Rise of Rurik

It was another quiet night, and Rurik's little head still dreamed of daytime studies.

He was muttering some strange sleep talk, and involuntarily snuggled the leather blanket over him.

The new day begins with the labor of the lower priests, who are cooking their breakfast of the day in the huge wooden hut.

Not much different from the past, bread is a very precious existence, and the daily meals of the priests are mostly fish. In recent days, everyone has been eating some venison every day.

But everyone didn't eat a lot, and the priests were used to a half-starved life, a small piece of cooked meat, which was the so-called breakfast.

After waking up, Rurik immediately ate meat, and he didn't have any psychological burden.

Only his servant, Rumia, looked at the pieces of meat in the rough wooden bowl with many thoughts.

"Eat. If you don't eat, you'll be hungry." Rurik muttered the words of the ancient Sami language he had learned in the past few days. Without any rhetoric, he used the most basic words to express his meaning.

"OK."

Rumia was cruel, and now things are different, even if the venison in this bowl used to be her own live deer, it has nothing to do with herself.

In fact, Rumia didn't quite know what the concept of "servants" was. As long as she worked for them, she was a servant?

After a few days of contact, she understood one thing, as long as she was with this little boy, it seemed that she would be treated well.

She took a few bites of the venison sprinkled with coarse salt, the refreshing salty taste deeply stimulating her mind.

She suddenly stumbled and asked, "Today, shall we study?"

"Yes. I want to learn your language. You, also our language."

"Okay. I, study."

Anyone is smart. People can distinguish the core content of Chinese language. As long as they master these core content, two people with different mother tongues can barely communicate.

Rurik had thought that today would be another peaceful study day, but due to the bad wind and snow outside, he naturally continued to be sheltered by the towering priest's wooden house.

Not long after he had breakfast, a "white" strong man in white bear skin hurried to the wooden house.

It was none other than the leader Otto.

Behind him are several of his close associates.

Otto's sudden appearance made Vilia a little dissatisfied. She suspended her translation work and suspended language education for Rurik and Rumia.

"My leader, you should be quieter. Don't make too much noise, please spare me the old man."

"Oh, sorry, great priest. I just came to pick up my son."

"Rurik? What's the matter? I'm teaching him myself."

"This..." Otto's eyes widened, he knew what his son and his servant were doing.

Otto supported his son's study, but he also considered the limitations of the times, and thought that it was enough to be a little smarter than others after studying.

He stepped forward and muttered, "Great priest, I'm only here to take Rurik to sweep the snow. Now that the snowstorm is basically over, we must remove as much snow as possible from all the houses, including this big wooden house."

"Ah! I almost forgot." Villa patted her forehead, "It's to remove snow,

Bona, help me up! "

After being helped up, Villa felt that snow removal was imperative.

"Just like in previous years, we cleaned the snow off the roof. And the snow on the road, all to one side. Bona, get my leather jacket, and then tell the others to act."

Otto nodded with satisfaction: "Let's go Rurik too, and bring your servant. This time, you have another task."

"Task?"

Rurik was full of confusion, could it have something to do with snow removal?

Soon, he understood his so-called mission.

Rumia was pulling on Rumia's thin arm. At this moment, both of them were wearing the traditional clothes of tribal children, which were actually lined with linen, and their coat was a coat cut from animal skins. boots.

But the biggest difference between Rurik and other children is that he wears underwear.

The Rus tribe, they are like the other tribes, and even the Frankish kingdoms further south.

All residents have no concept of pants until now.

Only those steppe peoples, they invented trousers out of a minimal need.

This is the era and only the Frankish cavalry will wear some leather-like trousers.

Rurik couldn't stand life without trousers. When he was old enough, he asked his mother, Nia, to cut and sew a pair of shorts from a piece of linen. This thing has more meaning to cover shame, and now it has a little more value to keep out the cold.

He stood in the snow under his wooden house, and the thickness of the snow on the roof was really amazing.

Otto came with two small oars, one handed to his son's leader gently, and the other rudely thrown to Rumia.

He gave orders more casually; "Hey! Girl, wait a minute and follow your master to the roof and push all the snow down!"

As long as she looks at this tall guy, Rumia is frightened from the bottom of her heart. And she really saw clearly that this man was not only a murderer who hurt his relatives, but that this man was wearing a genuine bear skin! The terrifying bear head, as well as the terrifying fangs, drooped on the man's back.

This man actually killed a bear!

She didn't quite understand the man's orders. In short, this man was very terrifying. Lumia subconsciously hugged the wooden oars and approached her master Rurik, shaking her head slightly in fear.

"Dad, you are too mean to her." Rurik muttered impatiently.

"Huh? Am I annoying you?"

"No! Look at Rumia's face, she's scared."

"That's right. This deer farmer girl should be afraid of me, and she'll be climbing on the roof in a while."

