I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 88: Wild Boar Again
Some of the remaining blueberries were turned into blueberry jam, which Luc spread on the brown bread, adding a different flavor.

After all, the amount of cheese I have is very limited. Apart from eating it occasionally, I keep it in the cellar for the rest of the time. Fortunately, the cheese will not go bad for a year or two, so it can be stored for a long time.

After searching for plants on the other side for many days, no new species were found. Most of them were common wild vegetables and mushrooms, especially oak acorns, which were everywhere in this season and were carried back to the cabin in baskets. The granary had not yet been filled with much grain, so a pile of nuts was filled in first.

But even so, Luc still lay in bed rubbing his temples, worrying about food.

"We've already eaten all the bread from last year's autumn planting. Although the spring planting yielded a good harvest some time ago, that was based on individual shares. Now that the population has increased, I don't know how long we can eat. There are also disaster victims everywhere, and there's no market for food. The next round of autumn planting won't be ready for harvest for another six months. There are plenty of wild fruits in the forest right now, but they'll be difficult to harvest in winter."

At night, in the house lit by a fang grease lamp, Ryan sat opposite, gnawing on the bear paw intently, and taking a sip of vegetable soup from time to time. Without any seasoning or iron pot, the bear paw was very fishy. Luke didn't like it very much, so he gave it to him as a reward.

Hearing Luc's sigh, Ryan spat out a piece of bone and said, "Master, why don't you hunt some more animals? The red deer herd has already moved here, and Old Eike mentioned a while ago that there seems to be a herd of goats further east. We can catch a few and raise them. There's plenty of grass now anyway, so we can just kill them and eat them in winter."

The elk did move here, but after Luc settled there, the deer began to move their drinking water areas. However, the goats continued to graze heartlessly not far from where they were caught.

The sow's tusks are shorter, so Ryan made two bases to keep them stable. Luc stood up and added a little oil, nodding and saying, "That's what I was thinking too. We can survive the winter if we can get by."

"How about this? Let Old Eck stop herding the sheep tomorrow. You take him, George, and Little Charlie with you to catch two more goats. And save the remaining grain for later use."

"Okay sir."

"By the way, your swordsmanship has improved a lot recently. You should learn archery when you have the chance. It will be beneficial in the mountains."

"But I think javelins are quite useful, sir."

Ever since Ryan made great achievements with a javelin while hunting a brown bear, he fell in love with this weapon. Simple javelin is not difficult to make. With his superb craftsmanship, Ryan has made several for himself during this period.

"The spear has a short range, so you should try to learn the bow and arrow. But if you like, you can practice more spear throwing."

Luc still values ​​Ryan very much. If possible, after he really obtains the recognized status of a noble knight, he would not mind giving Ryan a real squire position.

After briefly explaining the food issue, after Ryan set off the next day, Luke began to build real houses for the serfs.

The previous shack was not even as good as his previous shelter, and it was definitely not suitable for spending the winter.

There was no extra space inside the fence, so Luc finally chose an area outside the fence, between the fields behind the mountain, as the address for the new house.

The original plan was to build a large house for everyone in Ward Village, with a wooden wall separating men and women, but this was obviously not possible after Hans was taken in.

After surveying the open space, Luc finally marked out seven wooden houses: one each for Robert's family, old Eike, Jill, and Hans. Among the five Ward village peasant women, Amy had one by herself, and the other four peasant women got along well with each other. In addition, they had lost their relatives, so they took the initiative to ask for two people to share a house.

As for George, Luc planned to let him live in the warehouse for a while. When they heard that a house was going to be built, everyone was very excited.

They were very experienced in building houses. They had built their own houses before. Besides, the houses did not need to be as grand as Luc's wooden house. The serfs' houses only needed to shelter from wind and rain.

The old routine of laying the foundation, tamping the earth, cutting trees, and collecting thatch, the seven houses were typical medieval longhouses, but because there were no livestock, half of the area was cut off, turning them into a shape similar to an enlarged sandwich. Except for the four peasant women's houses, which were more spacious, the houses of the others could only accommodate a bed, a fireplace, a table and a little space for activities, which was only slightly more spacious than Luc's previous semi-underground house.

It took a dozen people a day to build the prototype of the first hut. Unlike Luc's horizontal wooden walls, the wood of the new house was arranged vertically, surrounding a rectangle. Then a "human" roof was built on the roof, and the gable roof hung down to the ground, leaving space for a chimney. Finally, clay was applied, thatch was laid, and wooden forks were used to fix the thatch. A small house was completed, and the next step was to follow the same method. Ryan would slowly build the furniture inside for them, but they would need to build the fireplace and the like themselves. The shack had not been demolished yet, and everyone was not in a hurry to move into the new house. Luc didn't worry too much and let them figure it out on their own. After all, there was a more important thing to do.

Ryan and Old Ek successfully captured two goats in the afternoon, but at the same time, they also brought new news.

"You mean, you found traces of wild boars?"

Luc didn't look at Ryan and Old Eck, but at the horse thief George behind them. George nodded nervously, "Yes, sir, I found their feces."

"Sir, before I came to Burgundy, I traveled to Bohemia, Swabia, and even Lombardy. I can still distinguish wild boar feces."

Seeing that Luc didn't say anything, George thought that Luc didn't believe it, so he quickly added a few words to prove himself.

"No, it's not that I don't believe you, I just thought of something else."

A horse thief would not be unfamiliar with animal feces. Luc just couldn't help but think of the piglets he had eaten before. If it weren't for the lack of food in winter, they would probably have grown up by now.

So when he heard that a group of pigs had appeared again, Luc immediately felt that it was time to raise a few pigs!

It seems that there is more food for the winter.

"Well done, George. If you contribute more in the future, I might consider building you a house to live in."

"Thank you, sir!"

George is much more honest than Martin when he comes to the mountains, but because of his criminal record, people are more wary of him than Martin.

Unlike the previous surprise attack in winter when the location of the wild boar cave was clearly known, this time the wild boars would be attacked by surprise as their range of activity expanded, and there was no telling whether there might be boars.

The tusks of male wild boars are not like those of sows that can only be used as grease lamps. Their tusks are so long that they can even poke their own eyes. Moreover, their impact force and speed are much higher than those of sows. This operation is very dangerous.

However, Luc's manpower was not as scarce as before. Since there was trace of wild boar, Luc did not intend to wait. The next day, he took all the men except Robert, took javelins, bows and arrows, and ropes, and went into the mountains with little Charlie to catch pigs.

(End of this chapter)