The next morning (January 15) -
The owner of Genjutaya, Sotaro Nishino, and Ogata and their friends agreed to meet in front of the store.
Ogata and Atachi, who had packed their luggage the night before, arrived on time with their luggage.
When they arrived at the entrance of Genjutaya, they saw the convoy ready to go, the employees surrounding the convoy making final preparations, and Jiro Nishino and the master and apprentices from Hosho Kenkan who came to see them off.
Needless to say, Jiro Nishino.
Ogata will be leaving today, so there is no reason for the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall not to come and see him off.
As early as when the date of leaving Kinno Town was determined, Obe informed the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall when and when he would leave Kinno Town.
When they learned that Ogata would leave Kinnocho on January 15, the group led by Director Hosho naturally tried to persuade him to stay a little longer.
During the time that Ogata stayed as their guest, the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall all benefited greatly from his guidance.
They all hoped that Ogata could stay in Kinno-cho a little longer and give them more guidance.
Although the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall tried their best to persuade him to stay, Ogata had important matters to attend to, so it was impossible for him to stay just for them.
Seeing that Ogata refused their request to stay, the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall had to give up the plan of letting Ogata stay for a longer period of time.
They said they wanted to come and see Ogata off when he left.
Ogata did not refuse this small request.
As soon as Ogata led Atachi to appear at the door of Minamoto Tachibana, Jiro Nishino and a group of people from the Hosho Sword Hall led by Director Hosho immediately came to greet them.
Not everyone from Hosho Sword Hall came to see Ogata off.
The only ones who came to see Ogata off were Director Hosho and a dozen or so apprentices.
"Mashima-sama, Madam Majima."
Jiro Nishino rushed to Ogata and Atachi first, holding an unidentified object wrapped in a piece of cloth.
"Please accept this!"
Jiro Nishino handed the unidentified object wrapped in cloth in his arms to Ogata.
"What is this?" Ogata took the cloth bag with a puzzled look on his face and found that it was very light.
"Open it and take a look." Jiro Nishino said with a smile.
After Ogata quickly opened the cloth bag, the scene inside the bag appeared before his eyes.
It's a flag.
It was the banner with "Ogata Issey, the Unrivaled Sword" written on it that Jiro Nishino had made himself to promote Ittosai.
Jiro Nishino made a lot of these flags and asked the hired publicity and promotion personnel to carry them when going out for publicity.
"I've always wanted to give you something memorable."
Jiro Nishino said:
"After much thought, the only thing I can give as a gift and that has commemorative value is this flag."
He gave a wry smile.
"I hope you don't mind."
Ogata unfolded the flag in his hand.
Looking at the words "The Unrivaled Sword in the World - Ogata Isise" written on it, Ogata couldn't help but laugh.
"Thanks."
“This flag does have commemorative value.”
"I'll take this flag."
"Mashima-sama. I wish you a safe journey!" Nishino Jiro's eyes were filled with reluctance. "If you have the chance in the future, you are welcome to come to Kinno-cho again."
"Yes." Ogata nodded with a smile, "If there is a chance, I will come again. I hope that when I see you next time, you will have become an outstanding Kabuki playwright."
By the way – after performing the popular hit “Ittosai” for 11 consecutive days, Takarajima-ya managed to make a lot of money.
According to the agreement they had made with Jiro Nishino, Takarajima-ya would give part of their income to Jiro Nishino, who was responsible for writing the script.
Jiro Nishino received a total of 6 taels of gold.
After receiving the 6 taels of gold, Jiro Nishino immediately divided half of it and gave 3 taels to Ogata.
The script of "Ittosai" was created thanks to your contribution, and you deserve the money - these were the exact words that Jiro Nishino said when he handed the three taels of gold to Ogata.
Ogata felt that he had only done some trivial things that were not worth mentioning, and there was no need to give him such a large sum of money.
But Jiro Nishino was quite determined and insisted that Ogata accept the money.
Ogata had no choice but to accept the three taels of gold and add another unexpected fortune.
After Jiro Nishino came forward to say goodbye to Ogata, the masters and disciples of Hosho Sword Hall came forward one by one to say goodbye to Ogata.
