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The priest translated my words, the crowd of the faithful calmed down a little. I went to the altar and picked up a large silver cross. This caused a stir in the crowd, and the priest also reacted.

- You can't, it belongs to God.

I looked at the cross, then at the priest.

- I don't want to offend your God, so I will ask his permission. I will throw this cross up, if your God wants it, the cross will hang in the air. If your God does not want it, the cross will fall on the ground and it belongs to me.

The cross fell to the ground ... I was as surprised as the priest.

Floki went behind the altar, picked up the goblet of wine, drank a little and spat out immediately. There was an uproar in the church. I took the goblet from Floki's hand, I took a sip ... it wasn't bad, a little sour, it would go well with red meat.

- Father, please ask them if there are craftsmen in this village who build ships?

There was one, I also asked about the crews of the ships.

I ordered my crew to remove anyone under 40 from the church ... when only the elderly remained in the church, I ordered them to be killed. At this age, they wouldn't sell well at Kattegat, and unfortunately they have to be fed ... and I didn't want to waste money.

It took two days to rob the entire settlement, we loaded everything we could on two ships ... Valuables, weapons, tools, food, clothes, raw materials and animals, but not all of them. And the people ... together with the crews and the priest 135 people.

The crews were reluctant to lend us a helping hand, unfortunately I had to convince them with stronger arguments.

I sent some people around the area to collect a pot of insects and needle and string. Then I randomly selected one of the slaves and had him tied to the table.

The Vikings brought the crews of these two ships, and I started my show.

I tore the slave's clothes open and with a knife cut his belly on the left side. I parted the wound with my hands and ordered some insects to be poured inside. They were mainly beetles, some insect larvae, grasshoppers, a few spiders ... and then I sewed up the wound.

Already, when the man was lying on the table and I cut him open, he screamed as if he was being killed ... now, when I freed him, he rolled on the ground and tore his wound with his hands, he tried to pull the insects out of the inside and he partially succeeded, but he also pulled out his intestines ... moments later he died.

I pointed to one of the captured crew members ... before he was brought to me, the man peed and shit his pants ...and I cannot work in such hygienic conditions.

Ultimately, my arguments were so strong that I managed to convince them to cooperate.

The ships we got were not pretty, but they had a lot of space and were more comfortable ... I told Floki to watch the crew and how to sail with this ship and learn as much as he could. We drove off the shore and headed east, in the direction of our first camp.

After a while, I went looking for Ragnar. He was in one of the booths, playing with the slave girl.

- Ulf, I'm busy ...

- Judging by the girl's face, you're probably not ... but for what you do you use your dick and I need your ears. Listen carefully because I won't repeat ... When we get back to Kattegat, Jarl might not be pleased. Therefore, all the talks will be conducted by me. You just have to stand behind me and support me.

- I under... stand ... yes ... good ...

I finished speaking, and Ragnar ... fell down on the girl, tired.

- Ulf, do you want to use her?

- No, I have more important things on my mind.

After a few hours we got there, our boat was still waiting for us. I took Lagertha and some vikings with me and we went ashore. We loaded the slaves into the boat and put them at the oars, then we loaded the loot from the first village ... we pushed the boat into the water and took a course east, and when we are off the coast of Denmark we head north ... to Kattegat.

The journey was smooth, we were sailing ahead, and two captured ships behind us. They were much slower and we had to adjust our speed to suit them, it was a bit of a pain, but it was safer this way.

A month later, we were home, the journey was... slow. Two slaves died during it, we threw their bodies overboard and that's it ... each commodity has an expiry date.

I did not see Jarl's ships in the port, and they probably went on raids as well. It was good news, even if he tried something, he would have no advantage in warriors.

People started to gather up on the shore and watch what was happening ... they were probably surprised by the presence of two cogs, they saw such ships for the first time in their lives.

My ship was the first to arrive, and we quickly unloaded the spoils and slaves, while the other two ships landed. The unloading of the cargo took several hours. We gathered everything in one place, and according to the agreement, a third of the slaves and the stolen goods belonged to me, and as the commander of the expedition, I had the first choice.

- Ragnar, Floki, you wanted to buy my ship with your share of the loot ... do you still want this?

They both said no. I was even happy about it, now I had two ships, the third one was destined for dismantling by Floki and his father.

I gave up my participation in slaves ... I didn't feel like standing in the market and selling them. It was very annoying but maybe I will choose something for my home ... I will definitely choose a priest to teach me the language and maybe something else for decoration.