I lie down to rest for a bit, then get up and take out a chocolate bar to eat.
‘Now there’s only one of these left.’
I take a sip of water too. I really don’t think I can eat the stew they’re eating.
I still feel like someone is playing a prank on me, trying to feed me this stuff. I saw some fish in the lake where I drew water earlier, so I should try fishing. Luckily, the fishing hooks I bought are still intact.
I tie the fishing line and hook to a suitable tree branch to make a handmade fishing rod, dig into a fallen rotten log to catch some grubs, use them as bait, and try fishing.
‘Oh… this tug. What the hell? It bit the moment I cast. Ah, and I don’t have a bucket.’
I dig a small hole beside where the water flows in, stack some stones, and put the caught fish inside. I bait the hook with another grub and try again.
‘Oh… I guess this is the spot, seeing how I caught another one so quickly.’
Still, fishing while feeling the cool wind calms my mind a bit. I go to the water’s edge to wash my face, cupping my hands to scoop water, when—
“Ah, fuck, what the hell..!!!”
‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t me. No, wait, it’s me when I was young? I got younger? Does this make sense?
Come to think of it, my hands used to be all wrinkled from farming and touching dirt, but now they’re smooth and firm.’
I look into the water again. The ripples calm, and I look once more. Could it be someone else’s reflection? I touch my face and pinch my cheek, but the person in the water mimics every movement exactly.
‘It’s me. I’ve gotten younger.’
With a mind set on confirming it, I’m on my way to the village when—
‘Right, the fish I caught.’
I go back, grab the fish by the mouth, and bring it with me, when I see Radek in the distance.
“Excuse me, but how old do I look?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, how old do I look!”
“You look like the youths who were conscripted recently. I thought you were on the run to avoid the draft, but I suppose that’s not the case.”
“Ah, no, that’s not it. Understood for now.”
“But did you catch that fish?”
“Ah. Yes. Please take one. I only need one. I’ll have this for dinner. I need to rest.”
and head back into the house.
‘Did I come here, to this place I don’t recognize, in a younger body?’
I slap my own cheek once more.
‘This really, really isn’t a dream. So this means it’s reality, but does this make sense? Well, the fact that I’m in a place like this with people like them doesn’t make sense in the first place.
I’m hungry, so let’s grill the fish first. Ah, damn, I should have gutted it and removed the entrails before bringing it back.’
Going back to the lake is a hassle. All I want is to sit down and rest for now. I take out my multi-tool knife, slit the belly, and throw the fish guts outside the wooden fence.
‘Well, I guess a cat will scavenge it.’
I scale it and rinse it roughly with water. I pick up a flat, thin stone, place it over the fire, wait until the stone heats up, then put the fish on top and grill it.
There’s no cooking oil or anything, so it sticks and burns a little, but it’s much better than the stew I had this morning.
‘I’ve gotten younger… I still can’t believe it. If I wake up tomorrow and I’m still like this here, then I’ll believe it.’
I’m resting when someone bursts open the door.
‘Don’t people knock around here?’
It was Rena.
“My sister woke up. She said she feels much better after eating that mysterious food you gave her. I came to tell you thank you.”
“Yes. Well. That’s good.”
‘Why is she just standing there instead of leaving? It’s not like there’s more to talk about.’
“Have you had dinner? I don’t see anything here.”
“Yes, well, I caught and ate some fish at the lake.”
…...
‘Why is she still standing there when there’s nothing more to say?’
“Ah, by the way, how old do I look?”
“Huh?”
“Just because. Do I look about Radek’s age, perhaps?”
“Hahaha, what a joke. You look about the same age as those who were conscripted this time, or even younger. Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no, nothing.”
‘So it’s certain that I’ve gotten younger. As long as I don’t wake up from a dream tomorrow, I’ve really become young. But why isn’t she leaving? I want to think alone, wait, fuck, why is she taking off her clothes!’
“This is all I have to repay you with.”
“No. Please don’t. You don’t have to do this. Just put your clothes back on. I didn’t do this expecting this kind of thing.”
“No. Please let me repay you.”
“Hah… fuck… I said no! Put your clothes on first. You don’t have to do this, so please, get dressed and let’s talk.”
“It’s really okay.”
“I said no! Hurry up and get dressed. I didn’t do it expecting repayment, and you don’t have to repay me, so just put your clothes on and leave. I want to be alone.”
‘Fuck, that’s disgusting. She’s ugly. I have standards too, you know.’
“Yes, then I’ll definitely repay you next time.”
“Since you don’t have to repay me, let me ask you something.”
After asking this and that, it turns out they really are people who have been living like this from the beginning.
‘Ha… this is suffocating.’
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Yes, be careful on your way back.”
I send Rena off and sit down to rest, when I immediately hear Rena scream. Wondering why, I open the door and see her trembling in fear, looking at something—a huge wild boar staring back.
‘Did it come because of the fish guts I threw away earlier?’
“Ms. Rena, don’t move. Slowly back away, go inside, and close the door.”
As if telling her that would help. Ha… Rena turns and bolts. The boar charges at Rena, and just before impact, I unconsciously grab the spear by the door and throw it at the running boar.
No one noticed the brief flash of light on the hand that threw the spear.
The spear flew fast and pierced cleanly through the side of the boar’s face. The boar collapsed on its side and lay motionless, apparently dead.
“Hah… hah… hah…”
I feel all the strength drain from my body.
Rena sits down, trembling violently. The villagers stare in surprise, then approach to check if the boar is dead.
