Disclaimer: Fate : Lost Einherjar is the property of Nasu Kinoko and TYPE-MOON.

It does not belong

tome and it should not be sold and lent out to anyone. This is just a fan-translation.
 A subspecies Holy Grail War.

The chance meeting between two Heroic Spirits spins as its prequel--------

The story begins to turn.

Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 3

FATE: LOST EINHERJAR

ASLAUG OF THE AURORA

PROLOGUE

Written by: Hikaru Sakurai

Illustration by: Shirow Miwa

Translated by: PhoenixRising

 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 4

The number is 220Volt’s “Walking in Starlight.”

The performance is powerful, and seems to be a question of the Seiðr prophetsi that were thrown into
the beyond.

The man sways his body happily as he listens to the rhythm of Scandinavian heavy metal that echoes
through his wireless earphones that are wirelessly connected to the latest iPod nano.

His height is about two metres.

The guitar case hanging from his shoulder is small.

He was a tall, bulky, muscular and strong man.

Scars on his forehead and black warpaint around his eyes. His short-trimmed iron hair looks great on
him.

The capital of Norway, Oslo. At the Ark bookstore near the national Parliament building. Despite being
indoors and despite being in Scandinavia in February, where the average minimum temperature reaches
minus five degrees Celsius, the man wears a leather jacket over his bare skin and opens his chest wide so as
to boldly show off his chest.

And yet, it doesn’t even make the onlookers feel a shred of cold.

It made them have the misapprehension that the cold wouldn’t hurt him.
The man is still swaying even while browsing through a Scandinavian tourism guide book in a corner of
the bookstore.
A young child is looking up at his appearance. He opened his mouth wide while still holding onto the
hands of his mother who was wondering whether to add a cooking magazine next to the regularly
published childcare and mail-order magazines she had chosen, and then looked up at the man’s huge body
for two seconds. Three seconds. On the fourth second, he glanced at a picture book of a boy wearing a
horned steel helmet, and on the fifth, he said a few words.
“Mister, are you a Viking?”
“So you know?” the man gives off a broad smile.
His way of showing his white teeth had an exceptional innocent impression to it. The young mother
who noticed her child’s voice looked back, immediately after that, she watched him with fascination for
only a mere moment, she then re-composed herself with some self-control and said, “Oh, I’m sorry for my
child’s rudeness,” she then looks at his arm that seems to be as thick as waist and said, “Could you be an athlete?
Or a heavy metal rocker?”
“Haha. Didn’t ya lad say it.”
Looking down with eyes the same colour as the Fjord that reflects back the sunlight, he says.
“Ahh, I’m a Viking.”

He couldn’t find his own kind.

It’s not about the heavy metal and it’s not about the warpaint drawn and tattooed around his eyes.
He had no exposed skin to speak of and it is a matter of how things are.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 5

‘―――Pretty much everyone here is a proper human.’

Leaving the bookstore, the man tilts his head inwardly while walking down the less crowded main
street.
He didn’t feel any sort of power in the people passing by him.
Men and women, children and young people, the middle-aged and the elderly, all of them were the
same. He doesn’t feel the power to take, to acquire, to devour. There is almost no savage power to fight, to
kill, to survive in any kind of environment in them. It’s too weak, if not completely absent. Perhaps they
are peasants and fishermen who have no weapons. For that matter, every one of them has a fine ruddy
complexion.
The same is true for that earlier mother and child.
Gentle, full of gaps, and even smiling at strangers.
This modern city called Oslo. If it is truly a city full of peasants and fishermen with no savagery, then
it’s gonna be a little problematic for him. Or so the man thinks.
The idea turned into conviction when he discovered the policemen standing across from him at the
intersection.
‘―――What’ve we got here. Their weapons are small. I’ve no intention of killing you, so what’s going on here?’
Calmness is a virtue and being full of holes is a sign of abundance.
However, that alone is dangerous when his own kind appears.
Meaning―――
“Something isn’t right.”
He stops in his tracks. There is something that feels like an electric shock on his bare chest. Oh, it is his
kin.
It may be a little different from his exact kind, but it was close enough. He can clearly feel their mana.
“You’ve got good intuition.”
Leaving only his voice, the man dodges. He easily runs through the city of Oslo without hesitation,
enters an unpopular alley and takes a breather. Due to the quietness that was peculiar from the hustle and
bustle of downtown, the performance that reaches him from his earphones reverberates remarkably loud.
It’s not bad. This thing called heavy metal really pumps him up. Feeling that way, the man resists raising
the corners of his mouth.
Who was it that told him, “Licking your lips in front of prey is a second-class gesture”?

