile of odds and ends to measure the direction, then marked it on the chart, explaining to Helgi beside him:
“The direction is correct. We expect to reach the coastline in 8-10 days. Discovering the island is not a problem; the key is to find a fjord where we can shelter from the wind.”