The Sage of Einar

On the morning of the first day of the new year, Anders woke up and looked at the corpses of women around him.

They all had deep throat cuts, which only made their pale bodies look so much worse.

"Good morning, beautiful women, I see that you have not woken up, it is that you do not intend to enjoy the beautiful morning sun."

Anders saw that none of the corpses were moving, so he just sighed silently and lowered his head before beginning to stretch his arms.

"I suppose it must be because you are tired, don't worry, I understand all of you, yesterday was a wild night and it is normal for you to be tired.

But do not worry since I will let you sleep as long as you need, just remember beautiful women that in the afternoon we will have to leave. "

Hearing no response, Anders could only start to laugh as he got up and took the cloth shirt that was next to him.

Fritz, who had seen the strange ritual of Anders getting up in the morning, only frowned and drank some stale beer that had been saved from the burning of the church.

Anders, noticing Fritz's gaze, only shook his head. "Boy, I don't know what you're thinking, but you must know that you're not the kind of man that catches my attention.

So stop seeing me that way. "

Fritz spat out the beer in his mouth as he held back the urge to yell at Anders for the stupid comment he made.

"Hey Anders, since you've woken up you should check the warehouse what we found in the church.

There were some jewels, food, and beer, but the most important thing was that we removed three corpses from there in a deplorable condition.

I think they never considered that you were going to burn the church, so the heat ended up making the place where they had hidden so hotly that they ended up completely cooked.

His hiding place turned out to be an oven, which is a shame as the beer now tastes disgusting but is much better than drinking snowmelt or swamp water. "

Anders was interested in what Fritz said "They were able to identify those corpses and the most important thing I hope they have saved me beer or I will take care of cutting off their heads."

Fritz sighed "No one is crazy enough to finish your alcohol and give you nothing.

In the remains of the church, you can find three large barrels of beer, together with all the grains that are still serving.

As for the corpses found there, we did not find anything of value on them except for one that had a silver crucifix.

According to the Godi, it could possibly be the local priest but it could be anyone, I mean it's not like we're checking all the corpses that are piled up outside the wall. "

Anders, who was barely paying attention to what Fritz was saying, started walking to the ruins of the church.

On the way, he enjoys seeing the corpses of countless people and the burnt aroma that was in the place.

It did not take long to reach the remains of the burned church, of which only a few thick wooden pillars remained that had not been completely burned.

Walking slowly through the burned wood, he came to a small spot where there were three bodies on the ground and the things Fritz had said.

Anders only looked at the corpses for a moment before turning to one of the beer kegs there, and after opening it he smelled the incomparable aroma of stale beer.

"Even though you smell disgustingly bad, I have to admit that I am going to enjoy drinking every sip of your bitter taste.

I only wish I could find a drink worthy of Valhalla, but I suppose that will only be available after death. "

Using all his strength, he lifted the beer keg and leaned it over his face as he began to drink from the bitter taste of that stale beer.

After a few drinks and wetting his entire chest with beer, he put the keg on the floor so he could clean his beard.

"I already missed this taste ..."

Finishing quenching his thirst Anders paid attention to the grains that were there and using his hand he took a handful out of the bag so he could see them better.

"These grains are extremely old, it is seen that they have been in that sack for some time, but fortunately it does not have any kind of fungus.

I think I could boil them using some stale beer, as the swamp water tastes too strong. "

While this was happening in some wooden room, a man looked with contempt at the parchment he had on the table.

"But what the hell is the emperor doing, because he hasn't returned troops so we can defend our fiefdom.

If this continues, those damn Danes will end up burning down all the villages on the border. Even if he is my father by now, he is already dead. "

The bishop who is watching the duke's son scream only laughed when he heard the last sentence said by the man in front of him.

"Your performance is very convincing Dean, but unfortunately I have known you since you were a brat and I am almost sure that now you are extremely happy that your father can die.

That way you don't have to get your hands dirty and let the savages of the North do the dirty work for you. "

Dean smiled and sighed as he looked at the bishop "Prisco of course you're going to know me very well because whether you admit it or not I'm your son.

But I only have one doubt, father, can you tell me if you have already taken care of my other brothers, the last thing I want is to have to waste troops to finish them off.

What would the other nobles say if a person like me were to stain their hands with the patricide of their family? "

Prisco took out of his clothes a small ceramic jar, which he placed on his son's desk.

"It's a shame all your brothers died at night. Those damn pagan slaves ended their lives while they slept drunk on the floor.

Fortunately, your father has taken it upon himself to catch them and they will soon receive their punishment for their crimes against Christian nobles.

It will be a tragedy that even reaching the emperor in person and possibly causing such a stir that pagan slaves could be punished before they do anything.

Because its simple existence is a true aberration for us beings chosen by God to guide all humanity on the right path.

But those pagans don't have to worry anymore because the grace of the Lord will be with us and with them in the future.

When their slave descendants look back, they will see that our actions have enlightened them so that they may eventually convert and abandon all their nonsensical beliefs.

Although I feel that now we will only have to wait while the members of the church take it upon themselves to bring out the truth from those filthy pagans who dared to touch your noble brothers. "

Dean sat on the wooden chair near him and looked curiously at the small ceramic jar.

"The design of this pottery is beautiful, I'm sure you ended up paying the merchants from the East a lot to get such a beautiful little jar."

Prisco raised his hands indifferently "I, a representative of God, do not have to spend the money that I earn working with the sweat of my brow.

That small bottle was paid for by some merchants who were looking for the divine grace of the Lord and that I end up giving them.

What really cost me to get was the content of that ceramic jar, which is a potent poison from a snake from the arid regions of Egypt.

But in this place, abandoned by the hand of God and which is so close to the pagans, I don't think anyone pays attention to the corpses of your brothers.

Not to mention, the stab wounds they have to the chest are more than enough to prove they died for those filthy slaves.

By the way son I hope you remember what we had agreed, you will receive my support once the stupid duke dies, and remember that you have to give privileges to the church.

In this way, I can continue to support you today and you can support your father so that perhaps in the future he can be recognized as a brave Pope.

Who knows, maybe in the future you could end up being a brave king or even dethrone the Carolingian dynasty.

Charlemagne was a great emperor but his son is nothing more than the shadow of what he was so I am sure that once he dies this empire will crumble.

At that moment, only you will depend on you if you want to remain a little duke or if you want to go further in any way, you will always have my support. "

Dean rested his chin on his hands that were on the table, while he saw his father's face with a happy face.

Which caused him to have a feeling of fear accompanied by a cold sweat on his back.

"You know, I think we can occupy the pagans of the North to speed up the process of the death of the current emperor.

It would truly be a great loss to the empire if a messenger were lost in the place where the Danish savages are.

Even more so if that messenger transports the emperor's next stop near the main battlefield.

Whether this plan can work will depend entirely on the divine grace of our lord and the ability of the Danes.

But in any case, we could only win. "