…
…
After Jiro Nishino and the people from Hosho Kenkan said goodbye to Ogata one by one, the convoy of Minamoto Tachibana had just made all the preparations for the trip.
This was the first time this year that Minamoto no Tachibana had sent a merchant ship to Ezo to purchase goods. In order to get a good start for the year, the scale of this merchant caravan was very large.
Jiro Nishino's father, Soichiro Nishino, led the team personally, with four carriages and 32 subordinates.
Among these 32 subordinates, there are 20 accompanying guards.
Before this, Ogata had never had a concrete idea of ​​the wealth of Minamoto Tachibana.
Now, after seeing the scale of this caravan of Genjuya, I finally understand how rich Genjuya is.
After the caravan had made preparations for the journey, Ogata and Atachi boarded the carriage, watched by Jiro Nishino and others, and headed north with the convoy.
After the caravan drove out of Kinno Town, Ogata quietly opened the window of the carriage and looked back at Kinno Town which was getting smaller and smaller in his field of vision.
"Huh? Ayi, what are you doing?" A-Ting beside him asked in confusion, "What are you looking at?"
"I'm just looking at Kinno Town." Ogata smiled, "I may not have the chance to come back in the future, so I'll take advantage of it now while I can still see Kinno Town and take a closer look."
He and Atachi lived in Kinno-cho for more than a month in total.
Although it is not long, this is the town where Ogata has lived the longest since he left the Hirose Domain, second only to Edo.
And a lot of things happened in Kinno Town.
Just because he assisted Jiro Nishino in compiling "Ittosai", the town of Kinno-cho had a different meaning in Ogata's mind.
Maybe I will have a chance to come back to Kinnocho in the future. But even if I go back to Kinnocho, I don’t know when that will be.
Under the influence of this somewhat sad mood, Ogata couldn't help but open the car window and look back at the increasingly smaller Kinno Town.
"Your emotions are always quite abundant in some strange places." After chuckling a few times, Atachi followed Ogata and stuck his head out of the window, looking at the increasingly smaller Kinno Town with Ogata.
…
…
I have to say that Soichiro Nishino was quite kind to Ogata and the others.
Not only did he fulfill his promise and let Ogata and A-machi go to Ezo with his caravan, but he also specially vacated a carriage for Ogata and A-machi to ride in, and made a bold statement: he would cover all the meals for Ogata and his friends along the way.
After getting onto the official road, the caravan sped at a speed so fast that if it hit someone, it might kill that person directly.
At such a fast speed, the car was shaking violently.
If I talk, I might bite my tongue.
Therefore, Ogata and the others couldn't pass the time by chatting. They could only close their eyes and sleep. There was nothing they could do.
Ating leaned back in the chair and dozed off.
Ogata, who was not sleepy and couldn't think of anything to do, pulled up his personal system interface.
[Name: Ogata Noriyoshi]
[Current personal level: Lv37 (2480/5800)]
Personal attributes:
Strength: 20
Agility: 18
Reflexes: 15
Stamina: 21
Vitality: 36
【Skill:
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 13th stage (3655/12000)
Wuwo's ​​dual swordsmanship level: 11th level (9490/12000)
Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 8th Stage (2290/7500)]
[Remaining skill points: 10 points]
…
[Sakakihara Itto-ryu (13 paragraphs):
Climbing: Intermediate
Water Fall: Advanced
Bird Thorn: Master Level
Dragon Tail: Advanced
…
【Muga Nisshin (11th level):
Step: Advanced
Blade Return: Master
Flow: Master
Breath of the Source: Grandmaster
Raikiri: Beginner
Cicada Rain: Elementary
Starfall: Primary
…
【Shiranui Style Ninjutsu (8th level):
Shiranui Stealth Technique: Intermediate
Shiranui Style Jujutsu: Advanced
Shiranui Breath Holding Technique: (Not unlocked)
Shiranui Assassination Technique: (Not unlocked)]
…
Ogata gained a lot from the experience of working in Kinno-cho for more than a month, nearly two months.
