When talking about Japan’s earthenware, then the straw rope pattern ancient Japanese pottery would be the famous one.
The stuff from the Jomon era all have an artistic look.
The earthenware I’m about to me will have the same manufacturing method as that.
However, I won’t fuss about the appearance. I’ll keep it simple.
It’s simple to make.
All you need is clay and sand.
You mix clay and sand, knead it and dry it on air.
Next, you place it on a flat stone surface and form a bowl shape.
Once the shape is ready, burn it using an open fire and it’s done.
Clay is an important part of this process.
Fortunately, I found some good quality clay around the cave.
Although, it’s not me who’s harvesting clay but Arisa.
「 Hokage, is this enough clay? 」
「 Yeah, looking good. I’m done here too 」
I made a rod for her to use on fishing.
I made it from bamboo using my survival knife and installed a thread too.
Then, I attached a fish hook on the tip and it’s done.
「 Even so, Arisa, are you okay putting all that dirt in your bag? 」
「 No problem! I can just wash it on the river later 」
「 Haha, that’s brave of you 」
Arisa put the clay on her bag.
Everything inside the bag was unnecessary and so she left it on the cave.
That’s why her bag is now covered with clay.
「 Putting that aside! I’m going fishing! 」
Arisa puts the bag on my side and takes the rod I made.
And of all things she could do, she swings the rod on the river right in front of us.
She just tossed it to the river without attaching any bait at all.
Naturally, the swimming fishes ignored it.
「 Huh? In games, they bite right away 」
「 You need to put in a bait first. You can’t catch a fish if there’s no bait 」
「 What do you mean by bait? 」
「 This 」
I assumed that Arisa will ask for some bait.
Therefore, I prepared some of them before making the rod.
The bait is…
「 Ugh, earthworms?! 」
「 Yep 」
It’s undoubtedly earthworms.
I caught some of the earthworms creeping on the damp areas and gathered them up.
I dug out a hole on the side by hand and the earthworms are all crawling there.
I gathered various sizes of them and sometimes, I agree that they’re gross.
「 Here, take the fish hook and stick the earthworm there 」
「 Ugh 」
Arisa wants to catch fish but doesn’t want to touch earthworms.
That said, she can’t catch a fish unless she uses a bait.
It’s already a primitive method of fishing though.
「 Want to swap jobs? 」
「 No, I’ll do it! I’ll catch a fish! 」
Arisa still wants to continue fishing even though she shows reluctance towards earthworms.
She got used to it right away and she’s now touching the earthworm.
「 Oooh, go for it 」
Arisa strives to lure some fish while I begin making earthenware.
I have experience in making earthenware and so I have had the knack of it in my head.
I’m still slow when it comes to making it but I don’t feel like I’m going to fail.
「 Somehow, it seems fun to make earthenware too 」
「 Want to swap? 」
「 No, I’ll catch at least one 」
「 I hope you do 」
「 I will! 」
「 Then, you need to refill your bait, it’s already eaten 」
「 Huh?! Ah! You’re right! Geez! They took it away again! 」
The earthworms I gathered are diminishing.
However, there was no change in the amount of fish she caught.
A few hours have passed and noon approaches.
「 Good, what’s left is for me to burn this stuff 」
I’m reaching the final stage of my earthenware work.
What’s left is to make an open fire and bake the earthenware and I’m done.
This time, I’m going to make fire without using my lighter.
「 Ah! I’ve seen that before! 」
Arisa watches me start a fire and said.
「 It’s called the drill spin method. It’s one of the basics in survival 」
Using a drill means plugging a rod on board and spinning it with both hands.
Using friction to generate heat, skilled people can make a fire in an instant.
I’m not that good so it took me ten minutes.
My arms are numb now but, oh well, this is how it is for first-timers.
「 Wow!!!!!! Hokage, you really lit a fire like a primitive man! 」
「 Drilling method? Besides, why call it primitive? 」
Arisa’s naming sense is weird.
「 Putting that aside, Arisa, how’s fishing? 」
「 No catch at all! Fishing is boring if you can’t catch one? 」
「 You say that but…wait, I think you have a bite? 」
「 Huh?! No way?! A bite! 」
A fish got caught in Arisa’s fishing rod.
I don’t know what kind of fish it is but it sure is hooked.
Something’s caught in the hook and so the rod is bending.
「 Hokage! What do I do?! It bit! Something bit the hook! 」
Arisa’s confused for some reason.
「 You have to pull the rod. We don’t have a reel like those in the modern era 」
「 Got it! Pull! Pull! 」
Arisa pulls the rod with her best.
The fish that sensed it’s getting pulled tries to escape in the opposite direction!
「 Hey! You’re stubborn! 」
「 Let me support you! 」
I reached out to the rod from Arisa’s behind.
「 Hey! You’re hugging me! 」
I didn’t notice until she said that.
If you look at my support objectively, there’s no other way to say it but I’m hugging her.
「 Ah, sorry! 」
I let go in a hurry.
「 Wait! No! Help me! Help me out here! Oh no! It’s escaping! 」
「 But, if I help you out I’m going to hug you 」
She’ll complain even if I assist her.
No option is correct.
「 Don’t mind it just help me out! I’ll let you sexually harass me for now! 」
「 It’s not sexual harassment though. But sure, I’ll help you out 」
I accept Arisa’s appeal and assisted her.
The two of us pull out the fish to the ground.
「 What’s this fish?! I don’t know this!? Did we discover a new species? 」
「 No matter how you look at it, it’s a char 」
The fish we caught is a Char. It has distinctive yellow spots on the side.
When this fish gets too big then the quality of the taste goes down.
This time, the one we caught is a big large and it should be delicious.
「 Can we eat this? Looks like it would taste bad 」
「 Char tastes delicious. It’s a staple to eat this grilled with salt 」
「 Ooooh! Let’s grill this in salt right now! Fishes are best when they’re fresh! 」
「 I agree that they’re best when fresh, but don’t get too ahead. Let’s go back to the cave first. It’s about lunchtime anyway. Although, we don’t have salt so we’ll have to do with curry powder instead, hope you’re okay with that 」
「 Anything will do! Let’s go! 」
Arisa smiles as she looks at the wriggling Char.
「 Now I’m no longer bald, right? Yay! 」
「 No catch. Not bald. No catch1 」
「 As long as you get it 」
As expected of someone who gets carried away easily.
I sighed, saying “Oh well,” and smiled.
「 Thanks, Hokage. For helping me out 」
「 You don’t need to thank me, it’s for my sake too 」
「 You should just say “You’re welcome” on that part 」
「 You’re welcome 」
「 Good! 」
Arisa walks cheerfully.
I checked on the state of the earthenware before following her.
It’s doing well. Looking good.
There’s no point in waiting so I should leave it alone.
After confirming that there’s no problem, I followed Arisa.
I’m carrying Arisa and my bag on my shoulders.
Arisa’s bag is still dirty. Let’s wash this later.
「 When you hugged me, I felt my heart tighten 」
「 Call it help, not sexual harassment 」
「 I just thought that it might be okay if it’s Hokage who sexually harasses me 」
「 Is that a line coming from the one who falsely charged me with a failed rape attempt? 」
「 Well, I got times like that 」
「 I don’t get it 」
Arisa laughed.
「 Who knows when but we might have a day where we return to reality, right? If that happens, let’s go on a date. I mean it as an apology for this morning 」
「 Date? That’s very normie 」
「 That’s right. Let’s become normies together. You like it? 」
「 I’ll think about it 」
「 Yay~ 」
I don’t get how we got to that conversation but we returned to the cave.
- It’s a Japanese Pun ↩