Chapter 9

It has been four months since I started helping out, and I turned 11. The tasks I do include fetching water twice a week, capturing a mole once, catching a fish once, and doing various small chores whenever I notice them.

Thanks to my efforts, the cold looks seem to have softened. However, they haven't completely disappeared, and that's because of my parents. According to the women, it's been about half a year since my parents stopped helping out.

Perhaps because I've been doing various chores, I hear a lot of stories from the women. They suggest that it might be time to bring up the refugee meeting, but they also say it might still be too early. I don't know what will happen in the future, but I doubt my parents will change their ways.

By the way, I've done more than just gather food. I made futons—both a mattress and a quilt.

Of course, there's no cloth, so I made them entirely out of leaves and dry grass. I made small holes in leaves about the size of my palm using twigs, then threaded long grass through the holes to connect the leaves. I connected dozens, even hundreds of leaves to make a leaf sheet.

I made two of these sheets, filled the space between them with dry grass, and then connected the edges of the sheets with more long grass. The hardest part was tying the long grass. I had to tie a lot of knots, and if I used too much force, the leaves would tear.

Thanks to the time and effort I put into making them, I completed the mattress and quilt! But as soon as they were finished, my parents took them. Grr, it's so frustrating... I could have predicted this, but it still stings. Now both of them are using the quilts.

Reluctantly, I decided to make them again. I thought I'd make even better ones this time because I was frustrated, but if I made better ones, they'd probably be taken again. So, I made them the same way, and this time, I made them for myself.

Thanks to the futons, my clothes no longer get dirty with soil and grass, and I can keep my body cleaner than before. It used to be a hassle to remove the grass from my clothes every morning.

Speaking of being clean, I take a bath in the water every two days. There's no soap, but if I wash carefully with water, the dirt comes off. However, I feel a bit unsatisfied because my hair lacks luster. I wonder if there's a fruit somewhere that can provide oil for my hair... No, there probably isn't, sniff.

By the way, I also wash my clothes while bathing. Even though we're refugees, I have two sets of clothes. It's a big help to have a change of clothes, as it would be difficult to wear the same clothes all the time. My routine is to wash the clothes I'm wearing after bathing and then put on a clean set, drying the washed clothes. I repeat this process.

Since we'll eventually go to town, it's better to be as clean as possible. I think just being a refugee gives a bad impression. So, I decided to make an effort to improve my image.

When I rub my body with a ball of dry grass while bathing, the dirt comes off, and my skin becomes cleaner. The women tease me, thinking I have a crush on someone because of these small efforts, but that's not the case.

When I remembered my past life, I felt despair about my current situation, but now I'm glad I remembered. If I hadn't, I might have been kicked out of the refugee camp. It was a good turning point.

I thought the knowledge from my past life would be useless in such a place, but it turned out to be quite helpful. The knowledge I picked up from watching TV and videos for entertainment has helped me avoid being kicked out.

I still don't have enough trust, but if I continue this life, I might be able to have normal conversations with everyone. That's why I need to work hard to catch moles today.

"Okay, today's goal is six."

I carry a stone axe and a long branch with worms and search for mole holes. I look at the roots of trees and in the grass.

By the way, I mark the holes I've already caught. I stick a branch next to the entrance, which makes it easy to see. So, when I search, I also check for these branches.

"Ah, there it is."

While searching the grass, I found a hole. It was slightly larger than the usual holes I see, and the soil around the entrance was heavily eroded, indicating that many moles were inside.

"There must be a lot in here."

Excitedly, I put the stone axe and a large basket on the ground and inserted the branch into the hole. I wait for a while, and then the branch starts to move, being pulled from inside.

I quickly grab the branch and pull it. The mole, still biting the branch, pokes its head out of the entrance. I place the branch on the ground and step on it to hold it in place, then pick up the stone axe and swing it down with all my strength.

"Kyu!"

The mole lets out a short cry and faints. I give it another blow, and it twitches and goes limp. That's the first one.

Without resting, I repeat the process of catching and hitting the moles. It seems that many adult moles lived in this hole, as they kept biting the branch one after another.

In the end, I caught a total of seven moles from this hole, a great catch. When I lined them up to observe, there were two large moles and five slightly smaller ones. It seems they lived in the hole as a family.

"The meat for tomorrow's soup will be a bit bigger, which is nice."

I'm happy to have caught one more than planned. I can't stop smiling, hehe. I put the moles in the basket I brought, but not all of them fit. I'll have to carry two in my hands.

Holding a mole and the stone axe in one hand and a mole and a stick in the other, I stood up with a "yoisho." The weight made my feet wobble a little. I walked unsteadily to the square.

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When I arrived at the square, the women were making the midday soup.

"Hello, I caught some moles."

"Ah, thank you. Just put them over there; I'll take care of them later."

"Okay."

I put them where the woman told me and started to head back.

"Is there anything else I can help with?"

"No, not today. But the soup will be ready soon, so why don't you bring your bowl?"

Just as I was about to get my bowl, I noticed something different in the pot. It seemed to have more vegetables than usual.

"Hey, isn't there more vegetables in today's soup?"

"Look, the supplies are arriving soon. I put all the leftovers in. It seems there was a bit of a miscalculation this time."

Hearing this, I understood. Ah, today is the long-awaited supply day.