The Black Iron Glory
Camped
Chapter 29
Camped
Putting a net down is not easy. Eriksson's net that was brought to the ship was intended to be used for a long-distance vessel belonging to his family, the Red Sea Shark, in the deep ocean. The reason it was put in a warehouse was so that it could be repaired in the first place. The net is the most vulnerable to damage among all other tools in the sea. They can be torn by rocks, watered or blown away by the wind and waves or even pierced by large fish.
In an age without acrylic or plastic, most nets are made of hemp or leather and some better ones will use animal ligaments in them. There are also some made from horse hair or human hair that is rolled into thread before being covered with fish glue and left to dry. After that, they would be sewn into nets. The fishing rod is also made of the same material.
The fishing nets used in the sea were usually over ten meters tall, and belonged to the Eriksson family had been torn in the sea. The undamaged part is only about six meters, but about 3 meters. Width 7 meters. In other words, it could only be used in waters with a depth of about four meters. The depth of the river bay, just a little over two meters, greatly shocked them.
Seeing half of the net hovering above the water, Eriksson had no choice but to ask them to pull the net back. They then sailed the boat towards the center of the lake while looking for water deep enough to throw a net. Whether they will be a catch, they let fate. Ultimately, the mesh was meant to be used at sea. The holes between the nets are larger, but the fish in the lake can be smaller than those in the sea and may pass through the holes. It was something that only occurred to them after they dropped the net.
Round the difficulty to sail back to the small waterway saw the night approaching. The sky is dark. They docked the ship, anchored it, and tied it to a mulberry tree whose trunk was about as wide as a bowl, near the shore. The four of them hurriedly lowered their luggage to set up camp as quickly as possible so that the sky would not darken before they could finish.
Eriksson was the one who called the shots on board. But on land, it was Welikro's turn. He often went hunting with his father and was the most experienced of the four when it came to camping.
"Here" said Welikro. He found a location that was about 20 meters away from a small waterway. However, it was roughly seven to eight meters higher than the surface of the water. They were on a piece of land on a hill where a lot of grass and shrubs grew.
"Let's mow this bush and grass first. After cleaning this place up a bit, we can start setting up the tent. Wait, Boa, don't go!" raung Welikro suddenly.
Borkal turned around with a questioning expression on his face. "Don't you say to mow the lawn?"
"Use this stick to wander the bush and grass first."
"That sounds excessive. Can't we just cut it?" However, he did not think that after knocking on the grass and bushes with a cane for a while, he heard the rustling sounds of four-legged lizards, red-eyed spiders, scorpions, scorpions, the grasshopper and other small creatures escaped from within, much to his surprise.
"Ah, there was even a green snake ..." Borkal finally understood why Welikro asked him not to mow the grass directly. If he was more careless, he would have already been bitten. If the snake was not venomous, then it would only hurt a little. But if that happened, he would have to use a bottle of poison antidote.
"Why don't we just use fire to clean up this land? Isn't that faster and dries the soil?" ask Claude.
Welikro shook his head. "We can't burn it. There is a lot of moisture in these bushes and grasses and they will not burn unless we use fuel. But we're just carrying a little bottle of lamp oil with us."
Even so, the four of them did not need too much time to clear that space. They do not need more than half an hour to empty the bushes and grass from the area.
"Boa, sort the bushes a little. We'll use it to make a bonfire tonight. Don't let it look too green. If the water content is too high, all we will get when we burn it is smoke, Eyke, remove the lime powder and sulfur out. Spread the lime powder on the ground and apply sulfur around our campground. That will prevent poisonous insects from getting close. Claude, take the axe and come with me. We'll look around the neighborhood to see if there are any dry, withered trees we can cut down to make firewood. "Welikro quickly shared the work with everyone.
"Hand this," Welikro gives the stick Borkal used to use to Claude, who knows that he must beat the bush to surprise every snake in it.
They were rather lucky and found a half-destroyed withered tree not far from the camp. Welikro tapped on the trunk and looked somewhat satisfied with it. "This one, then."
They were rather lucky and found a half-destroyed withered tree not far from the camp. Welikro tapped on the trunk and looked somewhat satisfied with it. "This one, then."
Claude didn't move at all. He was quite curious about the land. It was a large, gray-colored stone that looked very plain on the surface. The tree's roots stretched under the flat rock and even made a huge crack in it.
"What's wrong?" ask Welikro.
Claude pointed at the stone and said, "Why is this stone so flat?"
Welikro laughs. "It's nothing to admire. This is an artificial road and you will see more of these stones on the road. Many of them may crack open from time and be evacuated by the trees and grass that grow all over."
"No way," cried Claude, "This is a stone road? But aren't these stones a bit too big? It was almost three times a meter. How much effort does it take to form a boulder?" into this shape and move it up the hill? "
"Hahaha .." Welikro laughed as he pointed to the top of the hill. "Have you heard about the existence of the magic tower ruins in Egret? We can travel along this road up the hill to see the ruins. If you all have the guts, we can even camp there if you want.
"As for this road and all these great stones, I suspect it is the work of the magi. I think it would definitely not be possible for a normal human to perform a feat like this. Even in the present, even, we will still have to form a stone of this size first before moving it up the hill to build the same road like this.It will definitely be a great effort that requires no manpower and funds countless numbers to complete it. It is even harder to imagine people centuries ago could bring such a feat. "
Welikro took the axe from Claude and shook his head. "That's just a myth, but you believe in them. Dad and I came here twice during the new year holidays and we camped in the ruins twice. There is nothing, not even a single spirit. We spent at least five to six days there on every occasion as well. "
"Is the ruins big?"
