Ogata and Omachi were sitting shoulder to shoulder in this hunting cabin.

Just now, after Ayzan built the hunting lodge, he went deep into the woods to look for rabbits on the pretext of "finding a lot of rabbits nearby, so I will pack some rabbits for tonight's dinner."

Ashley went to help Ayzan and went hunting rabbits with Ayzan.

So at this moment, there are only Ogata and Atachi in this hunting cabin.

In order to pass the boring time while waiting for Aizan and Ashley to come back from hunting rabbits, Ogata and Atachi chatted all the time.

"...A'yi, have you noticed that wherever we go, something will happen?" A'chi said coldly to Ogata beside him.

Since there are no outsiders around now, Atachi can finally call Ogata "Ait" with confidence and boldness.

"Ah? Why do you say that?" Ogata asked.

"Last summer, not long after we both arrived in Kyoto, a group of lunatics appeared who planned to burn Kyoto down."

"When I went to the Ou area, I met bandits who were planning to rob the village."

"I came to Ezo, went to Qina Village, and met the Lucians who were planning to massacre the village."

"And now it happens to be a war..."

The more A-Machi spoke, the more black lines appeared on his face.

"Do you think we have been cursed? We have been cursed to have bad luck..."

Listening to Atachi's remarks, Ogata couldn't help but smile.

"You're overthinking... We're not constantly having bad luck. We've also had good luck quite often."

"Don't talk about the far ones, just the nearby ones. I thought it might take a long time to find Xuanzheng, Xuanzhen and the others' clues. But now it only took less than 2 months to collect a lot of clues.

Got a clue."

"My intuition tells me that we are close to finding Xuan Zheng and Xuan Zhen."

After saying that, Ogata subconsciously raised his hand and touched the large area of ​​dark purple skin on the left neck that was currently covered by the scarf.

Azumachi let out a sigh.

"Sigh... I don't expect to find Xuanzheng and Xuanzhen quickly now. I just hope to be able to escape far away from the flames of war and not be implicated in the flames of war."

Speaking of this, A-Machi paused as if he remembered something.

Then he asked Ogata a new question in a hesitant tone:

"...Ayi, do you think Chanupu and the others will really incite the naturalized Ezo in Matsumae Castle to start a riot?"

Upon hearing Atachi's question, Ogata did not answer immediately.

But stay silent first.

After a moment of silence, he said softly:

"...who knows."

From beginning to end, Ogata and the others only knew Chanup and the others for less than a day.

Arriving at the Red Moon Fortress in the afternoon, he learned from Lin Ziping that night that Huxi Village had key evidence to prove his identity, and then left the Red Moon Fortress the next day...

So Ogata and Atachi have only spent less than a day in the Red Moon Fortress so far...

The understanding of Chanup and others is far from being thorough.

Therefore, "Chanupu and the others would never do such a thing", Ogata did not dare to pat his chest and said it with certainty.

"Even if it wasn't Chanupu and the others who did it, it might have been done by someone else in the fortress. Maybe it was the man from the Kapasi village who was defeated in the Battle of Kunasilimenasi and had a blood feud with Kazuto.

You did it." Ogata added.

When he said this, the memory of being "attacked" by the little girl in the Red Moon Fortress emerged in Ogata's mind.

"Of course, it is not ruled out that the shogunate just found an excuse to start a war with the Red Moon Fortress..." At this point, Ogata's eyes narrowed slightly, "I think the possibility of this reason is not low..."

"...I don't know where the shogunate's army has advanced to now..." A-Machi flattened his lips, "If when we return to the Red Moon Fortress, the Red Moon Fortress has been surrounded by the army, then it will be...

Trouble... We still have some luggage at the Red Moon Fortress, although they are just unimportant luggage..."

Ogata and the others are now on their way back to Red Moon Fortress.

After learning from Matsudaira Sadanobu that the shogunate had launched troops against the Red Moon Fortress, Ogami immediately decided to temporarily put aside his trip to Huxi Village and quickly returned to the Red Moon Fortress.

The reason why I gave up going to Huxi Village and went to the Red Moon Fortress was to inform the Red Moon Fortress... No, to be more precise, it was to inform the villagers of Qina Village who had just lived in the Red Moon Fortress not long ago.

The Moon Fortress is about to be attacked by the shogunate.

