Chapter 11

“Wow, what a surprise.”

Suddenly, someone grabbed me by the shoulders and almost threw me in the river. I looked at the other man’s face and said so. A man in his early twenties with a fearless face, I had never talked to him before, but I knew him.

“What an odd coincidence to meet you here, Mr. Van.”

It was Mr. Van, a sharp-eyed hunter with his lips drawn into a straight line. He just gives a small nod and sits down facing me in silence. Don’t be silent, say something.

“Um, if you don’t mind, would you like one?”

I tried to strike up a conversation, but Mr. Van paused for a moment and shook his head. As you can see, Mr. Van is quiet and unsociable, so he is perceived as a scary person among the children. By the way, he is unmarried. I think he’s a good-looking guy, but I also think it can’t be helped if he keeps his mouth shut like this.

“What’s wrong?”

I heard a low voice, and I couldn’t help but look around. I realized now that I had never talked to Mr. Van before, nor had I ever seen him talking to anyone. So that low tone I just heard was Mr. Van’s voice. When I was impressed, Mr. Van tilted his head slightly. He didn’t answer my question, which made me wonder.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re right; it’s strange for me to be alone in a place like this.”

I got a small nod from Mr. Van.

“Well, to put it simply, I’m in dire straits. If you don’t mind, could you take me back to the village?”

Mr. Van blinked a few times with his sharp eyes, and then nodded. That was good. I should be able to go home now. As a hunter, Mr. Van is almost the only specialist in this forest. The other villagers only use the shallow areas for gathering wild plants, but he goes as far as he can in the forest.

With relief, I nibble on the burnt fish. It would be a shame to go without eating the finished dish. As I squirm, I talk to the quiet Mr. Van.

“Well, thank God. Yesterday, we all went in to pick our usual wild vegetables, but I can’t remember anything after I climbed a fallen tree to find an aloe. It seems that I fainted at that time and found myself in a completely unfamiliar forest.”

Mr. Van tilted his head again. He seemed to respond to the word aloe, so I asked, “Aloe, sir?” and he nodded. He didn’t talk much, but didn’t seem to be averse to communication.

When I showed him the rest of what I had eaten in the morning, Mr. Van looked convinced and muttered.

“Wound medicine.”

“Huh?”

One moment, please. Mr. Van, you seem to know that this can be used as a wound remedy.

“Mr. Van, by any chance, have you known about this plant for a long time?”

The hunter nodded cautiously. Oh, what a surprise. Then why didn’t the villagers know about this useful plant? How could they not have heard about it, even in such a shallow part of the forest?

“May I ask how you know about it? I don’t think the others know about it at all……”

“The hunter.”

That was the end of Mr. Van’s explanation. Why is he so short with his words? Is it some kind of curse that if he talks too long, he will die?

“……teaches.”

As I was having trouble making sense of it, the rest of the explanation came very late.

“The hunter’s teachings……? You mean, wisdom passed down among hunters, that kind of thing?”

Mr. Van nodded. Why does he look so satisfied? Nevertheless, I understood what he was saying. We are farmers, after all, even if we do collect wild vegetables. We may be experts in the fields, but we are not experts in the forests or mountains.

Hunters, on the other hand, are experts in the forest and mountains. Part of their daily life is indeed in the forest. It is only natural that they know a lot about the forest that farmers do not have the opportunity to know. If you hunt in the forest, you will probably get injured a lot, and you will naturally become familiar with medicinal herbs. If it were possible, I would have wanted him to spread his knowledge further. But, however…….

“Doesn’t that mean that Mr. Van knows more about the plants in this book?”

Mr. Van tilted his head. His expression didn’t change, but instead, his head moved a lot. The silent conversation has become a little more interesting.

“In fact, I thought that if we could find more plants that could be eaten or used as medicine, life in the village would be easier, so I found aloe as a first step.”

Mr. Van nodded his head.

“If you don’t mind, Mr. Van, I was wondering if you could take a look at some of the plants in this book. If you recognize any of them, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me where to find them.”

