Manakel was not a fool, of course he understood what Chepke meant.
"Do you want that Kazuto named Majima to stay in our village?" Manakel's eyes widened.
"You saw how powerful that Majima is last night," Chepke said softly, "If he becomes a member of our village, then even though there are only a few men in our village now, other villages will not dare to look down on us or bully us."
"But...how are you going to make that Japanese become a member of our village?" Manakel said in a deep voice, "Use women to keep him? Didn't Ayaka say that just now? He and that Japanese woman are husband and wife, and he already has a wife."
"... Let's think about this in detail later." Chepke raised his hands and rubbed his temples. "The most urgent task now is to find a way to heal the injured villagers."
Chepke told Manakel that he had just learned from the village's only doctor, Uripash, that gunshot wounds could not be treated.
"Uripahi can't be cured..." Manakel screamed with his eyes wide open in shock.
Halfway through his words, he realized that his voice seemed a little too loud, and he quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth, then changed his voice to a lower tone:
"Uripash can't heal those wounded by muskets? What should we do then?"
As far as Manakel knew, many people were injured by muskets.
If these people cannot be treated... then Manakel dare not imagine what the consequences will be...
"I just thought of a way to save them..." Chepke said softly, "Manakel, go and call..."
Chepke spit out five names in one breath.
These five people are the names of people who are still alive and have high status in the village.
"Then call two people who understand Japanese."
"Hurry up." Chepke continued, "Come with me to find the white man named Skuluch later."
…
…
Qina Village, east of the village, Skulluchi’s camp——
Sculucci has a quirk: he loves sleeping in a hammock.
Even inside the tent, he would tie a sturdy hammock inside the tent and sleep in the hammock.
Although a lot happened last night, Skulucci still had a very comfortable sleep.
Years of adventure life have made Skulucci develop the habit of being ready for battle at all times.
Even when sleeping, he would not take off his clothes or shoes, and would always keep his weapons within his reach.
After a good sleep, Skulucci jumped out of the hammock and slowly walked out of his tent while stretching.
Skulucci's tent faced west.
As soon as he walked out of the tent, a beam of sunlight hit Skulucci directly.
Today is a sunny day, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and there is no annoying snow falling.
Looking at the blue sky, Sculucci felt that even the air had become fresher.
Just as Skulucci was smiling and enjoying the fresh air with his hands on his hips, Afjie's voice suddenly sounded from beside him:
"Boss Skulucci, are you awake?"
"Oh! Afjie! Good morning! It seems you slept well last night!"
"I had a good workout last night, so I slept well, but..." Afjie smiled bitterly and rubbed his right shoulder, "After waking up, I feel pain in my right shoulder..."
The Kentucky Long Rifle's recoil is not low.
Afjie had fired countless times with his Kentucky long rifle last night, and his right shoulder had been impacted by the recoil so many times that it was normal for him to feel sore in his right shoulder after waking up.
"Boss Skulucci, I'm just about to go get some food and drinks. Do you want me to get you some?"
"Don't worry! Don't worry!" Skulucci waved his hand. "Afjie, just now, I suddenly had an inspiration."
"Inspiration? What inspiration?"
“Poetic inspiration.”
"Boss, can you write poetry?" Afji raised his eyebrows, looking surprised.
He had been following Sculucci for a long time, but this was the first time he heard that Sculucci could write poetry.
"Don't underestimate me." Sculucci shrugged. "I am much more knowledgeable than you think. Would you like to hear the new poem I just wrote?"
"Then let me listen to the boss's poem."
"The sky is fucking blue, the sun is fucking warm, today is fucking great, and it's fucking great to be alive."
"Boss, if you tell this poem to real poets, they will definitely ask you to apologize to the art of poetry." Afjie looked confident, as if he was speaking some truth.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Skulucci raised his right index finger and shook it left and right at Afjie. "Afjie, you just didn't understand the mystery of the poem I just wrote."
“Although the poem I just wrote seems simple, it tells a very important truth in simple sentences, but it is always ignored by others. For a person, the most important thing is to live.”
