kscans

Chapter 16 - For the Improvement of Food Security, Checking the Waterways

Once he had finished considering improvements to his living environment, the next step was to examine his food situation. What Yuri had wished for was a home garden. With that in mind, the god had sent Yuri to this land, so what Yuri should do here was also a home garden. That should be right. Fortunately, the remnants of crops from when this village was still 'alive' survived in a semi-wild state in the old fields. Since these varieties were guaranteed to grow in this land, it would be best to start by cultivating them.

So far, the crops he had identified were what would be called barley (naked barley), wheat, buckwheat, and potatoes on Earth, along with a few leafy vegetables. The variety was more diverse than he had expected, but even if he gathered everything that survived scattered across the fields, it would probably be a close call whether it would last until autumn. Even if he added the nuts he could likely find outside the village to the crops he could harvest in the fall, surviving the winter would still be a touch-and-go situation.

"Well, if it really starts to look impossible, I can just put all my belongings in Storage and run off to a village or town. Until then, I guess I'll give it my best shot."

With that judgment, he listed and organized the things he could and should do before winter.

◆ Farmland Maintenance
・Restore waterways
・Harvest crops
・Secure and store seeds and seed potatoes
・Restore fields
・Create a farming calendar
・Planting and preparations for next year
・Prepare fertilizer
・Prepare farm tools

"The first thing I should check is probably this..."

....

Yuri stood before the fence surrounding the village.

He hadn't noticed it before because it was mostly buried and covered in grass, but upon closer inspection, there was something like a ditch remaining inside the fence. It looked like a drainage ditch, but...

"Considering it runs around the fields and has a decent depth, I should probably see it as an irrigation channel..."

On one of the three maps he had found when searching for the rock salt mine, the ones drawn on wooden boards, he noticed a line drawn around the village, connected to a slightly thicker line a short distance away. If the thick line was a river, then the thin line would be a waterway. With that in mind, he re-examined the village's surroundings and was able to find traces of what looked like a ditch inside the fence. It seemed too wide and deep for a drainage ditch. If that was the case, could it be an irrigation channel for drawing and collecting agricultural water?

It was the moment that checking and restoring the waterway became an urgent task.

....

"So this is where it was..."

Following the traces of the waterway, he came upon a small stream a short distance away. It wasn't a very large river. In fact, it was more like a small brook, but it seemed to have enough water to supply the village. The intake was now completely decayed and blocked by what looked like a plank, and the ditch itself had collapsed and was filled with soil. That must have been why the irrigation water dried up, and why Yuri hadn't noticed the waterway.

Following the stream downward, he came across another waterway after walking for a while. He guessed it was the drainage channel for the water that had circulated through the village. This one was also half-buried in soil.

As he went further, the small stream merged into a slightly larger river. It seemed the river where he had submerged and cooled the Mudderboar led here. This one had a decent width, and it looked like he could do some fishing. The depth, too, seemed to be considerable in some places.

"Hmm. This one has more water, but it's far from the village, so they probably connected the intake channel to the smaller stream."

Considering the future, it was clear that restoring the waterway would be better. However, it was doubtful whether the fields themselves would become large enough to require an irrigation channel, at least for this year. He felt that Water Magic alone would be sufficient. Even if a waterway became necessary, Yuri could probably restore it easily with Earth Magic.

"Thinking about it that way, maybe restoring the waterway isn't that urgent..."

Nevertheless, discovering the waterway and the river it connected to was important for planning his future life. Yuri had been given Water Magic, but he didn't think he could supply water to all of the surprisingly vast fields. After all, just bleeding the boar had used up about a quarter of his magic power. If there was a waterway, relying on it was the safe bet. Or so Yuri thought.

"If I do restore the waterway, I wonder if I should release some fish or something into it. I'd hate for mosquito larvae to breed in the channel..."

Yuri resolved to diligently check the water quality to prevent strange amoebas, blood flukes, or bacteria from multiplying.