Chapter 175 – Journal Entry 25: Dire animal hunt

A week passed on the Fernery Island. The island is peaceful, free spirited and away from the conflicts of the world. As for I, Ramiel (borrowed name) diligently cleared the land with all my strength. From the weeds that were deeply rooted, the branches that were thick, the rocks that needed me to repair my pickaxe twice. But alas with hard work I was able to clear the whole field.

Right now I am in the process of tilling the field. So far I have done half of the field, I could actually start sowing seeds but my sense of balance made me unable to accept the disorganize look of half of the field being untilled. My hand holding the hoe, I slammed it down on the ground, pulled it backward, and continued until I was able to do half the field.

“It’s already noon?”

The sun made a crimson glare. I could feel the intensity of the sun just by basking under it. My torso feels hot. I am wearing a coat under the sun so it should be no surprise that I am this sweaty. I have been working under the sun for quite a while. I am used to working to such conditions during the week that has passed. I wanted to take a break so I went out of the tilled parts of my field and head to the lunch box I brought with me. I didn’t cook for myself. I merely brought something from the inn, filled it in my lunch box and carried it here. Odette’s cooking is far too delicious, and even though I know how to cook, I am still far inferior to her.

A sandwich, a roasted yam, a bottled fizzy juice, two pairs of beef, one baked egg, two pieces of bread, and one pear, lies inside my lunchbox. It may be a bit too much, but with how my work is I could only eat such amount. Clearing the field for a week wasn’t easy task. I feel like this reward for my own self, for such accomplishment.

“It is time to eat!”

I took a bit of the sandwich, followed it with the roasted yam. Putting the roasted yam in the lunchbox’s cover, I grab the baked egg, slid it down my mouth, and pushed it along with the bread. Followed by that, I took the pear, added some sweetness of my mouth. I could not ignore the beef, so I shove it in my mouth and paired it with the sandwich.

Yum, my mouth got full, yet my stomach still not filled. I continued eating the meal up until my stomach bloated. A burped escaped my mouth. I turned to the river where water flows down to a hole that leads to complex of tunnels that end up to the seawater cave near the harbor. I heard one of the folks say that the river water that drops down on the tunnels are distributed around the island, making fields like mine healthy and fat.

The Island is fertile, making the ground great. I could see that the people called earthen mate have the best fields. But even so, they are rather humble about it. I once walked around the village during the morning when one of them gave me some crops to live by.

Some of them even gave me seeds I could use to jumpstart my fields. I am grateful to them. That is why I need to make sure that my fields bloom properly!

...

In the afternoon, at the end of the day, I went back to my own house to drop some of my tools. I changed my shirt, but didn’t take my longcoat off because it was breezy in the afternoon, I sat around my house. I waited for the wind, hum some song, and looked at the peaceful horizon before me. Far, wide, large, and blue, the ocean was charming, couldn’t believe that I rode a boat there. Couldn’t even see some of the islands from my sight, there should be about three of them facing here if the map given to me, by the village mayor that acts as the manager of the village. Miss Pandora is only the guardian, so the mayor of the map, who apparently was the noble dressed lady I saw in the harbor, during my first arrival here. She was great, her name is Violeta, and she is an astute woman who despite being noble blood could casually speak her mind in front of the people.

She gave me the map as a welcome for the village, like others she also gave me a fair warning. So how I could know that there are islands here is due to her.

I stopped staring at the ocean for a while. I went out of my house, head to the Inn, sat on a chair, ordered some food and talked to anyone that was willing. While having small chats, I was able to hear some rumors going on about a tamed animal going amok due to poor treatment, this animal is now roaming free, thought that it was some silly mistake but the animal they were talking about was a not really an animal, but dire animal that was forced to be domesticated by an earthen mate, so due to that the earthen mate has become nervous, causing problems everywhere.

So there is request posted up. If one could defeat the dire animal, he would be rewarded. I thought people would take the request easily, but it seems that no islander wanted to take part. I asked Miss Rosetta about it, but it seems that the usual hunters are tired. The red-headed man who was named Joey was out of the island, Bacchus was exploring a ruin, Father Gerard was busy with the chapel and the devotees, while Grom, who’s the islands hound dog was accompanying the Mistress around the island’s ruins, studying the leftover of scrolls, tomes and so on. The leftovers of the ruins have quite vague info, and even though the mistress has been going at it for hundred years, the ruins knowledge was still unable to unlock.

So since I was lacking a bit of money, I went and hunt for the dire animal.