I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"Guest?" Xu Fang asked with doubts.

Aizan nodded: "Well, it's... the villagers of Siwaxi Village..."

"Siwaxi Village?" Ogata's pupils shrank slightly.

Siwaxi Village—the village where the girl named Lilata rescued by Ogata lives now...

After Ogata captured the general named Sakaguchi, he pried out the information he wanted to know from Sakaguchi: "Why did you pursue them", "How did you chase them here", etc...

So Ogata already knew what happened to Siwaxi Village after he, A-Ming and the others left...

Sakaguchi told Ogata plainly that they had done some...excessive things to the villagers of Siwaxi Village, and only then asked the whereabouts of Ogata and the others from the villagers.

Sakaguchi also mentioned the methods they used to torture the villagers in Siwaxi Village - because they didn't have any torture tools at hand, they all used some very primitive and brutal torture methods.

Fists and kicks, and... severed fingers.

Finger amputation is a well-known form of torture in ancient Japan.

The so-called "broken finger" does not mean cutting off a person's finger with a knife.

Instead, he used brute force to forcefully pull his fingers off his palm.

The ten fingers connect to the heart, so there are often victims who die in pain directly.

According to Sakaguchi - they started by using simple punches and kicks on the village chief of Siwaxi village.

But no matter how much he beat or kicked, the village head refused to say a word.

So in order to make the village head obediently speak, Mogami personally ordered: use the severed finger on the village head.

After forcibly pulling off the village chief's second finger, the village chief finally gave in and revealed the whereabouts of Ogata and the others.

"I met people from Siwaxi Village by chance when I was hunting just now." Aizan slowly explained to Ogata how he happened to meet the villagers of Siwaxi Village just now.

"When I caught this fat rabbit, I suddenly heard a strange noise that only humans could make from the bushes not far away."

"After I used a bow and arrow to force the people hiding in the bushes to come out, I saw the village head of Siwaxi Village and a middle-aged man I didn't know standing up from the bushes."

"The village chief said: He is leading the surviving villagers to escape from the village and into the mountains.

Just escaped in this direction. "

"Most of the young men in their village died, and there were many more wounded, so he also had to come to hunt in person to hunt some fresh meat for the wounded in the village to replenish their bodies."

"And then just met me by chance."

"The village chief said he wanted to see you very much, that he betrayed you, so he wanted to apologize to you face to face...so I brought them here, Mr. Mashima, do you want to meet them?"

"...Where are the village chief and the others now?" Ogata asked.

"He's outside right now." Aizan replied.

"Is he the only one here?" Ogata asked.

"No." Aizan shook his head, "In addition to the village chief, the little girl named Lilata and her grandmother are also here."

"It seems that the village chief originally wanted to see you alone. But it seems that the little girl Lilata insisted on coming together, so the village chief brought her and her grandmother along."

"...I understand." Ogata nodded lightly, "Aizan, thank you for bringing them here."

After finishing speaking, Ogata supported O-Machi's shoulders and made A-Machi lie down again. A-Machi is not an ignorant child, so she naturally didn't make any resistance to disturb Ogata at this time, and lay down obediently again.

After letting A-Ming lie down again, Ogata took out the human skin mask from his arms and put it on skillfully.

Aizan and Ahili looked at Ogata who was wearing a human skin mask on his face in shock and horror.

After seeing Ogata in front of them change back to the familiar face of "Mashima Goro", the expressions of shock and horror on their faces were too strong to be added.

Since yesterday, they have been wondering why Ogata's face changed.

But it was hard to find the time to ask, and Ogata never had time to explain to the two of them.

Until now—Aizan and Ahili finally knew how Ogata changed his appearance.

After putting on the human skin mask, Ogata smiled wryly at Aizan and Yahili: "I'm sorry, I may have scared you... I will explain to you what my face is all about. "

With that said, Ogata got out of his hunting lodge.

And Aizan immediately followed Ogata, and followed Ogata out of the hunting lodge.

There was no need for Aizan to point out the direction, as soon as he got out of the hunting lodge, he saw three figures, two big and one small, standing in the southwest direction of the hunting lodge.

These three figures are the village head of Siwaxi Village, Lilata and her grandmother.

Lilata is now standing behind the village head, holding the clothes of the grandmother standing beside her in one hand, and holding something familiar to Ogata with the other hand—a small bag Ogata made for him. windmill.

Although the distance is a bit far, Ogata can still clearly see that the village chief's naturally hanging left hand is wrapped with a thick hemostatic cloth strip, the brown cloth strip is stained dark black by blood, and the palm is not The ring finger and the little finger are 2 fingers.

