As soon as Upanu finished speaking, a voice full of impatience suddenly shouted:
“That’s enough!”
The one who made this loud shout was Retannoy.
"Upanu, do you know what you are saying?" Retannoe glared at Upanu. "I thought... since you have fought with the Japanese and have a blood feud with them, you would definitely be the one who supports defending our homeland the most..."
"It is because I have fought with the Japanese that I advocate surrender," Upanu said calmly, "It doesn't matter if you laugh at me as a coward or call me a timid person."
"Surrendering can continue the bloodline of the tribe. Let everyone live."
"Being alive and continuing the bloodline is more important than anything else."
Having said that, Upanu put down the pipe in his hand and looked at Chanup not far away.
"Chanoop. Stop hesitating there."
"Give the order to open the city and surrender."
"You are in charge of the entire Heyezhe. Protecting the lives of all the members of the Heyezhe clan is what you should do most."
"We cannot waste our lives in a war that has little chance of winning."
"...Upanu." Chanup put down the pipe in his hand, lowered his head and asked softly. "Do you know what the consequences will be if you abandon your homeland and surrender to the people?"
"Of course I know what the consequences will be if I surrender." Upanu asked softly.
"We have surrendered to the Japanese. We will most likely be forcibly relocated to the 'Japanese land' and forced to become 'naturalized Ainu' and be supervised by the Japanese for the rest of our lives."
"But like I said earlier - doing this will keep everyone alive. Even though it's humiliating."
Chanup raised his eyes and looked at Upanu .
…
…
Red Moon Fortress, Kunoa's clinic—
Kunoya has not returned yet.
"Alright, alright." After swallowing the porridge in his mouth, Ating said hurriedly, "I'm full."
Ogata handed the bowl of porridge, which was still half full, to Ating: "Would you like to eat a little more?"
"I have no appetite now... Do you think I will still have an appetite in this situation...?" Atachi took back the bowl handed to him by Ogata, with a somewhat anxious tone, "Okay, the meal is ready, let's quickly think about how to solve the current dilemma. How should we leave here now?"
Just now, after Ogata came back and told Atachi what happened outside, Atachi anxiously asked Ogata what to do.
In response to Ah-Machi's urgent question, Ogata replied, "Don't panic, don't be anxious. It's lunch time now, eat lunch first. You have to eat on time now so that you can get better as soon as possible."
After giving this answer to Ating, Oobian cooked their lunch for the day as he pleased, and then semi-forced Ating to eat.
Ah-machi was powerless to resist and could only obediently eat the spoonful of porridge handed to her by Ogata.
A-machi didn't know whether Ogata wanted to calm her down by having her eat, or he simply wanted her to eat on time and get well soon - maybe both.
No matter what Ogata's plan was, after eating the porridge that Ogata handed to her spoonful by spoonful at a leisurely pace, Atachi's originally panicked heart did unconsciously become a little calmer - of course, only a little calmer.
Grabbing the bowl that Atachi had just returned, Ogata said softly with a helpless tone:
"A-Ming, don't be so excited. What if you pull the wound?"
"The shogunate army is outside right now. This is a matter of life and death." Atachi said, "How can I not be anxious?"
At this point, Ating paused.
The expression on his face became complicated.
"...Part of the reason why I'm so anxious to discuss a solution with you is because of you, Ayi."
"Me?" Xu Fang looked puzzled.
"...Don't treat me like a fool."
A-Machi pursed her lips and looked straight at Ogata, meeting his eyes.
"You told me before that you had thought of a way to break the impasse if the shogunate arrived before my body recovered."
"But I could already see at that time that you were completely lying to me. You just made up this lie to comfort me. You didn't think of any way to get out of this situation."
The expression on Ogata's face froze.
"After all, I've been sleeping in the same bed with you for such a long time." A-Ming continued, "I've already figured out some of your little habits."
"You can lie to others without blinking."
"But when he lies to me, his eyes will subconsciously avoid looking me in the eye."
