Mogami has been in a bad mood since this morning.
The sudden death of Izawa and others caused his first battle of this campaign, which was supposed to end "very perfect", to have some stains on it.
This made Mogami more depressed the more he thought about it.
However - while feeling depressed, Mogami is also very excited.
Because his uncle gave him the task of tracking down the "mysterious swordsman".
This is a task that may accomplish great things.
If the "mysterious swordsman" is really a member of an organization determined to oppose Japan, then it would be a great achievement to destroy this organization.
The credit is great enough to make Zuigami drool.
So after leading the generals and soldiers assigned to him by Sheng Tianmu out of the camp, Zuo Shang showed a high-spirited look and vowed to find out the true identity of the "mysterious swordsman".
At this moment, Mogami was leading his soldiers to rest in a forest.
While drinking big gulps of water, Motogami carefully looked at the map in his hand to confirm their current location and how far they were from their destination, Siwasi Village.
Siwasi Village is a village not far from the Red Moon Fortress, so the Japanese army naturally has a map of its surrounding area.
In order to destroy the Red Moon Fortress in one fell swoop, the shogunate had long ago sent someone to draw a map of all the areas around the Red Moon Fortress.
After confirming that they were not far from the Siwasi village and that most of his men had rested, Mogami called out loudly, informing all his men to prepare to set off again.
"We're not far from the Siwasi village!" Mogami shouted to his subordinates, "Everyone, cheer up!"
“People may not welcome us.”
Having said this, a meaningful smile appeared on Mogami's face.
"So we are all prepared to 'respond well' to their 'warm welcome'!"
…
…
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
"Don't bring these heavy and worthless things!"
"You don't need to bring too much food! Just remember to bring a bow and enough arrows! As long as you have a bow and arrows, you don't have to worry about food!"
…
At this moment, Sivasi Village is bustling with activity.
But - they were not holding a festival, they were just busy escaping.
Their village chief has just informed the entire village that the Japanese army is now not far from their village. In order to avoid being affected by the war, all villagers are required to immediately take important things and hide in the nearby mountains.
In addition to informing the villagers that there were Japanese troops nearby, the village chief also informed the villagers that Takta Village, which was not far from them, had been razed.
The reason why he wanted to inform the whole village of this tragedy was to make everyone in the village obey his orders and temporarily abandon the village and flee into the mountains.
The effect of the village chief's strategy was quite significant - after learning that Takta Village was razed to the ground by the Japanese army and that the only known survivor was the little girl Lilata, those who had originally complained about "temporarily abandoning the village" all shut up.
Although their Siwasi village is close to Takta village, the relationship between the two villages is not close, and only a few villagers have close ties with Takta village.
However, even if the relationship is not close, one cannot help but feel sad when learning that his neighbor has suffered such a tragedy.
Moreover - after learning that Takta Village was razed, they truly felt as if the fire was about to burn their eyebrows.
Who knows if they will attack Siwasi village in the future?
So - after the village chief informed the whole village of the two pieces of news, "Taketa Village was annihilated" and "The Japanese army is nearby", the tranquility of Siwasi Village, located deep in the mountains and like a paradise, was broken.
There was no need for the village chief to give any instructions or supervision. All the villagers spontaneously put in their utmost energy and effort to collect the important things in their homes.
While the villagers of Sivasi were busy trying to avoid the war, Ogata and his friends were at the entrance of the village, receiving a farewell from Lilata and her grandmother.
…
…
"Thank you so much... I don't know how to thank you properly... (Ainu language)"
Lilata's grandmother, Ulape, has lived to such an old age and still has some experience.
She knew that she had to bow to everyone, so in order to show her sincere gratitude, Ulape bent her slightly hunched back and bowed to Ogata and others in a somewhat awkward manner.
"You're welcome." Ogata returned the greeting. "We just did what we could."
Ogata is actually not very good at dealing with situations where others thank him.
Every time someone thanked him, Ogata would respond directly with this very versatile phrase to save trouble.
This sentence is - "You're welcome, we just did what we could."
Urape is a native of Siwassi. Her husband, Lilata's grandfather, passed away a few years ago. In the past few years, she has been living a quiet life alone in Siwassi. There is nothing valuable in her home.
The only things I could give as gifts were some dried meats that I made myself and that I was confident about the taste of.
Just now, in order to thank Ogata and others who rescued her precious granddaughter and brought her to her safely, Ulape gave all the freshest dried meat in her home store to Ogata and others.
After all, this was a token of their goodwill, and the dried meat was not so valuable that it was difficult to accept, so Ogata and the others gladly accepted the dried meat.
Originally, Urape wanted to invite Ogata and his friends to stay for dinner, but they declined on the grounds that they were leaving.
Ogata and others had no intention of staying in Siwasi Village for long. They had to hurry back to the Red Moon Fortress and inform the villagers of Qina Village that "Red Moon Fortress was in danger."
