Chapter 40 – Chapter 3: Cabin in the Storm – 3
In the end, I woke up unable to fall asleep.
She touched her cheek with her hand. I can feel the heat gone.
Perhaps because I basked in a warm fire all day and slept under a thick coat, my body felt much lighter.
She was thirsty, so I picked up her water bag.
It was full again. I opened the lid and drank it.
“-Ha.”
Sweet and cool.
I don’t know where this water came from.
But the person who brought it knows.
That guy sleeping and snoring behind the cabin… C.
It felt bad, but I couldn’t deny it.
It saved me the trouble of going to find drinking water while I was sick.
Thanks to you, I was able to rest comfortably.
… And food.
It must have been difficult to find food since the storm had just passed, but the man managed to find various types of food.
Ritz said that Uncle Posao is very good at finding things in the mountains.
I guess that was true.
When I woke up earlier, there were a lot of scratches on his arms and legs.
It wasn’t there originally. Because there was no yesterday.
It appears that it probably dug through bushes or climbed trees to find food.
If I were alone.
Even when I was in pain and couldn’t move.
Was it possible to find a way around the mountain peak, find an empty cabin, and even provide water and food on one’s own?
… Honestly, I don’t know.
She always expected to become a great adventurer like her father and mother.
She just realized that she was still very immature.
“… Tch.”
I got up from my seat.
I put a large coat on my shoulders and came out.
As expected, the air is chilly after the rain.
I walked straight to the back of the cabin.
“Grrrrsh-! “Wow!”
Uncle Po Sao was snoring as if he was going to lose his breath.
He just found out that he couldn’t wake him up with words, so he just kicked him from the beginning.
“Gagging?!”
The man woke up and looked around him again.
“T, Tia?”
“… “Go in and sleep.”
“Huh?”
“It’s cold outside. Come in.”
The man stood up and rubbed his butt.
“But… You said Tia couldn’t sleep because it was so noisy…”
“Are you okay. “I’ll sleep outside.”
“Oh, no! Tia, you’re sick right now! I’m not sleeping and Tia is sleeping… “Bo, I’ll be watching.”
“That makes me feel worse?!”
“Naaah-! Sorry!”
When I think about it, it was strange that something like this happened today.
I may have been out of my mind last night, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t hear that loud snoring.
Nevertheless, the reason why I was able to sleep soundly without any problems…
It means that Uncle Posao has not rested properly.
“Ha-. “Did you sleep?”
“Mo, I couldn’t sleep…”
“You said that rest is important. Go in quickly and rest. “If you get sick and lie down, they’ll just throw you away.”
“Naaaaa- Ah, okay… Well, but… Tia.”
“Why?”
“Tiado de, go in and sleep.”
“I can’t sleep because it’s so noisy.”
The man said in a hurry.
“Joe, I have a great idea. I put my clothes on my head and sleep. Then… Are you okay?”
“Then I suffocate to death.”
“Just do it, let’s do it. Me… I don’t want Tia to keep losing sleep because of me…”
“…”
Anyway, it’s annoying.
“Okay.”
I went into the cabin with my uncle.
I made a new fire and slept warmly.
I’m in the kitchen, and you’re in the back corner.
I don’t know how I slept.
I think the idea of him sleeping with her clothes on worked well.
* * *
By the next morning, the clothes were dry.
Applying heat near a fire for a long time worked well.
Uncle Posao’s bad smell soon returned, too. This was also common.
The smell wasn’t good because I hadn’t washed it for a long time.
But I didn’t have time to worry about such trivial things.
Because she hasn’t gotten out of this mountain yet.
After sharing the figs that the man had picked, we prepared to start hiking again.
The cabin was left as it was when it arrived.
Even though it seemed unlikely that the owner would return, this house was able to withstand the storm, so we did our best to clean it up.
I left the cabin behind, saying thank you in my heart.
This mountain range was really deep and complex.
Although it wasn’t as steep as Dragonez, the steep and twisted road was difficult.
For some reason, it seemed like I could go this way, but when I went there, I often found myself blocked by high cliffs.
Because the forest was tall and dense, it was difficult to understand the terrain from a distance.
I wasn’t sure when I would be able to escape this mountain range or whether I would be able to meet anyone.
The good news was that it was not a highland area and there was no fog.
If the fog was thick in a place like this, I would have completely lost direction and wandered around.
Uncle Posao said.
“The fact that there was a cabin… There is something like a village nearby… “Wouldn’t it be?”
“…”
That was the only hope.
However, the cabin had been abandoned for a long time, and there were no traces of anyone living nearby, so it looked like an outbuilding built by a hunter in a remote forest.
So there was a high possibility that it was far from the village.
I heard that in the old days, our village also built huts all over the Dragonez Mountains and went hunting.
The hut where the village chief lived was one of the outbuildings built that way.
However, I heard from her mother that as time passed and the number of people increased and the size of the village grew, they settled in that location.
So, if there are villages in these mountains, wouldn’t they be living there somewhere?
… With that thought, she walked aimlessly toward the east.
Uncle Posao followed slowly, as usual, at a little distance.
She didn’t really want to keep a distance.
It’s just that the man was a glutton, so sometimes when he found food, he was late because he had to take care of it.
He didn’t really care if he disappeared from sight for a moment.
Because he followed me to where I was.
At the same time, since he had obtained daily food, he suggested that he share it with others.
After learning the lesson that rest is important, he took enough time to rest.
