"None of them can speak our language."
Ayaka continued.
"Only their red-haired boss and their second-in-command, Vasili, can speak your and human languages."
“So when we communicate with them, we use Japanese.”
"I am one of the people who speaks Japanese best in our village."
"So it's basically me who comes forward to talk to them."
"After a while, I became familiar with them."
Ayaka's grandmother: "￥#@%&*￥@#%. (Ezo)"
Just then, Ayaka's grandmother suddenly spoke.
Before Ogata could ask Ayaka what his grandmother was talking about, Ayaka took the initiative to translate for Ogata:
"My grandma said: The bear paws are cooked. They are ready to eat."
Two bear paws were floating in the soup in the pot.
The pot that Ayaka's grandmother used to cook bear paws was actually Ogata and Atachi's pot.
Before leaving Edo, the two of them bought a small pot in Edo that was convenient for carrying when traveling.
When they couldn't find a hotel and had to sleep outdoors, Ogata and his friends would occasionally use this small pot to cook miso soup or heat up the dry food they brought with them to make it taste better.
Although the peeled and cooked bear paw does look very much like a human foot and is a bit creepy, it does smell very fragrant.
In addition to this small pot, Ogata and his companions also carried a set of bowls and chopsticks with them.
Their bowls and chopsticks are made of bamboo so that they are not easily broken.
Ogata and Omachi took out their bowls and each scooped a bear paw into the bowls they carried with them.
In his previous life, Ogata had only eaten meat from livestock such as pork, cows, and sheep.
This was the first time he had seen and eaten bear meat.
Not to mention Atachi.
She has never even eaten livestock such as pigs, cows and sheep.
Seeing meat other than fish for the first time, Ating put the bear paw to his nose and sniffed it hard like a dog.
In terms of smell, this bear paw is absolutely impeccable and it smells really good.
Ogata picked up the bear's paw with chopsticks, put it in front of his mouth, tore off a piece of bear meat with his teeth, and then held it in his mouth and chewed it carefully.
The moment the bear meat entered his mouth, a look of joy flashed in Ogata's eyes.
Just use your teeth to bite open the bear meat, and the rich flavor will spread from the tip of your tongue to your entire mouth.
The taste of bear meat is quite different from that of domestic animals such as pork, beef and lamb.
I don’t know if it’s because of the unique cooking method of Ayaka’s grandmother, or the taste of bear meat itself, but the bear meat is very chewy in my mouth.
What surprised Ogata the most was that the bear meat did not taste any fishy smell.
Atachi and Ogata bit off a piece of bear meat almost at the same time.
Then he showed an expression similar to Ogata's, with a gleam of surprise in his eyes.
Based on Ating's reaction, it is not difficult to see that Ating is also very satisfied with the bear meat in the bowl.
Seeing the expressions on Ogata and Atachi's faces, Aiyaka smiled happily.
"How is it? Am I right? The bear paw cooked by my grandma tastes very good, right?"
"Your grandmother's cooking skills are amazing," Ogata said, "The bear paws don't even have a fishy smell."
“Because my grandmother put pukusakina in it, it can enhance the flavor of the meat and remove the fishy smell.”
"Pukusakina?" A-Ting asked in confusion, "What does this mean?"
"Pukusakina means goosefoot in Japanese... I remember it."
"We Ainu people like to use pukusakina to remove the fishy smell from meat, but my grandmother is very good at controlling the amount of pukusakina she uses. She doesn't put too much, and she doesn't put too little."
“So all the meat dishes my grandma cooked were very delicious.”
After listening to Aiyaka's explanation, Ating nodded slightly:
"I see... this bear paw is indeed delicious."
After saying that, Ating picked up the bear paw again and started chewing it attentively.
Just as Ogata was about to pick up the bear's paw with chopsticks again, he suddenly heard a subtle strange sound coming from the window of the house.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw four little heads poking out of the window, casting curious glances at Ogata and Atachi inside the house.
When the children from the four villages noticed that Ogata had discovered them, they immediately retracted their heads and hid under the windows.
At this time, Ayaka also discovered the four children lying outside the window.
"%￥#@@#￥@￥! (Ezo language)"
Ayaka yelled something in a bad mood, stood up quickly and rushed towards the door.
When he opened the door, he happened to see four children, who were probably only 5 or 6 years old, laughing and running away quickly from Ayaka's sight.
