The children surrounding Eyaka kept looking curiously at Ogata and Atachi, the two strangers Kazuto, as well as those whom Eyaka was talking to.

Nakuhi and Noosa were carried by Ogata on his back.

"Lucians?" Ogata frowned, "What happened? Is... are there Lucians planning to plunder your village?"

"No, it's not." Ayaka shook his head with the helpless look on his face, "Mashima, do you still remember what I told you before?"

"There was a group of Lucians who lived temporarily in our village."

Ogata began to remember.

Then I quickly recalled that Aiyaka had indeed said something similar.

On the night when he killed the man-eating male bear, when Ayaka asked Ogata and the others what weapons Soo Sakura and Kasumi Nagi were, he told them that he had once been a member of a group of people who were temporarily killing him in his village.

People from Lucia who have lived there for a while have seen short muskets.

"That group of Lucians who lived in our village temporarily before are here again." Aiyaka said, "They obviously just left two months ago, so why are they back..."

Ayaka muttered as he led Ogata towards the village where he lived.

The village where Aiyaka lives is called "Kuma".

When we were still relatively far away just now, we couldn't see clearly.

Now, after approaching the village, Ogata gradually saw the whole village clearly.

The architectural style of Ezo's villages is quite obviously different from that of Kazuto's villages.

The houses in Ezo are all made of withered hay and wood whose name Ogata cannot recognize.

Although the architectural styles are completely different, the rural atmosphere that permeates the air is the same.

After Ayaka led Ogata and the others into the village, curious and doubtful eyes immediately came towards Ogata and the others.

Perhaps the news that "Aiyaka brought two Kazuto back to the village" spread, more and more people showed up and gathered around, looking at Ogata and Amachi with curious eyes.

Ayaka said something in Yezhi language to the people who were approaching.

Ogata guessed - he was probably explaining to everyone who Ogata and Atachi were.

Just as Ogata stood silently behind Ayaka, letting Ayaka slowly explain to everyone around him, a Japanese with a strange accent suddenly came into Ogata's ears.

"Aiyaka! It's been such a long time!"

"Ah." Aiyaka called out, "Vashili, it's you. It's been a long time since we last saw you."

When this Japanese language with a strange accent sounded, Ogata also turned his gaze over.

After seeing the appearance of the owner of this voice, Ogata couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

He has deeper facial features than Ezo, fair skin, and wears very Western-style clothes.

"Lucians..." Ogata murmured in a low voice at a volume that only he could hear clearly.

There were a total of three Lucians walking towards Ogata and the others at a moderate speed.

The height of the three people is about the same as Ogata, about 1.7 meters.

The one who just said hello to Ayaka in Japanese, and whom Ayaka called "Vashili", was the one walking in front of the three people - a young man with curly brown hair and green eyes.

None of these three people carried any weapons on their bodies, and they just walked up to Aiyaka empty-handed.

"Vashili." Ayaka asked Vasily first, "Why did you come to stay with us again?"

"The map drawn last time had many wrong places." The young man whom Ayaka called Vasily said with a bitter smile, "So our boss can only lead us back and redraw it.

A map once.”

"Where is your boss?" Aiyaka asked next.

"He led some people to draw some pictures yesterday." Vasili shrugged, "He is not here for the time being, but - he should be back soon."

After saying that, Vasili looked up and down at Ayaka and Ogata and others standing next to Ayaka.

Looking at Ogata and Atachi, Vasili couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes.

After looking at Ogata and Atachi several times, Vasili withdrew his gaze, and then turned to Aiyaka again.

"Aiyaka, I've heard all about it," Vasili said, "You went to hunt man-eating bears. How was it? Did you successfully kill the pair of man-eating bears? Also, who are these two?"

The "these two" that Vasily mentioned were naturally referring to Ogata and Atachi.

"These two are the guests I invited back."

Ayaka answered without thinking.

"Thanks to the help of these two guests, the two man-eating bears are dead.

"The two man-eating bears were killed by these two people, and I basically didn't do anything."

"Oh?" Vasili raised his eyebrows, and then looked at Ogata and Ogata again. The surprise in his eyes was much stronger than before, "Both man-eating bears were killed by these two people?"

Vasily grinned.

"It seems that Aiyaka has invited a very powerful guest back."

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen a Japanese person in a long time."

"Hello. My name is Vasily. My full name is very long, so you can just call me Vasily."

After saying that, Vasili bowed lightly to Ogata and Amachi, following Japanese etiquette.

"Hello." Ogata returned the greeting, "My name is Majima Goro."

A-Ting: "My name is A-Ting."

After greeting Ogata and the other two, Vasili waved to Aiyaka.

"Aiyaka, I still have things to do, so I'll leave first. If you have time, come to our place for a drink."

"Oh? Are you busy?" Aiyaka asked.

"I have been busy keeping accounts today." Vasili smiled wryly and shrugged, "You know, I have always been responsible for managing the finances of our group."

"At my current pace, I won't be able to finish it until late at night."

"I just heard that you were back, so I took a break from my busy schedule and ran out to see you."

"That's it, I'll go back and continue to keep my accounts. See you later."

After finishing speaking, Vasili waved his hand to Aiyaka again.

This time he not only waved to Aiyaka, but also to Ogata and Atachi.

While waving his hands, he led the two Lucians behind him and walked away.

…

…

at the same time--

Matsumae Castle, the residence of Matsudaira Sadanobu——

"Lao Zhongsheng."

Tachibana knelt on one knee in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu and respectfully announced.

"My lords, all are here."

Matsudaira Sadanobu was sitting behind a desk at this time, writing furiously.

After Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a calm tone:

"Oh, I see."

Having said that, Matsudaira Sadanobu put down the brush in his hand and stood up from behind the desk.

At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu was not dressed casually.

Instead, he wears the most formal dress among shogunate officials - shogun.

The white lining, dark green shoulder jacket and hakama are all as clean as new without exception.

The scapular is embroidered with the family crest of the Tokugawa family, which ruled the entire Edo shogunate: the three-leaf sunflower pattern.

Tachibana, like Matsudaira Sadanobu, wore the most formal and clean dress. The clothes were embroidered with the same clover.

"Tachibana, let's go."

After leaving these words calmly, Matsudaira Sadanobu supported the wakizashi inserted in his left waist, and then strode out of the room.

After Tachibana responded with a loud "yes", he quickly walked to the knife rest placed in the corner of the room and took down Matsudaira Sadanobu's sword hanging on the knife rest - Nagasone Kotetsu.

Then he held Matsudaira Sadanobu's long Soni Kotetsu in his arms and followed him a few steps slower than Matsudaira Sadanobu.

After leaving the room, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked Tachibana who was walking behind him without looking back:

"How are the dishes prepared?"

"Everything is ready." Tachibana said immediately, "It can be served at any time."

"Very good." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded.

…

…

Tonight, a very grand banquet will be held in this Matsumae Castle.
To be continued...