I quickly move next to Mr. Van and open the book to show him. His eyes, which are so sharp that most children look away, looked straight into the book. Flipping through the pages, he points out familiar things and tells me about them. There are more of them than I expected.

“Ho-ho! Excellent……Excellent, Mr. Van!”

Books are great, I need not say that again, but the experience gained in the field is also great. Both are great achievements of human knowledge. There is such a wide variety of plants that I wonder why we have not used them before. Of course, there are many plants that are difficult to use in practice, but I think we have been wasting our time.

“By the way, Mr. Van I’d like to discuss one thing with you…….”

Tossing the bones of the fish I had finished into the cooking stove, I bowed my head politely.

“Before we go back to the village, I’d like to collect some plants I know.”

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a forest specialist. I would like to borrow some of his superior knowledge on my way back. It would save me a lot of trouble and be safer than searching for them alone. I think this is a reasonable proposal to make the most of the good fortune that came from being lost.

And yet, Mr. Van gave me a subtle look of dismay. Wait. Don’t refuse. Come on, it’s a heartfelt request from a sweet, sweet child. No, no, I’m not forcing you. I just want what’s on the way home. If we can take a little detour, just a little detour, everyone in the village will be happy later (maybe).

After a frantic presentation, we decided to take a look around at the nearby traps that Mr. Van had set and return to the village tomorrow. Naturally, he would tell me about the wild plants along the way. As a hunter, he didn’t want to neglect to check the traps, so this schedule was convenient for him.

＊＊＊＊

That day, Mr. Van taught me this and that about wild plants that I had no memory of in what seemed like a previous life. Then I realized that it was understandable that the farmers did not know about them.

Mr. Van told me that even hunters who see them every day do not pick them up unless it is an emergency, or if they are unsure of their decision. There was one exception, edible wild plants that were not poisonous and had a good price, but they were not in the shallow part of the forest, so it was difficult for farmers to get them because of the demon’s threat.

I don’t have my own answer yet…….Are there really demons? I’m still unclear about that, but after spending the night with him, I found out that the quiet Mr. Van was pretty good at taking care of me.

He matched my walking pace, showed me how to dismantle a squirrel that had been caught in a trap, and treated me to a delicious hot pot with the squirrel and some wild plants I didn’t know existed. The dismantling of the squirrel was honestly grotesque, though.

This was a very valuable experience for me. The meat was really tasty……and I was able to experience firsthand what I had learned in the book. The meat was really delicious…….I wondered if I could accompany Mr. Van in his work from time to time to help him research meaningful ways to use plants.

If I can persuade my father, take care of our garden, and spend some time reading, I’ll ask Mr. Van, even though I know I’ll be slowing him down.

As I followed Mr. Van, I stepped into a familiar landscape. An aloe and a tree that had fallen on a rock, it was an area close to the village where we collected wild vegetables.

“I see. This is the kind of location I’ve been looking for. Look, it’s that aloe that I found before I passed out.”

When I pointed and spoke, Mr. Van nodded and then looked at the fallen tree.

“Oh, yes. I climbed up that fallen tree to see the aloe.”

After hearing this from me, Mr. Van walked toward the fallen tree. I didn’t know what he wanted to do, but I observed the fallen tree and twisted my head for a while. But the silent hunter didn’t say anything, just looked at me and started walking again directly toward the village.

Overnight, I thought I was able to communicate with Mr. Van to a certain extent, but it seemed that there were still many things I didn’t understand. Language is a great invention, I thought, patting my book.

Anyway, I was finally able to come back here. When I get back to the village, I want to sleep in my own house. I realized that staying out in the open is not an easy thing to do. The physical strength of a nine-year-old is at its lowest point, and if I’m not careful, I’m sure I’ll fall asleep at any moment.

“Almost there.”

Perhaps aware of my condition, Mr. Van frequently turned around to check on me. Although he is unsociable and doesn’t talk much, I think he is really good at taking care of me. I bow my head and say thank you, but in my heart I grumble that I can’t do it anymore. Finally, I arrived at the village, and as I staggered towards the square, I saw that the villagers were all there. Mr. Van and I looked at each other, wondering what the hell was going on.