He switches off his iPod nano and takes out his earphones.
At the same time he turns around, something smacks his eyes―――
Straight after a Japanese Sedan races past the alley, it appears.
It was a strange being.
A humanoid apparition woven in shadows. Its long long hair likely reached the ground.
The apparitionii which seems to reach a height of three metres which even surpasses the tall bulky figure
of the iron-haired man, is wearing the wind. It seems as if the strong wind is being released as a kind of
bounded field. Its atmospheric pressure blows at the man. But the man does not care as it is not enough to
make his feet shake and says,
“Wooh, it’s so refreshing,”
As he tries to call to his unidentifiable foe.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 6

It is a Slavic monster that was just summoned a moment ago, but the man does not know that.
However, he does understands its essence. It is an enemy. Its overflowing murderous intent was really
familiar.
The man calms and begins to ready himself. He slips his trophy out of the guitar case on his shoulder.
It is not a gun. Nor a sword either. A heavy lump of iron―――an axe with a sharp blade, while tearing
through the Scandinavian winter air, he turns it with a flick of his wrist and strikes the shadow apparition.
The meaning of the action is really simple.
In short, you. Are now―――
“Kii.”
The apparition gave one squealing cry instead of a reply and moved.
Not on the ground―――it dashed along the wall. With a fist movement that ignores gravity. It runs
through the alley space while maintaining a tremendous initial velocity of over 500 kilometres per hour.
It’s not a straight line, but an at-random trajectory, that of a highly skilled lethal weapon.
Its sharp claws make a jarring noise as it approaches while scraping the walls. Its ultra-sharp claws
which cannot be captured as visual information will easily cut through flesh and bones. The strong wind
that coils around it is a shield that protects the apparition, so he cannot take the initiative to pierce through
the gale. Yes, if he was a human.
But. He grabbed it.
He approaches it at super-high speed. And grabs the apparition’s arm with the sharp claws―――
Piercing through the protection of the strong winds, he grabbed the man’s left arm with a force
reminiscent of a vise.
If it had a mouth, the apparition might have said “Eh?” Instead, it tilts its head deeply and squeaks.
“Kii?”
He casts a shadow on the head of the apparition.
It was a dark black shadow cast by an axe swung up high.
At times, it is common sense in the area of mages unknown to public society that ancient mystics such
as a being that surpasses human wisdom are shattered only by the mysteries that surpass them.
As one can see, apparitions are not ordinary beings, and are probably similar to ancient mystics.
If that’s true, then does the man’s lump of iron, does his heavy, but sharp axe that does not lead to a
apparition?
It’s faster to see than to speak, spell and sing.
Now, brothers and sisters take a careful look at this.
An axe handle that can be clenched tightly.
His biceps swelling.
His thick blood vessels emerging.
He’s not even trying to avoid the apparition. What does he do with the heavy lump of iron? In the
moment when the invisible figure composed of countless thin shadows is distorted by the scornful laughter
of stupid human powerlessness.
“Odin!!”
The roar from the mouth of the wide-opened man is a spirited voice like a loud scream and the name of
an old god.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 7

And then, the steel axe is swung down.

―――――It slices it in two!

The strong axe flashes and completely pulverizes it.
It is nonsensical for a mere shadow monster to rival a lump of iron swung by a ferocious hero risking his
life!

“Haaa!”
The man’s further voice crushes the apparition’s hearing mechanism which had been divided into two,
as a crack run downs its head.
Regardless of the mission he was entrusted with or how he appeared here, the apparition which is now
completely in two parts is not so lucky. In modern Scandinavia, if it is a world with mysteries, then there is
no one who can compete with beings that dwell in mysteries, especially barbaric ones who do not show the
pretence of chanting magecraft, he’ll just haughtily pull out its brain and crush it.
In the middle of being crushed to bits by his axe attacks and spirited voiced, the apparition watches.
Who is this man―――
He is the real genuine deal.
He was a Viking and a Berserkeriii who arrived into this modern era from the past.

