I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"It's so boring... I want to find something interesting to do..." The girl with the red headband was squatting on the edge of the grass, playing with the grass blades underneath.

As her best friend, girls wearing orange, purple, and blue headbands are standing beside the girl with red headbands.

"Go practice archery if you feel bored." Purple Headband said casually.

"No." The red headband said, "I practiced this morning. My arms are still sore. Now I just want to play."

"Then...would you like to come to my house for a while?" Orange Headband suggested in a low voice, "Let's sit and chat together, the time will pass soon."

"And my grandma just made a new dress recently, and we can take turns trying it on together."

"Oh!" The girl with the red headband stood up from the grass, "Ahili, your grandma made a new dress...Huh? Yes!"

Before the girl with the red headband finished speaking, she suddenly stopped, and then said "yes" abruptly.

When the other three girls standing beside her cast doubtful glances at the red-headed girl, the red-headed girl said excitedly:

"How about we send Ahili's grandma to see the possessed gods of those strangers?"

Possessed God - pronounced "Tuo Lun Pei" in Ainu language.

The Ainu people believe that everyone will be possessed by a god from birth and be protected by the possessed god.

Each person possesses a different spirit, so each person has a different personality and ability.

The more powerful a person is, the more powerful his possessed god will be.

Possessed gods are generally attached to the back of everyone's neck, and enter and exit the human body from the back of the neck.

Some people with special perception in this aspect can see what other people's possessed gods look like.

The girl with the orange headband—that is, Ahili's grandmother, is a well-known capable person in China Village who can see what other people's possessed gods look like.

Hearing the proposal from the girl with the red headband, Ashley, who was wearing an orange headband, froze for a moment, then said hesitantly:

"This...isn't that good?"

"What's wrong." The girl with the red headband retorted without hesitation, "Ahili, don't you wonder what the possessed gods on those foreigners look like?"

"Maybe you can see a very interesting possessed god."

The words of the red headband aroused the interest of the blue headband and the purple headband.

Ashley, who also happens to be bored right now, is a little interested.

"Then... go ask my grandma." Ashley said softly, "See if she is willing to see the possessed gods of those strangers."

"Okay! Let's go!" The red headband raised his fist high, and then took the lead and ran towards Ashley's house.

Four girls went to Ashley's house with great fanfare.

Ahili's home was originally a happy family of four - grandma, father, mother, and Ahili herself.

It is a pity that Ahili's father also unfortunately disappeared in the previous "disappearance incident".

Since then, Ahili's family has been broken, with only her, mother and grandmother remaining in the family.

Red headbands, purple headbands, blue headbands, and Ashley—the four girls rushed into Ashley's house when they saw Ashley's grandmother making clothes, and Ashley's mother weaving. Mother.

The four girls told Ahili's grandmother straightforwardly why they came.

When she learned that these four people wanted to take her to see the possessed gods of those foreigners, Grandma still disagreed.

But unable to stand up to the 4 people's acting like a baby, grandma finally agreed to the 4 people's request.

With her grandmother on her back, Ahili, surrounded by her three friends, looked around for the strangers who had just visited their village.

"Where have all those foreigners gone?" The red-headed girl put her palms on her eye sockets and looked around.

"I'm more curious about what the possessed god of a man is like." The girl with the purple headband smiled, "If he is really a fake warrior, then his possessed god must be very weak.

"

"I'd rather see the possessed gods of those white-skinned people." The girl with the red headband answered.

"I don't know who these strangers are more powerful than those men of the same age in our village... Ah! I found it! It's a white-skinned stranger!" The blue headband pointed his finger not far away one finger.

The rest of the people looked over one after another—just in time they saw Skulucci and the others coming out of the village chief Chepke's house.

...

...

Led by two middle-aged men sent by Chepke, Skulucci and the others strode out of the village.

Along the way, it naturally attracted all kinds of attention.

Someone simply cast a curious look at Skulucci and the others.

Some people stared at Skulucci and the others with eyes that seemed to be guarding against thieves and thieves.

Skulucci turned a blind eye to these various types of sights projected from his surroundings, and strode out of the village with his head held high.

It's like a general returning from a victorious battle.

And Avjay and Lev, who were brought into the village by Skulucci and are now following Skulucci, don't have Skulucci's concentration.

The two of them did not disarm the situation from the beginning to the end, and kept watching the surroundings with vigilant eyes.

Looking around at the low houses made of grass, wood and fur, the Ainu people who are not too tall due to ethnicity, and the bows and arrows on their backs, Afja whispered to Sku in front of him. Luci asked:

"Boss Skulucci. What did you say to those Ainu just now?"

