Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 197 - 101 The Real Viking

Chapter 197: Chapter 101 The Real Viking

In the tavern, Sigrdrifa saw the pirates.

These men were still dead drunk, apparently having exchanged all their remaining money for alcohol.

Sighing, Sigrdrifa asked the tavern keeper for a basin of cold water and doused the men to wake them up.

The pirates supported each other, staggering toward the harbor.

Suddenly, Sigrdrifa had a bad premonition as the streets seemed unusually empty.

She quickly informed Elder Wild, who was still slightly inebriated. He then ordered his men to quicken their pace to the dock.

Upon arriving at the harbor, the pirates were stopped by a group of city guards.

Before they could draw their weapons, these hungover pirates were disarmed by the guards, forced to kneel with crossed longswords pressing against their necks from behind.

Sigrdrifa wounded two guards, but outnumbered, she was struck in the stomach by a third guard and soon crouched down in pain.

Several guards attempted to do the same to her, placing their longswords against her neck when a voice came from behind,

"Don’t be so rough. Even if she’s a pirate, she is just a woman after all."

Sigrdrifa gazed at the blond young man parting the crowd, something inside her turned cold,

"Leotis..."

"Sigrdrifa," Leotis looked at her indifferently, "you truly are a pirate."

"We have no feud," Sigrdrifa suppressed her anger, attempting to negotiate, "killing us here benefits you in no way."

"Oh?" Leotis smiled intriguingly, "Indeed, my journey here was not to kill you all."

"I am here for you," his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Me?" Sigrdrifa was at a loss for words, meanwhile, the subdued pirates immediately started roaring,

"Get lost! Don’t you dare touch a hair on my daughter..."

The speaking pirate was quickly and ruthlessly struck in the face with the hilt of a sword by a guard, knocking out all his teeth and spitting blood.

Leotis watched all this, somewhat pityingly remarked,

"Sigrdrifa, why are you always so stubborn? If you had chosen to convert to God with me, today’s events need not have happened."

"Shut up! Vikings never believe in deities..." Another pirate started cursing, but before he could finish, a guard drew a dagger and stabbed it into his mouth. A mere stir silenced him forever.

"So your target is not us," Sigrdrifa took a deep breath, "your target is me."

"My target is you," Leotis frowned slightly, "Yes, what else? Did you think, being a noble, why would I spend time on a civilian girl?"

"The lost lamb needs the shepherd to guide it to the right path. Lowly civilians also need nobles to infuse noble blood so they can be reborn," he spread his arms, speaking as if in a chant, "Sigrdrifa, you have a sinful past, but that does not matter."

"As long as you are willing to convert to my Lord, I can give you an identity, allowing you to return to the path you should tread."

"What identity?" Sigrdrifa asked coldly, "To be your mistress?"

"This is a gift for you," Leotis said arrogantly, lifting his chin, "Being a noblewoman is better than drifting at sea."

Suddenly, the words once spoken by Old Wild flashed in Sigrdrifa’s mind like lightning.

"...People are born unequal..."

"...He will easily take away what you cherish..."

Sigrdrifa trembled all over, and a feeling of helplessness surged through her once again, taking her back to the village that had been massacred.

It was her recurring nightmare: soldiers had slaughtered her mother in front of her, and her young body, no matter how hard it struck, couldn’t break their sturdy helmets.

Now, she once again felt her weakness and powerlessness.

"If..." Sigrdrifa said with difficulty, "If I go with you... will you spare them?"

"Of course," Leotis smiled, his expression oozing smug satisfaction.

"Don’t believe him," Old Wild, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, "As soon as you leave with him, we’ll be killed out of your sight."

"Shut up!" A guard behind him shouted roughly, swinging his fist in an attempt to hit his face, but Old Wild rose up like a wild bull, struggling and shouting at Sigrdrifa:

"Sigrdrifa! A true Viking would never..."

Two longswords were thrust into his back, and he furiously broke the ropes binding his hands and grabbed the battle axe from the guard’s waist.

Then he was pushed to the ground by the guards... and died.

Sigrdrifa watched Old Wild’s body in despair; her eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Stop crying!" the First Officer cursed loudly.

Due to Old Wild’s resistance, the guards behind him urgently pressed their longswords against his shoulders, causing a bloody scrape on his neck.

Nevertheless, the First Officer showed no pain, but instead shouted harshly at Sigrdrifa, "I told you before: better to bleed than to cry! What’s there to cry about... Are you looking down on us?! What kind of father would just sacrifice his daughter to save his own skin?!"

As he roared furiously, he twisted his neck against the longsword next to him, slashing open his carotid artery.

"No!" Sigrdrifa cried out with all her might. She tried to rush forward, but a guard grabbed her beautiful blonde hair from behind, forcing her to watch, in excruciating pain, the First Officer collapse into a pool of blood, slowly losing signs of life.

Two other guards quickly rushed forward, locking her arms from behind. Sigrdrifa didn’t struggle; she just lowered her head in a daze, while the pirates burst into laughter.

"If the First Officer did it, are we cowards then?"

"Let’s go, let’s go! Valhalla awaits us!"

"Whoever dies last at the gates of Valkyrie Hall owes a barrel of the strongest ale!"

These unruly pirates laughed wildly, each banging their necks against the blades, dying one by one.

Leotis looked on in horror, realizing that things were spiraling out of his control.

By the time he hastily ordered the guards to pin the pirates down, only six or seven pirates remained alive—they weren’t late in acting but lacked the courage to kill themselves just yet. Some hesitated, while others looked pleadingly at Sigrdrifa.

Even through pleading glances, ultimately, no one could say the words, "Let Sigrdrifa sacrifice herself."