Gun of Ashes

Ragnar Rodbrock, in the hundreds of years of civil war among the Viking nations, was the first person to successfully end the wars and unify the countries. The Vikings submitted to him, obeying his commands, and called him the King of the Ice Sea.

Lorenzo gradually recalled all of this. After all, the Viking nations were relatively distant to him, and he usually didn’t care much about them. But he never expected to be involved with this mysterious existence today.

He still remembered the tales people sang of Ragnar. Some said he was incredibly brave, and whenever he appeared on the battlefield, the enemy would feel fear and lose morale. Wherever he went, people would either submit or be plundered. Some even said he was the incarnation of the God Odin...

In any case, whether or not there was any artistic embellishment, just based on his achievements of ending the civil war and completing the unification, the King of the Ice Sea was seen by Lorenzo as an absolute hero.

And according to Hebdo, Rodbrock was the family of the King of the Ice Sea, which meant Lorenzo could understand them as the Royal Family of the Viking nations. This was a commission from the most powerful family, the Rodbrocks.

Lorenzo couldn’t help but tighten his robe. Although Hebdo hadn’t yet clarified the job content, just from what he’d learned so far, Lorenzo felt inexplicably troubled, as if he were in that distant north, facing a cold, biting wind.

This job was destined not to be easy.

”Anyway... let’s first find a quieter place to discuss this.”

The anxious Hebdo suddenly calmed down. Unlike what people knew, this Viking was unexpectedly cautious. He glanced around the hall, as if guarding against some enemy.

Lorenzo nodded stiffly. He had already gotten himself involved, and it was unlikely he could easily escape now.

So what virtue or ability do I have to undertake this great responsibility?

Minutes later, those who should come and those who shouldn’t had basically all arrived.

It was that familiar meeting room again, where Lorenzo had his first encounter with the new Order. It was filled with unpleasant memories everywhere.

Just as before, he sat in his familiar spot, directly across from the hastily arrived Arthur. On the other side of Arthur was Oscar, representing Nordro. The Viking nations’ envoy, Hebdo, sat on Arthur’s other side, followed outwardly by Selyu and Bola. Everyone wore a solemn expression, as if something terrible had happened.

”Rather than this, I want to know, does this commission count as ours, Nordro’s, or yours, the Purification Mechanism’s?”

Oscar had already put away his smile. In Ingwig, Nordro had little influence. Now, the place was filled with people from the Purification Mechanism. He felt as though he’d walked into a tiger’s den. Even if Lorenzo agreed to his side, he might likely be taken away by the Purification Mechanism. Still, Oscar wanted to give it a try.

”Actually, this can be considered cooperation between the two sides. After all, if you’re truly going to take on this work, you will need the Purification Mechanism’s assistance.”

Arthur looked unkindly at Oscar; this old fox was very tricky.

”For example?”

”For example, you Nordro at the end of the day are merely a commercial trading organization. You inherently have no, nor should have, any political nature. Once a conflict arises with Gaulunaro, what will you do then?”

”So you mean to say, can we throw this hot potato to Ingwig?”

”You yourselves originate from Ingwig. Not to mention, the conflicts between Ingwig and Gaulunaro are already deep. Who cares about one more or one less?”

Arthur didn’t mind paying some interest, as long as the matter didn’t become complicated.

But clearly, the conversation between the two could not decide everything. The real decision-maker sat at the other end, wrapped in a ridiculous robe, playing with a Nail Head Hammer he somehow dug up, out of place here.

Hebdo, this Viking, was apparently also somewhat strange. He surprisingly didn’t doubt this odd person, Lorenzo. It was clearly their first meeting, yet he seemed to trust Lorenzo. Perhaps he too had heard enough of Arthur and Oscar’s honeyed words, actually regarding Lorenzo as an expert.

And don’t experts have some odd quirks from time to time? Isn’t that quite normal?

”Instead of dividing interests, why don’t you first tell me what exactly this job is?”

Finally, the long-silent Lorenzo asked.

He hated this feeling as if the whole world knew what was up, but no one spoke plainly, leaving just him in the dark.

”Hmm... I assume you know about the Viking nations and the Rodbrock family, right.”

The scene fell silent, and then Hebdo spoke to Lorenzo.

”Ragnar Rodbrock, I of course know of him. He is called the incarnation of Odin, incredibly brave and fierce, a natural warrior.”

Hebdo did not have much of a reaction to Lorenzo’s praise, but after acknowledging it, he continued explaining to Lorenzo.

”The cause of this matter is that our Viking nations intend to collaborate with Ingwig. Currently, the fires of industry blaze, but due to years of civil war among our Viking nations, we have fallen behind the entire world. To catch up with others, Nordro is willing to provide trade routes, and Ingwig is willing to offer steam technology support.”

This was a typical approach. Under the support of trade and technology, Ingwig, after the Radiant War, had covertly allied with a large number of countries this way.