"Then, at this time, adding goosefoot can greatly enhance the flavor of the meat and remove the fishy smell of the meat."
"Goosefoot is a very useful seasoning, it can be said to be versatile. We Ainu people basically put goosefoot in every meat dish to season it."
Ayizan, who was sitting in front of Ogata and A-Ming, was carefully tending to the pot in front of her while explaining to Ogata and A-Ming how this "venison pot" was cooked.
It's lunch time.
The team consisting of villagers from Qina Village and Ogata has now stopped, set up pots and started cooking lunch.
Ogata, A-Ming, and Ayizan sat around a pot.
The pot contained venison, which Ogata and his friends ate most frequently during this period.
The Ainu people, who are still in a tribal civilization where medical treatment is basically dependent on praying to God, naturally have a short average life expectancy.
Ayizan is only 35 years old this year, but in Ainu society, he is already a middle-aged person.
There are only a few people like Village Chief Chepke, who has gray hair but is still energetic.
Although Ayizan is already a middle-aged man, he still has a studious heart despite his age.
After they started doing business with Japanese merchants in Qina Village, he became interested in Japanese and took the initiative to learn Japanese from them.
Although it is a bit non-standard, it is very fluent.
He is considered one of the Japanese translators for the village chief of Chepke.
When Ogata communicated with the village chief of Chepke before, he basically relied on Ayizan to translate between the two.
After Ogata and Atachi decided to follow the villagers of China Village to the Red Moon Fortress, Ayizan was sent by Chepke to serve as Ogata and his friends' personal translator and life manager.
During this period, Ayizan would always personally cook the Ainu specialties for Ogata and A-machi.
I have to say - although Ayizan looks like a rough guy, his cooking skills are very high.
Moreover, Aizan is a very talkative person. When cooking, Aizan would often explain the Ainu food culture to Ogata and others, as he is doing now.
At this moment, the pot of cooking venison in front of the three people has begun to emit aroma.
After Ai Zan threw the schefflera into the pot, the fragrance emanating from it became even fresher.
"After putting in the goosefoot, put in the matsutake and white-mouthed mushrooms."
Ayizan grabbed a handful of matsutake and white-mouthed mushrooms from the small cloth bag beside him and threw them into the pot.
"After that, we just need to wait for the meat and mushrooms to be cooked thoroughly."
After saying that, Ayizan picked up the lid next to it and covered the big pot.
"How long do we have to wait?" asked Ating.
"Well... it still takes quite a long time."
"I see..." Atachi muttered , "It looks like this dish will take quite some time to cook... but it does smell quite delicious."
This time of waiting for the food to be cooked is very boring.
Although I have had frequent contact with Ayizan during this period, I am not particularly familiar with him.
Moreover, there was a huge gap between Ogata and Ayizan in terms of culture and age, so even if they wanted to chat, they didn't know what to talk about.
After the three Ogatas were silent for a moment in this slightly awkward atmosphere, Ayizan took the initiative to speak and break the silence.
"It'll take some time for the meat to be cooked anyway, so why don't I tell you about the heroic epic that has been passed down from generation to generation among us Ainu people?"
"Heroic epic?" Ating raised his eyebrows sharply, his eyes flashing with strong interest, "What is this?"
"Well... you can think of it as a story praising a heroic figure."
"Probably...similar to the stories of Momotaro, Ichisun Hoshi, and Rikitaro among you and others."
"We Ainu people don't have writing like you and the people."
"So we rely on word of mouth to pass on and remember our history."
"Some of these heroic epics that have been passed down from generation to generation among the Ainu people are fictional, but some are real events that actually happened in history."
Speaking of this, a hint of reminiscence appeared in Ayizan's eyes.
"In the past, when I was a child, my favorite thing to do was to follow the other children in the village and sit around the knees of the village elders to listen to them tell these heroic epics."
"Listening to these heroic epics was one of the happiest pastimes for us Ainu people during our childhood."
As Ayizan finished speaking, the interest in Ating's eyes became more intense.
"Okay, okay! Then tell us about your heroic epic!"
A-Ming loves listening to stories the most.
Her biggest hobby is listening to storytelling, Rakugo... listening to everything related to storytelling.
Ogata had never heard of the Ainu people's heroic epic before, so his interest was now slightly piqued.
Ayi Zan cleared his throat.
"Then let me tell you about one of the most popular epic poems - The Red Wheel."
"Ah, let me remind you first that many of our heroic epics are not like the historical stories you tell others about your history, which are about 'so and so' doing something."
"It's about what I did. I tell the story from the perspective of 'I'."
