"The Kazuto just now looks to be in his early 20s."

"Probably not much older than us."

"For a person of this age, it would be pretty good if he could practice the sword to the point where his hands don't shake when wielding it."

…

…

The relationship between Kuma Village and Qina Village has always been very good, and many people in Qina Village are even very familiar with Aiyaka.

Because of this deep relationship, when Aiyaka took Ogata and Omachi into Qina Village, he did not need to report to the village chief or anyone else, and he could bring people into the village freely.

This is the trust that Qina Village has in Kuma Village and in Aiyaka.

Ayaka drove the dog sled, guided by several villagers from Qina Village, into the depths of Qina Village and parked the sled at a corner.

A strong man who was familiar with Ayyaka lent his family's "Setakuma" to Ayyaka for his four sled dogs.

"Setakuma" is a unique word among the Ainu people, referring to a long pole specially used to tie dogs.

"Setakuma" looks a bit like a clothes drying pole with a long pole placed horizontally on two long poles standing on the ground.

Then tie the dog's leash to the horizontal bar that is placed across the two long poles inserted into the ground.

After placing the sled and the four sled dogs, Ayaka loudly announced their intention to the villagers who were still surrounding them not far away.

After learning that Ayaka was looking for someone with the two Kazuto friends behind him, many people who were familiar with Ayaka immediately responded positively, saying that if you ask them anything, they will tell you everything.

.

"Let's go. Majima, Atachi." Aiyaka said to Ogata and Atachi behind him, "Let's start with those people who have a good relationship with me."

"Yes." Ogata nodded, "Sorry to trouble you."

…

…

at this moment

Qina Village, the village chief’s home

The village chief of Qina Village is named "Chepke", a 72-year-old man.

Chepke was currently sitting on the floor of his home, looking up and down at the red-haired stranger sitting cross-legged in front of him.

This foreigner with red hair is none other than Skulucci.

Skulucci does not speak Ainu and only speaks Japanese, so he and Chepke need a translator to communicate smoothly.

Fortunately, Qina Village is also a village that often cooperates with Heshang, so there is no shortage of people in the village who can listen and speak Japanese.

The person in charge of the translator, and the combatants who were on guard against various emergencies were sitting around Chepke.

Skulucci followed Chepke's request and only brought two of his men into the village, while the rest of his men were waiting outside the village.

The two subordinates he brought were named Avger and Lev.

Avjie is the freckle-faced young man who caught 6 fat rabbits for everyone a few days ago.

He was once the best hunter in his hometown, and among all the men under Skulucci, he was the best at using muskets.

And Lev is one of Skulucci's old subordinates. Although he is not good-looking and neither fat nor thin, he is a ruthless man who has mastered the "Chasik knife skills" passed down from generation to generation by his Cossacks.

people.

Among Skulucci and his group, only Skulucci could be Lev's opponent in terms of swordsmanship.

The reason why Skulucci brought these two combatants under his command was to facilitate the preparation of any unpleasant things that might happen.

Skulucci had just introduced himself to Chepke.

After introducing himself, Chepke asked Skulucci directly:

"Stranger, you said you have something very important to talk to us about. Now tell us about what you said is very important. (Ainu)"

The young man in charge of the translation translated the words that Czepke just said into Japanese word for word.

After listening to the interpretation of the young man in charge of the translation, Skulucci smiled and shrugged.

"Actually, it's nothing."

"It's just that there is a group of strangers from the far west like me who are bored and want to start doing the same business they used to do, robbing money and robbing women."

"So I just want to remind you that when you sleep, remember to sleep with your weapon in your arms."

As soon as the translator finished translating Skulucci's words, Chepke and others looked shocked.

"Are there strangers planning to plunder everywhere? (Ainu)" Chepke frowned, "How do you know? (Ainu)"

"Because those guys just came to me a few days ago and planned to recruit me into their group." Scrulucci tugged on a hair with many split ends on his forehead, "I have no interest in this kind of thing. So I refused.

them."

Although Scrooge was born in Scotland, his hair is not the curly hair that Europeans often have.

His red hair is straight, more like the hair of yellow people.

"...Since you are from the same race as the group of strangers who are planning to plunder, why did you reject them? Why did you come to tell us this?"

"Didn't I just say that? I have no interest in things like robbery."

"As for you asking why I came here to tell you this..."

Ayaka let out a sneer.

"I didn't come here specifically to tell you this."

"I don't know which village those guys plan to plunder."

"They may attack your village, or they may attack other villages. Of course, they may also attack many villages, including yours."

"I just happened to pass by your village with my men."

"I feel that we are so destined, so I kindly came over to give you a heads up."

"Okay, that's all I want to say."

After saying that, Scrooge stood up.

Avger and Lev, who were sitting behind him, also stood up.

"Bless yourselves."

"It's up to you whether you want to be ready to fight at any time, or whether you want to take the whole village and flee temporarily."

"But my advice to you is to flee as soon as possible."

"Escape to the deep mountains and wild forests for a while."

"If they choose your village as a target, you alone will not be able to defeat the Cossacks."

Skulucci's words directly caused everyone's expressions to change, including Chepke's.

"Hey! (Ainu)" A strong man shouted directly at Skuluch, "Do you think we are incapable of repelling the foreigners who are coveting our village? (Ainu)"

As soon as the strong man finished speaking, Scrooge nodded.

"Well, that's right. If those guys set your village as an attack target, you won't be able to repel them with just your bows and arrows."

"...Don't underestimate us, strangers." Another thin middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "It's not like we have never encountered such a thing as an attack on the village."

"Just a year ago, there happened to be a group of desperate Kazuo people who attacked our village. But we were able to repulse them easily."

"Don't underestimate our fighting power."

"This is our hometown. How can we just run away without firing an arrow? This will be laughed at by other villages. (Ainu language)"

Since the "disappearance" occurred, the villagers of Qina Village have become very sensitive to all matters involving the dignity of the village.

Because they are too afraid that people from other villages will bully them.

"...Strangers." At this time, Chepke, the village chief, finally spoke, "Don't treat us as idiots who don't understand anything."

"We don't know anything about you white-skinned people from the far west."

"I know you use a weapon called a 'musket'."

"You just think that our bows and arrows are no match for muskets. (Ainu language)"

"Oh?" Scrooge raised his eyebrows, "You actually know about muskets?"

"I know that muskets are very powerful, but that's all." Chepke continued, "Your muskets can only fire one shot at a time, and it will take a long time to reload the projectiles after firing one shot."

"And the accuracy is not good either. It can't hit anything too far away."

"In comparison, our bows and arrows are superior."

"In terms of shooting speed and accuracy alone, our bows and arrows are stronger than your muskets."

"So you don't have to worry about us."

"If it is true as you said, someone attacks our village."
To be continued...