I don’t know if it was because the bear’s skin was too thick, or because Ogata’s Kasumagami was not powerful enough - or maybe both, but after being hit by four bullets from Kasumagami, the giant bear was still able to attack Ogata.
After all, Kasumagami is just a pistol. In terms of power or firing rate, it cannot compare with modern firearms, let alone those hunting rifles.
The giant bear was about a hundred meters away from Ogata.
In just a little more than a breath, the bear covered the distance.
Its target is clear - it is Ogata.
It just rushed straight towards Ogata.
Only after the giant bear came closer did Ogata intuitively feel that this bear was really big!
When he encountered it during the day today, it did not give Ogata much of a sense of oppression because it was relatively far away.
Now that it was closer, Ogata felt deeply how strong the sense of oppression a bear of this size brought to people.
It was a whole circle larger than the female bear we encountered today.
If he stood up, he would be at least 3.2 meters tall.
The heavy sound of footsteps on the ground, the sharp sound of breaking wind, and such a huge size - Ogata felt that the weight of this bear should be no less than half a ton.
“Aa ...
After rushing to the position where his paw could hit Ogata, the giant bear roared and swung his huge paw with sharp claws towards Ogata.
However, just as it raised its paw, Ogata jumped from the side and escaped from the giant bear.
The four bullets that Ogata just fired did have some effect.
In terms of speed, it was much slower than the uninjured mother bear that Ogata and his friends encountered during the day.
Although the giant bear was targeting Ogata, A-Ming and Aiyaka quickly jumped to the side with Ogata to distance themselves from the giant bear.
Ogata and Atachi jumped to a short distance to the right side of the giant bear.
Ayaka jumped to a short distance to the left side of the giant bear.
Although bears are far superior to humans in terms of strength, speed, and reaction speed.
But humans have human pride!
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The pride of mankind is the ability to use various tools skillfully.
Four more gunshots rang out.
The four gunshots this time came from the cherry blossoms in Atachi.
Ogata and the others took turns showing the bear the pride of humanity.
After following Ogata and jumping to a place not far to the right side of the giant bear, Atachi raised her Suying gun and fired all the bullets in the Suying gun's chamber at the right side of the giant bear's abdomen in one breath.
Unlike Ogata, whose shooting talent and shooting level are almost zero, Atachi is a sharpshooter who has excellent shooting talent since childhood.
A-Machi was not like Ogata just now, who was unable to shoot accurately and just shot at the bear's flank.
Instead, he narrowed one eye and, using the moonlight, pointed the gun at the giant bear.
Her target was the bear's neck.
A-Machi knew almost nothing about bear hunting. The only knowledge she had about bear hunting was what Ogata had told her: "Don't attack the bear's head." She had no idea where the bear's weak points were.
Although he didn't know where the bear's weak spot was, A-Ming guessed that since it was an animal, there should be no animal that was not afraid of having its neck attacked.
A-Ming is no longer the same as during the day.
Now, because she already has experience fighting bears, she no longer feels panicked or nervous when facing a bear again.
Today, due to lack of experience in fighting bears and the fact that the bear attacked by surprise, Ating was unable to aim and shoot calmly.
For Ating, who is good at shooting, shooting the bear's neck at such a close distance is just a piece of cake.
Almost at the same time as Ating, Ayaka also showed the bear human pride.
Ayaka jumped to the left side of the bear, raised his bow and arrow, and pointed the arrow at the left side of the bear's abdomen. The arrow head was shining with a strange light.
Raising the gun, aiming, pulling the trigger - all of the above actions took Ating less than 1 second from beginning to end.
Ayaka did the same thing - raising the bow, pulling the string, and releasing the string. From beginning to end, it took less than 1 second.
Su Ying's four bullets all penetrated the giant bear's neck.
The arrow shot by Ayaka also penetrated deeply into the flesh of the giant bear's left abdomen.
“Woo…”
The bear no longer made the terrifying roar as before, but instead made a low "wooo" sound - it probably didn't have the strength to roar anymore.
"He's been hit by my poison arrow!" Ayaka shouted to Ogata and Ating on the other side, "It won't be long before he dies!"