Although Lilata and her grandmother who stood beside her were not physically mutilated like the village chief, their skins exposed outside their clothes were all blue and purple, and Lilata's grandmother's face was even more so. It was a direct blow.

Looking at Lilata's miserable situation, Ogata couldn't help pursing his lips, and then walked quickly towards the three of them.

"Mr. Mashima..." Before and after Ogata walked up to him, the village chief said to Ogata in a hoarse voice, "I... I'm really sorry... (Ainu language)"

Aizan who came with Ogata stood behind Ogata, translating for Ogata.

The village chief kept saying sorry to Ogata, apologizing for betraying his kindness to Ogata who told them that there was news that the Kazuto army was approaching.

The village chief, who didn't know that Ogata and the others had been attacked by the shogunate army, apologized, but also warned Ogata and the others to leave here quickly to avoid being found by the army.

Ogata glanced at the village chief's left palm where two fingers had been torn off with brute force, and sighed silently.

"Village chief, you don't need to apologize to us." Ogata smiled, "It's not your fault, it's those in the army who are at fault."

"Thank you for your reminder, we will leave here immediately."

"...Mashima-san... (Ainu language)"

At this time, a childish voice sounded.

It was Lilata's voice.

Ogata looked down at Lilata who was holding tightly the little windmill he made.

It wasn't until this moment that Ogata realized that the small windmill was damaged, and one piece of blade was missing.

Lirata raised her head high and looked directly at Ogata.

His face was full of grievances.

"I'm sorry... I almost sold you out... (Ainu)"

"This child insists on coming with the village chief to apologize to you..." Lilata's grandmother said softly at this time, "For the past two days, this child has been blaming himself for almost betraying you... (Ayi Nu language)"

"Almost betrayed us?" Ogata asked back, "What do you mean?"

"The child said that she was beaten by four soldiers at that time, and she was beaten very painfully, because it was too painful, so she was already planning to confess your whereabouts to get relief..."

Lilata's grandmother wiped her tears as she spoke.

"When she was about to reveal your whereabouts, those soldiers left."

"Even though you didn't tell the soldiers your whereabouts in the end, this kid still blamed himself for the past two days... saying that he was so shameless that he almost betrayed his savior... (Ayi Nu language)"

Ogata listened quietly.

After listening to Aizan's translation, Ogata lowered his eyes again, looking at Lilata who now buried her head low and dared not look directly at Ogata.

Ogata just looked at Lilata quietly.

Until a moment later——

"...Lilata, thank you. You have persisted for so long for me."

Ogata showed a faint smile, and knelt on one knee on the ground, so that he was at eye level with Lilata.

"You are not shameless at all, you are already very brave. Facing such a fierce torture, you can persist for so long. I may not be as brave as you at your age."

After saying that, Ogata held out his hand to Lilata who was looking at him with surprised eyes.

"Come on, lend me the windmill."

Lirata looked at Ogata in front of her, then at the windmill in her hand, and then slowly handed the windmill to Ogata.

Ogata took the windmill from Lirata, and then took a leaf on the ground next to it.

Ogata flipped his ten fingers deftly.

As if by magic, in the blink of an eye, Ogata repaired the damaged windmill of Lilata with the leaf he had just picked up.

"Here." Ogata handed the windmill back to Lilata.

Lilata took the small windmill back in a daze.

Looking at the repaired windmill in her hand, Lilata was stunned at first.

Then, all of a sudden, the backlog of emotions exploded. She cried and said "thank you" to Ogata.

"Village chief, hurry up and hide in the deep mountains." Ogata smiled at Lilata and stood up, "Village chief, Lilata...you have to take care."

"Yeah." The village chief was also in tears at this time, "Thank you, Mashima-san...you also have to take care..."

...

...

3 days later——

"...The above is the loss of our army."

"... Thanks for your hard work." Inamori, who was seated at the top, nodded to the general who had just been in charge of reporting casualties, "Please take a seat."

And the general officer also bowed lightly to Inamori as a gesture of return, and then sat back in his seat.

"It's so miserable..." Inamori folded his arms and said softly, "There is only one enemy who attacked, and you, with an army of 3,000, were beaten like this."

As soon as Daomori's words fell, the generals of the First Army headed by Kuroda and Qiuyue in the camp all showed shame and embarrassment, and buried their heads low.

If there is a hole here, then many people present may just get into the hole directly.

