I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"None of them speak our language."

Aiyaka continued.

"Only their red-haired boss, and their second-in-command, Vahili, can speak your language."

"So we communicate with them in Japanese."

"I'm one of the best speakers of Japanese in our village."

"So basically I came forward to talk to them."

"After going back and forth, I became acquainted with them."

Aiyaka's grandmother: "￥#@%\u0026*￥@#%. (Einu language)"

At this moment, Aiyaka's grandmother suddenly spoke abruptly.

Before Ogata even asked Aiyaka what his grandma was talking about, Aiyaka took the initiative to translate with Ogata:

"My grandma said: The bear's paw is cooked. It's ready to eat."

In the soup in the pot, two bear paws were floating there.

The pot that Aiyaka's grandma used to cook the bear's paw was actually the pot of Ogata and Acho.

Before leaving Edo, the two of them bought a small pot in Edo, which is convenient to carry when traveling.

When they couldn't find a hotel and had to eat and sleep in the wild, Ogata and the others would occasionally use this small pot to cook miso soup, or heat up the dry food they carried to make the dry food more delicious.

Although the skinned and boiled bear paws do look very similar to human feet and look a little creepy, they do smell very delicious.

In addition to this small pot, Ogata and the others also carried a pair of bowls and chopsticks with them.

Their bowls and chopsticks are made of bamboo so that they are not easy to break.

Ogata and A-Machi took out their bowls, and each scooped a bear's paw into the bowls they carried with them.

In his previous life, Ogata only ate the meat of domestic animals such as pigs, cows, and sheep.

It was the first time he saw and ate bear meat.

Let alone A-Machi.

She has never even eaten livestock such as pigs, cows, and sheep.

It was the first time for Machi to see meat other than fish,

Handing the bear's paw to the tip of his nose, he sniffed vigorously like a dog.

In terms of smell, this bear's paw is absolutely impeccable, and it smells like a mouthful.

Ogata picked up the bear's paw with chopsticks, put the bear's paw in front of his mouth, tore off a piece of bear meat with his teeth, and then chewed it carefully in his mouth.

The moment the bear meat entered his mouth, several expressions of joy burst out in Ogata's eyes.

Just bite the bear meat with your teeth, and the rich umami taste spreads from the tip of the tongue to the entire mouth.

The taste of bear meat is quite different from the meat of domestic animals such as pigs, cattle, and sheep.

I don't know if it's because of Aiyaka's grandma's unique method, or the taste of bear meat is just like this, the bear meat in the mouth is very springy.

What surprised Ogata the most was that the bear meat did not have any fishy smell.

Atachi and Ogata were about to bite off a piece of bear meat almost at the same time.

Then he showed an expression similar to that of Ogata, with surprise in his eyes.

According to A-Ming's reaction, it is not difficult to see that A-Ming is also very satisfied with the bear meat in the bowl.

Seeing the expressions of Ogata and Atachi, Aiyaka smiled happily.

"How? Am I right? The bear's paw cooked by my grandma tastes really good, right?"

"Your grandma's craftsmanship is amazing." Ogata said, "The bear's paw doesn't even have any fishy smell."

"Because my grandma put pukusachina in it, which can enhance the freshness and remove the fishy smell of the meat."

"Pukusachina?" A-cho asked puzzled, "What does this mean?"

"Pukusachina in Japanese... I think it means Scherichia chinensis."

“We Ainu like to use pukusachina to deodorize the meat, but my grandma is very good at controlling the amount of pukusachina. Not too much, not too little.”

"That's why my grandma's meat dishes are very delicious."

After listening to Aiyaka's explanation, A-Machi nodded slightly:

"I see... this bear paw is really delicious."

After finishing speaking, Ah-Ming picked up the bear's paw again and gnawed it intently.

Just as Ogata was picking up the bear's paw with chopsticks again, he suddenly heard a small strange sound coming from the window of the house.

He followed the prestige and saw four little heads poking out the window of the house, casting curious eyes on Ogata and A-Ming inside the house through the window.

When the children of the four villages noticed that Ogata had spotted them, they immediately shrank their heads back under the window.

At this time, Aiyaka also found the four children lying outside the window.

"%￥#@@#￥@￥! (Einu language)"

Aiyaka yelled something angrily, got up quickly, and rushed towards the door.

When he opened the door, he happened to see four children about 5 or 6 years old laughing and running away from Aiyaka's field of vision.

"I'm sorry, Mashima. I let you see a joke." Aiyaka returned to the seat where she was sitting just now and said with a wry smile to Ogata, "They probably want to see that the warrior who killed two Uen Kamuyis can't even kill them." What does it look like?"

