Ogata used the Mizuru of Sakakibara Ittoryu.
Then the gravitational potential energy of the body as it fell directly killed the guy.
After more than a month since the battle with the bandits, the feeling of the blade cutting through flesh passed through the handle to the palm.
The familiar system prompt sound for gaining experience points rang out.
According to the skills that Ogata actually experienced and the system's prompt sound, the person who was killed by Ogata's sword was not very strong. Ogata's personal level and Sakakibara's sword experience bar only gained 75 experience points respectively.
Before the dead guy could fall to the ground, the other two companions standing on his left and right sides were already filled with fear.
"ah……"
The two men had just uttered the first syllable of their screams when they saw two sword lights rising from the sky.
As soon as Ogata's feet touched the ground, he quickly switched the Great Freedom Sword in his hand to the lower stance, and slashed from the chin to the crown of the head of one of the remaining two men.
As soon as Da Zizai's blade slashed out from the man's crown, Xu Fang turned the blade again, prepared for a stabbing, aimed the tip of the blade at the last man's chest, and then pierced through his chest with one blow.
When he pulled the Daijizai out of the man's chest, Ogata grabbed the wide sleeve of the man's kimono and placed it between him and the man so that the blood spurting from the wound would not splash on him when he drew the sword.
"bite……"
…
"bite……"
…
The system sound rang twice again.
It only took a few breaths of effort for the three guys who had just wanted to shoot them with bows and arrows to be killed. The three of them combined only added less than 200 experience points to Ogata's personal level experience bar.
When Ogata took out the paper he carried with him and wiped off the blood and grease on the blade of the Ojizai sword, Atachi trotted to Ogata's side.
"The Ezo bandits are so simple and direct..." Ating murmured, "Without saying anything, they just planned to kill us and rob us of our money..."
After murmuring, Ating squatted down, raised his hands, and used his skillful hands to quickly search for the spoils on the bodies of the three people.
The identities of these three guys are not difficult to guess.
In all likelihood, they were bandits who intended to rob Ogata and Atachi of their money.
Ogata and his friends had seen a lot of people like this in the Northeast recently.
It's just that the people I met before would say a few polite words, such as: "Hand over the money obediently!"
Some people who are greedy for Ating's beauty will say a few more words, such as: "Leave the woman next to you obediently."
But this was the first time they had seen three people like these who drew their bows and started shooting without saying a word and started killing people.
Soon, Ating felt all the bodies of the three robbers - all three were quite shabby.
They only carried a small amount of copper coins, and a rough count showed that there were only a little over a hundred.
They certainly couldn't take their bows and arrows with them.
Neither Ogata nor Atachi knows how to use a bow.
I wanted to sell it for money, but there was no channel to resell the stolen goods.
"A-Machi, let's go." Ogata said, "Someone might come here at any time. If someone sees us standing next to three corpses, it will be difficult to explain."
"Yeah." Atachi nodded, put away the hundred coins he had just looted from the three bodies, and then quickly walked out of the alley with Ogata.
After returning to the bustling street, Ating looked back at the entrance of the alley that had disappeared behind them.
"They look so weird..." Ating muttered.
"They should be the Ezo." Ogata continued .
There was a flash of surprise in Ating's eyes:
"Is that Ezo?"
A-Machi had never seen what Ezo looked like in person.
Ogata: "I guessed. But I shouldn't be wrong."
Ogata had never seen what Ezo looked like with his own eyes.
But during his previous sea voyage, he had heard Soichiro Nishino introduce the appearance of the Ezo.
His appearance was obviously different from that of other people, his facial features were deeper and more three-dimensional, and his hair was more luxuriant - it completely matched the appearance of the three robbers just now.
"Ezo... wearing our Japanese clothes..." Atachi turned his head and looked back again, "Could they be naturalized Ezo?"
"That should be it." Ogata nodded. "Since they can walk around in the town of the Japanese wearing kimonos, they must be naturalized Ezo."
The feud between the Wa people and the Ezo has a long history, dating back thousands of years.
As early as a thousand years ago, a protracted war broke out between the Wa people and the Ezo.
The de facto highest authority in Japan today, the ruler of the shogunate - the shogun, whose full name is Seii Taishogun.