Because there were no terms like "first person" and "third person" in this era, Ayizan's words just now were a little difficult to understand.
Ogata summarized what Ayizan had just said - the point was that most of their heroic epics were told in the first person, rather than in the third person.
After clearing his throat again, Ayi Zan said slowly:
"In this big family, my foster sister is very generous and treats me very well. She has always been like this and has never changed. The beams in the house, the beautiful things, the yellow thorn twill wooden lunch boxes and boxes, all reflect each other's treasures, and there is a layer of brilliance. Ah, what a beautiful home I live in!"
…
The story told by Ayizan was not very long.
Ogata was quite interested at first.
But after listening to half of it, I felt a little sleepy...
On the contrary, Ating looked very interested from beginning to end.
The heroic epic called "Zhulun" mentioned by Ayi Zan has the following outline:
A long time ago, there was a boy who was adopted by a family. His adoptive parents and adoptive sister were very kind to him, and his family was very well off and he lived a happy life.
After the boy became a teenager, his adoptive parents told him about his biological parents.
It turns out that the boy's father was a human with looks and courage far beyond that of a god.
The boy's mother is a deity, the wolf goddess.
The boy's father was envied for his extraordinary courage and beauty. He fought day and night and finally accidentally drank poisoned wine at a banquet.
After his father died, his mother, who was a god, took his sister to the divine realm where their gods lived, leaving the boy alone.
After learning the truth, the male protagonist decided to avenge his biological father and embarked on the road of revenge.
After one battle after another, revenge was finally achieved.
The story ends with the boy marrying a beautiful girl named Ou Ya Lulu, returning to their hometown together and living a happy life.
Such a story might be considered interesting to someone like Ating who hasn't heard many interesting stories.
But for Ogata, such a story really did not excite him...
In his previous life, Ogata had read some books that recorded Greek mythology and Norse epics.
In his previous life, Ogata had seen many stories like this: "The protagonist is the product of a cross between a human and a god, and then for some reason he embarks on an adventure, and finally succeeds in getting a treasure or a beautiful woman, and lives a happy life"...
Ogata discovered that the routines of these heroic epics were very similar.
The protagonist is always the product of a cross between a human and a god. And the protagonist often starts with his parents offering sacrifices to the gods.
Then the protagonist will embark on an adventure for various reasons, and finally successfully marry a beautiful woman, retire somewhere with her, and reach the peak of his life.
Ogata was tired of this kind of clichéd story.
However, for the sake of politeness, Ogata still forced himself to pretend to be interested and listened to the end.
On the contrary, the glimmer of interest in Atachi's eyes, who had never come across this type of story before, was genuine.
After finishing this heroic epic, Ai Zan paused, then slowly said:
"The Red Wheel is one of the epic poems with a longer history."
“Perhaps few people remember when the Red Wheel was first passed down.”
“Some people feel that ‘The Red Wheel’ is something that really happened.”
“And some people think that Zhulun is fiction.”
"Many of our heroic epics are like this, because they have been passed down for so long that we, the descendants, can no longer remember whether these stories are real or fictional."
"I personally tend to agree that the Red Wheel is real."
At this moment, Ayizan suddenly grinned.
"Speaking of which - Mashima, you have the potential to become the protagonist of a new epic that will be passed down from generation to generation among our people."
"Me?" Ogata pointed at himself and raised his eyebrows.
"Mashima, your deeds in saving our village are more than enough to be compiled into an epic poem and passed down from generation to generation among our people."
"I don't know what other people think, but when I grow old, I will definitely tell the young children in the village about your story, Majima."
"Tell the young people in the village that there was a Japanese named Majima Goro who stepped forward and saved us from nearly being destroyed."
"Wow~" Omachi, who was sitting on Ogata's left, chuckled and used his right elbow to dig into Ogata's left abdomen. "So - is there any hope that my husband can be passed down from generation to generation like the protagonists of those heroic epics?"
"In theory, yes. But it is very difficult to make an epic poem continue to be passed down and become an immortal chapter that will never be forgotten."
“Only when Majima’s deeds become widely known will there be hope that Majima’s epic will be passed down forever.”
Ogata listened quietly the whole time.
From just now on, his expression became very strange.
A while ago, he was in the Ou region and met a person who planned to write a Kabuki play that would be passed down forever based on the story of Ogata Noriyoshi.
And now, in the icy and snowy Ezo, he encountered a similar incident again.
With any luck, the epic will have a chance to be passed down from generation to generation among the Ainu people - at least it will be circulated in China Village for a long time.
