Locusts may look like grasshoppers.
However, grasshoppers don’t make a plague.
It’s an infestation caused by locusts.
I didn’t think about locusts when I was building the paddy fields.
It had to do with the nature of the island, along with the fact that I’m Japanese.
Locust infestations are rare in Japan.
And for a Japanese person, I’m not familiar with it.
I knew only a bit about it.
Also, this island only has a few pests.
The insects I saw were useful.
So, I thought that we don’t have any pests that’ll attack us.
This locust infestation is completely unexpected.
Even if I’m aware of that, we don’t have any particular countermeasure.
Just pray that it doesn’t happen.
「What do we do?! Hokage?!」
Mana shouts.
「Hey! Hey! Don’t just watch!」says Arisa
「Hokage-kun」
Eri’s about to cry.
「No, I don’t intend to stay quiet」
I shook my head.
「Do we have a way to deal with them?」
Amane asks, and I replied “we do” immediately.
「I don’t know if it’ll work, but we’re making pesticides」
「「「「「 Pesticides? 」」」」」
They’re all surprised.
「Can you even make something that scientifically advanced?」
「It’s nothing compared to the current day pesticides」
Sofia asks, “will it have a negative influence on our crops?”
「That should be okay. No matter how much we spray, it won’t affect the crops」
I told everyone that we were making it and returned to the hideout.
◇
It’s simple to make a pesticide.
First, prepare the usual, crushed shell powder.
Then, you mix it with water and it’s done.
「Huh? This is a pesticide?」
Shiori’s eyes are blinking.
「It’s used as fertilizer and pesticide. It’s not that effective as a pesticide, however. If we can keep them out, then we’ll be happy」
We mixed our stockpile of dust with water.
「We’re going to collect some shells again」
「That’s right, but Arisa’s not collecting, right?」
「Nahaha」
The resulting pesticide is put in a large bucket.
Since there are two buckets, we split them up and carry them to the fields.
Batabatabata!
Batabatabata!
Batabatabata!
The noise of the locust wings gets louder and even more unpleasant when you get closer.
Also, I’m afraid that it might just approach us.
The girls who are bad with insects are backing away in fear.
「We’re spraying this out! Let’s split up and spread it all!」
Once the bucket is near the field, we can begin spraying.
We scoop the pesticide with our bowls and scatter them.
「Rita, sprinkle this around with everyone
「「「「Uki!」」」」
The monkey army also joined the spraying operation.
Their small hands scoop and spray.
Then, Rita had a good idea.
They took out the wooden dishes they made to imitate our livelihood.
They scoop the pesticide with their little bowl and spread it around as we did.
Batabatabata!
Batabatabata!
Batabatabata!
The locusts are maintaining their momentum.
However, the pesticide should be showing its results.
Now they’re just bouncing around the place instead of tearing up the fields.
They’re no longer eating the crops.
「Get lost! Bastards! Disappear!」
「Leave our crops out of your freaking mouth!」
「Uki!!」
The locust infestation has afflicted foreign countries in the past.
And we’re desperately fighting, fighting, fighting against them, and then.
「Hokage, the locusts are running away」
「We did it! We won!!」
We succeeded in protecting our crops.
We fought off the swarm of locusts trying to devour our crops.
「Don’t come again!」
Arisa shouts to the swarm of locusts.
◇
We managed to overcome the locust plague.
That said, we’re not just going to say “Good job” and rest for the day.
「Mana, lead the monkeys to collect shells. Kageyama and Yoshiokada, and Tanaka, do the same」
「「「「Roger!」」」」
We’re preparing for the next infestation.
We’re replenishing our shells, checking the fields, and looking for their habitat.
Then, we can breathe a sigh of relief.
「Okay, the pesticide worked」
The situation in the fields was minor compared to what’s expected.
They laid waste, but that’s within the margin of error.
The ducks are doing well, and there are no problems worth mentioning.
「What’s left is to check the source of the locusts」
They should have their eggs lurking somewhere.
We need to find and eradicate them to prevent future locust problems.
Karin and I split up to check the area.
But…
「Not here」
「Can’t find them here either」
Can’t find any traces of locusts.
We dig the soil and found no eggs, nor any larvae crawling around.
We try to expand our scope but in the end, we didn’t find them.
「What’s going on?」
「They could’ve flown from the sea」
I mean, I can’t think of anything else.
I don’t even know if migratory locusts can cross the ocean.
However, seeing what’s going on, that’s the only possibility we can find.
「Then, we can’t do anything?」
「Right. We can’t block an invasion from the sea」
They’re growing beyond our reach.
If that’s the case, we can’t do anything.
All we can do is pray that there will be no more locust plague.
「This is irritating」
Let’s be happy that we’re able to minimize the damage this time.
We ended our 101st day of activities.