A thousand years ago, the Shogun was just an ordinary military officer's title.
The "Yi" in "Seibi Taishogun" refers to Ezo. "Seibi Taishogun" is the name of an official position specially established to fight against Ezo.
Until later, the emperor's power was seized by a samurai named Minamoto no Yoritomo. After the emperor's power was hollowed out, Minamoto no Yoritomo established another government in the Kamakura area - the first shogunate in Japanese history: the Kamakura shogunate.
When the first shogunate in Japanese history was established, Minamoto no Yoritomo's official title was "Shogun".
Since then, the title of "Shogun" has been passed down. The Muromachi shogunate after the Kamakura shogunate and the current Edo shogunate have all inherited this title.
"Shogun" thus changed from an ordinary official title to the official title of the highest ruler of the shogunate for hundreds of years.
Thousands of years ago, the Ezo had a very wide sphere of influence. The Ou, Hokuriku, Kanto and other regions of Japan's Honshu Island were once the Ezo's territory.
However, because the Ezo people had always been in a primitive tribal civilization, they were no match for the Japanese army.
So the Ezo people were driven all the way northward, completely driven out of the island of Honshu, and all the way to the present-day Ezo.
Over the past thousands of years, there have been Ainu people who have either actively or passively assimilated into the Japanese people.
The sight of the three people wearing kimonos just now made Atachi naturally wonder whether they were the naturalized Ezo.
"If those three guys were naturalized Ezo people... then the bows they used just now should be Ezo bows..." Atachi muttered, "What a dangerous group of bandits... They even have bows and arrows..."
Ogata nodded in agreement, expressing his agreement with what Atachi had just said.
Although Ogata just killed the three bandits easily, it was only because he was too strong.
If it wasn't Ogata and his friends who were robbed today, but someone else with average skills who was robbed, then it might be the person being robbed who would have died.
Before the emergence of firearms, bows and crossbows were undoubtedly the king of weapons.
Because it is a peaceful era now, Ogata has rarely seen bows and arrows before.
Ordinary samurai and civilian families did not have bows and arrows at home, and no one would carry a bow and arrow with them.
Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived in Ezo, we were attacked with bows and arrows for the first time in a long time.
Just as Ogata and Atachi were still whispering about the three bandits they had just encountered, they suddenly saw six people dressed as officials walking towards them.
These six officers were dressed in very standard "officer attire" - equipped with all the arresting tools such as jutsu and sashimata.
This group of officers walked in the middle of the street with their heads held high and their chests puffed out.
Passersby on the street stepped aside to allow the officers to pass through.
Ogata and Atachi were not on the route that the officials had to take, so there was no need for them to give way.
As he passed by this group of officials, Ogata turned his head and looked at them.
When looking at this group of officials, Ogata's brows were furrowed.
"...A-Ming." Ogata whispered to A-Ming beside him, "Don't you think there are too many officials here?"
Ogata also just discovered it.
From leaving the port and entering the city until now, Ogata has seen many waves of officers either standing guard or patrolling.
Such a number of officials seems to be too many.
Before Ogata was in Edo, he had never seen such a high density of officials deployed.
Hearing Ogata's words, Atachi recalled the scenes since landing: "It seems so... There seem to be too many officials here... Did something happen?"
"…Forget it. Let's not worry about it for now." Ogata said softly, "Let's go."
…
…
Not long after Ogata killed the three guys who were about to kill them with bows and arrows and quickly left the alley, a long-time resident passed through the alley in order to take a shortcut home.
Then, the three bodies on the ground were naturally discovered.
He was so frightened that he quickly ran out of the alley, then looked for an official to report the discovery of the body.
Soon, four police officers carrying arrest equipment rushed to the alley.
The four officers, who had originally had serious expressions, froze when they entered the alley and saw the faces of the three corpses. Then the seriousness disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What?" One of the four officers curled his lips. "So the dead person was Ezo... I instantly lost the motivation to investigate the case. What's so good about investigating Ezo's case?"
"They are wearing kimonos," said another person, "and their faces seem to be familiar to me. They appear to be naturalized Ezo."
"That's right." Another person said, "No matter whether they are naturalized or not, the Ezo is the Ezo. Look, they all have bows and arrows. They look like a bunch of beasts who intend to kill people and rob them of their money."
