book of old days

Chapter 54 Bearskin Coats and Tobacco

Sean walked out of the woods and crossed the pebbled river beach. The black bear's body was on the other side of the river. He had to wade across the river. The cold water made his feet cold and his boots were wet and uncomfortable. Fortunately, the water was not very deep.

The briquettes followed behind him with their necks up, and immediately shook the water after landing on the shore.

Sean came to the black bear's corpse almost in a happy mood of 'touching the corpse'. This black bear seemed bigger than it looked from a distance. It was swarthy and covered with thick bear hair. The fat makes it look meaty.

This makes the trophy look even more 'fat'.

Sean had to admit that the nature of human beings may indeed have the instinct to kill. Seeing the beast he killed, Sean felt only excitement and a sense of accomplishment—this thing was much more fun than hunting rabbits.

However, looking at this huge bear carcass, Sean encountered difficulties. How should he deal with this thing?You can't just throw it away like this.

This black bear weighed at least [-] pounds, which wasn't too huge, but it wasn't something Sean could handle alone.

After thinking about it, Sean decided to ask them to come and help on Wednesday.

Sean doesn't plan to peel the skin by himself, he is not good at this, and the skin can easily be damaged, so it is best to find a professional for this kind of thing.

He was going to send the bear to Nordforsen, where he would find someone to skin it whole and sell the meat directly, and if conditions allowed, get a bearskin coat to wear later.

He is not short of a piece of bearskin money, why not keep it as a souvenir.

It took a lot of work to carry the bear carcass, and he took a group of goblins to transport the bear back to the mansion, loaded it into the wagon, and the rest was his own work.

By the time he drove the carriage to Nordforsen, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon.

Sean came to Ragnar's house and explained his purpose. Ragnar looked at the black bear's body in surprise,

It is not uncommon to hunt a black bear. There are many warriors in Nordforsen who can hunt wild animals, but it is very rare to leave such a good bear hide. He checked the body and found that the bullet went in from the left eye and shattered the bear skin. The bear's brain has perfectly avoided any possible damage to the fur, and there are no other wounds on its body. If this shot was done deliberately, then this shot is quite powerful.

Ragnar tentatively asked: "Is this what you hunted?"

Sean smiled slightly, "Of course."

"The marksmanship is not bad, you must have been very close to shoot, right?"

"Hehe, it's okay. I also practice marksmanship occasionally, so it doesn't have to be too close. It's only about a hundred paces."

Ragnar looked at him in disbelief, but the fact was right in front of him, and he couldn't question it.

Xiao En was secretly happy, but his face was pretending to be indifferent, "Do you know a master who can skin skin? I can hunt, but handling prey is not what I say I am good at."

"Of course, I know an old man named Bigd. We all call him Old Xiong. He used to be a very good hunter. Because he was injured while hunting, he now specializes in handling prey for people. Peeling and bacon is a must. , and can make fur goods, I will take you to him."

Ragnar took Sean to find the old man.

The old man’s house was full of bacon and furs. On one wall, Sean saw a set of one-piece bearskin clothes hanging on the wall like a crouching bear. When he came to Nordfossen , the old man driving the car is wearing this kind of bearskin coat,

"Do you want to peel off the skin? Are you going to sell it or use it yourself?"

"I'm going to make a bearskin coat or a bearskin blanket."

The old man listened and nodded: "It's a wise choice, your skin is perfect, I suggest making it into a one-piece bear skin coat, leaving the skin of the bear's head to make a bear-faced hood, and the front legs The skin of the bearskin is directly made into sleeves, and the skin of the hind legs is made into trousers. This kind of bearskin coat is very strong and warm. It can be used as a good camouflage when you hunt in the future. If you are going to participate in winter hunting, this thing is not necessary. It’s rare, and it can also be used as a quilt to sleep in it.”

Old Xiong gestured to the renderings, and even found his bearskin coat and showed it to Sean. According to him, Sean’s bearskin is very complete, and the bearskin coat he made must be better than his. That one fits better.

Sean is quite interested in this kind of one-piece bear coat, which feels very individual.

There are no down jackets in this era. Considering that the winter in Nordforsen will be very cold, Sean decided to accept the old man's suggestion.

"Then make it into a coat."

"Haha, you really have vision." Mr. Xiong took out the props and started to work.

Sean watched as the old man used a razor to completely peel off the bear's skin from the bear's abdomen, hollowed out the bear's brain, chopped off the bear's meat in large pieces and piled it in a wooden basin beside it, and then used it for smoking , Pickled.

He looked at it for a while and felt that it was too bloody, so he went out to catch his breath. The various furs on the shelves outside exuded a strong and pungent smell, but at least it was better than the inside.

Suddenly a strange smell came from the house, which refreshed him. When Sean turned his head, he saw that the old man got a pipe out of nowhere and was peeling the bear's skin while smoking.

Sean is not addicted to smoking. In fact, he didn't even smoke a few times in his previous life. He has always hated the smell of cigarettes. He also has no smoking habit in this life.

