Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 272: Rurik's Request

Once the Cabinet meeting concluded, Wigg returned to his office to handle official documents. In the afternoon, he received word that Rurik's Envoy was requesting an audience.

"Understood. Have him wait in the side hall," Wigg replied.

Constructed at an immense cost of manpower and resources, the main hall of the Royal Palace had been completed three months prior.

The main hall featured a standard rectangular single-hall layout, measuring nearly one hundred and fifteen feet in length and sixty feet in width. Rows of stone pillars on either side supported the vaulted ceiling, creating lateral corridors. Light filtered in through high windows pieced together from multiple panes of stained glass. For warmth, stone fireplaces were built into the left and right walls, with the smoke channeled outside through chimneys in the roof.

Flanked by his guards, Wigg strode toward the throne at the far end of the hall. The throne rested upon a platform elevated by five stone steps. The lower seat beside it belonged to the Queen, while the princes, having no designated seats, stood just below the throne.

Whenever a banquet was held, long tables and benches would line the sides of the hall, providing ample seating for the Great Nobles, Cabinet members, Military Officers, and their families.

Taking his seat, Wigg spoke in a calm, measured tone. "Send him in."

Shortly after, heralded by the shouts of the guards, the Envoy entered the hall and calmly bowed to the King. After slogging through a deluge of meaningless pleasantries, he relayed his monarch's request: the purchase of Armor and Weapons.

Wigg leaned back against his throne, resting his chin in his left hand as his mind raced.

'Rurik has long managed the trade route from Constantinople to the mouth of the Neva River, and the Eastern Romans possess highly advanced metalworking techniques. Why wouldn't he purchase Military Equipment from them? Why go out of his way to travel all the way to Britain to find me?'He then raised a question aloud. "Who is your lord, er, King planning to wage war against? The Pechenegs?"

"You guessed correctly," the Envoy replied. "Those nomads frequently ravage the Tribes along the West Bank of the Dnieper River. King Rurik despises such bullying of the weak. He is currently assembling an army and has sworn to restore order to the trade routes."

Seeing an opportunity for profit, Wigg agreed to sell the Military Equipment. In a single transaction, he offloaded six hundred sets of old-style Armor, a massive quantity of Bow and arrow sets, iron spearheads, liquor, and processed wrought Iron Ingots. The total value amounted to two thousand three hundred pounds.

As for what the buyer actually intended to do with the armaments, Wigg could not have cared less. The other party's power base was far away in Eastern Europe—what were they going to do, turn the world upside down?

"Right, there is one more thing. All transactions must be paid in full upon delivery. I really have no desire to dispatch a fleet to your doorstep to collect a debt," Wigg added, the memory of the Lord of Bergen defaulting on his payments still fresh in his mind.

"It is only natural. Here is the deposit. Once your fleet delivers the goods, we will immediately pay the remaining balance," the Envoy assured him.

The Envoy whistled toward the outside of the hall. Four red-haired Slavs carried in a heavy bronze chest. Inside was a large quantity of Amber, with three solid gold ingots resting at the bottom.

Wigg gave a subtle nod, signaling his attendants to estimate the value. It roughly equated to a thousand pounds.

Seeing that the other party had displayed sufficient sincerity, he nodded in satisfaction. He agreed to have his fleet deliver the goods directly to their door, provided they added an extra two hundred pounds to cover shipping costs.

With the deal struck, the Envoy requested to depart the very next day. Despite the prosperity and wealth of Londinium, he had no time for leisure. With war imminent, he had to return to Novgorod as quickly as possible.

The Royal Fleet attached great importance to this transaction, dispatching three of their finest Warships. Riding a favorable tailwind, they delivered the shipment to the mouth of the Neva River by mid-September.