The language they speak in Afja is Lucia, so there is no need to worry that the villagers of China Village will hear their conversation.

"Just to remind them——Vladimir's group plans to plunder everywhere, and the village may suffer, so I suggest that they prepare early."

Avjay and the seldom-talking Lev all stared wide-eyed at this moment.

"And then?" Afjay asked, "How do the Ainu people answer?"

"They seem to be planning to stick to their village." Scruucci spread his hands, "Unfortunately, it's a waste. I kindly suggested that they lead the whole village to hide in the mountains temporarily."

"Boss Skulucci, why are you always like this..." Afjay's face was full of helplessness.

"It's fine if you didn't participate in the looting of Vladimir and the others, but you even came here to report to the surrounding Ainu..."

"It's not 'came here specially to report'." Skulucci hastily corrected the mistakes in what Afja said just now, "It's just a matter of passing by and letting them know."

"Boss Scruucci. That's why you are always called a weirdo by others."

The helpless look on Afja's face became more intense.

"Why do you always do such thankless things..."

Although Afjay was not regarded as a senior subordinate of Skulucci, he was also an old man who had followed Skulucci for a long time.

Because he was saved by Skulucci, he followed Skulucci wholeheartedly.

Because he had served under Skulucci for many years, Afjay was sure—his boss must be the strangest one among all the Cossacks.

Scruucci was one of many Cossack expeditions sent to explore the Far East.

Although the formation of the Cossacks is somewhat romantic - a group of people who could not bear the oppression fled to a new land, established a new homeland, and absorbed various ethnic groups except the Jews, and gradually grew , known as "free people". ("Cossack" means "free man" in Turkic)

But in essence, anyone who knows a little about the Cossacks knows how cruel and bloodthirsty the Cossacks are.

Before Avjay was born, the vast land east of the Ural Mountains and west of the Pacific Ocean had already been ruled by the Tsar.

The main force of the Tsar's army to conquer the land east of the Ural Mountains was the Cossacks.

In the process of conquering this large area of ​​land, the various things the Cossacks did made it difficult for Avjay, who is also a Cossack, to talk about it.

Not to mention burning, killing and looting, his parents and grandparents have even done such things as cannibalism.

Everyone in Europe knows the bloodthirsty and brutality of the Cossacks.

However—Skulucci, who is also a Cossack, does things that are not what a Cossack would do.

Since being sent to the Far East, Scruucci has never done anything that would be criticized as "cruel" or "bloody".

The group of them who were sent to explore the big island inhabited by the Ainu people was asked by the tsar to "focus on exploration and investigation, and avoid incidents."

Therefore, the expedition teams sent here had to curb their brutal nature.

But despite this, almost all expeditions still make a point from time to time that can make people feel emotional: this is indeed a Cossack thing.

Many villages at the northern end of the island have been invaded by various expeditions to varying degrees.

In this era, technology is underdeveloped and information transmission is slow.

Plus the Ainu are not monolithic with each other.

Therefore, the villages located in the south, such as Kuma Village and China Village, do not know that many Ainu villages in the north have been razed to the ground by the Cossacks.

But only Scruucci has done nothing bad so far.

Qiu has never committed any crime, only exploring and drawing wholeheartedly.

So Skulucci was always denounced as a "weird" by the rest of the Cossacks.

Skulucci's behavior of never burning, killing, and looting has always been criticized as thankless-in fact, it is true.

Many people disliked being under Scruzzi's command was not enjoyable enough, unable to rob money and women, they all broke away from Scruucci's command and defected to other people who could make them happy.

Those who are still under Skulucci's command are explorers who just want to concentrate on exploring.

Or someone who owes Scruucci a favor—like Avjay.

Or someone who admired Scruucci and was attracted by his charm-such as their second-in-command: Vahiri.

Even though his style of never doing bad things caused many of his subordinates to flee, Skulucci had no intention of changing his way of doing things, and continued to act as a "weird" in the eyes of others.

Regarding Afjay's helpless emotion, Skulucci only smiled and did not respond.

And Afjay stopped talking about this topic, but asked Skulucci with a new question:

"Boss Scruucci. What are we going to do next?"

"What the hell can I do." Scruzzi shrugged, "I have said everything I should say, and I have done everything I can do. People in this village can make up their own minds about what they want to do in the future. "

"Whether they want to stick to the village, or take the whole village to flee - I don't care, and I can't control it."

"Let's go out of the village now and join the others. After spending the night here, tomorrow morning..."

Before Scruucci finished speaking, he paused.

"Yeah..."

Scruucci grumbled.

