kscans

Chapter 33 - What Tree Is This Tree. Pepit

The harvests of wheat, buckwheat, and other crops were already finished, but there was still much to do at the end of August. Having completed his farm work in the cool morning, Yuri decided to head out in the afternoon, as was his custom, to search for useful resources. As he was thinking of venturing into the shallow parts of the forest today, some voices called out to him.

`Human child, what are you doing?`

`Where are you going?`

`Pepit? No monopolizing.`

`It bears a lot, so it's fine.`

`It's delicious, you know.`

It was the flock of small birds that Yuri had gradually started feeding. Normally, he would greet them lightly and be on his way, but who could just walk away after hearing that something "delicious" was available in "a lot" of quantity. He didn't know about the birds' sense of taste, but even if it were half true, it was worth hearing them out.

`Pepit? Is it tasty?`

`Yes. This way.`

`This way.`

`Hey, wait up!`

He frantically chased after them, nearly being left behind since they were, after all, flying. Eventually, they led him to a spot in the shallower part of the forest. There stood a tree that had grown to about eight meters tall, and just as they said, it was laden with red fruit. They were shaped like chicken eggs and were about the same size.

《Pepit: A Jikawagousei evergreen that prefers sunny locations, bearing red, chicken-egg-shaped and sized fruit from summer to autumn. The fruit can be eaten raw but becomes sweeter when cooked. Large specimens can reach a height of eight meters, but young trees have shallow roots and are prone to falling over. It is originally a high-altitude species and not very heat-tolerant. It resembles the tree tomato (tamarillo) from the otherworld, Earth, and like the tomato, it is rich in glutamic acid, giving it a strong umami flavor.》

For a moment, he tilted his head, unsure what the term "Jikawagousei" was synthesizing. He soon realized it meant "self-compatible," meaning it could be fertilized by flowers on the same plant. In other words, a single tree could flower and bear fruit.

"A tree tomato... but it looks like something else, too... something other than a tomato."

Yuri tilted his head, feeling he had seen something like it somewhere before, and then realized it looked like a large goji berry. Come to think of it, that was also in the nightshade family, just like tomatoes.

"More importantly... it's rich in glutamic acid and has a strong umami flavor? This could be useful for cooking."

He tried eating one of the ripe fruits. Sure enough, he could sense an umami-like flavor amid the sourness and sweetness. He absolutely had to bring some back. But just as he got fired up, he remembered the little birds' warning.

"Right... other creatures probably eat them too... I shouldn't take them all for myself."

Looking up, he saw a fox-like animal watching him from a distance. It must have been foraging for fruit when Yuri arrived, causing it to flee in a hurry. He felt bad. Though, there were so many fruits that even if Yuri took as many as he wanted, there would still be plenty left over.

"But... for a tree that bears this much fruit, I haven't seen it anywhere else, have I?"

As he wondered about this, the little birds provided the answer.

`The small ones are often eaten by bugs.`

`And they wither without growing in the forest.`

Ah, so they don't grow in the woods due to lack of light, Yuri understood. The seeds were also fairly large, so it seemed the birds didn't often swallow them whole and disperse them in their droppings. Besides, on top of the thick layer of fallen leaves, even if a fallen seed managed to sprout, its roots would likely wither before reaching the soil. There were a few young trees nearby, but this seemed to be the reason for their scarcity relative to the number of fruits.

"In that case... I'll take one young tree back, and in exchange, I'll try to germinate some seeds and plant them around. Oh, but young trees have shallow roots and fall over easily, right? ...I guess I can support it with a stake or something."

Once they grew a bit, he would plant them in the grassy field near the village. That way, the birds and other animals could eat them whenever they liked.