WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 197: Breed (4)
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First sparrows, then moles. Farming really was hard. It was also infuriating.
Ludwig must have felt the same way, because the moment the sweet potatoes were stolen, he set out to find the mole.
The first method he tried was planting sweet potato seeds, then grabbing the mole with his bare hands when it showed up.
I asked why he didn't just stab it with his sword, but he said that would be difficult.
It was incredibly fast, and since he couldn't use mana either, he seemed to think his hands would work better.
SQUEEEZE!
“Aaaagh!”
“Are you insane?!”
Amazingly, Ludwig did manage to grab the mole with his bare hands.
The problem was that the mole was so strong, it nearly dragged Ludwig underground.
He somehow got free, but he wasn't unharmed.
Dangle-
“......”
“......”
Judging by the way his arm hung, his shoulder had been dislocated.
Still, he must have experienced it before, because he popped it back in right away. I gave him an Elixir just in case.
Let's not pick fights with moles from now on. It'd be better to think of another countermeasure.
[Post title] Title) Don't Mess with Moles, Guys... Ludwig's Arm Got Yanked Out of Its Socket
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of the mole's handiwork)
[Post] (Photo of Ludwig's dejected back)
[Post] After the sparrows cleaned us out, we switched to hardy staple crops... Then the moles immediately cleaned those out too, and they cleaned me right out of my wits.
[Post] So this guy got pissed and tried to catch a mole bare-handed.
[Post] It grabbed his arm in an instant and tried to drag him underground with it...
[Post] I freaked out and pulled it off him, but his shoulder got dislocated. It was a whole mess.
[Post] At least sparrows are out in the open, but these bastard moles stay underground, so they're hard to catch...
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Were you hurt?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'm fine.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: If that guy's arm got pulled out of its socket, it must have yanked really hard... That's terrifying.
└ First sparrows, now moles lol. They're telling you not to farm.
└ Grylls, just buy bread from the Auction House and eat that lol.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Hey. Come to think of it, what happened to my wheat? Couldn't harvest it?
└ [Wild Grylls]: ? You said barley earlier. Why'd you change your mind?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: I realized I can make it with wheat too. Can you give me some?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I can. I'll give you some later.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: thx thx
└ Looks like booze matters more to this bastard than Grylls lol.
└ Alcohol-crazed dwarf bastard lol.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: He always says he's hurt, but he survives just fine. I need alcohol to live.
└ [Wild Grylls]: (Photo of severe scars) What the fuck?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: I probably shouldn't say that, right?
└ That switch-up was instant lol.
└ These two are fucking hilarious whenever they talk lol.
└ [GrowGrow]: Moles are... troublesome. You'll have to identify their tunnels and catch them yourself.
└ [Wild Grylls]: There aren't any machines or medicine for it?
└ [GrowGrow]: There is medicine, but it could affect Wonmo too.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Tch... Understood.
In the end, we had no choice but to put off catching the mole.
That didn't mean I could offer the mole crops like I did the sparrows.
At least the sparrows had boldly plundered us through “force,” but the mole had stolen from us like a petty thief.
With the former, I could grit my teeth and plan my revenge.
The latter just meant it saw me as an easy mark. I had to stop it somehow.
“Mister.”
“...?”
“This ground. Let's turn all of it over.”
Without a trap, catching the mole was impossible.
So we had to dig up the entire area and build brick walls all the way around the outside.
No matter how well a mole could dig, it shouldn't be able to break through solid stone.
If it broke through that too, we'd have to come up with something else.
Anyway, what did that mean? Manual labor time.
Thunk! Thunk!
“Ugh. My back.”
“#%%#”
I didn't know how many times I'd used a shovel today. My back was starting to hurt.
Ludwig frowned too, so his back must have hurt just as much.
He usually had a stoic expression, so seeing him struggle like that said a lot.
‘Still, I can't give up.’
If you can't avoid it, enjoy it... No, if you can't avoid it, you have to face it.
I'd enjoy things if I could. But this wasn't civilization. This was the wild.
The moment I let my guard down, I could lose my life. All I could do was stay prepared.
After that, we dug deep and built walls around the entire outer boundary with bricks.
