Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 268: Meeting between the Executioner and the Buddha's Enemy
"Brother Ogata was able to comprehend the Muga Two-Sword Style with the help of the crappy secret book drawn by Master Genichi himself." Makimura added.
After hearing what Makimura said, Asai and Shimada's eyes changed again.
Asai and Shimada's gaze at this moment was like that of a mutant with three heads and seven arms.
"...Great." Asai, who had always been lukewarm towards Ogata, now spoke with a tone full of admiration.
Shimada on the side seemed to have not yet recovered from the shock and still looked at Ogata in astonishment.
"After I joined the Gourd House, Master Genichi gave me a manual on the Muga Nito-Ryu." Shimada said seriously, "I studied it carefully several times and then threw it into the closet as waste. Master Ogata, how did you understand this manual?"
In response to the compliments from Asai and Shimada, Ogata smiled bitterly and said something like "I'm just lucky" to brush them off.
"Since you have mastered the Muga Nito-ryu, you are indeed my lord's junior fellow apprentice." Asai said calmly, "Master Genichi will certainly want to meet you. It's a pity that Genichi and my lord are now out training, so you won't be able to meet them until tomorrow."
Ogata heard from the previous conversation between Mamiya and Asai that the master of their gourd house and Kinoshita Genichi were not here at the moment, and it seemed that they had gone somewhere to practice.
"Does your lord always go out to practice?" Ogata asked casually.
"Yes." Shimada nodded, his eyes flashing with respect, "My lord is the most hardworking person I have ever met."
"He is a genius with extraordinary talent, but he still continues to practice hard, which is no different from torture."
"The lord would go out to practice from time to time," Mamiya continued, "sometimes to a deserted forest, sometimes to a waterfall... If Master Genichi was in a good mood, he would go with the lord to practice, serve as the lord's sparring partner, and give the lord guidance in swordsmanship."
Although he has not yet met Mamiya and his lord, the image of a "training madman" has already emerged in Ogata's mind.
While chatting, the food in the pot has been cooked without us noticing.
"It's time to eat." Mamiya took a large spoon and scooped up the ingredients in the pot and said softly, "Ogata-kun, we don't have enough bowls and chopsticks here, so you need to use your own set of bowls and chopsticks to eat."
"This is the first time I've seen a place where guests are required to bring their own bowls and chopsticks to eat..."
While complaining, Ogata took off the bamboo tube hanging around his waist.
This bamboo tube is the bowl and chopsticks that Ogata made himself on his way north from Kii to Owari.
This bamboo tube, which is half the width of a fist, can be used as a bowl, and contains two bamboo chopsticks.
From Kii to Owari, Ogata relied on this set of bowls and chopsticks to solve his eating problems along the way.
"No way." Mamiya smiled bitterly, "We only have six sets of bowls and chopsticks in the gourd house. The four of us, the lord, and Master Gen-ichi each have one set. There really are no extra bowls and chopsticks for outsiders to use."
Ogata looked closely and found that the bowls and chopsticks in Mamiya and the others' hands did indeed have their names written on them with indelible paint.
There is a word "Jian" written on Mamiya's bowl and chopsticks, there is a word "Mu" written on Makimura's bowl and chopsticks... and so on.
Less than an hour had passed since he entered the gourd house, but Ogata had already learned a lot about it.
Ogata originally thought that Huluwu was a place with a strong wild atmosphere, similar to Wagangzhai.
However, now it seems that this is not the case at all.
Every corner of the gourd house is clean and tidy, and special attention is paid to personal hygiene. Everyone has their own special bowls and chopsticks.
At the same time, the personnel composition is also very complex.
Except for the fact that he didn't know the origins of Mamiya and Asai, Ogata already knew the pasts of Makimura and Shimada - the former was from the Yakuza, and the latter was from a prominent family.
The complex composition of its members adds a bit of eccentricity to Calabash House.
The place where Ogata and his friends had their meal was in a courtyard inside the temple.
The reason they chose to eat in the yard was probably because they were afraid that the burning firewood would set the wooden temple on fire.
Because the light around was not bright, Ogata didn't notice a strange tall object standing in the corner of the yard until he was almost done with his meal.
Looking intently at the big flag, with the light from the firewood at the bottom of the pot, Ogata could barely see what this tall object was.
"Thousands of gourds?" Ogata muttered.
This tall object planted in the corner of the yard is a horse print.
