Please Take Care of Them
The next morning, Georges yanked the blanket off me again to wake me up.
“It’s still early… Let me sleep,” I grumbled.
“The caterpillars are making something that looks like cocoons, Young Master. You should see this.”
That snapped me awake.
Still in my pajamas, I peered into the wooden box on the table—and sure enough, one of the caterpillars was just spitting out silk from its mouth.
Maybe the Oid branches we brought from Shinana Village suited them better?
I picked up one of the lumps lying in the box; the silk was hardened and couldn’t be unraveled. It wasn’t a cocoon, just a tangle of silk forming a small mound about four centimeters across.
There were seven of those silk lumps in total inside the box.
After breakfast, I showed the silk to my family.
“It’s not quite the same as silk thread, but it’s hard to tell just by looking,” Mother said.
Since she’s from Northtrad, I thought she’d recognize it immediately, but even she seemed uncertain.
“We’d have to unwind it, spin it, and see if it can be woven into fabric—but seven clumps isn’t nearly enough.”
“We’ll need to move the caterpillars to Shinana Village and have them collect the silk and breed more,” Father said.
“Father, we still don’t understand their life cycle. They don’t seem to be the same as silkworms.”
“Well, since they spin thread from Oid leaves, first we should test what kind of fabric can be made from that thread.”
After discussing it, we decided to entrust the caterpillars to Shinana Village.
The villagers would keep daily observation records, while the silk itself would be collected and sent back to us.
We’d cover the cost of building a hut just for the caterpillars. I asked Nat to arrange for the necessary materials and have it built immediately.
Until the hut was done, the caterpillars would stay in my room.
I also had the knights go gather fresh Oid branches from Shinana Village.
The next morning, when I checked the box again, there were already ten silk clumps inside.
Ten days later, Shinana Village sent word that the hut was finished, so we took the caterpillars there.
Since living caterpillars couldn’t be stored in a Magic Bag, I had a special “caterpillar carrier bag” made—lined with Oid leaves—and asked Brother Gerald to carry it.
I couldn’t, since I was already carrying Atre in his own sling.
It’s about time he graduated from the sling and started running alongside the horse, but he refused, so I gave in.
Lucas was either perched on my shoulder or riding in the horse’s mane.
When we arrived at Shinana Village, the first thing I noticed was how weak the village’s fences were.
I’d forgotten how bad they looked.
If we’re going to raise caterpillars here, they’ll need to be reinforced.
I’ll have to discuss that with Father later.
We headed straight to the new hut.
I’d asked them to model it after the silkworm houses described in the old records.
Chief Hind greeted us and led the way. In front of the hut, five elderly villagers—three women and two men—were waiting.
“These are the people who’ll be managing this hut,” he said, introducing them.
We exchanged greetings, then entered.
Inside, three wooden boxes lined with fresh Oid leaves sat on tables.
Along the wall, there were partitioned shelves ready for more boxes once the number of caterpillars increased.
I divided the caterpillars from the sling—three, three, and four—and placed them into the boxes.
They immediately began munching on the fresh leaves, while the elders watched them intently.
“There aren’t any books that mention these caterpillars,” I explained. “All we know is that they like Oid leaves and spin silk from their mouths.”
I showed them the silk clumps we’d collected that morning.
I told them we’d need the silk in its raw state for study and asked them to keep daily observation records. Then I handed each of them a piece of straw paper with two punched holes.
The paper had columns for the date, weather, temperature (morning, noon, evening), the caterpillars’ condition at each measurement, how many silk clumps were produced, and a free notes section.
Each sheet covered two days.
The straw paper had been printed at the orphanage using woodblocks made by the people who produce the town gazette.
“I see—you want us to record the same information every day to learn about their habits,” said one of the elders.
“Exactly. If there’s anything you think should be added, let me know. I can make a revised version once you’ve tried it.”
I thought it’d be easier for them if I decided what to record ahead of time.
I also handed Chief Hind some thick paper and string to bind the filled sheets together later.
“This is great—everything will stay in chronological order for easy reference. And to think straw paper would prove so useful!” the chief said, and the elders all nodded in agreement.
Then one of them spoke up, his voice trembling slightly.
“It may not be silk like our parents and grandparents once dreamed of, but when I heard we might raise caterpillars, spin thread, and make cloth again, I volunteered right away. I’ll do my utmost.”
The others all seemed to share that same earnest determination.
We told them to contact us right away if any problems came up, then left the village.
What do you think about this chapter?