Besides - Ogata and the others are now embarrassed to stay in Siwasi Village.
The Japanese army was nearby, forcing the villagers of Siwasi to temporarily abandon their village and live as savages in the mountains for a while.
Ogata and Atachi, two people with human faces, stayed in Siwasi Village and inevitably received strange looks from the villagers.
Rather than receiving strange looks and making both parties uncomfortable, it is better to just leave gracefully.
Now, Ogata and his friends were standing at the entrance of the village, holding radishes and grapes, ready to leave.
The only people who came to see him off were Lilata and Ulape.
Lilata was now being held by Ulape with one hand, while the other hand continued to hold the small windmill.
After Ogata and Urape bowed to each other, he squatted down so that his eyes were level with Lilata's.
"Goodbye." Ogata smiled, "Take care of yourself. (Ainu)"
Ogata moved his tongue and tried to utter a sentence in Ainu language that was a little unstandard but still .
After staying in Ezo for such a long time, in an environment where everyone around him speaks Ainu, Ogata's Ainu language proficiency has improved by leaps and bounds, and he can now speak some simple Ainu.
After Ogata finished speaking, Lilata, who was looking at Ogata with her dark eyes that had regained some brightness, pursed her lips and squeezed the windmill in her hand.
Then he suddenly let go of Ulape's hand, reached into his inner clothes, and took out a triangular object as big as a child's palm.
"This is for you... (Ainu)" Lilata whispered in the soft voice unique to young girls.
After listening to Ayizan's translation, Ogata took the thing that Lilata handed to her with a puzzled look on her face.
This thing is a triangular object made of glass beads and looks like an ornament.
After Ogata took the item, Ayi Zan beside him quickly explained to Ogata:
"This is called 'Houheqili'. It is an ornament usually worn on the forehead by boys. When they kill prey for the first time by themselves, they will cut it off."
As soon as Ayizan finished his explanation, Ulape also spoke up to explain to Ogata and the others the origin of Houheqili.
After listening to Ayizan's translation, Ogata learned that this Houhechili originally belonged to his Lilata's father.
After Lilata's father killed his first prey, he cut off the thick hochili he had been wearing on his forehead and kept it forever.
After Lilata was born and grew up, she thought the Houheqili was very beautiful, so her father gave it to Lilata, and Lilata always regarded it as a treasure and carried it with her.
After learning that this Houheqili is a very meaningful accessory to Lilata, Ogata's face showed some hesitation.
"Thank you for your kindness, but this is very embarrassing for me..."
Before Ogata could finish his words, Lilata interrupted him as if she had guessed what he would say.
"My father once told me that when I receive help from others, I must repay them and not be ungrateful..."
"Although this is not a very valuable item, it is the only thing I have that can be used as a thank you gift... I hope you can accept it... (Ainu language)"
At this point, Lilata paused.
After a pause, the corners of her mouth, which had been drooping since the night before, now slowly pulled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Although the pull-up amplitude was small, it was clear enough to see that she was smiling.
"Thank you for saving me before. Please take care of yourself in the future..." (Ainu)
Lilata's words were the only ones that Ogata understood directly out of all the words she had just said.
This was the first time Ogata saw Lilata smile.
Looking at the faint smile on Lilata's face, Ogata was stunned.
"...Yes." Ogata nodded, "Then I'll accept this Houheqili. Thank you for your gift, I like it very much, thank you."
Ogata lowered his head and looked at the exquisite ornament in his hand. A smile with some complicated emotions slowly appeared on Ogata's face.
"...Thank you." Ogata rubbed the Atsugi in his hand with his fingers, and said thank you to Lilata in front of him.
…
…
The team of five people and two horses changed back to four people and two horses.
With Urape and Lilata watching them off, Ogata and the others set out on their journey again.
After a short while, Ulape, Lilata, and Siwasi Village all slowly disappeared behind Ogata and his friends.
Ogata and Atachi pointed the heads of their horses at a path in front of them that had been trampled by people, and let the horses move straight forward along the path at a moderate pace.
"ha……"
At this time, Atachi, who was riding a horse beside Ogata, suddenly let out a sigh of relief.
"What's wrong?" Ogata asked, "Are you tired?"
"I'm not tired. I'm just relieved that I successfully sent Lilata to her family. I've been busy for so long, and it's finally not in vain..."
"It's a pity that I didn't get any great rewards... Never mind, I'll just consider it as doing a good deed."
"We were paid, weren't we?" Ogata on the side said.
"Those dried meats?" Ating asked back.
"And this." Ogata smiled and raised the Atsuhochiri that he had just received from Lilata.
"Do you like this jewelry very much?" asked Ating.
"Rather than saying I like it, it's better to say I feel this ornament means a lot to me." Ogata carefully put the Atsuho Chili back into his arms, "My sword... besides killing enemies that harm me, it can still do something else..."
