Compared with previous years, this year's Hanukkah festival is obviously more grand.

On December 28th of the Julian calendar, there is no sunshine on this day, and Roseburg enters the only absolute day of the year.

The stone boat altar, brightly illuminated by a large number of bonfires, was crowded with people for a while. Including businessmen who were staying over the winter, they also joined the crowd at the grand gathering.

Under the attention of countless tribesmen, a young priestess took the old high priest's antlered helmet in public and put it on her head.

High Priest Vilia, she has become too old to perform the entire ceremony in person. She stood in the stone ship altar surrounded by the flames of the candlesticks, and with a hoarse voice, guided Lumia, who was wearing a deer-horned helmet, to do the most critical work.

Otto and Rurik, on the other hand, half-knelt in the altar quietly, watching everything that happened.

A stag's throat was slit by Rumia reluctantly, and the steaming deer blood was used to worship the Valkyrie who was parading in the sky.

She sprinkled the deer's blood on the snow, and then worked with other priests to cut open the deer's belly and pull out its liver.

"The next step is my work. Otto, Rurik, follow me."

Finally, the real high priest Vilia, who was in a state of supervision and observation, began the only divination that required personal participation.

Because the deer's blood has been shown to the gods, the deer's blood has also nourished the earth.

This time the divination will no longer require the "gem trick". The deer's liver must be cut, and Vilia will judge the good or bad luck of the northern hunt through the arrangement of blood vessels.

And this is the key to making this sacrifice different from the past.

A carbon steel dagger inlaid with gold was held in Vilia's hand. Because of carbon steel, Rurik had always lied that it was "technology from Valhalla." Naturally, this recently made dagger had some kind of

Divine power, Vilia firmly believes in this.

The bright red deer liver was carried to a wooden platform by Rumia, and under the illumination of the aurora moonlight and even the candlelight and bonfire, Vilia completed the cutting.

She held the oil lamp with trembling hands and concentrated on observing the cut section of the liver.

"Otto, come to me..."

Otto received the order and approached the high priest with extreme caution. "Great priest...is this a good omen?"

"It's a sign, maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing."

"High Priest..." Otto was confused and his attitude was more cautious.

As for Villa, she felt that she had received some special revelation from the deer liver. Perhaps this was God's will, and she firmly believed in this.

"Tell the people. As you go east, you will inevitably fight with unknown people. The master of the deer will win his first victory. The territory of Rus will expand to the sea at the end of the world, and new people will be discovered in the frozen land.

The treasure..."

"What...what does this mean?" Otto asked doubtfully.

"This is the omen. Please inform your people."

Otto faced all this with confusion. He did not understand what a "master of the deer" was, but he was very interested in the so-called expansion of territory. Will there be a battle? It is best to have a battle, so that the young people involved in the action

People will not think that the action is boring and bullying the deer herders.

Therefore, Otto asked again: "The great priest, our enemy... is the deer herder?"

"No! Your enemy is an unknown person, not a deer herder."

Unknown enemy? Otto found it more interesting.

As for the deer's owner's first victory, now, Otto felt that he was talking about his own son.

Otto did not hesitate any longer. He grabbed the deer liver dripping with blood and told the tribesmen with a roar: "Brothers! The high priest has completed the divination! Are you eager to fight?"

His question immediately aroused the excitement of the young people in the tribe. The tribesmen who became very lively began to let out war roars.

"Then go fight! All warriors who participate in the hunt, you will fight against the unknown enemy, and you will expand the territory of the Rus to the sea at the end of the world. Brothers! We are not going to hunt, we are going to conquer the north.

."

Speaking of excitement, Otto pulled out his sword, picked up the deer's liver with the tip of the sword, raised it high, and let the steel sword drink the blood.

And the warlike tribesmen also fell into madness.

Seeing such a spectacular scene, Rurik's mood did not fluctuate violently. The young tribesmen became excited when it came to fighting, and they never even considered possible injuries and deaths.

Rurik felt that the so-called prophecy of the high priest was not a "god's will", but was just an excuse for the old lady to use it. Of course, he also understood that until now, the old lady was still trying her best to promote him, and even more so through the prophecy.

, supervise yourself.

"I am the master of the deer. Because I am now the master of all the reindeer in the tribe. When I rule the group of deer herders, I will be the master of all the reindeer..."

Therefore, Rurik did not feel that there was any ambiguity in the words of the high priest.

On the winter solstice, the Hanukkah festival ended successfully in the excitement of the group. After that, the people who decided to participate in the northern hunt returned home and started the final preparations.

On December 29th of the Julian calendar, the sun finally returned, although it still passed by briefly.

Life is already full of hope. People who see the sun again understand that the days will only get longer in the future, and spring will return soon.

Different from previous group hunting, Otto decided to organize an elite team of 300 people and headed straight to the northeast along the frozen coastline to find the so-called "unknown enemy".

