SC1 2.1 – New Schedule
*Kuuu-koooo-kuruuuuuuuuu……!!*
A few minutes after I woke up, the first rooster in Sendai sung its crow. After that, other roosters responded by singing their own crow. It was like a competition to find which rooster could sing its crow louder and longer.
Forty years I lived on earth, I never heard rooster sung its crow in the morning. So, as soon as I heard it, my mind instantly went back to my childhood. However, I immediately suppressed my reminiscence. Until certain point it was happy memory, but it ended up with the destruction of my village and the death almost everyone who lived in it.
Even to this moment, I still could clearly remember the desperation in my parent’s eyes as they tried to hide me under the horse stable. I clearly saw they were hoping for a miracle so I could survive, but I knew my death was certain. I had a hunch the dragon that suddenly descended upon my village, came by because it sensed my presence. He wanted to eat me, and used the other villager, including my parent as an appetizer.
As for me, surprisingly I was very calm and didn’t really care about my life. However, just before the dragon re-united me with my parent, elders from Blackwing arrived with a group of high level warriors. They killed the dragon and saved me, the only survivor, but deep down in my heart I regretted my survival. I had no wish to survive. I wanted to stay together with my parent no matter where we go after our death.
‘Well, even to this moment, my regret is still lingering around in my soul,’
After letting out a deep sigh, I then woke Yunno and Yui up. They were still sleepy, but waking up early in the morning was very good for their growth. Not to mention, if Kazuyori found they overslept even for a minute, she would definitely come to spit out her wrath.
After tidying up our long bed, we washed our face, brush our teeth, ditched our night soil, and started our daily routine. Yunno and Yui went to kitchen to take unused part of vegetable from yesterday cooking. They chopped it into small pieces before putting it into a crude wooden basin.
Honestly, the amount of unused vegetable was too little to feed 30 healthy hens. Fortunately, the hens couldn’t finish the small frog, bug, and worm from yesterday hunt, so Yunno and Yui could add it into their breakfast. After that, they opened the cage.
The sky was still too dark for the hen. They couldn’t use their vision properly yet, but Yunno and Yui had to help me with other work, so they opened the cage as soon as the chicken feed was ready in the middle of the yard, and let the chicken to come out of their cage on their own when they want it.
As for me, my first job in the morning was refilling four giant clay jars in the kitchen with fresh water. My tool was two wooden buckets, around ten liter each. It would require a lot of go back and forth from the well to the kitchen if I relied only on two buckets. So, I used my spatial storage to help me moved the water and stored some too. Therefore, when Yunno and Yui arrived to help me, I already finished the job.
As she saw me put my machete into my hips Yunno asked, “Big Bro Sanno, are you already done refilling the jars?”
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“It seems they didn’t use too much water yesterday.” As I handed over two bamboo tubes filled with water to the brim, the ropes to tie firewood, waist net-bags, small machete for Yunno, and small knife for Yui, I continued, “Let’s gather the firewood.”
“Okay.”
Yunno happily replied while Yui energetically nodded. We then left as my sister-in-laws arrived in the kitchen. Big question mark appeared in their forehead, as they saw we left far earlier than usual, but they didn’t stop us after confirming the water jars have water to the brim.
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A shred of orange started to appear in the east as we passed over Sendai’s main gate. We then went straight to small oak forest 300 meters west of the gate. The forest had hundreds of oak trees. From it massive trunk, it was easy to tell that oak trees in this forest was two centuries old at least.
As the oak forest was the source of firewood for the villager, they made a tradition not to cut the whole oak tree. With communal permission, a new family could take big branch to make furniture, wooden block, or kitchen utensil. But other than that, the villager could only forage the falling branch or twig for firewood.
As for the children from the village, they used the oak forest as their playing ground and place to hunt pigeon, woodcock, turtle dove, and such.
As soon as we reached the oak forest, we immediately started our work. Yunno and Yui did it as usual. They gathered dried branch without going too far from my sight. As for me, I gathered dried branch for the kitchen and also for my own use and put it into spatial storage. At the same time, I also use Shadow Hand to collect the scattered acorns and put it into my spatial storage.
Actually, the children from the village would take some acorn, roasted it, and then eat it. However, hereditary tradition taught them that eating too many roasted acorn could cause a sickness. Therefore, they treated it only as a light snack, and I could collect a massive amount of acorn after a short walk.
If I properly leached it for a few days, I could turn the acorns into totally safe and healthy high-content protein flour. However, my plan was only to dry them, smash them, and then use them as chicken’s feed for when I had a small but my own chicken pen for Yunno and Yui.
Not to forget, I also collected pigeon’s eggs. Silently, I scanned an oak tree using Essence Pulse. The pigeons were smart enough to build their nest on a branch that almost impossible for human to touch it. However, my Shadow Hand easily reached it and took one egg, the freshest one, into my spatial storage.
Lately, the pigeon population around Sendai was too high. It could negatively affect the harvest. So, when I found adult female pigeon that didn’t sit on any egg, I snatched it. In no time, I got 23 eggs and 12 pigeons. But I had to stop my hunt as Yunno and Yui already collected firewood slightly more than they could carry.
“Yunno, Yui, let’s return,” I called them.
Yunno immediately looked up to the sky through the gaps between oak’s branches and said, “Big Bro Sanno, it’s still too early.”
“Yeah, but we will go hunting earlier today.”
“Okay,” Yunno obediently replied.
After we tied the firewood and slung it on our back, we returned to Sendai. Along the way, we met young men and children who went to oak forest to collect firewood. I made a small conversation with some of them, but most of the time I only lightly smile and exchange a simple greeting.
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When we entered the front yard, we were welcomed by Kazuyori who was sweeping the terrace. Yesterday, I just lightly tapped her nape. Other than made her lost conscious it had no other effect. So, it was natural that this morning she woke up as usual like any other day.
As soon as she saw we returned earlier than usual Kazuyori sharply said, “It’s still very early. Go gather another batch of firewood. It’s already end of ninth month, but our firewood is not even enough to pass the first month of winter.”
“Mother, later at noon, you can ask sister-in-law to gather additional firewood.”
As soon as she heard I didn’t comply with her order like how the Unfortunate Sanno usually would, Kazuyori instantly raised her left eyebrow.
“And what will you do now?” Breakfast has not ready yet, or do you plan to go back sleep like a useless freeloader?”
Even without looking at them, I could feel Yunno and Yui started to tremble when Kazuyori raised her voice. However, I had already decided I would risk a fight to speak my intention.
“Mother, I plan to check the deeper part of our hunting ground. So, we have to go earlier starting today.”
Kazuyori narrowed her eyes as she suspiciously asked, “You don’t plan to slack off, do you?”
“If we don’t have additional harvest after putting snares in the deeper area, we will go back to our routine.”
“Fine.”
Kazuyori immediately lowered her tone after hearing the potential for additional harvest, but it didn’t mean her attitude towards Yunno and Yui became gentler.
“You can eat whatever the kitchen had been cook as your breakfast, but Yunno and Yui can only eat half portion of other kids.”
“Understood.”
Wasting no time, I took Yunno and Yui to put the firewood into firewood stash. After that, we went to the small table in one corner of the kitchen.
*****