Although the power of Motoya and Kasumi is not as strong as modern firearms, but after being hit by 8 bullets in a row, 4 of which hit the neck. No matter how strong and ferocious the bear was, it could not continue to be alive and well.
What's more, he was hit by a poisoned arrow.
However - even though it was covered in wounds, the bear still stood firm, staggering towards Ogata step by step.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh——!”
The bear used up its last bit of strength, roared at Ogata, raised its paw again, and swung it down.
This time, Ogata did not jump away as far as he did before.
The bear was now slow enough that even Ating could easily dodge it.
Faced with the bear's paw, which had little strength and speed left, Ogata used a Dragon Tail move that he hadn't used for a long time - Dragon Tail·Dodge.
Ogata used his left foot as the axis and dodged the bear's paw by spinning, accumulating strength while spinning. When he spun a circle and faced the giant bear again, he quickly drew his sword and made a sharp horizontal slash at the bear.
Under the influence of moonlight, the cold blade flashed towards the neck of the giant bear.
Although the giant bear's fur is thick, it is no different from thin paper in the face of Daishikten, whose hair can be cut by a blow, and in the face of Ogata's swordsmanship.
Ogata felt a completely different feeling than when he killed someone.
Compared to human skin and flesh, bear skin and flesh are thicker and tougher.
A large amount of bear blood was splashed out by Ogata.
With just one strike, Ogata left a deep wound on the giant bear's neck that was so deep that the bone was visible.
“Woo woo…”
The giant bear struggled, trying to stand firm.
But Ogata's knife just now was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.
After shaking its body a few times, the giant bear fell heavily to the ground, stirring up a large amount of snowflakes on the ground.
In the face of human pride, the bear's strength and speed are nothing.
"Amazing..." Ayaka stared at Ogata blankly, "That knife move you made just now was really powerful..."
Although Ayaka did not know swordsmanship, and knew nothing about swordsmanship with others, as a hunter who had been associated with blood and death for many years, he instinctively felt that Ogata's previous blow was extremely powerful, accurate and hateful.
"Mashima, I didn't expect your swordsmanship to be so impressive."
"I once learned a little swordsmanship in Izumo. It's just a small advantage that is not worth mentioning." Ogata smiled as he wiped the blood and fat off the Daishikuten and put it back into the sheath.
When Ogata heard Ayaka's praise for him, for some reason he thought of Mamiya, whom he hadn't seen for a while.
So he subconsciously blurted out what Mamiya said most often.
Ayaka walked quickly to the dead bear and checked its condition.
"Yeah. It's dead." After saying that, Ayaka turned his head and looked at the two Ezo who were just attacked by the bear and were still lying on the ground wailing. "I'll go check on them."
"I recognize those two people. They seem to be hunters from Hege Village."
Ogata followed Ayaka and ran towards the two Ezo.
The two Ezos were very young, and looked no older than 25 years old.
One of them had an injured left arm, and his entire arm was covered in blood. He held his injured left arm, rolling on the ground and wailing.
The other person's injuries were more serious. He seemed to be injured in the chest, and the blood flowing from the wound dyed his clothes red.
The Ezo with a wounded chest was the one who was just crushed by the giant bear.
If Ogata and the others had not arrived in time, this man would probably have been mauled to death by the giant bear.
Ayaka was the first to check on the more seriously injured man.
Aiyaka: "￥%&*#@!￥%@#!%*&#￥! (Ezo language)"
The more seriously injured Ezo: "I'm fine. (Ezo language)"
Ayaka just spoke a lot of Yamato language - Ogata couldn't understand it at all.
But Ogata understood the response of the Ezo who was more seriously injured - he said he was fine.
The reason why Ogata could understand what this Aizo said was because he and Atachi had been studying the common Aizo expressions from the "Guide to Common Aizo Expressions".
The phrase "It doesn't matter" was taught in the "Guide to Common Ezo Phrases", and Ogata happened to have learned this phrase.
Since the Ezo said it was okay for him, Ogata guessed that Ayaka was just asking the Ezo whether it was okay or not.
