"Ah, the way those men looked at that woman just now makes me angrier the more I think about it." The red headband pursed her lips in displeasure again.
After saying that, the red headband unconsciously glanced at her chest, which looked no different from a man's after putting on thick clothes .
Among the Ainu people, it is unknown when this saying suddenly became popular: women with fuller bodies would have more milk after giving birth, and the children they raise would be healthier.
When and where this saying began to become popular - no one knows.
Whether this statement is true or not - no one knows.
But this rumor, which no one knows when or where it started to become popular and no one knows whether it is true or false, is still spreading inexplicably.
Although some people scoff at this statement, there are also many people who firmly believe in it.
Many fathers and mothers in families encourage their children to marry a woman who is hardworking and preferably has a plump body, so that the next generation can have a healthy body.
Unconsciously, it also had a significant impact on the aesthetic tastes of many Ainu men.
The girl with the red headband didn’t know what the situation was like in other villages, but she knew that the aesthetic tastes of the boys in their Qina Village had been poisoned.
"Come to think of it - when Yashili first started learning how to use a bow, wasn't that part hit by the bowstring once?" The girl with the purple headband looked at the girl with the orange headband. "If someone as big as Yashili could get hit by the bowstring, let alone that Japanese woman."
“Don’t bring up my past embarrassment suddenly…” The girl with the orange headband blushed slightly and raised her hands to cover her chest.
"If the Japanese woman just now wanted to draw the bow and shoot arrows, she would have to tie her chest with a piece of cloth like Yashili did." The purple headband said seriously.
"I think given the size of that Japanese woman... even if she were to tie it up with cloth, the area that could be reduced would be very limited." The blue headband interrupted, "She's wearing such thick clothes, and her vagina is so bulging. I wonder what size it would be if she took off her clothes."
"I don't know why that Ayaka suddenly brought two people to our village." The orange-headed girl whispered, still with her hands covering her chest.
Red Headband: "Since it was brought back by Ayaka, then those two people should not be bad people."
"I'm more curious about the relationship between that couple and others." The girl with the blue headband tilted her head, "Are they a couple?"
"I think they should be a couple." The purple-headed man nodded, "The female and the male are sitting very close to each other."
Purple Headband patted his chest.
"The breasts of the female Kazuto were directly pressed against the male Kazuto's back. Only a married couple would do such an intimate thing."
"Humph." The red-headband curled her lips, "The men in our village must be envious of that man, who has such big breasts pressing on his back."
"Really? I'm so angry when I think back to the way those men didn't even blink their eyes."
"By the way, that guy is so weird." The purple headband muttered, "Since there are two knives on his waist, he should be that thing, right? That...what is it?"
"Warrior." The blue headband answered for the purple headband.
"Yes, yes, yes." The purple headband nodded vigorously, "It's a samurai. In the Japanese side, anyone with a knife on his waist is called a 'samurai'."
"If that man just now was a samurai, then why did he still have hair?"
Purple Headband touched the hair on top of her head.
"Don't the warriors among the people shave their heads completely?"
"I've seen the Japanese merchants who often come to our village, and the warriors who are responsible for guarding them, they all have no hair on their heads."
"That's right." The orange-head nodded. "That guy just now actually had hair on top of his head. How strange."
Red Headband: "Could it be that not all samurai need to shave the hair on the top of their heads? Or is that man not a real samurai?"
"Well... I think that person might not be a real warrior." The blue headband said seriously, "Because you see - that person doesn't seem to be very powerful."
"He doesn't look very strong. I feel like if I ask him to draw a bow and shoot arrows, he won't be able to shoot many arrows before he runs out of strength to draw the bow again."
"That makes sense." The red-headed man nodded. "That man doesn't seem to be as powerful as the gold diggers who came to trouble our village a year ago."
"Some of those gold diggers a year ago looked pretty strong."
"But they just grew a little stronger."
Speaking of this, a hint of pride appeared on the red headband's face.
"When the gold diggers attacked, I personally shot down a very strong man among them."
"What's the point of being strong? You're still vulnerable to arrows."
"You've told me about your heroic deeds a year ago so many times." The purple headband said helplessly, "I've heard it so many times that my ears are almost bleeding."
These four girls, wearing red, purple, blue and orange headbands respectively, are close friends.
The oldest one is the one wearing a red headband, who is 15 years old.
The other three are the same age, all 14 years old.
In addition to being close friends, the four of them have one thing in common - their fathers and brothers disappeared in the previous "disappearance incident" and have not returned yet.