Rurik nodded: "I understand, but Dad, you see me being so weak, you expect me to clear all the snow? Maybe you should follow us to the roof too."

"No need." Otto smiled awkwardly: "If I follow along, the roof will collapse. Child, you can be the future leader, don't be afraid because of this difficulty. If you don't like it, don't worry. It doesn't matter, it makes sense for your servants to climb up and do the work."

"That's crazy!"

Rurik raised his head, looked at the snow that was about half a meter thick, and shook his head with a pouted mouth.

The corner of his eyes turned to his servant again, expecting this girl to complete the work, I am afraid that even if she pushes off all the snowflakes with a wooden oar, she will be paralyzed from exhaustion.

Just looking at the parents' attitude towards the girl, Rurik really didn't dare to think too much.

Humanistic care? Pooh! Parents must be simple to use Rumia as a tool.

He gritted his teeth and said to his father, "What kind of difficulty is this? But you're going to get me something to eat. Mmmm... Mom!"

With a somewhat complicated expression, Nia replied, "What's wrong?"

"Can you cook some porridge? I'm preparing some dry bread cubes. I'll eat these when I finish my work."

"Okay. But Rurik, you have to be careful, come down when you're really tired, I'm not like your father, I won't force..."

"Shut up!" Otto stopped his wife with anger: "Go and prepare porridge! You have to trust your son, he is the man who will be the future leader. If he can't clean the snow off the roof, he will face many challenges in the future. Enemies, what ability do you have to defeat them?!"

Rurik wanted to laugh as he listened, as if snowflakes were the enemy, and snow removal was also a kind of war.

Thinking about it carefully, similar father roles are really common. A strong father will always ask his son to challenge the impossible, and only the child's mother will be worried at the rear.

So, how do you get to the roof?

The roofs of ordinary houses in Roseburg are made of pieces of wood, and a layer of meadows containing soil is laid on them. Some people also lay a layer of animal skin on the bottom layer for better shelter from the rain.

All buildings do not have tiles, and the roofs also have a certain slope.

Rurik couldn't climb the roof without using a ladder, and Otto didn't prepare a ladder for this, because he felt it was unnecessary.

After all, the son is only seven years old, and as long as he is hugged, he can easily be thrown on the roof.

Just like that, Rurik was thrown into the snow nest on the roof, and Rumia was the next to be thrown up.

"Let's start!" Otto on the ground ordered.

"Okay!" Rurik finished speaking, and he had to bite the bullet and instructed Rumia in ancient Sami words, "Rumia, start! Finish, you, me, eat. Eat bread."

bread? In fact, Rumia was fortunate to eat bread for the first time in the priest's wooden house after she was captured.

It was Rurik who broke her a small piece of dry whole-wheat bread. In fact, in his opinion, this bread was not enough to feed her stomach, and it could also clean her teeth very well.

It's a real wholemeal bread with lots of bran in it! Even so, it has more energy than the meat you eat on weekdays. If you do physical labor, eating wheat can be regarded as the first food to restore physical strength.

Looking at the snow on the entire roof, Rurik guessed that today was the busiest day since he crossed.

Is there anything more annoying than letting a seven-year-old boy and ten-year-old girl do this kind of work, while adults are watching a play and calling it a challenge?

Fortunately, the snow is quite soft, and the bottom has been frozen.

As the work began, Rurik personally felt the busyness of the work, and after a careful feeling, it was not unacceptable.

Not only are the oars of the longships of the Roth clan wider, but they also have a little subtlety in them.

Including some small boat oars, they are all carved oak into a special shape, that is, the center of the oar is deliberately carved.

This gizmo is a little cheaper when paddling and is more efficient than a smooth paddle.

Well, using this paddle to poke loose snowflakes is also very efficient.

It's just that the snow is still too thick, and the two light children are working hard, and a lot of snow is pushed to the ground.

Rurik took a closer look, and of course his father was not a mere spectator. He was also using a wooden oar as a wooden shovel to push the snow that he pushed down to one side.

He looked around again, and in the huge Roseburg, many shadows swayed on the roof, and today's snow removal was like a festival.

Too much snow can collapse a home, and with less and less snow, the likelihood of landslides decreases.

In the short day, most of the work must be completed. Seeing that the work has finished dressing up, the panting Rurik is happy to see that Rumia is still pushing the snow.

"Hey! Rumia, rest!"

"No. It's over, Snow, rest."

Rurik understood what she meant, and this servant really proved his obedience with practical actions. After all, she is only a ten-year-old child, and there should be no more thoughts in her mind. She will work hard to complete the work if she gives some promises.

Rurik thought a lot at this moment. He sat on the roof and rested for a while. Looking at the girl's struggling figure, he guessed that when she grew up, she would be his good helper.

Although Rumia is just a child, she can teach her a lot by herself. In the future, this kind of person will be an excellent right arm, even if she is a woman who will be despised.