The axe that smashed the apparition hit the paved road directly, without sacrificing any of its
marvellous destructive power and speed. The culmination of deadly will and simple violence which he put
into saying the ancient god’s name. instantly scorches the fifteen-centimetre-thick asphalt and leaves very
deep scars into the alleys of Oslo itself.
The spellcaster who released that apparition must reassess his valuation of this man.
An embodiment of a time when the battle and death of washing blood with blood was a mystery
received from the heavens.
The power that never disappears while being driven away from the world like a shadow by the lights
and advancement of civilization.
Overcoming all challenges with a single axe, savage yet fierce, with valour and bravery.
A hero who crosses the sea and controls the land.
He is one of the strongest and most magnificent warriors that can be likened to a bear, one of the
strongest creatures in Northern Europe.
His name is Ragnar Lodbrok.
He is one of the brave Viking kings spoken of in legend.
“It was weaker than I expected.”
He returns the crudely wiped axe to the guitar case, pulls the zipper up and places it on his shoulder.
But first, a puff for his victory. Ragnar searches the pouch in his leather jacket, takes out a box of Lucky
Strikeiv cigarettes, and takes one out as he lights it with his Zippo lighter. He takes a big breathe and sucks,
sucks on it, before he brilliantly spits out tobacco smoke. It should be noted that outdoor smoking in
Norway is legal and there is no particular element that would find fault with Ragnar doing it in this place.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 8

The remains of the apparition that has been sliced in two is already melting into the shadows. And there is
no problem with everything so long as they are completely deceived by the guitar case.
“What happened?”
“I took down a monster. I don’t know, but it looks like a forest apparition.”
He responds to the soundless voice by speaking to himself.
It is a telepathic communication from his boss. Resounding dignifiedly, the voice at the centre of it is
pleasant to his ears.
“……. It’s probably Caster’s familiar. Have you killed it yet?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“Next, report when you encountered it.”
“Ok.”
He was really glad that she wasn’t a delicate boss. It quickly helped him to grasp her and stay cool.
“So did you find Archer? I think she’s still around the Bjørvika.”
“Not yet―――no wait, I think I might have found her. I’ll check it out now, boss.”
“Master.”
“Yes, Master.”
Ragnar turns his face. In the direction of the gulf.
He can sense it. There is one of his kind over there.
Straight after that. Ragnar kicks himself off the asphalt and leaps, leaping higher while lightly kicking
off the walls even more, leaping into the skies of Oslo. Immediately after landing briefly on the roof of a
five-storey building, he jumps high again and this time, he gets down.
It is the roof of an old fortress overlooking the water surface of the Fjord.
Ragnar didn’t know it, but the name of the fortress is Akershus Fortress.
One of the two major Norwegian fortresses built in the 13th century. A model of the fortress was used as
the setting in a huge blockbuster 3D fantasy animation film last year, and is now a popular spot for many
tourists. Therefore, it is awkward to land here. He stands out too much. And it’s really troublesome for him
to be scolded by his boss, er, Master about the concealment of mysteries and so on.
However, she doesn’t care about such things at all.
It isn’t like she judges it as trivial; she simply doesn’t think about it.
She is such a woman.
She is an agglomeration of beauty, made into the form of aloofness, which allows her to naturally act
gracefully.
Even now at this moment―――
She. Beyond Ragnar’s gaze, she is ephemerally standing at the spire of the old fortress with her mythril
lance in hand.

His impression of her is blue and black. And above all else, silver.

