The Sun rose and fell, and the revelry and dancing all turned into red hummingbirds, carved into everyone's hearts. After the blood-colored rite came a night both fervent and quiet. Fervent were the Kingdom's Samurai, and the Battle-Ready Serfs of Sanda and Jurchen. Quiet were the Wajin captives, and the tribes of the Ainu People. Stillness and motion, like sun and moon reflecting one another—yet who knew, if their bloodlines fused together in the future, what kind of Rubber People tribe would emerge?
"The Main God blesses us! Then let's do it that way! Each tribe will levy five hundred tribesmen for me in total, and I'll issue weapons to each tribe according to headcount. For every full twenty men, I'll give another suit of Wajin Iron Armor! Mm... the sooner the better. If they reach Karafuto Peninsula early, they'll also save you from feeding them with your winter grain."
"As you command! Great Chieftain!"
"Yes! Brother-in-law... cough... Great Chieftain!..."
When the new dawn arrived, Zuwaro had also settled the quota of tribal levies with the allied tribes of Buyo and Ishikari. The Kingdom had truly captured too many Wajin this time, nearly five hundred people in all. When the Kamchatka Mountain Tribe migrated south next year, their numbers would reach a thousand. Therefore, he demanded that the allied Ainu tribes levy five hundred tribesmen and send them to Karafuto Port to farm, fish, and hunt, increasing the grain output of the port camp. Of course, this was also to further clarify the hierarchy, increase the Kingdom's influence over the tribes, and balance the tribal proportions in Karafuto Port.
Only, with this, Karafuto Port's population grew rapidly, turning from just over a thousand to a little over two thousand in the blink of an eye. The one thousand koku of