Just in case, we built them in two overlapping layers. There was no way it could break through.
Once everything was ready, I planted sweet potato seeds again.
Swoooosh!
Before long, sweet potato vines began to grow.
Scrraape!
I could clearly hear the mole scratching at the bricks beneath the ground.
It was strange how both the sparrows and moles noticed the crops the moment they grew.
Maybe they had some sort of sensor, or maybe it was because the crops had been brought in from outside.
Either way, I confirmed the mole couldn't break through the bricks, so all that remained was harvesting.
Thrust!
First, though, I had to catch this damned mole.
I approached where the sound was coming from and stabbed Heavenly Demon’s Sword into the ground.
Whenever I didn't feel the sensation of piercing flesh, I stabbed several more times.
Stab!
Before long, the feeling of piercing flesh traveled up through the hilt into my hand.
At the same time, the sound of the mole digging at the bricks stopped completely.
It must have been so focused on digging through the bricks that it didn't even notice me stabbing my sword into the ground.
‘Let's see your ugly mug.’
I grabbed a shovel and started digging. I wanted to see what this mole looked like.
Ludwig must have felt the same way, because instead of asking questions, he picked up a shovel and helped.
“...Is this really a mole?”
“......”
When we dug out the mole that had died underground, its size was terrifying.
Normal moles were about the size of two fists put together, as far as I knew. This was nothing like that.
It was about the size of a medium-sized dog. Similar to the Golden Frog I caught at the beginning.
What had it been eating to get so big? First, I needed an ID photo.
“Please hold this.”
I handed the giant mole to Ludwig and took a picture.
Ludwig struck a pose for the photo and gave me a thumbs-up.
[Post title] Title) Caught a Mole
[Author] Wild Gryllji
[Post] (Photo of Ludwig holding a giant mole and giving a thumbs-up)
[Post] Are moles normally that big?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: How big are moles normally?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: As far as I know, they're very small. That thing is abnormal.
└ What kind of mole is as big as a human torso lol.
└ Thinking about that thing tearing through the ground is terrifying lol.
└ Feels like Grylls' posts have turned into a farmer's diary at some point lol.
└ Then what is Ludwig?
└ A serf?
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Ludwig is not a serf!
└ The Head Mod is losing it lol.
└ Head Mod, what have you been doing lately?
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: I'm heading to El Dorado's capital right now! I feel like something's about to happen!
└ Isn't El Dorado's capital dangerous right now?
└ Yeah, holy knights are roaming around everywhere. It's serious.
└ Didn't they say some people got dragged off?
└ It's probably best not to go if you can help it.
Now that the pest was dead, it was time to harvest the sweet potatoes.
The mole... Well, Wonmo would probably eat it just fine.
There could be parasites or something, so I should give him an Elixir too.
“Okay. One, two!”
Swoooosh!
When I pulled up the sweet potato vines, enormous sweet potatoes came tumbling out.
Would you believe each sweet potato was as big as my forearm?
There was no such thing as a better harvest. I probably wouldn't have to worry about food for a while.
‘I need to eat all of them before winter comes.’
GrowGrow had warned me. Sweet potatoes were extremely vulnerable to cold.
Unlike potatoes, they couldn't withstand the cold and often rotted. That remained true even after harvest.
I had to eat them all before winter, or right as winter began.
‘I should roast a few.’
There was nothing quite like roasted sweet potatoes in winter.
There was a fireplace in the cave too, so it should be easy.
I brushed the dirt off the sweet potatoes and stored them in sacks.
I wanted to plant something else, but I was too exhausted.
“I'm done.”
“You're done? Then help me out.”
“I want to rest.”
“Are you going to keep talking back?”
“You bastard. You're a real bastard.”
Still, work needed to be done. I built the ceiling with the lumber Kkobong had made.
It wasn't enough to just set the lumber in place. I had to hammer it down too.
There was a reason the dwarf said it was difficult work. Still, I had to do it.
‘At least the Auction House has plenty of nails.’
Surprisingly, nails were incredibly expensive.
It was probably because factories hadn't been introduced, so everything had to be made by hand.