What is an elite team? Those young people who participated in the war against the Gotlanders at the end of April aroused Otto's strong concern.

As the leader, he naturally selects the most elite warriors himself.

Otto even forced the blacksmith Kawei to join. Not only did he trust the young man, but also because for this operation, the team needed a blacksmith who knew how to repair tools and weapons. What about Kawei? He could participate in the new adventure.

It's a dream come true! Instead of hunting, Kawei actually wants to find new iron ore, copper ore, or even directly dig for gold. Because the blacksmith in this time and space is basically a "geological expert".

Otto ordered this group of young boys, generally only twenty years old, to forget the idea of ​​hunting and instead seize the time to prepare their own weapons and all supplies for sleeping in the wild, especially leather blankets and making a large number of wheat cakes.

The taste of Beikuri has changed. Otto wants to follow the high priest's prophecy and go to war with the so-called unknown enemy.

Of course, there are also a group of brave people who simply go hunting, but the route heading north is completely different from Otto's team.

Those hunters acted spontaneously, while Otto assembled a real army.

Rurik was not idle during the last three days of preparations.

Right in front of his house, Rurik gathered his guards - mercenaries who mainly existed to make money.

All the mercenaries began to receive training from Javlo when they were still on Gould Island. When they arrived at Fort Ross, they received elaborate formation training.

Even at the last moment, this group of people received brand-new training in order to master the new weapons.

Rurik observed the twenty people standing in line in front of him, among whom Jevro was their leader.

A pair of sharp eyes came from a child, but all the mercenaries did not think this child was childish in any way. Many of the legendary Rurik's behaviors were very much like adults.

There is also the magical steel-arm crossbow he developed, which is now in everyone's hands. This weapon has the ability to make arrows penetrate wooden boards. It can be used to attack enemies or hunt, and its power should be considerable.

Today's mercenaries all wear cowhide hoods on their heads that can protect their ears, and wear warm cowhide jackets of similar styles, tied up with leather belts. They also wear multi-layered burlap trousers, and have warm and wear-resistant deer boots on their feet.

Leather boots and a burlap waistcoat almost covered their entire upper body.

Not only are their clothing uniformed, but their weapons are also highly unified.

Equipping all the mercenaries with steel swords? Rurik felt that this consumption of property was unnecessary for the time being. These people did not need to have excellent weapons for the time being, not to mention the steel swords that every warrior wanted.

The mercenaries all have a short spear, and the spearhead is actually mass-produced cast bronze. After all, it is used as a piercing attack weapon, and the hardness of bronze is fully sufficient. Its greatest use besides being a weapon is as a marching staff.

The mercenary also had a small hand axe, an iron dagger hanging on his waist, and a round wooden shield on his back.

With these equipment, a standard Viking warrior looks like this.

But this group of people is equipped with a new type of weapon that transcends the times - the steel-arm crossbow.

Compared with children, these mercenaries all have the strength to string a bow with their bare hands. They wear leather gloves, so they will not feel strung up. The crossbows are equipped with linen straps on the wooden supports.

The mercenary can directly carry the crossbow on his back.

Each of them has a sewn cross-body bag, which is called a quiver, but it can only hold ten crossbow arrows.

Rurik actually designed the quivers like this for them. He said that every crossbow arrow was heavy. Since his men were destined to march for a long time, they should not be equipped with too heavy equipment.

Rurik reviewed his men and felt that these guys had met his expectations.

He gave the order: "Brothers, you have trained with the crossbow, and your training results satisfy me. We Russians will go to the north to fight the prophesied enemy. You are my mercenaries. In the past days,

, I rewarded you with food and accommodation, and each of you earned thirty silver coins. Ask yourselves, are you stronger now than when you first arrived in Roseburg? Now, you must prove to me that I rewarded

Everything given to you is worth it.”

Yevluo immediately stood out of the team and suddenly knelt down: "Master, we will fight for you!"

Is it embarrassing to kneel down to a child?

No!

The other mercenaries all knelt down, lowered their proud heads, and swore: "My master, I fight for you."

The sources of mercenaries are almost all Melalen people, specifically a group of very poor young people who are young and energetic. They first want to have a stable life, secondly live with dignity, and then pursue their own honor.

Now, the mercenaries want to prove the value of their existence through fighting and get rewards from their sponsors.

Rurik shouted calmly: "My mercenaries! You must prove your true loyalty through a battle. Once a battle occurs, I will reward those who are brave and punish the cowardly. This time

If you take action, I will reward each of you with ten silver coins in advance. In addition, I will prepare the food we need for our action."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the half-kneeling mercenaries shone brightly. Unexpectedly, they had already made a huge profit before the Northern Hunting began.

Rurik continued: "Don't think that I am a benevolent charity. What I need is your bravery." At this point, he suddenly asked about Yevluo: "Yevluo, tell me! What should be done to cowardly guys?"
To be continued...