"Although I really don't understand poetry, I do know this - there are no swear words in normal poetry. Why did you add a swear word to every sentence of your poem, Boss?"
"That's not a dirty word," Skulucci said seriously. "Afjie, didn't anyone tell you that?"
"In addition to being used to insult people, dirty words can also be used as modal particles to add tone to a conversation."
"For example, 'You're so f*cking annoying' is much more powerful than 'You're so annoying', and it's easier to convey your 'feeling of disgust' to others."
“So every curse word in my poem is a modal particle, used to strengthen the tone.”
"It allows readers to more deeply understand how blue the sky was, how warm the sun was, how great the weather was, and how important 'being alive' is to everyone when the author wrote this poem."
As soon as Skulucci finished speaking, Afjie raised his hands in surrender.
"I can't do it anymore. I feel like if I continue to listen to your nonsense, I will never be able to look directly at the art of poetry again."
"I'm going to go get some breakfast. See you later, Boss."
After saying that, Afjie ran away from Skulucci as quickly as if he was escaping.
“How boring!”
Skulucci curled his lips at Afjie's back.
"It's a rare day when I feel like writing poetry. I want to talk more about poetry with you."
Skulucci, who had just woken up, was not too hungry.
Skulucci, who was not in a hurry to have breakfast, turned his head and looked to the west, towards the direction of Qina Village.
Because of the tent blocking his view, Skulucci could not see what China Village looked like now.
But even so, Skulucci still looked straight up at the western sky.
When he was getting ready to go to bed last night, he vaguely heard shouting and low crying coming from the village. Skulucci guessed that these were probably the sounds made by the villagers of Qina Village when they were cleaning the village.
"...It's so miserable." Looking at the western sky, Skulucci muttered in a low voice that only he could hear.
“Boss!”
At this moment, a sudden announcement was made, forcing Skulucci to shift his gaze from the western sky to the owner of the voice.
The owner of this voice was an ordinary subordinate of Skulucci.
"What's the matter?" asked Sculucci.
"A group of Ainu people from the nearby village have arrived. They are now outside the camp gate," the subordinate replied succinctly. "They are talking a lot, but I can't understand Ainu or Japanese, so I don't know what they are here for."
Skulucci raised an eyebrow.
The "village next door" that the subordinate referred to was naturally Qina Village.
Qina Village sent a group of people over - after learning about this, Skulucci just raised his eyebrows, without any surprise on his face.
"Thank you for your hard work." After praising the subordinate who came to report the news, Skulucci strode towards the camp gate.
"I'll go meet them."
Sculucci was the only one in the group who could speak Japanese.
So only Skulucci can communicate with them.
After the camp gate appeared in his field of vision, Skulucci saw Chepke and others standing outside the camp gate from afar.
After discovering that it was the village chief himself who brought people here, a hint of surprise finally appeared in Skulucci's eyes.
He quickened his pace a little and came to Chepke and the others. Before Skuluch could say anything, Chepke took the lead and bowed to Skuluch and said:
"Skulucci, we saw how helpful you were to us last night."
"We will never forget everyone who helped us."
"I came to thank you. (Ainu)"
After learning from Ogata last night that Skuluch had helped them, Chepke checked with different villagers.
Many villagers also saw Skulucci and others who were outside the village and providing them with remote assistance last night, confirming that "Skulucci helped them" was indeed true.
After listening to the translator's translation, Skulucci looked at Chepke's face carefully several times and waved his hand.
"This is not a good place to talk. Please follow me."
After saying this, Skulucci signaled his men who were in charge of guarding the gate to let them pass, and then led Chepke and the others to his tent.
Along the way, Chepke and his companions naturally attracted a lot of attention.
Skulucci's subordinates, not knowing the purpose of this sudden visit by the Ainu people, cast doubtful and curious glances at Chepke.
Although they knew that the "white people" around them were not the same group of "white people" who attacked their village last night.
But seeing these faces with deep features and fair skin, Chepke and the others still felt a little uncomfortable, so they deliberately ignored the people around them and just looked straight ahead, looking at the back of Skulucci who was leading the way.
