Chapter 23: Fishing And Staying Warm
“Lord Lei Wen, all the fields here have been tilled. After drying for a day, we can start sowing!”
Several farmers found Lei Wen, who was training Dratini by the riverside, and reported on the progress of the work in the fields.
For the past two days, they had been working from dawn till dusk to finish tilling the land and plant the seeds as early as possible, not daring to rest for a moment. Finally, today they had tilled a large area of land.
Hearing this, Lei Wen nodded thoughtfully.
He didn’t know much about reclaiming wasteland. Looking at the dark brown fields not far away, Lei Wen thought for a moment and then asked, “Don’t we need to fertilize?”
One farmer shook his head, “The soil here is very fertile, and because it’s close to this river, the humidity of the soil is just right. We don’t need fertilizer for now.”
“Alright, then I’ll leave the rest to you.” Lei Wen nodded and said, “For the seeds, go find Elif later. He will be responsible for delivering the seeds. Also, go find a basket.”
A basket?
The farmers were slightly taken aback, not quite understanding Lord Lei Wen’s intentions, but they dutifully returned to the camp and brought back a sturdy basket woven from vines.
“Wait a moment.” Lei Wen said to them, then turned around and ordered Dratini, “Dratini, go into the water and use Thunder Wave!”
The temperature hadn’t been very cold these past few days, and there was sun yesterday. The river surface that had been frozen had completely thawed.
As ordered, Dratini plunged into the river water.
The next second, a strong yellow electric light surged from its body.
From the shore, it looked like a constantly expanding ball of yellow light.
“Zzzzt!”
Transmitted through the river water, the Electric Current released by Dratini quickly expanded to a large area.
Immediately after, shadows appeared on the river surface, and these “shadows” slowly floated to the surface of the water.
When everyone looked closely, they saw plump, unconscious fish!
“What, what is this?!” The farmers were greatly surprised.
“Dratini, bring those fish over,” Lei Wen continued to say.
Dratini obediently swam in the river, using its mouth and body to push the fish floating on the surface to the riverbank.
“Pack these fish and take them back to the territory!” Lei Wen said to the people behind him.
“Y-yes!”
The astonished farmers quickly snapped back to reality. While looking at Dratini with surprised eyes, they packed the fish, paralyzed by Thunder Wave, into the basket.
In a short while, two large baskets were filled with fresh fish.
What a bountiful harvest!
The farmers’ faces were filled with excitement.
Lei Wen used a handkerchief to wipe the river water off Dratini, then lifted his coat, letting it snuggle into his arms for warmth.
However, when he turned around, he saw a farmer excitedly holding a Magikarp.
“…” Lei Wen couldn’t help but say, “Throw those red fish back into the river!”
“Huh? Lord Lei Wen, why is that?” a farmer couldn’t help but ask.
“Those are not edible fish; they are a type of monster called Magikarp,” Lei Wen explained. “They are all bone and scales and cannot be eaten. Moreover, they hold grudges and will likely seek revenge if they grow stronger.”
Monsters?!
Hearing this, they quickly threw the Magikarp back into the river.
“Ahem.” Lei Wen coughed lightly and then said, “Alright, thank you for your hard work, everyone. Carry these fish back!”
The thought of being able to drink delicious fish soup tonight made them unable to help but grin.
What could be more comforting than a bowl of hot fish soup on a cold winter night?
Today’s training ended, and Lei Wen did not return directly to his tent but took Dratini to the tent of the physician Lila.
When they arrived, Lila was in her tent mixing potions with some Herbs.
Seeing Lei Wen arrive, she was very surprised, “Your Highness? Why have you come?”
“I need a potion for treating frostbite and restoring stamina,” Lei Wen said in a deep voice.
Both of these potions would be useful for Dratini. The Medicine could help it recover its stamina, and the Frostbite Potion contained an ingredient that could warm the body, which would also be very helpful for Dratini.