However, smelling the smell of smoke at this time, it felt like a cat scratched his heart.

The inexplicable feeling of anxiety that appeared in the morning resurfaced in my heart twice as much at this time.

He couldn't help but asked, "Can you give me a bite?"

"Of course," the old man said, rubbing the mouth of the pipe on the leather jacket a few times, and handing it over.

Sean was not suspicious either, he took it and took a big puff. The cigarette entered his lungs, and then slowly exhaled it. At that moment, he seemed to be sublimated.

It was as comfortable as if I could finally sit down and have a good rest after working hard all my life.

Looking at the pipe in his hand, he finally understood what was causing the restless feeling. The hunter of the memory he had absorbed must have had a serious addiction to cigarettes. When he absorbed his memory, he also passed on his attachment to cigarettes to the on him.

Yes, it must be like this. It is said in the book that the last memory that every lost spirit body retains must be the deepest memory in his lifetime.

From this point of view, the hunter must be a smoker.

He was thinking while smoking a cigarette, the smoke did not make him drowsy, but made him extremely awake.

He was a little worried. It would be fine if this feeling lasted for a short time, but it would be troublesome if it existed all the time. After all, he planned to absorb a lot of memories. If he absorbed more times, wouldn't he be infected with a lot of memories? Quirks?

I don't know what weird hobbies those ancient people had.

"Okay, it's peeled off!" Xiong Lao said, pulling hard, and finally peeled off the complete bear skin. He hung the bear skin on a shelf beside him, "It takes a lot to make this thing into a fur coat process, washing, drying and tanning.

Because it is a one-piece coat, it doesn’t take too much effort to cut it. It takes about a week in total. I can smoke or marinate the bear meat for you, and it can be processed in two or three days. A total of eight silver tacos will be charged to you. "

Sean paid a gold pound directly, telling him to do it well. The bearskin coat will be very useful this winter, and it will be a good souvenir when he leaves here in the future.

As for the bear meat, he originally planned to sell it, but since it can be smoked, he can eat it himself, and he can give some to Ragnar later.

Following Ragnar, he left Elder Xiong's house. When he went out, Ragnar suddenly asked: "Your marksmanship is so good, are you interested in participating in this year's winter hunting?"

"Winter hunting? When?"

"Wait to prepare after the first snow falls, and set off when the road is frozen hard. Those white animals will only appear in winter."

Ragnar explained to Sean that many animals will moult in winter to resist the severe winter cold, and some of them will change into white fur in winter to survive in the snow-covered forest. camouflage color.

After dealing with the Bretons for a long time, the Nords have also learned some silly things, such as promoting the magic and rarity of white animals, what kind of spirit beasts, messengers of the gods, etc., to improve their price point.

But in fact, the so-called white animal fur often refers to winter fur.

Even so, white fur is still an extremely rare treasure, because hunting in northern Nord in winter is much more difficult than usual, and it is also more dangerous. Not only ferocious beasts, but also the severe cold climate is a great threat .

"Where to go hunting?"

"Northern, further north than Nordland, with a bearskin coat, you can withstand the severe cold of the polar region. If you don't have this thing, I will definitely not invite you to go. We are going to try it on the North Sea coast this year. Give it a try, and if you are lucky, you might even see the aurora."

Xiao En has no interest in participating in winter hunting. Although he does like hunting a little bit, he is terrified at the thought of climbing ice and snow in the icy and snowy north. He is not short of money, so there is no need to suffer this crime.

"Forget it, I'm more afraid of the cold, so..."

Ragnar shook his head helplessly and said nothing more.

After parting with Ragnar, Sean went straight to the grocery store and bought a pound of tobacco and a briar pipe.

On the way home, he smoked happily while driving the carriage, feeling happier than anything else.

Well, since I can’t resist the temptation, I’ll join it. Anyway, I have spiritual water, so I’m not afraid of pumping it. At worst, I’ll summon a lake fairy when I get old and suffer from lung disease, and there’s nothing to do in Nordfössen. What a hell place, smoking a pipe is a kind of enjoyment when you have nothing to do.

This pleasant mood lasted until the evening. After dinner, Sean sat in front of the fireplace and read a book. Naturally, he wanted to light the pipe. However, he had only smoked half a bag, and suddenly felt a nausea. It wasn't until he kept coughing and coughing that he suddenly realized that the smell of the pipe in his hand suddenly didn't smell good at all.

He looked at the pipe in his hand speechlessly, took another tentative puff, and immediately spit it out, yes, it was indeed not fragrant, and even disgusted him, as if all the obsessive and intoxicating things disappeared at once It's like it's gone.

The next morning, he didn't want to smoke, and he still didn't feel the craving at noon. In the afternoon, Sean tried it again, but the strong smell of smoke made him feel nauseous.

He put away both the pipe and the tobacco leaves with some rejoicing and regret.

It's no fun now, but it's good, at least this way you don't have to worry about getting too many bad habits. Thinking about it this way, Sean is happy again.

That night, he came to the Burial Ground again.

(End of this chapter)