The next night, before it gets dark, I load my three chickens in the mini truck, and drive down the mountain. And I stop by the general store first, because I figure I should bring something with me.
“You caught a boar uh!? That’s great!”
I hear.
“W-well…”
I guess news travels fast in a small village. I was thinking about how exactly she heard about it, but apparently the person who took the boar apart is a relative of the store owner. Everyone’s connected somehow.
“I can’t go, but call me next time you catch one!”
“Yes.”
I pray that said next time doesn’t come too soon.
So, they raise their own vegetables, so they don’t need that, and they don’t sell vegetables that can’t be harvested around here either. I guess rice crackers it is then. I can’t take meat when I’m going there to eat meat.
By the time I get there, the sun has set completely.
“Good evening. Thank you for having me.”
“Ou! Shouhei, you’re late.”
“Sorry.”
Pops is already drinking. There are a few neighbors here too, but no kids.
“So you caught it, Sano. That’s great. Thanks for sharing.”
“No no, people are always looking after me, so…”
“We don’t do none of that!”
An old man and woman start laughing, and I laugh politely too while scratching my head.
I see there’s a barbecue set up in the large yard. I should’ve gotten here earlier to help
“Sorry about that, ma’am.”
“It’s fine, don’t be so reserved. And we’re having boar hotpot in the end.”
“Yes, that’s great.”
It’s too dark, so I didn’t see it at first, but there’s already meat being boiled. I’m assuming it’s because of parasites.
“Hum, Pochi, Tama, and Yuma, right?”
“Yes.”
She’s calling out to the chickens, that are standing behind me like baby birds.
“I set aside half the entrails for you. Do you want it?”
Pochi immediately clucks.
“Come here then.”
On top of a stone in the yard, there is not just entrails, but also meat and bones, along with vegetable scraps.
“Thank you very much, ma’am.”
“It’s fine. If you need anything else, don’t be afraid to ask. I haven’t had boar in a while.”
I can’t just go ‘oh okay then’ after they went through so much trouble to prepare. I wonder if there’s anything I can get from the mountains.
“I’m sorry I’m late…”
Then, a young woman appears. I feel like there’s something behind her, but when I try to get a better look, Pochi pulls my pants.
“Ah, sorry. You can eat.”
Pochi clucks in response, and I leave so I don’t get dirty. They splatter all over the place when they eat entrails.
“Welcome Miya.”
She’s probably one of their neighbors. I can see an old lady I don’t know greeting her.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t help with anything…”
“It’s fine. It’s tough living on a mountain, right? Sano…”
“Yes?”
I turn there after being called. It’s kind of dark, but what I see is a woman in her early twenties.
“Miya, this is Sano, who lives on a mountain west of yours. Treat him well.”
“…Ah, hello…”
“Ah… Nice to meet you…”
So she’s the one living to the east. She casts her face down a little and takes a step back. She might not be good with men. I take a step back too.
“Miya, Sano here has three chickens. Big ones. Sano, Miya has a big lizard.”
The old lady introduces us to each other nonchalantly.
“Chickens… You should probably not get them too close…”
The woman called Miya says with a disappointed tone. At first I wonder what she means, but then I look behind her. That’s not a big lizard, that’s more like a crocodile or a dinosaur. It’s so scary. She probably meant that it preys on chickens.
“Ah… Hum, does it eat everything?”
“I often warn it, but…”
Yes, even my chickens probably can’t beat that. Too bad, I just met one of my mountain neighbors, but we’re probably not going to be that close.
“Hey, Shouhei! Come here!”
“Yes! So, see you later…”
“Yes…”
I go to pops, and he’s with other men who are halfway towards being very drunk. There’s a nice smell in the air, coming from the meat being roasted. Thanks for that.
“Shouhei, it was Akimo here who took the boar apart.”
“Ah! Sorry for the trouble, and thank you!”
He introduces me to a man I’m assuming is called Akimoto, and I bow. I should’ve gotten him something too, not just for pops.
“No no, if I don’t do that, I get rusty. I heard your chickens caught it, but is that true?”
“…Yes, my chickens are pretty brutal…”
“They sound pretty reliable. Call me if you catch another one. I’ll gladly take it if you didn’t catch it with a snare trap or something like that.”
Most hunters use traps, but you need a permit to handle them. And apparently there are various types of traps too.
“Well, not that there’s gonna be any trouble if we eat it here!”
“True!!”
They all laugh loudly.
“Thank you.”
“Shouhei’s chickens really are great! They even catch pit vipers!”
“That’s nice. You can have all the pit viper sake you want!”
I’ve actually heard that you need to leave it for three years if you’re making it properly, so I wouldn’t be able to drink it right away.
“Talk to me if you catch more. I’ll give you three thousand yen.!”
“Hey, if you pay that much, I’m not gonna get any!”
How much of this should I be taking seriously? I can’t quite gauge how close they are. And so, I just smile awkwardly.
“It’s done! Come get it!”
They all turn their heads.
“Coming.”
And I get a nice excuse to get up too.
Boar meat has a distinctive smell, but it’s good. Apparently it gets soft when you boil it, so that’s why they were doing that first.
And after we’re done having our fill of boar hotpot, we end up staying the night here.
It really was good. (It’s important, so it bears repeating.)
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