Chapter 31: History of Beasts

With Bjorn beside him, Askeladd tells Canute that Ragnar has died, dressing the death up as a brave stand ended by a spear through the back. The prince stares at the body in disbelief, mumbles that the two of them had only just shared their rabbit soup, then crumples when his legs give out. Askeladd calls for an immediate departure and assigns Thorfinn to guard the broken youth, waving off the young warrior's flat refusal.

Away from the others, Bjorn presses his captain on whether betting on so timid a prince is wise, and whether removing Ragnar accomplished anything. Askeladd answers that Ragnar's coddling produced the coward in the first place, that the old man had to go regardless, and that nothing links him to the killing. When Bjorn admits he has trailed Askeladd for years simply because he wished to, Askeladd replies that he lives by the same rule: a leader worth serving must stir the desire to serve. He names the whole scheme a wager on Canute emerging remade, and swears to discard the prince if he never recovers.

Askeladd then joins the men working over a captured English officer, who will not cry out under the beating. Calling for shears, he crouches beside the prisoner and demands the enemy's numbers, their arrival time, and how his position was betrayed. He slices off one fingertip, then a second, drawing screams but no answers. The officer spits that the Danes are animals who torched his village and killed his family on land that belongs to the English. In reply Askeladd delivers a lecture: the Celts and their Welsh descendants held the soil first, the Romans traded knowledge with them, and the Angles and Saxons took the fertile ground by force centuries ago. If his own people are beasts, he argues, so too are the Anglo-Saxons who seized the same land through violence.

Ear breaks in with word of a force approaching from the south. Baffled that the English would attack in darkness, Askeladd soon learns from the gloating prisoner that the pursuers are fellow Danes under Thorkell. The name sends panic through the band. Some distance off, Thorkell surveys the village and divides his warriors to flank it, ordering a slaughter that spares only the prince and the short knife-fighter he claims for himself. As Bjorn hauls the sobbing Canute toward the sleds, the prince demands a funeral and refuses to leave the corpse. A slap from Askeladd stuns him quiet. When two would-be deserters are dragged up, Askeladd tells the whole company they may pick their own leader, but any who follow him must march without pause, since falling behind is death.

Canute collapses on hearing of Ragnar's death, and Thorfinn is ordered to shield him. Bjorn openly challenges the plan to raise up the prince. Askeladd severs the English officer's fingers during interrogation and rebuts the man's insult with a history of Britain's conquests. Ear's warning exposes Thorkell as the pursuing commander, spreading fear across the band. Askeladd slaps Canute into silence, offers the company a free choice of loyalty, and leads a punishing retreat into the night.

The installment draws on material collected in Volume 5 and is adapted within Episode 16 of the anime. Its Japanese title reads Kedamono no Rekishi. The featured line captures Askeladd's belief that a follower chooses a master worth following, framing his gamble on Canute's transformation. The interrogation scene doubles as a compressed lesson on the layered invasions of Britain, casting the Danish raiders as merely the latest link in a long chain of conquerors.