episode_0028

I walked along the river to find the habitat of crayfish.

The kids were chattering amongst themselves, but it wasn’t a topic worth getting into, so I kept quiet.

‘How on earth can I laugh about something like that?’

The threshold for laughter is very low.

Even though I felt like they were kids, I was a little envious.

You can’t immediately find a place with a slow current if you decide to go down there, but here, because the rapids were created only because of the waterfall, I unexpectedly quickly found a place where the current was weaker.

“Arrived.”

“···What are you trying to do here?”

The children’s faces are full of disbelief.

“You gather things that smell good.”

“What? Something that smells good?”

The children’s expressions are confusing.

Hosots have a good sense of smell.

Animals with a good sense of smell enjoy scent rather than taste.

Fragrance plays a big part in the food that humans eat right now.

I didn’t watch much, but it seemed like hossots didn’t eat crustaceans. If you ask them to go into the river and catch crayfish, and you take one out and show them to them, they might scream.

“Well, there are things you’ve always been curious about, right? Something like mushrooms or grass that smells strangely good. I will decide if it is edible.”

The two children nodded with distrustful faces.

Only Shir is triumphant.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to catch some delicious guys.”

I took off my shoes and rolled up my pants.

Yuso still seems reluctant to eat. Gourmet food is probably the most primal form of enjoyment.

“I don’t like small fish because they are fishy.”

‘Bigger is better, right?’

It is a hosot that does not use bows and traps.

There’s no way you’ll ever get a chance to eat real fish.

Although there is a net in the rapids below the waterfall, there is no way that the fish that washed up from upstream were fish with normal physical strength.

Nine times out of ten, they must have been swept away because they were sick.

When you eat something like that, you start to feel distrustful of fish.

“I’m not specifically trying to catch fish.”

I gave a brief answer and looked around downstream.

There are many frogs in this place the size of a human head.

When I was young, I lived in the countryside, and there were a ton of bullfrogs in the ponds around my house.

One day, my father caught a bullfrog and roasted its hind legs, saying they were delicious. The frog’s legs tasted like bird meat.

After that, I remember grilling vipers.

It still comes to mind.

‘What kind of crazy person in the world eats roasted vipers?’

There was an uproar that people would die if they ate it, but my father said that only the intestines and head were poisonous, so he removed the intestines, stuck them on a tree, and roasted them.

When I said I didn’t like it, my father ate it first.

Then they kept recommending it, saying it was safe, so I reluctantly took it. The memories of that time are still clear.

The viper tasted milder like bird meat than chicken.

I also learned then that all white meat tastes the same.

In short, it is a ‘guaranteed’ taste.

‘I won’t hate it.’

The collection went smoothly.

To begin with, this crayfish is not afraid of people.

In addition, the crayfish here must have grown by eating the animal intestines that the hosots removed, and if you turn over a rock, at least one crawls out.

‘If I had brought a biological YouTuber, it would have gotten 2 million views.’

They say that if you turn over a rock, a lobster will appear.

Body size varies greatly from individual to individual.

The little guys didn’t even bother to look.

I think the really big one is around 30cm.

Those guys had no rocks to hide behind, so they crawled around in the river.

It’s almost like a lobster.

I thought the kids would make a fuss if they saw the crayfish, so I pulled out the tongs and legs, put them in the pot, and closed the lid.

The extremities are tasteless and difficult to eat.

After putting in about five fish, the pot became quite heavy. The frog was as quick as its size, so I used the bow I brought with me.

Pak—!

There were many arrows that missed, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hit. I missed it quite a bit the first time, but now I get the hang of it.

The more you shoot, the more you get used to it.

The frog was killed by stabbing the back of the head with the foot that was being caught, and only the lower half of the body was cut off.

“Ahhhh…!”

My back hurt so I relaxed for a moment.

As I pay attention to the sound of people coming, I see children sitting together chatting away.

What did you want to bring?

“······.”

I asked them to find something with a good smell, and they brought out colorful unripe fruits and poisonous mushrooms.

‘You would know what a poisonous mushroom is just by looking at it, right?’

The moment I was looking for edible mushrooms.