Since helping that village to repel the bandits, I have successfully upgraded my personal level by 2 levels, Sakakibara's Itsaurus level has been upgraded by 1 level, and Shiranui-ryu Ninjutsu has been upgraded by 1 level. Although my Muga Two-Sword Ryu has not been upgraded, it is not far from being upgraded.
Including the 4 skill points he had saved previously, Ogata now has a total of 10 skill points.
It is completely enough to upgrade any sword skill that has reached the "Master Level" to the "Grand Master Level".
Ogata had already made arrangements as to which sword skills to upgrade first.
Flow, Blade Counter, and Step - these are the three skills that should be upgraded with the highest priority.
It goes without saying that there is a blade counter for defense and a step forward for evasion.
Flow is Ogata's most applicable attack skill at present, and is suitable for any occasion.
The flow is not afraid of single combat or one-on-many combat.
The four major sword skills of Sakakibara Ittoryu are not very suitable for fighting one against many, and their applicability is far inferior to that of Flow.
Ogata wants to upgrade the flow to the Grandmaster level first.
But if you want to upgrade the circulation to the "Grand Master Level", you must first upgrade the blade to the "Grand Master Level".
Since he had nothing to do now, Xu Fang decided to take advantage of this opportunity to use the skill points he had saved up during this period.
When you open the system interface and click on the small question mark behind the skill item "Blade Counter", the conditions required to upgrade "Blade Counter" to "Grandmaster Level" will be displayed: Strength, Agility, and Reflexes should each reach 15 points.
With the help of the "Immortal Poison", Ogata's body functions have long surpassed the prerequisites for Blade Reversal to be promoted to the "Grandmaster Level".
——Muga's two-sword style's "Blade Counter" has been upgraded to "Grandmaster Level".
As soon as Ogata finished thinking this, the long-lost system sound of prompting skill upgrades rang in Ogata's mind:
[Ding! Consume 8 skill points, and the Wuwo Two-Sword Flow Sword Skill: Blade Counter is promoted to a "Grandmaster Level" skill]
[Currently remaining skill points: 2 points]
In just a few moments, Ogata, who originally had 10 skill points, now only had 2. He was back to the time before liberation overnight.
Ogata plans to save the remaining two skill points and use them to upgrade to the "Grandmaster level" later.
After successfully upgrading Blade Resist, Ogata looked at his personal system interface several times again, then closed it with a satisfied look on his face.
Including Breathing of the Source, Ogata now possesses two "Grandmaster-level" skills.
Ogata had already experienced what a "grandmaster-level" Blade Reversal was like through the "state of no self" a long time ago.
Previously, after upgrading the Blade Counter to "Master Level", entering the "Selflessness Realm" could temporarily upgrade the Blade Counter to "Grandmaster Level".
"Grandmaster level" is a magical realm that is difficult to describe in words.
Be it bird thorns, flow, or padding, these "master-level" skills, after being upgraded to the "grandmaster level" through the "selfless state", unexpectedly showed a completely different effect.
That is - to become ordinary.
Whether it is attacking skills such as bird stab and flow, or dodging skills such as stepping, after being upgraded to "Grand Master Skills", each move becomes ordinary and looks unremarkable without any fancy elements.
But precisely because there are no unnecessary movements or fancy elements, every move and every style is simple and direct, yet contains extremely strong power.
If Ogata were to use a word to describe it, the only word he could think of was "return to nature."
After upgrading a skill to the "Grandmaster Level", the skill will enter a state of "returning to basics".
Generally speaking, even for someone who is both hardworking and talented, it would probably take a lifetime to hone his sword skills to the level of "returning to nature".
However, relying on his skill points, Ogata has reached a level that many people cannot reach in their entire lives.
If those warriors who have devoted their entire lives to martial arts were to see that Ogata, who is only 21 years old, has sword skills that have reached a level that they have never achieved in their entire lives, they would probably be so shocked that their eyes would pop out.
After closing the personal system interface, Xu Fang couldn't wait to take a deep breath.
Then slowly adjust your breathing to the "Breathing of Source".
Ogata had wanted to know this a long time ago.
That is - if the sword skills are already at the "Grandmaster level", then after entering the state of "selflessness", will they be upgraded?