“What about this boar?”
“Huh? What should I do?”
“You caught it, so isn’t it yours?”
“Ah. Well, even if I take it, there’s nothing I can do. How do you process something like this? Could you please process it for me?”
“Would that be alright?”
“Yes, I’d be grateful if you did.”
“Then we’ll need to move this a bit. Will you help?”
We move the boar to the empty house next door and skillfully butcher it. This house seems to have belonged to someone who does this kind of work, as it’s set up to hang meat… ha… but the knife doesn’t seem to cut well.
“Just a moment.”
I go home and bring back my multi-tool knife to hand to him.
“Try using this.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a knife. It cut well when I was slicing fish earlier. Try it.”
Is it because it’s a knife with various things attached? He stares at it for a moment, then tries it. Even from the side, I can tell it cuts much better than before.
The person butchering the boar is called Marek. He used to work professionally processing leather, then came here with Radek and founded this village.
While he works, Radek and another person come, start a fire, and bring the pot that had contained that stew from earlier, which doesn’t look like it was properly washed.
They say the organs spoil quickly, so they should eat them first. Before I know it, several people have gathered nearby.
The house is too small for everyone to fit inside, so some go in and out of the next house.
‘I heard they were conscripted, but except for three of them, they’re all women and children. It was dark so I couldn’t see properly, but they’re all really ugly.’
As we eat, I let everyone know that I caught it, and when they all thank me, I feel somewhat moved and proud.
‘I should go in and sleep now. If I’m still here after waking up, then this is reality. I need to sleep.’
In the end, I couldn’t sleep a wink. These goddamn fleas.
‘I took this place too lightly. I thought I could just fall asleep because I was tired. First, I need to do something about these. Anyway, it really is reality in the end.’
Accepting it as reality, I decide to sort out the immediate inconveniences one by one.
First, since sleeping is urgent, I deal with the fleas. I break off some pine branches, burn the needles to disinfect the house, and cut the stems to fill the gaps between the walls.
‘If it smells of pine resin, the fleas probably won’t come back in. A bit of pine resin smell is better than this—I really can’t stand the fleas.’
The drinking water is iffy too, so I take the pine branches I gathered and cut them to suitable lengths, use a corkscrew to hollow them out, scorch them well over the fire, fill them with water, and then drop in heated stones to boil it.
‘If I put some pine needles in here, that’s pine needle tea. What’s so special about it?’
I roughly fill my stomach with boar meat and fish.
I lie down hoping to finally get some sleep today, when again the door bursts open.
‘Ah, fuck, knock already!’
“Hello. I’m Anya.”
‘Who the hell is this one now?’
“Yes. Hello. We saw each other yesterday, right?”
She approaches me while speaking.
“You must be really strong. I heard you caught a wild boar by yourself? My, how dependable.”
As she says this, she tries to naturally sit on my bed, so I quickly stand up. Then I naturally go to check the fire.
‘Why is she acting like this too.’
“I heard you sent Rena away just like that yesterday? Hoho, Rena doesn’t have much charm as a woman, does she? Am I wrong?”
As she says this, she tries to take off her clothes.
‘Ha, seriously, why are they all doing this to me.’
“Stop!!! I don’t want that, so just go back.”
“Huh?”
“I’m telling you to go back. Don’t bother.”
‘You and her are all the same. Both are fucking ugly and dirty.’
“I didn’t catch the boar expecting this kind of repayment. Just put your clothes on and go back.”
‘Ha… I’m tired.’
The woman leaves. I stoke the fire appropriately and fall asleep.
‘Ah, I finally got some proper sleep.’
I eat a rough breakfast (I put various grains in the washed pot, so at least the stew was edible.) and think about what to do today.
Having come to this unknown world, I think the greatest welfare modern people enjoy might be washing and taking shits.
After breakfast, nature calls, so I ask Rena where the bathroom is.
“???”
‘Don’t tell me they don’t even have the concept of a bathroom?’
When I say I need to take a dump, I hear a shocking story. You grab some straw, go into the woods, do your business, and come out…
‘No, fuck, these people don’t even wash their hands.’
Saying I’m going to get wood, I head into the forest by the lakeside to do my business and come back. At least I wash my hands in the running water.
At Radek’s suggestion, I decide to repair the wooden fence surrounding the village. Since the boar came, and there are footprints from what might be a fox or a wild dog from last night, it seems reinforcements are necessary.
I cut trees with the saw in my bag and drag them to where reinforcement is needed. Then the others strengthen it. Every time I bring back wood, the gazes of the women looking at me are unusual.
‘No matter how starved I am, I’m not falling for your schemes, so stop staring at me.’
For dinner, I catch fish at the lake. Strangely, fishing is good here. If I cast with a grub on the hook, something bites soon. No need for a bobber or a lure.
At night, as if they’d made a bet on who would seduce me, another woman comes in and takes her clothes off immediately. Again, I politely tell her to leave.
‘I don’t even have the energy to say anything.’
Two washed sweet potatoes inside my bag. Actually, on the first day, I thought of roasting and eating them, but that was before I resigned myself to staying here, so I was going to give them to my nephew.
Now, since there seems to be nothing to eat here, I should hold onto them in case I end up staying long-term.
If things go wrong, I should try planting them. I don’t know if they’ll sprout since they’re washed, but I can just roast and eat them then.
After living like this for a few days and getting somewhat used to it, Radek asks. He says he’s going to take the boar hide from the other day to Novar Village to sell and get some necessary things, asking if I want to go together.