I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"Disappeared?" Ogata said, "What do you mean? What do you mean all disappeared?"

"That's the literal meaning." Aiyaka sighed softly, "It disappeared, and until now, no one was alive, no dead body was seen."

"It was more than two years ago, or more than three years ago. I don't remember the exact time. In short, it was a few years ago."

"You and people make a living by farming, and we Ainu live by fishing and hunting, so the men will go to the mountains and the woods to hunt every now and then."

"However, on a certain day a few years ago, the young men from Qina Village who went hunting in the mountains and forests all disappeared."

"The number of missing people is obviously too many. It is impossible to fail to return to the village because of hunting failure and being killed by wild beasts such as bears or wolves."

"Even if you miss while hunting, it's impossible for so many people to miss at the same time."

"So I suspected some kind of disaster. Like an avalanche."

"Avalanches are the worst disaster in winter. Once there's a massive avalanche, unless you're strong enough to hold onto a tree that's strong enough, you're basically dead."

"Qina Village sent a large number of people to search for it"

"But after searching everywhere, there is no sign of an avalanche in any area."

"None of the missing people have been found."

"I saw neither the living nor the dead."

"Not only did the person not come back, but some people who went to look for them also suddenly disappeared while looking for them."

"It took a long time to find anyone, so Qina Village wondered if someone had kidnapped people from their village."

"So they went to your and people's territory, that is, the place called 'Songqian Fan' in the south, and asked your and people's leaders if it was you and people's ghosts."

"The leader of the Matsumae clan categorically denied it. To prove his innocence, the Matsumae clan sent a large number of people to assist the people of Qina Village to find the missing people in their village."

"However, even with the help of others, there is still nothing to gain."

"Not long after that, no one disappeared from Qina Village."

"That's how things ended."

"The old people in our Kuma village said that it was because the gods were angry. The gods punished China village."

"But I don't agree with that point of view."

Aiyaka shrugged.

"The people in Qina Village did nothing wrong. They neither destroyed the forest nor killed bears, deer and other animals indiscriminately. Why did the gods punish Qina Village?"

"...It sounds like a ghost." A-cho on the side answered.

"Shenyin?" Aiyaka tilted his head.

"It's a very popular legend among us and people." A-Ming replied, "Shenyin means 'hidden by gods and monsters'."

"According to the legend, the phenomenon of 'hidden spirits' mostly occurs in rural areas."

"Some gods and ghosts often abduct some people in the countryside for fun or for other reasons."

"The abducted objects are mostly children."

"Those abducted children either never came back again, or were sent back by the gods after a period of time."

Japan's "Shenyin" legend - Ogata had read an article related to it in his previous life.

That article was revealing what happened to the Japanese legend of "hidden gods".

According to that article, "Shen Yin" sounds like it is full of mystery, but in fact it is just an ordinary child playing outside and then accidentally lost.

Why does the phenomenon of "hidden spirits" appear more in rural areas?

Because many villages in ancient Japan were built near mountains, when children went out to play, they often ran to the nearby mountains and forests, and then accidentally lost their way and could not come back.

Why are most of the children encountering "spiritual concealment"?

Because children are far easier to get lost than adults.

Some lost children were lucky and came back by themselves. Some lost children were unlucky, never came back, and died in a remote corner of a certain mountain.

Most of the ancient people were more superstitious about such things as gods and ghosts. After encountering such a child's sudden disappearance, they liked to associate it with things about gods and ghosts.

"It's quite similar to the legend of 'God's Hidden' about you and others." Aiyaka shrugged, "But there are still some differences."

"The missing people in Qina Village are all people who went out to hunt, and some people who went to find the missing people."

"Since this disappearance happened, more than half of the young people in Qina Village have been lost."

"Without a sufficient number of young and strong, the women in Qina Village can only fight by themselves."

"The women in China are really strong."

There was some admiration in Aiyaka's tone.

"The fathers, husbands, and sons of many of them disappeared in that 'disappearance incident'."

"In order to support the broken home, they did all the work of men and women."

"Some of them are not inferior to men in terms of archery level or hunting skills."