Regardless of whether there was an incident like "people from the Red Moon Fortress instigated the naturalized Ezo in Matsumae Castle to break out in riots", the villagers of Qina Village who had just lived in the Red Moon Fortress for a few days should be innocent.

After spending so long with the villagers of Qina Village, Ogata also has some feelings for them.

Ogata helped them once when they were attacked by the Cossacks, and they have been repaying Ogata and Amachi with all their heart and soul in the future.

The reason why Ogata and the others were able to find Lin Ziping, a figure who might have important clues, was thanks to the help of the villagers of Qina Village.

Now that they are in trouble, Ogata can't just sit back and watch.

Therefore, after Ogata learned the news about the shogunate sending troops, he immediately decided to return to Red Moon Fortress quickly.

Like Ogata, Amachi also has feelings for the villagers of Qina Village. He agrees with Ogata's decision.

As for Aizan and Ahili, who were members of Qina Village, they were naturally anxious after learning that their tribesmen had suffered another disaster, and naturally they would not object to Ogata's decision to quickly return to the Red Moon Fortress.

As for whether the villagers of Qina Village would choose to leave directly after learning that the Red Moon Fortress was in trouble, or whether they would choose to share weal and woe with Chanup and the others, this was not something Ogata could decide.

"After we return to the Red Moon Fortress and inform Chepke and others about the attack by the shogunate army, what should we two do next?" Amachi asked Ogata a new question.

"Until then...just take one step and see." Ogata showed an optimistic smile.

…

…

at this moment

"Look! Mr. Ayzan." Ashley showed her newly caught rabbit to Ayzan, "I caught another rabbit!"

Ayzan, who was not far away, quickly ran to Ashley.

"Ashili! Well done!" Ayzan praised the fat rabbit in Ashley's hand after briefly looking at it, "In this way, we caught two rabbits."

After that, Ayizan mentioned a fat rabbit in his right hand that still had some body temperature left.

"These two rabbits are fat enough for us to eat tonight. Let's go back."

"Yes." Ashili nodded vigorously, "Let's use one of these two rabbits to roast and the other to cook!"

As a "cute rabbit lover", Ashley knows how to cook many kinds of rabbits.

When Ashley was thinking about how to cook these two fat rabbits tonight, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a small cave not far from them from the corner of her eye.

"Mr. Ayzan! Look! There is a cave there!"

After Ashley finished speaking, Ayzan quickly looked in the direction pointed by Ashley's finger.

After realizing that what Ahili said was true, Ayizan's eyes lit up slightly.

…

…

after a moment

"Mr. Majima! Miss Atachi!"

Huddled in the hunting lodge, chatting and waiting for Aizan and the others to return, Ogata and Atachi finally heard Aizan's voice.

Aizan and Ashley each carried a fat rabbit and ran toward Ogata and the others with joy on their faces.

Looking at the two fat rabbits in Aizanya Heli's hands, Ogata smiled and said: "You are back. It seems that you have gained a lot."

"We didn't just catch these two rabbits!" Ayzan said while breathing rapidly because he ran too fast just now, "We also found a cave just now!"

"Oh?" Ogata raised his eyebrows.

"I have taken a brief look at the cave. There are no animals living in the cave, and it is big enough for the four of us to live in! It is not very humid! Let's spend the night in that cave tonight!"

Living in a cave is naturally more comfortable than living in such a simple hunting cabin.

So Ogata almost nodded without hesitation and agreed to Aizan's suggestion of "spending the night in the cave", and then took Aimachi, led by Aizan and Ashili, towards the place they just discovered.

He strode towards the cave.

Soon, Ouri saw a small cave at the forefront of his field of vision, with an entrance large enough for three people to walk side by side.

After entering the cave, the scene inside the cave is as spacious as Aizan said just now, and it is not damp at the same time, making it very suitable for living.

"It would be great if this cave could have tatami mats..." Standing in the center of the cave, A-Machi stretched as hard as he could while surveying the scene inside the cave.

"Why don't you say that it would be great if this cave could have a bathtub that emits hot water?" Ogata said in a joking tone.

Amachi shook his head: "Compared to a bathtub with hot water, I would rather sleep on the tatami now."

"Stop saying such stupid things, come and make a fire together and prepare for dinner. I'll go outside to pick up some branches and come back."
To be continued...