After the "disappearance incident" that caused most of the young and strong men in Qina Village to disappear, these four girls took up bows and learned how to use them like other women in the village.
There was also fierce competition among the Ainu settlements.
Young and middle-aged people are the precious labor force and fighting force of every settlement.
To avoid being bullied by other villages in the future - this is one of the important reasons why so many women in Qina Village took up bows and arrows and learned how to use them from scratch.
However, there is another very important reason why these four girls with headbands of different colors learned archery - it would make it easier for them to go deeper into the mountains to search for their missing father and brother.
Even if the father and brother are already dead, their bodies must be carried back to the village.
There are all kinds of wild animals such as bears and wolves everywhere, and gold diggers will pop up from time to time. There is no need to elaborate on how dangerous the forest is.
Therefore, if you want to go deep into the mountains to look for your missing father and brother, it is necessary to have a certain self-protection ability.
Although due to their age and gender, these four girls did not have much strength.
The girl with a red headband who was the best at using the bow and arrow could shoot 15 arrows in a row, which was the limit for two people - and this was based on the premise that she was using the not-so-powerful bow she was currently carrying.
But all four of them had a talent for archery. Although they didn't have enough strength to shoot too many arrows, their accuracy was still pretty good.
The "gold diggers' attack" incident a year ago that the red-headband girl just mentioned was the same thing that Ayaka told Ogata and Atachi last night.
One year ago, a group of gold diggers heard from somewhere that Qina Village had become a "widow village" with very few young and strong men.
With evil intentions in mind, they rushed to Qina Village with weapons in hand.
In the end, they were hit head-on by the remaining young and strong men in Qina Village and the female warriors.
The girl with the red headband also participated in this battle a year ago.
At that time, she was lying on the roof of the house and shot an arrow at the thigh of a gold digger who was as strong as a bear.
Because of this deed, the girl with the red headband became a well-known little warrior in Qina Village.
"Don't judge a person by appearance." The orange-haired girl suddenly interrupted, "Although that person doesn't look very strong, it doesn't mean that only strong people are powerful."
"I heard that some knife masters among the people, after practicing the knife to a certain level and understanding something, can easily split huge rocks even if they are not strong."
The girl with the orange headband is named Yashili. She is the youngest of the four and just turned 14.
Not only is he the youngest, but he is also the best looking one.
Her plump, rosy cheeks are brimming with vitality.
The eyes sparkled with childishness and youthfulness, and had an extraordinary brilliance.
Besides being the best-looking one, she is also the one whose figure is more like a mature woman.
When she drew the bow and shot the arrow for the first time, because she had no experience and the instructor who was in charge of teaching her archery was also careless for a moment, when he released the bowstring, the bowstring hit her chest directly.
It left a bloody mark on her chest that looked so red that it looked like it would bleed at any time. She was in so much pain that it took her several days to recover.
From then on, wrapping her chest with a cloth strap that could tightly bind it after getting up every day became a daily routine for the girl with the orange headband.
"That's all nonsense." The girl with the red headband waved her hand with disdain. "Use a knife to split the stone? The stone is so hard, how can you split it with a knife?"
"I think 'breaking a stone with one knife' and the like is just complete nonsense."
"Just to brag about their swords and their swordsmanship."
"You can imagine that if you use a knife to chop a stone, you'll probably break the knife and only leave a few white marks on the stone."
"Ashili." The girl with the blue headband said in a joking tone, "Do you think that Japanese man just now is the kind of person who can split stone with one knife?"
"I didn't say that." The orange headband said quickly, "I was just giving you an example of not judging people by their appearance."
The girl with the red headband shrugged. "Even if there really is someone who can split stone with one knife, it can't be that young man."
"That Kazuto just now probably looked to be in his early 20s."
"It's probably not much bigger than us."
"For someone of this age, it's already great if he can practice swordplay to the point where his hands don't shake when he swings the sword."
…
…
The relationship between Kuma Village and China Village has always been very good, and many people in China Village are even very familiar with Ayaka.
Because of this deep relationship, when Ayaka brought Ogata and Atachi into China Village, he did not need to report to the village chief or anyone else in China Village and could bring people into the village openly.
This is the trust that China Village has in Kuma Village and in Ayaka.
Ayaka drove a dog sled and, under the guidance of several villagers from Qina Village, went deep into Qina Village and parked the sled in a corner.