"One year ago, there was an incident that made the female warriors of Qina Village completely famous."

"I told you before that the gold diggers do all kinds of evil. Besides panning for gold, they often attack and plunder our Ainu villages."

"Just one year ago, some 20 or so gold diggers heard from somewhere that there are very few young and strong men in Qina Village."

"So, with evil thoughts, I ran to Qina Village, intending to loot the property and women in Qina Village."

"As a result—those gold diggers underestimated the strength of the female warriors in China Village."

"Before they had time to rush into the village, they were defeated by the random arrows shot by the female warriors."

"It is said that only a few of the more than twenty gold diggers managed to escape back."

A-Ming murmured softly: "The female warriors in Kina Village are so powerful...they can use bows to this level..."

A-Machi is very aware of how difficult it is to use a bow.

Archery may seem easy, but in fact it requires great physical strength and strength.

After all, it is necessary to shoot the arrow with sufficient force to injure or kill the enemy. Without a certain amount of strength and physical strength, it is impossible to shoot many arrows.

"Yes." Aiyaka nodded, "The female warriors in Qina Village are just that powerful."

"All in all—when you arrive at China Village tomorrow, you must pay attention to your words and deeds."

"Don't mention the 'disappearance incident', it's a sad event for their whole village, some people in their village can understand Japanese."

"And don't underestimate those women in China Village."

"Their toughness and heroism are not lost to men."

...

...

After Aiyaka told Ogata and Atachi about the "disappearance incident" in Kina Village, and warned them to be cautious in words and deeds when they arrived in Kina Village, he left in front of the two.

The place where Ogata and A-Machi slept was the place where Aiyaka's house was originally used to store sundries.

Aiyaka and the others cleaned up the place, leaving enough space for Ogata, Acho and the others to rest.

A-Machi seemed to be still immersed in the story Aiyaka just told.

"The sudden disappearance of people...it's really scary..." A-cho, who was lying beside Ogata, said softly.

The quilt covered by the two is a quilt made of bear skin.

At first, I was not used to it, but after getting used to it, Ogata felt more and more that this kind of bearskin quilt is really a magic weapon in winter. He felt that as long as he covered it, he could easily cope with the cold weather.

"Do you think there is really a god at work?" A-Machi asked Ogata softly.

A-Ming is not like Ogata, who is a time traveler, who has been taught materialism since he was a child.

A-Machi is a person who has a very devout belief in Shintoism, so A-Machi has always held the attitude of "they may really exist" towards gods, ghosts and ghosts.

"Who knows." Ogata replied casually, "Compared with gods and demons, I think it may be done by humans."

"But what are you abducting so many young men for?" Ah Ding asked.

"Hmm...human trafficking?" Ogata put forward a hypothesis.

"But isn't human trafficking all about trafficking young girls or children?"

"Maybe it's sold to be a coolie, or sent to a very dangerous mine to mine or something."

"Indeed, there is a possibility of this... Forget it, let's not talk about it." A-Machi tightened the bearskin quilt covering her and Ogata, and then squeezed into Ogata's arms, "Ai Yaka said that as long as there is nothing else to do, we will set off early tomorrow morning and arrive at Qina Village in the evening."

"You have to remember not to talk nonsense, talk about the pain points of the villagers in Qina Village."

"Don't worry. I know it myself."

...

...

the next day—

Just after dawn, Ogata, Atachi, and Aiyaka were ready to travel.

The 3 people who were ready to go sat on the sled of Aiyaka's family. After Aiyaka shouted "Tuohe (Einu language: forward)" to the 4 sled dogs in charge of pulling the cart, the 4 sled dogs So he pulled the sled and ran forward at a speed so fast that someone's hair would blow in the wind.

In Ezo, only those rich families can afford sled dogs.

The feed fee for sled dogs alone is an expensive expense.

And Aiyaka's family happened to be that kind of big family.

The four sled dogs raised by their family do not know how they were raised, and each one is stronger than the other.

It is so strong that it can be used as a mount for petite women like Rin Kinoshita and Gua Shengxiu.

It is precisely because the sled dogs of the Aiyaka family are strong enough that they can pull the sled very fast.

