The armored samurai couldn't speak English, but having just slaughtered a bunch of "Interior Ministry spies," he felt utterly refreshed. With an arrogant gesture, he pointed, and the two foreign ashigaru immediately strutted over to the survivors with their heads held high.
They looked at the distant plane wreckage, then at the survivors' modern clothing. Their expressions were hard to read.
There was schadenfreude, sympathy, and a twisted pleasure at their own elevated status—the satisfaction of finally being able to command others.
First, they recounted their own backgrounds. Both were Americans—one from Florida, one from Georgia. Their previous names were meaningless now. They were currently called Kyujiro and Iwata, both ashigaru of the Hirata family.
They'd been stranded in Ashina for a year. Last year, there had also been a plane crash. Over eighty survivors had made it initially, but now? Fewer than twenty had been accounted for. The two considered themselves among the more successful.
Bella nodded while standing in the crowd. These two must be "second-generation transmigrators," right?
Ashina was quite the lively place—not only group transmigration, but waves of it too.
"You have only two choices now. Submit to the Hirata family and fight for them, or die! Die in the river, your corpse rotting away, dragged off by wild beasts to become fertilizer and food!"
Iwata snarled viciously, then shook his spear for emphasis.
The Hirata family? This term confused Bella greatly. What was going on? Hadn't the Hirata family been wiped out? Or had they arrived at a point in time earlier than in the game? Or had the "transmigrators" somehow saved the Hirata family from their fate?
There were many possible answers, and she couldn't figure it out immediately.
Iwata seemed to have gone a long time without speaking English. His first few sentences were somewhat stuttered, with occasional Japanese words mixed in.
However, after threatening everyone, he became increasingly fluent.
"You've all sensed something's wrong with this place, haven't you? The gravity here is stronger than Earth's—this is a peculiar dimensional space. The Japanese here are far stronger than those in our timeline. The longer you live here, the more your strength and stamina will increase. Of course, that's assuming you don't die first!"
The taller Kyujiro spoke with a mocking tone.
He raised his spear over his head and swung it around in a dramatic overhead flourish. And honestly, it did look quite impressive—he was definitely stronger than the average person.
The survivors showed expressions of shock and horror. Though they'd seized quite a few short swords and throwing stars from the crew members' bodies, they didn't dare resist now.
Kyujiro radiated killing intent, his face fierce—clearly someone who'd been on battlefields and killed people.
"Let me give you some good news. Our lord's house has been at war with another Japanese faction for the past two years. As long as you distinguish yourself on the battlefield, the lord will grant rewards! These include mysterious sword techniques and ninjutsu! Lord Matsuzo, who arrived a year before us, has already become an ashigaru commander of the Hirata family. His martial prowess is as mighty as the gods themselves. The lord granted Lord Matsuzo territory and made him an honored samurai of the Hirata family! He's an example for all of us!"
Iwata went on and on praising this Matsuzo who'd arrived a year earlier. Just from his words, Bella almost thought Matsuzo had already killed Isshin Ashina and would be marching on the capital to establish a new shogunate any day now.
Taking two years to become an ashigaru commander? How pathetic!
And they were bragging about this?
But thinking it over, she could understand.
Ashina's magical energy concentration was slightly higher than Earth's—or rather, Earth's was so low it might as well not exist at all.
Whether male or female, young or old, everyone in Ashina had slightly better physical constitution than normal Earth people. In this environment, for an outsider to surpass the locals and become a low-ranking commander in two years actually did show some ability.
However, from Iwata's words, she also analyzed quite a bit of information.
The plot had definitely changed!
Not counting her own group, the addition of the previous two groups had caused many events to deviate from their original trajectory.
It was like a group transmigration—these people didn't know about the game or anything called Sekiro, but through their participation, Ashina's situation had changed in countless ways.
The M1911 pistol in Isshin Ashina's possession was one change. The Hirata family still thriving—that was another.
The Hirata family hadn't been massacred. Apparently, some French survivor from the first wave had seen through Owl's conspiracy. Though this clever person had died in the subsequent chaos, the Hirata family had been forewarned and instead massacred the invaders.
This incident made Ashina's warrior class recognize the value of outsiders.
While outsiders had virtually no combat ability, they did possess certain knowledge and perspective that proved useful.
Iwata repeatedly extolled the Hirata family's strength, claiming that both Lord Matsuzo and Lord Hirata Goro, who'd come to recruit them today, would take good care of everyone.
Hirata Goro? Bella was speechless. Another name she had absolutely no knowledge of.
Bella didn't extract much more information from these two Americans who'd been feudal-Japan-ified. She figured those who joined the Hirata family were definitely in the minority. Wouldn't it be better to directly join the Hirata family's main house, the Ashina clan? With even better luck, joining the Interior Ministry's punitive army invading Ashina—wouldn't that be nicer?
There were probably even people who'd joined the Corrupted Monks' village or the mountain bandits. From Iwata's words, she learned that the bandits, being fast runners, had actually suffered fewer losses than the Interior Ministry army and were still active in the nearby mountains.
Iwata slammed his spear butt against the ground: "What's your choice? Join the Hirata family, or die?"
The survivors hadn't figured out what the Hirata family was, and could only nod reflexively.
Iwata was satisfied. The skeletal-thin man took a deep breath: "Kyujiro and I are here to supervise you. We're your supervisors. If you don't understand something, you can ask us! We'll kindly tell you!"
The words were ordinary enough, but he shouted them at the top of his lungs.
"Now, each of you will introduce yourself. Starting with you!" He pointed at a tall man.
The big man hesitated for a long time before answering: "I... my name is... Raven Torres..."
Before he could finish, Iwata roared: "Can't hear you! Can't hear you! Louder! Even louder!"
Kyujiro joined in the jeering: "Can't hear anything! Nothing at all!"
Both men looked deranged, their faces full of hysterical excitement as they waved their spears threateningly.
"How annoying. Why are you shouting so loud?" Bella wasn't planning to waste time with these small fries. She pushed through the crowd and walked toward them.