Mars Village (2)
While Brother Chris was talking, I cut in.
“Couldn’t you farm them? You know, raise them yourselves?”
“Farm them?”
“Yeah. You’ve got a river right here, so you can swap out the water easily. You could even run the river water straight into the rice fields afterward.”
“You mean… send the water through a shrimp-farming pond before it reaches the fields?”
“Exactly. Though, you probably couldn’t do it during winter—you’d have to release them back into the river then.”
“Even if we tried, we don’t know what to feed them. It sounds difficult.”
“I’ll look into it on my end. Just… give it some thought, okay?”
“Understood.”
“Anything else causing trouble?”
“We’re having a hard time finding bags for the shrimp crackers.”
Apparently, if they use straw paper, it’s fine for short periods, but oil seeps through if it sits too long.
When I asked what they’d used before, the chief explained that when they made them at home, they just served them on wooden plates—no need for packaging.
Bags, huh…? Well, there’s no plastic in this world.
Problem after problem.
Guess I’ll start by checking the library’s blessing for information on river shrimp diets.
They showed us to a guest room in the meeting hall—our lodging for the night.
Since the inspection would be tomorrow, I took out my slate, typed in “river shrimp diet,” and got three results.
Three books. Easy enough.
In short: they eat aquatic plants, small fish, and tiny insects around the riverbanks.
So, they’re omnivores.
If we’re going to farm them, I’ll need to figure out a fine-mesh net to collect those little insects that gather on the water’s surface. Maybe a net woven from thin threads… but that sounds like a lot of work.
The next day, I explained the shrimp’s diet to the village chief, but he said it might be too labor-intensive.
Well, the village doesn’t depend solely on shrimp crackers to survive, so it’s not a crisis.
Worst case, if we can catch enough sea shrimp elsewhere, I can bring the idea to Southcourt instead.
Still… what a waste that’d be.
For now, I asked the chief to take me to the river to check on things. There, I spotted five slimes around the water.
“What are those slimes doing?”
“They’re river-cleaning slimes.”
“River-cleaning?”
“Yes. They eat dead fish, overgrown water plants, and even fish bones and guts that we throw away.”
“And after they eat, what do they produce—liquid? Compost?”
“Compost, I think. Ah, look—one’s just spat some out.”
When I picked up the slime’s compost, it looked surprisingly similar to goldfish food from my previous life.
I gathered as much of it as I could, ignoring everyone’s puzzled looks for now.
“Chief, can you take us to where the shrimp usually gather?”
“Of course. There aren’t as many these days, but this is the best spot.”
At the place he showed me, I scattered all the slime compost I’d collected earlier.
Immediately, river shrimp surfaced and started devouring it with incredible enthusiasm.
The chief, Brother Chris, and the others watched in shock.
Honestly, I was just as surprised by how eagerly they went for it.
“Chief, looks like we’ve found a way to farm them.”
The chief’s face lit up.
“Thank you! This method won’t take much extra work—we could manage it alongside our farming.”
His voice bounced with excitement as he bowed.
We were both still celebrating when Brother Chris said, “Hardt, explain.”
So I explained how the cleaning slimes and the river shrimp liked the same kinds of food—and that I’d suspected the slime’s compost might make a good feed for the shrimp.
“Chief, you should probably have the village manage those slimes properly.”
“Agreed. We’ll let them roam freely during the day but build them a dedicated hut for the night.”
“And you’ll need to collect and manage whatever they spit out.”
“Yes. We can have the villagers who don’t work in the fields handle the slimes and shrimp. That should make the farming sustainable.”
I was relieved to see them getting enthusiastic about the idea.
Now, the only issue left was finding bags for the crackers.
Still, slimes really are amazing creatures.
“Umm… would it be all right if I shared this with Mils Village as well?” the chief asked hesitantly.
Apparently, Mils Village had been founded by his younger brother. It was about half a day south along the same river. As the population grew and farmland expanded, they’d divided the villages for easier management.
They’d even helped make shrimp crackers for the preliminary and main exhibitions.
“For securing enough crackers, that’s essential. Work together with Mils Village on this.”
“Thank you so much.”
Since they’d be focusing on shrimp breeding for a while, I couldn’t take any crackers home this time.
I’ll just have to come back soon to check on their progress.
What do you think about this chapter?