In recent days, thanks to the sleds and sled dogs of the Aiyaka family, Ogata and the others were able to quickly travel between so many villages.

Ogata also likes to do this kind of dog sledding, which reminds him of the feeling of riding a motorcycle in his previous life.

Ogata liked the feeling of strong wind blowing against his face - even though it was a little painful.

"The weather is not very good today." Aiyaka, who was in charge of driving, looked at the sky above his head.

Today is a cloudy day.

Between the sky and the earth, it was blocked by layers of thick clouds, and the clouds exuded bursts of coldness.

"I hope there won't be a blizzard." Ogata followed Aiyaka and looked up at the sky above his head.

The horror of a blizzard—Ogata and A-machi had already experienced it in the Ou area.

"It won't happen in a snowstorm." As an experienced hunter, Aiyaka has long had his own experience and deep experience in watching the weather. "But until night, the clouds should not disperse."

Aiyaka needed to concentrate on driving the sled, so after taking a look at the current weather and having a brief chat with Ogata, he withdrew his attention and concentrated on driving.

"Mashima, Machi, hold on tight. We're on flat ground. I'm going to get the dogs to speed up a little bit."

After all, Aiyaka, holding a thing like a joystick in each of his left and right hands, shouted at the four sled dogs in charge of pulling the sled ahead:

"Tho! Tho! Tho! Tho! (Ainu: Go forward)"

The four sled dogs immediately increased the speed of the sled by another level like a conditioned reflex after hearing the "Tuohe" that Aiyaka called out one after another.

...

...

Aiyaka had previously told Ogata and A-Ming that if they set off at dawn and did not encounter any accidents along the way, they would be able to arrive at China Village in the evening.

So far, it looks like it's taking a little less time than Aiyaka expected.

When the time was just around 4:00 p.m., Ogata and the others saw streaks of white and faint cooking smoke.

"Mashima! Machi! We're here!"

After loudly reminding Ogata and A-Machi behind him, Aiyaka commanded the sled dogs to slow down a little.

"After entering Qina Village, you must be cautious in your words and deeds."

"Don't mention anything that reminds the villagers of Qina Village of the 'disappearance incident'."

"Understood!" Ogata had no choice but to yell at the top of his voice because of the wind blocking him.

Aiyaka drove the sled at a slower speed and slowly approached the place where white and thin cooking smoke rose.

Soon, Ogata and the others saw the shadows of the buildings of the Ainu village appearing in front of them.

Then, after going forward for a certain distance, Ogata and others finally noticed something strange—a lot of people gathered at the entrance of Qina Village.

In addition to people, I also saw a lot of horses.

Looking at those horses, Ogata couldn't help frowning slightly.

These horses are all too recognizable.

Because they are too tall and too strong. There are no such horses produced in Japan.

Ogata had just seen such a tall and strong horse in Vasili's camp before.

—the horse of the Cossacks...

Ogata muttered in his heart.

Aiyaka also noticed the abnormality at the entrance of Qina Village. After frowning, he drove the sled dogs to slightly increase the speed that had already come down.

After approaching the entrance of Kina Village, Ogata and the others finally saw what was going on.

It turned out that there were two waves of people confronting each other there.

A group of Cossacks with fair skin and deep eyes.

And a group of Ainu people - they are probably the villagers of Kina Village.

The two groups faced each other like this, as if they were arguing about something.

After the three of Ogata appeared not far away, they naturally attracted the attention of the two groups of people.

The 2 gangs turned their heads to look at the Ogata 3 who were approaching slowly on a dog sled.

It wasn't until this moment that Ogata and the others saw that standing at the forefront of the group of Cossacks was a young man with bright red hair.

After seeing the bright red hair and the face of the red-haired youth, Aiyaka exclaimed:

"Scruucci?"

"Huh? Aiyaka?" The red-haired young man was as surprised as Aiyaka.

...

...

a few days ago—

"As long as you join the group, there will no longer be any indigenous settlements that will be our opponents."

"How? Do you want to come together?"

Vladimir's mouth stinks.