Her azure eyes are deeper than any jewel, than the sea and the sky.
Her mysterious black clothes are like she is wearing a starless night sky and she has a hair ornament that
paints a bewitching curve.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 9

Her silver thread hair made from merged glitter that cannot be reached even by collecting treasure from
all over the world.
She is the only girl accompanied by a big wolf. It was an unrivalled beauty and a personification of
mysteries that cannot be reached by the hands of others. Ragnar releases a passionate sigh, but he has no
choice but to desperately swallow it down and call out to her as calmly as possible.
While doing to gently and carefully with great care, as if he was dealing with a fragile person.
“Found ya, princess.”
At the sound of his voice, the silver girl turns around on reflex.
Her silvery hair sways.
“Who are you?”
“It’s Ragnar.”
“……I don’t recognize your face. If you’re pulling my leg, I’ll kill you on the spot.”
With a frosty gaze at him, the woman said it―――

Two ravens are flying over the distant sky.

Ragnar, the girl, everyone. They still haven’t noticed them yet.

――――

Year 201X, Scandinavia Norway.

The Subspecific Holy Grail War had begun.
The Subspecific Holy Grail which was modelled after the Fuyuki Greater Grail that was transported to
Europe during World War II operates as an omnipotent wish-granting device albeit incompletely. The
Heroic Spirits engraved into human history gather from the throne and kill each other as Servants for their
own objectives.
At the start of the first-ever Doubles Subspecific Holy Grail War which came with five special rules,
the young female magus who was chosen as one of the Masters, was convinced of her victory.
Why, because she drew two Servants with a powerful name in this Scandinavian region.
That is, the last Valkyrja and the legendary Viking king!
Furthermore, these two were a married couple in the past.
Did she have such good luck? No, not really. There was no way. In the Subspecific Holy Grail War
where the compatibility of the “party” is crucial, victory is already inevitable with this pull.
Yes, she was thinking.
However, the Valkyrie is treating it as if it was her first meeting with Ragnar.
Why on earth ..... ?

“……Why?”
She―――
Remina Eltfrom was in a daze.
In the waiting room of the Oslo Opera House which was designated as the Masters’ “HQ stagev.”
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 10

Originally, as the name implies, it is the base of the Norwegian State Opera and Ballet Company and it
is by no means a facility for mages, however, it is exceptionally being used for the opening of the Doubles
Subspecific Holy Grail War. Officially, they are glossing things over by doing stuff like interior design
work and examinations of the earthquake-resistant layout.
As expected, there is only one waiting room in the opera house, everything else is real.
How should she use so many mirrors by herself? However, it was only thirty minutes ago that she had
the illusion of becoming a musician for a little while, or festively riding on the spur of the moment by
wondering if she was a make-up artist.
Now, she had changed completely and had turned pale.
‘―――Ah, this just spoils the generosity of a beautiful woman. What a waste.’
Remina still had some mental leeway left to think like this, but to be honest, she was losing confidence,
reason and her composure every moment.
‘―――Calm down.’
‘―――Yes, let’s think calmly first.’
Remina inwardly tells herself, though she can’t help thinking it.
‘I should’ve won the lottery!’
She heard it was unlikely for a hero from the Age of the Gods to be summoned in a Subspecific Holy
Grail War.
It is often the case that a low-ranking Servant, who are incomparable to the ones from the Holy Grail
War that used the Greater Grail and who forcibly gave their ethereal body to a phantasmal spirit is a win.
But, this time it’s different. It’s the Doubles Subspecific Holy Grail War.
She pulled a hero linked to Norse Mythology, in the Subspecific Holy Grail War set in Oslo, the capital
city of Norway in Scandinavia. Moreover, two of them. Oh, hooray for the name correction!
“I’ve won, I’ve won the Doubles Subspecific Holy Grail War!”
Or so Remina screamed in the Hotel Bristol’s suite room with voice sealing talismans crammed on all
four walls, the ceiling and floor, so that no one could hear her, she was so ecstatic that she was banging and
hugging her favourite Moomintroll plush toy, while drinking mead.