Ayaka tore open the clothes on the Ezo's chest and checked his injuries.
When Ayaka checked his injuries, the Aizo said "thank you" to Ayaka in Aizo language.
Then he turned his head and looked at Ogata who was standing next to Aiyaka.
He first looked at Ogata with a surprised look, then said in the Ainu language:
"Thank you... (Ezo)"
"He said 'thank you,' " Ayaka translated for him.
Ayaka didn't actually need to translate for Ogata, as Ogata understood the thank you that the Ezo just said.
The word "thank you" is a word that is used very frequently in all ethnic groups. The word "thank you" is taught on the first page of the "Common Teaching Guide for Ainu Language".
"Aiyaka, please help me translate." Ogata said softly, "'You're welcome, I just did some small things within my ability.'"
…
…
Ogata himself is also a person who has been wounded countless times.
Since he traveled to the Edo period, he had suffered so many injuries that he himself couldn't even count them.
Because he has been injured so many times, Ogata has now developed some ability to see wounds.
According to Ogata's observation, the wounds on these two people were not serious.
The man with the injured left arm had no other major injuries on his body.
The man with the chest injury suffered a chest injury, but fortunately the wound was not deep and no arteries were damaged.
These two people are lucky.
Especially the man with chest injury, who was crushed by the bear, but only suffered such a minor injury. It would be an understatement to say that it was a blessing in disguise.
After taking a quick look at their injuries, Ayaka turned to Ogata and said:
"Mashima, can you help me? Help me move these two to the hunting lodge we were staying in. Although their injuries are not fatal, it is better to deal with them quickly."
"Let's save that bear for later and deal with it slowly."
…
…
Ayaka carried the Ezo who was injured in the chest, while Ogata carried the Ezo who was injured in the arm.
The two men carried the two injured men back to the hunting lodge where they had just lived.
Ayaka carried with him herbs that could heal wounds and clean cloths for bandaging them.
According to Ayaka, this herb has anti-inflammatory properties and prevents wounds from festering.
After chewing the herbs with his teeth, Ayaka applied the chewed paste to the wounds of the two men.
While treating the two men's injuries, Ayaka asked them how they had encountered the man-eating bear just now.
The man with the chest injury was not suitable to speak much, so Ayaka asked the man with the left arm injury to explain.
The man with the injured left arm did not speak Japanese, so after he told them about their experience in Aizo, Ayaka had to translate it for them.
It turns out that these two people are villagers from Hege Village.
The man with the chest wound was named "Nusa".
The man with the injured left arm was named "Naikushi".
Hege Village was one of the settlements that responded and sent people to hunt down the pair of man-eating giant bears after they appeared.
Like Ayaka, these two men came to hunt the pair of man-eating bears.
Just now, the two of them were passing by nearby, looking for a suitable place to stay overnight.
Then they were ambushed by the man-eating male bear.
The two were walking on the snow when the man-eating male bear suddenly jumped out from the darkness and attacked them.
The two lacked hunting experience, and the man-eating male bear was very cunning and good at hiding, so they had been unable to catch the man-eating male bear hiding in the dark.
Although they did not discover the man-eating male bear in time, they .
Their instinctive avoidance saved their lives.
Naikushi's left arm was scratched by the bear's claws, while Nusa's chest was scratched by the bear's claws - but because they dodged, neither of them was seriously injured.
After being scratched by the bear's paw, they not only survived but also were not seriously injured - the two of them were really lucky.
After listening to Ayaka's translation quietly, Ogata smiled wryly and asked Ayaka:
"That man-eating male bear happens to be near us... Could it be that it really intends to seek revenge on us?"
“It’s possible.” Ayaka followed Ogata’s lead and nodded with a wry smile, “Otherwise, it’s hard to explain why it happened to be so close to us.”
"Mashima, it seems that what you just said was right. It really came back tonight and intends to seek revenge on us."
"I really wish I could get what I say in other areas..." Ogata sighed in a half-joking tone.
…
…
After giving medicine to Naikushi and Nusa, they fell into a deep sleep due to fatigue and injuries.