Ogata doesn't mind others telling his story.
Just don't modify it.
"Ayi Zan, if you want to tell the young children in the village about my deeds in the future, I have no objection."
"But remember not to say anything nonsense. If you describe me as a samurai with a beautiful topknot, or a beautiful 'samurai girl', I'll be very troubled."
Ayizan laughed a few times.
"Don't worry. I've witnessed your deeds with my own eyes, Majima, so I won't tell lies."
"Ayi Zan!" Ah Ting said at this time, "Tell us more about your heroic epic!"
"I'll tell you more later! Now - let's eat. The meat is cooked."
After saying that, Ayizan lifted the lid of the big pot in front of him.
The moment the lid was opened, an alluring aroma immediately hit Ogata and the others.
Ogata and the others took out their own bowls and each put a large piece of venison into their own bowl.
He picked up the venison from the bowl with chopsticks and brought it to his mouth. With just a light bite, he easily bit off the meat.
The venison was cooked to perfection. Even an old man with bad teeth would be able to bite through the meat easily.
Because the meat is cooked with mushrooms, when you bite into it, the flavor of the meat and the umami flavor of the mushrooms will spread in your mouth.
The unique flavor of the mushrooms is wrapped in and integrated with the fat of the meat, giving the tip of the tongue a pleasure that is difficult to explain in any words.
After spending some time with the Ainu people, Ogata has deeply realized that although the Ainu people are still in a backward tribal civilization, their food culture should not be underestimated.
Ah-Ming, who only recently started eating meat, is now gradually able to experience the beauty of meat - although her stomach has not yet completely gotten used to meat, so she still can't eat too much meat at every meal.
…
…
After quickly finishing his lunch, Ogata took off the sword from his waist, held the sword in his arms, and leaned against a big tree nearby.
After lunch, there will be a short break.
Many people choose to take a nap during this time.
Ogata really likes taking naps.
So after lunch, Obe held his knife carelessly, leaned against a big tree, and planned to take a nap.
By the way - at this moment when Ogata was about to take a nap, A-machi was washing her and Ogata's dishes and pots not far away.
Just as Ogata was sitting on the ground, holding his knife, leaning against the tree trunk and closing his eyes, he suddenly heard a series of footsteps approaching him quickly, which were quite unfamiliar to him.
Ogata remembered clearly what Atachi's footsteps sounded like.
The person approaching him was not Ating, and the number of people did not match.
Ogata opened his eyes and looked forward.
There were four girls walking quickly towards him.
Ogata was not unfamiliar with these four girls - they were the four girls with headbands of different colors on their heads.
After the Cossacks who attacked the village were repelled, although Ogata could occasionally see these four people in the village, he never had any chance to communicate with them again.
Ogata couldn't remember the names of the girls with red, purple and blue headbands, but he did remember the name of the girl with the orange headband - Ogata remembered her name was "Ashili".
The four girls, whose average age was less than 15, walked quickly in front of Ogata and lined up in a row.
"What's wrong? (Ainu)" Ogata asked in Ainu.
Ogata had previously laid the foundation of the Ainu language with the help of the "Common Guide to the Ainu Language".
During this period of time, he frequently came into contact and communicated with the Ainu people. Unknowingly, Ogata's Ainu language proficiency has improved by leaps and bounds, and he is now able to have simple exchanges with the Ainu people in Ainu.
The four girls who were standing in a row in front of Ogata looked at each other for a while.
Then, as if he had rehearsed it in advance, he bowed nearly 90 degrees to Ogata.
Akihiro, wearing an orange headband, stammered in unstandard Japanese: "Thank you very much... Ugh!"
However, she had just said half of her words when she accidentally bit her tongue and let out a low cry of pain. She raised her hand to cover her mouth with a painful expression.
Ogata felt pain just by looking at it.
Just when I was about to ask "Are you okay?", Yashili endured the pain of biting her tongue and continued in very unstandard Japanese:
"Thank you so much for saving us."
As soon as Yashili finished speaking, the other three girls with red, purple and blue headbands followed closely and thanked Ogata in the same unstandard Japanese.
After the four of them thanked Ogata in Japanese, they bowed deeply to him again, and finally ran away, quickly disappearing from Ogata's sight.
When Yashili and the others left, Ating, who had just finished washing the dishes and pots, came back and happened to see Yashili and the others leaving.
"I remember the girl's name seemed to be Yashili." A-Ming carried the freshly washed dishes and pots and asked Ogata, "What are they here for?"
"Nothing." Ogata said, "I just came to thank me."
At this point, Ogata smiled helplessly.