Because he put his lips close to Skulucci's ear, Skulucci could smell the smell of a dead mouse that had been left for half a month very clearly.

But Scruucci still maintained a very gentlemanly smile.

Then--

"Vladimir, you are right. Robbing other people's property, wives and daughters is indeed very fun."

"It's more enjoyable to abuse the wives and daughters of those women in front of their husbands and fathers."

Hearing this, Vladimir beamed with joy.

But the happy look on his face only lasted for a while.

Because what Scruucci said immediately after, the expression on his face froze.

"But you'd better find someone else. I don't really want to be part of your 'fun'."

"Why?" Vladimir frowned, "Can you tell me a reason?"

"Hmm..." Skulucci looked at the sky above his head and murmured, "Is there a reason... probably because I want to spend the Maslenitsa quietly."

"...Skulucci, you really are still so weird." Vladimir slowly put away the froze expression on his face just now.

"I thought that after exploring the far east for so long, it would change your mood a little, and you would no longer stick to those inexplicable morals like before."

"Forget it, it's fine if you don't participate."

After finishing speaking, Vladimir seemed too lazy to talk to Skulucci, shook the cloak on his body, and turned around to leave.

Skulucci also stopped talking to Vladimir, and returned to the camp where Skulucci and his subordinates had set up one after the other.

Vladimir, who didn't say another word, sat back directly on the back of his horse, and then led his subordinates away.

After Vladimir left, the young man with freckles who helped everyone catch 6 fat rabbits just now—that is, Afjah hurried to Skulucci's side, and asked Skulucci carefully :

"Boss Skulucci, what did you talk to that man just now?"

"It's just a silly chat with that pig-dog hybrid, the idiot before God, the idiot who loved to eat shit and raised such a stinky mouth since he was a child."

Scruucci clutched his chest, gagging.

"Oh my god, that goat fucker's mouth is fucking stinky, why is his mouth so stinky...I've got a year-old ass that fucking smells better than his stinky mouth."

"It's a pity that Vasili and the others are not here."

"If Lao Tzu's other subordinates are here. You can try to kill that idiot and his subordinates. Use their supplies to have a good Thanksgiving."

"Boss, you're joking again." Afjay said with a smile, "Why are we attacking that group of people when we have nothing to do?"

Scruucci didn't answer Afjay's question, but only smiled meaningfully at him, then lay back on his hammock and picked up the "Don Quixote".

"Okay! They're gone! Put your guns away! What to do!"

Seeing that Skulucci had spoken so freely, his subordinates put away their weapons one after another, and returned to their respective positions, doing their own things.

The splitting of the splitting wood.

Burning fire burning fire.

A pan for a pan.

Handling rabbits handling rabbits.

"Boss Skulucci." Afjay, who was sitting next to Skulucci and was skinning the rabbit, said to Skulucci, "It's almost Maslenitsa, it seems that we are in a foreign country This is the 4th Maslenitsa. When do you think we can go back to China?"

"God knows." Scruzzi, who was holding the "Don Quixote" and watching there, shrugged, "Maybe after a while, we will receive an order to recall, after all, there are people in France. Big change."

"In order to deal with various possible changes, the tsar may recall us who are exploring in the Far East later to strengthen the country's military power."

"France?" Afjay raised his eyebrows, "Oh, are you referring to the revolution that is breaking out in France?"

In the middle of 1790 last year, they in the Far East received great news from far away Europe—in the summer of 1789, the people of France captured the Bastille, and a vigorous revolution broke out in France.

"It's already 1791." Afjay continued, "Maybe the revolution in France has been quelled?"

"This kind of thing is really hard to say." Scruzzi smiled, "It is also possible that the revolution is still happening now, and the scale of the revolution is even larger."

"On the contrary, I hope that the revolution in France will be as big as possible." Lying on the hammock, Scruucci covered his face with "Don Quixote" in his hand, and then put his palms behind his head, " It would be best if the revolution succeeds and a strong new French government emerges."

"So powerful that the Tsar felt threatened, and then we, the Cossacks in the Far East, were called back to Europe."

"Compared to the Far East where the birds don't shit, it really is more comfortable to stay in Europe."

