AHN – Episode 32 Africans Are Attacked by a Mysterious Enemy

From Osonai to Takikawa is about four and a half ri (approximately eighteen kilometers). Walking would take a bit more than a day. With two people rowing a single boat, it would take about half a day.

Two dugout canoes ascended the river, illuminated brightly by the moonlight. Although the boats were narrow, they could accommodate four people each. The two rowers took turns pushing the poles, avoiding the fast-flowing central part of the river and staying near the shore.

In one boat, Ikurui and Demba were rowing, with Irika on board. In the other boat were Lukeshi and Kanga, with Emariya on board.

Trees grew densely along both banks of the river, nearly touching the water and obstructing the view of the shore. The branches and leaves overhanging the water blocked the moonlight, creating temporary pockets of darkness.

The river was about 200 meters wide at its broadest point. In the shallows, where there were sandbars, two men pulled the boats forward.

After about two hours, the river began to narrow somewhat. From the feel of the poles, the water depth seemed to be about a person’s height.

Ikurui pointed with his chin at a rounded rock protruding from the river surface under the moonlight.

“That’s ‘Tanuki Rock (Moyukushuma)’. Sunagawa (Otaushinai) is nearby,” he said, a bit out of breath.

Demba continued to push the pole hard into the river. Irika watched with a tense expression.

“What’s that?” Emariya pointed upstream from the boat alongside.

Kanga and Ikurui, both pushing the poles, bent slightly to peer at the water surface.

A multitude of objects about a foot long were drifting downstream. Most were flowing down the middle of the river, but some came close to the shore.

Brownish scales reflected the moonlight.

“Fish. Probably ito (char). They’re all dead,” said Lukeshi, picking up a small fish about a foot long that had drifted close. The fish, limp and motionless, showed no visible injuries from any predators.

Dead fish floated in groups past the boats.

“Why are there so many?” Irika asked, looking puzzled.

“I don’t know. Did something happen upstream? Maybe they poisoned the water,” Ikurui said, breathing heavily. Demba’s expression remained unchanged.

The group of dead fish eventually passed.

The sound of insects ceased. The river became quiet.

The only sounds were the heavy breathing of the men silently pushing the poles.

“It’s strangely quiet,” Emariya said, glancing around.

Demba also looked around, alerted by her words.

There was a bubbling sound on the river surface.

Lukeshi stopped pushing the pole and crouched slightly, gazing ahead.

“The water is moving. Is it fish?” he muttered.

Ikurui also paused.

Several wriggling objects about a meter wide undulated on the water surface near them.

“What is that?” Irika frowned.

There was a thud as something struck the bottom of the boat.

“Ah!” Irika jumped in fright.

Emariya also heard a low thump at her feet and gasped. The boat shook slightly.

Then, the water surface became still again.

Everyone stopped moving and listened intently.

There was a scraping sound from under Emariya’s boat.

“What is it?” Emariya moved back while sitting.

“I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve seen something like this. Maybe…” Lukeshi’s face tensed.

“Don’t panic. We need to—” Ikurui began to say, but there was another thud and both boats rocked. The four men crouched down to steady themselves.

“There’s something underneath,” Demba said.

Reacting instinctively, Emariya leaned over to look, and with the boat’s movement, she was thrown into the water with a loud splash.

Something moved rapidly in the water, clinging to her body.

“No! Get away!” Emariya screamed as she surfaced, her arm entwined with several black, slender objects.

“Emariya!” Kanga handed the pole to Lukeshi and jumped into the river. He swam a few strokes and grabbed her arm.

He tried to pull off the things wrapped around her, but they were slippery and wouldn’t budge.

“What are these things?” Several black shapes began to cling to Kanga’s body as well.

“Damn it! Get off her!” Ignoring the things clinging to him, Kanga lifted Emariya by the waist and threw her onto the boat. The instant her body hit the deck, a creature as thick as a log latched onto Kanga’s back and pulled him under.

“Whoa!”

“Get off!” Lukeshi pried the black things from Emariya’s body with the pole and stomped on them on the boat floor.

“These are lampreys (ukuripe). I’ve never seen so many together…” he said.

“Emariya! Are you alright?” Irika called out from the boat’s edge.

Emariya nodded while coughing up water painfully.

Lampreys are widely distributed in the rivers of Hokkaido. Usually called kawayatsume, the Ainu referred to them as ukuripe or nukuripe. Despite their name, lampreys are not eels but belong to a class of jawless fish similar to leeches, using their circular mouths to attach to aquatic creatures and suck their fluids.

“Kanga!” Demba called out. Kanga’s face briefly surfaced, gasping, before being pulled under again by a thick, black body.

“It’s a water demon (mintuchi)!” Lukeshi shouted.

“A mintuchi?”

“A water-dwelling demon. If it catches you, you’re dead,” Demba growled. The creature wrapped around Kanga’s body was about five feet long.

“It’s huge… a monster,” Ikurui muttered.

Mintuchi were originally considered half-human, half-beast water spirits. However, local residents along the Ishikari River used the term to describe mysterious aquatic creatures. Typically, large lampreys grow up to a meter long, but under certain conditions, they can grow much larger. Unofficial records from North America’s Lake Erie mention a captured lamprey over two meters long and fifteen centimeters in diameter, reportedly preying on small animals like deer near water sources.

Demba steered the boat closer to Kanga with the pole. He extended it.

“Kanga! Grab it!”

Being a Mahin tribe member, Kanga wasn’t adept in water, putting him at a disadvantage.

His face surfaced briefly as he exhaled water, but the black, thick body tightened and pulled him under again.

He tried to pry the body off his neck, but the slippery, mucus-covered skin couldn’t be grasped. He couldn’t pin it with his arms or legs either. Breathing became difficult, and Kanga began to panic.

—This is bad. I’m going to be taken out at this rate.

—What’s the enemy of an eel?

—Crocodiles. Crocodiles can!

Enduring the painful breathing, Kanga twisted his body, taking the creature with him, and dove deeper. The mintuchi loosened its grip slightly, feeling secure at a comfortable depth.

With freer neck movement, Kanga hugged the body with one arm and opened his mouth wide, biting down hard on the thick body. His powerful jaws sank into the flesh.

The mintuchi convulsed. Kanga’s grip remained firm. He bit off a mouthful of flesh and spat it out. Blood billowed from the white wound in the water.

—One more time!

He twisted and bit into the writhing belly. His jaws clamped shut. The mintuchi writhed violently and slithered off Kanga’s body, heading toward the river bottom and downstream.

Kanga surfaced with a gasp.

“Kanga!” Emariya grabbed his hand as he held onto the boat’s edge.

They moved to the shallows, and Kanga climbed into the boat. Emariya clung to him, sobbing.

“Kanga… Kanga! That was terrifying…” she cried.

Still breathing heavily, Kanga patted her hair with one hand. Demba shook his head in frustration.

“How did it taste? Good?” he asked.

“Yeah… too good. Never want to taste it again,” Kanga replied, flashing a grin with his still-labored breathing and giving a thumbs-up.