"Stop talking." The leader of the four officers said, "Anyway, let's get someone to bring straw mats over to collect the bodies of these guys. Even though the dead are just Ezo, we still have to do what we should do."
…
…
This time, there were no more surprises.
Ogata and Atachi successfully arrived at the inn they had heard about from a passerby.
After asking about the price and confirming that it was a reasonable price, Xu Fang booked a large room that was big enough for two people.
It was already past 4 o'clock in the afternoon when they landed.
The two were now in Matsumae Castle, which was further north than the Ou region. In such a severe winter, the sky darkened even faster.
After finding the hotel, opening the room, putting away the luggage, and packing up everything, it was already starting to get dark.
Looking at the darkening sky, Ogata quickly made his next plan - first find a restaurant to have dinner, then go straight back to the hotel after dinner and go to bed early to rest tonight.
They spent most of the day drifting on the sea.
Ogata was fine, but Atachi, who was prone to seasickness, was not so lucky.
From the time she landed until now, Ating's face was still pale, which showed that she was still suffering from the aftereffects of seasickness.
The two of them randomly found a restaurant that looked quite grand and was quite close to the hotel where they were staying.
After entering, he saw a young waiter from the store approaching Ogata with a warm smile.
On one wall of the restaurant hangs a large menu that lists all the food sold in the restaurant.
After being led by the waiter and sitting down at an empty table, Oobe asked Atachi:
"Is there anything you want to eat?"
Ogata left the decision to Atachi.
In order to take care of those who cannot read Chinese characters, the menu hanging on the wall of this restaurant only uses kana.
So even A-Machi can understand all the dishes on the menu.
After taking a look at the menu hanging on the wall, Ah-Ming pointed at one of the dishes written on it and asked:
"What is this 'crab pot'?"
"Crab pot is a must-try specialty here!"
The waiter introduced them to Ogata and Atachi in a heavily accented tone.
"The crabs from our Matsumae domain are bigger and more delicious than those from other places!"
"Cooking crabs with mushrooms, greens and other vegetables together makes a 'crab pot', which is perfect for eating in this cold winter."
"Just one bite will warm you up!"
The waiter seemed to recognize Ogata and Atachi as outsiders, so he kept emphasizing that this crab pot was a specialty of their Matsumae domain.
And he successfully aroused Ating's interest.
After learning that this crab hotpot was a local specialty of the Matsumae domain, he turned his head and cast an inquiring look at Ogata.
Ogata didn't care what he ate, and when Atachi gave him a questioning look, he immediately nodded.
"Then let's have a crab pot!" said Ating.
"Okay! How many crabs do you want?"
"How big is one of your crabs?" Ating asked back.
The guy raised his hands and gestured: "They are basically this big."
"Are the crabs here this big?" A-Ming asked with some surprise, "Well... let's have four first. And two bowls of white rice."
"Okay! Do you need any drinks?"
"Would you like to drink?" Atachi asked Ogata.
"Okay." Ogata said cheerfully, "Drink a little."
"Then bring two bottles of wine over." Ating turned his gaze back to the waiter.
"No problem! Please wait! The drinks and food will be served soon!"
The waiter quickly left Ogata and Atachi's sight and ran to the kitchen.
In order to kill the boring time waiting for the dishes to be served, Ogata turned his head and looked around the restaurant.
The interior layout of this restaurant is that of an ordinary Japanese-style building, without any exotic touches.
As he glanced around, Ogata suddenly found something on a wall that he couldn't ignore.
"...A-Machi, look there." Ogata stretched out his finger and pointed at the wall.
Looking in the direction pointed by Ogata, Ating raised her pretty eyebrows and said, "Wanted order..."
On one of the walls of this restaurant, there are dozens of wanted posters.
The most conspicuous one in the middle of the dozen wanted posters was Ogata's wanted poster.
Wanted posters were posted on the walls of the restaurant - this was not uncommon.
The government often forces restaurant owners to post wanted posters in their stores so that enough people can pay attention to these wanted criminals on the run.
After taking a look at the dozens of wanted posters posted on the wall, Ah-Machi asked Ogata, "They are just wanted posters. What's so interesting about them?"
