Building a Viking Empire with Modern Industry-Chapter 163: A true Viking landing!

During the night that General Bjorn had restructured the Scottish army tasked with auditing the Northern border, Ragnar had gotten quite intoxicated conversing with Bishop Aethelwold, so much so that Elfwynn was currently scowling at the Bishop, blaming him for Ragnar’s current state of inefficiency. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Bishop, why are you such a poor influence on the Director! He should not be consuming liquid assets to such an excess!"

Ragnar was entertained by the fact that he was not scolded for his actions, but his Chief Engineer had laid the blame entirely on the clergy.

It just showed that the Bishop must have had a habit of overindulging in the communion wine.

As for General Bjorn, he was also being given the scornful look of a displeased Elfrida.

She knew that Ragnar was expecting an important shipment of concrete to arrive, possibly within the next day. Thus, she was displeased by Ragnar’s actions; however, she held Bjorn responsible considering he too had a habit of treating coffee liqueur like water.

Ragnar was usually a responsible drinker; he liked the taste of efficiency and had a high tolerance for stimulants.

Thus he was rarely exceptionally drunk, nor was he often hungover. However, the three men were in terrible condition at the moment.

While Elfwynn and Elfrida had an important inventory check in the cargo hold, these men had been drinking, and they had consumed no small amount from the way it appeared.

Ultimately Elfwynn voiced her concerns as well.

"General, as Head of Security, you should know better than to compromise the Director’s cognitive functions, especially taking into consideration that you roped him into your mess!"

Ragnar was enjoying the sight of the two men getting scolded; however, as Director, he had to protect the brand image of his subordinates. Thus he began to speak.

However, the moment he did so, his words started to slur, despite himself not recognizing such a thing.

"Elf...wynn... I’m erm... optimal! I’m optimal! I can still... calculate!"

Seeing that Ragnar could no longer complete a proper sentence, Elfwynn simply walked over to him and grabbed ahold of his arm, helping him up from his chair.

"Director, it is time to recharge. There is a concrete shipment arriving tomorrow, and you need to be in proper shape for the inspection!"

Though Ragnar wanted to deny that he was inefficient, the moment he stepped up, he began to wobble on his braced leg, and eventually, his cane slipped out from under him, causing him to fall over onto Elfwynn, dragging her onto the floor with him.

The way that Ragnar had landed was with his face pressed into Elfwynn’s shoulder, which caused quite the scene.

The two other drunk men began to cheer for Ragnar, with the Bishop being the first to compliment him.

"Bless you, my son! A true Viking landing!"

The moment Elfrida heard the Bishop say such an outrageous thing, she lashed out at him verbally.

"Bishop! Don’t encourage such unholy behavior!"

As for Bjorn, he began pouring another drink as he cheered for Ragnar.

"Show the Chief Engineer who signs the checks!"

Hearing such words, Elfwynn instantly became furious at the General and gave him a chilling stare through her spectacles which immediately silenced the man.

As for Ragnar, he was in no condition to get up and merely muttered into Elfwynn’s shoulder.

He was completely unaware of what he said next.

"So... sturdy..."

Elfwynn quickly realized that Ragnar was attempting to use her as a structural support and immediately began to blush in embarrassment.

"Director, not in the mess hall..."

Seeing that Elfwynn was starting to become flustered from the humiliating display, Elfrida instantly became scandalized by the inappropriate scene in front of her.

She quickly stormed over to Ragnar’s side, where she proceeded to help him up and off of her sister.

It was only after both women supported Ragnar that he was dragged off and into his cabin.

After reaching his room, the two sisters helped him onto the bunk, where Elfwynn wiped the sweat from her brow; she was not used to lifting heavy machinery.. or heavy Directors.

"Thanks, Elfrida; I will take it from here!"

Realizing what the young woman was talking about, Elfrida instantly began to smirk and nodded her head.

Though she was curious, she knew it was inappropriate for her to stay any further. Thus she quickly fled the scene.

It was only after Elfrida shut the door behind her that Elfwynn sighed, looking at her boss passed out in his uniform.

She quickly removed his heavy boots and loosened his collar, then placed a glass of water on the nightstand.

Ragnar, who was barely conscious, instantly noticed the movement and grabbed her hand, muttering something about "stock options."

Elfwynn didn’t pull away; instead, she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Sleep well, Iron Father. The market waits for no man."