Even though it is a small village, it is a cold village where people are busy with their daily lives. The only time the villagers gather together is during festivals such as the Harvest Festival, and Spring Festival, or when someone gets married, or when someone dies.

During this time, the Spring Festival took place, so there could be no festival. Marriage, too, is a small village affair, and there is no such thing as someone getting married out of the blue. If this is the case, there must have been some misfortune. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence.

Who could it be? As for the elderly, Old Madel was in great danger, but even the young could fall ill suddenly. I walked up to the villagers, who were in a somber mood, and called out to them.

“Um, what’s going on?”

At that moment, I could see that all the villagers had a look of shock on their faces. The only exceptions were me and Mr. Van. We could only tilt our heads at such an unexpected reaction. The first to make a move was Miss Maika and my mother, while everyone else was silent, wondering what was going on. The two women hugged me, calling my name.

Wait. My legs and feet are wobbly from walking around in the forest. It’s hard to walk alone, but when two people put their weight on me, it’s hard, hard, hard. I felt like I was going to fall down, but I couldn’t manage to hold on and eventually I did.

I’m a nine-year-old boy after all, it’s no wonder Miss Maika is more developed than me. I didn’t know what to do as the women cried and hugged me, not caring that I had collapsed. Can someone please explain this situation to me? As I was thinking this, Priest Folke came forward, holding the ritual scripture book in his hand.

“Well, I guess I was right.”

Tapping his shoulder with his book, Priest Folke was in a good mood.

“What is this situation?”

“We were just about to start your funeral, you know.”

“What?”

Don’t kill me on your own. It’s been less than six months since I’ve been fully motivated to live in this life. My life is just beginning.

“Why are you talking like that? I was a little lost and I’m sorry for worrying you, but it’s only been three days, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha! Of course! A little lost and only three days!”

Priest Folke starts laughing out loud. I’m glad he’s enjoying himself, but Mr. Van is shaking his head in some dismay.

“It’s normal.”

Oh, he spoke. A good percentage of the villagers were surprised to hear Mr. Van’s voice. But even the surprised villagers were nodding their heads in agreement with Mr. Van’s words.

That’s not so dramatic, I thought. In the cold snowy mountains, even a night’s sleep would be fatal, but this was a much warmer spring forest. If I stay still, I should be able to survive for a week. However, Miss Maika, who was clinging to my neck, glared at me with red eyes.

“Idiot!“

Do I look that unconcerned? I think the expression on my face right now is very confused, isn’t it? However, there was no way I could ask such a question back to a crying girl, so I smiled in annoyance, and Miss Maika began to cry even more.

“I heard that you were attacked by a wild boar!……I’m so……glad you’re okay!”

I don’t remember what happened when I fainted, but it seems I was attacked by a wild boar. So, did the boar run up that fallen tree and hit me? No, it’s possible that the boar attacked me after I got down from the fallen tree. Then, the boar took me away in front of the two boys in the group.

I see. If I was attacked by a boar and went missing, it’s no wonder a funeral was held for me. Those guys are basically herbivores, but they are omnivores……

“Well, whatever it was, I’m sorry to have caused you any concern.”

I apologized sincerely and wholeheartedly, but for some reason, Miss Maika and my mother became angry. In contrast to the women who scolded me while crying, Priest Folke was laughing with his stomach in his hands.

“Hahaha! I knew you weren’t the kind of guy who would die even if someone tried to kill you.”

What do you think people are priest? If I am killed, I will die properly. In fact, in my previous life, I did exactly that.

I’ve made a lot of noise, but I’m tired and want to sleep well at home. I also need to start researching how the aloe and other things I’ve harvested can be used. If I’m going to do research, I want to keep a record of it. I need paper and pen. I wonder if Mr. Quid, the peddler, could somehow provide me with a cheap roll of…….