"Sorry, Majima. I made you laugh." Ayaka returned to his previous seat and said to Ogata with a wry smile, "They probably want to see what a warrior who killed two Unkammui in a row looks like."
Ogata naturally didn't take the children's playfulness too seriously. After smiling, he said:
"It seems that the story of my wife and I fighting a bear has spread throughout the village..."
"After all, our village is small," Ayaka shrugged. "There are only 124 people in our village. Any news will spread quickly."
After saying that, Ayaka turned his head and said something in Aizo to his wife who was sitting behind him.
When Ayaka graduated, his wife nodded, then got up and left the house.
After Ayaka's wife left, Ogata asked Ayaka:
"What is your wife doing?"
"I asked my wife to find the parents of the four kids who just climbed through our window." Ayaka smiled evilly. "Although those four bastards ran away quickly, I still saw their faces."
"Although I can understand their curiosity about the new guests in the village, it is very rude to pick someone's window anyway."
"It is necessary for their parents to discipline them properly."
"It looks like we might hear four children crying tonight," Ogata responded half-jokingly.
Ogata did not say anything to Ayaka like "this is too cruel."
Because he felt that what Ayaka did was right.
Although Ogata would not take things like "children climbing windows" seriously, climbing other people's windows is indeed a very impolite behavior and it is necessary to have the parents discipline their children.
"By the way, I've wanted to ask you since I entered your village." Ah-Ming put down the bear paw that she had chewed most of, "Why do most of the women in your village have tattoos around their lips?"
A-Ming stretched out her finger and drew a circle around her rosy lips.
"It's not just our village that's like this," Ayaka said. "All Ainu women will have a tattoo around their lips when they reach adulthood."
"It's our custom."
"The higher the status of the man, the bigger the tattoos his wife will have."
After saying this, Ayaka put on a proud tone.
"I am one of the best hunters in the village. I have hunted four Unkamuyi alone, so the tattoo on my wife's lip is bigger than that of all other women of the same age in the village."
"And my grandfather, who died of illness, was also an incredible warrior."
Ayaka put his arm around his grandmother who was sitting next to him.
"My grandfather started hunting when he was 12 years old. By the time he died, he had killed 79 bears alone. He also killed countless small animals such as deer and rabbits. He killed 14 in Wunkamuyi."
"So my grandma's face tattoo is the biggest."
The grandmother who was being hugged by Ayaka helplessly slapped away Ayaka's hand.
Then she turned her gaze to Ogata and Atachi and said something to them in Ainushi.
The two of them had studied the common Ainu expressions in the "Guide to Common Ainu Expressions", so they could barely understand some of the words in their grandmother's speech.
But the few words they understood were not enough for them to understand what grandma had just said.
So after grandma finished speaking, the two could only turn their eyes to Ayaka again to ask for help.
"Aiyaka, what did your grandma tell us?" Ogata asked.
"Nothing." Ayaka scratched his hair, "I just want to remind you not to go astray and look for gold."
"Yes. You should know this, right? Many speculators, dreaming of getting rich, come to us to look for gold."
"We Ainu hate these gold diggers the most."
Ayaka's tone became slightly more serious.
"These gold diggers will do anything to find gold."
"Destroying forests and polluting rivers."
"Some even thought that every Ainu village had hidden gold, so they attacked our Ainu villages."
"In the past, there weren't so many gold diggers."
"But ever since a severe famine broke out in your land many years ago, the number of gold diggers here has increased."
Ogata understood it immediately - the "famine" that Ayaka just mentioned should refer to the "dawn famine".
Why did more people come to Ezo to pan for gold after the "Tenmei Famine" broke out? The reason is not difficult to guess.
Once such a major disaster occurs that makes it difficult for many people to survive, the number of speculators is bound to increase sharply.
Ogata once again deeply felt the extent of the impact of the "Tenmei Famine", which even affected the Ezo region.
"The increase in the number of gold diggers has also led to an increase in the number of Unkamuyi."
"They are wreaking havoc in the forest without any rules, which naturally easily attracts the wrath of animals such as bears and wolves."
"So in recent years, the frequency of Wunkamuyi's appearance has also increased."
Having said that, Ayaka let out a long sigh with a helpless look on his face.
"I feel a little embarrassed..." Ating smiled awkwardly, "We and these scum among humans have been causing destruction on the land where you live..."
“Don’t say that.” Ayaka waved his hand hastily. “You are not gold diggers. You don’t have to feel ashamed for the behavior of those scum.”