"Look at the wanted poster for the executioner Ittosai in the middle. Look at his bounty."
"The executioner Ittosai?" Atachi showed a puzzled expression and turned his gaze to the wall again.
Just now, Ating just took a quick glance, so he didn't look closely at the number written on the wanted poster.
This time, after focusing on the number written on the wanted poster, a look of deep surprise appeared on Ating's face.
"Huh? Why did the bounty increase..." Ating murmured.
Ogata didn't have Alzheimer's yet, so he remembered it very clearly - more than a month ago, when he saw his wanted poster from Hizaka, the bounty written on the poster was 500 taels of gold.
But now, the reward written on the wanted poster posted on the wall of this restaurant has increased.
It became 800 taels of gold.
Ogata feels very confused now.
He didn't understand why his bounty had suddenly increased again.
At this moment, a waiter from this famous restaurant happened to pass by Ogata, so Ogata quickly called him.
"Excuse me, I would like to ask a question."
Ogata raised his hand and pointed at his wanted poster posted on the wall.
"What's up with that wanted poster for Executioner Itosai? I remember the bounty for Executioner Itosai was 500 taels of gold, right? How come it's 800 taels of gold now?"
"Ah, that. Sorry, Samurai-sama, I'm not sure." The waiter smiled bitterly, "The bounty for the executioner Ittosai was indeed 500 taels of gold."
"But just four days ago, someone from the government suddenly came to our door and asked us to post a new wanted notice."
"Among those new wanted posters, there just happened to be a new wanted poster with a bounty of 800 taels of gold for Itdaosai."
"Oh... Thank you." Ogata thanked the waiter and let him go.
After the guy left, Ogata looked at the wanted poster on the wall again.
The wanted poster on the wall was indeed brand new. The paper was white and clean, and you could tell at a glance that it was newly made.
"Master Warrior, there is no need to be confused!"
At this moment, a strange voice sounded beside him and Ating:
Ogata turned his head and looked at the owner of the voice.
The owner of this voice is a middle-aged or elderly person who is probably over 40 years old.
The most noticeable physical feature of this middle-aged man is probably his shiny bald head.
The bald man was sitting at the table next to Ogata and Atachi, and there were six middle-aged people of similar age sitting at the same table with him.
None of them carried swords, which showed that they were just a group of ordinary townspeople1.
The bald man's face is now as red as a monkey's butt. He must have drunk a lot of alcohol. Even from a distance, one can smell the alcohol on them.
"I heard that the reason why the bounty for Executioner Itosai increased is because a certain big shot disliked Executioner Itosai very much."
"Big shot?" Xu Fang asked back with a puzzled look.
"Yes. As for which big shot, I don't know, after all, I just heard it from hearsay. That big shot didn't like the executioner Itosai very much. After learning that the bounty for the executioner Itosai was only 500 taels of gold, he demanded that the bounty for the executioner Itosai be increased to the current 800 taels of gold."
Hearing this, Ogata couldn't help but cast a complicated look at the wanted poster on the wall.
I clearly didn't do anything, but the bounty inexplicably increased by 300 taels...
——Whatever…
Ogata thought to himself.
——Anyway, whether the bounty is 500 taels or 800 taels, it doesn’t matter to me.
Don't worry if you have too many debts, and don't feel itchy if you have too many lice - this is Ogata's current situation.
Ogata is now more concerned about which big shot dislikes him and thus increases his bounty by another 300 taels.
"Look carefully, I haven't seen your faces before." The bald man looked at Ogata and Atachi with curiosity, "Are you from other places?"
"Yeah." Ogata just nodded in response to the bald man's question.
You can tell from his and Ating's accents that they are not locals.
The accent of the Matsumae domain is somewhat similar to the accent of the Tohoku region.
Ogata and his companions had neither the need nor the ability to conceal their identities as outsiders.
"Hahahaha! Welcome to Matsumae!" After laughing, the bald man said enthusiastically to Ogata and Atachi, "Although our place is small, there are a lot of delicious food and fun things to do!"
"Yeah." Ogata responded with a smile, "If we have time, we will have a good time here in Matsumae."
The bald man picked up a wine bottle, took a big sip into his mouth, and then put on a serious expression and tone.
"Mr. Warrior, you are from outside. As a local, I want to give you a warning."
