Chapter 4: 4. Surviving
To save money, Zoro and Torao decide to live in the wild. They thought of living in the street at first because there are many homeless people who live on the street too. But Torao found out it's better to live in the wild.
The street and slum are actually being controlled by some thug groups. There are living fees and protection fees that need to be paid weekly to them. They will make trouble for the ones that don't pay them, which is bad for them who are still powerless and penniless.
"Well, living in the wild is not so bad actually. I used to live in the street and I feel that the forest is better. The air here is fresh, unlike the street that is filled with the smell of garbage. We usually choose the back alley which is the most hidden and warm place, but there is a lot of trash there, so the smell is awful."
"Then, let's make a better living place. It will be better if we can find an empty cave so we will be protected from rain and wind. I will look for it while you check the traps we've set and make new traps. It will be a good practice to find good spots to make traps."
"I don't know if I'll get a good result after just practicing once."
"No problem. Learning while trying is the best way to understand faster."
They split and go to do their own tasks. Torao runs very fast to search for a safe cave. Zoro goes to check the traps while looking for spots to set the new traps.
There's no unlucky animal yet, so Zoro starts looking for trap spots right away. As he thought, it is difficult to find the spots for the traps after only learning about it once. He spends hours to find the spots he thinks are good.
It's almost dark when he finishes, so he checks the old traps again and finds an unlucky hare. Now he doesn't need to worry about dinner, so he quickly reset the trap and returns to his camp. Torao is already waiting there with a stack of green leaves.
"Did you find a good cave?"
"Yeah, it's quite small and located on a cliff right beside the stream. So most animals won't be able to reach it."
"What? Won't it be hard for us to reach it too?"
"Not really. We can use a rope to get there after crossing the shallow stream. It's not too high, but most animals shouldn't be able to reach it. We can also secure water for daily use and there are fish in the stream."
"Oooh, that's great."
"Well, it's getting dark already, so let's go there tomorrow morning."
"Alright. But what about those leaves?"
"These are edible plants. Just eating meat is bad for your body because humans aren't carnivores. So you need to eat some veggies too. I couldn't find fruit on my way back, so just eat these leaves."
"Raw?"
"No, cook them with that hare. We found a small metal pot, right? Boil the meat and veggies together to make a warm soup. They veggies will give the broth some more flavor and maybe reduce the gamey taste of the meat as well."
"Sounds good."
Zoro skins the hare while Torao prepares the fire. Then they boil the meat and veggies. They don't forget to give some salt that they've bought today to the soup. Just adding salt already makes the food taste very delicious compared to the bland meat yesterday.
The next morning, they check the traps first before going to the cave. Unfortunately, the only thing they caught is a small lizard that doesn't look appetizing at all. But they still take it because they can use it as bait for the fish traps they're about to make.
They go to the cave's location and it's really a rather good place just as Torao said. It's placed around 3 meters above the stream and the entrance is indeed quite small. But it's a good size for a kid like Zoro.
There is a rather thick tree growing on the left side of the cave. Torao uses it to tie the rope that they'll use to climb onto the cave. They climb into the cave and soon Zoro finds a problem.
"Where will we make fire? If we make it inside the cave, won't the smoke fill the cave and make us unable to breathe?"
"Don't worry, I have thought about it. There are actually gaps to the outside throughout this cave's walls. They are too small for animals to enter, but air can pass through without any problem, so we won't get suffocated by the smoke."
"Oh, alright then. So what should we do now?"
"Let's make the fish traps first using the bamboos that grow on the riverside. Here, use this machete."
"Where did you get this?"
"A drunken man that sleeps on the street kindly gave it to me."
".... You stole it?"
"It fell off his hand after he swung it around dangerously in the middle of the night. I just saved people from getting injured by it."
"Meh, whatever. All is good as long as we don't get caught. I've also stolen things a few times in the past. But let's not make it our habit or we won't be able to live without it."
"That goes without saying."
Anyway, they cut a big bamboo and start making the fish trap. It's quite a meticulous and difficult work to make a fish trap from bamboo. But once they make it, they can keep using it for a long time.
It takes a few hours just to make 1 fish trap, but the result is quite good. They quickly put the chopped lizard and stones as weight into the fish trap. Then they place it below their cave and secure it with some big stones to prevent it from being carried by the current.
After that, they check the traps in the forest and get some results. A wild chicken, a quail, and a hare in the snare traps, also 2 squirrels and a small brown bird which they don't know the name of its species, but it should be edible.
They decide to not sell anything and make jerky from the meat they won't eat tonight. It's important to secure food with their current lifestyle because they may not get anything for a day or even more.
They return to the cave while gathering firewood and edible plants. There are some wild berries on their way, so they take those as well. Today is a really good day because they get a lot of food ingredients.
It's still quite bright when they arrive at the cave, so they decide to gather some leaves and grass for their bed. They've used grass and leaves for their bed last night, but it was too thin and uncomfortable, so they need more.
After that, Torao set the bed while Zoro processed the animals they caught. They try to not waste anything, so they keep the unused parts of the animals because they can be used as bait. The internal organs are edible, so they will eat those tonight because they go bad quickly.
"What's the plan after this, Torao?"
"We'll start your study tomorrow when we have free time. You need to learn quite a lot of things about this world before you can start your training."
"Ah, that's right, I always want to ask this. How can I understand this world's language as soon as I wake up here?"
"Well, God puts the knowledge about this world's language into your mind when he created your body. But that was the limit because if he puts more knowledge, then your mind won't be able to handle it. So you need to learn other things by yourself."
"Sigh, I hope he made me smart then."
The next day, they start the study after checking the traps and sell what they caught. But Zoro never thought that the books he would read are comic books. He obviously thought he would read some thick science books.
"Why comic books?"
"I told you, didn't I? This is the world of a story called Naruto. Those comic books that are called Manga contain the main story of this world. So by reading them, you are learning about this world already."
"I see. There are quite a lot of them here. But why are there other books with different titles here? One Piece?"
"Well, I also told you that when God made your body, he was thinking of a character named Zoro. That Zoro is a swordsman from this One Piece story. As your body was made based on him, you will have his talent and power too. Which means you will go down the path of a swordsman. To understand it more, you need to read the One Piece story so you'll know more about Zoro."
"Oh, okay. I don't really understand now, but you basically say I will understand more after reading all of these, right?"
"Yeah, they are the basic knowledge you need to know for now."
"Wait! Basic? That means there are more?"
"Of course. Do you think reading stories is enough to help you live in this world?"
Zoro can already imagine the suffering he'll go through. But there's nothing he can do other than following Torao's advice because he doesn't know anything yet.
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