Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 195 - 99: The Times Have Changed, Sigrdrifa

Chapter 195: Chapter 99: The Times Have Changed, Sigrdrifa

In the Sixth Epoch, year 232, Sigrdrifa was 11 years old.

She held an axe, practicing chopping on a timber stump.

"Your axe handle and arm should be in a straight line," Elder Wild said indifferently, "Use the strength of your forearms, upper arms, and abdomen, and chop down with all your might! Imagine that the log is the head of your enemy, tear it apart with your weapon!"

Sigrdrifa stood there, stunned for a moment, then suddenly said, "But Aske said that it’s unwise to strike directly at the skull because the weapon might get stuck in the bone and can’t be pulled out."

"Who is Aske?" Elder Wild asked with a look of surprise.

"Aske?" Sigrdrifa also paused.

She instinctively felt that the name was familiar, carrying a sense of affinity and attachment, yet she couldn’t remember.

"Anyway, don’t get distracted!" Elder Wild said sternly, bringing her thoughts back to reality, "Chop down with all your might! Before his axe strikes you, kill him first!"

Sigrdrifa struggled to lift the battle axe, then forcefully chopped down.

The axe embedded itself into the wood, splitting it cleanly in half.

"Not bad," Elder Wild commended, "You have the potential to become a pirate."

"But my mother doesn’t want me to be a pirate," Sigrdrifa said honestly, "She hopes I can marry into the nobility."

"Ha ha ha, naive Lisa," Elder Wild laughed disdainfully, "How could nobles possibly marry a wild girl with no family background like you? At most, they would take you as a mistress."

"What is a mistress?" Sigrdrifa asked innocently.

"It’s a pitiful woman who yearns for a lavish life or fears noble authority, thus sacrificing her body and dignity," Elder Wild said with a look of disgust. "Remember this, Sigrdrifa."

"Even in front of the king, you must hold your proud head high."

"A true Viking will never submit to nobles and emperors. As long as he has a weapon in his hand, he dare scorn everything in this world."

"You said before," Sigrdrifa said, "that being a Viking isn’t important."

"Sigrdrifa," Elder Wild said solemnly, "the Viking I speak of is not a bloodline, it’s a spirit."

"A spirit that never yields, swinging blades at everything."

"We are descendants of Vikings, longing to bring back the glory of our ancestors. One day, the Valkyrie will guide our heroic spirits to Valhalla, where you will feast all night with our forefathers. Only then will you truly become a Viking."

Sigrdrifa nodded, half-understanding.

She resumed practicing swinging her battle axe.

Time seemed to fly rapidly by her, with the sun rising and setting, and the stars shining then dimming.

Elder Wild left the village, disappearing to an unknown place.

Her mother Sally berated her by her side, telling her not to chop wood like a fool all day long.

The village boys and girls sometimes entered the forest, mocking her as "bastard," "fatherless," "a vile bloodline born of pirates and whores."

Sigrdrifa ignored them all, her heart only focused on swinging the battle axe, splitting the wood before her, and...

becoming a true Viking.

Suddenly, Sigrdrifa stopped, looking up at the sky.

At dusk, the white line where the sea met the sky was stained red by the glow of sunset, clouds blazing like blood-red roses.

From the direction of the village, cries and flames arose.

Sigrdrifa ran vigorously, soon seeing Norman samurais in nasal helmets mercilessly slaughtering the villagers fleeing from their homes and plundering their possessions before setting the houses ablaze.

She burst into her own home, only to see a samurai had already struck her mother Sally to the ground. Sigrdrifa raised her battle axe and chopped fiercely from behind.

The axe smashed onto his helmet, and the samurai quickly turned around, his face bearing a cruel smirk.

"No! Run!" Sally, drenched in blood, somehow found the strength to suddenly grasp the feet of the Norman samurai, "Sigrdrifa, run!"

Sigrdrifa dropped her axe and turned to run.

From behind, the sound of steel striking flesh could be heard, along with the muffled cries of her mother, Sally:

"Run! Sigrdrifa, don’t look back!"

"Run!"

With all her might, she ran, while the surrounding Norman samurai noticed her, their shouts resounding:

"There’s another wild one!"

"Don’t let her get away!"

"The Lord’s order is to kill them all!"

Flying axes and arrows whizzed past her, and she ran forward with full concentration, charging onto the dock and then leaping like a fish into the icy seawater.

I couldn’t defeat them.

I ran away.

Can I still become a Viking?

With a kind of desperate thought, little Sigrdrifa slowly sank into the sea, the outside shouting gradually fading away.

...........

The light of the sky rippled above the sea’s surface.

Sigrdrifa opened her eyes in the water.

She swam upward.

Emerging from the water was the head of a 17-year-old girl.

Her features were striking, with a proud nose and skin white as milk, her pupils nearly transparent azure, and her long, shimmering light golden hair unfolding beautifully in the sea.

A massive ship was moored nearby, and Sigrdrifa skillfully climbed up the anchor chain, quickly reaching the deck.

The deck was already full of Norman pirates, each of them just having climbed aboard from the water, all soaking wet.

"I declare that the winner of this underwater breath-holding competition is our daughter, Sigrdrifa!" Captain Elder Wild announced loudly, raising a mug filled with beer.

"Our daughter, Sigrdrifa!" Although they had lost in the breath-holding contest, the pirates showed no signs of regret; instead, they all bore the proud expressions of a father sharing in his child’s glory.

After the pirates dispersed, Sigrdrifa walked over to the helm and whispered, "Elder."

"What did you call me?" Elder Wild frowned.

"Father." Sigrdrifa fell silent, then said, "I want to learn to read."

"Why would you need that?" Elder Wild chuckled dismissively, "You don’t still entertain those absurd notions of becoming a noble, do you?"

"Originally, Vikings conquered territories everywhere and then became lords..." Sigrdrifa tried to argue.

"That was then, this is now," Elder Wild said impatiently, "Are there any Vikings left now? From Brittania to the coasts of Normandy, there are castles and armies everywhere; where is there undefended land for you to conquer?"

"Times have changed, Sigrdrifa."

"I want to learn to read," Sigrdrifa said stubbornly.

Elder Wild paused for a moment, then spoke:

"Good timing, we need to resupply in Helensing and offload some loot from the ship."

"If you want to learn to read, you can visit the Municipal Library there and borrow some elementary books to read. Of course, whether it’s the cost of borrowing books or the fee for hiring a teacher, you’ll have to cover it yourself."

"Okay," Sigrdrifa said.