"The emperor of France is also a fool." Afjay sneered, "Obviously his country's financial situation is not very good, but he still spends so much money to support the American independence war."

"If the emperor of France did not support the independence of the Americans, the revolution might be delayed by a few years."

"Milikans should honor the Emperor of France as the Father of the Nation."

Regarding Afja's remarks, Skulucci only smiled, and then said:

"Okay, let's stop talking about Europe."

"Europe is too far away from us, we should pay more attention to our eyes."

"Afjay, pass on the order for me now—in two days, the map of this area will be drawn."

"After drawing the map of this area, we will go back to meet Vahiri and the others, and then we will have a happy Maslenitsa together."

"Hmph, but I guess that fellow Vasili must have started celebrating the holidays early."

"Okay!" Afja nodded vigorously with a happy face.

...

...

Back in time to the present——

After hearing the name "Skulucci" from Aiyaka's mouth, Ogata's pupils shrank slightly, and then he hurriedly cast a sizing look at the red-haired youth.

——Is he the boss of Vasily and the others...

During these days, in order to be able to buy guns from Vasily and the others, Ogata has been waiting hard for their boss to return.

Ogata never expected that he would run into Vasili's boss in this Qina village.

Ogata remembered that Vasili had told him more than once—their boss was both a Scot and a Cossack.

After taking a closer look at Skulucci's facial features, Ogata found that Skulucci's facial features were indeed deeper than those of Vahili, and his skin was fairer. In short - more European feel.

When Ogata and Atachi looked at Scruzzy, Scruzzy was also looking at Ogata and Atachi.

Looking at the two Kazutos sitting behind Aiyaka, Skulucci raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of curiosity and doubt.

However, he did not immediately ask Aiyaka who the two people sitting behind him were, but first said to Aiyaka:

"Aiyaka, why are you here?"

"These 2 new friends behind me are looking for 2 missing people, so I took them here in China Village to find clues. What about you? Why are you here?"

"We were planning to go back and join Vasily and the others." Skulucci shrugged, "We passed by this village by chance."

"Since I have such a fate with this village, I plan to talk to the people in this village about things that are quite important to them."

"A very important thing?" Aiyaka raised his eyebrows, "What is it?"

"That's a long story, I'll tell you slowly later."

"Aiyaka, do you know the people in this village? If so, please tell me about them"

"People in this village have agreed to hear what we want to say to them."

"But they didn't allow all of us to enter, only a maximum of three people were allowed to enter the village."

"I don't want my subordinates to wait for me outside this fucking cold village. Aiyaka, tell me about them."

As soon as Skulucci finished speaking, an old woman standing directly in front of Skulucci with a wrinkled face asked Aiyaka:

"Aiyaka, do you know this red-haired stranger? (Einu language)"

"Well, I know, what happened? (Einu language)" Aiyaka asked back.

"This group of strangers suddenly visited our village just now, saying that they have a very important matter to discuss with us."

"We'd be interested to hear what interesting things they had to say though."

"But we can't casually let such a large group of foreigners into the village, so we blocked them here. (Einu language)"

Hearing this, Aiyaka understood what the differences between Skulucci and the villagers of Kina Village were.

Although the villagers in China Village agreed to hear what the "important thing" Aiyaka said was, they didn't want all of Skulucci and the others to enter the village, and only allowed a maximum of 3 people to enter.

And Skulucci wanted him and all his subordinates to enter the village, and didn't want his subordinates to stay outside the frozen village and wait for him to come back.

"Skulucci." Aiyaka turned to look at Skulucci, "The villagers don't want all your subordinates to enter, which is actually reasonable. After all, with so many foreigners entering the village at once, anyone would be afraid."

"Can you take a step back?"

After listening to Aiyaka's persuasion, Skulucci went to grab his red hair.

"...Forget it, take a step back and take a step back."

After shrugging his shoulders, Scruucci turned his head and shouted to his subordinates behind him:

"Avjay! Lev! You two follow me! The rest stay here and wait for us! (Lucia)"

After giving instructions to the subordinates behind him, Skulucci turned his gaze back to Aiyaka.