"...Do I have such a habit..." Ogata smiled with a bit of embarrassment and raised his hand to touch his left eyelid.
Ah Ting: "I knew you wanted to comfort me at that time, so I didn't expose you in person and cooperated with you."
"I know that you don't have any way to break the impasse, so I'm eager to discuss with you a method that can keep both of us safe..."
Ogata listened quietly, then slowly lowered his hand that was touching his eyelids.
"...Since you have seen through me, I won't hide anything anymore."
Ogata gave Atachi a smile that contained a hint of apology.
"You're right. I really didn't know how to get out of this dangerous situation."
"It's just a lie I made up so you can recover from your injuries in peace."
"but--"
Ogata suddenly changed the subject.
"It's not like I haven't done anything other than taking care of you these past few days."
"These past few days, whenever I had some free time, I used it to think about what to do if we were trapped by the shogunate army."
"I really had no idea before."
"But after a few days of thinking, I now have a way... that may help me get out of this predicament."
For some reason, Ogata paused halfway through his sentence and looked hesitant.
Hearing what Ogata said, a hint of anticipation appeared on Atachi's face: "What method? Tell me quickly."
Ogata: “…”
Ogata did not answer immediately.
Instead, he remained silent with hesitation.
Looking at Ogata who looked hesitant, Atachi felt a faint sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
After a moment of silence, Ogata suppressed the hesitation on his face and said slowly:
"We can't surrender to the shogunate army. They were attacked by Ogata Ittosai a while ago. If they suddenly see a young samurai of the same age and build as Ogata Ittosai in a place like this, they will definitely conduct rounds of inspections on us."
"Red Moon Fortress is surrounded by rivers on three sides. The north, west, and east sides are adjacent to wide rivers, and only the south side is connected to the land."
"And the Red Moon Fortress only has one gate that connects to the land in the south."
"The only exit to the south has been blocked by the shogunate army... The only way to get you out is to drive away these shogunate troops outside the city..."
Before Ogata could finish his words, Atachi widened her eyes and shrilly said:
"Are you crazy?! You want to repel the Shogunate troops outside the city?!"
"...I know this is difficult." Ogata said softly, "But after thinking about it, I think there is no other way to take you away from here."
"What on earth are you thinking about?" Ating's face turned red with excitement, his chest heaving violently, and he said to Ogata bluntly, "Is it because you successfully broke into the military camp and killed the man who seriously injured me that gave you too much confidence?"
"Assassinating someone in a military camp and defeating an entire army - do you know how difficult the two are... Ugh...!"
Before he could finish his words, Ating suddenly showed pain on his face and raised his hand to cover his wound that was wrapped in layers of linen.
Ogata was shocked by Atachi's action.
"Ating, what's wrong?" Ogata asked anxiously.
…
…
The meeting — again ended in failure.
After Upanu proposed direct surrender, some of the original "pro-escape" people became "pro-surrender" people.
Those who originally advocated escape were a group of people who felt that they had no chance of winning a head-on battle with the enemy army. It was expected that some of them would transform themselves into "surrender advocates."
So, the original battle between the "pro-war faction" and the "pro-escape faction" turned into a battle between the "pro-war faction" and the "pro-surrender faction".
The "war faction" headed by Retanoë refused to give in - nor did the "surrender faction" headed by Upanu.
And Chanup was as usual - he didn't reveal his position at all.
The two groups argued until they were red in the face and exhausted.
Because both parties were exhausted, the meeting had to be temporarily suspended and resumed tonight.
As soon as the meeting was adjourned, Chanup was one of the first to leave the room.
After Chanup left, several people who sat next to Reitanoe and were members of the same "war faction" as Reitanoe sighed:
"Chaanup...what on earth is he doing...it's already this time? Why hasn't he said anything? Does he want to fight or surrender?"
"Alas... I can understand Chanup... After all, given his position, he must be careful with his words and actions."
"We need leadership from Chanup... He has been silent, what should we do..."
