Chapter 8

Well, now that I'm full, the next thing is to secure water.

Since it's not that hot, the amount of water I consume is minimal, but I feel uneasy with only the 500ml of barley tea in my water bottle.

"Looking out over the flatland, I can't see any terraces. Should I head upstream?"

If there's no spring, I'll have to filter the river water as a last resort, but it's difficult to make a filtration device without the necessary equipment.

"If only I had some bamboo, I could manage..."

I walked for about four hours, but the vegetation didn't change much, and the river width remained constant.

"Even if I consider my speed to be around 5km per hour, I should have walked nearly 20km, but the scenery hasn't changed at all."

Just as I started to feel a bit disheartened, I found a cluster of animal footprints.

"Is this a watering hole and feeding ground for herbivores?"

Since most of the footprints were hooves, I thought it was likely and decided to head in that direction.

The forest itself wasn't overly dense, and the dappled sunlight and good footing made it easy to walk.

After about 30 minutes, I discovered a pond filled with abundant spring water.

Water gushed out from the rocky area, and the water from the pond formed a tributary leading to the river I had seen earlier.

"As expected. At least securing drinking water is done."

From here on, my goal will be to gather food.

"My target is birds. It would be great if there were quails or something similar."

To be honest, if a large animal like a deer or wild boar were caught in a trap, I wouldn't know how to finish it off.

I once saw a wild boar caught in a snare with my grandfather, and the memory of the large tree being half-cut and the ground being dug up in a doughnut shape more than 50cm deep still terrifies me.

The boar's legs were bone-exposed. I can't imagine hunting such a creature without a weapon.

"Anything smaller than what can be caught with the recoil of a tree, I can't handle with just a knife."

I set up a few small snares near a Japanese oak and a tree with small, unknown fruits, a bit away from the feeding ground.

Incidentally, while looking for vines, I found some yams and dug them up with a satisfied look, but they were nearly 2 meters deep, and I almost cried.

If I had a shovel, it would be different, but digging 2 meters with just a stick and a board was torture.

"Wait, could this be...?"

While setting up the traps, I discovered a clearly living trap.

"I will use 'Recognition.'"

Several makeshift snares made from twisted metal wire were set up in various places.

"This doesn't use a spring, but tightens when stepped on due to the recoil of the tree. It's well-made."

This means that someone is using traps here.

Moreover, they were set up yesterday.

"An encounter with an unknown intelligent being... whether they are friendly or not. I'll hide and observe for now."

I found a suitable rocky area while setting up the traps, so I'll use it as my bed for the night.

All that's left is to check the traps before sunset. If nothing is caught, it'll be a yam feast.

Ah, the yams are non-toxic and are indeed yams.