CH-7

"..."

Rollo was unperturbed after his first encounter with Odin; considering the very nature of his Essence, especially in terms of prayers, and all the things he was capable of, in addition to masking his destiny, he had expected the gods to notice him.

It would have been odd had he not attracted their peering gaze.

It was probably not Odin's first time watching him, just the first time Rollo noticed him; his skills were probably maturing, and Rollo was unable to monitor their progress in any user interface.

Fortunately, due to the properties of his Essence, Odin and the other gods would be mostly friendly.

The Norse gods at least would.

There was no point in praying to gods who were unwilling to listen and were unlikely to like, approve of you.

With the Essence, Norse gods were not exactly mind controlled, but his friendly levels with them were drastically boosted, and his potential enmity with them was dramatically quelled.

Unless he did things that warranted insurmountable, never-ending resentment, it would be difficult to develop antagonistic feelings that could not be reconciled with.

'Meeting Odin in person feels strange, though. This Viking Worlds' Odin… I hope we don't have to meet very often. According to how he phrased it, this was both a blessing and a farewell to me.'

'I don't expect to see much of him until he understands that I don't age.'

'He will probably be very curious and confused by that time…'

Rollo thought logically about it.

He probably would see Odin a few times in the future, especially because he knew the guy's disguises, but he didn't think Odin would go out of his way to come and talk to him.

Odin liked to show himself on rare occasions, such as extremely beautiful deaths, bad omens, etc., and he liked to witness historical sights and similar things.

For the latter, he did so in a more hidden, cryptical way.

Now that Rollo had met him and knew about him, he would probably not show himself as much.

Rollo did not keep lingering in this section of the road and instead left, sprinting at full speed because the route to the destination would be faster that way. 

He could teleport to various locations, including Kattegat and villages along the way, so stocking up on ale and mead would be simple.

Alcohol had the effect of healing his wounds, poison, diseases, and, most importantly, his depleted stamina.

He intended to fetch a flask from his one of his homes and fill it with ale to make the journey more convenient.

He would teleport to refill it each time he would need to, this way, reaching Gotland over in Svealand would be faster.

Rollo was taking a detour and crossing the borders along the coasts of the two countries because he did not intend to travel in a straight line by boat.

Kattegat was located in Southern Norway, while Gotland was in Southern Svealand, Sweden's present-day name.

The two towns were built close to the coast and ocean.

Traveling by boat was easier, but Rollo had time and wanted to beef up his physical condition, including his ability to run without rest and regain strength, recover quickly.

XX

Svein was a famous man in Kattegat now…

A famous wanted man.

A fat criminal who ran fast and without rest.

More seriously, after a few days of traveling in such a physically demanding pace, dashing all the way and only stopping to sleep and refill on ale, Rollo began to notice that his physical condition, his body's stamina, had improved.

It was gradually becoming much better.

Now he could sprint for a few minutes at full speed, without having to take a sip from his mead flask at all, even if he was trekking up mountainous paths that were sloped and difficult to hike up.

Before this trip, on which he took a long detour, his stamina had never been a problem; it was impressive, but not to the point where he felt overconfident in his physical fitness.

It wasn't just stamina-like aspects, though; Rollo's speed had improved dramatically in just a few days, let alone after a full week of running.

Even his ability to recover from fatigue by merely sitting to recuperate had gotten better.

'Even the quality of my sleep and the amount of time I need to sleep have improved as well, in my opinion.'

'Not that it really matters, given that I've been sleeping in Kattegat using my real face.'

'Going there as Svein is both funny and treacherous now.'

Rollo had made friends with all sorts of little animals, bird, and crawling insects on the way. 

He used those to teleport back and forth to areas where he needed to be.

It had been useful, and the little guys were reluctant to let him go now, treating him like Snow White after he had fed and fattened them.

He had been tempted to eat a few of them, but they had brought him everything he required, including cabbages for meat soup.

Not human cabbage of course…

Some of the affectionate animals even hunted prey and laid out nutritious meals for him.

It was time to say goodbye, however.

Everyone had a good time along the way, but Rollo had finally arrived at his destination.

Gotland.

'Goodbye dear little friends…'

'Don't go, Rollo!'

'Come back and visit us from time to time!'

As he walked down small and successive hills that crested, encompassed, and wrapped around the fields of a portion of this land, Rollo occasionally turned to look behind himself at a swarm of birds, hares, and other furry creatures waving him goodbye in ways they could, ways that did not look human, of course.