As the breathing rhythm changed and the breathing method switched to the "state of no self", the series of system sounds unique to the "state of no self" sounded in Ogata's mind.
[Ding! The host enters the state of selflessness! ]
[Pain perception decreased by 70%]
【Fatigue perception decreased by 70%】
…
[Martial Arts Muga Two-Sword Style: Blade Reversal, Improved]
…
Ogata listened attentively.
Blade Counter no longer directly increases to a higher level like before.
Ogata thought to himself:
——After entering the "selfless realm", I was only enhanced. Wouldn't my level be increased directly by one level like before?
Although the skills that have been upgraded to the "Grandmaster level" will not be forcibly raised to another level in the "Selfless State", with the blessing of the "Selfless State", the Grandmaster level skills can still be further enhanced.
Ogata pulled out the Daijizai placed aside, aimed it at the air in front of the carriage, and then imagined that there was an enemy coming towards him, and then he used the blade counter to defend himself.
After entering the "selflessness realm", the power of Blade Reversal, which was already at the "Grandmaster level", has indeed become stronger.
"Hello."
Just then, Atachi's unpleasant grumbling was heard beside him.
Ating, who had been dozing off, opened his eyes at some point just now.
"Don't draw your knife in such a narrow space in a train compartment. It's very dangerous. What if the train shakes and you accidentally stab yourself with the knife?"
"Feel sorry……"
Ogata put the Great Freedom Sword back into the scabbard with a wry smile and silently exited the state of "selflessness".
…
…
As expected of a wealthy businessman who even owns two merchant ships, Genjuya’s meals are extremely sumptuous.
Every meal consists of rice, and each meal has the standard three dishes and one soup, including fish, meat and vegetables.
Such sumptuous meals were enough to attract many hungry ronin to come and apply for the job, begging to be hired to guard the house.
From Kinno-cho to the port where the merchant ships of Minamoto Tachibana are docked - the merchant caravans of Minamoto Tachibana have traveled this route countless times and are already very familiar with it.
They knew exactly where the inns were and at what speed they needed to travel to reach them.
Thanks to Minamoto Tachibana's familiarity with the route, Ogata and his companions had a hotel to stay in every night and did not have to sleep outdoors in the cold winter.
With delicious meals every day and comfortable hotels to stay in at night - Ogata and Atachi had been living a very comfortable life these days.
After three days of trekking, Ogata finally smelled the sea breeze - they had finally arrived at the port where the merchant ship of Minamoto no Tachibana was docked.
This port is located in the eastern part of the Oshu region, facing the Pacific Ocean.
Gusts of cold sea breeze blew in from the Pacific Ocean, forcing Ogata, who was not very afraid of the cold due to his high vitality, to tighten the scarf around his neck.
…
…
“It’s so big…”
Looking at the two large ships docked at the port ahead, Ating exclaimed.
These two large ships are exactly the ships of Minamoto no Tachibana.
They both have names - Sen no Maru and Sadoda Maru.
The first impression that these two ships of Minamoto no Tachibana gave to Ogata and A-machi was that they were huge.
It was much larger than the ship they had taken from Owari to Edo.
Such a large ship is more than enough to accommodate the four carriages that Soichiro Nishino brought this time.
After looking at the two large ships for a few seconds, Ogata turned his head and cast a look at Atachi with a hint of worry.
"After you get on the boat, if you feel any discomfort, remember to tell me immediately."
Ogata remembered it very clearly - Atachi was seasick.
And I got severe seasickness.
A few months ago, when they were traveling by boat from Owari to Edo, Ogata put a lot of effort into taking care of Atachi, who could barely lie down.
"I know." Ating waved his hand. "I think the reason why I was so seasick before was mainly because the boat was too small, so it was very bumpy."
"Now that we've changed to a bigger ship, I think the hull won't shake as much, and I probably won't get seasick as badly as last time."
Atachi said this with full confidence.
…
…
One hour later——
…
…
"Ugh... it hurts so much..."
Ah-Ming lay on the railing of the boat, hung his little head on it, and leaned his head over the railing, his eyes tightly closed, his face as white as paper.