Norse mythology. One of the two major mythologies in Europe that act as a counterpart to Greek and
Roman myths.
For the magic world, especially for the mages associated with the Mages Association centred on the
clock tower, it is known as a mythical system that ended the Age of the Gods around 1000 BC.
If she had to put it in more detail, Germanic and Norse Mythology.
Tragedy and misery spinning in the midst of raging primordial power! A magnificent myth created by
the harsh environment of the northern region full of ice and snow and met its end with everything burning.
The explanation for it according to academic texts and textbooks is that Germanic mythology had
already disappeared beyond the idle waves of human history with the Christianisation of the Germanic
region and its people, but it was the same so-called world that left behind Norse mythology that ended up
being preserved by the Germanic people who immigrated to the Scandinavia region…...
In fact, it is different.
According to an established theory in the magical world, Scandinavia is the centre of Germanic and
Norse mythology.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 11

Once in ancient times, about half of Europe in the Age of the Gods, the world was dominated by the
gods of Scandinavia which included the great god Odin―――comprised of nine realmsvi consisting of the
divine realm, Ásgarðr, the paradise realm, Vanaheimr, the spirit realm, Álfheimr, the dark realm,
Niðavellir, the realm of the frost giants, Jötunheimr, the frozen ice realm, Niflheimr, the realm of fire
Múspellsheimr, the realm of the dead, Helheim and the foundation realm, Miðgarðr, a marvellous world
full of mysteries and phantasms, with the large branches of the world tree, Yggdrasill, spreading in the sky
of every place and a rainbow bridge hanging from Miðgarðr where the people lived to Ásgarðr.
And. That the Archer class girl who was summoned by Remina Eltfrom is the last Valkyrja who
inherited those mysteries and phantasms.
The daughter of the strongest dragon slayer and the eldest sister of the Valkyries.
According to “Ragnar Lodbrok’s Saga” which is the sequel to the "Völsunga Saga" legend that talks
about the efforts of the Völsung clan including the great hero Sigurd, that girl is an extraordinary being,
whose existence was said to be in the 9th century era, far from the Age of the Gods.
Similar to the dogma in the clock tower, in Remina’s personal opinion, Sigurd and Brynhildr can be
expected to be largely beings from the Age of the Gods.
If so, then how did she―――that silver girl transcend time?
It's a big question, but its fine for now. Eventually, the operating hours of the “battle stage” will end, so
she can even ask her herself during the first interval. It is up to the girl to give a reply, but well, the issue
that the magical world dignitaries has been discussing for a long time, may end up with a complete answer
by identity verification, because of that Remina thinks that the great formula for Heroic Spirit summoning
is a cruel thing. ‘Isn’t that convenient?’ she thinks.
That man is the spouse of the girl who can be said to be living proof of the Age of the Gods.
It’s Ragnar, the warrior summoned by Remina as a Berserker.
Ragnar who is one of the legendary Viking kings, was so to speak, the last Einherjar from when the Age
of Gods ended.
Sigurd and Brynhildr, the strongest couple in the Nordic Age of the Gods, and Siegfried and Kriemhild
who have the same scenario, are certainly in the great hero class individually, but neither of them have a
good compatibility with their spouse.
In that respect, speaking of that girl and Ragnar, there is no story in their saga of them breaking up.
Rather, there are even episodes that make her they have a deep bond, so this is just―――
“The Doubles Subspecific Holy Grail War is already won.
So can we defeat all the other “parties”?”
It was Remina who was muttering in front of the restaurant Theatercaféen so that no one would hear
her, she was so happy that she was delighted to step on the cobblestones countless times, without regard for
the fact that the bottom of her favourite Jimmy Choo boots were worn out.
‘―――What does this really mean?’
‘――― What's going on with my servants?’
“Calm down, I’m calm.”
Muttering, she stares at the three stroked Command Spell on her right hand.
“That’s a good thing, Remina. What did you write in that letter to brother Caules? Even my uncles
spoke sharply at me to show them my good points. Yeah so, oh that’s right. Is it a retraction of the words I
once spoke to them?”
What is the extent of this predicament?
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 12

We Yggdmillenia who were dissolved with their defeat at the Great Holy Grail War of Trifas in
Eastern Europe, have strenuously survived the past decade, while having lost its great branches and being
the same as in a hopeless situation. This kind of predicament is nothing compared to ten years ago.
“Being huddled and spitting out feeble complaints in this place,
I’m too ashamed to meet Mr. Caules or Goredolf!”
With an unyielding will in her heart, Remina―――

Remina Eltfrom Yggdmillenia raises her face.