"Besides—you and others are not the only ones among the gold thieves."
"Many of our Ainu compatriots also went to work as gold diggers."
The helplessness on Ayaka's face became even more intense.
"Gold is useless here, just like a stone."
"But in the land of the people, it is priceless."
"As a result, many of our compatriots have started to have crooked ideas."
"Go around and collect gold, then secretly trade with others."
"Some people even plan to take the gold they have mined and settle in the land of the people."
"So these opportunists with incorrect can be found in every nation."
"About a year ago, for some reason, a rumor suddenly spread that the legend of the 'Golden Falls' was true."
"This has led to a large number of crooked compatriots going around looking for waterfalls, causing many rivers to be severely damaged."
"Fortunately, this unhealthy trend is gradually disappearing now."
"'Golden Waterfall'?" Ogata raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"
Golden Falls - this term was the first time that Ogata and Atachi had heard of it.
"This is a legend that has been passed down among our Ainu people for a long time."
Ayaka said slowly.
"A long time ago, there was a wealthy village chief named 'Youkousi'. He owned a huge amount of gold passed down from his ancestors."
"And another village chief named 'Sazhili' has set his sights on Youkosi's gold and wants to take it for himself."
"One day, Kosi's daughter got married to another village."
"Most of the villagers in Yukosi's village went out to celebrate."
“There are only a few old people and children left in the village.”
"Sazhili saw this great opportunity and led his men into Yukosi's village, intending to rob Yukosi's gold."
"Fortunately, Kosi discovered Sazili's plan in time."
"To prevent the gold from being taken away, he fled into the mountains with the gold and buried it in a cave next to a waterfall."
"A few years later, Yu Kosi passed away. After Yu Kosi's death, no one knew where the huge amount of gold was buried."
"It is said that downstream of the waterfall where Kosi buried gold, you can see gold and gold sand being washed down from time to time."
"So everyone calls that waterfall the 'Golden Falls'."
"But this is just a legend."
"Until now, no one knows whether this thing really happened or whether there is such a waterfall with gold flowing down."
"More than a year ago, the rumor that 'Golden Falls really exists' spread inexplicably, and many people went looking for the waterfall everywhere, but they couldn't find the legendary 'Golden Falls'."
"So I think this legend is just a bluff."
Ayaka shrugged.
"It's probably just a story made up by someone who wants gold and wants to get rich quickly."
As soon as Aiyaka finished speaking, Ating continued:
"We have similar legends here."
"It is said that at the end of the Warring States Period 200 years ago, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified the country, was worried that his successor, Toyotomi Hideyori, would not be able to maintain his hegemony in the future."
"In order to prevent the Toyotomi family from being in a situation of being without money someday in the future, 450 million taels of gold were buried somewhere."
"The exact location is known only to his successor, Toyotomi Hideyori."
"After Toyotomi Hideyori died, the location of the gold was completely lost."
“I don’t know if this legend is true.”
"It would be fine if it was fake."
"If this is true, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi's gold was buried in vain."
Ating sneered.
"Toyotomi Hideyori never managed to dig out the gold, which led to his hegemony being taken away by Tokugawa Ieyasu."
"If this legend is true, and Toyotomi Hideyori dug out the 450 million taels of gold in time, there would probably be no Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the current Edo Shogunate would not have been established."
"It seems that no matter which nation it is, there are always legends related to treasures." Ayaka grinned, "It seems that the topic has gone a little far."
"In short, don't have any evil ideas and go out to pan for gold."
"We Ainu people are familiar with the tools used for panning for gold."
"If people find out that you are gold diggers, you will be in trouble."
"Our village is considered to be a more moderate one."
"When we find people coming to pan for gold, we will just ask them to leave immediately. If they refuse to listen to our advice, we will resort to force."
“But it’s different for people in other villages.”
"There are many villages that have zero tolerance for gold diggers."
"Many villagers would kill gold diggers without saying anything after discovering them."
Ayaka raised his hand and made a gesture of wiping his neck.
"So my grandma just did it for your own good, so that you wouldn't go astray and look for gold. It's very dangerous to pan for gold in this land."
"You must remember not to carry gold panning equipment with you."
"Once your compatriots who have zero tolerance for gold diggers discover that you are carrying gold-digging equipment..."
Ayaka raised his hand again and wiped his neck.
…
…
The next morning——
Overall, last night's dinner went very smoothly.
