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    Hillevi''s has obviously spoken to Gunhild and the others, who told her what they swore to me and why. She would have liked to swear lifetime service like Alith and Gunhild did, but she hasn''t given up on her old dreams yet, and they know I genuinely want them to follow their dreams. So Hillevi gets the same deal as Gunhild with a day off per month, lasting a year, but she make sure that her service starts in a couple of days from now. It''s a bit amusing to see how difficult Hillevi, who is usually very forward and open about what she thinks, has to say what she really wants to ask me, especially with Iselin sitting beside me, who can''t help grinning because she understands and finds it amusing.


    I don''t want to force Hillevi to ask, so I just send Iselin out and say that I''ll be alone and bored in my bedroom for a couple of hours tomorrow morning, but a friend can join me and make the time more enjoyable. Hillevi offers to keep me company. Just in case. As a friend - not a bodyguard. Because she starts the day after tomorrow.


    So cutely transparent.


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    My idea of ice bathing from the lake''s small jetty is generally regarded as an idiotic idea, but I force the bodyguards to participate and they understand why since I told them that according to statistics, the chance of survival increases greatly if you''ve done it once under controlled circumstances, before you happen to fall through ice. The ice is about 15 cm thick so they will start taking ice from the lake to the ice house, but as it is still around -4C I have made them wait. Thicker ice is better. I want to show the value of ice claws, so we''ll utilise a sawn up hole by the jetty and its ladder. There have been four pairs of simple ice claws made that will be tested, and I will be the first to ice bathe, but of course secured with a rope around my waist. Ciara is the only one of my sambos that have volunteer to take the plunge, but the rest want to watch and ''maybe'' do it. Apart from Jane, they have been swimming until quite late this autumn, and they know that I said it was good for their health to winter bathe, which they verified with Jane who very reluctantly agreed.


    To make it easier for any bathers and to get warmer afterwards, Hrappr has erected a tent and lit a couple of fire baskets inside, and there is bath towels and thick blankets. We''ve also put out a couple of smaller reed mats to stand on. Plus we have heavy fur coats and such to put on. I know I won''t need it, but if it helps motivate my sambos... Motivation and making this short moment more special, is the reason we''ve also brought sausages and hamburgers to grill.


    It''s cold but I just have to man up, and I can''t even hesitate because I have to set a good example and show my manliness. It''s after all my own dumb idea to do this, and I have winter bathed many times before, including in ice. Just not with an audience like this. Although I have winter bathed surrounded by snow and ice, while watched by very warmly dressed immigrants grilling sausages, probably thinking I''m mad.


    Hrappr and the others are standing by with the safety rope that I''ve attached to my waist, and to make it more complicated, I''m going to have to ask Kari''s permission before I try to get up without help. I know I can manage a couple of minutes without any problems. We''ve tried to keep most of the crowd away, but of course many workers and locals are watching from a distance. Entertainment is limited and weather limits what work can be done. Olafr stands curiously with Bekkhilda beside him and Pedr joins them. Unn and Amba are of course also here, and ready to help.


    Cold!


    Especially the shock of cold water on my head, but this hole is deliberately shallow enough that my shorter sambos can stand on the bottom with their heads above the water. It''s a safety measure to not have to swim, and panic about that. I try to steel myself and focus on breathing, and feel my hands on my thighs. It''s interesting how much worse it is in 0C degree water than +7C degree, especially for the feet and hands. I stay down for an unnecessarily long time but I have to get up while my hands and feet work. Caecilia has, with increasing concern in her voice, called out the time in 15 second intervals, and I can feel the gazes of my sambos and bodyguards. Iselin is waiting with a bath towel, and Ciara has my dry clothes, while Kari stands with my fur coat. Kari gives me permission to get up before I''ve even finished saying all the words.


    I know what it''s like to try to get up on ice without ice claws, and I yank the ice claws from their holder around my neck and stab them in the ice. The satisfaction when they bite into the ice and I can pull myself up is so damn wonderful! My stomach is cold, but I pull myself up and decide to dry off and change without going into the tent. I''ve never had a warm tent to go into, and always changed on the beach, so that is also an advantage to having winter bathed many times before, and camping all year round. Walking barefoot in snow is no problem as long as it is not for a long time or stretch. Cold is mostly a problem if there is a strong wind, which there isn''t today, and after a few minutes I''m fine, although Ciara and Kari still insist that I put on my fur coat. Their voice and faces makes me do so, and Ciara is next.


    So I start to oversee and prepare for others taking the plunge, and Ciara goes into the tent and prepares. I had my Midg?rd swim shorts, and the others will use thin dark shorts and t-shirts so they are not completely naked. We''ve brought extra, since drying will take time. Ciara is first, then Alith, and one by one the bodyguards jump into the lake, and when Kari, Iselin and Caecilia have also taken a dip, Jane does it too just to not feel left out. Hrappr have asked if he can try and of course can, which leads to the rest of the staff doing the same, followed by Heimir, Ryla and Agnes. Olafr, Pedr, Unn and Amba are next in line.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I hadn''t noticed it, but several of my sambos quickly noticed that Ryla and Agnes generally bend at the waist instead of their knees when picking up something on the ground, and apparently they''ve been trained by Radgeirrson to do so since they were little, and they''re definitely flexible enough to do it.