Rollo saw it as human, however.

The little guys were sobbing and were only missing handkerchiefs to completely seem like villagers shouting fond farewells to a rustic comrade.

The experience had been enjoyable, but Rollo was relieved that he would not have to spend the majority of the 24-hour period in the wilderness on the way back.

He didn't mind if it happened when he was with people, but he didn't have any with him this time.

There were many abilities he intended to conceal from others, but teleportation was one that he knew he would have to reveal at some point. 

Mostly to his women. 

Because it wasn't an ability with a counter or anything, people couldn't really prepare to respond to it once they knew it existed.

At most, it would be an ambush, but for someone with teleportation abilities, it was of little use.

This world didn't have formidable, terrifying magic or things to use to seal someone inside a death trap, so he didn't fear much in those aspects.

Once he would get to those kinds of worlds, he would think more strategically and consider countermeasures to such entrapment.

'Well, some are convenient in all cases… You guys, just make sure not to stay too near me…'

Rollo spoke, gazing behind his shoulders as he approached the large gates; some flying insects, such as flies, had chosen to stay close to him.

He couldn't take everyone, of course.

He didn't want to resemble an Aburame...

A few days ago, some of these guys were just larvae and other crawling things.

"Who goes here?"

At the door of Jarl Borg's heavily fortified Jarldom, a guard stopped Rollo and inquired, holding a tall spear and wearing mail armor on his chest and head.

Rollo had already changed his face and voice.

He wasn't idiotic.

He wasn't sure if Aslaug lived inside the fortified fortress or somewhere else, but he recalled that most villagers seemed to like to come here to dine and sleep.

The entire fortress appeared to be a village center and a safe haven in this wilderness teeming with opportunities for farming and mining natural resources like ores.

Rollo desired to enter the large town.

He'd had enough of loitering, hanging out in the wild; he wanted some embers and a good place to sit and hang out for most of the time, not just sleeping.

Rollo planned to stay here for some time.

He didn't know how much time he'd need to meet Aslaug, and he wanted to rizz her up the right way.

He had not come here to rape and kidnap her.

Even if he had no intention of being an overly lenient, softhearted simp to her, as Ragnar had shown to be in the later stages of their marriage.

Rollo had come here to sate his lust for a woman, but also to alter the fate of the spoiled princess.

"Someone rich."

Rollo replied, pulling a bag of coins from beneath his large cloak.

The cloak was the same color as the muddied earth, pallid, so it had not been heavily soiled.

At least it did not appear noticeably, unbearably dirty.

The guard looked at the large bag of coins with greedy eyes and asked, 

"Is that all for me? Where are you from, stranger?"

He didn't immediately seize the tempting prize. 

He was cautious because Rollo was tall and did not appear weak.

In the early days of Rollo's journey, he and Floki converted expensive items into liquid money, such as coins and bags of it. 

Rollo's ability to teleport back and forth allowed him to complete numerous tasks.

Rollo had several such bags of coins hidden in places where he had killed prey, future meals, not just in Kattegat, but all over the road; he didn't care about this particular one.

He had learned from Haraldson to use bones. 

Not children or human bones, though he may use his enemies' bones in the future.

Rollo had not worked hard for this money anyway.

It was all from the Earl.

It made no difference whether he was using it for off-putting, necromancer-like mapping games or teleportation tactics.

He would do the same with his own money if he had earned it through hard work.

Money had lost its significance for him.

He told the guard, 

"My name is Gandalf; I've come from a long distance. I need to recuperate and eat right away. And, yes, this bag is for you if you let me in and find me a comfortable place to sleep and eat for a while."

The guard couldn't resist his greed and said, as the bag was passed inside his hand, which he extended with a knowing smile,

"Gandalf? An unusual name,"

"Travelers like you are always welcome in Gotland, however. Are you a wanderer, or do you happen to have business here?"

He discreetly pocketed the item inside his clothes and began asking inside to open the gates before leading Rollo inside.

He probably didn't rack up much monetary gain watching the gate.

This was a rare opportunity for him to make easy money.

Rollo was aware that he had given him an excessive amount of coins; however, it mattered little with his current means of earning money, not just in Kattegat.

"I came here only to see the sights; still, I would like to find something to do. Why not… After all, a man must earn his meals and keep." 

Rollo smiled as he followed the guard through the town's cold mist heat and the wafting aromas of cooked foods.