After the two fell asleep, Aiyaka, who had finished his work, let out a long sigh, and then asked Ogata and Atachi in a voice that would not disturb the two people who were already asleep:
"What weapons did you use to attack that man-eating bear? A short gun?"
It was clear from the sound that the weapons Ayaka was referring to were Suying and Kasumi.
"Yes." Atachi answered before Ogata, "Yes, it is a short gun."
"It's amazing ... You can actually fire so many rounds in a row."
"The Lucia people's short guns can only fire one shot."
"Oh?" A Ting's eyes showed interest. "Have you seen the Lucia people's short guns?"
"Yes, I have. Not long ago, a group of Lucia people stayed in our village for a while."
"It was at that time that I saw the short guns used by the Lucia people."
"In addition to short guns, they also have very long guns."
"But no matter whether their short guns or long guns, they can only fire one shot."
"It can't fire as many rounds in a row as the short guns you use."
"If your short guns were more powerful, there would be no animals in the entire forest that could be your opponents."
After praising Su Ying and Kasumi, Aiyaka adjusted his sitting position and continued talking.
This time, Ayaka's tone was filled with emotion.
"The matter of the man-eating bear has finally come to an end..."
"What good luck..."
"I thought that even if I followed you, it would take several days before I could hope to kill the man-eating bear."
"I didn't expect that things would be settled so quickly."
"This way, we can also comfort the souls of the nine compatriots who were unfortunately killed by the man-eating bears."
"9 people?" Ating at the side let out a low cry of surprise.
"Yes. That's right. This is just the number we have found so far. The number of people eaten by this pair of man-eating bears must be far more than this."
"The first time we spotted this pair of man-eating bears was half a month ago."
"The man-eating bears broke into the village next door to where I live in the middle of the night."
"They smashed the wall of the house and took away a mother and daughter. Then they quickly fled from the village."
"Once a bear eats human flesh, it will only eat human flesh for the rest of its life."
"Although according to our Ainu traditional belief, the reason why the bear cannot eat anything other than human flesh for the rest of its life after eating human flesh is because it is punished by the gods."
“I was forbidden to eat delicious foods like wild fruits and fish.”
“I don’t really believe in this.”
"In my opinion, the reason why bears eat human flesh and only eat human flesh for the rest of their lives is simply because they find humans tastier."
"And they found that humans are quite vulnerable and easy to hunt."
"Without weapons, no matter how strong a person is, he can't beat a bear."
"I guess this pair of man-eating bears must have migrated here from quite far away."
"After the mother and daughter were taken away, the man-eating bears first appeared in our area, and soon other victims appeared in other villages."
"Since the pair of man-eating bears first appeared in our area, they have eaten a total of nine people."
"The youngest among them is only 9 years old."
At this point, Ayaka sighed heavily.
"Now that the pair of man-eating bears have been dealt with, the people in the village can finally sleep peacefully."
As soon as Aiyaka finished speaking, Ating immediately asked:
"I'm very curious. Don't bears hibernate in winter? Why can those two man-eating bears walk so brazenly in the snow?"
“This is a common misconception that many people have.” Iyaka smiled wryly and shook his head. “Not all bears hibernate.”
"Bears hibernate because there is little food to be found in the winter, so there is a lack of food."
"In order to survive the winter, they hide in their nests and enter a state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness, which is commonly known as 'hibernation'."
"That is to say, bears will not hibernate if there is enough food."
"That's why I think the bears started eating people very early."
Ayaka's tone gradually became lower.
As his voice became deeper, his intonation also became weird.
"There's delicious food everywhere, how could they hibernate well in their nests?"
Ating shrank his neck.
Ogata couldn't help but feel creepy.
What Ayaka just said is really terrifying when you think about it carefully.
After sighing once more, Aiyaka bowed his head to Ogata and A-Machi, and thanked them solemnly:
"Thank you for your help. Thanks to you, we were able to hunt down the pair of Unkamuyi so quickly."
"You're welcome." Ogata returned the greeting, "We haven't done anything extraordinary."
"I will keep my promise." Ayaka smiled, "I will take you to my village tomorrow."
"I will do my best to assist you in finding the two people you are looking for."
