Chapter 52

Shuri has returned.

Thank you.

...That's quite a lot, isn't it?

It's more than I imagined.

First, there are about ten types of potato-like things, nearly a hundred in total.

Can they be eaten?

I asked with gestures.

The young ant nodded.

It's a bit much for everyone to nod at once...

For now, let's plant the potatoes in the tilled field.

Thinking about the field, I decided to make some organic fertilizer.

The knowledge I was forced to learn from my father came in handy.

I dug a large hole and placed a wooden frame over it.

I put kitchen waste, dead leaves, and grass into it and compacted it.

I kept adding more dead leaves and kitchen waste and compacted them.

Since the dead leaves were dry, I added a little water.

I went to the forest to find something called native soil bacteria and mixed it in.

I was worried if there would be native soil bacteria in this different world, but I found some.

I guess... it should be fine.

Then, I let it ferment for half a year... but I couldn't wait, so I fast-forwarded time by a year.

Magic is great, the fertilizer is complete.

And it was indeed native soil bacteria.

It was good in many ways.

While mixing the fertilizer into the soil, I made rows.

I'm worried if they will grow, but I'll give it a try.

After planting the potatoes... half of the rows turned into potatoes.

The total number of rows is 100.

The number the parent ant hoped for.

I made 100, but it's less than half of the area I cultivated.

Isn't it too wide?

Aren't there too many rows?

Next, some unknown seeds.

I need to check if they are edible.

I need to choose one representative ant among the young ants.

I'm starting to feel a bit scared.

I planted seeds, and planted, and planted... there are still more.

It took half a day to finish planting.

Something's wrong, it's completely different from what I expected.

I aimed for a home garden.

But it looks like a farm in front of me.

Where did I go wrong?

...

Shion and the others returned with prey in their mouths.

They always bring back prey larger than themselves...??

Huh? Is Shion floating a bit in the air?

Am I imagining it?

...Well, it happens.

I feel like I've become more desensitized recently.

After dissection, I realized there were two prey in Shuri's house.

Yeah, good job.

Thank you, young ants, eat well.

Young spiders, wait a bit, I've been liking them grilled recently.

During dissection, I found a stone from the prey.

Not all prey have stones, but about 90% do.

I wonder what this is.

In Japan, stones don't come out of animals.

They don't, right? They shouldn't.

So it must be something unique to this different world.

Hmm~ I've been collecting the stones, so I have quite a few now.

Can I use them for something?