Easy Survival Life Chapter 113. Recovering the Traps placed in the River

 

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「 It’s been a while since the two of us worked together 」

「 Right. I think it’s about a month already 」

「 Might be longer. Hokage-kun never invites me after all 」

「 That wasn’t my intention. I mean, you’re calling me “Hokage-kun” today, huh 」

「 I just feel like it 」

Shiori and I were working together in the morning

Unlike the others, she’s the only one who had nothing to do.

And so, I asked her to help me out.

I carry a bamboo basket while Shiori carries an earthenware bucket.

It’s the morning routine.

Check the traps in the fields, ride paddies, and rivers.

We have two types of traps set in the river.

「 This was the first trap we set up but still, it’s competent 」

We started with the shrimp trap

It’s a wooden box that looks like a mouth of a plastic bottle turned upside down and pointed inwards.

I made mine by treating wood, but in Japan, they often use plastic bottles.

It’s an easy trap to lure them to a dead end.

We had several of these traps set up.

「 There, looking good today as well 」

After retrieving the crate and checking inside, I find several freshwater prawns.

This time, a stream crab is hanging on the hook.

「 Here, Hokage-kun 」

Shiori points at her bucket.

She’s drawing water from the river to the bucket.

She’s smart.

「 Oh, thanks 」

I transfer the shrimp from the crate to the bucket.

Then, I put back the crate into the river.

But, I changed my mind and threw it into my bamboo basket instead.

「 What’s wrong? 」

「 It’s getting cold, so I thought it’s time to collect the traps 」

Cold temperatures on this island are still milder compared to Japan.

Even now, it’s the end of November but we’re not having problems with just two to three pieces of breathable clothing.

Still, it’s steadily cooling down.

In such situations, it’s hard to keep retrieving the river traps.

We already have enough food stockpiled.

In addition, shrimps don’t stock for too long.

If so, we should pull it back until winter is over.

「 Can’t we just leave it set up there? 」

Shiori continues after speaking out her doubt.

「 You still have a few days to check on the traps every now and then, right? 」

「 Yes 」

「 I don’t think it’ll cause any problems even if we leave it set up there. If we accumulate them for a week or so, we can catch more, right? If it’s just once a week, it would be a lot less work than now 」

「 Unfortunately, that’s not possible 」

「 Why? 」

「 Most of the prey caught inside would be dead if you leave it for a week. You can’t eat dead prey because of sanitary risks, they already lost their freshness. We still rule out the dead ones 」

「 Oh, you’re right 」

「 Leaving traps unattended is the same as killing them for no purpose. It’s just good manners to collect them when they’re no longer needed. Although there’s no need to have manners on this island, it’s fine to leave things alone, but why go through the trouble of reducing our food supply by leaving things that we can just recover? 」

Shiori nods.

She seems convinced by my explanation.

「 Besides, it’s about time this gets worn out. I just thought that now was the right time 」

The crate was slimy all over

If this was in Japan, then it would be on the same level where women would be disgusted already.

The crate is already discolored, no longer looking artificial but rather natural.

After recovering, I’ll tear it down.

「 This is the last one 」

I finished collecting the shrimp traps while talking.

The results were excellent, we have a ton of shrimp swimming in the bucket.

It’s great that the mountain stream is healthy.

「 Should grab the Fish traps too 」

「 Eri? Futagawa-san? 」

Shiori throws a joke.

Unlike the first time, I know that it’s a joke.

That’s why I grinned at her.

「 The trap one. Not our Eri 」

Even so, I answered kindly.

Shiori laughed in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, we’ve arrived near the traps.

This is another one of the traps we set up in the river.

「 How do you disable these? Unlike the crates, these ones seem like pain 」

Well, it’s a maze set up on the river.

It takes advantage of the fish’s habit of following when something bumps into it.

Naturally, they’re much larger in scale than the crates for shrimps.

You can’t pull it up the river and retrieve them like the crate.

I didn’t plan to do that either.

That’s why I said, we’re disabling it.

「 It’s very easy to disable it. You just do this 」

The entrance to the trap is a vertically oriented net.

I moved and turned it to the side, blocking the entrance.

「 Now the fishes won’t jump into the trap 」

「 Oh! 」

Shiori’s impressed.

It’s so easy to disable it, she thought.

「 That’s what this trap is about. Constricting it is tedious, but once that’s done, the rest is easy. If you want it to catch again, just put back the net upside 」

「 So convenient 」

「 Indeed. Then, let’s collect the fish caught in the trap 」

「 Eh, Futagawa Eri? 」

「 No 」

Shiori denied it even before I finished.

She seem to like that joke, so she laughed again.

「 Geez, what’s so fun about that 」

Even so, I got lured in and laughed as well.

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