CH-2

Unquestionable power corrupted the majority of people, and it could even corrupt someone like Ragnar.

When given unchallenged power, even the best-intentioned people were likely to succumb. In their own different ways.

Rollo wasn't a thinker, and he didn't like Earl Haraldson; Haraldson was an old, paranoid man who was not generous and plotted boring things against people he thought were eyeing his throne.

Rollo had no desire to be a head of state, village, or anything else, but even he had to be cautious around this insane man. He knew he couldn't be friends with someone like that, so he had no intention to try. They were destined to be enemies simply because of his outstanding military achievements.

"..."

Haraldson briefly looked at Ragnar and Rollo before shifting his gaze. 

His eyes swept across the room like that of a hawk, as if he was looking to see who in his small kingdom was too greedy for their own good.

He and his wife, both elegantly capped in different colors, were sitting on the two thrones in this throne room, while the fat spokesperson began calling people up, those accused of crimes, to be judged.

It piqued Bjorn's interest, who decided to stand on the table they were previously eating on. To get a higher and better overall view of the room.

The first offense was minor, from a bearded man accused of stealing some commodity, so the punishment decided on for him later was not death, but rather throwing things like cabbage and stones at him for humiliation.

It was impossible to say whether these people had done any of the things they had been accused of, which was why Rollo had no intention of intervening, especially since it would not benefit him; instead, he sighed internally at the era's backwardness.

Eric, a man who allegedly killed his neighbor in self-defense over property or something, was sentenced to death and chose to be beheaded. Before that, at the end of the trial, he accused the Earl of wanting his land.

Rollo knew from his memories that such words and rumors about the Earl had been circulated previously. He was a man who was not generous and who liked money and properties.

Once again, it was impossible to tell whether the crime committed here was genuine or not, or whether the earl was executing a man over his land as part of some elaborate and violent ploy.

Rollo suspected the man killed by the criminal, his neighbor, was likely sent by the Earl. But he remained silent and chuckled inside.

Choosing a death such as beheading, even during a public execution, could send someone to Valhalla, which was why Eric chose this method of death.

He sounded like a courageous man of honor, not a petty thief.

Later, after he was killed, instead of being treated with respect, the earl cursed him loudly, saying he would never make it to the promised land of brave warriors, and ordered that his fallen head be treated with dishonor and disrespect. He treated the dead man as if he were trash, swearing at him loudly.

The innocent and young Bjorn was taken aback, believing that the man had died with some honor he did not understand, and asked, 

"Why is the Earl doing that?? Is he supposed to do that?"

Ragnar replied to him, 

"He shouldn't do that... But this is how we do things around here." 

His voice had a tone that implied that things needed to or would change.

Ragnar was ambitious, and hidden in his chest, not his contemptuous gaze, he had no respect for the earl.

Rollo entered the conversation and primarily spoke for Bjorn,

"The Earl is a paranoid man who has been corrupted by his position of authority. Be cautious what you say or do around him. I want to get you safely back to your mother at home."

Rollo felt his hot-blooded nephew needed some advice. 

Although he didn't particularly like hanging with snotty boys of this age, he was Ragnar's son, and Rollo didn't want him to die stupidly.

The plot had already begun to change, so Rollo felt that the advice was not bad and useful no matter what happened.

"What means paranoid?" 

Bjorn inquired; he was young, and there were words in the vast Scandinavian vocabulary that he did not understand, of course.

Ragnar responded on Rollo's behalf, 

"In the case of the earl, it would mean a crazy man who believes that everyone is out for his life and riches… The Earl feels like he owns his subjects and everything they have."

Rollo nodded. 

Earl Haraldson was the type of person who would violently prevent someone from embarking on an expedition, not believing in the existence of a land, but wanting to be the first to claim the riches and distribute them unequally.

People suffering from paranoia and egocentrism would not even want to claim him in their sects.

Prior to his death, the show attempted to portray him as someone doing all of this on purpose due to complex camp politics, but it was a poor endeavor to make him appear as a great battle opponent worthy of Ragnar's respect. He'd already done too much bad and cowardly shit.

For example, raiding Ragnar's village and killing the innocent people, children, elderly, and defenseless women who lived there. 

He did this only because he failed to execute Ragnar through his bullshit courtroom justice system.

XX

The afternoon had passed, and people were once again inside Haraldson's throne room, ready to watch another event, the coming of age ceremony.

There was a delicious feast right after that.

It started when Bjorn and the other child scheduled for today, Olaf, son of Ingolf, received kisses from Siggy, the earl's wife. Or at least, it should have started... 

Ragnar spoke up, interrupting the earl as he announced the start of the feast.

"What do you want Ragnar Lothbrok?"

 The earl asked.

He was not pleased with being interrupted.

"My lord, food can wait, before the feast, we would like to know where we are going to sail this year." 

Ragnar smirked with excitement.

Rollo sighed, refusing to let his brother make the same mistake as in the plot. He was not an observer of stupidity.

He stood and said, 

"What do you mean by where, Ragnar? Aren't the raids supposed to be East as always? What other places are there? You and I were gleefully laughing about this on our way here."

He winked at Ragnar and whispered that they would discuss this later.

He also disliked Haraldson and wanted to journey to England, but only in secret. 

There was no point in raising Haraldson's vigilance and suspicion about the plan right now. 

They needed to meet Floki and build a boat in complete secrecy.

Apart from embezzling too much money, Haraldson had nothing to him yet, so he wasn't going to simply kill him.

Rollo felt compelled to think like this because his Essence was not raising men like cabbage to grow quickly. Killing them like cabbage would result in a low supply at one point.

He wanted Ragnar to dominate and conquer the world, which required troops.

Not only Vikings, but also allies... But still. He wasn't some murder hobo who grew cabbages.

He didn't want to wait for Bjorn and his lower generations to reach the age of 20 before thinking about how to conquer England.

In Rollo's plans, it would be ideal if the other sons of Ragnar could start to be born after they had already invaded a small portion of England.

"..."

Ragnar was not used to be treated like the little brother, despite being so. 

He was taken aback and stared at his big brother.

As did the audience in the room.

They didn't understand, but Rollo was the focus of attention.

Most of them had heard rumors about him and his strength. The rumors, each, sounding more untrue and ridiculous than the others.

"Rollo Sigurdsson, was it? I heard about you a lot recently…"

"What was your brother really going to say?"

Earl Haraldson asked with a contemptuous smirk.

He was not duped.

Rollo wasn't intimidated and started speaking.

The previous Rollo was not accustomed to being noticed, but the new one was not bothered. 

He just did not want to be a head of state, a king, or sit on any kind of throne; instead, he preferred to be a feared general.

It was more suitable for him.