A while ago, when chatting with Ai Zan, Ogata and the others heard a lot of things about the Red Moon Fortress from Ai Zan.
Ayizan knew more about Red Moon Fortress than anyone Ogata had ever met before.
According to Ayizan, Red Moon Fortress was officially established 10 years ago.
Ten years ago, a group of Ainu people living in the north found that the place they lived in was too cold to be habitable due to drastic climate changes. So in order to protect the entire tribe, they had to start migrating south to find a new home.
The person who coordinated all matters concerning the move south at that time was Chanup.
During the journey south, many things happened and countless people died on the way to find a new home.
After going through untold hardships, they finally found a wooden fortress left behind by the Lucia people, so they moved in and rebuilt their home inside the fortress.
Chanup, who was in charge of coordinating all matters concerning the march south and who undoubtedly made the "first contribution to the march south", naturally became the village chief of the Red Moon Fortress and has remained so until now.
Over the past 10 years, Red Moon Fortress has been playing a role similar to that of a "refuge".
We continue to take in fellow countrymen who are homeless for various reasons.
The number of residents in the Red Moon Fortress is also increasing.
Why Chanup would do such a selfless act - Ayizan didn't know either.
The residents of Red Moon Fortress have a very distinctive feature, that is, they all wear bright red clothes.
This was requested by their village chief, Chanup.
The residents of Red Moon Fortress come from all corners of the world. In order to eliminate the differences among people as much as possible and prevent discrimination from happening in Red Moon Fortress, Chanup has formulated a number of regulations.
Everyone wears the same color and style of clothes - this is one of the rules set by Chanup.
This rule of "everyone wearing clothes of the same color and style" does play a certain role.
Ogata had heard about the various things happening at the Red Moon Fortress a long time ago.
Ogata's view of the Red Moon Fortress was... like looking at a person wearing a thin veil - it seemed as if he could see his face, but it seemed as if he couldn't.
After learning that a group of people from the Red Moon Fortress had suddenly visited, a strong curiosity emerged in Ogata's heart, and he wanted to go and see the residents of the Red Moon Fortress whose name he had long heard of.
After rushing towards Chepke with Ating, Ogata saw a large group of people in red clothes from afar.
——Just as Aizen said, the residents of Red Moon Fortress all wear red clothes...
Just as Ogata was thinking this in his mind, he noticed that the young girl standing at the front of the group of people in red seemed to have discovered him and Atachi.
The young girl said something to Chepke.
Then Chepke turned his head and looked at him and Ating, then turned back and said something to the people in red.
Then, the people in red looked at Ogata and Atachi with different emotions.
Ogata keenly noticed that the people in red looked at him with surprise, curiosity, disappointment, and... hostility.
Ogata noticed that some of these people in red looked at him with unfriendly eyes.
In addition to their gazes, there was something else on these men in red that caught Ogata's special attention.
It not only caught Ogata's attention, but also Atachi's.
Among the more than 40 people in red, more than ten of them had bows on their backs.
Instead, he was carrying a weapon that was very familiar to both Ogata and Atachi - a musket.
From the perspective of shape, it is not an outdated firearm like a matchlock gun, but a flintlock gun.
I just don't know whether it is a smoothbore gun or the most advanced rifled gun today.
Looking at the muskets among the men in red, Ogata narrowed his eyes subconsciously.
Soon, he and Ating walked to Chepke's side and stood in front of the men in red.
"Mashima Goro, Atachi, let me introduce you!" Chepke said, "This is Aizuma, the daughter of Chanup, the village chief of Heyezhe. (Ainu language)"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chepke's expression froze.
Because he realized that Ogata and the others couldn't understand what he had just said.
Just as Chepke looked around for villagers who could speak Japanese, Aisuma suddenly spoke up:
"Hello, are you Majima Goro? I've heard a lot about you. I'm Asuma."
The Japanese spoken by Asuma was a little unstandard, but still fluent.
Ogata raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Hello, I'm Majima Goro. This is Uchiko-Ama. You speak Japanese very well."
"Because I have learned from others." Aisuma smiled friendly, "I have heard about you from my father. Have you decided to come to our Heyezhe to find the couple you are looking for?"
Although the second half of Asuma's sentence was a question, there was no question tone in her tone.
Ogata and his team appeared in Chepke's team heading to Heyezhe - it's easy to understand what this means.
Before leading her men to encircle and suppress the gold diggers, Aisuma learned from her father that the villagers of Qina Village would soon move into their Heyezhe.
It was also at that time that Asuma learned about Goro Majima.
And they learned that Goro Majima might come to their Heyezhe with the villagers of Qina Village to look for a pair of Japanese people.