Naturally, Ogata wouldn't take the child's playfulness too seriously. After smiling, he said:

"It seems that the story of the bear fight between me and my wife has been completely spread in the village..."

"After all, our village is small." Aiyaka shrugged, "There are only 124 people in our village. No matter what happens, it will spread quickly."

After that, Aiyaka turned his head and said something in Ainu to his wife who was sitting behind him.

After graduating in Ayaka, his wife nodded and got up to leave the house.

After Aiyaka's wife left, Ogata asked Aiyaka:

"What is your wife doing?"

"I asked my wife to go find the parents of the four children who broke our window just now." Aiyaka showed a smirk, "Though the four bastards just slipped away fast, I still saw their faces."

"Although I can understand their curiosity about the new guests in the village, it is quite rude to pick someone's window anyway."

"It is necessary for their parents to discipline them well."

"It seems that we may hear four voices of children crying tonight." Ogata replied in a half-joking tone.

Ogata didn't say anything like "this is too cruel" to Aiyaka.

Because he felt that Aiyaka was doing the right thing.

Although Ogata would not take things like "children picking windows" at ease, it is indeed quite rude to pick other people's windows, and it is necessary for parents to discipline them.

"Speaking of which—I've been wanting to ask since I entered your village." Ah-Ming put down the bear paw that she had already gnawed, "Why do most of the women in your village have tattoos around their lips?" Tattoos?"

A-Ming stretched out his finger and drew a circle around his rosy lips.

"It's not just our village." Aiyaka said, "All Ainu women will have tattoos around their lips when they grow up."

"It's our custom."

"The higher the status of a man, the bigger the tattoo his wife gets."

After all, Aiyaka put on a proud tone.

"I'm one of the best hunters in the village. I've hunted four of Uen Kamuyi alone, so the tattoo on my wife's lip is bigger than all the women of the same age in the village."

"And my grandpa, who had fallen ill and passed away, was also an incredible warrior."

Aiyaka put her arms around the grandmother sitting next to him.

"My grandfather started hunting when he was 12 years old. Until his death, he had hunted 79 bears alone. There are countless small animals such as deer and rabbits. There are 14 in Uen Kamu."

"That's why my grandma has the biggest tattoo on her face."

The grandma who was hugged by Aiyaka helplessly slapped Aiyaka's hand holding her.

Afterwards, she turned her attention to Ogata and Atachi, and chattered something to them in Einu language.

The two had studied common expressions in the Ainu language in the "Guide to Common Phrases in the Ainu Language" before, so they could barely understand some words in grandma's words.

But the few words that the two of them understood could not make them understand what grandma said just now.

So after grandma's voice fell, the two could only look at Aiyaka again for "asking for help".

"Aiyaka, what did your grandma tell us?" Ogata asked.

"It's nothing." Aiyaka scratched her hair, "It's just to remind you not to go astray and run to find some gold."

"Well. You should know it too, right? A lot of speculators dream of making a fortune, so they come to us to look for gold."

"We Ainu hate these gold diggers the most."

Aiyaka's tone became a little more serious.

"These gold diggers will do anything to find gold."

"Destroying forests and polluting rivers."

"There are even some people who think that every Ainu village hides gold, so they ran to attack our Ainu village."

"Before, there were not so many gold diggers."

"However, since the severe famine broke out in you and Rendi many years ago, the number of gold diggers on our side has increased."

Ogata heard it right away—the "famine" that Aiyaka just mentioned should refer to "famine at dawn".

Why did more people come here to seek gold after the "Tianming Famine" broke out-the reason is not difficult to imagine.

Once there is such a catastrophe that many people can hardly survive, the number of speculators is bound to surge.

Ogata once again deeply felt the extent of the impact of the "Tianming Famine", and even the Ezo land was affected.

"The increase in the number of gold diggers has also increased the number of Unkamuyi."

"They are messing around in the mountains and forests without rules, so it is easy to provoke the anger of bears, wolves and other animals."

"So in recent years, the frequency of Unkamuyi's appearance has also increased."

Speaking of this, Aiyaka let out a sigh of relief.

"I feel a little embarrassed..." A-Ming smiled embarrassingly, "We and these scum among people are messing around and destroying the land you live in..."

"Don't say that." Aiyaka quickly waved his hand, "You are not gold diggers, so you don't have to feel ashamed of those scum's actions."

"Also—you and others are not the only ones among the gold diggers."

"Many of our Ainu compatriots also ran to become gold diggers."

The helpless look on Aiyaka's face became more intense.