"Humph. In my opinion, Chanup is just a coward. He doesn't dare to fight, nor does he want to surrender. He just drags it out like this. The original 'hero' who led us to find and build this new home has also become a coward..."
Reitannoe had been listening quietly to the conversations of the people around him.
Listen quietly - and then leave silently without a glance...
…
…
Chanup was walking home with his pipe in his pocket.
He did not choose to take the main road, but chose to walk on a small path with almost no pedestrians - because now he did not want to be surrounded by his own people and be asked by them "what to do".
Right now, he didn't know how to answer this kind of question...
Just as Chanup was about to return to his home, he suddenly heard the voice of an old acquaintance behind him:
"Chaanup."
Chanup stopped, turned his head and looked back at the acquaintance who called him - Retannoe.
Retannoe walked towards Chanup with an expressionless face.
"Chanoup. What on earth are you doing?" Retannoy didn't even exchange pleasantries with Chanoup. He said directly to Chanoup, "Why do you keep silent about your own thoughts?"
"Do you want to fight Kazuto to the death, or do you want to kowtow to him like a coward? Can't you just say it straight out?"
Chanup smiled bitterly and subconsciously wanted to raise the pipe in his hand to smoke - but just as he raised the pipe, he realized that he had not lit the cigarette, so he could only put the pipe down awkwardly.
"...I am now in charge of the entire Heyezhe." Chanup said slowly, "This kind of dangerous situation involving the lives of my people, I must be cautious..."
Before Chanup could finish his words, Retannoe suddenly interrupted him:
"... Chanup, you seem to be really old."
After saying that, the emotions in Retannoe's eyes as he looked at Chanup became... complicated.
Chanup, who didn't know why Reitannoe suddenly changed the subject, was stunned for a moment, and responded in a half-joking tone:
"I am also a human being. Of course my hair will turn grey and my face will get wrinkles."
"I'm not saying you look old," said Retannoy. "I'm saying you look old at heart."
"Not the same 'hero' I used to be."
The expression on Chanup's face became dull again.
And Reitannoë then continued:
"Ten years ago, when several of our tribes had to migrate south to find a new home due to climate change, every time I think back to that experience of migration, I break out in cold sweats."
"Snowstorms, attacks by wild animals, lack of food, looting by other villages... we suffered one blow after another."
"Even I felt desperate several times, thinking that this might be the end of us."
"But every time everyone is down, you stand up and inspire everyone."
"You seemed to have never known what fear was. Whether we were facing a blizzard or a famine, you always showed a brave and fearless expression, encouraging everyone to keep moving forward and commanding everyone to keep moving forward. In the end, you successfully led us to find this new home."
"You are so hesitant and hesitant now. You are no longer the heroic spirit you were ten years ago."
From then on, Chanup lowered his head lower and lower.
At this moment, Chanup's head was so low that Retanoë could only see the whorl of hair on top of his head.
"Chaanup."
Retannoy spoke word by word.
"Seeing your home in danger from hungry wolves."
"To see this new home that was found at such great cost is about to be invaded."
"You really don't feel anything at all?"
"You really don't feel anything at all?"
After saying that, Retannoe looked deeply at Chanup in front of him.
Then he turned around and left quickly.
What a coincidence.
Because Chanup had kept his head down, Reitannoe did not see that after he finished speaking, a faint light appeared in Chanup's eyes, which had been dim these days.
…
…
As soon as the meeting was adjourned, Upanu also walked out of the room.
As soon as he walked out of the house, he immediately heard footsteps behind him - looking back, he saw a middle-aged man.
This middle-aged man was the same one who had previously firmly advocated escape and opposed Retanoë and others.
As soon as the middle-aged man ran to Upanu's side, he immediately said to Upanu:
"Upanu. You said it so well. How can we waste our lives in a war that we can't win?"
Upanu remained calm in response to the man's praise and was unmoved by the middle-aged man's praise.
He raised the cigarette holder in his hand, took a puff of cigarette silently, and then said slowly:
"It's a pity that Chanup has been slow to express his views, and people like Retannoy are stubborn and unyielding."