Oofang stood behind Ating with a helpless look on his face, patting Ating's back gently.
"How is it? Feeling better?"
"No... it feels so bad... um..."
Ating, who knew nothing about navigation, made a slight misjudgment.
That is - no matter how big the ship is, it is just a small dot in the ocean, and it will still bump and shake when the waves hit it.
They started boarding the ship an hour ago.
Half an hour later, two merchant ships left the port and headed north along the eastern coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean.
As soon as they left the port, Ating began to feel unwell.
Then, this scene soon appeared - Atachi collapsed on the railing, and Ogata stood behind Atachi, patting her back, doing his best to make her feel better.
There were no motion sickness or seasickness pills in that era.
When faced with seasickness, you can only endure it.
…
…
2 hours later——
Ogata sat cross-legged beside Atachi's bed.
The quilt covering Atachi was rising and falling evenly.
Looking at Atachi's peaceful sleeping face, Ogata let out a long sigh silently.
——Finally fell asleep...
The ship that Ogata, Atachi and others were on was the Sen-no-maru.
The Sen no Maru is the largest of the two merchant ships of Minamoto no Tachibana, and also the one with the largest passenger and cargo capacity.
The two of them were currently in a room in the Sennomaru cabin.
Soichiro Nishino was as kind as ever and gave a fairly spacious room to Ogata and his friends.
Ogata and Omachi will spend the rest of their life at sea in this room.
They set sail around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
By about 5 p.m.—that is, now, probably because we had reached an area with slower currents, A-Machi gradually felt better and could fall asleep peacefully.
Seeing that Atachi was finally able to fall asleep, Ogata felt a little relieved.
Ah Ting is no different from a patient now.
Taking care of patients has always been a very mentally taxing task.
Now that Atachi had fallen asleep, Ogata, who had nothing to do, planned to go to the deck to look at the sea view, get some fresh air, and relax his tense body and mind.
Ogata did not go to the bow, but to the stern.
There was currently no one on the narrower stern deck.
Standing on the stern deck, Ogata rested his hands on the railing and looked out at the Pacific Ocean to the east.
It is just about time that the sun is about to sink below the sea level.
The blood-red sun dyed the eastern sky a bright red.
Under the sky that was about to turn into night, the endless sea was rippling with countless bright waves like mercury.
Waves continued to hit the hull of the Sennomaru.
The waves collided with the hull and then shattered into millions of sparkling silver waves.
Undoubtedly beautiful views.
The last time I saw the sea view was several months ago.
Ogata folded his arms, smiled, and silently looked at the beautiful sea view in front of him.
Ogata really wanted to share this beautiful scenery with Atachi - but unfortunately Atachi was no longer able to enjoy the sea view.
After looking at the ocean to the east for a while, Ogata turned his gaze and looked towards the north - the direction the ship was currently heading.
The scenery to the north is roughly the same as that to the east.
The destination of Ogata and his companions' trip, Ezo, is now waiting for his arrival in the north.
According to Soichiro Nishino, it will take them about 10 days to reach their destination.
When Ogata thought about the fact that he was about to set foot on this completely unfamiliar land, he felt a mixture of emotions.
There is excitement and anticipation, but also a slight anxiety about facing the "unknown".
Just as Ogata was gazing at the northern horizon in a trance, a magnetic middle-aged male voice suddenly came into his ears from the side of Ogata.
"Mashima-sama, I found you. You are at the stern of the ship."
Ogata looked in the direction of the voice—it was a very dignified face that he had often seen in the past few days.
"Ah, Mr. Nishino."
The owner of the voice and the person who came was none other than Soichiro Nishino.
Soichiro Nishino folded his arms and walked out of the cabin.
"I've been looking for you everywhere." Soichiro Nishino said with a smile.
Ogata: "Looking for me?"
"Yeah. But it's not about anything important. I just wanted to ask how your Ling Zheng is doing."
"Thank you for your concern." Ogata thanked him . "Now the ship has reached a place where the current is calm. My wife's seasickness symptoms have improved a little and she is sleeping in her room now."
"Is that so... That's good."
After saying that, Soichiro Nishino walked to Ogata's side, then closed his eyes and felt the sea breeze on his face.