"Although gold is of no use to us here, it is no different from stone."

"But in Herendi, it's priceless."

"As a result, many of our compatriots have used their brains."

"Go around to mine gold, and then secretly trade with people."

"Very few people even plan to take the gold they mined to settle in Herendi."

"So this kind of speculators with bad ideas can be found in any nation."

"About more than a year ago, for some reason, the rumor of the 'Golden Waterfall' suddenly spread was true."

"It caused a lot of brainless compatriots to look for waterfalls everywhere, and many rivers were severely damaged."

"Fortunately, this unhealthy trend is gradually subsiding now."

"'Golden Waterfall'?" Ogata raised his eyebrows, "What is this?"

Golden Waterfall—this is the first time Ogata and A-Machi have heard of this term.

"This is a legend that we Ainu have passed down a long time ago."

Aiyaka said slowly.

"A long time ago, there was a wealthy village chief named 'Yu Kosi'. He owned a huge amount of gold passed down from generation to generation."

"And the head of another village named 'Sazili' has his eye on Yukosi's gold, and wants to take Yukoxi's gold for himself."

"One day, Kosi's daughter got married and went to another village."

"Most of the villagers in Yukosi's village went out to celebrate."

"Only some old people and children are left in the village."

"Sazili saw this great opportunity, and led his men to break into Yu Kosi's village, intending to rob Yu Koxi's gold."

"Fortunately, Kosi discovered Sazuri's attempt in time."

"In order to prevent the gold from being stolen, he took the gold and fled into the mountains, and then buried the gold in a cave next to a certain waterfall."

"Yu Kosi died a few years later. After Yu Kosi died, no one knew where this huge amount of gold was buried."

"It is said that in the downstream of the waterfall where Kosi buried gold, you can see gold and gold sand being washed down from time to time."

"That's why everyone calls that waterfall the 'Golden Waterfall.'"

"But this is just a legend."

"Until now, no one knows whether there is such a thing, whether there is this waterfall where gold flows down."

"More than a year ago, after the rumor that the 'Golden Waterfall really existed' spread inexplicably, many people looked for the waterfall everywhere, but they did not find the legendary 'Golden Waterfall'."

"So I think this legend is just a bluff."

Aiyaka shrugged.

"It's probably just a story conjured up by someone who wants to get rich and gold."

As soon as Aiyaka finished speaking, Ah-cho answered:

"We and people have similar legends."

"It is said that at the end of the Warring States Period two hundred years ago, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified the world, worried that his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, would not be able to maintain his dominance in the future."

"In order to prevent the Toyotomi family of later generations from being in a predicament of having no money in the future, 450 million taels of gold were buried in a certain place."

"The exact location is only known to his successor, Toyotomi Hideyori."

"After Toyotomi Hideyori died, the place where the gold was buried was completely lost."

"I don't know if this legend is true."

"It's fine if it's fake."

"If it is true, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi's gold is buried for nothing."

A-Machi let out a sneer.

"Toyotomi Hideyori did not dig out the gold in the end, which led to the hegemony being taken by Tokugawa Ieyasu."

"If this legend is true, and Toyotomi Hideyori dug out the 450 million taels of gold in time, there may be nothing to do with Tokugawa Ieyasu after that, and the current Edo Shogunate will not be established .”

"It seems that no matter what nationality it is, there are always these legends related to treasures." Aiyaka grinned, "The topic seems to be a bit far away."

"All in all—you must not use your brains and run to pan for gold."

"We Ainu all know the utensils used for panning for gold."

"If people find out that you are gold diggers, it will be troublesome."

"Our village is considered a moderate faction."

"When we find people who come to pan for gold, we will only let them leave quickly. If we don't listen to persuasion, we will resort to force."

"But people in other villages are different."

"Villages with zero tolerance for gold diggers can be found everywhere."

"Many compatriots in the village, after discovering the gold diggers, will kill them without saying a word."

Aiyaka raised her hand and made a gesture of wiping her neck.

"That's why my grandma did it for your own good just now, telling you not to go on crooked paths and go looking for some gold. Panning for gold in this land is very dangerous."

"You must remember that you must never carry the utensils used for gold panning on your body."

"Once those compatriots who have zero tolerance for gold diggers find out that you are carrying gold panning utensils..."

Aiyaka raised his hand again, and made a gesture of wiping his neck.

...

...

The next morning—

Overall, last night's dinner went very smoothly.

No one was absent, and no accidents occurred.

Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know what other people thought, anyway, he had a great time last night.

He himself had a rare moment of relaxation.

Matsudaira Sadanobu is an extremely self-disciplined person.

