Not long after Ogata and his companions set off—
Takta Village——
“W-What’s going on—?!”
Mogami stared blankly at the scene before him.
This morning, ever since the sun rose from the horizon, Mogami has been anxious - not for any other reason, but because Ize and others who were sent by him to clean up Takta Village have not returned yet.
As time passed by and the sun rose to nearly 8 a.m., Mogami finally could not sit still anymore.
Yize and his men had not returned yet, resulting in the entire First Army being unable to move forward.
After obtaining the consent of Shengtianmu, Mogami personally led more than 20 cavalrymen to Takta Village to see what had happened.
What happened next...is not hard to imagine.
After returning to Takta Village, Ize was so shocked by the scene before him that he almost fell off his horse.
Izawa and the soldiers who stayed in the village with Izawa last night, with their eyes wide open filled with fear or confusion, tightly covering their wounds, fell to the ground, their bodies cold - this was the scene that appeared in front of Mogami.
Not only Mogami was frightened by the scene, the twenty or so cavalrymen who followed Mogami here were also stunned and looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Were we attacked by the Ezo?" A cavalryman closest to the top clenched the spear in his hand and cast a vigilant look around.
"...No." Mogami shook his head, "Probably not."
"Look around to see if there are any other survivors or suspicious people around the village."
After quickly giving the order, Mogami dismounted from his horse with his sickle spear in hand and walked slowly towards Ize's body not far away.
After briefly checking Ize's body, Mogami immediately went to check the body of another soldier.
After looking at all the bodies of the soldiers at the scene in one go, Mogami's expression became solemn at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After Mogami finished checking the bodies, the twenty or so cavalrymen he brought with him also finished checking the area around the village.
"Sir, there is nothing unusual near the village."
"…Return to the camp." Mogami said solemnly, "We must report the situation here to uncle as soon as possible…"
…
…
The First Army Camp, somewhere in Yingkou——
"Lord Rochu, are you leaving?" Sheng Tianmu looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu in front of him with regret.
At this moment, Matsudaira Sadanobu was standing opposite Nagatenmoku, while Tachibana and his "expedition team" were waiting behind him.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was standing with his hands folded, smiled faintly:
"I have to return to the Second Army as soon as possible to reunite with Inamori. Thank you for your hospitality last night."
The Second Army, with 5,000 troops led by Inamori, is now three miles (11.772 kilometers) behind the First Army, which is not too far, but not close either.
The Shōtenmoku who is currently standing in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu is actually bidding farewell to him.
It was rare for the powerful Matsudaira Sadanobu to be in his camp at this time. Sheng Tianmu naturally wanted Matsudaira Sadanobu to stay in his camp for a while longer so that he could get close to him.
It’s a pity that Matsudaira Sadanobu, who wanted to return and reunite with Inamori as soon as possible, had no intention of staying in the First Army led by Namatame for a long time from the beginning.
The reason why he chose to come to the First Army’s camp last night was simply because he wanted to say hello to Sheng Tianmu.
After hearing what Matsudaira Sadanobu said, Shōtenmoku quickly replied:
"I don't deserve it. I just did what I should do."
Just when Sheng Tianmu was about to say something else, a general suddenly appeared from behind Sheng Tianmu with an anxious look on his face, then quickly ran behind Sheng Tianmu and whispered something to him.
After the general finished whispering, Sheng Tianmu's face suddenly changed.
Noticing the sudden change in Namatemuk's expression, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked:
"Shengtianmu, what happened?"
The role played by Matsudaira Sadanobu in this army of 10,000 was similar to that of a "commander-in-chief".
Although he does not have any command power, he has the power to inquire about all military affairs.
Even if he did not have this power, Matsudaira Sadanobu's status as an "elder councilor" was enough to prevent Sheng Tianmu from hiding any military affairs from Matsudaira Sadanobu.
So after Matsudaira Sadanobu finished asking the question, Sheng Tianmu quickly replied:
"It was Mogami, the man you met last night. He just brought me the latest military intelligence..."
"The soldiers who were responsible for clearing out Takta Village last night have not returned yet."
"The one I sent to check on the situation, Mogami, has just returned to the camp."
"According to Mogami's report, all the soldiers responsible for clearing Takta Village were killed tragically."
"Was he killed by the Ezo who came to reinforce Takta Village?" Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned slightly.
“No…” Sheng Tianmu shook his head with a serious face, “Almost all the soldiers were hit in the vital parts and were killed in one blow… The people who attacked those soldiers seemed to be people with extremely high levels of swordsmanship…”
"Someone with extremely high swordsmanship?" Matsudaira Sadanobu's slightly frowned brows suddenly relaxed, and his narrow eyes slowly widened...