The fortress was an ideal balance of cool and warm, with a pleasant humidity. It had all the necessities of a thriving community, including taverns, markets, and inns. In addition, there were people selling snack foods, sausages, and shouting for customers to come by.

"If you are interested in work while you're here, come see me; you do seem to be wealthy, so I'm not sure why you would need one. But that is none of my business, I guess… Tell me if you have any more coins for me, and I will gladly provide whatever you might need as long as it is legal."

"My name is Orm, son of Ref, ask for my name at the door if I'm not there, people will take you to me!"

As they approached the entrance to an inn, the guard made a friendly and cheerful remark.

He continued,

"This is where I will stop. I need a moment's rest and would be happy to give you a complete experience of town, but someone needs to keep an eye on the gates."

"It is my watching shift right now."

"Tourists do not have to pay any kind of taxation or surcharges to the Jarl while here, do they?"

Rollo inquired as the guard came to a stop in front of the inn.

The door guard laughed and said, clearly amused by Rollo's question,

"There are some seasonal burdens to strictly abide by, but what you have provided will comfortably cover all of them for years! It would be the same if I suddenly decided to devour the biggest sliver of that sum without making any real effort to help you."

The guard appeared to be a trustworthy individual who understood who not to mess with.

Rollo didn't appear weak.

He had also maintained his height for his current disguise.

Rollo looked at him and said,

"Then I will thank you and hand you over the responsibility for that, Orm…"

He entered the inn following some more friendly chatter.

Naturally, the guard wouldn't pay all the fees right away.

He planned to use the money to finally marry some good girl he had been in love with for a long time.

She was pregnant with his first child.

Rollo didn't mind being kind to his people in order to make friends with Jarl Borg without revealing who he was or dropping stupid hints.

Rollo wanted to raid and bring down the little Lindisfarne first, so Jarl Borg was unneeded, overkill for the time being, but Rollo's long-term goal was to completely subjugate Mercia as the second raid.

Not King Aelle's or King Ecbert's spheres of influences.

Mercia was already or would soon be in disarray due to the succession to the throne, so it was the best big place in England to strike first.

The people there, at least the leaders, were more chaotic and less competent, while the territory served as the revenue-generating heart of the present-day Saxon nation.

It was perfect to attack first, for both practical and strategic reasons.

Rollo wasn't the old Rollo, so he wasn't afraid to deal with Jarl Borg because nobody could manipulate him or put ideas in his mind.

Jarl Borg also wasn't as bad as King Horik, who was more of a clumsy and pompous snake.

To begin with, Borg and Ragnar had to be enemies solely because of Horik's greed for lands and distrust.

The man lacked the ability to conduct fair business transactions.

If Rollo had been Jarl Borg, he would have done the same thing, except never making peace with Ragnar and never stopping the battle in which Rollo betrayed him.

The story of Floki could have ended that episode if Rollo wasn't some dumb bitch who couldn't raise a weapon against his brother.

'Fortunately, I'll be friends with Floki in this life. Having him as an enemy is a pain in the ass because of all his ear-whispering.'

Rollo chuckled as he entered the inn.

He got a bit pensive as he asked for a room to the innkeeper.

'It's probably chaos out there, right?'

'Fortunately, I moved that woman somewhere safe before she got into any trouble...'

'This is a hand I'll have to keep an eye on and feed until things calm down.'

'Not that money is an issue for me at this point.'

XX

"Zorro??"

"..."

"That is clearly Svein behind that lazy mask!"

"Can somebody tell me what is going on with that big lump of fat??"

"How could he be able to outrun your horses?? That is Svein we are talking about!"

"..."

"Well, my lord, the story is hard to believe, but it goes like this…'

Over in Kattegat, the atmosphere was more solemn.

In the great hall, there was a reunion between earl Haraldson and his men.

Over Svein, the criminal who liked to call himself Zorro.

He was not as fast as horses, but he was more agile and could take advantage of the changing terrain.

He was also extremely, horribly fast and somehow managed to vanish several times, especially so each time the chase ended in the forest, where he used the trees as cover for his perplexing, seemingly magical maneuvers.

The fat man had not killed anyone, but he had insulted and disfigured many.

He was unrecognizable, and he did sickening things to his former colleagues and friendly acquaintances.

They tried to restrain him using his wife and child, but they mysteriously went away before he suddenly got started with his criminal activities.