A strong man who was familiar with Ayaka lent his "Setakuma" to Ayaka so that Ayaka could tie his four sled dogs.
"Setakuma" is a unique word among the Ainu people, referring to a long pole used specifically for tying dogs.
The "Setakuma" looks a bit like a clothesline - a long pole placed horizontally on two long poles standing upright on the ground.
Then tie the dog leash to the horizontal bar placed across the two long poles inserted into the ground.
After placing the sled and the four sled dogs, Ayaka announced their purpose in a loud voice to the villagers who were still surrounding them not far away .
After learning that Ayaka was looking for someone with his two friends behind him, many people who were familiar with Ayaka immediately responded positively, saying that they would tell them everything they knew no matter what they asked.
"Let's go. Majima, A-Machi." Ayaka said to Ogata and A-Machi behind him, "Let's start by asking those who I have a good relationship with."
"Yes." Ogata nodded, "Thank you for your help."
…
…
At this moment——
Qina Village, the village chief's home——
The chief of Qina Village is named "Chepke", an old man who is 72 years old this year.
Chepke was now sitting on the floor of his house, looking up and down at the red-haired stranger who was sitting cross-legged in front of him.
This red-haired stranger was none other than Skulucci.
Skulucci does not speak Ainu, only Japanese, so he and Chepke need an interpreter to communicate smoothly.
Fortunately, Qina Village is also a village that often cooperates with Japanese merchants, so there is no shortage of people in the village who can understand and speak Japanese.
The people in charge of translation and... the fighters who were on guard against various emergencies sat around Chepke.
Skuluch followed Chepke's request and only brought two of his men into the village, while the rest waited outside the village.
The two subordinates he brought were named Avde and Lev.
Afjie is the young man with freckles on his face who caught six fat rabbits for everyone a few days ago.
He had been the best hunter in his homeland, and the best with the musket of all the men under Skulucci.
Lev is one of Skuluchi's old subordinates. Although he is not good-looking and his figure is neither fat nor thin, he is a ruthless man who has mastered the "Chasik sword technique" passed down from generation to generation by the Cossacks to perfection.
Among Skulucci's group, only Skulucci can be Lev's opponent in terms of swordsmanship.
The reason why Skulucci brought these two fighters under his command was to make it easier to deal with any unpleasant things that might happen.
Skulucci had just introduced himself to Chepke.
After introducing himself, Chepke asked Skuluch directly:
"Stranger. You said you had something very important to discuss with us. Now tell us what you meant by that very important thing. (Ainu language)"
The young man in charge of the translation translated Chepke's words into Japanese word for word.
After listening to the interpretation of the young man in charge of the translation, Skulucci smiled and shrugged.
"It's nothing, actually."
"It's just that a group of strangers from the far west, like me, got bored and decided to do what they used to do, robbing people for money and women."
"So I just want to remind you - remember to hold your weapon in your arms when you sleep."
As soon as the translator finished translating Skuluch's words, Chepke and others were all shocked.
"Are there foreigners planning to plunder everywhere? (Ainu)" Chepke frowned, "How do you know? (Ainu)"
"Because those guys just approached me a few days ago. They wanted to recruit me to join them." Sculucci grabbed a strand of split hair on his forehead. "I have no interest in this kind of thing. So I rejected them."
Although Sculucci was born in Scotland, his hair was not the curly hair common among Europeans.
His red hair is straight, more like the hair of an Asian.
"...Since you and those foreigners who were planning to plunder are from the same race, why did you reject them? Why did you come to tell us about this?"
"Didn't I just say that? I have no interest in plundering."
"As for why you asked me to tell you about this..."
Ayaka sneered.
"I didn't come here specially to tell you this."
"I don't know which village those guys are planning to plunder."
"They may attack your village, or they may attack other villages. Of course, they may also attack many villages including yours."
"I just happened to pass by your village with my men."
"I feel like we are destined to meet, so I came here to give you a heads up."
"Okay, that's all I want to say."
After saying that, Skulucci stood up.
Afde and Lev, who were sitting behind him, also stood up.
"May the best be to you."
"Do you want to be ready to fight at any time, or take all the villagers and flee temporarily? You decide for yourself."
"But my advice to you is to flee as soon as possible."
"Escape to the mountains and forests to hide for a while."
"If they choose your village as a target, you won't be able to defeat the Cossacks."
Skulucci's words immediately changed the expressions of everyone, including Chepke.
