CH 8

The season changed from spring to the rainy season. The planting of sweet potatoes was finished by that time and cutting weeds became the priority.

The crops they were currently growing like sweet potato, pumpkin, and tomato had enough water from the rain, so there was no need for them to water the crops directly and they only had to remove the weeds. Because they had tilled and ridged up the soil before harvesting the crops thrice, there was no need to do it frequently. And because the sugarcane had undergone selective breeding, there was no need for pest control. Only the sweet corn needed a lot of water, but rain and river water were enough.

There was little farm work to do these days. The main priority was making the water wheel [1] and creating measures for pest control. However, Shizuko got a new secret weapon besides traps for dealing with deer.

“Incredible… such a thing as taming a wolf… as expected of our Village Chief!”

“Haha, you are so great, Chief!”

“Awawawa. Yo, you’re welcome.”

Shizuko could only smile bitterly at the villagers’ overwhelming respectful gazes towards her. Their gazes were directed next to Shizuko, at a proud-looking wolf.

The wolf, which was lured by the smell of the deer’s meat, was supposed to leave after eating the meal Shizuko offered. However, the wolf didn’t leave her side, contrary to her expectation.

Experts have a notion that wolves are dogs’ ancestors. It could mean that the dog’s behavior was inherited from the wolf. This wolf thought that Shizuko was the leader of the pack and the wolf itself wanted to be a member of the pack.

“Well, that’s fine~”

Shizuko decided not to think about it deeply and assumed a carefree attitude since she had kept a dog before. More importantly, information obtained from her exploration revealed possibly thousands of deer coming from around the mountains.

It was easy to figure out how the deer increased so greatly. The sunshine reached the forest floor because the forest had been cleared halfway. Because of that, weeds under the trees grew more thickly, changing the area around the forest floor. There were also no carnivores such as wolves to be their natural enemies. It was a perfect environment for deer to grow in large numbers since there was a farm nearby and food was abundant. Furthermore, it was said that the deer population could double in size in the next four years. Even if the number of the males declined, with polygamy, their proliferation wouldn’t decline.

Let’s target the fawns – though Shizuko said that, they couldn’t be met so easily. At any rate, the opponent was a wild game so they were very alert. The deer would run as soon as they noticed her smell even if she luckily came upon one from upwind. Shizuko didn’t have the hunter’s skill to shoot from downwind without being noticed by her prey. So, was there any reason for Shizuko to climb the mountain?

The work outside nearly stopped due to the downpour during the rainy season. To put it simply, the villagers including Shizuko had a day off from having nothing to do. There were various tasks that could be done, but Shizuko boldly decided that it was fine to slack off. In a word, she wanted to laze around. However, Shizuko’s lazy time abruptly ended in the afternoon.

“I’m sorry for the sudden visit.”

The reason for this was because Mori Yoshinari came looking for Shizuko’s house in the afternoon. Shizuko was drinking tea from the chameleon plant[3] while eating some dried venison. Perhaps her appearance was rude if you thought about it, but Mori Yoshinari didn’t particularly mind it.

“Ah, no… I have shown you something unsightly.”

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