…
…
Snap, snap, snap…
The "snapping" sound of horse hooves stepping on the snow came one after another at a very regular frequency.
Ogata's group of five people and two horses were moving slowly forward at a leisurely pace somewhere in the deep mountains.
Because the surrounding terrain was not in very good condition, Ogata and his companions did not dare to let the horses run too fast, and only dared to let the horses move forward at a "leisurely" speed.
Lilata, who was sitting between Atachi and Akiri, had enough energy to play with the small windmill that Ogata had just given her because Atachi and Akiri were protecting her from the front and back.
The Ainu people don't have things like windmills, so this little gadget that can be turned with a slight blow has attracted all of Lilata's attention since she got it.
Although judging from Lilata's condition, it is definitely a long time before she can recover, but her expression is much better than before. At least there is a little more smile on her face, and her eyes are no longer as dull as before.
Ogata had just been paying close attention to Lilata's condition.
Ogata felt relieved when he found that the small windmill he made was much better than he had imagined.
"Ah, Mr. Majima, look." At this time, Ayizan, who was sitting behind Ogata, suddenly pointed forward and said, "Is the road ahead blocked?"
Hearing Ayizan's words, Ogata hurried forward to take a closer look - he saw many big trees fallen on the road ahead, and thick snow was pressed on the trunks of each tree, blocking the way forward for Ogata and his friends.
"What's going on with these trees?" Ating stared at the trees that blocked their way.
"These trees may have been knocked down by an avalanche," Ayizan explained. "This is very common in the mountains. Avalanches occur from time to time and knock down some trees."
"What a hassle..." Ogata smiled bitterly, "The horse can't jump over it... I guess I have to take a longer way."
"I hope this detour won't take us too much time..." Ayizan, who was sitting behind Ogata, agreed with a wry smile.
…
…
The First Army Camp, the Commander-in-Chief's Camp——
All the generals of the First Army are now gathered in the commander-in-chief's camp.
As usual, they sat on stools, surrounding the exquisite sand table on the east and west sides.
It would be extremely inconvenient to kneel while wearing armor, so in the ancient Japanese army, generals would not kneel, but sit on small stools instead.
"Ha..." Kuroda, who was sitting next to Akizuki, yawned loudly and picked the dirt between his fingers.
After the yawn subsided, Kuroda turned his head and asked Akizuki beside him in a low voice:
"Qiuyue, let's guess why the military meeting was called so suddenly. I guess it might be another mission."
"I won't guess about such boring things." Qiuyue said lightly.
"How boring." Although he was rejected by Akizuki at the speed of light, there was no sign of frustration on Kuroda's face. He continued to pick the dirt between his fingers to pass the time.
Everyone in the camp silently waited for the arrival of Shengtianmu who suddenly summoned them.
call--!
When everyone was bored and doing their own things to kill time, the curtain at the entrance of the tent was suddenly pulled open.
All the generals turned their heads in response to the sound—and saw three figures appear at the entrance of the tent.
Two of the figures are Shengtianmu and Mogami, who are already familiar to everyone.
As for the third person - he was not wearing armor, only ordinary cloth, and compared with everyone present, he seemed a little out of place.
But after this person showed up, the generals in the camp showed two completely different expressions.
Most people, such as Akizuki and Kuroda, looked shocked.
A small number of people looked confused.
The man in cloth who followed Shōtenmoku and Mogami into the palace was none other than Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Those who looked puzzled after seeing Matsudaira Sadanobu were those who had never seen Matsudaira Sadanobu - but although they did not know who this person was, they could vaguely feel from the material of his clothes and his personal temperament that this person was not an ordinary person.
After Matsudaira Sadanobu and others entered the tent, all the generals in the tent stood up and saluted Matsudaira Sadanobu and Nagatenmoku.
Matsudaira Sadanobu and Nagatenmoku walked straight to the main seat and sat side by side.
As for Zuishang, he sat on the west side of the sand table, right opposite Qiuyue.
After taking his seat, Nagatenmoku introduced to everyone in the tent... or to be more precise, to those who didn't know what Matsudaira Sadanobunaga looked like, who was the person sitting next to him.
After learning that this seemingly gentle middle-aged man was none other than Matsudaira Sadanobu, the generals who had just shown doubts after seeing Matsudaira Sadanobu, their doubts on their faces quickly turned into shock like Akizuki and the others.
As for Akizuki—he had now recovered from his shock, and began to wonder why Matsudaira Sadanobu was here.