Yuso was holding a familiar mushroom.

─Honey mushroom?

No, no, it’s true…? is not it···? That’s right…?! is not it···? Right?!!

My steps became hurried.

The children’s eyes are focused on me as I approach with a splash.

“What’s wrong? Was there a snake in the river?”

“Well, give me those mushrooms.”

Before he could spit out a word and give it to me, I picked it up and stuck it in his nose.

“Wow──.”

I feel dizzy.

The strong scent makes me dizzy.

It was definitely a fungus.

‘What a crazy simman.’

This is a precious ingredient that would only be included in a meal for a king, let alone a noble person!

Prickly pear mushrooms are mushrooms that bloom on rotten wood.

The problem is that from the outside, all you see is mold.

This is because it is a mushroom that grows inside trees.

I can still see how happy my father was when he dug up a bunch of flowers while hiking.

This is not the stuff I cook with.

“Who dug up these mushrooms?”

“I.”

Yuso was sitting next to Mira and looking up at me.

Greed boils over.

So much so that I want to trick and steal it.

But not mine.

“···This is a really precious item. At least that’s true for humans. You might be able to sell it to an elf for quite a bit, so take it.”

Picked the mushrooms.

Yuso’s eyes widened as he looked around at the mushrooms.

“It’s only one flower?”

It’s not just one flower!

“A single flower is as valuable to a human being as a deer.”

The reaction was not cool.

I guess I’m thinking of one deer in the ‘hosott standard’. In human terms, a single deer had enormous value.

“Really? There was a lot of this in the tree I dug up.”

“Then I have to dig them all up!”

“Well, I didn’t know it was that valuable.”

Prickly pear mushrooms grow together like wild ginseng.

Yuso tore open the mushrooms and examined them.

“These mushrooms are so precious? Enough to sell it to a peddler?”

” Absolutely buy it! It will cost more than meat!”

I seemed to be interested and started looking at Shirdo mushrooms.

This is not a matter of crayfish or frog hind legs.

“Let’s go digging.”

“Wait a minute.”

It was Mira who called me.

Mira was glaring at me with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety in her eyes.

“You get all those mushrooms, right?”

“Of course.”

That’s obvious.

‘I guess it’s because you don’t trust me, right?’

There was no intention of taking away the children’s share.

I had no intention of asking for my share just because I helped gather it.

In the first place, I am not in a position to sell it.

‘Well, if it’s uncomfortable, it’s probably better to get out of it.’

“No.”

“Huh? What?”

“You guys go there on your own.”

I headed to the river and started cleaning frogs.

When I announced that I would not follow, Mira and Yuso looked at me in confusion. The two soon disappeared into the forest.

But Schirmann stayed behind and observed me.

“Are you catching frogs?”

“It catches everything.”

I killed the frog easily by cutting off its head, cutting off only the hind legs, and then discarding the body. Because the front legs and body are rough to eat. I get goosebumps when I see the tadpoles flocking to my upper body.

‘That’s cannibalism, you bastards!’

“Does eating a frog give me an upset stomach?”

Shir’s words gave me goosebumps.

Could it be that they were eating reptiles or amphibians?

White meat should never be eaten raw.

“If you don’t eat grilled frogs, snakes, or lizards, you will naturally get an upset stomach. Raw meat is a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites.”

Shir’s ears flutter.

“Parasite? Germs?”

“Something like an earthworm enters your body and eats you up.”

Shir’s expression changes in many ways.

That look was quite cute.

“ji, really? I’ve never felt anything like that before…?”

“Because it is a parasitic animal. If you’re going to eat it for a long time, the host will notice, so it’s no good, right?”

All the remaining frogs were cleaned and organized.

However, a crayfish comes out of the water and picks up the corpse of a frog that fell at my feet.

‘I’m not afraid.’

I stretched out my hand out of shame, and instead of running away, it stuck its tongs out of the water and threatened me.

The dodo bird that went extinct because it was fearless came to mind.

Now that I think about it, do hosots not eat crayfish at all?

Otherwise there would be no way for there to be so many crayfish. Crayfish are creatures that grow very slowly.