At that time, I filled my stomach with the fruits and berries that Uncle Posao brought.
The problem is… No matter how much I eat, I’m still hungry.
It was difficult to survive the arduous hike with just a handful of these small berries and a few fruits.
Uncle Posao was the same.
Although he wasn’t big enough to eat all on his own, I could see that he was getting tired quickly after sharing the food he had found with difficulty.
He had to solve the food problem somehow.
“…”
Holding the rose saber as if holding her spear.
I threw it with all my might at the rabbit at the bottom of the hill.
Pussyuk-!
The thrown knife fell to the ground helplessly, and the rabbit ran all the way to the ridge and disappeared.
Also. It can’t happen.
I didn’t have many expectations to begin with, but for no reason I was completely discouraged.
As I picked up the rose saber and returned, Uncle Posao shouted in an excited voice.
“Well, it’s too late to try… It was great! Tia!”
“Ha…”
I wanted to eat meat.
She didn’t really enjoy eating meat.
Since I was hungry for a long time, I desperately wanted to eat meat.
Know. You need a bow and arrow for hunting.
Or you could make a sling and throw rocks at it, but that was a trick that really skilled hunters did…
Making a trap means you have to keep moving, so you can’t just wait.
As I was walking with my hungry stomach, the man suddenly suggested something.
“How about making a bow?”
“… “How?”
“I know how to make it. But I don’t have talent…”
It is said that long ago – before I was even born – my uncle lived alone and taught himself archery.
At that time, he even tried making his own bow, but the problem was that his motor skills were so slow that he couldn’t even pull the bowstring properly, let alone hit his prey.
In the end, after realizing that he could not make a living from hunting, he quietly learned another job.
Really… It is a biography worthy of Uncle Posao.
“So, I’ll make a bow, and Tia, would you like to use it?”
“Do whatever you want.”
That’s how bow making began.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t serious.
If I was walking like usual, Uncle Posao would follow me and work hard to make something.
The man picked a bunch of nettles, picked out only the strong ones, and tore them into thin pieces.
They carried the plucked grass around for a long time to dry it, then twisted the young by rubbing the grass with their hands.
Next, I picked up the tree branches that had fallen on the ground. If possible, make it thick, strong and undamaged.
I had to help with this too.
If I had an axe, I would have cut down a suitable tree and used it, but this was the most difficult part as I was just trying to find it.
Fortunately, I managed to find a tree to serve as a skeleton before night fell.
Darkness fell.
After finding a suitable site and lighting a bonfire, we started making bows with Uncle Posao.
First, peel the tree bark with a rose shaver. Then, refine the shape by carving it little by little, as if sculpting.
I was only going to catch small animals anyway, and I was going to make it just for myself, so it didn’t matter if it was small.
When a slightly round bow shape is obtained after cutting for a long time.
Just then, the man finished making the rope.
Attach a tight string to the bow and tie it tightly to make a strong connection.
“Okay, that’s enough! It’s Tia’s bow!”
The man handed me the bow in a happy voice.
Although it was made in a hurry and was crude, it wasn’t bad because it fit my hand perfectly.
Next, I made arrows.
Likewise, the wood is cut thin and straight, a groove is made for the string, and the point is sharpened.
If you collect bird feathers picked up on the street and tie them into string… An arrow was made in a snap.
I picked up the completed bow and arrow and took a test shot.
“Slowly pull the bow.”
I have seen older people use bows.
I assumed a similar posture, recalling old memories.
Crackle-.
Stretch the left arm holding the bow forward and pull the string with your right hand.
The line was tight, so it took a lot of force.
Also, I had to pull more than I expected.
The moment you put the arrow on your thumb and let go of your hand.
Hissing- Pak!
The arrow that was fired got stuck in the dirt.
It’s pretty deep.
The man praised me.
“Wow, that’s amazing! Tia!”
I shot the bow several times for practice.
At first, I felt shaky because it took a lot of force, but after I adjusted my posture as the man taught me, I was able to pull it much more easily.
However, there was one problem with this posture.
“Aya!”
“Huh? “What’s wrong?”
“No.”
How can I say this? Every time I let go of the bowstring, the string bounces and hits my left chest.
Perhaps because bowhunting itself was something men did, it was uncomfortable for women with breasts.
But survival was at stake, and this was trivial.
I couldn’t keep telling that man that my heart was beating.
I decided to just practice consistently and adapt.
I tried matching stones at first close up, then a little further away, and later very far away.
Indeed, the more I practiced, the more I began to get used to the feeling.
I targeted a small stone about 20 steps away.
The man asked in a worried voice.
“Really, can you guess? It’s so far… ?”
“I can do it.”
Hold your breath and shoot the arrow.
Wedge- Tak!
The arrow flew a long distance and bounced the stones away.
The man screamed.
“Tia! It’s a success!”
“Wow-!!”
“Amazing! I… “It’s really amazing!”
It’s thrilling.
There was a feeling that came every time I hit the target accurately.
I had a rough sense of how to adjust the angle depending on the distance and how to read the wind.
It wasn’t as difficult as I thought.
Sleeping near the campfire, when the sun rises again.
As soon as I woke up, I found a rabbit sitting slightly away.
Without hesitation, I lifted my bow and shot.
Hiss! Pak!
“Gotcha!”
“Well, what… ?”
I proudly showed the rabbit I caught to the man who woke up late.
For the first time in my life. It was a successful hunting day.