No one was absent and no unexpected situations occurred.
Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know what other people were thinking, but he had a great time last night.
He himself also relaxed for once.
Matsudaira Sadanobu was an extremely self-disciplined person.
No matter how much fun he had yesterday or how tired he was, he would definitely work hard the next day.
As soon as the sun came out, Matsudaira Sadanobu got up, washed, and started today's work.
The first order he issued today was to call over Inamori, who was currently the commander-in-chief of the entire army.
Although he is not as good as Matsudaira Sadanobu, Inamori is a person who sets very high standards for himself.
Alcohol was provided at last night's banquet, but Inamori did not get drunk and only took a few sips.
His self-discipline allowed Inamori to avoid the embarrassing scene of seeing Matsudaira Sadanobu drunk this morning.
After receiving the summons from Matsudaira Sadanobu, Inamori quickly rushed to Matsudaira Sadanobu's room.
After Inamori appeared in front of him, Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't say too much nonsense, and simply said to Inamori:
"Inamori. Now the armies of each domain have arrived at the Matsumae domain."
"I plan to conquer the Red Moon Fortress as quickly as possible."
"I want to hear your opinion now - when do you think we can send out the troops?"
This is a very serious issue.
So Inamori didn't dare to be careless at all.
After thinking for a moment, Dao Sen said in a deep voice:
"As for the baggage, we still need to do the final sorting."
"Those feudal armies that just arrived in Ezo also need some time to rest and recuperate."
"So we will probably need another 12 days... no, about 10 days before we can send out the troops."
"10 days?" Matsudaira Sadanobu muttered, then raised his head to Inamori, "Can you think of a way to shorten this time a little?"
"I can't guarantee that I can shorten the time successfully." Inamori said honestly, "But - I will try my best."
"Well, then, do your best." Matsudaira Sadanobu said calmly, "I want to defeat the Red Moon Fortress as soon as possible."
"I hope you can make my dream come true."
"Yes!" Inamori responded loudly.
…
…
Ezo, Kuma Village——
"￥%#@&*￥%#%@@￥%. (Ezo language)" The old Ezo man standing in front of Ogata and Atachi was speaking something at a very fast speed.
After he finished speaking, Ayaka, who was standing next to Ogata, shook his head at the two of them:
"He hasn't seen the two people you're looking for either."
"You haven't seen this one either..." Ou Fang scratched his hair helplessly, "Let's go and ask the next person."
Last night, Ogata and Atachi, who were temporarily staying at Ayaka's house, both had a sound sleep at Ayaka's house.
After getting up and resting enough, the two of them officially began to search for clues about Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen in Kuma Village.
It was already late when the two of them arrived at the Kuma village yesterday.
Considering that it was getting late and they had been trekking for most of the day, they were exhausted mentally as well as physically, and wanted to have a good rest.
Therefore, the two of them did not rush to look for Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen yesterday.
Instead, he chose to rest for a night, replenish his physical and mental strength, and then wait until tomorrow morning - that is, now, to slowly look for people.
Ayaka also kept the promise he had made to Ogata and the others - if Ogata and the others helped him hunt the man-eating male bear, he would help the two of them find Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.
Shortly after dawn, Ogata, Ating and Ayaka went out and began searching for people from house to house.
With Ayaka translating and helping to prove that Ogata and the other two had no ill intentions, Ogata and Atachi felt much more at ease when asking questions.
However - up to now, neither of them has found any clues.
Whether it was the elderly who were too old to go hunting anymore, or the young people who frequently went out fishing and hunting, none of them had seen Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen that Ogata and his friends were looking for.
There are only 124 people in Kuma Village - it is a village of neither size nor small.
Near noon, Ogata and his companions questioned all the villagers except those who happened to be away from the village.
The harvest is - nothing.
…
…
“No one in this village has ever seen Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen…” Standing in the sun, Atachi muttered to Ogata beside him.
In such a cold environment, standing in the sun will not only not feel hot, but will feel quite comfortable.
Therefore, neither Atachi, Ogata, nor Aiyaka had any intention of going into the shade to avoid the sun. They just stood in the sun, basking in the sun and talking.
"It seems... those two people may not have passed through this settlement..." Ogata said softly.
"I'll take you to other settlements later."
Aiyaka on the side continued.
“There are four settlements that have a good relationship with our Kuma Village.”
"So the only settlements I can take you to are these four."
