"Kid, kid,
Little kid,
Eat plenty of grass, eat plenty of acorns,
When you grow big, run far, far away.
Kid, kid,
Little kid."
While plucking leaves from the branch,
Ten'yu
sang. The leaves were for medicine.
"What is that song?"
Maomao asked, rolling her shoulders.
(Ugh, my whole body's stiff.)
Reflecting that she really shouldn't have lain down in such an awkward position, she picked up the branch. Plucking leaves one by one was tedious, so she slid her finger along the stem to knock them all off at once. The thicker branches had thorns, though, so she had to check before doing that.
Ten'yu could just do the same, but he was plucking them one by one in such a plodding, tedious way it was annoying to watch.
"Hmm, this song? It's everywhere — just a nursery rhyme."
"I see."
She hadn't asked because she was particularly interested. The melody was oddly catchy, and she'd simply hummed along without thinking — but that was a mistake.
"Want to hear the second verse?"
"Not really."
"Well, the second verse goes—"
"Calf, calf,
Little calf,
Eat plenty of bugs, eat plenty of bamboo shoots,
When you grow big, run far, far away.
Inoko, inoko
"Little inoko"
Following the fawns, it went on to the boars.
"Deer and boar?"
"That's right. My family are hunters, you see. When we were little, they said those creatures were really adorable, but once they grew up, everyone used to say they were insufferably hateful. Thanks to them, our family was always welcomed."
Deer and boars were both pests, yet they also provided meat. A hunter would certainly be welcomed.
"About running far, far away…"
"It's a nursery rhyme, so kids sing it. If they keep getting fat and big, they'll have no choice but to become meat. That said, once they become meat, they do taste pretty good."
"Hmm. And number three is a bear?"
Maomao recalled the times she had been allowed to help butcher bears.
"Exactly. But with bears, it's the humans who run away in the lyrics. No matter how cute the cubs are, you mustn't go near them. The mother bear is terrifying."
"That makes sense."
Maomao crushed a basketful of leaves. After this, she would wash, steam, and dry them.
"Bear livers are valuable, so I wish they'd catch as many as they can."
"Bears, huh. It's bear-hunting season now, so won't they start showing up?"
"I certainly hope so."
Maomao's wish would come true more easily than she expected.
Several days later, Maomao found herself deep in the forest.
She had been hurriedly placed in a carriage on the orders of a senior court physician.
"What exactly are we going to do?"
One of them gazed at Maomao with a worried expression—
Changsha.
The petite, blunt-tongued junior court lady had been abruptly dragged outside and was anxious about everything.
The other person wearing a worried look
was Yao
Indeed. Today,
En'en
was not here.
"Yao and Maomao both look quite exhausted, but surely today's work isn't just shopping, is it?"
Chousha wasn't wearing her usual white physician's robe, but regular clothes instead. She had on the jacket she'd been bragging about recently purchasing, which didn't quite suit a trek through the forest.
In contrast, both Maomao and Yao were dressed in rather grimy outfits. If En'en had seen Yao's appearance, she would have lost her mind.
"You'll understand soon enough."
Yao's tone was curt. She wasn't irritated about the disheveled appearance. She simply had no patience to spare.
"Here, take this."
Maomao pulled a jacket that was practically a rag from the supplies and held it out.
"Huh?"
Chousha's face twisted, wondering if this was some kind of harassment.
"And this too."
She held out a garment with the sleeves tightly secured at the cuffs.
The footwear
was also made of fur.
"What exactly are we going to do?"
"Butchering animals."
Maomao had Chousha change into the outfit, and then they headed into the forest. Yao followed along with a deathly pale face.
"Oh, you made it."
The one who came to greet them was Senior Wanwan. About seven new physicians stood nearby with the same anxious look on their faces as Chousha.
"Maomao, are you doing the exercise too?"
"No, I'm here as a chaperone."
"Same as me, then."
Being a capable and excellent mid-level physician, she was perfectly suited for chaperoning the new physicians.
Some looked just as bewildered as Chousha, while others were as pale in the face as Yao.
The former were those experiencing their first animal dissection; the latter were those who had been assigned remedial training.
Maomao looked at Yao.
"Yao, you really don't have to force yourself to participate."
"I'm not forcing myself. It's fine, it's fine."
Yao murmured as if trying to convince herself.
