Chapter 5

Today is a day off from helping out. I can’t just spend the whole day doing nothing, spacing out! Recently, I’ve started to understand my situation and believe I should work to improve it, even a little.

Trust is important. I realized that my family has no credibility due to my parents, and I understood how dangerous that situation is. If my parents can’t do it, then I have to. I’m going to endure and try to earn some trust.

To earn trust, I need to help out. However, I don’t think just fetching water all the time is enough. Fetching water is hard work, and it’s true that people appreciate it, but I want to do something more advanced.

Gathering food, especially meat. There are deer, boars, birds, and rabbits in the forest that can serve as food. But I’m a 10-year-old child with no strength, so I can’t hunt large animals like deer or boars. I also have no experience, so I don’t know how to hunt birds.

There are rabbits, but I think I can hunt them. However, there’s an animal that would be even more appreciated: the mole rat.

Mole rats, as their name suggests, live by digging holes under trees and other places. They are 30 to 40 cm long and have well-developed front teeth and claws for digging. They reproduce quickly, giving birth to 7 to 10 offspring at a time, and the young become adults in about half a year.

They have an excellent sense of smell and can find food underground while digging. They are omnivores, eating everything from nuts to insects, but this behavior makes them unpopular with refugees. These mole rats target the food in the storage. They dig holes near the storage and enter, or they enlarge gaps in the storage with their teeth. They are particularly troublesome at night when the guards are less vigilant, and they are immediately targeted for extermination when spotted.

If the damage is severe, they search for and eliminate the holes, but currently, they just exterminate or drive away any mole rats they see near the food storage. There are hardly any refugees who are willing to go to the trouble of exterminating mole rats.

This is why mole rats are more appreciated than rabbits. They are also relatively easier to exterminate compared to rabbits, which run around and escape. This is the best way for me, a weak and physically unfit child, to obtain meat.

I plan to make tools to catch and hunt mole rats. The method is very simple: insert a stick with bait into the hole, and when the mole rat bites the stick, pull it up and knock it out with a stone ax when its head appears.

"First, I’ll make the stone ax."

I’ll gather thick branches from the forest. Then, I need to drill a hole in the branch to attach the stone, but I need iron tools for that. When I go to the storage where the sickles are kept, a different uncle is on guard this time.

"Um, I want to drill a hole in a branch, so can I borrow some tools?"

"Yeah, a hole? Ah... wait a moment."

He looks unhappy, probably because I don’t have enough trust yet. Still, he goes into the storage, looking bothered. After a while, he comes out with a small iron tool.

"Here you go. I can’t lend you a knife, but this is suitable for you."

He hands me a tool with a flat blade at the end, a chisel. Honestly, I would have preferred a pointed knife, but it can’t be helped. I’m a bit disappointed, but I bow deeply and decide to use the chisel to drill a hole in the branch. It takes me a whole day to drill the hole with the small chisel.

Next, I need the stone part. I go to the river and look for a long, slightly flat stone that can fit in the hole. After an hour of searching, I find a suitable stone, but it’s a bit larger than the hole.

I start to grind the stone against other stones to make it fit the hole. This is quite labor-intensive, and it’s difficult for a child to do. It takes two days to complete this task, and the tool-making process enters its fourth day.

Finally, I can fit the stone into the hole in the branch. This is also quite labor-intensive, and I have to hammer and push it in multiple times. The stone fits tightly and doesn’t come out even when I hit the branch, and I’m satisfied with the completed stone ax, which makes me happy.

"Next, I’ll make the bait stick."

The method is simple. I climb a tree, grab a thin branch, and jump down to break it. I remove the leaves and small branches to prevent them from getting caught in the hole. Then, I split the end of the branch and insert an earthworm I picked up nearby. That’s it.

It took four days to make the stone ax. Well, it’s an important tool, so it’s okay that it took time. Now I can finally hunt mole rats. I’ll work hard to gain trust!

I take the stone ax and start looking for mole rat holes near the food storage. I search the roots of trees and comb through the grass. I thought it wouldn’t be easy to find, but I found a hole on the eighth try.

I sit down and insert the bait stick into the hole. I slowly push it in until the end of the stick is just visible at the entrance. Then, I wait for the mole rat to bite the stick, attracted by the smell.

I stare intently at the stick, and suddenly it starts to move violently, trying to pull it in. But I won’t let it!

"Alright!"

I grab the stick with both hands and pull. There’s a lot of resistance, as if the mole rat is resisting from inside. I brace myself and pull the stick closer.

The stick is slowly pulled out. Peering into the hole, I can see the mole rat climbing up. Even when it notices me, it doesn’t let go of the bait stick.

I pull the stick hard, and when the mole rat’s head appears, I place the stick on the ground and step on it. I pick up the stone ax and swing it down with all my strength at the mole rat’s head.

"Kee!"

With a dull thud, the mole rat lets out a short scream and falls to the ground. It lies motionless on its stomach, but I can’t be careless. I swing the stone ax down on its head one more time. This time, there’s no scream, just a dull thud.

"Is it safe now?"

I poke it with the stone ax, but it doesn’t move at all. Only its legs twitch spasmodically. I finally grab the mole rat and drag it out.

The mole rat, now on its back, is plump and well-muscled. It should have a lot of edible parts and will be appreciated. I smile happily.

"Well, how many more are there?"

I insert the bait stick deep into the hole again. I wait intently, and the stick starts to shake violently. I grab the stick and pull it up as before. When the mole rat’s head appears, I step on the stick and swing the stone ax down twice. That’s it.

I place the two mole rats side by side, and they have similar body shapes. This burrow is a good find.

In the end, I manage to capture three mole rats from this burrow. When I take them to the women, I get a little praise. It feels good to be recognized. The next day, the soup contains mole rat meat, and my bowl has a large piece.

Alright, next, I’ll try fishing!