I had plenty of money, though, so I could buy enough nails.
I'd have liked to make nails myself too... But there wasn't enough time.
‘Come to think of it, didn't the dwarf say that if I wanted to forge a sword by hand, I should start by making nails?’
Let's put that aside. Building the ceiling and roof came first.
Ludwig, Kkobong, even Largo. Everyone helped.
You might wonder how Largo, a giraffe, could help.
“Largo. Can you pass me that lumber?”
“Kuung.”
Surprisingly, Largo was a huge help. Largo acted as a natural crane.
Largo was strong enough to manage it.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
I hammered everything firmly into place, then stacked more lumber, over and over again.
If the ceiling collapsed, it would be a disaster, so I made sure it was sturdy.
The same went for the roof. I had no idea building one at an angle would be this difficult.
“It's done!”
I was glad I wasn't alone. I couldn't hide my satisfaction as I looked at the completed house.
Honestly, it was just a square, so it didn't look particularly good.
But who cared about design in the wild? Practicality was all that mattered.
“Do you like it?”
“Ooh! Nice!”
“Kuung.”
After laying down mats on the floor, both Kkobong and Largo seemed happy.
I taught Kkobong how to use the fireplace in preparation for winter.
Kkobong knew how frightening winter was, so they listened closely to my explanation.
“Come to think of it, how did you survive winter? You can't even make a fire.”
“I just endured it.”
“Uh... okay.”
Kkobong wasn't low-key tough. Kkobong was just plain tough. Otherwise, Kkobong would've died a long time ago.
Still, Kkobong could spend warm winters from now on.
After thoroughly checking for defects, I went outside.
Maybe because I'd worked all day, evening was already approaching.
[Wild Grylls]: Here's the wheat I harvested today. By any chance, can you give me some cooking oil?
[Passing Dwarf]: Sure. What are you planning to make with it?
[Wild Grylls]: Yeah. And if you give me barley seeds, I'll harvest them right away and give them to you.
[Passing Dwarf]: k
I traded with the dwarf in the meantime. I was going to give him wheat, along with barley.
In return, I received cooking oil from him. There was something I wanted to make with it.
“Mister. Please peel the sweet potatoes. I need to cook Wonmo's food.”
“#%#%”
I asked Ludwig to peel the sweet potatoes.
While he did that, I fed the animal friends and started preparing the meal too.
Since we'd harvested sweet potatoes today, I was planning to eat something special.
‘Honey should work as a substitute, right?’
Candied sweet potatoes. Since I didn't have sugar, I used honey instead.
First, I cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized pieces and dried them thoroughly.
Then I fried them in the oil I got from the dwarf.
Once they looked nicely golden, I took them out and cleaned the pan.
Normally, I would add rice syrup or sugar and heat it, but I used honey instead.
‘As long as it's sweet, it should be fine, right?’
One reason cooking went wrong was changing recipes however you pleased, but the flavors were similar enough. It should be okay.
And so, after coating the sweet potatoes in honey, the Forest of Four Seasons version of candied sweet potatoes was complete.
“Let's eat.”
“#@%”
Candied sweet potatoes alone would get tiresome, so I prepared fish too.
We weren't just eating a main dish anymore. Now we had side dishes as well.
I wanted to harvest rice too, but that could wait.
“Tasty, right?”
Ludwig nodded at my question.
Maybe because the candied sweet potatoes used Forest of Four Seasons honey, his chopsticks moved at an absurd speed.
He might eat it all, so I didn't stop moving my chopsticks either.
“Wonmo, eat this.”
“Kyuoo!”
“Kkobong and Largo, you eat too.”
“Ooh!”
I fed the animal friends candied sweet potatoes from time to time. Then...
“Kyuahhh!”
“One more! One more!”
“Kuoooo!”
“You little bastards! This is our food! Get lost!”
War broke out.
Today, I learned what happened when sweetness was combined with more sweetness.
I should probably avoid making candied sweet potatoes whenever possible.
Someone once said that if you couldn't avoid something, you should enjoy it.
“Hey, human! Don't secretly eat by yourself. Come help!”
“......”
There was no way I could enjoy this.
Footnotes:
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