"Is the ruins big?"
“Very.” Welikro cut the tree into three pieces before spitting into his hand and raised his axe high again to cut it into long, thin pieces. "I think it's almost as long as your red brick mansion. However, most of the top had collapsed and only the bottom walls were left."
Claude hurriedly made some estimates. He usually did not pay attention to how big the brick red house was. There were four suits and stairs as well as a corridor, so the total length should be around four to fifty meters. However, the size of the magic tower was more accurately reflected in its diameter. That means that the area it covers on the ground is at least 1600 square meters, or maybe even more than two thousand. Really big.
After two more swings, Welikro stopped. "Oh, do you know why I said the stones were made by magi? It was because the walls of the magic tower ruins were the same as this. I had asked my father about it before when I last came here how it was possible for them to make a tower with a stone of this size and he said that there was nothing people other than Magi can reach it. "
Claude piled firewood on the stone and wanted to see if he could use his knife to cut the wood into small pieces. He was lucky enough that the wood from the withered tree parted easily. Although using a knife was not as easy as using an axe, at least it could still be done.
With the two of them doing it together, their steps grew even faster. In half an hour, they managed to cut the three tree segments into small pieces. Welikro said that it was enough and there were some vines to tie firewood. Each of them carried a bundle on their backs to the camp.
Borkal and Eriksson had already finished preparing the soil and sprinkled the lime powder over the camp. Tents have also been erected. The tent that Welikro brought from the house was rather large, could fit two people inside, and was made of animal skin. The one Eriksson had brought from his ship that was meant to be used on the deck on the other side was meant for one person and it was about a third of the animal skin tent beside him.
But it doesn't matter in the end. One should be on the lookout at night when camping in the wilderness to prevent accidents and keep the fire burning. Two tents allowed the three of them to sleep and one to stand guard.
At that moment, Borkal and Eriksson attempted to light a fire in front of the tent. But even though they had carefully chosen the shrub, the flame still emitted a little too much smoke and it was very small. They both blew on it for a while, but they produced nothing but get a soot-stained face.
"It's enough, go wash your face. Oh, but don't go to the river bank. Go over there. There was a broken hill road and further ahead was a small stream. The water should be cleaner. Bring us two buckets of water while you're there" Welikro said as he pointed in the direction where he had just returned with Claude.
Claude remembered that he had heard the sound of running water as he split the wood. Welikro came here with his father twice, so he probably memorized the location of the river. However, he came during the winter. Shouldn't it be frozen or cut somewhere upstream?
Welikro seemed to know what Claude was thinking and said, "I thought about it when we were cutting wood right now. The stream was less than ten meters from the mountain path and would even let out steam during the winter. My father brought it there for fish once, but the fish in the river were mostly small. There are hardly any big fish at all. "
Claude remembered that he had heard the sound of running water as he split the wood. Welikro came here with his father twice, so he probably memorized the location of the river. However, he came during the winter. Shouldn't it be frozen or cut somewhere upstream?
Welikro seemed to know what Claude was thinking and said, "I thought about it when we were cutting wood right now. The stream was less than ten meters from the mountain path and would even let out steam during the winter. My father brought it there for fish once, but the fish in the river were mostly small. There are hardly any big fish at all. "
After replacing the firewood with bushes, the fire immediately lit up brightly.
Claude helps Welikro out to make a makeshift shelf with branches over the campfire. By then, Borkal and Eriksson had returned with water and they could finally boil some water and cook something to eat.
"Claude, watch the fire. When the firewood is half burned, exchange it for a new one. Set aside the half-burned one. We'll use it at night."
"What's that for?" ask Claude.
Welikro pointed around the camp. "We have to put them around the camp as they burn bit by bit. That will help prevent the ferocious beasts from getting close and can help us start a quick fire by piling a little more wood on them. It can allow us to illuminate campers with little time to improve our vision. "
Claude nodded understandingly. This is all a crystallization of his experience. Welikro has been with his father for hunting since his childhood and he is quite meticulous in terms of what they have to do.
Eriksson and Borkal each returned with a bucket of water and now, it was Claude's turn to shine. Borkal had never entered the kitchen in his home before and all Eriksson and Welikro could do was make sure there was something mature enough to fill their bellies. When it came to delicious food, they still had to rely on Claude. He was already a house husband in his previous life and when he became a player with his boss, his cooking skills improved greatly as he toyed with women.
Flour, preserved meat, dried fish, salt, and some apples were the simplest ingredients he brought from his home. There used to be a packet of honey bread they had brought from Borkal's house, but they had already finished it during the trip in the afternoon.
Guess I can only make flour porridge. He stirred the boiling water while adding flour in it and cut the preserved meat into small pieces. He then crushed the dried fish and dropped it and added salt as a seasoning. It seemed to be fine, but it was a pity that no fresh meat or bones could improve its taste.
"Don't worry. We'll lie down by the river at night. There should be a lot of animals gathered there to drink. I'm sure we'll have a decent catch at night" Welikro said as he clapped the gun in his hand confidently.