The middle-aged man curled his lips and said, "People like Retannoy are really troublesome. No matter what I say, they won't listen..."
"...I was actually thinking just now - Reitannoe and his people are stubborn. If they discuss things one after another like they did just now , I don't know when I can convince Reitannoe and his people to surrender."
Upanu said slowly.
"So I think we have to think of some way to boost our momentum - and I just happened to think of a good way to boost our momentum."
"You've come just in time. Can you do me a favor?"
…
…
Red Moon Fortress.
"...It's okay." Kunoya carefully checked A-Ming's wound several times, then nodded gently, "The wound is not torn."
After that, Kunoya changed her tone to a stern one and said to Atachi:
"Be careful, little girl. You can't do anything violent now. If the wound is torn, it will be troublesome."
A-Ting: “I understand…”
Just now, Ating was so excited that he accidentally pulled his wound.
Although Atachi said that he was fine, Ogata still chose to go and find Kunoya and let Kunoya check Atachi's wound.
As Ogata rushed out of the clinic, he ran into Kunoya, who was smoking a pipe and had just returned to the clinic after finishing her work.
After listening to Ogata's brief description of the situation, Kunoya immediately unwrapped A-machi's sackcloth - fortunately, the diagnosis result showed that the wound was not torn.
Kunoya took out new linen and bandaged Ating's wound.
While bandaging Atachi's wound, he said to Ogata and Atachi in a calm tone:
“It’s really scary outside right now.”
"I was just checking in on a patient of mine who sprained his back a while ago."
"I was halfway through the follow-up visit when I suddenly received news that the Japanese army was attacking."
"When I came back from my follow-up visit, I saw many people there maintaining order, telling everyone not to be afraid and to go home for the time being."
"Someone is obedient."
"Some people also choose to clash with those who maintain order."
"Some people shouted loudly, 'Why should we be afraid of people?'"
"There were also some people crying, but I didn't know what they were crying about."
At this point, Kunoya laughed a few times as if she was amused.
"Everyone's reactions to the incoming Japanese army are so different - it's quite funny."
Seeing how calm Kunoya was, even having the time to tease her, Ogata couldn't help but ask:
"Cunoya, you are so calm. Aren't you afraid of the Japanese army outside the city?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" Kunoya shrugged. "When trouble comes, we just need to slowly find a way to solve it."
"Besides - there's nothing to panic about."
Kunoa winked at Ogata and smiled.
"Although I look like just an ordinary doctor, I have actually been through a lot."
"A mere 'people coming to attack' can't scare me."
At this point, Kunoya had just finished bandaging Atachi's wound.
"Alright. Be careful after this time and don't make any overly violent movements."
Noisy.
At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside the house.
Ogata, A-machi, and Kunoya all turned their heads to look outside the house .
"What's going on outside..." Kunoya frowned slightly, "Why is it so noisy... Is Kazuto showing off his military power outside again..."
After saying that, Kunoya shook her head helplessly, then stood up and walked out.
"I'll go outside and check the situation."
Not long after Kunoya went out, she came back.
"What's going on outside?" Ogata asked.
"No big deal." Kunoya shrugged as she stuffed new tobacco into her pipe. "It seems that the village chief Upanu from Kapasi Village was going to give a speech, and many people were attracted to it and wanted to listen to what Upanu had to say."
At this point, Kunoya sneered.
"That Upanu... I can roughly guess what that person wants to say."
"That guy... looks like a cut-up bear."
"And the people who cut him were the ones who fought in the Battle of Kunasilimenasi three years ago."
"It's not hard to guess what a guy who was cut by a Wajin would say when facing the incoming Wajin army."
At this point, Kunoya had just put the tobacco into the pipe, but because she was taking care of the weak Atachi, she didn't light it. She just held the pipe in her mouth and continued:
"But - even though that thing was cut off, it's not impossible for it to grow back."
"It all depends on who has the ability."