Maomao exhaled deeply. A puff of white breath left her lips and dissipated immediately. Feeling the chill around her neck, she wrapped a hand towel tighter and pulled out a set of blades from her belongings.
"Here you go."
Maomao handed the blades to Chousha. It was a set of three knives of varying lengths and thicknesses — small surgical knives made to be more durable.
"These three knives are the only supplies you'll be issued. If you need more, you'll have to buy them yourself."
Maomao glanced at Yao. Her belongings contained over ten boxed knives.
(Ideally, she should make do with just these three.)
Surgery was not cooking. In an emergency procedure, there wouldn't even be time to select the right tools.
It was Yan Yan who had assembled those tools, not Yao. It was clear that Yao was trying to compensate for her lack of aptitude with equipment.
"So what are we working on today?"
Maomao headed toward the hunting lodge she had passed by numerous times.
"Whoa!"
Chousha let out a sound that was half surprise, half scream.
"A bear."
A bear was hanging from a tree. Its tongue lolled out lifelessly.
"I-Is it dead?!"
"If it were alive, they wouldn't have called us in the first place. Well then, time to get to work."
Those were the words of the new physician's senior colleague, wagging his finger with a grin.
The hunter lowered the bear from the tree and placed it on a large rock to make it easier to carve open.
"You kids can go ahead and butcher it, alright? I don't want the meat quality to degrade any further. This one just had its blood drained recently."
"I know."
The hunter's words made perfect sense. Normally, you had to drain the blood and remove the organs right away, or the taint would spread. He had gone out of his way to notify them and wait so the medical officials could examine the innards.
(So that's why. God, it stinks.)
Maomao twitched her nose.
Blood didn't smell all that much when it was fresh. It was the decomposition that made the stench terrible. That was probably why blood wasn't particularly popular as food—it spoiled so easily. She had heard that fresh blood, stuffed into intestines, was actually quite delicious.
She had a handkerchief pressed over her mouth, but it couldn't completely block out the smell.
(Good season for this, at least.)
It was the end of the year. The season was on the cusp of snowfall but hadn't quite gotten there yet, which meant the insects were sluggish—thank goodness for that.
It wasn't just pests like flies—even parasites were less active. She had to be careful not to bring back any jumping fleas or mites, and that alone was enough to worry about.
The hunter split open the supine bear starting from the throat where it had been bled. After severing the esophagus, he proceeded to slice upward from the anus.
"Ugh—"
One of the young medical officials vanished at the smell of blood and organs.
Yao was red-eyed from holding it in, but he was hanging on.
(What about Chousha?)
Chousha's complexion was poor, but it didn't look like she was about to vomit. She watched the dissection without looking away.
Whether to save time or because it was too much for one person, it was a three-man operation. It looked rough, but their skill at removing the organs without damaging them was impressive. One of them kept sprinkling water to wash away the blood and keep things visible.
The removed organs were stuffed into a large tub. Some were tossed into a smaller tub as well.
"We'll take this lot,"
said the blood-soaked hunter.
"Understood. We'll be borrowing the space for a while."
"Sure. Just wash the blood away clean when you're done."
The hunters carried off the bear, now reduced to meat and fur, along with the small tub.
The mass of organs left behind was giving off a foul stench.
"Well then, it's our turn now."
"W-We're doing this⁉"
"Let's begin."
It was a tone that brooked no argument.
Maomao, who was accustomed to this sort of thing, carefully arranged the dissected organs on the rock.
"If anyone has a cut on their hands, please try not to get blood or organs on it. You could catch something."
It was cold, so things were fairly contained, but wild beasts could harbor parasites year-round.
"Those of you too scared to touch them can at least go fetch some water."
The senior officer said this to the young medical officials. They looked momentarily put out, but two of them obediently went off to fetch water.
As Maomao laid out the organs, she tilted her head at the missing parts.
"Are they planning to eat these as delicacies?"
The missing portions were probably what had been placed in the small bucket.
"I imagine it'll be fine once they're cooked."
That said, even from the teaching side, things were difficult without enough material to work with.
"Come to think of it—"
She looked up at the sky.
"At this rate, we'll have to stay overnight. Is that going to be a problem?"
"I don't mind myself, but I'll ask the other two as well. Should I arrange lodging for us?"
"Please do."
The sun would set while they received their explanation of the organs.