The flames in her eyes and soul are golden.
The unforgettable flames of the smouldering, undying millennial golden tree still remains in this new
century.
The legend that began with the capture of the Greater Grail by their founder Darnic and continues to
this Holy Grail War, may have ended in defeat, but now after ten years, it has become a source of selfless
pride for the girl.

――――

[Observation Target / Change]

[Compilation continuum going back / resuming observation / 9th century]

<……Oh, what is it grandpa? You rewound too much?

Got it, I got it. Certainly this is something that has already happened. The tune also matches the
princess.
Quiet. Listen, precision is important.>

――――

The girl was mad.

The dog at her feet woofs a little. The girl is always impressed by the big dog with a cute voice, but now
she is angry, so she is not impressed by it. By the way, this dog was not a dog, but a genuine wolf, but she
unnoticingly calls it a “dog.” It seems it is not completely called a dog, but we shall write it as a wolf from
now on.
Normally, she would’ve bounced back into a good mood already.
Even if she was a little angry, if this big wolf snuggled up to her, the girl will relax her mouth a little,
show a clearly happy look in her eyes and start running around the forest with it, playing together near the
water’s edge with it, until she completely put away her angry during that time.
But now, only at this time……
It was no good.
The girl was angry with all of her heart.
She was so angry; she could explode like the Katla volcano around 1900 years ago.
Why, because she picked a fight. With a stranger.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 13

The girl was raised and taught to be highly proud.

Not knowing the face of her parents, she believed Elder Heimer, who was her foster parent, when he
said that her father was a great hero who was a legendary dragon slayer and who obtained the power of a
dragon, and that her mother was the eldest sister of the Valkyries, and that she had the blood of a dragon,
person and God residing within her.
‘I’m sure, it’s true,’ she thinks.
The hair ornament that covered and surrounded her silver hair was a mythril equipment given to her by
her mother shortly after her birth.
The girl did not doubt the old man’s words at all, because she had various other items and traits that
made her think, ‘I see, I seem to be different from other children.’
She was a person born in the former Age of the Gods, and while hiding in the great magical silver harp
carried by Elder Heimer, she transcended the end of the Age of the Gods and even the beginning of the
Christian Era, 1900 years ago, she also believed without a doubt his words that she was awakened by the
reality of Norway in the 9th century AD.
Indeed, it seems she has transcended herself for a long long time somehow.
“To be correct, I’ve slept for a long time with the magical power of the great harp.”
“Then, I’m probably the best sleeper in the world.”
“That might be true, my adorable child.”
She remembered having such an exchange with the old man as if it was yesterday.
She was sure it was the seventh exchange counting from the last one.
Yes, the kind, gentle, generous and loving Elder Heimer, the person who was a substitute parent for her
mother’s earthly parents, and who was just a grandfather to her had already passed away.
The Scandinavian Peninsula in Scandinavia, the reality of the 9th century AD, where there are no gods,
no giants, no dragons, no world trees, and no Valkyries. A land overlooking the Fjord.
The girl had no choice but to live alone.
She received the title of Kráka, the adopted daughter of a couple who lived in an inn room as they
conceitedly told her that they received gold and silver from Elder Heimer to feed her, but in reality, she
received the fate of days of domestic work, with only one large wolf whom she met in the forest as a friend,
she didn’t want much and lived slowly without aiming for anything in particular.
Then on one such day―――
She had boldly picked it since midday. Her fight.
“There’s a man here who wants to meet you. He’s a real Viking warrior.”
A strange man with an instrument and two ravens with him. The girl barely remembers that he was
named Skáld, a poet, who was once taught by Elder Heimer. It wasn’t this meek-faced poet or brávii or
something like that who picked the fight, but the warrior who sent him.
“He has achieved remarkable results in the recent pillaging, the other day. He has defeated his enemies
and plundered them of their many treasures.”
“I see.”
She wasn’t interested at all.
Who killed whom, who pillaged what, or what happened?
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 14

The girl thinks it is more fun to take a nap in a warm place, go into the woods and play with her big
wolf and to rack her brains over how to cook fish and meat deliciously.
Up to this point, she had an air of dismissing it as practical joke. But the problem was ahead.
“Ragnar appears to have imposed conditions on meeting you.”
“Conditions?”
“Yes. Conditions. That is, you are to be neither dressed nor undressed. You must not be either fasting or
eating. And neither alone nor in the company of someone else. I do say, they are really difficult conditions.”
“Huh?”
“This is actually my penance,” the poet said with a difficult face, “If you are able to clear all of the
conditions, it will passed down to my people as a great feat. Through my poem.”

