Elves and Vikings
Elves had made a tidy profit from this Empire raid. The ship captain, Silberina, listened to her subordinates' reports.
"We've caught about fifty of those monkeys this time."
"What about the young ones?"
"Do you think we're running some animal shelter? They're a waste of food—kill them all."
There were a few young monkeys who couldn't work right away, which was a bit of a hassle. But they'd captured plenty of slaves who would voluntarily serve noble beings like themselves.
"Of course, it's a little suspicious how poorly armed these monkeys were."
"Captain, let's just be grateful for the good fortune."
"Better than losing lives needlessly."
"Yeah… true enough." After that, Silberina and the elves continued plundering the surroundings. Soon, there wasn't enough space on the ship for all the loot and slaves. The elves were happily puzzling over how to solve this when—
BOOOOM!!RUMBLE!!
"Gaaaaah!"
"Aaaargh!!"
"W-what?!"
"The Empire must've sent interceptors!!"
Whatever siege weapon they were using, the impact was tremendous. But these were short-lived monkeys with lifespans under a hundred years and low affinity for mana. The elves grinned wickedly at the thought of seizing even more spoils and slaves, drawing their weapons.
But the attackers this time were… off.
"Siuuuuu!!!!"
"This is our turf now!!"
"Die already!!"
These were completely different from the usual monkeys—mad, raging ones. They were huge, their eyes wild with bloodlust, cutting down noble lives like weeds.
"How dare you monkeys attack exalted elves?!"
"I'll turn your lives into hell!!!"
The elves flew into a rage and counterattacked the Vikings. The battlefield became a frenzy of clashing weapons in an instant. But then, things happened that made the elves recoil in horror.
"H-how are they moving like that?!"
"Fighting spirit!!! Fighting spirit conquers all!!"
These insane monkey bastards shrugged off swords to the heart. They moved even after turning into pincushions from arrows.
"Damn it!! Aim for the head!! They can't move without anything above the shoulders!!"
"C-Captain!!"
"What?!"
"Look over there!!!"
Silberina snapped to attention at her lieutenant's words and checked the path to the ship. She reeled in shock. Were they so thrilled at the idea of looting them back that more cheerful Vikings were swarming in?
In the end, unable to dispatch the vanguard, the elves were overwhelmed as more Vikings poured into the fray. It was no contest in raw power. The elves were pushed back.
And then, the great Drengr leading these Vikings—Ulfrik Ragnarson—shook the blood from his axes and bellowed.
"Everyone!! Geunbbae!!!"
"""Rawr!"""
Noble beings who could live thousands of years were being ravaged by mere monkeys. Unlike short-lived races, elves lived very long lives.
"S-spare meeeee!"
"Aaaargh!!"
"Nooooo!"
Their lives were far too precious. In the end, the elves dropped their weapons and fled the field. Naturally, Silberina screamed at her subordinates.
"You can tell you're the boss here, right?"
"—?!"
The gaze of a massive bear, hungering endlessly, fixed on Silberina. Like a frog frozen before a snake, she couldn't move.
"D-don't come closer…."
Even Silberina, young and exceptionally talented among elves, felt her reason numb under the terror of approaching death.
Ulfrik, of course, ignored her plea. He cleaved through everything in his path and closed in.
"I said don't come near meeeee!!!"
CRUNCH—!!!
Thus, Ulfrik held aloft Silberina's severed head. The remaining elves lost all will to fight.
*******************
Kyah~ Who knew they'd gather all this loot for us, thinking we'd struggle!
"Truly lovable fellows."
"Hohohoho, indeed."
"What about the leftover kanpeu?"
"They won't even pay ransom. Kill them all."
Kanpeu had such high pride that the moment they lost a battle, their kin abandoned them. Even if you wanted to sell them as slaves, slavers had a saying: "You bought an elf as a slave?!" "Are you insane?!!" Kanpeu always schemed betrayal; even as slaves, they kept trying to kill their masters. Apparently, even perverted Empire nobles wouldn't buy them. They'd just consume rations pointlessly. Since they'd put up a decent fight, we sent them honorably to the next world.