No matter how much fun he had yesterday and how tired he was, he would definitely work hard the next day.

As soon as the sun came out, Sadanobu Matsudaira got up, washed, and started today's work.

The first order he gave today was to call Inamori, who is currently the general of the entire army.

Although not as good as Matsudaira Sadanobu, Inamori is a person who has very high demands on himself.

Drinks were provided at last night's dinner, but Inamori didn't get drunk, and only took a few sips.

His self-discipline allowed Inamori to avoid the embarrassment of seeing Matsudaira Sadanobu on the ground smelling of alcohol this morning.

After receiving Matsudaira's order, Inamori rushed to Matsudaira's room quickly.

After Inamori appeared in front of him, Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't talk too much nonsense, and said to Inamori simply and clearly:

"Inamori. The troops from all domains have arrived at Matsumae Domain now."

"I intend to flatten the Red Moon Fortress as quickly as possible."

"I want to hear your opinion now-when do you think you can send troops?"

This is a very serious question.

So Inamori didn't dare to be careless.

After thinking briefly for a moment, Inamori said in a deep voice:

"In terms of luggage, we still need to make final arrangements."

"Those vassal troops who have just arrived in Ezo also need some time to rest."

"So we still need about 12 days...no, about 10 days before we can send troops."

"10 days..." After Matsudaira Sadanobu muttered, he raised his head at Inamori, "Can you think of a way to shorten this time a little?"

"I can't guarantee that I'll be able to shorten the time," Inamori said honestly, "but——I'll try my best."

"That's good. Then do your best." Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a calm tone, "I want to flatten the Red Moon Fortress as soon as possible."

"I hope you can realize this dream of mine."

"Yes!" Inamori responded loudly.

...

...

Ezodi, Kuma Village——

"￥%#@\u0026*￥%#%@@￥%. (Einu)" The old Einu standing in front of Ogata and A-Machi was talking very fast.

After he finished speaking, Aiyaka, who was standing beside Ogata, shook his head at the two of them:

"He hasn't seen the two people you are looking for either."

"Haven't you seen this one before..." Obi scratched his hair helplessly, "Let's go, let's ask the next person."

Last night, Ogata and Atachi, who were temporarily staying at Aiyaka's house, had a sound sleep at Aiyaka's house.

After waking up, the two of them, who had recovered enough energy, officially began to search for clues about Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen in Kuma Village.

When the two of them arrived at this Kuma village yesterday, it was already late.

Considering that it was not early, and that the two of them had trekked for a long time, regardless of their physical strength, they were a little tired mentally, and they both wanted to take a good rest.

So the two didn't rush to find Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen yesterday.

Instead, I chose to rest for a night first, and after I had enough physical strength and energy, I waited until tomorrow morning—that is, now, and then slowly searched for people.

Aiyaka also kept the promise he made with Ogata and the others - if Ogata and the others assist him in hunting the man-eating male bear, they will help them find Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.

Not long after dawn, Ogata, Atachi, and Aiyaka went out and started looking for people from house to house.

With Aiyaka as the interpreter, and Aiyaka helping to prove that Ogata and Ogata did not have any malicious intentions, it made it easier for Ogata and A-Machi to talk.

However—until now, neither of them had found any clues.

Whether it is those old people who are too old to go hunting anymore, or those young people who go out to fish and hunt frequently, they have never seen Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen that Ogata and the others are looking for.

There are only 124 people in this Kuma village—a small village.

When it was close to noon, Ogata and the others asked all the villagers except those who happened not to be in the village.

The catch is - nothing.

...

...

"Nobody in this village has ever seen Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen..." Ah-cho, who was standing under the sun, muttered to Ogata beside him.

In such a freezing environment, standing under the sun will not only not feel hot, but will feel quite comfortable.

So neither A-Machi, Ogata, or Aiyaka had any intention of going into the shadows to hide from the sun. They just stood under the sun, talking while bathing in the sun.

"It seems... those two people may not have passed through this settlement..." Ogata said softly.

"I'll take you to other settlements to have a look later."

Aiyaka on the side answered,

"There are four settlements that have a good relationship with our Kuma Village."

"So the only settlements I can take you to are these four."

"If you can't find any clues about the two people you're looking for in these four settlements...then there's nothing I can do to help you."

"It's okay." Ogata smiled at Aiyaka, "If you can help us, it will make us very happy."

"You can help us as much as you want, according to your own wishes."

Aiyaka smiled and nodded.

"No problem, I'll do my best to help you."

"So, when do you plan to leave for other settlements?"

"It's only noon now, and there's still about half a day left."

"If you take a dog sled, you can go back and forth with the nearest village in half a day."