After resting for a while, Rurik subconsciously covered his stomach.

"Whoops, I'm really hungry. I should be cooking porridge now. I can smell it. Get the work done early, and I'll eat early."

Compared with other children of the same age, Rurik can be called "pampered". Although only seven years old, Rurik's weak body still has a lot of muscle strength. He is stronger than other children. In comparison, Rumia's body is much weaker.

Rumia was really afraid of that man. She didn't know how much protection the little boy beside her would give her. Obviously, if she couldn't do her job well, she would definitely be punished by that wicked person.

Punishment must be something terrible!

Rumia didn't mean to rest at all, she just wanted to finish her work early, but she didn't realize how destructive the overwork was to the body.

Except for Rurik, everyone in the tribe has no concept of trousers. The means of protecting the lower body from the cold are longer leather jackets that can cover the knees, and high-top boots that extend to the knees in one breath. In general, the combination of these two clothes is enough to keep out the cold, but Lumia's new clothes don't fit so well.

She was so thin that some of her skin was constantly exposed to the cold. She was also afraid of being punished for her hard work. This work was indeed very successful. Otto, who was sweeping the snow on the ground, also monitored her work from time to time. Otto said nothing, and was very satisfied with the work of the girl Rumia.

She is indeed an obedient tool.

Gradually, Rumia felt the heat, but the animal skin draped on her body was like a heavy burden.

Rurik sullenly continued to push the snow, but when he raised his head again, he was surprised to see that Rumia was actually getting rid of the shackles of the animal skin, and the leather jacket to keep out the cold was only tied around the waist with hemp rope.

This child, who was wearing a lined linen shirt and her arms, was directly exposed to the cold wind from the Arctic.

Rurik was taken aback.

He ran in a hurry, his face full of surprise: "Rumia, what are you doing! Put your clothes back on quickly."

Rumia basically understood the order from the Norse language, and she reluctantly explained: "I...I, hot. I am fine now."

"very good?!"

Rurik to touch her arm, what's the heat! Her arm is like an ice cube!

Frightened, he touched the girl's forehead with his hand, and her head was also chilled.

How can you feel hot when you are cold all over?

Suddenly, an extremely bad situation came to mind, Rurik waited for the girl's big eyes and grabbed the wooden oar in her hand: "Rumia, it's over. You put on your clothes and go to the ground to eat. ."

"I...I'm fine."

"enough!"

Rurik stopped talking nonsense, he threw down both wooden oars, and then took Rumia's cold hand and sat on the ice on the roof, aiming at the snow on the ground that had not been cleaned immediately, and slipped directly. go down.

Then, the two fell to the snow pile.

"Hey! Rurik, why did you come down before the work was done?!" Otto was very dissatisfied with his son's decision, "You still can't stand this tiredness?!"

"Dad! Something happened." Rurik roared with a terrified face: "Hurry up and give Rumia hot water. If she works a little longer, she will freeze to death."

At this point, Rurik stopped talking nonsense at all, and he smelled that porridge was indeed cooking in his house. Has a pleasant aroma of wheat.

But Lumia's situation is very bad now, and what's even worse is that the girl doesn't even realize that she is about to die.

Rumia was dragged to run, she still said that she was hot all over, but walking seemed like a machine that lacked lubricating oil, and her whole body looked very stiff.

She consumed too many calories, and her mind became numb because of this. Her brain mistakenly believed that she was very hot, and in fact her whole body was almost frozen to death.

Many people who get drunk in winter lie on the side of the road and sleep soundly. As the sun rises, people who get up early are surprised to find that these hangovers see their clothes that have been lifted and frozen. Body.

Rurik was thinking of such a bad scene. Rumia was clearly frozen and confused, and she couldn't tell what was hot and what was cold!

Only he has more knowledge in his head, if Rumia, who listens to her own words, has three strengths and two weaknesses, it will be bad!

He dragged the girl to the door of his house, and threw her into the sleeping nest made of animal skins and hay. Then he approached his mother who was squatting and boiled wheat in an iron pot and said, "Mom, the wheat looks almost cooked. Give it to me quickly. bowl."

"Don't worry, I'll give it to you, be careful it's very hot." Seeing that the child was doing well, Niya was in a really good mood.

She unhurriedly served a bowl for her son, and the son picked up a wooden spoon and ran to the girl with the bowl.

Nia was surprised to see that her son was actually feeding the servant himself!

At this moment, Niya suddenly thought of a lot of things. She didn't understand how a servant He De He could be so noble that the future leader wanted to feed her?

Later, Otto also curiously returned to the house to see the actions of the two children.

"What are you doing, Rurik?" Otto asked curiously.

"Daddy, Mommy, Rumia didn't even know she nearly froze to death. Mommy, get some more bread and roast some meat quickly. Dad, help me, carry her to the campfire. I don't want her to freeze to death, I don't want her to get sick! Quick!"