I picked up the crayfish and showed it to Shir.

“Hosots don’t eat things like this?”

“What, isn’t that a water wheel?”

They say that Hosot is a water wheel.

Although the actions are similar, the name conveys a sense of contempt.

‘I think I’ve heard of it before.’

It is said that even on Earth, animals such as lobsters and crabs were initially repulsive to humans, so they did not have the courage to eat them for a long time.

It is widely accepted that people boiled crabs in pots to kill them, but they started eating them because they smelled good.

In the first place, hosots prioritized reproduction over eating food, so they had reason to hate animals for which eating food was essential.

“Humans call this a crayfish. The crayfish tail is really delicious.”

Shir shakes his head.

“Are you crazy? If you eat something like that, you’ll get sick. Throw it away quickly.”

“Trust me once. It’s really delicious when grilled.”

I pulled out the limbs of the crayfish I picked up and put them in the pot.

There were too many things needed to cook crawfish here.

First, I went to the water and dried my feet.

This world has a population of animals that is incomparable to that of Earth.

It could be because no one hunts.

The moment I came out onto the land and looked at the riverside.

Something flashed.

‘salmon?’

I don’t know at what depth the salmon is because the light in the water is refracted.

The water was shallow, up to my calves, but it wasn’t too shallow.

“Do you like salmon?”

“Most people hate fish, but most people like salmon.”

If so, you should catch it.

‘I’m giving it to Jules.’

Isn’t a pet dog that is cuddly and cute more cute than a shy and unloving dog?

I climbed up the rock.

This is because it seemed like it would get scared and run away if it went into the water.

Still, it’s a pity that I was surprised and walked away.

I had no idea salmon were so sensitive to shadows.

I felt like it would run away if I got any closer, so I couldn’t get any closer.

Perhaps because I was exercising so vigorously, my arms were shaking just by pulling the bowstring.

phut-!

When the bowstring is released, the arrow falls into the river, causing ripples. Thanks to this, the water becomes cloudy and you can’t see whether it hit or not.

‘Was it right…? Wasn’t it right…? ‘You got hit!’

Fortunately, the arrow pierced the salmon and became firmly embedded among the gravel.

I started practicing yesterday and got this right right away?

Am I the type of person who is strong in actual combat?

‘yes!’

After all, Koreans are a people of bow!

Since the salmon was almost as big as my body, there was a risk that it would escape if I caught it clumsily. I took off my clothes, went into the river, and walked out, holding the salmon with my clothes so tightly that it was crushed.

“Wow—!”

Shir clapped his hands and cheered.

Isn’t it amazing?! yes?! This is the soul of the Korean people!

Immediately, I knocked off the salmon’s head and removed its intestines.

It’s rough trimming that’s not as neat as what my father used to do. Thanks to this, my skin was a little crushed. And when I peeled off the scales, the flesh was torn apart from where it was crushed.

‘···You must have used too much force to peel it off.’

The excitement subsided in an instant.

The salmon’s skin was much softer than I expected.

As if a chain reaction had occurred, the flesh had become lumpy and turned into a rag.

Shir tilted his head.

“Are you really going to tear it to pieces like that?”

That can’t be possible. I’m going to skip this too.

“I was wrong.”

The other side learned from the failure and gently peeled off the scales.

By the time I peeled off all the scales. Yuso and Mira brought about ten mushrooms, which they carefully held in their arms.

‘With that amount, I could get a bunch of gold coins.’

Later, when I get older, it might be a good idea to specialize in something like this with a hosot. The two children who arrived couldn’t take their eyes off the salmon I was cleaning.

“Did you catch that?”

“Yes. I just caught it.”

Yuso swallowed his saliva.

“Are you going to eat it?”

“Yes.”

Although it’s not exactly what I would eat.

“Well, shouldn’t you give me that?”

The further Yuso’s voice goes, the more it creeps in.

‘···This?’

It’s in rags and doesn’t look like anything on the outside.

“Are you going to eat together?”

Mira shook her ears and tilted her head.

Was there anything I said that sounded strange?

“Didn’t you catch that?”

“But?”

Something is strange.