"I almost forgot Aiyaka and his two friends..."

Scruucci looked around.

"Hey... where are they?"

Skulucci looked around, only to see the villagers of China Village, but not Aiyaka and the two Kazuren friends Aiyaka brought.

But at this moment, he saw not far away from him, there were 4 girls wearing different colored headbands, and a very old lady.

All five of them stared at them with strange eyes.

...

...

Rewind time to a few minutes ago——

After discovering Skulucci and his party, Ashley and others stood aside from a distance, looking at Skulucci and his group.

"Grandma, how's it going?" The red-headed girl asked Ashley's grandma impatiently, "Can you see the possessed gods of those people?"

Grandma nodded: "I can see it."

The purple headband has an expectant face: "Then their possessed gods all have anticipation."

Grandma raised her chin at Scruucci and the others.

"The possession gods of these three people are all very powerful."

Grandma said slowly.

"The young man who had been talking to the red-haired man just now is the weakest possessed spirit among the three of them."

She was referring to Afjah.

"The young man who didn't speak just now is a little bit stronger."

She was referring to Lev.

"As for the red-haired one...his possession spirit is so powerful."

What grandma was referring to was naturally Skulucci.

Looking at Sculucci in the distance, grandma's face showed a touch of surprise and praise.

"I have lived for a long time, and this is the first time I have seen such a powerful possessed god... The possessed god of the red-haired foreigner is stronger than all the possessed gods I have seen before. sharp."

"That red-haired stranger must be a very remarkable man."

Grandma's words made the four of them involuntarily widen their eyes and part their red lips in surprise.

"Is that red-haired guy so powerful..." The red headband stared at Skulucci who hadn't noticed them in the distance, "Is his possessed god stronger than all the men in our village?"

Grandma nodded without hesitation, and added mercilessly:

"And it's still far beyond the 'powerful' of many other people."

"Then grandma, can you see their personalities from their possessed gods?" the girl with the red headband asked.

"I can vaguely see a little bit." Grandma nodded, and then cast her gaze on Skulucci and the others again.

Because Skulucci and the others kept walking towards the outside of the village, Ashley and the others had to follow closely behind Skulucci and the others and keep moving with them.

After taking another deep look at Skulucci and the others, grandma said unhurriedly:

"The young man who has been talking to the redhead should be a very loyal person, and he has a more cheerful personality."

"The one who doesn't talk all the time. His personality is not very good. People with this type of possessed gods are people who don't like to communicate and contact with others, and have a very withdrawn temperament."

"As for the redhead... he's got a nice personality."

The color of praise appeared on grandma's face again.

"Compassionate, kind, and generous... That red-haired stranger is really amazing."

"Not only is he powerful, but he also has a very good personality."

"It's the first time I've seen grandma praise someone so much..." Ashley murmured.

At this moment, the red headband exclaimed in a low voice: "Oh, did they find us?"

At this time, Skulucci found Ashley and the others who had been staring at them.

After looking at Ashley and the others with puzzled eyes, Skulucci smiled and shook his hand at them.

"Let's go." The girl with the purple headband said, "We have already seen the possessed gods of these white-skinned foreigners, let's go and see the possessed gods of the Kazuto couple."

"Well, I agree!" The girl with the blue headband nodded in agreement.

So, Ashley and the others took grandma and quickly left from Skulucci and the others.

"Where is Kazuto right now?" the girl with the red headband asked.

"Who knows." Purple Headband replied, "Let's look around first. Anyway, our village is so big, we can always find it."

...

...

After watching the girls with different colored headbands and the old woman leave, Afja muttered in a low voice:

"Who are those people?"

"Maybe it's because I haven't seen anyone with white skin, so I came to see us." Scruzzi shrugged, "Don't worry about them."

After saying that, Scruucci turned his gaze away from Ashley and the others who had already left.

"Okay... Where should I find Aiyaka and his two Kazuto friends..."

...

...

China Village, somewhere—

Ogata, Atachi, and Aiyaka filed out from a certain family's house.

"I got nothing again..." A-Machi, who muttered in a low voice that only he could hear clearly, flattened his lips.

They have already questioned about a quarter of the villagers in Qina Village.

So far, the harvest is - nothing.

No matter who you ask, they all say "haven't seen it" or "have no impression".

Although there has been no harvest, Ogata is not in a hurry or annoyed.

He only said to Aiyaka in a calm tone:

"Let's go to the next house."

"Yeah." Aiyaka nodded.

So far, Ogata has deeply felt how lacking young and strong men are in Kina Village.

Whether walking on the roads of the village or entering other people's homes, the young and strong men I saw were pitifully few.