Matsudaira Sadanobu is currently in the barracks of their First Army - Akizuki knew about this last night, but because of his low level, he has never been able to meet Matsudaira Sadanobu.
As far as Akizuki knew, Matsudaira Sadanobu should have just left their First Army camp and headed for the Second Army located behind them to meet with General Inamori. Why is he here?
Not only Qiuyue felt confused, even Sheng Tianmu felt very confused now.
Just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was originally planning to leave, suddenly said that he was not in a hurry to leave after learning that the soldiers responsible for clearing Takta Village were killed by someone with extremely high level swordsmanship. He wanted to participate in the military meeting held for this incident.
Although Sheng Tianmu was confused, he didn't dare to ask any more questions.
After introducing Matsudaira Sadanobu, Namatemaki cleared his throat and said loudly:
"Mogami, tell everyone what you just discovered in Takta Village."
Sheng Tianmu, who has always been vigorous and decisive in doing things, did not exchange any pleasantries with everyone or say too much opening remarks. He went straight to the point.
After being called by Sheng Tianmu, Mogami responded with a "yes" and slowly told everyone present about the shocking changes he had just discovered in Takta Village.
…
…
"...I carefully examined each person's body."
"Almost all the bodies were injured in the face, throat and other vital parts that could not be protected by armor. Basically everyone was killed in one blow."
"Judging from the shape of the wounds, these wounds were caused by samurai swords. The mountain swords of Ezo could not have caused such wounds."
"At the same time, judging from the method used and the shape of the wounds, the person who killed all those soldiers... may be just one person."
"So I think that the person who killed all those soldiers is most likely a person with extremely high swordsmanship."
Mogami used the shortest possible sentences to recount what he had just discovered in Takta Village.
After Mogami finished speaking, almost everyone had a heavy expression on their faces.
In the current environment of peace that has lasted for a long time, not every general in the commander-in-chief's tent has excellent skills.
But even if they don't have excellent skills, they know how difficult it is to accurately hit the opponent's face, throat and other parts that are not protected by the armor when fighting against an opponent wearing armor.
If it was true as Mogami had just guessed—these 30 fully-armed soldiers were defeated by one person... then the level of this person's swordsmanship was simply unimaginable.
"So what's the situation now?"
Suddenly, someone spoke.
The person who spoke was Tiandao Xun, one of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
Unlike Qiuyue, who looks like a warrior, Tiandao is the kind of person who looks... particularly difficult to mess with.
Tiandao had a somewhat messy topknot and a long scar on his shaved head that ran from his forehead to the back of his head. It looked like a centipede was lying on top of his head, which was extremely scary.
The eyes are too long and thin, like a fox's eyes.
Although he is a military commander, his skin is unusually fair, giving people the feeling that if the sun shines on his skin, it might reflect light.
After Tiandao spoke, everyone focused their attention on him.
Tiandao seemed to enjoy the feeling of everyone waiting for him to speak. He stretched his mouth until it almost touched his ears and continued:
"So - was there a samurai with extremely high swordsmanship who killed all those soldiers?"
"It may not be us." Mogami replied softly, "It may also be that the Ezo learned the swordsmanship of us and the Ezo used our samurai swords. The appearance of the Ezo who can use our Japanese swordsmanship is not a rare thing."
“Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
After letting out a series of his signature duck laughs, Tendō cast a playful look at Mogami.
"Are you sure you didn't see it wrong? In fact, those soldiers were not killed by samurai swords, but by Ezo's mountain swords. And those soldiers were killed by more than one person, but a large group of people."
"Do you think I'm the kind of person who can't even tell whether the wound was caused by a samurai sword or a Ezo sword, and roughly how many people were killed?" A look of annoyance appeared on Mogami's face.
Tian Dao shrugged: "I'm just expressing a reasonable suspicion."
The conversation between Mogami and Tendō just now made the atmosphere in the camp instantly become like a taut bowstring.
But at this moment, Qiuyue suddenly spoke:
"...I'm more curious about why that 'mysterious swordsman' killed all our soldiers."
"Was the 'mysterious swordsman' invited by the Ezo people to reinforce the Takta Village, or to avenge the villagers of Takta Village?"
"Or did the 'mysterious swordsman' just happen to pass by that place, and then killed all our soldiers for some reason?"
Qiuyue's sudden remarks eased the already tense atmosphere.
"If the 'mysterious swordsman' just happened to pass by that place, why did he suddenly attack our soldiers?" a certain general from the Morioka domain asked back.
This question from the general raised the questions in the minds of many people present.
Anyone with a little bit of common sense knows what a person wearing a full set of armor represents.
They really couldn't imagine what kind of person would have the courage to attack the country's generals and soldiers.