After these days of treatment, Qiuyue's body has recovered to the point where she can barely sit in a position to participate in military discussions.

After the camp was attacked, Kuroda, who temporarily took over the command, immediately dispatched his trusted generals to the camp of the Second Army, the main force behind their First Army, to report to their commander-in-chief Inamori This is destined to make Inamori's jaw drop "the attack".

And in fact, it was true——After hearing the news, Inamori's jaw almost dropped from shock.

After sending a message to Inamori, Kuroda led the First Army to stay where they were, waiting for Inamori's instructions and orders.

When Inamori learned that the First Army had encountered a major event that could be called a "huge scandal", he immediately conveyed the order of "urgent march" to the Second Army with 5,000 troops under his command.

It took only 3 days for the second army to catch up with the first army which was on standby and merge with the first army.

After merging with the First Army, Inamori originally wanted to see Sheng Tianmu who died in battle.

But because too much time had passed, and the corpse of Sheng Tianmu had been collected, Inamori had no choice but to give up.

After giving up the plan of "seeing the eye with a single eye", Inamori immediately called all the generals of the 1st Army and the 2nd Army to hold a military meeting.

Because the participants will be all the generals of the First Army and the Second Army, the scale of the meeting is huge, and the camps of the generals will be filled to the brim.

Sitting in the main seat is naturally Inamori and Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Just now, Inamori was listening to the damage of the First Army after encountering Ogata Ittosai's attack.

The death toll was 74, and the number of minor or serious injuries was 168—most of the casualties were not killed or injured by Ogata, but were caused by one's own people hurting one's own people under the chaotic order.

The loss of property was not particularly serious, but some tents and facilities were burned, and the baggage was intact.

General losses—especially severe.

A total of 3 generals were killed in battle, and these 3 generals were all generals with high status in the army.

The general of the First Army—Sheng Tianmu died in battle.

The other two guns in the "Seven Guns of Xianzhou"-Tiandao and Mogami were also killed.

Of the "five guns" involved in this battle, there are only two guns left by Akizuki and Kuroda. And the only two guns left were injured...

If the First Army was attacked by the Ainu with more than a thousand people, then Inamori could still accept the heavy casualties.

However... it was not the thousands of troops that brought such heavy losses to the First Army...

At first, when he learned that the camp was attacked by a samurai, Inamori thought he had heard wrong.

And then - something miraculous happened.

Afterwards, when he learned that the samurai who attacked the First Army Camp was that Ogata Yasushi, Inamori suddenly had the miraculous thought of "So that's understandable" and "No wonder there were so many casualties"...

"Alas..." Inamori let out a sigh of relief, "I never expected... that Ogata Yidaosai is actually in this Ezo land..."

"And we still unknowingly offended him..."

"damn it……"

Based on the currently known information, continue to clarify the reason why Ogata Yidaosai broke into the camp of the First Army.

Mogami wounded a young woman the day before the First Army was attacked, and then prepared to take the woman away for interrogation.

Then... Ogata Yidaosai came and defeated Mogami's troops. As soon as Mogami fled back to the camp, Ogata Yidao Zhai chased after him, and then forced his way into the camp, beheading Mogami with a single blow.

After integrating these information, it can be deduced that Ogata Ittosai is for revenge.

Inamori guessed—that young woman must be an extremely important person to Ogata Isai, otherwise Ogata Isai would not have done such a crazy thing as "breaking into the camp alone".

From a legal point of view-Ogata's behavior of calling on the door to seek revenge is completely legal and encouraged.

In order to maintain its own rule, the Edo shogunate vigorously praised the distorted "Bushido".

One of the core principles of "Bushido" in the Edo period is to value "reputation" more than "life".

"Revenge" is an important behavior to protect one's own reputation and even the meaning of existence itself, so a very weird "hatred culture" developed in the Edo period.

In the Edo period, "revenge without revenge" was a behavior that was despised by everyone. The society is permeated with the ethos of "revenge for revenge". If there is a grudge and you don't pursue it, you will be disgusted and despised by the people around you.

If the samurai does not retaliate, he will also be punished such as "deprived of the right to inherit the family business".

There are various regulations on how to take revenge. For example: You can ask someone to help you take revenge, but when you kill the enemy, you must do it yourself.

Another example: repeated revenge is prohibited, that is, it is not allowed to retaliate against those who have succeeded in revenge.

Another example: Qiu Qiu's honor is affirmed, but Qiu Qiu will still be punished. That is to say, after you succeed in revenge, everyone will praise you, but you will still be punished for "homicide".