"Your father?" Ogata asked back.
"My father is Chanup, the village chief of Heyezhe," replied Aisuma.
——This person is actually He Yezhe's princess? !
Ogata couldn't help but look Asuma up and down several times with a surprised look.
It was quite rude to keep looking at someone like this, so Ogata quickly retracted his rude gaze and said seriously:
"Yes, that's right. My wife and I will stay in Heyezhe for a while, so please take care of us."
"You're welcome." The friendly smile on Asuma's face became even more intense. "You are my father's guests. It is reasonable for us to treat you well."
"But we can't guarantee that you will be able to gather clues about the couple you are looking for from our He Yezhe."
"It's okay." Ogata also showed a kind smile and said in a joking tone, "If we can't find any clues from you, then we can look for clues somewhere else."
…
…
There are more than 40 people in Aisuma's group. With their joining, Ogata's team of only more than 100 people has grown rapidly.
After Asuma and the others suddenly appeared, they rested for a while and then Ogata and the others set out again on the journey to the Red Moon Fortress.
"Aisuma."
A young man walking behind Asuma said to Asuma in front:
"That Majima Goro looks ordinary."
As soon as he finished speaking, the young man on the other side immediately took over and said:
"Yeah. He doesn't look as strong as me."
The image of Ogata was very different from what they had imagined.
In their imagination, the person who can “save the village alone” should look like someone who is not easy to mess with.
And no matter how they looked at it just now, they felt that there seemed to be nothing particularly surprising about Ogata.
"Don't judge a person by his appearance." Aizuma suddenly said, "He might be a person with extraordinary talent."
"Some people are not very strong, but they have extraordinary strength and endurance."
"Isn't Tanaibo such a person?"
Tanaibo - a young hunter from their Heyezhe.
He is neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, and looks ordinary, but he is extremely strong, with excellent physical strength and endurance. He is one of the best hunters in their Heyezhe.
After hearing what Asuma said, the people around nodded and showed expressions of "Yeah, that makes sense."
But at this moment, a young man who had been silent since before turned his head and looked at Asuma:
"...Aisuma. Since that Majima Goro and his wife are in this team...then I think it is necessary to remind Otane and the others not to do unnecessary things."
"Just now when I first met that Majima Goro, I noticed that Otane and the others looked at that Majima Goro and his wife with... not very friendly eyes."
When talking about the word "remind" and the name "Otane", the young man emphasized the tone.
As soon as the young man finished speaking, Asuma frowned.
"...That's true." Asuma sighed softly, "It is indeed necessary to remind Otane and the others not to mess around... Where are Otane and the others?"
"They seem to be walking behind." someone replied.
"Yeah, okay. I'll be back soon."
After saying that, Asuma trotted quickly towards the back.
Soon, she found the figure she was looking for.
"Otane." Asuma called out.
A young man in front of Aisuma turned his head and looked at Aisuma who was running towards him with an expressionless face.
Also turning their heads to look at Asuma were several young men of about the same age standing around Otane.
"Aisuma." The young man, whom Aisuma called "Otane", asked in a calm tone without any sadness or breath, "What's the matter?"
"Otane."
Asuma looked around - there happened to be no outsiders around.
After checking the surrounding environment, Asuma lowered his voice and continued to speak to Otane:
"Just now, when you first met that Majima Goro... you looked at Majima Goro and his wife with an unfriendly look, am I right?"
Otane did not answer immediately, but continued to look straight at Asuma.
Seeing that Otane did not respond, Asuma continued:
"That Majima Goro and his wife are the ones who saved the Kinar Village. And they are also considered my father's guests."
"Don't do anything weird with Majima Goro and his wife."
Asuma's "reminder" was straightforward, without any euphemism or unnecessary nonsense.
After hearing Asuma's reminder, Otane's expression remained unchanged.
After a moment's silence, he said quietly:
"...Aisuma, you should know why we are staying at Heyezhe, right?"
Otane looked at the young men next to him - these young men were from the same hometown as him.
“It’s because our village participated in the Kunasili Menasi battle two years ago.”
"We were defeated by the Japanese, and countless of our people were killed by them."
Otane's voice gradually became lower.
"Only a very small number of people managed to escape and make it to Heyezhe..."
" Do you think there is a way for us to look at that Majima Goro, at his wife, in a very kind way?"
"...I understand your feelings." Asuma frowned, "but..."
Before Asuma could finish his words, Otane raised his hand to signal Asuma not to continue.
"Aisuma, stop talking."
“We know what’s going on.”
"It was Chanup who took us in when we were left homeless after losing the war."
"We will not do anything that will displease Chanup."
“So we won’t do anything to Chanup’s guests.”