Skuluch's tent was barely big enough for a Chepke to stand inside.
After leading Chepke and the others into his tent, Skulucci sat down on the hammock, facing Chepke and the others.
As soon as Chepke and the others entered the tent, they bowed to Skuluch again and said in a more solemn tone than before:
"Thank you so much for helping us last night."
"Thank you very much."
"We will never let down anyone who helps us."
"Although our village is not rich, we will do our best to give you a generous thank you gift."
Chepke wanted to say something else, but Skulucci suddenly raised his hand to signal him not to continue.
"I have received your gratitude."
"As for the thank you gift, we can discuss it in detail later."
"Now—tell me something else."
At this point, Skulucci changed his tone to one that contained a hint of joking.
"You came here with such a serious look and expression, it shouldn't be just to thank me, right?"
Although Skulucci's sentence is in the form of a question, the tone is that of an affirmative sentence.
Seeing that Skulucci had accurately stated his intention, a hint of embarrassment flashed across Chepke's face.
But he quickly adjusted his facial expression.
"...I came to you this time not only to thank you in person, but also to discuss other things with you."
Having said that, despite trying his best to control himself, Chepke's tone still showed a hint of urgency.
"Many villagers in our village were injured by muskets last night."
"Our doctors are not good at treating this type of gunshot wound."
"Can your doctors treat musket wounds?"
"If it can be cured, I would like to ask you to send your doctors to help us!"
The Ainu people, who are still in the tribal civilization, have not developed a complex "ritual culture" and do not have too many red tape.
Therefore, most Ainu people speak very straightforwardly and don't talk in too many roundabout ways.
Chepke didn't say any unnecessary words and directly informed them of their request.
Go ask Skuluch for help - this is the only way Chepke has just thought of to treat the villagers who were shot in the current situation.
Skulucci and his men were also white people and used the same muskets.
So Chepke guessed that their doctors might have the technology to treat gunshot wounds and knew how to treat them.
Chepke was unwilling to miss any opportunity to help more villagers who were shot recover.
Sculucci really likes people who speak directly and without beating around the bush. When chatting with such people, he doesn't have to worry about wasting too much time talking nonsense.
"I see... Do you want to borrow a doctor from us..." Skulucci said softly.
Skulucci had a blank expression on his face and spoke in a flat tone, making it difficult for Chepke and others to understand what he was thinking.
"Of course, we won't let you help us for nothing."
Chepke added hastily.
"We will do our best to give you the compensation you want!"
Skulucci stretched out his right index finger and dug his ear. After thinking for a moment, he slowly said:
"You want to borrow our doctor? That's not impossible."
A look of hope appeared on Chepke's face.
"but--"
Skulucci's sudden "but" made the hope on Chepke's face freeze for a moment.
"I have to tell you first."
"A gunshot wound is a very troublesome wound."
Skulucci raised his left index finger and kept turning it.
"Now the bullets fly in a spinning manner."
"After being shot into a person's body, it will cause great damage to the person's body."
"The medical technology today is not advanced enough to heal all those who have been shot."
"The chances of someone being cured after being shot in the upper body are slim."
"Most people who were shot in the limbs had to have their limbs amputated."
"And my doctor's medical skills are not so great that he can even bring the dead back from the dead."
"Even if I send my doctor to help you, only a handful of your villagers who were shot will be able to recover as before."
Skulucci pressed the tips of his thumb and index finger together, and pointed out the small gap between the thumb nail and index finger nail to Chepke and others.
"The vast majority of your villagers who are shot will still die or become disabled."
"Even so, do you still want to ask my doctor to help?"
After hearing the translator's translation, Chepke's face now looked very ugly.
But he was silent for only a short while, then nodded gently:
"……I see."
"Thank you for letting me know."
"But I still want to ask your doctor for help. (Ainu)"
Chepke had no choice.
Even though Sculucci's doctors couldn't cure all the people who were shot, they could at least save a few.
If we didn't ask Skulucci and the others for help, since they had no idea how to treat gunshot wounds, all the villagers who were shot would probably die.