‘―――Hmph, I see.’
‘―――Alright. It’s settled, I’ll kill that Viking jerk!’
Dressed, but not dressed?
In the moment she heard those conditions, the girl was almost murderously angry.
She lived slowly. She didn’t plan on wanting much and she didn’t aim for anything in particular. Even
so, each and every one of her daily frustrations may have been small, but as a result of piling, piling, piling
them all up, the girl’s frustration had risen to its peak.
Coming there, with unreasonable demands from a stranger. How about he gets “neither dressed or
undressed”!
In the first place, she was infuriated at proposition thrown from above, “If I can’t come dressed or
undressed, then I can’t even be naked.” She doesn’t know this Viking warrior or whatever, but she really
doesn’t know what that means, but it is kind of weird for him to think that if he asks me to do it, I’d be
naked without resistance. But what about this? Will this 9th century child be happily willing to obey that
Viking? Then should she obey him?
“No way.”
The girl was muttering alone, after the poet left with a refreshing smile.
The wolf miserably whines at her feet, but her anger doesn’t subside.
“What’s with this Viking?”
A flame blazes within the girl.
Is it the blood of her mother who even the girl herself doesn’t know? Or is it a coincidence?
‘―――I’ll absolutely kill him.’
‘―――Don’t make a tearful face for that Viking jerk.’

And then on the promised day, at the promised time.

The girl never declined the offer of the man called Ragnar.
To be more specific, the actions taken by the girl in response to the unreasonable demands or rather
penance were―――
She came to the hill overlooking the ocean, with her wolf friend, wearing something like a garment
manufactured from fish nets, while chewing on an onion instead of meat, fish or bread.
Sure enough, the Viking man in question was there.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 15

She knew it was him with a glance, as he was the big man looking up.
He was considerably taller, bulkier, stronger and more muscular than the girl.
His iron-coloured hair which was trimmed short so it didn’t interfere with the fighting is gallant. Is the
black pattern on his face, tattooed or make-up?
He was younger than she imagined and he was a virile young man, but that had nothing to do with the
girl.
No matter how he looks, he was the one who picked a fight with her. She was already in a state of barely
hiding her body by cutting her one good pair of clothes and affixing her fish net here and there to cover her,
and she didn’t want to admit it, but she was virtually naked and in other words, was in the middle of feeling
the height of shame. In front of the flames of her indignation, she thought that shame etc. was meaningless,
though she was naïve. It is embarrassing. This was truly embarrassing.
Even if this is the guy she was going to kill, being seen like this is embarrassing.
“Kráka? I can’t believe it; you actually did all of my unreasonable……”
“Can it!”
It was just annoying being told something.
It was a stable voice that resounded farther than she had imagined, but that did not matter.
Her voice and words were all harvested in her throat.
In that instance, the girl soared up higher and higher. While deploying her mythril lance that had been
shrunk to its minimum state, she spins and turns her body sideways, while gaining momentum in its
centrifugal force―――she will direct a mow down lance attack with the full weight of her body at the man
and strike him with it!
“……!”
She accepted it was risk. But it is not just that. She was clutching the lance in her right hand.
No good, she cannot run away.
She thought his empty right hand was approaching the girl, but……he did not approach her. At the same
time, the wolf barked. Perhaps he was wary, the man had a hesitant look on his face.
Now’s her chance. She smacks the man’s wrist with a pang, relaxes the power in her fingers by only half
a breath and separates herself from her lance.
Kicking the man’s chest as she was, the girl flies away into the air. She was literally flying. The forces
and the laws of nature which will later be described as gravity and attraction will never bind the body of a
girl with her godsent gifts. Vibrantly, she flies in the air. As light as a feather, the girl flies in the sky and
expands her relative distance to the man.
And then, she prepares her mythril bow which had transformed from the lance, and draws her mana
arrow―――
“Kráka!”
He calls her by her fake name.
Instinctively, the girl suddenly stopped her hand which was supposed to release the arrow.
‘―――Huh? Why did my hand stop?’
‘――― It doesn't make sense to listen to the words of a person I’m about to kill.’
“T-that! Was my bad!”
The man was shouting something.
That’s it, it’s his bad. Of course it was his bad. Whatever he says now is too late.
 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 16

