Chapter 360 Untrustworthy!



In their absence, the Vikings began to see Tyr more as their leader than Gudleif or Bjorn. 

"Viggo, is he not amazing?" Ivan blurted out.

"Terrifying, more like but his methods are the best way to do this," Viggo said bluntly, he did not sound emotionally distressed but his focus was on Gudleif. 

Viggo could not help but think that Gudleif had other motives that exceeded this expedition.

Viggo wanted to approach him but he knew things would be a lot more different than their first meeting but Skarde walked to Gudleif.

"Gudleif, what is going on?" Skarde asked, and without hesitation, Gudleif briefed Skarde.

People frowned upon Skarde coming, they knew he was the weakest here yet Gudleif was not among those people. Gudleuf respected Skarde as a warrior and his coming along this expedition deepened that respect. 

Skarde walked to Uttredus, who was down on the ground. Skarde was a seasoned warrior and knew what was coming next, he could not stop it because he understood it was a necessity. 

"Why have you doomed your people?" Skarde asked Uttredus.

"Doomed? Would you pagan say you are doomed in death or would you claim salvation even if this is a delusion…" Uttredus was not backing down. 

His mouth was sharp, matching them word for word as he openly defiled them.

Skarde did not respond, the conversation would be pointless.

"Gudleif…" Skarde called out. 

"Yes sir," Gudleif responded, despite being the head of the operation he openly recognized Skarde as a superior. 

"Spread out, search the houses for anything valuable…" Skarde said and the moment he did, Gudleif instructed his men to do just that. 

In a sense, Gudleif was the eyes and Skarde was the true power.

-

Thorgard was searching every nook and cranny but they could only do so much with so few men. 

This would take a couple of hours at best but they stumbled upon valuables.

"Checkpoint!" Thorgard blurted out as their priority quickly shifted. Thorgard instructed the men to begin carting away these goods as he kept searching for the monks. He was surprised that the goods were out in the open making the entire point of Uttredus resistance in vain begging the question, why did they resist?

Was he hiding something far more valuable than treasures? Thorgard had every intention of finding out what that was because things should ease down a bit now that they have found this. 

Vegard was perplexed by how shiny they looked, they came in the form of golden bowls and silver spoons among many other things.

Further search resulted in them finding small picked chests that contained coins but it was not nearly enough to share amongst themselves. 

Thorgard was over the moon but he had a mission to do and that was to find the monks hidden.

Thorgard left the cheers behind him and wandered into a building where a cross hung at the door. 

It was the same symbol on their chest, Thorgard knew this could not be a coincidence. 

Thorgard broke into the building and it was a church. Of course, he did not know that but he was hesitant to walk in for some reason.

Seeing a giant cross on the opposite side of the room was a bit off-putting but that cross looked valuable.

There was no way Thorgard was not going to take it, he began walking towards it but Vegard tapped his head.

"What is it Vegard?" Thorgard questioned but his younger brother got down from his neck and stomped the floor.

"Huh?" Thorgard thought; Vegard kept stomping the ground like he was searching for something.

"Below?" Thorgard put the pieces together without Vegard verbally saying so. 

Vegard had an eye for hiding spots because of the kind of games he played with his older brother, Grjötgard. 

He was the one that found their hiding space as well during the Gryting incident.

But they could not find anything, however, Thorgard knew that it could very well be covered. 

It would not make sense for them to hide underground without being covered. 

Thorgard tossed it over and stomped the floor and behold, it was hollow. 

Thorgard proceeded to reach for the floor and just like he thought, there was a compartment beneath the ground. 

Thorgard grabbed his sword, readying himself for any incoming threat but what Thorgard saw the moment he opened this cellar sent chills down his spine. 

"These are…!" Thorgard said. 

*"Please do not kill us,"* The people in the cellar blurted but Thorgard could not understand them. 

"These are children…" Thorgard now understood why Uttredus was hesitant to guide them to the grand treasure, it was because the kids shared the same space as where the real valuables were.

Thorgard was left with a difficult decision, to bring these kids to Tyr and leave them to their fate or pretend he did not see anything. 

-

Tyr and Bjorn were speaking, there was a fraction in the brother's relationship once again.

What happened in the few days before the expedition?

Tyr changed far too drastically for this to be a coincidence, something clearly happened but what?

Here's what happened. 

After Tyr had finished talking about their course of action with Thorgard, he excuses himself to get some fresh air, Tyr felt like he was suffocating and needed to breathe. 

A strange man came up to him and gave him a letter, something scribbled on paper. 

Tyr wanted to ask him what this was but the man was gone in the wind. 

Tyr opened up the paper, and the longer he stared at it, the angrier he looked. 

"I know…" It read, and this was unmistakably King Askild's handwriting and this came shortly after Bjorn renewed his loyalty to Askild after leaving Rogaland.

Tyr thought nothing of this at first as it might be a way for Bjorn to make him lower his guard but with this letter, it inadvertently placed doubt in Tyr's mind and the timing was impeccable as well considering Askild had left a few days prior.

Tyr was done giving his brother the benefit of the doubt and Bjorn needed to prove his loyalty or he was an enemy.