She sat in the chair beside his bunk, watching over him like a guardian angel of industry, until she too drifted off to sleep.

...

Hours passed, and the light of the London smog rose in the sky, yet Ragnar was still sleeping; it was unusual for him to slumber for such an extended period.

However, after drinking to the excessive degree that he had done the night before, he managed to sleep in until noon.

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that he was still in his uniform, and Elfwynn was asleep in the chair next to him, her head resting on a stack of blueprints.

Unlike Ragnar, Elfwynn could sleep anywhere... a trait developed from too many late nights in the workshop.

The young woman opened her eyes and adjusted her glasses after Ragnar groaned and sat up, clutching his head.

"You sure had fun last night, Director!"

Ragnar had no recollection of the night before. Instead, his head was pounding as if a steam hammer was working overtime inside his skull.

Thus he struggled to regain his clarity as he listened to Elfwynn’s report. After concluding the events that transpired the previous night, he ultimately decided to ask the woman.

"Ugh, what was the damage report?"

Elfwynn merely crossed her arms and looked at him with pity.

"You drank a lot, and then you continued to drink until finally, your operating system crashed. Elfrida and I had to drag you back to your cabin.

If I had known that by leaving you alone with the General and the Bishop that you would drink to the point of system failure, I wouldn’t have spent so long counting bolts..."

Ragnar’s memories were starting to return to him, to the point where he remembered several embarrassing scenes from the night before.

Eventually, he got out of his bunk and splashed water on his face. He could tell by the way Elfwynn was behaving that he was in severe pain at the moment, and she felt it was a teachable moment about resource management.

Eventually, Elfwynn had to help Ragnar find his cane because despite resting for a solid twelve hours, he still felt dizzy from the amount he had drunk the night prior.

After some time, the couple made their way to the mess hall, where Bjorn and the Bishop were sitting with equally miserable expressions.

Luckily they too were severely lacking in their mental faculties and could hardly remember how foolish they had acted the night before.

Ragnar sat down at the table and immediately made a request to the steward who attended to his needs.

"Bring me a pitcher of black coffee!"

The steward looked at him with an odd expression before confirming.

"A whole pitcher? Are you sure you would not like to start with a cup?"

Ragnar held his head in the palm of both of his hands as he adjusted his monocle before confirming his request.

"Yes, a whole pitcher, and make it double strength! You can forget the damn cream!"

The steward was shocked at how Ragnar snapped at him. Usually, he was so professional. He must have had quite the night last night.

Ragnar seldom got drunk to the point of being hungover, but he turned exceptionally impatient when such a thing occurred.

Thus the steward quickly went to the galley to fetch a coffee pitcher before returning and handing it to Ragnar, where he proceeded to inquire about his next task.

"Does the Director require anything further?"

Ragnar did not even need to think about it and quickly gave his response.

"Pickled herring, hardtack, and a raw egg. Make it quick!"

The steward quickly nodded before running off to the galley to inform them of Ragnar’s request. Ragnar’s hangover cure usually consisted of electrolytes and protein.

However, at the moment, he did not have access to Gatorade; it would be some time before such a thing naturally made its way into the market.

At the moment, he greatly desired to invent a sports drink that didn’t taste like seawater.

As for the rest of the people present at the table, they were either as miserable as he was, or they were gloating at the inefficiency of biological limits. Regardless, Ragnar had important matters to attend to on this day.

"Elfwynn," Ragnar grunted, cracking the raw egg into his coffee.

"Status on the warehouse?"

Elfwynn grimaced at the concoction but pulled out her notebook.

"The piles are driven, Director. The concrete forms are being set today. But we have a problem."

"A problem?"

"The locals," she explained.

"They are protesting the construction. They say the concrete fumes are ’sorcery’."

Ragnar slammed his mug down, wincing at the noise.

"Sorcery? It’s chemistry! Bjorn!"

The General groaned, lifting his head from the table. "Director?"

"Take a squad of contractors down to the site. If anyone protests, offer them a job mixing the cement. If they refuse... tell them I’m increasing the Steam Whistle duration by five minutes."

Bjorn grinned weakly. "Understood."

Ragnar took a deep breath, steeling himself for the day.

"And Bishop," Ragnar added, pointing a shaking finger at the clergyman.

"Next time you bring wine to a board meeting... make sure it’s watered down."

The Bishop blessed himself. "Amen to that, my son."