"I have told you everything that needs to be told," said Skulucci. "Don't go back on your word or blame us for not curing all of your people after you start treatment."
After saying that, Skulucci jumped out of the hammock.
"I think I'm a pretty good person, but I'm not kind enough to keep giving for free."
"If you want my doctor to help you, you must pay me something."
Hearing this, Chepke showed a serious expression, as if he was ready to hear some bad news.
Looking at the expressions of Chepke and the others, Skulucci couldn't help but smile.
"Don't worry that I will ask you to give me some kind of compensation that will be very embarrassing for you."
"What I want should not be difficult for you to choose."
…
…
Ogata and Atachi both participated in tidying up the village last night.
They worked until dawn, and then Ogata and Atachi started to rest.
Aiyaka has just set off and returned to Kuma Village to ask the doctor from Kuma Village to come and help Qina Village.
Although Ogata knew that the relationship between Kuma Village and China Village was very good, he did not expect it to be so good.
Last night, after learning that the number of injured people in China Village was far more than expected and that there were far from enough medicines, Ayaka said almost without hesitation: I will go and ask the doctors and medicines from Kuma Village to come.
He also said: The doctor from Kuma Village will definitely come back.
With only one person on the sled, and if the number of sled dogs pulling the sled was sufficient and strong enough, Ayaka had hope of returning by evening.
So before leaving the village, Ayaka, with the help of the villagers of Qina Village, gathered a total of 8 sled dogs, including his own dogs.
8 sled dogs - this is the limit of the number of sled dogs that Ayaka can control.
Since last night, the villagers of China Village have been helping to arrange the residence of Ogata, their benefactor.
There happened to be an empty house in their village.
The original owner of this empty house moved to another village with his daughter half a month ago because his daughter got married and moved there.
Their house was sold to Chepke at a low price.
Chepke plans to use the empty house as a home for sled dogs in the future.
Because they had only owned the empty house for half a month, Chepke had not had time to let their dog into the house. Now the house is truly empty, with nothing in it except some furniture.
It is just right for Ogata and his family to live in.
At Chepke's request, several villagers quickly cleaned the house and prepared bedding and other necessities for Ogata and his friends.
After working all night, Ogata and Atachi finally began to rest and now finally returned to the "home" that the villagers had temporarily prepared for them.
The first thing they do when they get home is to take a shower.
To be more precise, it was A-machi who was bathing Ogata.
Although last night, every time Ogata killed someone, he tried his best to avoid the enemy's blood splattering on his own body.
But no matter how much you dodge, there is a limit. In the ever-changing battle, it is impossible to dodge every drop of blood.
After the battle last night, Ogata was basically in a "half bloody" state.
The blood that splashed on him had even soaked through his clothes and stained Ogata's flesh.
If he didn't take a shower soon, the combined smell of sweat and blood would be so bad that all the pigs in the pigsty would dislike Ogata.
So after helping the villagers clean the village and working all night, when they returned home, Atachi, who had already smelled a strange odor emanating from Ogata, immediately asked to give Ogata a bath.
…
…
"How is it? Is the water too hot?" A-machi asked Ogata who was lowering his head and dipping his hair in the basin.
"It seems to be a little too hot." Ogata said.
"Then I'll add some more cold water." A-machi used a ladle to scoop up cold water from the bucket next to her and added it to the basin of hot water that Ogata used to wash his hair.
There was no one else in this empty house except Ogata and Atachi.
Because there were no outsiders around, Ogata didn't have to worry about anyone peeking at him - although he wasn't afraid of anyone peeking at him either.
"I think my hair is cleaner than yours now even if I don't wash it for a month." A-Machi complained about Ogata's hair in a neutral tone.
Due to limited conditions, it was naturally impossible for Ogata to take a bath in a large bathtub. He could only use a basin filled with hot water and then wipe his body with a rag.
Regarding whether to wash the hair first or the body first, both Ogata and Atachi chose to wash the body first without hesitation.
Ogata's hair...its current appearance is simply unbearable to look at.
