Emariya screamed. Samaikachi quickly retreated, raising his sword.
“Nobody move! If you move, the girl dies!”
Kanga, who was about to step forward, halted. Luukeshi, aiming his bow, tried to move sideways, but couldn’t shoot because Samaikachi was using Emariya as a shield. Ikurui, who had his hand on his sword’s hilt, gritted his teeth.
Still using Emariya as a shield, Samaikachi backed towards the gate.
“Don’t move!” He shouted at Ikurui, who tried to move closer.
Ainu people had gathered around the gate, parting to either side as Samaikachi edged through them.
“Hey, you,” he called to a young man standing by the gate. The young man flinched.
“You come too. We’re taking a boat.”
The young man, suddenly called upon, looked around nervously. With anxious expressions on their faces, the surrounding Ainu reluctantly let him walk forward.
Samaikachi made the young man walk ahead, exiting the gate and descending the slope. When Ikurui and the others cautiously approached the gate, Samaikachi turned Emariya towards them again.
“Don’t follow us! If I see anyone following, I’ll kill the girl and this guy!”
He pointed his sword at the young man, who gulped.
They descended the slope, heading west towards the tall reeds by the river.
“Are they planning to go downstream by boat? Can’t you shoot them with an arrow?” Ikurui asked Luukeshi.
“No,” Luukeshi replied, his face clouded. “If I miss, I’ll hit the girl. And to shoot an arrow, I’d have to get closer, but with the deep grass over there, I can’t see the target.”
“They thought that through and headed east,” Ikurui muttered, clicking his tongue.
“No,” murmured the gatekeeper, looking at Ikurui. “Someone saw a huge bear by the eastern riverbank this morning. We were just discussing sending people to drive it away later.”
“What?”
“I’ll go,” Irika stepped forward. “I can’t leave my sister. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Just as Ikurui was about to speak, Demba gently placed a hand on Irika’s shoulder.
“Leave it to us.”
Irika looked up quickly. “No! How will you do it? You can’t use a bow!”
Demba’s expression remained unchanged. “In the bush, the Mahi tribe is invincible. Trust us.”
After a moment of silence, Irika grabbed Demba’s arm, her blue eyes pleading.
“Alright. Please, save my sister.”
Demba nodded. Kanga stood beside him.
“The usual method?” Kanga muttered. “Yeah. I have a rough idea of the direction.”
“We can see them from here, but it’ll be hard to hear them,” Kanga said, as they confirmed that Samaikachi had disappeared into the grass. They spotted several birch trees with dense leaves beyond the reeds.
“We’ll use those,” Demba said, nodding towards the trees, and Kanga swiftly ran towards the eastern fence.
“Where is Kanga going?” Irika asked anxiously.
“He’s circling around from the other side. Stay here,” Demba instructed.
This time, she couldn’t say, “I’m coming too.” She nodded silently.
Demba also ran, spear in hand.
Samaikachi’s breath grew heavy.
“There’s no point in running. You’ll be caught eventually,” Emariya said, her eyes moving while her clothes were being gripped.
“Shut up! Walk quietly, or I’ll kill you! You too!” He pointed his sword at the young man walking ahead, who shuddered.
“I’m not the type to get caught here. I’m a man chosen by the gods. I’m a hero. I must become the hero who saves Ishikari,” he muttered to himself.
Emariya looked at him with pity.
The sound of birds reached them.
Tweet, tweet, twit, went the birds. Kanga had reached the trees.
Two steps to the left.
Demba opened his palm horizontally, adjusted his direction slightly, and moved silently and swiftly.
Tweet, tweet.
Fourteen paces ahead.
Since Emariya was there, he couldn’t throw his spear as usual. Holding the spear with both hands, he crouched and advanced.
Memories of Africa returned.
He recalled fighting in the bush.
Boom, boom, boom.
The distant sound of drums, the sound of battle.
Haua! Ha! Ho! Ho!
The shaman’s battle chants echoed in his mind.
Yes. I am Demba, the invincible warrior of the bush.
Strength surged through his body.
Samaikachi, with his red hair flying, kept looking back.
The pursuers were hidden by the grass. He looked forward again.
He saw the distant river surface.
“Ha, look, the river. The gods are on my side. If I go downstream, I’m safe,” he panted, spitting foam from his mouth.
Emariya looked at him coldly.
“What will you say to the villagers?”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s easy to deceive fools,” he muttered, still glancing back.
“Poor man. You’ve always looked down on people. You’ll never understand why no one follows you,” Emariya said.
“Shut up! Quiet! I…”
A black shadow leapt from the edge of Samaikachi’s vision.
The end of a staff caught Samaikachi’s jaw with a thud, snapping his head back.
“Gwah!”
His hand released Emariya’s clothes. Demba grabbed Emariya’s shoulder and pulled her close.
“Run to the fort!” he pointed back the way they came. Emariya nodded and ran through the grass. The young man, realizing, ran in the same direction.
Samaikachi, swaying, held his head and cursed.
“Damn… Damn it!”
He wildly swung his sword. Demba dodged to the right and left. The staff swung from the side, striking Samaikachi’s flank.
“Ugh!”
His body bent and wobbled sideways, but he barely managed to stand.
Tweet! Tweet!
“—Danger!”
It was Kanga’s warning. Demba shifted his stance to run.
Roaring, Samaikachi slashed down with his sword. Demba deflected it to the right with his staff. Samaikachi slashed horizontally from the left.
“Stop! It’s dangerous if you don’t run!” Demba shouted, but Samaikachi didn’t hear.
“I’ll kill you! You and your kind! Always in my way!”
Panting, he swung his sword. Demba couldn’t get away.
Dodging the sword, his foot tangled in the roots of the reeds. He stumbled.
“Die!”
Samaikachi raised his sword.
A roar reached his ears.
Huh?
For a moment, he looked stunned.
He turned around.
A huge bear stood on its hind legs. Its sharp claws sliced through the air from right to left.
With a thunk, Samaikachi’s face was sliced off.
Blood splattered. His body, still holding the sword, collapsed.
The bear, its face stained red, turned towards Demba.
It was the first time he saw an adult bear.
Teeth. Claws. The roar of a predator.
Different from a leopard. Equally, if not more, ferocious.
Its body structure was almost the same. Thus, the place to strike for death was the same.
Demba’s instincts instantly gathered this information.
He quickly adjusted his grip on the staff, pointing the sharp end at the bear.
As the bear moved forward, a shadow wrapped around it from behind.
Kanga had leapt onto it.
Holding it in a bear hug, Kanga strained to keep the bear from shaking him off. The bear, trying to bite his arms, writhed, but Kanga held firm.
Not missing any opportunity, Demba stepped forward and thrust his spear into the bear’s open mouth.
With a crack, he felt the skull break. The bear’s body stiffened.
He let go of the spear.
The bear, with Kanga still on it, collapsed face down, unmoving.
“Kanga!”
Emariya, who should have fled, burst from the grass and ran towards them.
She rushed to Kanga, who had risen from the bear’s back.
“Kanga, we made it! Are you alright?” She looked worriedly at his face. He nodded, embarrassed, showing his teeth in a grin.
Demba, who had been watching them, sighed softly.
He turned around.
Beyond the long bear’s body lay the corpse of the man who had been Samaikachi, like a scarecrow blown down by the wind.
He felt no emotion.
It was just another death.
Today, he had survived again.
That was all.
Demba stood there for a while, lost in thought.