Is Hosott’s way of thinking a little different from mine?

You need to find out and be careful.

“Why do you share what you caught?”

“Isn’t it strange to share food? You all share together every day.”

“It’s not strange, but───.”

What? How about eating together?

Even Yuso looks at me with a confused expression on Mira’s meddling.

“It’s too much for me to eat alone. Plus, I can’t eat a lot of salmon because it’s greasy, and it spoils quickly.”

I looked around the river.

I didn’t realize it because I was only catching crayfish, but surprisingly there were a lot of salmon of great size. What I couldn’t see because of the shadow of the tree, I noticed because the sun was shining.

‘You can catch more, right?’

You can catch more. The blood of the people of the bow flows through me, right?

Anyway, these two have a picky way of thinking.

They think of me as a complete outsider.

If you tell me that you’re my friend and that you just want to share, it’s obvious that people will think it’s as strange as you are now. In reality, it’s because it’s cute, but of course, if you say that, you’ll be treated like an even weirder person.

In the end, I have no choice but to return it and give it as a gift.

“Do you know why there are so many fish and crayfish here?”

“No.”

He opened the pot and showed me the biggest crayfish.

“Do you see this?”

“”Water wheel?!!!””

Yuso and Mira’s faces became wrinkled in an instant.

‘It’s a disgusting food.’

No matter how delicious it is, children hate disgusting foods.

It’s the same as eating crab legs but not the crab body.

“Humans are called crayfish. Crayfish continue to grow from birth to death. But do you know how slow the growth rate is?”

Mira shook her head and took a step back.

“I don’t know! Don’t bring it because I don’t want to know!”

Even though I hate you, once again!

“This guy could be older than us or the same age.”

He waved the crayfish.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The guy flicked his tail wildly.

The guy who pulled out my limbs is now grabbing and shaking me, so I can’t help but be angry. The tail is so strong that it hurts to hold it.

“······That?”

Mira was still horrified, but Yuso was different.

He started to show interest.

Watching Yuso reminded me of my childhood catching bugs.

It felt like an old treasure that brought back memories.

“Where have these guys been getting food for over a dozen years?”

“Do they eat each other?”

“I ate the intestines that were discarded after the hunting festival.”

Yuso glanced down the river, starting towards the village.

The reason there are so many returning salmon is because fishermen dispose of the internal organs of the animals in the river.

If you just turn over a rock, a crayfish the size of your forearm will pop out, but a lot of internal organs are still left behind.

Thanks to this, this place was like a buffet for aquatic life.

“Normally, there wouldn’t be such a large group together and it would be difficult to find them. Do you know how expensive this is?”

─This is expensive.

The children’s ears perked up at these magical words.

“I… I don’t know.”

‘I don’t know either.’

I’ve never heard of crayfish being bought or sold here, and I’ve never even been down to the village.

“Look at the salmon returning here right now. This golden fishing ground was created over a long period of time from discarded animal intestines by Hosott. Since you are the owners, it is natural to share. Humans call this fishing rights. Rather, I am in a situation where I have to be allowed to take care of my share.”

“Ugh, yes.”

When I told them a story that the children might not know, the two looked at each other with confused expressions and nodded in agreement.

It’s as if that means eating it.

Still, since the thing I was holding in my other hand right now was salmon, I think I somehow convinced him.

“You take this.”

“No matter how you give it, you still give it to me?”

Shir laughs heartily.

···It certainly looks like some kind of dead fish has washed up. However, since it is a hosot that detects freshness by smell, it does not seem to have any hesitation as to whether it knows that it is fresh.

“Thank you!”

Yuso hesitantly accepted the salmon and began to eat it.

You can feel it just by looking at it.

Judging from Yuso chewing salmon and Shir enjoying cheese, it seemed like Hosotts enjoyed that kind of greasy feeling.

‘Let’s take a little more.’

This is because Shirna Mira was looking at Yuso as if she was envious of him. I think it would be a good idea to practice bowing here on a regular basis.

I climbed up onto the rock and started looking for salmon.

There are so many salmon, that as soon as I climb up, I see three large ones at a distance.

phut-!