"The problem is the tied-up Empire folk…."
"Kanpeu always pick off just the free citizens, huh."
"With this much loot already, should we rescue these guys too?"
"Nah, just let 'em go."
Wisdom from the last big raid. Alright, Empire folks! We'll set you free, so keep making lots more plunder for us!
"Bye!!!"
"See you again!!"
"Remember ussss!!!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Uwaaaah!"
We ended up having a tearful farewell party. Seeing them flee with tails between their legs felt mighty satisfying.
"Kuh… Isn't this investing?"
"In two or three years, it'll make a fine raiding spot."
"Can't wait for that day!"
Seeds sown for the future. We handled the aftermath.
"So why didn't you lot die?"
"Beats me?"
"Honestly, I'm surprised too."
"Everyone's wounds from this fight have already healed completely."
Kanpeu were strong thanks to their long lives and exquisite martial skills. Yet not a single tribesman died in that battle.
"Tch, our ancestors love us too much…."
"Never dreamed they'd block weapons for us."
"Hahaha! That's our ancestors and spirits for you!"
No matter how much fighting spirit and overprotective ancestors helped, something felt off. Isn't repeated coincidence just inevitability? Gotta ask Dad about this.
*******************
Not a single intact kanpeu ship in sight. We stored the massive loot they'd gathered for us here and fetched our hidden longship.
SCREEECH!
"This should hold, right?"
"Hmm… long trip ahead, so it might snap."
"Can't use chains without spring, though…."
We tied the kanpeu ship behind the longship. Plan was to row it all the way home—but would it work? Just in case, we loaded valuables and key items onto the longship. A few who could handle that ship took the helm.
"Trust us!"
"If we get it back, it'll make a great supply vessel!"
"I believe you!"
Can't back down without trying. Vikings gonna Viking—we gave it a shot. A pursuing Empire ship popped up, but our ace rower paddled like hell.
"Son, didn't you say you were raiding the Empire? Why a knife-ear ship…."
"Ahahahaha! Well, you see~"
We successfully moored the captured ship near the tribe. No dock for it yet, so more work ahead, but investment for the future. Small raid with one longship, yet the haul was absurd—cue another massive feast.
"Skal!!!"
"""Skal!!!"""
The cheer for toasting echoed across the tribe. Warriors clamored to join the next raid.
"We're ready!!"
"Drengr!! Grant us glorious battle!!"
"Got it, calm down!!"
Never thought bearded old-timers would give me sparkling eyes. Stomach's churning. Anyway, reported the kanpeu fight to Dad as planned.
"W-what?! Guys shrugging off swords to the heart?!"
"One warrior took two spears through the body and kept going."
I figured he'd call bullshit. Instead, Dad looked deeply moved.
"Yes!! I thought it was weird no one died in the last big raid!!"
"Dad, do you know something?"
"Berserkr!!!"
"Pardon?"
"Our warriors have become berserkr!!"
Berserkr is the root of a famous word: berserker, or mad warrior.
*************
The reason no tribesmen died in past raids or this kanpeu fight was revealed.
"Berserkr keep moving unless decapitated or instantly killed."
"For real?!"
Dad said Empire werewolf tales were twisted stories of our Nord race's mightiest: berserkr.
"Endless fury and regeneration—the terror of our heroes became those myths."
"But such power must have a price."
"Of course~ If your fighting spirit breaks, the ancestors get disappointed, and the power fades."
So it really was all about spirit. Tempted to go full spirit-supremacy mode, but needed to test. Dad, super curious, fetched a cute little fruit knife.
Time for an experiment—stab my hand with it.
Cling!!!
"Oh."
"Oh."
Felt like striking steel plate. No good, so we grabbed an axe. This oughta do. For certainty, full-force swing into my palm.
Crunch!!!
"Son, does it hurt?"
"Nope? And…"
The axe wound healed in seconds. We were speechless at the miracle. Could only thank our overly worried ancestors.