"But - don't expect us to be nice to that Majima Goro."
"...I understand." Asuma nodded, "As long as you don't do anything out of line, the rest is up to you."
After saying this, Asuma said no more to Otane and turned and left.
…
…
Among Ogata's group, there were many wounded, elderly, weak, women and children, so they could not walk fast or for long.
After walking for almost 2 hours, we arrived at a place suitable for resting, then stopped and rested on the spot.
When the team stopped to rest, Chepke suddenly called a young man from their village.
"Come, take this to the people in Heyezhe." Chepke handed a large jar to the young man.
"What is this?" the young man asked back.
"It's dried meat." Chepke said with a smile, "They are also our guests. We can't neglect our guests too much."
"Send the dried meat over and tell them that this is a treat from Qina Village. Please accept it and eat more."
"Yeah, okay!" The young man nodded vigorously, then held the jar of dried meat and ran quickly towards the direction of Aisuma and the others.
…
…
at the same time--
"Ashley, where are you going?"
Yashili's grandmother asked loudly to Yashili who was leaving in a hurry.
"Just now, Hippari invited me to go with him to make some of the meat of the prey into jerky!"
After leaving these words, Yashili walked away quickly without looking back.
Looking at Yashili's leaving figure, grandma curled her lips with a little displeasure.
"Really... If you have the time to make jerky with others, you might as well learn how to weave cloth to make clothes..."
In grandma's eyes, Yashili is good in everything.
But there is one very bad thing.
That's Yashili's weaving skills, which are terrible.
Grandma thought that the cloth she wove with her feet was more beautiful than the cloth Yashili wove with his hands.
In Ainu society, "how well a woman can weave cloth" is one of the important criteria for judging whether a woman is a good woman.
So, Yashili's poor weaving skills have always worried her grandmother...
But Yashili was a girl who had no interest in weaving and would rather do all kinds of messy things than learn weaving.
This made grandma even more worried...
Grandma swept the snow off a large rock nearby and sat on it.
Looking around and seeing no one around her, grandma sighed with loneliness on her face.
Since her husband passed away and her son disappeared in the "disappearance incident", the original family of five has become a family of three consisting of only her, her daughter-in-law and Yashili.
After the son disappeared, the home, which was once quite lively, suddenly became deserted.
After her son disappeared, the grandmother felt lonely more often than before because she had one less person to accompany her.
At this moment, the daughter-in-law has something to do.
And Yashili just ran off to make jerky with others.
Now only grandma is left here with nothing to do...
Grandma has only two hobbies - weaving and chatting.
The current environment does not allow for weaving.
Now that her daughter-in-law and granddaughter are not around, there is no one to chat with her.
For some reason, since she got older, my grandma has become more and more lonely.
The strong feeling of loneliness overwhelmed and crushed grandma like a rising tide, making her already hunched back even more hunched...
Just then, grandma suddenly heard a series of footsteps.
I raised my head and looked in the direction where the footsteps came from - I saw a young man holding a jar of something and running hurriedly.
"Hey!" The lonely grandma called out to the young man, "What's that thing in your arms?"
"It's dried meat!" The young man stopped and said, "The village chief just asked me to give this jar of dried meat to He Yezhe's people!"
The young man briefly told his grandmother the task of "delivering dried meat" that Chepke had just assigned to him.
After learning what was in the jar and what the young man was going to do, grandma looked thoughtful.
After thinking for a moment, grandma stood up.
"Let me help you deliver the dried meat." said grandma.
"Huh?" The young man looked surprised.
Before he could say anything more, grandma continued:
"I just happen to have nothing to do right now, so delivering some dried meat is just the right way to kill some time."
"This... isn't good." The young man looked hesitant.
"What's wrong with that?" The grandmother walked quickly to the young man and said, "Don't underestimate me. I'm not so old that I can't even move a jar. Come, hand the jar to me."
Under the strong request of his grandmother, the young man reluctantly handed the jar to her.
"Look! This little weight can't crush me."
"Let me do it." The young man said with a wry smile, "I don't have anything to do right now anyway, so I'll just go ahead and do it."
Grandma shook her head and said, "Since you are so worried about me, then come with me to deliver the dried meat."
At this point, grandma paused for a moment, then changed her tone to one that contained a hint of melancholy:
"I just wanted to find something to do..."
"My daughter-in-law and granddaughter are busy now."
"I am the only one sitting alone on the stone."
"I hate this feeling of being alone and having nothing to do..."
"Only by finding something to do can I feel better..."
Looking at the loneliness on his grandmother's face, the young man's expression froze.
All the words that I had prepared to refuse grandma's help were stuck in my throat and I couldn't say them out loud.