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    So many people have taken an ice bath today. Most of the workers wanted to do it too, to show their manliness, and also a couple of the wives and maids, all of course are allowed to borrow the dark clothes that have started to dry or at least is warm wet. Some have panicked and needed to be pulled up, others have not been able to use the ice claws effectively, but it has been an interesting unusual experience and a different day where we have all gained experience. I make it clear that those who panicked should not be teased, because it is literally something they cannot help, and many probably cannot swim either, so just being in ''deeper'' water can cause anxiety. Now that they have taken an ice bath, in the future they might not panic. This is one reason to do ice bathing under controlled circumstances. Everyone has also learnt how difficult it is to get up without the ice claws, but even with them, it is not fun and can fail, and the lifeline is most effective.


    Everyone who will be taking up ice for the ice house will have ice claws, and there will also be other safety equipment such as simple leather straps with studs for the shoes, so they get better traction and grip when walking on the ice. There will just be unnecessary accidents otherwise. Ice claws are something we will try to spread, because it is better and much safer than pulling your knife and trying to get up with it. Those who want to make their own ice claws will be allowed to do so. We will probably not need personal ice claws this year, but it is cheap and easy to make. Just a wooden handle with a nail and a metal ring as reinforcement to keep the wood from splintering, plus cord and a leather holder.


    Very cheap, and it might save someone''s life.


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    The day is kind of nice, and Kari and Iselin are happy to accompany me, so we visit the Academy and discuss that and future expansion, because even though this is not finished, it will most likely be needed, and some rooms and such need to be done for practising and other things. For example, I want to invest in a really big greenhouse for the Academy, where it will be used for education and botany experimentation, among other things. If it can give us medicinal plants, special food and spices, so much better. The greenhouse will be big enough to fit trees inside the main building, and we will need to employ someone just to look after the greenhouse. A heck of a lot of glass will be ordered, but most will be single pane.


    I would prefer to make future Academy buildings and even most village buildings out of brick, and although it is available to buy or is something we can start production of ourselves, it has simply been too expensive. However, if I can increase my future income with significantly more salt production, it will be possible. The log buildings are very good, and relatively quick and cheap to build, but I''m a bit worried about the fire risk.


    We return to the lake as the ice bathing is over and the bodyguards have taken the opportunity to try hanging the privacy screen in the tent. Of course there''s no bed in the tent now, but the screen seems to work surprisingly well. The privacy screen is clearly a good idea so there will be another one made so that the other side of our larger combined tent also gets one. My sambos lives are as important as mine, so well worth the money. If the privacy screens are just in the way for the rest of our lives, and an unnecessary complication and expense, I''m perfectly happy with that outcome, and I''ll probably sleep a little better when the screens are there. Peace of mind is not to be underestimated. Especially in this world.


    We come across Heimir talking to Olafr and after talking to the people here, Heimir is just happy to make a life here, and likes the apartments. He is happy to swear to serve me and train my warriors here, and keep secrets as needed. He is also happy that I have accepted Agnes and Ryla, but not surprisingly, he almost seems to see them as adopted daughters since he has trained them for 10 years. Of course he is happy that I''ve freed them. Radgeirrson bought slave Heimir 10 years ago, but Heimir has been a free man for some years now. Heimir has a woman he loves in Forsheim, so he will travel there to get her and his possessions, and return in a couple of weeks. Heimir is very curious about my thunder weapons and combat that way, and about Jane''s close combat skills, while Jane is a bit worried, because she is convinced she will lose. Badly. She saw Ryla and Agnes duelling, and after seeing Heimir her response was:


    "A Viking warrior like that will be incredibly dangerous, and will probably take a hell of a beating, and fight until he no longer can''t. Valhalla! I would absolutely follow your mantra of shoot them before they get close. I would shoot them several times, and probably a security head shot just to make sure."


    We walk down to the shooting range where Kari and Heimir get to test the crossbow. Kari doesn''t really like it, but thinks it''s nicer than firearms and Kari wants to participate in hunting. I don''t think Kari really cares about the hunting part, and mostly wants to be involved in the social aspect, and that is okay. Kari really dislikes the sound, flame and pyro effect that the flintlock mechanism gives, and it is only slightly better with eye protection. However, she wants to try shooting with the silencer, so even if a future air rifle is not ideal for elk hunting, it might appeal to Kari. The silencer does not make much difference from the front or obliquely from the front of a supersonic bullet, as with the silencer there is a clear and loud supersonic ''crack'' that is no longer drowned out by the sound of the firing, but to the side and behind the weapon and for the shooter, the sound is much lower, and thus less harmful to hearing. Still best use hearing protection, but at least it should be less harmful. Hunting elk etc with a subsonic bullet is probably a bad idea due to energy and ballistics, but my sambos are concerned about my hearing. And so am I.


    Heimir can of course shoot a bow and has used a simple crossbow before, but long ranged weapons is not something he has been interested in. He mainly sees bows and crossbows as ''short-range'' weapons and for hunting, although he knows how far a bow can lob an arrow. But this crossbow is so incredibly different to what he''s used before, and it is so easy to aim and strike hard! Which has made Alith and Olafr grin. Just like Jane, they are very well aware of my view that combat is best done at a distance, especially if you have a weapons advantage and tactical advantage. If I can injure or kill an enemy before he gets into close combat, I will.


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