It is a thousand-color gourd horse seal.
Ma-in is something that is unique to Japan.
Horse seals are also called horse marks or horse verifications. They are used to mark the positions of military commanders on the battlefield. Generally, only warriors who command more than a thousand soldiers are qualified to use horse seals.
The Qiancheng gourd is one of the most meaningful horse seals.
Every time they won a battle, they would add a small gourd, hoping for hundreds and thousands of successes, so it was finally called Qiancheng Gourd - this is the meaning of Qiancheng Gourd.
Mamiya noticed that Ogata noticed the Sensei gourd standing in the corner of the yard, and smiled as he introduced it to Ogata:
"My lord likes gourds very much."
"That's where the name 'Calabash House' came from."
"In addition to taking the name 'Huluwu', we also use the Qiancheng gourd as the symbol and flag of our Huluwu."
"So the Qiancheng gourd is considered the 'family crest' of our gourd house."
"I see..." After mumbling, Ogata said in a half-joking tone, "Your lord has very good taste."
Something like the Qiancheng Gourd, which is rich in positive meaning, is indeed quite suitable to be used as a symbol of an organization.
After dinner, Mamiya said, "Ogata-kun, you should go to bed early," and then he and the others dispersed.
There didn't seem to be any entertainment facilities or activities in Hulu House. After dinner, they all dispersed and went back to their rooms.
After eating and drinking and seeing that everyone else had left, Ogata also returned to his room following his memory.
Before dusk arrived today, Ogata had been on the road.
The fatigue caused by the journey was gradually gushing out from Ogata's body.
He spread the futon that Shimada had given him earlier on the tatami and lay down on it.
Although he was sleeping in a strange place and on strange bedding, Ogata slept exceptionally soundly - after long periods of wandering, Ogata had already developed the skill of being able to "fall asleep anywhere."
After a peaceful night, Ogata got up as usual when the sun just rose from the horizon.
After tidying up the bedding and placing it in a corner of the room, Ogata opened the paper sliding door and walked out of the room.
As soon as the paper sliding door was opened, gusts of moist air immediately blew towards Ogata.
Because the base of Huluwu is located deep in the mountains, the morning dew is so thick that the air seems to be mixed with water droplets.
The air was a little cold, and after just standing outside for a while, Xu Fang felt his clothes were a little wet, forcing him to go back to the room.
As soon as I returned to the room, Asai's voice suddenly came from outside the room:
"Ittosai, are you awake? I'm here to bring you breakfast."
"Yes."
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, the paper sliding door of his room was unceremoniously pulled open, and Asai's extremely handsome face appeared in Ogata's field of vision.
Asai was holding a bamboo basket in his hand, and what was inside was probably the breakfast he had just mentioned.
"I'm here to bring you breakfast under Mamiya's orders. To save time, I brought my own portion as well. Let's eat together."
After saying that, Asai didn't hesitate to put the bamboo basket on the tatami and opened it. Inside was a pot of hot porridge, a plate of pickles and a plate of fish.
The hot porridge is not ordinary white porridge, it contains a lot of ingredients.
Looking at this sumptuous breakfast, Ogata raised his eyebrows.
"I thought we were going to have a hotpot again..."
"Now that the lord is back, there's no need to cook a big pot anymore." Asai said calmly, "This breakfast was made by the lord. Enjoy your cooking."
Ogata's pupils shrank slightly: "Is your lord back?"
"Before daybreak, he and Genichi returned."
"Master Genichi is sleeping now, and the Lord is having breakfast with Mamiya and the others."
"The Lord and Mr. Minaichi know about you."
"Ittosai, come with me after breakfast. The lord is very interested in you and wants to meet you very much."
"Got it." Ogata nodded, "Then let's eat quickly. I'm hungry too."
After taking out his own homemade bowl and chopsticks, filling a bowl with porridge and taking a sip, Ogata's eyes immediately lit up.
"Your master's craftsmanship is really good..."
"After all, cooking is the lord's hobby and one of his most proud specialties. Let's eat quickly."
Asai closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, muttered softly, "I'm starting", then picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began to eat.
Since last night, Ogata discovered that Asai seemed to be a person who paid great attention to etiquette.
When we were having dinner last night, only Asai and Shimada said "I'm starting" before eating.
But when Shimada said "I'm starting" he was just saying it casually, unlike Asai who would clasp his hands together and close his eyes respectfully.