"It's getting dark now." Ogata raised his head and looked at the sky that had begun to darken slightly, "Let's ask another family."

"After we have finished asking the last family, we will stop here today, and we will ask the rest of the people who have not been asked until tomorrow."

"Coincidentally, we thought of going together." Aiyaka smiled, "Let's spend the night at the house of a friend who is close to me tonight."

"After a night's rest, I will continue to ask other people in the village tomorrow."

"Let's speed up a little while the sky is still bright."

"The next family is..."

Aiyaka turned her head to look at the room next to her.

Looking at the house next to her, Aiyaka raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, the next family is a little bit different."

"Is there anything special about the next family?" Ogata asked back.

"Well. The next family is indeed a bit special."

Aiyaka nods

"The old woman in the next house is a torrenpei who can see the back of other people's necks."

"Tuo Lun Pei?" Confused, "What is this?"

Standing beside Ogata, Ah-machi also cast a puzzled look at Aiyaka.

"Tuo Lun Pei...in your Japanese language, it should be translated as 'Possessed God'."

"We Ainu believe that all people will be possessed by gods and protected by gods since birth. We Ainu call these gods attached to our human beings 'Tuo Lun Pei'."

"Every person's possessed god is different. Therefore, everyone's personality and ability are different."

"The more powerful a person is, the more powerful the possessed god will be."

"Possessed gods are generally attached to the back of the neck."

"Some people are born with the ability to see what the spirit behind other people's necks looks like."

"The old woman in the next family has such ability."

Aiyaka touched his neck.

"That old woman has seen my possessed god."

"The old woman said that my possessing spirit is very strong, and he has rarely seen such a powerful possessing spirit."

Aiyaka grinned.

"Mashima, A-cho, if you are interested, you can let that old lady show you what your possessed god looks like."

After finishing speaking, Aiyaka led Ogata and A-Machi towards the nearby house in big strides.

Ogata is not interested in the "possessed god" that Aiyaka just mentioned.

Ogata has no interest in these things related to gods and ghosts.

On the contrary, A-Ming was very interested in the possessed god mentioned by Aiyaka, and looked eager to try, wanting the old woman to see her possessed god.

When I came to the door of the low house next to me, after Aiyaka yelled at the door, a beautiful woman about 30 years old walked out of the house quickly.

After chatting with the woman in Ainu for a few words, Aiyaka raised her eyebrows, turned to Ogata and said:

"It's a pity, the old lady who can see the possessed god is just not here now. She was taken out by her granddaughter to play, and I don't know when she will come back."

Ogata didn't care much about whether the old woman could see his possessed god.

But he was very concerned about whether the old woman was at home.

Because that old woman might just have met Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen.

If I miss the chance to meet that old woman, I might miss a precious clue.

What did that beautiful woman say to Aiyaka and the others at this time.

"She told us to go into the house first." Aiyaka translated the woman's words, "Let's go into the house first. The old woman should be back soon."

Ogata and Machi nodded.

...

...

"What? Did the couple go to Ashley's house?" The girl with the red headband looked at a middle-aged woman in front of her in surprise.

The middle-aged woman standing in front of the girl with the red headband nodded:

"Well, I just saw that Kazuto and Aiyaka went to Ashley's house."

"We've been looking for them for so long, but we didn't expect them to go to Ahili's house..." the purple headband muttered helplessly.

They had been looking for the pair of Kazuto who arrived in the village almost at the same time as the white-skinned strangers.

But after looking around, they couldn't be found.

It wasn't until I asked someone now that I found out—they went to Ahili's house.

"What are they doing at my house..." Ashley asked timidly.

"Who knows." The red-headed girl said, "Anyway—let's go to Ashley's house."

"Let grandma see their possessed gods, and by the way, see what they do at Ashley's house."

After all, the most energetic girl with the red headband took the lead again and rushed towards Ashley's house.

On the way home, Ahili's grandmother suddenly turned her head and said to Ahili beside her:

"It's a pity for that red-haired stranger just now."

"If he is a compatriot of our Ainu, I must hold his hand and let him marry my Ahili."

"It's rare to meet a person as powerful as the Possessed God, so I can't miss it."

As soon as grandma finished speaking, Ashley's face flushed red.

"Grandma! What are you talking about?"

"I'm not talking nonsense." Ahili's grandmother said solemnly, "You are also 14 years old, and you will get married soon."

"I will not agree to my granddaughter marrying a weak person with a possessed spirit."

"My grandson-in-law can only be a man with a powerful spirit."

"The stronger the better."

"I'm too early to get married..." Ashley murmured.