Ogata: "Thank you. I'll trouble you starting tomorrow."
"My village is not far from here. If I walk, it will take about two and a half days."
"Now I will help you deal with that man-eating male bear."
After saying this, Ayaka drew out his short knife.
"You also hunted that man-eating male bear, so everything about it belongs to you. Which part of it do you want? I will get it for you now."
"You also participated in the hunting of that bear." Ogata said, "Let's divide the bear equally."
Ayaka smiled and shook his head:
"Although I joined you in attacking the man-eating male bear, I didn't actually contribute much."
"I only shot one arrow at the man-eating bear from beginning to end."
"The poison on the arrowhead hasn't taken effect yet, and you killed it."
"So you guys killed that bear."
"The hunting rules of our Ainu people are that whoever kills the prey owns it."
"So I can't take anything from that man-eating giant bear just now."
Seeing that Ayaka insisted on not taking anything from the man-eating giant bear, Ogata stopped being pretentious.
"Then... thank you for your help. Just help us cut off the bear skin and gallbladder."
"You only want bear skin and bear gallbladder? Don't you need anything else? There are many good things on a bear."
"I know there are many good things on a bear." Ogata smiled helplessly, "But my wife and I don't have the energy to carry all the treasures on a bear."
"So we only take the most valuable bear skin and bear gall."
"I see... I understand." Ayaka nodded. "But as a hunter, I suggest that you take away the bear's skin and gallbladder from this man-eating male bear as well as its paws."
"Bear paw?" Ah Ting asked back, "Why?"
"Because bear paws are the tastiest part of a bear."
Ayaka smiled.
"The paws of the man-eating mother bear we encountered today were dry and not tasty. We Ainu people would never use them for entertaining guests. So I didn't suggest you take the paws of that man-eating mother bear."
"But this time the man-eating male bear is different."
"Its paw has a lot of meat, and it is considered a treasure among bear paws."
"It doesn't matter if you don't eat the paws of that man-eating mother bear. It's definitely not tasty anyway."
"But I think you really need to taste the paw of this man-eating male bear."
“Bear paws…” Ogata scratched his hair, “But my wife and I don’t know how to cook bear paw dishes.”
“It’s okay.” Ayaka waved his hand. “You are going to the village where I live, so you can bring the bear paw to the village where I live.”
"I'll ask my grandma to cook bear paws for you."
"My grandma is a good cook. The bear paws she cooks are tastier than anyone else's in the village."
Bear paws - Ogata had heard of many famous dishes related to bear paws in his previous life. He had heard in his previous life that bear paws tasted delicious.
Ogata, who was slightly moved, cast a questioning look at Atachi.
"What do you think? Do you want to eat bear meat and try Ainu cuisine? "
"Then... let's give it a try..." Ating, with a look of hesitation on his face, hesitated for a while and nodded gently.
As a traditional Japanese, Atachi's traditional ideas tell her that eating animal meat is completely unorthodox.
But Ating's curiosity about all kinds of food that she has never eaten told her that there is nothing wrong with giving it a try.
In the end – curiosity beats conventional wisdom.
…
…
The next morning, Ogata and his companions set out for Ayaka's village.
They took Naikushi and Nusa with them.
According to Ayaka, the injuries on both of them were quite serious and he only did some simple bandaging and they still needed further treatment.
Therefore, he planned to carry the two people back to his village first, and while they received further treatment in his village, he sent someone to their village to ask someone to come and pick them up.
The time Ogata and his team took was a little longer than Ayaka expected.
It was not until the afternoon of the third day that they finally arrived at the village where Ayaka lived.
"Look." Ayaka pointed to the village entrance not far away, "That's my village!"
After the village came into his sight, Ayaka became excited.
Before reaching the village entrance, a group of children discovered Ayaka and ran towards him quickly.
When these children saw Ayaka, they started chattering in a lot of Ainu language.
Ogata didn't understand.
But he noticed that Ayaka's expression changed.
"What's wrong?" Ogata asked.
"Nothing." Ayaka smiled helplessly, "It's just... a group of Lucia people came to our village... They are our old friends."