“Could it be that they simply hate the shogunate?” Tiandao, still wearing an uncomfortable smile on his face, spoke again, “There are quite a lot of people like that.”
"For some reason, he hated the shogunate, so when he saw the shogunate's generals and soldiers, he couldn't help but attack them."
"Before that...ah, no. Isn't the now famous executioner Ittosai such a person? That executioner Ittosai was even crazier. He directly attacked Nijo Castle in Kyoto, shocking even the Emperor."
Because everyone was seriously participating in the military meeting, no one noticed that after Tiandao uttered the title "Executioner Ittosai", the expression of Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting next to Shengtianmu, changed slightly.
"... Mogami, have you sent anyone to investigate the area around the village? Have you found any clues about the 'mysterious swordsman'?" Kuroda, who rarely spoke at military meetings, spoke out at this rare moment.
Mogami shook his head: "I didn't find anything."
"That's going to be difficult." Kuroda sneered, "We don't even know where to start looking for that 'mysterious swordsman'."
"There are indeed no clues at the moment..." Mogami said solemnly, "But I think - even if there are no clues, we can't just ignore the 'mysterious swordsman' like this."
"He killed so many of us. If we just swallow our anger and ignore it, wouldn't it make people laugh?"
"And - I think it is extremely necessary to find out the identity of the 'mysterious swordsman'."
"It would be fine if he was just a helpless person who was targeting us in Japan for some reason."
"But if he is a member of a group that aims to fight against Japan... then I think this matter is very serious."
As soon as Mogami finished speaking, Sheng Tianmu, who had been silent all along and quietly listening to everyone in the camp expressing their opinions, finally spoke up:
"… Mogami is right."
"No matter what, we cannot ignore the man who killed our soldiers."
"Since our general was killed last night, even if he had a horse or dog sled, he couldn't have gone far."
"Let's go look for them now, maybe we can find them."
After he finished speaking, Sheng Tianmu raised his eyes and glanced at the generals in front of him.
"I have decided to send someone to hunt down the man who killed our soldiers. Who is willing to take on this important task?"
As soon as Sheng Tianmu finished speaking, most of the generals in the camp made impassioned speeches to promote themselves to Sheng Tianmu - Qiuyue was among them.
Compared to attacking the unarmed elderly, weak, women and children, this kind of mission where you might have to fight against experts is what Qiuyue is interested in.
But Qiuyue has many competitors.
Mogami, who sits directly opposite Akizuki, is also one of Akizuki's competitors.
"Lord Sheng Tianmu! Please allow me to lead my men to track down the thief who killed our soldiers!"
Mogami has always had a very loud voice, so his voice directly drowned out the voices of most people in the tent.
"All the soldiers responsible for cleaning up the battlefield died tragically. I have an unshirkable responsibility! So please give this task to me! Give me a chance to redeem myself and make meritorious contributions!"
Sheng Tianmu looked at Zui Shang deeply and said, "How are you going to track down that thief?"
"We are not without clues!" Mogami answered without hesitation, "As far as I know, there is a village called Siwasi Village in the deep mountains a little distance away from here."
"I plan to go to that village first to look for clues."
"The villagers of that village may know some useful information. I think it is very necessary to go and investigate."
Sheng Tianmu was silent for a while, then nodded slightly.
Looking at Sheng Tianmu's action, most of the generals in the tent who had just tried hard to promote themselves changed their expressions and thought to themselves, "Not good."
What happened next perfectly matched the worst-case scenario they had just imagined.
"...Okay." After a long silence, Sheng Tianmu said sternly, "You do have to bear some responsibility for the killing of those soldiers. Mogami, the task of tracking down this thief is now left to you."
"I will give you 50 elite soldiers who can ride horses, as well as 10 sets of bows and arrows and 5 iron cannons."
Having said that, Sheng Tianmu raised his head, glanced at the generals in the camp, and then called out the names one by one.
These generals named by Sheng Tianmu were all military commanders from other feudal states except Sendai Domain.
After calling out these names, Sheng Tianmu said:
"The people I just appointed are responsible for assisting Mogami in tracking down the thief."
These people who had just been named had just looked frustrated because they had not received the tasks, but now the expressions on their faces changed 180 degrees from frustration to ecstasy.
Although it is only an assistant, it is a million times better than being idle in the camp.
Only those who had to continue to be idle in the camp - such as Qiuyue and Tiandao, continued to have frustrated and... unhappy expressions on their faces.
After quickly assigning the tasks, Sheng Tianmu noticed that the person sitting next to him, Matsudaira Sadanobu, seemed to have a strange expression on his face.
