Volume 1: Re:Zero -Starting Life as a Samurai Chapter 7 The Uses of the Samurai Sword
Ogata no longer worried about whether he had traveled back to ancient Japan or to ancient Japan in a parallel world.
Anyway, no matter where you travel to, it’s the same. You still have to eat, sleep and live a good life every day.
So, Ogata began to think about the next question - how he would live his life in the future.
bass.
Ogata drew the katana from its sheath again.
Looking at the sharp blade, Ogata let out a long sigh.
"What use is a knife... in this era..."
Although the Edo period was an era where samurai were respected, they had the privilege of being able to use their surnames and carry swords.
But - since the opening of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan has been at peace for more than 100 years, nearly 200 years.
The whole country is at peace.
To put it bluntly - the samurai sword is completely useless now.
The system in Ogata's mind is obviously a plug-in that allows Ogata to quickly improve his martial arts in a very short period of time.
Defeating and killing your opponents will earn you experience points.
With experience points you gain skill points.
With skill points, you can have a strong body and superb martial arts in an instant.
However - what's the use of having a strong body and superb martial arts?
There is no need for samurai swords in this era. What’s the point of becoming a great swordsman?
In such a peaceful era, the best way out after becoming a great swordsman is to open a sword gym.
If he could successfully open a sword hall in the future and attract a large number of disciples, then Xu Fang would be able to live a good life and no longer have to rely on porridge every day like he does now.
but……
When he thought about his best future prospect, which was to open a sword gym, Xu Fang felt... a little lost.
He has no interest in opening a sword gym; he doesn't want to open any sword gym.
But if you ask Ogata himself - what do you want to do? Ogata himself can't answer...
Ogata didn't know what he wanted to do or what he could do...
All kinds of thoughts were whirling back and forth in Ogata's mind.
How time passes by little by little.
Gradually, Ogata felt the sleepiness gradually leaving his body.
"what time is it now……"
There was no clock for Ogata to check the time.
Although he could estimate the approximate time based on the weather, Ogata was too lazy to go out.
Since he felt sleepy, Xu Fang decided to go to bed.
After all - he still has to go to work tomorrow.
…
…
Ordinary samurai like Ogata who have no fiefdoms can actually be regarded as civil servants if we use a more figurative term.
Samurai affiliated with the shogunate helped the shogunate deal with various political affairs, big and small.
The same was true for the samurai who were subordinate to the various daimyo, helping their lords handle various political affairs, both big and small.
Except for those ronin who lost their lord or were expelled from their domain, most samurai had jobs.
Ogata's job is to be a warehouse officer.
Its function is a bit like an accountant for modern Earth.
Specially responsible for managing and counting the various material inventories of the vassal government.
The position of warehouse officer is also divided into many levels.
Ogata happens to be a lower-ranking official among the warehouse officials.
It is precisely because Ogata is a relatively low-ranking official among the storehouse officials that his annual salary is only a miserable 50 koku...
…
…
As the sky was just getting light, Xu Fang woke up.
Today is the second day since Ogata arrived in the Edo period.
It was also the first morning Ogata experienced after arriving in the Edo period.
After a quick wash and dressing, Ouban put his two swords back into his left waist and prepared to go into the city to work.
He works as a warehouse officer during the day, practices swordplay at Sakakibara Sword Hall after work, and goes to bed after dinner at night - this is Ogata's daily life.
It's regular, but also a bit boring.
Ogata lives in a remote area, so he has to get up very early every day to get to work before being late.
"Good morning, Ogata-kun."
"Ogata-kun, you look good today."
"Good morning, Ogata."
…
Ogata responded to the greetings from his colleagues with a smile.
Those who greeted Ogata were all warehouse officials - Ogata's colleagues.
Ogata is currently in a room that is neither very spacious nor very narrow.
The room is filled with tables.
Ogata and his colleagues work in this room and on these cases every day.
Some people who arrived earlier have already bent over their desks and started their work for the day.
After smiling and responding to his colleagues who greeted him one by one, Ogata knelt in front of his desk.
Ogata's desk was exactly the same as those of his colleagues - it was filled with paper, pens, abacus, and various account books.
In fact, Ogata's relationship with his colleagues who were also warehouse officers was not very close.
The main reason may be related to age.
Ogata was the only young person in the room.
The rest are middle-aged and elderly people with white hair.
Because of the large age gap, Ogata and these middle-aged and elderly people have no common topics to talk about, so naturally his relationship with these colleagues is not very good.
In addition, Ogata rarely attends any social events on weekdays.
His colleagues would go out together to drink and listen to music every few days.
Naturally, they also invited Ogata to participate many times.
But Ogata always refused their invitations.
One of the reasons why he didn't go to social events or drink with them was because Ogata was poor and didn't have much money.
On the other hand, compared to drinking and socializing, Ogata would rather practice sword with his fellow disciples in the Sakakibara Sword Hall.
Those led by Makino are Ogata's friends.
Compared to socializing with these colleagues he was not very familiar with, whom he had no interest in, Ogata would rather practice his favorite sword with his friends in the sword hall.
Ogata and his colleagues who were also warehouse officers were just ordinary colleagues and acquaintances.
Without exchanging too much pleasantries with his colleagues, Ogata simply opened an account book on the desk and started working.
…
…
Ogata inherited everything from "Original Ogata" except his personality.
Memory, swordsmanship, and work ability.
He tapped the abacus with ease, calculating the changes in the flow of various materials he was responsible for, and his work was proceeding in an orderly manner.
The room, which was neither too big nor too small, was filled with the sound of flipping papers and tapping beads.
But - no matter where you are or what your profession is, there will always be people who slack off at work.
For example, now - some people were slacking off and chatting while working.
"Do you know about 'that incident' yesterday?"
"'That thing'? What thing?"
"Oh, I know. I heard it from other people."
"What's going on?"
"...The lord went hunting again yesterday. On the way back from hunting, a little girl accidentally bumped into the lord's carriage while playing with a ball..."
"...And then? What happened to that little girl...?"
"I don't know... I heard that the lord killed her with one blow, and I also heard that the little girl didn't die... Anyway, no matter what, the little girl's end should not be too good..."