"If you can't find any clues about the two people you're looking for in these four settlements... then I can't help you."
"It's okay." Ogata smiled at Ayaka, "We are very happy that you can help us."
"Please help us as much as you want, according to your own wishes."
Ayaka smiled and nodded.
"No problem, I'll do my best to help you ."
"So, when do you plan to leave for other settlements?"
"It's only noon now, there's still about half a day left."
"If we take a dog sled, we can go back and forth to the nearest village in half a day."
"Do you want to leave for other settlements this afternoon?"
"There's no rush." ​​Ogata shook his head, "Let's leave for other settlements tomorrow."
"Just stay here today."
"Although no one in your village has ever seen Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen."
"But...someone from another group living nearby might have seen them."
After saying that, Ogata looked at Ayaka.
“ Aiyaka, can you take us to where Vasili’s gang is staying?”
Ogata always remembered that there was a group of Lucia people temporarily living in Kuma Village.
"Are you going to ask Vashili and the others?" Ayaka's face showed some surprise.
"Yeah." Ogata nodded. "They have no fixed place to live and move around everywhere."
"They might have seen the person I'm looking for."
“So I thought I’d ask them.”
"Can you take us there?"
“Of course they can.” Ayaka scratched his hair, “But I don’t know if they are willing to help you…”
"I'm not that familiar with them..."
"After all, they are not villagers from my village."
“If it’s a villager from my village, with my status and prestige in the village, I can persuade them to help after some persuasion.”
"Vashili and the others are outsiders after all."
"If they are unwilling to help you, then there is nothing I can do..."
"It's okay." Ogata smiled, "Just take us there."
"If they won't help us—we'll talk about it then."
“…Yes.” Ayaka nodded gently, “I understand. Then follow me.”
…
…
Vasili and his group's camp was located not far from Kuma Village.
Kuma Village is a settlement built along a river.
After leaving the village and walking downstream along the river beside the village for a distance, you can see Vashili and his group's camp.
The camp of Vasili and his friends, whether it is the tents or the flags, is full of exotic style.
It was the first time that A-Cing had seen such an exotic-style camp, so after seeing Vashili and his friends' camp from afar, he looked at it with curiosity.
When they were still some distance away from Vashili and his group's camp, Ogata saw a large group of people gathering outside the camp.
Only after getting closer did Ogata see clearly that this group of people all had white faces.
They should be Vasili's subordinates.
And Vasili, whom Ogata and his friends were looking for, was standing in the middle of this group of people.
He was talking anxiously to the people around him.
"Hey! Vasili!" When he was about to reach Vasili, Ayaka shouted Vasili's name.
Vasili, who had just been concentrating on talking to the people around him, cast a somewhat surprised look at Ayaka, as well as Ogata and Atachi who were walking behind Ayaka, when he heard Ayaka's voice.
"Oh, what a rare guest." Vashili pushed aside the subordinates who were blocking his way and greeted Ogata and the others. "Aiyaka, what's wrong? You suddenly came to us, is there something going on?"
"I would like to ask you first." Ayaka looked at the people behind and beside Vasili, "Why are you and your men standing outside the camp instead of staying inside?"
"Nothing." Vashili shrugged. "My men and I have been bored lately, so we plan to hold a traditional Lucia event to kill off our energy and strength."
"Tell me why you're here."
"I'm busy right now."
"It's not me who is looking for you, but the guest I invited who is looking for you." Ayaka looked at Ogata.
After Ayaka finished speaking, Xu Fang immediately spoke up and explained his purpose to Vashili.
"I see..." Vasili stroked his chin, "You are looking for someone..."
"You know what, we actually met two weird-looking Japanese people before."
"But I don't know if they are the two people you are looking for."
"What did the two people you met look like?" Ogata asked hurriedly.
"Hmm..." Vasili did not answer immediately, but looked at Ogata and pondered.
Thinking is thinking about something.
After a moment, he suddenly grinned and laughed.
"If you want me to tell you, it's not impossible."
"But - no meal is free. You should understand this principle, right?"
"…What do you want?" Ogata asked, "Money?"
"No, no, no." Vashili raised his right index finger and shook it left and right. "What do I need your Japanese money for?"
"I just need you to participate in the traditional activities we are about to start."
"Traditional activities?" Ogata asked in confusion. "What traditional activities?"
"To put it simply, we will divide into two groups and fight each other." Vashili said, "The one who can stand till the end will be the winner."