"Master Lao Zhong," Sheng Tianmu asked, "what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"…Nothing." Matsudaira Sadanobu closed his eyes and sighed.
…
…
About a day later——
"Ah, I see it!" Ah-Ming put a hand on his eyes and shouted, "I see the smoke!"
Hearing what Atachi said, Ogata let out a long sigh: "We're finally here..."
Yesterday morning, after they officially set out for Sivasi Village and prepared to hand over Lilata to her grandmother who lived in Sivasi Village, Ogata and his companions encountered a number of unexpected events one after another.
First of all, the road ahead was blocked by trees that were washed down by the avalanche. We had to spend a lot of time taking a longer route.
Then, perhaps because Lilata was still young and had not yet memorized the way to the village where her grandmother lived, or because her mental state was not very good, Ogata and the others had to stop and walk frequently to allow Lilata to slowly remember how to get to the village of Sivasi.
It would have taken only half a day to reach Siwasi Village on horseback, but due to these accidents, it took Ogata and his companions nearly a day to finally see the smoke from cooking fires.
Although it took a lot of time, fortunately we finally arrived at our destination smoothly.
Ogata tapped the horse's belly with his heel, urging the carrot under his crotch to run faster, and headed straight towards the rising smoke in front.
After crossing a small snowfield, Ainu houses appeared within Ogata and his team's field of vision.
Out of courtesy, when they were still a short distance away from the village of Siwasi, Ogata and his companions got off their horses and led the horses slowly towards the village ahead.
After getting a little closer to the village, the villagers finally discovered Ogata and his party who had suddenly visited them. The young and strong men in the village ran out of the village with all kinds of weapons, blocking the village and Ogata and his party, looking at them from afar with a vigilant look on their faces.
"Don't be nervous! We have no ill intentions! (Ainu)"
At this time, Ai Zan shouted loudly in Ainu to the villagers in front of him.
"Excuse me, is Ulape here? (Ainu)"
Ulape – the name of Lilata’s grandmother.
Looking at the familiar Ainu faces and listening to the familiar Ainu language, the villagers of Siwasi Village looked at each other in surprise.
…
…
“How could this happen…! (Ainu)”
An old lady who was about 60 years old screamed and covered her face with her hands while sobbing.
This mother-in-law is Lilata’s grandmother, Ulape.
Ogata and his family are now at Urape's home.
Just now, Ogata and his companions had informed Ulape and the chief of Siwasi Village who were listening nearby of what had happened in Takta Village.
The village chief was very concerned about the identities and purpose of Ogata and others, so he asked to listen before they started speaking.
Ogata came to Sivasi Village this time, not only to send Lilata back to her relatives, but also to inform the villagers of Sivasi Village to seek refuge quickly and avoid the war.
Who knows what the shogunate army will do next, and which village will be wiped off the map?
Ulape covered his face and cried, which brought back bad memories for Lilata who was standing beside him. She looked down at the windmill that she was holding tightly in her hands and shed tears silently.
Ogata and the others did not make any noise to disturb them, and just let them cry - in the face of such a tragedy, if they did not rely on crying to vent their emotions, they would probably go crazy.
The village chief who was sitting next to Urape sighed silently, then gestured and looked at Ogata who was sitting opposite him, indicating that Ogata should go out with him.
Ogata understood the meaning of the village chief's eyes and actions, nodded slightly, then stood up and walked out.
And Ayizan, who has evolved into an excellent "translation tool", also went out with Ogata.
After walking out of Urape's house with the village chief, the village chief asked Ogata impatiently:
"Do you know how many Japanese troops are there in this area?" (Ainu)
"As far as I know, the total number of troops currently in the vicinity is about 3,000," Ogata said bluntly, "and the follow-up troops are about 7,000 more."
This information was what Ogata had asked Izawa before.
After listening to Ayizan's translation, the village chief's mouth slowly opened in surprise.
10,000 - this is an astronomical figure for the village chief who is used to living a peaceful life. It would take hundreds of large settlements to gather so many people...
"Village chief, I suggest you take the villagers to hide in the mountains as soon as possible." Ogata continued in a calm tone, "If you continue to stay in the village...something bad might happen."
Ogata's choice of words and sentences is very euphemistic.
Although he was being euphemistic, the village chief was no fool and naturally knew what those "bad things" that Ogata was talking about were.
"...I understand." The village chief let out a long sigh, and then solemnly said to Ogata: "Thank you for sending the child here and informing us that there are Japanese troops nearby. I will immediately arrange for the villagers to take refuge in the mountains. (Ainu)"
"We must move as quickly as possible," Ogata added. "After all, no one knows how the army will act next..."