"...Okay then." After thinking for a moment, the young man said slowly, "Then come with me to deliver the dried meat. If your arms feel sore or something, remember to tell me in time."
Hearing the young man's words, grandma immediately smiled.
"Okay!"
Grandma strode forward, holding a large jar full of dried meat.
The young man followed closely behind her, ready to take over from his grandmother to hold the big jar at any time.
…
…
After Ogata and his companions stopped to rest, Aisuma and his companions who were traveling with Ogata and his companions also stopped and rested in their own preferred way.
Some people just lean against something and take a nap.
Some were wiping their weapons out of boredom.
But most of the people gathered together and started chatting about random things.
"By the way -" Suddenly, a young man said, "When Goro Majima saved the Qina Village, how many white-skinned people did he kill? I found that there seem to be many versions... The version I heard most often is that Goro Majima killed more than 60 white-skinned people."
"Eh? Did that Majima Goro kill so many people?" Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he only kill about 40?"
"You are all wrong. My version is the correct one. There is no way that Majima Goro could have killed so many people. He only killed 20 at most."
"If he only killed 20 people, how could he have defeated so many white-skinned people? That Majima Goro must have killed at least 70 people, right?"
…
The young man who first asked "How many white people did Goro Majima kill?" looked at his companions who were arguing fiercely in front of him with a confused look on his face.
He never expected that the question he casually raised would actually trigger such a big debate...
Aisuma was also confused now.
The reason why Asuma was confused was not because a big debate suddenly broke out.
It’s because she didn’t know until now that there are so many versions of “Mashima Goro chopped people”… From 20 people to more than 100 people, all kinds of numbers are there…
"Okay, stop arguing!" Finally, someone stood up and shouted loudly.
This person had a very loud voice, which drowned out everyone else's.
Everyone stopped arguing and turned to look at this man.
"There's no point in arguing like this." The man continued, "Let's just find a villager from Qina Village and ask him how many white people Majima Goro killed!"
"This way, we can know whose version is correct!"
As soon as this person finished speaking, the people around him looked at each other in confusion for a while, and then nodded one by one.
"That's true... Let's just ask a villager from Qina Village."
"But it seems that many villagers in Qina Village are very busy..."
"Does anyone have friends in Qina Village?"
At this moment, a young male voice that was unfamiliar to all of them sounded:
"Um... who is Asuma?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw two uninvited guests standing not far from them.
The two uninvited guests were none other than Yashili’s grandmother and the young man who came to deliver the dried meat.
The person who asked who Asuma was was the young man.
Everyone looked at the young man and his grandmother, and Aisuma immediately stood up and said she was Aisuma.
Afterwards, the young man took the jar of dried meat from his grandmother's arms and handed it to Aisuma, saying that it was a gift from their Qina village and asked them to accept it and eat as much as they wanted.
Aisuma politely declined several times, but finally accepted the jar of dried meat at the young man's strong request.
"You two came at the perfect time!" At this moment, a young man suddenly asked, "Are you two free?"
The "two" mentioned by the young man are referring to the grandmother and the young man.
And this young man was the one who had just suggested finding a villager from Qina Village to ask "how many white people Goro Majima has killed".
"What's wrong?" Grandma asked the young man.
The young man said, "We have heard about Majima Goro's deeds in helping your village fight off the white-skinned people."
“But we don’t know the details.”
"If you two have time, could you tell us how Majima Goro dealt with those white-skinned people, and how many white-skinned people he killed?"
Grandma uttered "Oh" softly.
"I see. Then you have found the right person."
Grandma smiled with a hint of pride.
"I happen to be free right now."
"And I am relatively familiar with Majima Goro."
After saying that, grandma walked to a large rock not far away, cleared the dirt on it, and then sat down on it.
Seeing that the grandma was willing to tell them in detail about Majima Goro, the people around them - including Asuma, all focused their attention on the grandma.
"Grandma," the young man who had just asked the grandmother and the young man if they were free and willing to tell them about Majima Goro, asked anxiously, "Can you first tell us how many white people that Majima Goro killed? Did he kill about a hundred white people?"
This young man supports the version of "Gorō Majima killed hundreds of white people."
Hearing the young man's words, grandma smiled.
Then he said quietly:
"100 white people? You really underestimated that Majima Goro."
As grandma finished speaking, everyone present showed surprised expressions.
What? So that Majima Goro has killed more than a hundred people?!
It wasn't just Asuma and the others who were shocked.
The young man who came with his grandmother to deliver the dried meat was also surprised.
Grandma, what are you talking about? The young man looked at his grandmother and asked.
As a young man who also participated in the fight against the white people, he knew very well that the number of white people who attacked their village that night was less than 100 at most...