"Aiyaka, you shouldn't leave right away, right?"

"Probably not." Aiyaka said, "The two friends behind me and I might spend the night here tonight."

"That's good." Scruucci smiled. "We'll see you later. I'm quite interested in the two friends behind you."

"I just happen to have someone I'm looking for."

...

...

Aiyaka and many people in Qina Village are familiar with each other.

After talking briefly with the people in Kiner Village, the people in Kiner Village let Ogata and the others go.

Aiyaka commanded the sled dogs to pull the sled slowly into the village.

As for Skulucci—he led two of his subordinates to the home of the head of their village, led by some of the villagers of China Village.

Go to tell the village head of their village about the "important thing" he just said.

Aiyaka from Kuma Village came to the village with a man and a woman—the news quickly spread throughout the entire China Village.

Aiyaka is one of the few top hunters in Kuma Village. In China Village, which has a friendly relationship with Kuma Village, Aiyaka's name is naturally known to everyone.

The heart that loves to join in the fun is regardless of country or nationality.

The villagers of Qina Village gathered around one after another to see what the two Japanese brought by the well-known Aiyaka looked like.

Soon, many people surrounded Ogata and the others.

Ogata simply looked at the crowd around him—there were really very few men.

The number of young men is pitifully small.

"There are really many female warriors in this village..."

Machi, who was sitting behind Ogata, spoke to Ogata in front of him in a low voice that only she and Ogata could hear clearly.

"Yeah." Ogata nodded slightly in response.

The ratio of young men and women who approached was about 3 to 7.

Ogata has noticed that many women carry bows on their backs. Even in heavy clothes, they can feel that these women with bows are very strong, and they are not weak people.

While Ogata and Atachi were looking at the villagers who approached, the villagers were also looking at Ogata and Atachi.

The men looked at Machi.

The women looked at Ogata.

Although the nationalities are different, the eyes for appreciating beauty are similar.

The men around Ogata and the others thought that A-Machi was pretty, and swallowed their saliva involuntarily.

Compared with these men, the reactions of the women who focused on Ogata were relatively flat...

...

...

Four little girls from China Village stood at the outermost edge of the crowd, standing on tiptoe and looking at Ogata and Atachi not far away—mainly looking at Ogata.

After seeing enough of Ogata's face and figure, the four girls quickly left from the periphery of the crowd and ran all the way to a place where Ogata and the others could not be seen.

These four little girls are all underage, so there are no tattoos on their faces, and their fair and clean faces are full of youth and youthfulness.

Although they are young, all four of them carry bows and arrows on their backs.

The 4 people wear different colored headbands on their heads. The colors of the headbands worn by the four are red, blue, purple, and orange.

After the 4 people ran to a place where Ogata and the others could not be seen, the girl with the red headband couldn't wait to ask the other 3 people:

"Have you seen that Kazuto man?"

The other 3 people nodded one after another, expressing that they saw it.

"It's quite tall." Blue Head said.

"It doesn't look very strong." The orange headband responded.

"Speaking of which, did you see the expressions of those men just now?" The purple headband flattened his mouth, "Really, staring straight at that cute woman, his eyes almost popped out. That and Are human and females so good-looking?"

"I think it's pretty..." the orange headband whispered, "It's the first time I've seen such a beautiful person."

"What's the use of being beautiful." The eyes of the purple headband flickered, "Have you seen that woman's here?"

The purple headband patted his chest.

"Wearing such thick clothes, it can still be so bulging there. People with this figure are the most useless."

Zi Tou has a look of hating iron but not steel.

"It's so bulging here that I can't pull the arrow. Once you put the bowstring, the bowstring will bounce there. The pain can kill you."

"That's right." The red headband agreed, "Fortunately, she is Kazuto. If it were us Ainu, she would be a guy who can't even draw a bow."

...

...

"Ha Chirp..."

Machi sneezed cutely.

"What's wrong?" Ogata turned his head back and asked, "Did you catch a cold?"

"Probably not...probably just because of the cold wind blowing over just now."

After all, A-Ming pulled the clothes on his upper body tighter, making the clothes on his chest a little more bulging.