The blood that spilled on his hair coagulated into clumps after drying, turning Ogata's hair into clumps.
After soaking the hair in hot water, part of the blood clots melted and the transparent water quickly turned into light red blood water.
"I know..." Ogata himself knew that his hair was very disgusting now... "Ah, it hurts a little, be gentle."
Atachi, who was sitting next to Ogata and helping him wash his hair, slowly smoothed out the hair that was clumped together due to the blood.
Without hurting Ogata, she had to untangle the tangled hair - it was a lot of work, and soon Atachi felt her fingers starting to ache.
"Would you like to try shaving your hair?" A-Machi asked Ogata. "Shaving your hair will be very convenient for washing your hair or fighting with others."
"Absolutely not." Ogata answered without hesitation in a firm tone.
Even if Ogata died, he would never shave his hair into a fringe that looked like a Mediterranean style.
The two of them have been busy since last night and their nerves have been on edge.
Only now did their tense nerves finally relax.
As their nerves relaxed, the two of them began to chat about some light topics to pass the boring time of taking a bath.
"It seems that we don't need to buy guns from that Skulucci anymore." A-Machi whispered to Ogata, "Now we have a bunch of Kentucky long rifles for us to choose from."
"Yes." Ogata couldn't help but smile, "Not only weapons, but also horses can be taken by us."
Ogata and his colleagues almost "reborn" the village of Qina.
If Ogata expressed to the villagers of China Village that he wanted to take some of the weapons and horses confiscated from the white people, the villagers would definitely not refuse.
"In addition to weapons, I also plan to get two horses." Ogata said, "With horses, we can use them for transportation in the future."
"A horse..." Ating looked embarrassed, "I don't know how to ride a horse..."
Horses are a scarce resource in Japan.
Anyone without financial resources and channels cannot get a horse.
Given Shiranui's previous state of decline, it was naturally impossible for the village to have the financial resources to provide equestrian training for the ninjas in the village.
"I can teach you." Ogata said, "The horses used by the Cossacks seem to have been strictly trained, and their personalities seem quite docile, so it shouldn't be difficult to ride them."
"Is horse riding difficult?" asked Ating.
No, after all, you have already practiced on me before, and your waist has built up enough strength - when this joke came to Ogata's lips, he swallowed it back.
Although A-machi is a warm and open-minded person, as a native of the Edo period, she is still quite conservative in some aspects.
If A-machi heard the dirty joke he just made, Ogata guessed that she would definitely hit him, so Ogata forced himself to keep the joke to himself.
"No." Ogata said casually, "People with good waists can get the hang of riding horses faster. With your waist, Atachi, you should be able to get the hang of it quickly."
"Is my waist good?" Ating touched his lower back, "I think my waist strength is just average. I can only do about 500 'bends' in one go."
The so-called "bending" is a method of physical exercise passed down from generation to generation in the Shiranui.
A-Machi had told Ogata about this and had demonstrated it to him.
At that time, after seeing Atachi demonstrate the "bending" to Ogata, Ogata's only thought was - isn't this just a sit-up?
That’s right, the so-called “bending” is basically the same as the modern “sit-ups”.
"Your waist strength is already very good."
——After all, you are the kind of person who can even collapse a table by sitting down...
Ogata added silently in his mind.
At the beginning, Ogata and Atachi had their first candid meeting on a table that could be used as a low bed and was taken from Mamiya.
The next morning, a corner of the table collapsed.
Ogata always felt that Atachi should be blamed for the collapse of the table.
At this time, A-Machi had just finished washing Ogata's hair and began to dry Ogata's hair with another clean towel.
"There are a lot of Kentucky long rifles for us to take now." Ogata said to Atachi, who was holding a towel to wipe his hair behind him, "Do you want to take a few more at once?"
"That's exactly what I meant."
A-Ming Road.
"I'm going to take five Kentucky long rifles."
"Five is not too few." Ogata replied half-jokingly, "How about a few more?"
"Five is enough."
"The Kentucky Long Rifle is quite heavy. If you carry too many, it will become a burden."
At this point, Ating paused.
