Chapter 30: Master and Servant at the Table

Ear detects a small enemy force slipping through the woods to the east, and Askeladd realizes the English have found them and are merely waiting on reinforcements. He sends Bjorn to strike first and to take an enemy leader alive for questioning, while ordering his carpenters to finish the sleds needed for a night escape toward Derby. Nearby, Ragnar coaxes Thorfinn into handing over a hare he caught so it can be stewed with vegetables, and Thorfinn is startled to find the prince himself at the cook pot. Over the soup, Canute admits he enjoys cooking in secret, recalling how King Sweyn once flung aside a dish he had made, forbidding a prince to stoop to a slave's work.

A messenger arrives with word that fighting has begun. Enraged to learn Askeladd intends to push deeper into England rather than retreat to Wales, Ragnar demands to confront him. On the way, a soldier hidden in a snowbank spears Ragnar through the gut on Askeladd's orders. Mortally wounded, Ragnar still insists on speaking with Askeladd about the prince. Askeladd thanks him for keeping the weak boy alive so long and vows in Odin's name to protect him.

Ragnar then reveals that the court has split into factions favoring either Canute or Harald, and that Sweyn, to keep his realm from tearing apart, resolved to have one son die. The king deliberately sent Canute into the war hoping he would perish, which makes Sweyn the prince's true enemy. Ragnar urges exile as the only path left, already arranged by his brother in Gainsborough, then begs one last glimpse of Canute to say farewell, a request Askeladd denies as the old retainer dies in the snow.

Askeladd learns the English have found the band and prepares a night escape by sled. Canute cooks for Thorfinn and shares a painful memory of his father's rejection. Askeladd has Ragnar fatally speared to remove him. Ragnar reveals that Sweyn sent Canute to die and urges exile before dying in the snow.

The thirtieth chapter belongs to Volume 5 and was adapted in Episode 15 of the anime. It was published on March 24, 2007. The featured quote, spoken by Ragnar, warns Askeladd that Canute's true enemy is his own father, King Sweyn.