It is because of this weird culture of hatred and begging that when Ogata committed the crime of lord killing that shocked the whole country a year and a half ago, many people still praised him and respected him.

Therefore, according to this weird "revenge culture", Ogata's behavior of entering the camp for revenge is worthy of recognition and praise...

If someone else's army was attacked by Ogata Isai, then Inamori might praise Ogata Isai and respect Ogata's courage.

But the problem is - the troops under attack are his troops...

"Boss!"

At this time, a certain general shouted loudly.

This general is a general of the Second Army, about 20 years old, and this general, who is in his prime of life, made a speech generously.

"This matter must not be left alone!"

The young general was about to say something more, but Daomori raised his hand first, signaling that he doesn't need to say more.

Inamori could guess what the young general wanted to say—it was nothing more than telling him how heinous Chen Xufang Yidaosai's trespassing on their camp was, and then asked Inamori to send troops to pursue Ogata Yidaosai.

"Everyone, stay calm."

Inamori said in a calm tone.

"I can understand your feelings."

"When something like this happened, I was also heartbroken."

"But everyone can't lose the big because of the small. The big event was delayed because of Ogata Yidaosai."

"What is the purpose of our mobilization of 10,000 troops this time?"

"It's to flatten the Red Moon Fortress."

"It's not to pursue Ogata Yidaosai."

"We shouldn't be putting the cart before the horse right now."

"Now we should do our best to complete the heavy responsibility of 'pacifying the Red Moon Fortress'."

As soon as Inamori's words fell, Matsudaira Sadanobu who was sitting next to Inamori said abruptly:

"Inamori is right."

"The pacification of the Red Moon Fortress cannot be delayed because of Ogata's one-knife fasting."

The commander-in-chief of the entire army and the old middle school of the shogunate both spoke, expressing the same point of view-how oppressive it is.

But in the face of this huge oppressive force, there are still some young generals who are still young and not afraid of tigers when newborn calves are afraid of tigers and said:

"But... the commander, are you just ignoring that Ogata Yidaosai like this?"

"Of course not." Inamori said without hesitation, "I'm just saying that you can't miss a big deal because of Ogata Yidaosai."

"We will continue to advance the Red Moon Fortress step by step according to the plan."

"But starting today, double the number of scouts... no, triple it!"

"Let all scouts beware of all the young and men along the way."

Inamori's eyes flickered with a cold light.

"It would be best if we could find traces of Ogata Yidaosai on the way to the Red Moon Fortress."

"If you can't find it, it doesn't matter."

"After the Red Moon Fortress is leveled... let's think about how to deal with Ogata Yidaosai who is currently lurking in Ezo."

The cold light in Inamori's eyes was so strong at this moment that it seemed that when he looked at someone, he could cut that person's skin.

*****

*****

PS1: Thank you book friend [Silent Kirin]!

This book friend found me before and said that he liked Ogata very much, so he asked an artist to draw Ogata's character pictures.

Last night, this book friend showed me the draft—it was great!

Now this character map is only in the draft stage, and it will take some time to be finalized.

I will ask this book friend later to see if he agrees with me to release this character picture in the form of an "easter egg chapter"~~

PS2: A book friend told me yesterday——I hope I can write this book longer, because I am afraid that there will be a shortage of books after the book is finished.

The author is here to share a little news with you.

The author, Jun, loves samurai-themed works very much, and I always feel that it is difficult to write only one samurai novel, so after discussing with the editor, I decided to write a large series - "Samurai Trilogy".

This "I Became a Swordsman in Ancient Japan" (also known as: "One Knife Studio") is the first part of the trilogy.

【【[The three works share a world view and timeline】】】

When I was in volume 5, I mentioned to you that I planned to write a samurai novel set in the end of the Bakumaku (the end of the Edo period) after the end of this book-now this is not a "plan", but It is "OK".

The second part of the trilogy is set at the end of the Bakumatsu.

Those who have watched "Rurouni Kenshin" should be familiar with the era background of "Bakumatsu".

Let me reveal so much for now, the rest of the details of the second part, and what era the third part will be set in, I will keep it a secret for now, and I will tell you slowly later~~

The first part is the middle and late Edo period, which was peaceful for a long time.

The second part is the end of the Tokugawa period.

Which era will the third part be - you can guess~~

The era background of the trilogy is different, so the protagonist's golden finger and the main stage where the protagonist is active are different, so you don't have to be afraid that the content of the second and third parts will be very similar to the current book.