Then he sighed.
"I used the Kentucky Long Rifle last night. It was much more powerful than I thought."
"It's more powerful than the iron cannon I used before, which I modified..."
"I didn't expect that the Nanman had developed such a powerful cannon ..."
"It's a pity that the Kentucky long rifle is still a bit heavy. It would be better if it could be lighter."
"I saw a guy using a musket last night." Ogata said, "We should be able to find a few muskets among the weapons left by these Cossacks. Do you want to pick a few muskets and take them away?"
"Short guns..." Atachi muttered, "Then take them all. Short guns are small anyway, so it doesn't matter if you carry a few more with you."
After a brief discussion, Ogata and A-machi quickly decided on the spoils they would take away.
Ogata's hair dries very quickly, and it only took a short while for it to dry.
"Okay, it's time to wash your body." Ating casually threw the towel in his hand aside, "Hurry up and take off your dirty clothes..."
"Majima Goro! Majima Goro! Is Majima Goro here?"
Before Atachi could finish her words, a series of very non-standard "Mashima Goro" were heard outside the house.
It's a strange voice.
Confused, Ogata tightened his collar, then walked quickly out of the house.
Outside the house, there was a middle-aged man and an elderly man.
That old man was someone Ogata knew very well.
"Village Chief Chepke?" Ogata raised his eyebrows.
This old man was none other than Chepke, the chief of Qina Village.
Looking at Ogata, whose hair was loose and still a little damp, Chepke was stunned for a moment, then asked:
"Sorry, I didn't know you were taking a shower. I'll come back later. (Ainu)"
As soon as Chepke finished speaking, the middle-aged man standing next to Chepke quickly translated Chepke's words into Japanese.
Ogata asked, "Village Chief, do you have something to talk to me about?"
Chepke nodded:
"I have something...very important to discuss with you. (Ainu)"
——Something very important?
Ogata nodded, feeling confused and curious.
"I see... I see. Then you guys come in first."
"Will it really not bother you if I come in now? (Ainu)" Chepke looked hesitant.
"No." Ogata shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I just washed my hair. It won't bother me. Come in."
Seeing that Ogata said this, Chepke no longer hesitated and led his translator into Ogata and Atachi's house.
Ogata sat cross-legged on the floor, opposite Chepke.
As soon as Ogata sat down on the floor, he immediately asked Chepke:
"Village Chief, I wonder why you came to see me this time?"
"I came to you this time mainly for three things."
Chepke said bluntly.
"First things first—I'm here to formally thank you."
After that, Chepke bowed to Ogata, and then said to him solemnly:
"Mashima Goro, A-Machi. Thank you very much for your assistance to our village last night."
"We will never forget your kindness to our village."
“We will neither forget a favor nor be ungrateful to those who have done us a favor.”
"If you encounter any troubles later, or want anything, please let us know."
"As long as our village can do something, I will use the whole village's strength to help you. (Ainu language)"
As soon as Chepke finished speaking, Xu Fang immediately smiled bitterly and said:
"You are welcome."
“We just did what we could.”
Ogata brought out the polite words he often said: "I just did what I could."
"I have received your thoughts and gratitude. You just said you wanted to tell me three things. What are the other two things besides thank you?"
Ogata didn't want to stay on the topic of "thank you" for too long, so he took the initiative to change the subject.
"The second thing is—I'm here to give a message to Sculucci."
"A message?" Ogata raised his eyebrows. "Chief Chepke, did that Skuluch look for you just now?"
"No." Chepke shook his head. "It wasn't him who came to me, it was me who came to him."
As he said this, a smile with a hint of emotion appeared on Chepke's face.
…
…
Time goes back to just now——
The camp of Skuluch and his people——
"Don't worry that I will ask you to give me some kind of compensation that will be very embarrassing for you."
"What I want should not be difficult for you to choose."
As soon as the translator translated Skuluch's words to Chepke and others, they all cast puzzled and nervous glances at Skuluch.
They waited for Sculucci to state what reward he wanted.
"I just need one... no, two things."
Skulucci held up two fingers.
