Last night, the chickens hadn’t made any noise, meaning they must have gotten enough exercise to be able to sleep soundly. But they spend the day in the village on weekdays, so I still need to watch out. Not that there’s much I can do even if I watch out, though. At best, I can kick them out if it’s not raining.
As for Aikawa-san, he told me he’d gotten a call from his lawyer last night confirming that his former stalker had gotten married and moved to another prefecture far away from here—far enough that you’d usually take a plane if you wanted to go there by public transport. Aikawa-san didn’t want anything to do with her, and he requested that his lawyer not accept any letters or such from her.
“I’m glad it’s over...” I could hear the sheer relief in Aikawa-san’s voice over the phone, which left a strong impression on me.
He said he didn’t want to see her or have anything to do with her, and that was enough for him. He wouldn’t be pursuing legal action or anything. I don’t really get it. But I guess it’s got nothing to do with me. It’s for him to decide.
I dropped the chickens off at the Yumotos as usual.
“Gotta tell you, I’m impressed with how spry and agile they are. No wonder last week’s workout wasn’t enough for them. Were they all right last night?” Yumoto-san asked.
“Yep, they slept like babies.” Let’s hope it stays this way.
“They’re a big help to us. They caught three snakes yesterday.”
“Yamakagashi snakes?”
“Nah, yesterday they caught vipers too.”
“A lot of venomous snakes around, it seems...” It was a fight for survival out here in the boonies.
“Well, we did have them go through six farms yesterday. We’ll have them patrol the same places today, but there’ll probably be no more snakes.”
That reminded me. “About that... Did that man with the snake collection keep any foreign species?”
“Seems he did, yeah. For god’s sake, where was he getting them from...?” Yumoto-san grumbled. Keeping them is fine, provided he acquired them through proper means. The problem is releasing them into the wild. “I heard someone from the next village over got bitten. They say it was a viper, so it might be unrelated to this whole mess. Either way, we get at least one of those snakebite incidents every year. There’s no use fretting about it too much.”
Every year? Yikes. Apparently, there were around three thousand viper incidents per year nationally, of which ten or so were lethal. Better be careful.
“Hopefully there aren’t any foreign venomous species around,” I said...and then I broke into a cold sweat as I realized I might have just triggered an event flag. Ha ha, no way...right?
“Hey, Pochi, Yuma, if you see any unfamiliar-looking snakes, be sure to catch them and show them to the villagers, okay?” Pochi paid me no mind, as usual. They were supposed to patrol the same places today, so I’d brought Yuma instead of Tama, hoping that having a different perspective would help. Yuma looked back at me and nodded slightly. Yuma’s such a good girl.
“I’ll drop them off in the evening, then,” said Yumoto-san.
“Thank you.” I bowed and went back to my mountain.
Aikawa-san messaged me asking if I’d like to come over today, but as soon as I asked Tama about it, she ran away. I’d have to go tomorrow, then, and I told him as much.
Tama’s not very good with those snakes, it seems.
“You’re scared of them, aren’t you?” She pecked me fiercely. Looks like I hit the nail on the head. She also gave me a good kick while she was at it, as if to say, Don’t bother asking if you already know the answer!
Ouch. I’m sorry. But you didn’t have to go that far, you know.
I checked the fields and the river for anything unusual. Despite all the rain, the crops seemed fine for the time being, thankfully. The river was still fuller than usual, but the flow was fine. I ought to check the riverbank more thoroughly, but the ground is a bit unstable from the rain, so I’d rather not risk it. I wonder how the chickens manage to get around so much. Is it because they run instead of walk? Or is it the way they walk?
“I should probably check the other houses around here too...” Ideally, I should have torn them down before the rainy season. Leaving uninhabited homes standing was a bad idea—they could attract all kinds of undesirable animals.
“But that’d take money...” At the end of the day, that was what it came down to. But still, if I’m gonna be living here, I should do something about them.
“Maybe I’ll try asking the previous owner.” As with the vaccines, that was something to think about after the rainy season.
“I feel a bit lonely...”
Tama followed me around. She didn’t stick as close to me as Yuma, but she wasn’t distant either—she had a good sense of personal space.
“I gotta check the inside of the house. What about you, Tama? You can check the outside if you want.” She brushed me off and tilted her head away. My chickens must be really concerned about me, huh? Sorry for being so unreliable.
“Thanks, Tama.”
She brushed me off again, pretending not to listen. She has a kind side to her. Could she be one of those so-called “tsunderes,” I wonder.
“Tama, are you a tsundere?”
She pecked me aggressively. Wait a minute, why do you even know what tsundere means?! Was I actually right?
I was still checking around the house when I received a message from Katsuragi-san.
“Excuse me, but would you happen to recognize this pattern? Tatsuki ate this snake, and I’m worried it might be venomous.” The message had a picture of a snake tail—what remained of the snake—attached.
“Jeez... Seriously?”
I’m not a specialist or anything, you know. I decided to show the picture to Yumoto-san when he came by later. “I will check and let you know,” I replied. “I’ll get back to you this evening.”
Our venomous snake troubles seemed far from over.