"Hey! (Ainu language)" a strong man shouted directly at Skulucci, "Do you think we are incapable of repelling the strangers who covet our village? (Ainu language)"
As soon as the sturdy man finished speaking, Skulucci nodded.
"Yes, that's right. If those guys set your village as their target, you won't be able to repel them with just your bows and arrows."
"...Don't underestimate us, strangers." Another thin middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "The village was attacked - this kind of thing is not something we have never encountered before."
"Just one year ago, a group of reckless Japanese attacked our village. But we easily repelled them."
"Don't underestimate our fighting power."
"This is our hometown. How can we run away without firing an arrow? We will be laughed at by other villages. (Ainu language)"
Since the "disappearance incident", the villagers of Qina Village have become very sensitive to all matters concerning the dignity of the village.
Because they were too afraid that people from other villages would bully them.
"...Strangers." At this time, Chepke, the village chief, finally spoke up, "Don't treat us as idiots who know nothing."
"We are not completely ignorant of you white-skinned people from the far west."
"I know you use a weapon called a 'musket'."
"You just think our bows and arrows are no match for muskets. (Ainu language)"
"Oh?" Skulucci raised his eyebrows, "You actually know about muskets?"
"I know that muskets are very powerful, but that's all." Chepke continued, "Your muskets can only fire one bullet at a time, and it takes a long time to reload the bullet after firing a bullet."
"And the accuracy is not good. I can't hit things that are too far away."
"Comparatively speaking, our bows and arrows are still superior."
"In terms of firing speed and accuracy alone, our bows and arrows are superior to your muskets."
"So you don't need to worry about us."
"If it is true as you said, someone attacked our village."
"We will beat them back beautifully. (Ainu)"
Skulucci had been listening quietly to Chepke's remarks.
After Chepke finished speaking, the corners of Skulucci's mouth curled up slightly.
As if he heard something very interesting, he showed a meaningful smile.
"... Chief, let me guess - you have never been attacked by people with white skin before?"
Chepke: "...So what? (Ainu)"
"What you just said is so damn outdated."
"The old muskets were indeed inferior to bows and arrows."
"But now times have changed, the musket has evolved rapidly, while the bow and arrow has remained the same."
Skulucci patted the Kentucky long rifle on his back.
"Today's bows and arrows are no match for muskets."
"If you insist on defending the village and using bows and arrows to fight against muskets, then I won't say much."
"After all, I am just a passer-by who came here to report a message."
"The decision on what to do next is up to you."
"I'm leaving now. Good luck to you."
After saying that, Skuluch waved his hand, led Avde and Lev and walked towards the door not far away.
But before he had walked a few steps, Skuluch suddenly stopped, turned his head and asked Chepke not far away:
"Chief, it's almost dark now."
"Since I was kind enough to help you get the message, please allow me and my men to camp next to your village."
"We'll leave early tomorrow morning."
"…As long as you and your subordinates don't cause trouble and don't enter our village casually, it's up to you. (Ainu)" Chepke said.
"Thank you~~"
Skulucci waved his hand again, then led Afjie and Lev away.
Chepke winked at the two middle-aged men beside him, indicating that they should take Skulucci out of the village.
After receiving the meaning from Chepke's eyes, the two middle-aged men nodded and quickly followed Skulucci out of the house.
…
…
After Skulucci and the others left, the others sitting around Chepke said indignantly:
"That stranger actually dared to look down on us. Did he really think we were idiots who knew nothing?"
"It's not like we haven't seen things like muskets before."
"If there are really white people who want to attack our village, we will repel them all just like we repelled those gold diggers a year ago!"
The vast majority of people were filled with righteous indignation and spoke passionately.
Only an old man who was about 60 years old and sitting next to Chepke calmly asked Chepke:
"Chepke, what should we do now? Should we believe what that stranger said just now?"
"...If what the stranger said is true, then we really need to prepare early." Chepke sighed softly.
"I think that foreigner is very suspicious." A middle-aged man who is slightly younger than me said, "If there really is a group of white people who want to rob people everywhere."
"Then the stranger just now is their compatriot."
"Why did the stranger betray his compatriots and tell us that his compatriots were planning to plunder everywhere?"
"...Let's put these things aside for now." Chepke said in a deep voice, "Let's just believe what the stranger said just now."
"I'd rather work in vain."
"We can't let ourselves be attacked by foreign races because we are unprepared."
"Go and inform everyone in the village now."
"Tell them: There is a possibility that a group of white-skinned foreigners will attack our village in the future. Let everyone be prepared and be careful when leaving the village in the future."