"Lots of meat and lots of wine."
"Meat and wine? (Ainu)" Chepke's eyes widened in surprise.
"That's right! It's meat and wine!" Sculucci put away his two raised fingers, "We are about to celebrate a festival called 'Maslenitsa'."
"During our festival, everyone eats meat and revels to their heart's content."
"I have about 50 people under my command."
"I hope you can provide enough meat and wine for me and my men to feast on for at least five days."
"Any meat will do. Venison, bear."
“We also accept jerky.”
"I don't need you to give us any thank you gifts."
"As long as you provide us with enough meat and wine as I just said."
"I will take these meats and wine as your thank you gift and as payment for hiring our doctor."
"How? Do you agree?"
Although what Skulucci said just now was very long in words, Chepke's translator had a very good command of Japanese and had completed the translation as soon as Skulucci finished speaking.
After hearing the translator’s translation, Chepke was stunned for a moment.
Then he nodded excitedly:
"Okay! No problem! We will provide you with enough meat and wine!"
Chepke had already anticipated various requests that Skulucci might make.
He never expected that Skulucci's request would be so simple.
All they wanted was meat and wine.
The Ainu people lived a life of fishing and hunting, so it was easy for them to get large amounts of meat.
Alcohol is more troublesome, as it cannot be brewed quickly, but they can borrow it from several villages with which they have good relations, such as Kuma Village.
Alcohol is not something very valuable, and villages like Kuma Village would definitely be happy to lend the alcohol they have stored to Qina Village.
Fearing that Skulucci would go back on his word, Chepke nodded vigorously with such speed and force that it seemed as if he would shake his head off.
"In that case, the deal is done."
Skulucci smiled.
"I have four doctors under my command."
“Two of them are here right now.”
"The other two and most of the drugs are with my deputy."
The deputy that Skulucci was talking about was Vashili.
"I'll send someone to my deputy now and have them come over."
"They probably won't be here until tomorrow."
"Today I can only send the two doctors who are here with me to help you."
"Okay, no problem! (Ainu)" Chepke said.
The deal with Skulucci ended much more smoothly and successfully than Chepke had imagined.
Just as Chepke was leading his men back to their village, Skuluch suddenly called him:
"Oh, right, I almost forgot about this." Skulucci patted his forehead, "Village Chief, when you return to your village later, can you help me pass on a message to Majima Goro?"
"Majima Goro?"
"That's right. Please tell Majima Goro this: 'Please come to my camp as soon as possible. I have something to ask him.'"
"A message? ... Yeah." Chepke nodded, "I understand."
…
…
Timeline returns to the present -
"Skulucci asked me to go find him?" Ogata frowned slightly. "Did Skulucci tell you why he came to see me?"
"No." Chepke shook his head. "He didn't say that. (Ainu)"
——Could it be that he was asking me for clues about the person he was looking for…
Just last night, when Skuluch was about to say the name of the man he had been looking for, Vladimir and others happened to start the attack on China Village, forcing Skuluch to be interrupted.
Ogata also didn't get to hear the name of the man that Skulucci was looking for.
"I understand. Village chief, thank you for your message."
Having said this, Ogata paused, then changed his tone to one of emotion.
"It's great that we can invite a doctor from Skulucci so easily."
"Yeah..." Chepke sighed, "Skuluchi's doctors have already started treating the injured."
"Now I just hope to save as many people as possible..."
"Now that we have the help of Sculucci's doctors," Ogata consoled, "more people will surely be saved."
"I hope so..." Chepke smiled bitterly.
After giving a wry smile, Chepke took a deep breath and reorganized his emotions and expression.
"Then—I have brought what Skulucci said."
"Mashima Goro. I have a question for you now."
At this point, Chepke began to hesitate for some reason.
At the same time, his eyes subconsciously swept towards Atachi who was sitting behind Ogata.
There was a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
But these hesitations did not last long in Chepke's eyes.
After only a moment, the hesitation turned into determination:
"Mashima Goro. I want to ask you - are you willing to marry another wife in our village and stay in our village?"