"I don't understand some of it..." Having never been to school or studied hard, Ating's brain is not that bright...
"You'll understand later." Ogata shrugged.
…
…
Not long after Ogata and the others left, Ulape took Lilata back to her home and began to pack the things they would take into the mountains.
Because Ulape had been living alone for the past few years, there were not many important things in the house that she needed to take away. In a short while, she had packed all her luggage.
While Urape was packing, Lilata, who had just smiled faintly at Ogata, now exuded a stronger "human" aura than before.
However, it will still take some time for her to return to being the innocent little girl she once was.
While Urape was packing his luggage, Lilata sat in the corner of the house, fiddling with the blades of the windmill in her hand with her fingers, expressionless.
Urape has been silently paying attention to Lilata's condition.
Looking at Lilata's current appearance, Urape couldn't help but feel sad.
His own daughter and son-in-law died tragically - Ulape felt no less grief than Lilata.
But she still suppressed her sadness and tried to appear strong in front of Lilata.
Because she knew: Lilata now only had her as an elder to rely on.
If she didn't stand up and just kept crying, she would only set a bad example for Lilata.
So Ulape could only suppress all the sadness in his heart.
Urape knew that the most important thing now was to help Lilata recover from the trauma as soon as possible.
Ulape pretended to be strong and packed his luggage while thinking about how to make Lilata happy.
Soon—she had an idea.
Having made up his mind, Ulape quickly packed the luggage he was going to take away, tried hard to suppress the sadness in his heart, put on a warm smile, and walked quickly towards Lilata.
"Lila, play here by yourself for a while. I'm going to go out for a while and will be back soon."
Lilata nodded slightly.
After Lilata nodded, Ulape quickly walked out of his house and found the village chief who was patrolling the village and urging everyone to pack their luggage quickly.
After finding the village chief, Ulape said to him directly:
"Village leader, I want to take Lilata to the forest to pick some mushrooms. Is there still time for us to go?"
"Picking mushrooms?" the village chief frowned and asked.
"Lilata loves the mushroom soup I cook the most. She always clamored for me to cook mushroom soup and followed me to pick mushrooms. So I wanted to make something she likes to make her happy. Taking her out to pick mushrooms can also help her relax."
The village chief naturally knew what Lilata's current condition was.
The village chief felt very sympathetic towards such a young girl who had encountered such a thing.
After thinking for a moment, the village chief nodded.
"...Okay. Anyway, there's still quite some time before everyone finishes packing, but you guys should go and come back quickly."
Seeing that the village chief agreed, Ulape nodded with some joy and excitement.
After quickly returning home, Ulape walked quickly towards Lilata who was still sitting there playing with the windmill.
"Lilata, how about we go to the forest and pick some fresh mushrooms and make mushroom soup tonight?"
"Mushroom soup?" There was a faint light flashing in Lilata's eyes.
After hesitating for a moment, Lilata nodded slightly.
Ulape, smiling happily, stretched out his hand to Lilata.
Lilata raised her little hand, grabbed Ulape's wrinkled big hand, and slowly stood up from the ground.
…
…
"Why is the road here blocked again..." Ating looked at the blocked road ahead with displeasure.
There were fallen trees in their way, which must have been crushed by the avalanche.
"This is a common thing in the mountains." Ayizan explained to Ating beside him in a helpless tone.
"There's nothing we can do." Ogata sighed. "Since the road here is blocked, we can only temporarily return the way we came and then find another way."
"This is so troublesome..." Ating also sighed.
…
…
Siwassi Village——
"Village chief, half of the families have packed their luggage." A young villager reported to the village chief in front of him.
The village chief nodded slightly and let out a long sigh.
The villagers packed their luggage much faster than she had imagined.
At this speed, we hope to leave the village before dark.
The village chief felt that the huge rock in his heart had fallen a little, so he raised the pipe in his hand and took a deep puff.
"Well, thank you for your hard work." The village chief patted the young man on the shoulder.
"Village chief, do you want to take a rest?" The young man said slowly with hesitation, "You haven't had a rest since just now. I think it's better for you to take a rest first..."
The village chief shook his head and spit out a big eye circle: "No, I'm not that tired..."
"Village chief! Village chief! Village chief!"
A sudden anxious shout interrupted the village chief's words.
The person who made this anxious shout was a young villager with cold sweat on his face and fear in his eyes.
The villager ran towards the village chief and shouted to him loudly:
"Village Chief! There are Japanese soldiers! There are Japanese soldiers approaching from the west of the village!"
Sand.
The pipe in the village chief's hand fell to the snow at his feet, making a dull "slap" sound.
The village chief didn't care about his pipe, and ran towards the west of the village with his body moving faster than his brain.
After arriving at the west side of the village, the village chief saw snowflakes rolling out from the western horizon.
And these snowflakes were kicked up from the ground by the hooves of many horses...