"In Matsumae, remember to be careful of Ezo."
"Especially those naturalized Ezo."
"You may not have seen what Ezo looks like yet."
"The faces of the Ezo people are easy to recognize. They generally have a lot of hair on their faces, and their eyes, noses, and mouths are different from ours."
"You can tell who is an Ezo and who is a good person just by looking at them."
"I don't deny that there are some law-abiding people among the naturalized Ezo people."
"But most of the naturalized Ezo are bastards!"
At the end of his words, the bald man seemed to recall some very bad memories. There was obvious anger in his tone and his face was full of anger.
Listening to what the bald man said just now, Ogata couldn't help but recall the three guys he encountered not long after landing today, who pointed bows and arrows at him and Ating and intended to kill them directly.
Perhaps it was because he drank a lot of alcohol, the bald man was a little excited.
He did not try to conceal the volume of his words just now. Every word the bald man said just now could be heard clearly by everyone in the restaurant.
However, no one scolded the bald man or complained that he was too noisy.
Instead, they responded one by one.
"That's right! Most of the naturalized Ezo people are just a bunch of bastards!"
"They do all kinds of bad things!"
"A few days ago, a few naturalized Ezo people stole money from my shop!"
"We should not have allowed the Ainu to be naturalized from the beginning! Even if a bunch of barbarians wear our clothes, they are still just a bunch of barbarians!"
"Mr. Samurai! You must pay special attention to the Ezo! Whether they are naturalized or not, you must pay attention to them! Whether they wear our clothes or not, they are just a bunch of rude barbarians who don't know etiquette and morality!"
…
Ogata and Atachi looked around in astonishment.
They were not familiar with Ezo and were very surprised by the scene.
The Ezo and the Wa people are completely different races and civilizations.
There will definitely be friction between the two civilizations. In addition, the conflict and bloody war between the Ezo and the Wa people have lasted for thousands of years.
Therefore, Ogata guessed that the common people of Matsumae domain would definitely not welcome the Ezo.
However, Ogata did not expect that the common people of Matsumae Domain had such deep resentment towards Ezo. They directly denounced Ezo in the restaurant.
The bald man seemed to notice the surprise on Ogata and Atachi's faces.
After taking another big gulp of wine, he told Ogata and O-Machi the story:
"Master Samurai, you must be wondering why we have such a grudge against the Ezo, especially the naturalized Ezo?"
"It all started from the time of the 'former elder council member' Tanuma Okitsugu."
"When the 'former elder councilor' Tanuma Okitsugu was in office, he had already proposed a plan to develop the Ezo region."
"His development plan was quite effective. By the time he stepped down, our Matsumae domain had more than a million mu of farmland."
"But the strategy Tanuma devised to deal with the Ezo people in Ezo is disgusting."
"Tanuma's strategy for dealing with the Ezo was to appease the Ezo people first and suppress them secondarily."
"Strive to appease the Ezo people and establish friendly relations with as many Ezo settlements as possible."
"At the same time, we welcome the integration of the Ezo people into our community and let them become naturalized as our own people."
"So since then, the number of naturalized Ezo people in various parts of our Matsumae domain has increased."
"Tanuma's strategy for dealing with Ezo is just nonsense!"
"The Ezo people are just a bunch of barbarians. There is no value in converting them to naturalization!"
"Even if they put on our clothes, it won't change their barbaric nature!"
"As expected! Ever since the number of naturalized Ainu increased in the city, the public security situation has immediately deteriorated!"
"They do all kinds of bad things. Of the 10 cases in Matsumae Castle, at least 6 are related to Ezo!"
As soon as the bald man finished speaking, responses came one after another from all over the restaurant.
"My Lord Samurai, you must be careful of those naturalized Ezo."
"Now those Ainu have learned their lesson and know how to rip off outsiders."
"The Ezo people all live a life of fishing and hunting, so they are very good at using bows and arrows."
"In order to more easily rob people of their wealth, some Ezo people used their most proficient bows and arrows to kill people and rob them of their wealth."
Hearing this, Ogata recalled the three guys he encountered today who shot him and Atachi with bows and arrows without any explanation.
"Yeah." Ogata nodded gently and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your reminder. We will pay attention to it next time."