Volume Two: The Iron-Blooded Baron — Chapter 143: The Defense of Nolandenburg (17)

“Do we really have to wait until they have besieged the city for three days?” Bess asked.

Berion smiled at that, then gazed at the sun sinking in the distance.

“Though I am not particularly skilled at fishing, I enjoy fishing beside lakes in the woods. There is a certain trick to it: once a fish takes the bait, you must not pull it in at once—especially if it is a large fish.

“If you try to drag it out by force, it will struggle with all its might. It knows that once you haul it ashore, it will be dead. When life and death hang in the balance, anyone would fight desperately for survival.

“That is why, once a big fish takes the bait, you must play it slowly. Let it cling to the bait it has seized, and wear itself out little by little. Then, when it least expects it, pull it in swiftly. Only then can you keep the fish from escaping.”

“Hahaha!” Bess burst out laughing. “My lord, I understand. We shall simply wait for this hooked fish to exhaust itself.”

The two exchanged a knowing glance and smiled. Together, they watched the beautiful clouds glowing in the sky after the sun had gone down.

The setting sun was red as blood, dyeing more than half the sky crimson. The bloody sunset seemed to echo the day’s savage battle, both alike in their astonishing redness. Yet to the people of Norland Castle, that color was the color of victory and joy. To Asedan and his band of Toba pirates, it was the color of humiliation and bitter defeat.

It was already late autumn. The temperature at night could no longer be described as merely cool; there was a genuine chill in the air. This was especially true for the soldiers who still stood watch atop the walls in the dead of night. The wind cut sharply through them, forcing them to wrap their cloaks more tightly around themselves lest they catch cold.

At that moment, the pirates assigned to night watch on the walls of the wooden fort were freezing miserably. Wrapped in the wool blankets they used for sleeping, they shivered and swayed where they stood.

One young Toba pirate complained, “By the Sea God, I never imagined autumn nights in the north could be so cold. I truly miss home. If we were on Toba Island tonight, I would have asked that beautiful shieldmaiden to join me. We would lie together in the grass beneath the stars, with her resting against my chest while I told her stories of battle.”

“Great God of the Sea, look at the shameless fool among your people!” A pirate with graying temples could not resist mocking him. “That shieldmaiden you fancy may have lost her husband in battle, but she is still a member of the earl’s shieldmaiden guard. Every one of those women could take on several weaklings like you. What sort of foolish dream are you indulging in?”

“That’s right, you little pup,” another middle-aged pirate said with a scarred face, laughing at him. “You are a hopeless fool. That female warrior might not be able to knock your teeth out with a single punch, but she could certainly beat you senseless in the space of a few breaths.

“And besides, she must be around thirty. Her eldest son is already twelve or thirteen, so she is only five or six years younger than you. You actually want to marry her? I cannot imagine what goes on in your head. Do you have a taste for mature women?”

The young pirate’s face turned crimson under the mockery of the two older men. He muttered defensively, “What is wrong with you two? So I like her—what of it? I fell for her the day I saw her at the initiation ceremony when I was fifteen. I truly like her. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

“And besides, are not the men of Toba Island supposed to love boldly and hate boldly? What is wrong with me for liking a beautiful shieldmaiden who is older than I am?”

“Well, well, look at our little man!” The scarred middle-aged pirate grinned wickedly. “You certainly have courage, lad. Once this battle is over, the two of us will take you to see her. And let me tell you, winning her over is actually quite simple. Want to hear how?”

The young pirate nodded eagerly. “I do! Of course I do! Uncle, hurry up and tell me.”

“Heh-heh!” The gray-templed pirate snickered lewdly. “Let me explain. First, you could be the first man to reach the battlements and kill the commander defending the city. That would earn you tremendous merit. Then the Wolf Lord Asedan—or even Earl Kered himself—might personally accompany you to ask for her hand. A hero and a beauty: a match made in heaven.”

“Ah!” the young pirate cried out, then murmured, “That is far too difficult. Even Captain Aul could not accomplish such a thing. How could I possibly do it? You are making fun of me.”

“Hahaha!” The scarred middle-aged pirate threw back his head and laughed. “Come, come, let me tell you the second way. All you need to do is win the tournament at the beginning of next year. A warrior who rises above nearly ten thousand competitors would surely be worthy of a widowed shieldmaiden, would he not?”

“Uncle, you are joking with me too. I am not speaking to either of you anymore. You are both awful, always bullying the youngest man here,” the young pirate grumbled unhappily.

“All right, all right, I will give you something practical.” The scarred middle-aged pirate patted him on the shoulder. “Actually, the simplest way is the oldest method on Toba Island.”

“Hm? What method?” the young pirate asked, bewildered.

The scarred pirate gave a lewd chuckle and asked, “You certainly cannot defeat that shieldmaiden, can you?”

“Er... Of course not. I cannot beat her,” the young pirate replied.

The scarred pirate nodded. “Ah, if you could beat her, things would be easy. On Toba Island, both men and women worship those stronger than themselves. If you could knock her flat on the ground, you would certainly earn the right to share her bed.

“But you cannot beat her. So what are you going to do?”

“What am I going to do? Uncle, stop stringing me along!” The young pirate was growing anxious. Those two rascals had been teasing him from the beginning, refusing to reveal the answer and leaving him so agitated he felt ready to burst into flames.

“Hahaha! It is very simple. Once we return, the two of us will go with you and ambush her along the road. You take a club and knock her unconscious, and then, heh-heh... You know what comes next. Do you really need us to teach you? Surely not!”

The scarred middle-aged pirate answered with an utterly lecherous grin.

The young pirate, furious, swung a fist at him, but the shameless older man dodged it.

“You bastard!” the young pirate cursed. “Under Toba law, if a man uses violence to force himself on a free woman, he is hanged. Are you trying to get me killed?”

“Come now, even if you died after having a little fun, it would be worth it,” the old pirate teased from the side. “Otherwise, you will never marry that beautiful shieldmaiden.”

The scarred middle-aged pirate burst out laughing as well.