Since I was caught, I tried shooting the bow, and luckily I hit again. But the one nearby quickly ran away.

You can’t catch two rabbits at the same time.

“Caught again!”

“Wow?!!”

Feeling overwhelmed by the outpouring of praise, I shot my bow in the water.

Pop!

That’s right!

But the guy suddenly disappeared like an arrow, with a bow hitting his body.

‘The angle of incidence is not good.’

It looked good shooting out of the water.

Next time I come, I think it would be a good idea to attach a thread to the arrow.

“Ah! It’s really a waste~? The ‘arrow’ was hit!”

“That could be possible!”

“Please hold on just a little longer!”

But after that, I failed again and again.

I somehow got lucky, it was beginner’s luck.

Thanks to this, I started to feel embarrassed for no reason.

Once, twice, three times.

My face gets so hot that I feel embarrassed to look at my children.

How many times did you dip into the water to retrieve the arrow?

As if the vital spot had been hit, the salmon with the arrow stuck in it floated down.

The hosots were looking at it blankly and admiring it.

At least each child hunted something to eat.

Thinking that I had somehow filled in the number, I was able to put my mind at ease.

After that, I felt at ease and shot the bow seven more times.

As a result, I missed five and caught two more.

‘···I won’t be a rag this time.’

I carefully removed the scales from the salmon and cleaned it all up.

Soon, Shir and Mira also received their share of salmon and chewed it up on the spot. Raw!

It was a little sad to see him eating so rudely.

‘There must be a more delicious way to eat it.’

If only there was lemon juice or something like that— Ah!

Come to think of it, don’t you have a red orange that tastes like lemon at home? Does Hosott hate sour tastes?

“Do you ever grill salmon on fire?”

Shir answered, wiping his mouth with river water.

“Salmon is delicious just to eat.”

“That’s right. Salmon is the only meat that is tasteless when grilled.”

Yuso also nodded to Mira’s agreement.

I see I should give one to Jules too.

I also happened to collect salmon roe cases that looked like they were wrapped in plastic.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yes!”

Shoot ───!

As we got closer to the cave, the wind roared and created the sound of a waterfall. At the same time, water droplets splashed on my face.

The moment I scratched my face because it was itchy.

Food Duck!

The sound of wings struck my ears.

“Wow-?”

My body was lifted with a sudden sound.

Waist dance! Something is pulling on my waist!

puck! puck! puck!

‘I got hit in the face! ‘What hit you?!’

“Mom?!”

“No!!!”

The children are screaming at me.

‘crazy! What the hell?!’

As I twisted my body around, I tripped and fell.

Something kept hitting my face, so I closed my eyes and suddenly waved my hand at the other person.

puck!

Hit it right!

Only after something fell away was I able to come to my senses.

Mira got fed up and stayed away.

Yuso was staring at the sky with his butt pressed against his chest.

“Hey you bastard───?!!”

Shir seemed very angry and was throwing stones towards the sky. What on earth happened?

“What is it? What on earth…”

“The eagle stole the salmon!”

eagle?

Eagles stealing salmon? What salmon? From me?

‘···Have you been struck by an eagle’s wings just now?’

I looked at my waist.

One salmon had only its tail left.

It’s so refreshingly absurd that I’m not even angry.

I couldn’t overcome the absurdity and started laughing.

“Hehehehe! As I live, I experience all these things.”

‘Isn’t this something we’ll talk about for the rest of our lives?’

It became fun.

okay! Even if you take it, it’s acceptable!

I cleaned my messed up butt and stood up.

“Trigram, are you okay?”

“It’s okay.”

I waved my hand.

Still, there was still one left, and the one I took was a small male. The real female salmon to give to Jules was still safe.

“You go through all sorts of things in life.”

Yuso and Mira looked at me with excited faces, then burst into laughter at the same time.

But Shir’s expression did not improve at all.

“I’ll carry it.”

Shir took the pot from me and held it at his side as he led the way.

Mira watched Shir’s tail pattern, then picked up my gear and frog legs and walked next to Shir.

I don’t know what it is, but the way he imitated and watched it seemed so cute and cute.