“The sea is truly magical.”
Nishino Soichiro opened his eyes and smiled.
“Just looking at the sea and feeling the sea breeze will automatically make you feel better.”
"Mr. Nishino, do you like the sea very much?" Ogata asked casually.
"Yeah. I like it very much." Nishino Soichiro nodded vigorously. "It is because I love the sea that I decided to become a businessman engaged in ocean trade."
"I originally wanted to trade with the Qing Dynasty in Tangtu and Korea on the peninsula."
"But it's too difficult, so we can only settle for the next best thing and trade with the Ezo people in Ezo."
Hearing what Nishino Soichiro said, Ogata seemed to remember something, and quickly turned to look at Nishino Soichiro, and then asked:
"Mr. Nishino, are you free now?"
"Hmm? I have some free time now, what's up?"
"Nothing, I just want to talk to you about the Ezo in Ezo." Ogata said slowly, "My wife and I know nothing about Ezo."
“So I want to learn as much as possible about Ezo and the Ezo people.”
"Mr. Nishino, as a businessman who specializes in trade with Ezo, you should know a lot about Ezo, right?"
As Ezo is a place where he might have to stay for a long time in the future, Ogata has always wanted to know as much as possible about Ezo and the Ezo people who live in this land.
But the problem is that we can't find someone who knows enough information.
Previously, when he lived in Kinno-cho and took a carriage to the port where the ship was docked, Ogata had never had the opportunity to be alone and have a detailed conversation with Soichiro Nishino.
It's a rare opportunity to be alone with Soichiro Nishino, so Ogata decided to take this opportunity to get as much information as possible from Soichiro Nishino.
When Soichiro Nishino heard Ogata's question, he was stunned at first, then he smiled bitterly.
"Ezo and Ezo?... Ezo is fine, but I don't really know much about Ezo."
"Because I only do business with a few fixed settlements. I haven't come into contact with many Ezo."
"I only know some of the customs of the Ainu people and some of the Ainu language."
"The Ezo people I met were all very gentle and friendly to us Japanese people."
"But some Ezo are very hostile to us Japanese. They think we Japanese have invaded their homes."
Having said this, Soichiro Nishino paused and then changed his tone to a half-joking one.
"Regarding the resistance of the Ezo people... there is a rumor that is widely circulated in the Ezo area. Are you interested in listening to it?"
"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it." Ogata nodded.
"Did you know that there are a lot of gold mines hidden in the soil of Ezo?"
"Yes, I know."
He had just learned about this from the "original hunter" Shimasuke.
"It is said that a long time ago, there was a group of Ezo people who regarded us as enemies. In order to fight against our Yamato people, they spent decades plundering a large amount of gold from all over Ezo."
"They plan to use this gold to purchase advanced weapons from the barbarians in the West to fight against us."
“But somehow they eventually gave up using gold to buy weapons.”
"Instead, they hid the gold somewhere in Ezo."
"It is said that this batch of gold, which was originally intended to purchase weapons, is so large that even a family of three cannot spend it all in a hundred lifetimes."
"This legend is widely circulated in Ezo."
"Some people even went out of their way to search for treasures in order to verify the truth of this legend."
"It is said that even the shogunate secretly sent people to look for gold."
“But without exception, all of them came back with nothing.”
"Until now, I still don't know whether this legend is true or not."
"Now there are many people speculating that this legend is just a false story spread by those gold diggers who are desperate to get rich ."
"A family of three can't spend all the gold in a hundred lifetimes..." Ogata smiled, and then said jokingly, "If someone is lucky enough to find the location of this batch of gold, wouldn't they instantly become the richest person in this country?"
"Of course." Nishino Soichiro responded in the same half-joking tone, "But we have to find this batch of gold."
"Moreover, there is another story about this batch of gold - what the Ezo group hid was not gold at all."
"The story that the Ezo people looted gold and hid it in order to fight against us and the people is completely false."
"That group of Ezo did look for something to fight us and humans, and they did hide it in the end. But no one knows what they hid."
"So whether there is a lot of gold hidden or not - it's still a mystery."