AHN – Chapter 10 Africans living in Mito (Part 2)

“But hunting is all well and good… Still, it wouldn’t be proper if this were known in Edo. Where do you plan to hunt?” He looked at Kamon.

“They’ve been interested in the distant mountains for a while, so last week, I took them as far as Kakuai. I didn’t see anything myself, but they said there were animals to hunt.”

“I see. What did you see, Demba?”

“Neguruwe—boar, deer, saw.”

Demba stopped carving and looked at Sukezo.

“They seem to see things we can’t. Demba found this branch in the mountains and said it would make a good spear.”

Sukezo touched the stick in Demba’s hand. From its dense grain, it seemed to be oak.

“Can you identify the wood, Demba?”

The curly-haired head nodded.

“This wood, like the nueba tree in my country. Hard, flexible. Good spear.”

Sukezo was again impressed by their ability to hold complex conversations.

“Speaking of the mountains, we discovered another remarkable ability they have.”

Kamon raised a finger and pointed to the ground, then to the distant white wall.

“Demba, how many steps from here to that wall?”

Demba looked at Kamon’s feet, then at the wall.

“Twenty-seven,” he said quietly.

Kamon looked at Sukezo.

“Would you mind walking there with large strides, Sasaki-sama?”

Puzzled, Sukezo began to walk toward the wall, taking large steps.

Twenty-three, twenty-four… twenty-seven. His foot touched the wall. Surprised, he turned to Kamon.

“Exactly. That’s incredible.”

Kamon nodded with satisfaction.

“Right? When they talked about spotting animals in the mountains, I asked them, and they said things like ‘three hundred and forty steps to the prey.’ It seems they can gauge distances precisely.”

“Hmm,” Sukezo murmured.

“And when I looked closer, I saw them measuring angles with their fingers.”

“That’s like geodetic surveying.”

“Exactly,” Kamon furrowed his brow. “They can survey—just with their eyes.”

Sukezo stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“This should be reported. Can Kanga do it too?”

Kamon nodded.

“Yes, he can. And, incidentally, Kanga has another talent.”

He grinned and walked over to the stacked firewood, picking up a log and showing it to Kanga. Holding both ends, he twisted it slightly.

“Kanga, show him.”

Kanga took the log expressionlessly. He gripped the ends in reverse and exhaled sharply through his flat nose. His arms tensed, muscles bulging. His mouth tightened, and his brows furrowed. Slowly, the log began to twist with a cracking sound until it snapped in two.

“Wow,” Sukezo exclaimed.

Kanga exhaled and returned to his expressionless state, dropping the two pieces of wood casually.

“Amazing… Such strength,” Sukezo admired. Kamon nodded smugly.

“Easily as strong as five men. Perhaps more. Kanga once helped Kyusuke, who was struggling with a collapsed lantern corner after an earthquake, and he lifted it effortlessly.”

“The corner one? That was seven feet tall,” Sukezo recalled. It would have required two horses for such a task. He shivered at the thought.

“They used to hunt together in their country, with Demba wielding the spear and Kanga providing the strength,” Kamon explained.

Sukezo folded his arms, reflecting.

The world is vast. Different people have different lives and abilities.

Even among Japanese, this diversity exists. There must be countless people with unimaginable abilities across the world.

Sukezo felt a hint of shame for his narrow-mindedness.

Thus, the days of the Africans passed.

But their journey didn’t end here.