After the two of them quickly swept away all the food in the bamboo basket, Asai put the empty plates and bowls back into the bamboo basket and said softly:
"Alright. Ittosai, come with me, I'll take you to see the lord."
"Yes." Ogata picked up the two swords beside him and stood up. "You don't have to keep calling me 'Ittosai'. Just call me Ogata."
"No." Asai shook his head gently . "Ogata is too difficult to pronounce. It is easier to pronounce Ittosai."
"...As long as you like it." Feeling a little speechless, Ogata sighed softly.
Ogata is pronounced as "ogata" and Itousai is pronounced as "yitousai". Both have three pronunciations. I really don't know what the basis is for Asai to think that "Ogata" is more difficult to pronounce than "Itousai"...
Ogata followed Asai around this abandoned Buddhist temple that was used as a base by Huluya.
After a while, Asai brought Ogata to the largest place in the temple - the Buddha Hall.
He took off the Daishakuten from his left waist and held it in his right hand, then entered the Buddhist hall with Asai one after the other. Then, Obana saw Mamiya, Makimura and Shimada, who were kneeling respectfully on his left and right sides.
"Good morning, Ogata-kun." Mamiya smiled at Ogata, "My lord will come back later, please wait here for a while."
Mamiya pointed toward the center of the temple.
"Yes." Ogata nodded slightly, knelt down where Mamiya pointed, and placed Daishakuten on the right side of his body.
After Ogata sat down, Asai slowly walked to Shimada's side and knelt beside him.
Mamiya and Makimura knelt on the left side of the Buddhist hall, Asai and Shimada knelt on the right side of the Buddhist hall, and Ogata knelt in the middle of the Buddhist hall.
Looking at this scene, Ogata couldn't help but smile.
This scene is like an envoy coming to meet the daimyo of another country.
Ogata was the envoy, and Mamiya and the other four were the vassals of this daimyo.
While waiting for Mamiya and his lord to arrive, Ogata observed his surroundings out of boredom.
There is actually nothing to observe.
This Buddhist temple can be described as empty.
There is no Buddha statue where it should be.
There was nothing else of note around.
The only thing worth noting is probably the Senjō gourd horse sign planted in front of Ogata.
Ogata didn't expect that there were thousands of gourd horse symbols even in this Buddhist temple.
However, this horse logo is much smaller than the one in the yard.
Just when Ogata was bored and started counting the gourds on the horse sign, he suddenly heard footsteps coming closer and closer behind him.
——Is it finally here?
Because they had been waiting for quite a while, Ogata, who was already a little impatient, turned back with a hint of resentment to see who the master of the gourd house was, whom he had heard of for a long time.
However - after turning around and seeing the face of the person who came, Ogata's pupils immediately shrank in surprise and astonishment.
——This guy is the lord of Mamiya and his gang...? !
Just when Ogata was wondering whether this person was the lord of Mamiya and his companions, Mamiya and his companions' next action answered Ogata's question.
The four Mamiyas all had serious expressions on their faces at this time.
He placed his hands on the ground and respectfully bowed to the person who was slowly walking into the Buddhist hall.
Ogata's astonished gaze was fixed on this person, and his eyes followed him from the gate of the Buddhist temple all the way to the front of him.
After Mamiya and his lord sat down under the thousand-character gourd horse seal, he spoke in a cold but majestic voice:
"Everyone, raise your heads."
"Yes!"*4
The four Mamiyas shouted in unison, then slowly raised their heads.
And Ogata has yet to recover from his shock.
After a long while, Ogata finally couldn't help but mutter slowly:
"woman……"
Black hair that reaches the chin, a round face, big bright eyes, a delicate mouth and nose, and the average height of this era - this is the appearance of the person who is currently sitting under the Senranari gourd horse seal, the lord of Mamiya and his friends, the owner of the gourd house who is known as the "Enemy of Buddha".
He is probably around 20 years old.
Her face wasn't very pretty, but it wasn't ugly either.
On the right waist was a wakizashi with a white handle and white sheath.
In his left hand he held a katana with a black handle and a black sheath.
After sitting down under Qian Cheng's gourd horse seal, she placed the katana with a black handle and black sheath on the left side of her body.
"Nice to meet you, Executioner Ittosai Ogata Issei." Mamiya and his lord said in a cold tone, "I am the owner of the Calabash House - Kinoshita Rin, and I have the nickname 'Buddha's Enemy'."