“Alright, I’ll get them for you right away!”
Lila quickly turned and took out several bottles of potions from her Medicine Box and handed them over.
“Thank you for your trouble.” Lei Wen accepted the potions and was about to leave.
But he was called back by Lila.
“Your Highness…”
Lei Wen turned around, looking puzzled, “What is it?”
“I want to thank you on behalf of everyone!” Lila’s eyes were filled with gratitude.
Their Highness was truly a kind and benevolent person!
Not only did he share his medicinal herbs with them, Commoners, but he also sent her many useful potion recipes.
“The recipes you gave me will definitely help many people!” Lila said gratefully.
Lei Wen smiled and said, “There’s no need to be so polite. In my heart, you are more important than these things.”
After all, what is a territory without its citizens?
Lila was stunned, but Lei Wen didn’t say any more and turned to leave with Dratini.
＊
By the time Lei Wen learned about what had happened at the Logging Camp, it was already evening.
After Lei Wen had finished his Dinner, the Old Butler Elif specifically came to report on the day’s work progress in the territory.
But as soon as he entered the tent, he bumped into a basket of fish.
The Old Butler was very surprised, “So, so many fish!”
Lei Wen smiled. These were all caught by Dratini using Thunder Wave in the river this afternoon.
The territory currently did not have specialized fishing nets, and the efficiency of manual fishing was too low to meet the needs of so many people and Pokémon.
Now, with the move 【Thunder Wave】, fishing had become much simpler.
In addition to the Food brought by the caravan, the residents could also eat some fresh fish.
Whether used for making Fish Soup or directly as Roasted Fish, they were excellent choices.
However, these fish could not be stored for a long time. Once they were kept for too long, the fish would spoil and become inedible.
Fortunately, the territory currently had Ice Type Pokémon like Snowrunt.
The leftover fish could be entrusted to them to freeze using their Ice Type moves, allowing them to be stored for a longer period. In addition, they could also be made into smoked fish.
With the Berries and Fruits gathered by the residents, and the fish caught by Dratini, their food supply would last longer, making it entirely possible to survive the cold winter.
After a brief moment of shock, Elif reported what had happened at the Logging Camp to Lei Wen.
“…Those three Snowrunt did a lot of work for us today. Thanks to their help, everyone chopped a lot of Wood today!”
“If it can continue like this, we will be able to solve the housing problem in the territory in less than a month!”
Speaking of this, Elif couldn’t help but smile:
“Those three Snowrunt are very popular in the territory now!”
Hearing this, Lei Wen was somewhat surprised. Snowrunt helping to chop trees?
From what Elif said, the people in the territory were slowly beginning to accept the presence of Snowrunt.
Undoubtedly, this was a good start.
However, Lei Wen did not dwell on this matter for too long.
There were still many matters within the territory waiting for him to handle and resolve.
With the issues of housing and food temporarily resolved, the next problem was heating.
Looking at the Charcoal burning in the brazier, Lei Wen asked, “Is the Charcoal supply enough for another month?”
Wooden Houses could block wind and rain, but they could not completely isolate the cold outside. Especially such simple wooden houses, they needed heating facilities inside.
Elif shook his head, “We’ve consumed a lot of Charcoal these past few days. Currently, it seems we don’t have enough for a month.”
“Is that so…” Lei Wen fell into thought.
It would be great to have Fire Type Pokémon.
Whether for heating in winter or for making Charcoal, firing Cement and Bricks, and building more sturdy and safer houses in the coming year, Fire Type Pokémon would be indispensable.
However, it was currently winter. During this season, besides Ice Type Pokémon being relatively common, all other Pokémon had nowhere to be found, and it was even difficult to find Grass Type Pokémon outside.
Even so, Lei Wen did not want to give up easily.
“We still need to send people to explore the surroundings,” Lei Wen murmured.
He needed to figure out the types of wild Pokémon that inhabited the area within a certain range of the territory.