By this time, the mouth of the Neva River was steeped in the essence of autumn. Continuous, dreary rain had caused the marsh water levels to rise, leaving the ground terribly muddy and difficult to traverse. The leaves of the white birch trees along the banks had turned yellow, and the faint silhouettes of elk and wild wolves could be seen roaming the woods. Swayed by the biting chill of the wind, golden leaves rustled softly as they drifted down to blanket the surface of the mire, resembling a brilliantly colored carpet.

Because the Warships had a deep draft, the fleet commander worried they might run aground in the Neva River channel. He requested that the goods be handed over at the river mouth, to which the Envoy agreed.

Two hours later, the fleet anchored at a Viking Fishing Village on the southern bank of the Neva estuary. The local villagers were busy repairing their homes and fishing, while the women foraged for berries and mushrooms in the forest, stockpiling food for the coming winter. That afternoon, the thick black smoke the Envoy ignited as a signal drew forth twenty oared Longships, heavily laden with Furs and Amber to settle the remaining balance.

Once the exchange of goods was complete, the Envoy, a man named Hrolfr, invited the commander to visit Novgorod as a guest, but the offer was politely declined.

"The north wind is biting. The fleet must seize this window of relatively calm seas to return to Britain. Farewell, Your Excellency," the commander said.

Hrolfr minded the refusal little. After resting for a night in the Fishing Village, his fleet of oared ships sailed upstream along the Neva River, eventually reaching Lake Ladoga.

Two years prior, Rurik had constructed a new Castle on the southern shores of Lake Ladoga, claiming the region as part of his jurisdiction. Because the new Lord levied a relatively low Agricultural tax, the locals harbored little resentment or resistance.

From there, the fleet sailed south along the Volkhov River, which flowed from the southern end of Lake Ladoga, finally arriving at the settlement on the shores of Lake Ilmen—Novgorod.

This was Rurik's capital, home to four thousand inhabitants, consisting primarily of Vikings and local Slavs. The customs of both sides had gradually intertwined, allowing them to coexist in relative harmony.

"Where is the equipment? Let me see it!"

At the eastern docks of the city, Rurik leapt onto an oared Longship. He picked up an aging piece of Scale Armor and scrutinized it for a long while before drawing a small knife and stabbing it viciously several times. The quality was passable.

"Is it all second-hand goods like this?" he asked Hrolfr.

"The Armor is second-hand, but the iron swords and Yew Bows are brand new, and of excellent quality," Hrolfr explained, gesturing for his monarch to pry open a massive oak Wooden Bucket. Inside, it was packed with Yew Bows and Feathered Arrows.

Rurik pulled out a Yew Bow. After stringing it, he aimed at a distant white birch tree and loosed a shot, striking the trunk dead center. Upon closer inspection, he found that the penetrating power of the Feathered Arrows was exceptional.

Even more remarkably, when he examined the remaining Yew Bows and arrows, he discovered almost no variation between them; their dimensions were virtually identical.

"Excellent. The quality of this shipment is outstanding. They are well worth the price."

Rurik then turned his gaze toward the taciturn Niels. "You stayed in Londinium for a time last year while selling Spoils of War. I've heard that Britain's standard Iron Armor is crafted from linen interwoven with iron plates. Do you recall this?"

Prompted by his new boss, Niels answered honestly, "While I was a guest at the Royal Palace, I managed to observe the guards' black armor up close. I estimate its defensive capabilities are similar to regular Iron Armor, except the production costs must be astonishingly low. Otherwise, there is no way Wigg could ever afford to equip his entire army with Armor."

Looking back at the British civil war, there were two primary reasons why Wigg had managed to defeat Gunnar: his own exceptional Military talent, and his possession of a massive, highly disciplined force of armored infantry.

Relying on the sparsely populated Northern Marches, that man had silently amassed five thousand sets of standard black armor. Even now, the mere thought of it left Niels feeling a sense of disbelief.

Discussing anything related to Wigg left both Rurik and Niels with complicated emotions—a tangled web of envy, jealousy, and profound admiration. After a long pause, Rurik cut short the fruitless conversation and ordered his troops to assemble so they could distribute the newly acquired Military Equipment.