"Maybe because their Japanese was still poor, they left immediately after saying thank you."
…
…
at this time--
"Finally I got to thank that Kazuto." said the girl with a red headband who was walking in front.
"Finally, I don't have to learn Japanese language anymore." The girl with the blue headband stuck out her tongue. "I don't want to learn any Japanese language in my life..."
"Yashili, you seem to have bitten your tongue just now." The purple-headed girl cast a worried look at Yashili, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay..." Yashili stuck out her tongue and gently touched the place where she had just bitten with her fingers, "There's no bleeding..."
"I feel so embarrassed..." Yashili blushed, "I've practiced this many times, but I still bit my tongue..."
On the night of the Cossacks' attack, Ogata saved Yashili, who wanted to die with a Cossack.
It would be really unacceptable if I didn't even say thank you to the person who saved my life.
So ever since the Cossacks were defeated, Yashili has been thinking about thanking Ogata properly.
To this end, Yashili found a villager who could speak Japanese and asked him to teach her how to thank people in Japanese.
Her three best friends - the ones wearing red, blue and purple headbands - are learning Japanese with Ashley and plan to go with Ashley to thank Ogata later.
These three people are close friends of Yashili. Their friends were rescued, and they also want to thank the person who saved their friends.
In addition, there is another very important reason why these three people planned to thank Ogata - to alleviate some of the guilt in their hearts.
These three people had previously thought that Ogata looked ordinary, and might not even be as strong as the extremely strong men in their village - but it was this ordinary-looking Kazuto who saved their village.
This feeling of guilt drove them to thank Ogata properly.
Since the Cossacks were repelled, they have been studying Japanese.
The four of them thought that Japanese was easy to learn, and after learning it, they thanked Ogata profusely.
But after they really started studying, they realized that it was not sure whether it was because they lacked talent or because Japanese was just that difficult.
They have practiced for so long since the Cossacks were repelled, and the only Japanese they can speak that is "Thank you very much for saving us."
Since they really couldn't learn any other words, they could only helplessly express their gratitude to Ogata using the only Japanese words they had learned.
Fortunately, thanking Ogata went smoothly - the only minor incident that occurred was that Yashili, who was in charge of the opening, accidentally bit his tongue.
"It's okay!" The red-headband girl comforted Ashley, "It was just a small accident. You thanked him successfully in the end."
As soon as the girl with the red headband finished speaking, the girls with the purple headband and the blue headband followed suit to comfort Yashili.
"Ashley! I finally found you!"
At this moment, Yashili's grandmother's voice suddenly sounded from beside them.
Yashili's grandmother walked slowly towards Yashili with a hunched back.
"I was just looking for you, where have you been?"
In the fierce battle with the Cossacks that night, Yashili's mother and grandmother were lucky enough not to suffer serious injuries.
Seeing grandma asking them what they had been doing just now, Yashili answered immediately.
When she learned that they were going to thank Ogata, a hint of regret appeared on her grandmother's face.
"See, I was right, wasn't I? That Kazuto is a rare good man."
"It's a pity that the man has already started a family."
"If he hasn't started a family, I can just use the excuse of 'repaying the favor of saving my life' to get Yashili to marry him."
"If we can make him a member of our family, no one will dare to offend us in the future."
"Whatever. Since that person has no chance with our Yashili, then forget it. I hope there will be an outstanding man worthy of being my grandson-in-law on Heyezhe's side."
"Grandma, please don't say such things." Yashili said unhappily with a slightly red face.
Ever since Yashili turned 14, her grandmother has often talked about her marriage to Yashili.
Just as Yashili was about to continue to lecture her grandmother, a clear female voice suddenly sounded from behind her:
"Ashley!"
Yashili turned her head and looked back - the person who came was the famous "huntress" in their village: Shipari.
Hippari is one of the huntresses who has risen to prominence since the "disappearance incident".
She has a pretty good relationship with Yashili. When Yashili was learning archery, he asked Shipari for advice, so Shipari was considered half of Yashili's teacher.
Hippari walked quickly to Yashili and said:
"Yashili, our food is running low."
"I have just made a brief survey of the surrounding woods and found a lot of prey. I plan to take advantage of the time I have now to hunt some for tonight's dinner. I'm short of manpower right now. Do you want to come with me?"
Shipari looked at the three girls with red, purple and blue headbands.
"You guys wanna come together?"
"Okay!" The red-headed girl immediately replied excitedly, "Let's go hunting!"
The girls with purple and blue headbands nodded, indicating that they were willing to go together.
After hesitating for a while, Yashili finally nodded.