"Do you want to leave for other settlements in the afternoon?"

"It's not urgent." Ogata shook his head, "Let's leave for other settlements tomorrow."

"Stay here for today."

"Although no one in your village has seen Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen."

"But . . . someone who lives around here may have seen the other group."

After all, Ogata looked at Aiyaka.

"Aiyaka, can you take us to the place where Vahili's gang lives?"

Ogata has always remembered that in this Kuma village, there is a group of Lucia living here temporarily.

"Are you going to ask Vasili and them?" Aiyaka's face was somewhat surprised.

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "Their group of people live in no fixed place and move around."

"They may have met the man I'm looking for."

"So I wanted to ask them."

"Can you take us there?"

"It can be." Aiyaka scratched his hair, "But I don't know if they are willing to help you..."

"If I say I'm familiar with them, I'm not too familiar with them..."

"After all, they are not villagers of my village."

"If I were a villager in my village, with my status and prestige in the village, I would be able to persuade people to help after some persuasion."

"Vassili and the others are outsiders after all."

"If they don't want to help you, then I have nothing to do..."

"It's okay." Ogata smiled, "Just take us there."

"If they won't help us—let's talk about it then."

"...Well." Aiyaka nodded lightly, "I see. Then come with me."

...

...

Vahili and their camp are located not far from Kuma Village.

Kuma Village is a settlement built along the river.

After leaving the village, walk downstream along the river next to the village for a certain distance, and you can see Vahili's camp.

Vahili's camp, whether it's tents or flags, is full of exotic styles.

It was the first time for Ah Ding to see this kind of exotic camp, so after seeing Vasili's camp from a distance, he kept looking at it with curious eyes.

When they were still some distance away from Vasili's camp, Ogata saw a large group of people gathering outside the camp.

After getting closer, Ogata finally saw clearly—this large group of people all had a Caucasian face.

It should be Vahiri's subordinates.

And Vahili, whom Ogata and the others were looking for, was standing in the middle of this group of people.

He was talking anxiously with the few people beside him.

"Hey! Vasili!" Aiyaka shouted Vasili's name when he was about to walk in front of Vasili.

Vahili, who was concentrating on talking with the people around him just now, heard Aiyaka's voice, and cast a somewhat surprised look at Aiyaka, as well as Ogata and A-Ming who were walking behind Aiyaka look.

"Oh, what a rare visitor." Vasily separated his subordinates who stood in front of him, and greeted Ogata and the others, "Aiyaka, what's the matter? What's the matter with finding us suddenly?"

"Instead, I want to ask you first." Aiyaka looked at the people behind and beside Vahiri, "Why are you and your subordinates standing outside the camp instead of staying in the camp?"

"It's nothing." Vasili shrugged, "It's just that my subordinates and I have been too busy recently, so we plan to hold traditional activities of Lucia Kingdom to kill our physical strength and energy."

"Tell me why you are here."

"I'm busy right now."

"It's not that I'm looking for you, but this guest I invited is looking for you." Aiyaka looked at Ogata.

After Aiyaka's voice fell, Xu conveniently spoke out immediately, explaining his purpose to Vasily.

"I see..." Vasily touched his chin, "You are looking for someone..."

"Don't tell me, we really met two weird-looking Kazutos before."

"It's just that I don't know if they are the two people you are looking for."

"What did the two Kazuto you met look like?" Ogata asked hastily.

"Hmm..." Vasili didn't answer immediately, but looked at Ogata and pondered.

Think about what you are thinking about.

After a while, he suddenly grinned and laughed.

"It's not impossible for me to tell you."

"But—no meal is free. You should understand that, right?"

"...What do you want?" Ogata asked, "Do you want money?"

"No, no, no." Vasili raised his right index finger and shook it left and right, "What do I want your Japanese money for?"

"I just need you to attend the tradition we're about to start."

"Traditional activities?" Ogata asked puzzled, "What traditional activities?"

"To put it simply, two groups of people fight each other." Vahili said, "The one who can stand at the end is the winner."

*****

*****

Note: The "Golden Waterfall" mentioned in this chapter is a real legend of the Ainu people in reality. It's not the author's nonsense.

The Ezo's dislike of the gold diggers mentioned in this chapter is also a historical event. Gold diggers will do anything to get gold, so Ezo hates gold diggers very much.

"Toyotomi's Great Secret Treasure" is also a true legend. In addition to "Toyotomi's Great Secret Treasure", there is also "Tokugawa's Great Secret Treasure". It is said that Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo Shogunate and the first general, also buried a huge amount of gold in a certain place.