“Umm, you see. I heard from my buddy Bragi that there was a ridiculously cherished princess……and I
wanted to test you. I know just by looking at you that you’re beautiful. But I thought you couldn’t
understand the wisdom and courage to try it. So, that’s why I forced those unreasonable tasks on you. I
made a mistake. You are smart and courageous without having to try.”
“…………”
What is he saying. This man….
Perhaps he is complimenting her?
As for herself, it didn’t feel so bad.
She was not very happy to be told by a man who should have been in a good mood thinking ‘It’s so easy
to get her naked, or, I should hurry and make a ruckus about how she couldn’t be dressed or undressed,’ but he was
praising her with so many words, like “You’re beautiful,” “Smart” or “Courageous,” she was feeling terrible. It
was not especially good, but it’s not bad.
“S-so, you can fly in the sky?”
“……Yeah.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a woman flying the sky.”
The man shows his teeth and laughs. It was a smile like a cheerful child.
Perhaps, he wasn’t picking a fight with her because he was thinking bad things.
It was a smile that made her think of that and a smile as if the warmth of a sunny spot was given off
from his face.
The mana arrow nocked on the bow trembles a little.
The murderous intent that should have swelled up and bursted inside her, sways and fades away.
Straight after that.
The man shouts with all his heart.
The girl's eardrum shakes violently.

“I want you! Kráka!

I Ragnar Lodbrok―――the future Viking king, Ragnar will take you as my wife!”

“It’s not Kráka!”

She reflexively shouted.
She doesn’t know what this man is saying? King of the Vikings? Take her as his wife?
She was confused. The girl shouts without knowing what she should say or do.
“My name is not Krákaviii!”
The remnants of her resentment that rapidly disperses, her curiosity that rises up one after another with
excitement and does not stop, her premonition that her days of just managing the inn and the forest may
have changed drastically, it was all messily blending in and swirling like a flame in the back of her heart.
The girl doesn’t notice.
The man gulps, in his blue eyes which have begun to emit a strong light.
It was a sight that convinced him that the girl was his destiny―――
The girl shouts still unaware. To the real future king who will be spoken of in later legends.
Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 17

“I am Aslaug.
The daughter of the dragon slayer Sigurd and the Valkyrja Brynhildr, Aslaug!”

――――

“Fate: Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora”

(Continues in the novel)

 Fate : Lost Einherjar Aslaug of the Aurora 18

ENDNOTES

i Seiðr: Means “Seer” in the ancient Norse language. It also refers to divination magic.
ii They use the term “人怪” to describe the creature. So I’ve just left it as “apparition” instead of “human
apparition” or “human monster” because it was already mentioned to be an humanoid apparition.
iii Berserker: Mad Warrior
iv Lucky Strike: American cigarettes brand
v HQ Stage: Conductor’s stage
vi The nine realms of Yggdrasil:

1. Álfheimr: Alfheim, the home of the light elves;

2. Ásgarðr: Asgard, the realm of the gods;
3. Helheim: the realm of the dead. Also known as Hel;
4. Jötunheimr: Jötunheim, the realm of giants;
5. Miðgarðr: Midgard, the realm of humans;
6. Múspellsheimr: Muspelheim, the realm of fire and home to the fire giants including Surtr.
7. Niflheimr: Nilfheim, the realm of ice and mist.
8. Niðavellir: the dark realm of the dwarves. Also called Svartálfar or Svartalfheim; and
9. Vanaheimr: Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir.

vii Brá = Captive or prisoner in old Norse

viii Kráka means “Crow” or “Raven” in the Norse language.