"It's getting late." Grandma shook her head, "Don't worry. Ahili, your future husband, grandma, I will take care of you."

"Absolutely never let a weak person possessing a god become your husband."

Grandma's remarks made the three friends of Ahili laugh.

"Ahili, we will also check for you." The girl with the purple headband smiled, "I will never let a boring, weak man become your husband."

"Don't talk about this topic anymore!" Yaxi Litong scolded with a red face.

"It's a pity that in recent years, there are not many people with powerful possessing gods..."

Grandma showed regret.

"It's rare to meet a person who possesses a very powerful spirit, but it's a stranger... Sigh..."

"Grandma, it's not necessarily necessary for Ashili to marry an Ainu compatriot, right?" the red-headed girl said, "There's nothing wrong with marrying a foreign race, right?"

"Aren't there a few people who married Heren in our village?"

As soon as the girl with the red headband finished speaking, grandma shook her head.

"No, I still want Ahili to marry an Ainu, not a foreigner."

"Different nationalities have different living habits."

"So it is very hard to start a family with a foreign race. You have to get used to and adapt to the living habits of the two."

"That's why I won't let Ashley marry another race."

"Not even with people."

"I told you not to talk about this topic anymore." Ashley's face turned redder.

"Grandma, if one day you meet a possessive god who is so powerful that he is too powerful, what should you do?" The girl with the purple headband asked in a joking tone, "I think as long as you are good enough, and It doesn't matter if people of different races get married."

"Even if there is such a kind of possessing god that is so powerful that I can ignore the difference between different races, I probably won't be able to meet them." Grandma shook her head helplessly.

...

...

Their steps are fast.

In the blink of an eye, they were back at Ahili's house.

As soon as he passed through the house, he saw Aiyaka sitting on the floor, and the Kazuto couple.

In fact, Ogata and the others just came in, and the floor wasn't even hot yet.

Looking at the returning Ashley and the others, Ashley's mother, who stayed at home, hurriedly introduced the purpose of Ogata and the others to Ashley and the others.

Ogata and A-Machi, who were sitting on the floor, also quickly got up from the floor and greeted Ashley and others who had returned suddenly.

While saying hello, Ogata simply looked at the old woman and the four young girls who came suddenly.

That old lady has nothing to say, from the outside, she is just an ordinary old man.

——Is she the old woman who can see other people's possessed gods that Aiyaka said...

After muttering in his heart, Ogata turned his attention to the four girls surrounding the old lady.

The faces of the four girls surrounding the old woman were all fair and clean without any tattoos.

Ogata remembered what Aiyaka had told Ogata before—among the Ainu, if you see a woman without tattoos on her face, it means that the woman is underage.

Among the four underage girls, the one with the orange headband is the prettiest.

Big and black eyes, round and small face, fairly delicate features. It also appeared to be the youngest of the four girls.

After Ashley and the others casually nodded in agreement and returned the salute, the girl with the red headband quietly asked the grandmother beside her.

"Grandma, how about Kazuto's Possession God... eh? Grandma?"

The girl with the red headband was surprised to find that Ahili's grandma was now opening her mouth wide and her eyes wide open.

He looked as if he had seen something very surprising and frightening.

The sight from grandma's eyes pierced straight to the person standing in front of her——Ogata.

Everyone present, including Ogata and Atachi, noticed this strange behavior of grandma at this time.

Ogata looked suspiciously at the old lady who was looking at him with strange eyes.

He thought the old woman's gaze was strange.

Because the old lady didn't seem to be looking at him.

More like looking behind him...

—Is there something strange behind me?

Ogata turned to look behind him.

Yet nothing could be seen but air.

"Grandma." Ashley asked her with a worried face, "Why do you..."

Before Ahili could finish her words, she saw her grandma rushing towards Ogata suddenly.

"#￥%@\u0026*#￥@%%@ (Ainu language)" the old woman spoke a series of Ainu languages ​​at high speed.

Ogata and A-Machi couldn't understand what she was saying at all.

But Ogata was surprised to find out—after the old woman's voice fell, Aiyaka and others showed expressions of horror.

The prettiest girl with the orange headband reacted the most.

Not only did she look horrified, her cheeks also turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"What did the old lady say?" Ogata asked Aiyaka.

Aiyaka pursed her lips tightly, and after glancing at Ogata and A-Ming with strange eyes, she said slowly:

"She said: She wants you to be her grandson-in-law..."

"...huh?" Ogata tilted his head.

On the other hand, A-Machi instantly showed an expression that cannot be described in words.

*****

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Ogata’s Possessed God, probably looks like this, for your reference→→→