"None of their group speaks our language."

Ayaka continued.

"Only their red-haired boss and their second-in-command Vasili can speak your language."

"So when we communicate with them, we always use Japanese."

"I am one of the people in our village who speaks Chinese the best."

"So it's basically me who comes forward to talk to them."

"After going back and forth, I became familiar with them."

Aiyaka’s grandmother: “￥#@%&*￥@#%.(Ezo)”

At this moment, Aiyaka's grandmother suddenly spoke up.

Before Ogata even asked Ayaka what his grandma was talking about, Ayaka took the initiative to translate to Ogata:

"My grandma said: The bear paws are cooked and ready to eat."

Two bear paws were floating in the soup in the pot.

The pot that Ayaka's grandmother used to cook bear paws was actually Ogata and Atachi's pot.

Before leaving Edo, the two of them bought a small pot in Edo that was easy to carry when traveling.

When they couldn't find a hotel and had to camp out in the wild, Ogata and the others would occasionally use this small pot to cook miso soup or boil the dry food they carried to make it more delicious.

Although the peeled and cooked bear paws do look very much like human feet and look a little scary, they do smell very fragrant.

In addition to this small pot, Ogata and the others also carried a pair of bowls and chopsticks with them.

Their bowls and chopsticks are all made of bamboo, so they are not easy to break.

Ogata and Atachi took out their bowls and each scooped a bear paw into the bowls they carried with them.

In his previous life, Ogata had only eaten meat from domestic animals such as pigs, cows, and sheep.

This was the first time he had seen and eaten bear meat.

Not to mention Atachi.

She has never even eaten domestic animals such as pigs, cows, and sheep.

It was the first time that Omachi saw meat other than fish. He put the bear paw in front of his nose and sniffed it vigorously like a dog.

In terms of smell, this bear's paw is absolutely impeccable, and the smell makes one's index fingers spread.

Ogata picked up the bear's paw with chopsticks, put it in front of his mouth, tore off a piece of bear meat with his teeth, then put it in his mouth and chewed it carefully.

The moment the bear meat entered his mouth, several flashes of joy burst out in Ogata's eyes.

Just use your teeth to bite open the bear meat, and the rich umami flavor will spread from the tip of your tongue to the entire mouth.

The taste of bear meat is quite different from that of livestock such as pigs, cows, and sheep.

I don’t know whether it’s because of Aiyaka’s grandma’s unique cooking method or because the bear meat tastes like this. The bear meat in your mouth feels very elastic when you bite it.

What surprised Ogata the most was that the bear meat didn't have any fishy smell.

Atachi and Ogata bit off a piece of bear meat almost at the same time.

Then he also showed an expression similar to Ogata's, with surprise shining in his eyes.

Based on A-Machi's reaction, it is not difficult to see that A-Machi is also very satisfied with the bear meat in the bowl.

Seeing the expressions of Ogata and Atachi, Ayaka smiled happily.

"How is it? Am I right? The bear paw cooked by my grandma tastes very good, right?"

"Your grandma's craftsmanship is really amazing." Ogata said, "The bear's paws don't have any fishy smell at all."

"Because my grandma added pukusachina, which can make the meat fresh and remove the fishy smell."

"Pukusakina?" A-Machi asked in confusion, "What does this mean?"

"Pukusakina in Japanese... I remember it means goosefoot."

"We Ainu all like to use pukusakina to deodorize meat, but my grandma is particularly good at controlling the amount of pukusakina. She won't add too much, and she won't add too little."

"So the meat dishes made by my grandma are very delicious."

After listening to Aiyaka's explanation, Atachi nodded gently:

"I see...this bear paw is indeed delicious."

After saying that, A-Machi picked up the bear's paw again and started chewing it with concentration.

Just as Ogata picked up the bear's paw again with chopsticks, he suddenly heard a strange, subtle noise coming from the window of the house.

He looked around and saw four little heads poking out of the window of the house, casting curious glances at Ogata and Omachi inside the house.

When the children of these four villages noticed that Ogata had discovered them, they immediately shrank their heads and retreated under the window.

At this time, Ayaka also discovered the four children lying outside the window.

“%￥#@@#￥@￥!(Ezo)”

Ayaka shouted something angrily, stood up quickly, and rushed toward the door.

When he opened the door, he happened to see four children who were only about 5 or 6 years old, laughing and running away from Aiyaka's sight.

"Sorry, Majima, I made you laugh." Ayaka returned to where he was just now and smiled bitterly at Ogata, "They probably want to see the warrior who killed two Unkamui in a row.

What does it look like?"

Naturally, Ogata would not take the children's play too seriously. After smiling, he said:

"It seems that my wife and I's bear fighting deeds have completely spread throughout the village..."

"After all, our village is small." Aiyaka shrugged, "Our village only has a total of 124 people, so no matter what happens, it will spread quickly."

After saying that, Ayaka turned his head and said something in Ekino to his wife sitting behind him.

After Aiyaka finished speaking, his wife nodded, got up and left the house.

After Ayaka's wife left, Ogata asked Ayaka:

"What is your wife doing?"

"I asked my wife to find the parents of the four children who just opened our window." Aiyaka showed a wicked smile, "Although the four brats just ran away very fast, I still saw their faces."

"Although I can understand their curiosity about the new guests in the village, no matter what, it is quite impolite to open someone's window."

"It is necessary for their parents to discipline and discipline them well."

"It seems that we may hear four children crying tonight." Ogata responded in a half-joking tone.

Ogata didn't say anything to Ayaka, "This is too cruel."

Because he felt that Ayaka was right to do this.

Although Ogata would not take things like "children picking out windows" seriously, picking up other people's windows is indeed quite impolite behavior and needs to be disciplined by parents.

"Speaking of which, I've wanted to ask you since I entered your village." A-Machi put down the bear paw that had been mostly eaten by her, "Why do most of the women in your village have tattoos around their lips?"

Tattoo?"

Atachi stretched out his finger and drew a circle around his red lips.

"This is not just the case in our village," Aiyaka said. "All Ainu women will have a circle of tattoos around their lips when they reach adulthood."

"It's our custom."

"The higher a man's status, the larger the tattoos his wife will have."

After saying that, Ayaka put on a proud tone.

"I am one of the best hunters in the village. I have hunted four Unkamuyi alone, so the tattoo on my wife's lips is larger than that of all the women of the same age in the village."

"And my grandfather, who died of illness, was also an incredible warrior."

Ayaka stretched out his arms and hugged his grandmother who was sitting next to him.

"My grandfather started hunting when he was 12 years old. Until his death, he had killed 79 bears alone. There were also countless small animals such as deer and rabbits. There were 14 Unkamuyi."

"That's why my grandma has the biggest tattoo on her face."

Grandma, who was hugged by Ayaka, slapped away Ayaka's hand holding her with a helpless expression.

Then, she turned her attention to Ogata and Omachi, and said something to them in Ezo language.

The two of them had studied the common expressions in the Ezo language from the "Ezo Phrase Guide" before, so they could barely understand some of the words in their grandmother's words.

But the few words they understood could not help them understand the meaning of what grandma just said.

So after grandma's words fell, the two could only turn their eyes to Aiyaka again to "ask for help".

"Aiyaka, what did your grandma tell us?" Ogata asked.

"It's nothing." Aiyaka scratched his hair, "I just remind you not to go astray and go looking for gold."

"Well. You should also know, right? Many speculators, dreaming of making a fortune, come to us to look for gold."
To be continued...