Herbs and Spices Valley

When I get back to chief Harvard house, he already backs from his chief duty and sitting in the main room while drinking something. He greets me with enthusiasm when see me arrive

"Master Ikki, are you going to the forest now?"

"Yeah, I'll be prepared for a while first then I'm going to meet mister Matius and Marius. Are you want to come along chief?"

"No, not me but Silvie. She wants me to ask master Ikki if she can go along to forest today"

"Eh? Not you but her, chief?"

"Um. She said she wants to collect some herbs in the forest. Well, can she go with you master Ikki?"

"Ugh, I'll be leaving soon. If she wants to go along with me then she should ready when I'm going"

"She'll be here in a minute, master Ikki"

"Oh okay, I'll be prepared myself first then"

I'm going to my room to prepare my backpack with me. If I found the cave and return, I can't leave it here, right? So basically I'm just not leaving anything here. I also refill my water drink bottle with boiled water that I prepared last night when cooking. When I'm about leaving the house, Silvie come in a hurry

"Ah, there she is master Ikki. Silvie hurries up, master Ikki is about to leave" chief Harvard told her daughter to make a haste.

"Yes, father. Please wait a minute, I'm taking my bag"

She comes into the house and comes out with a bag on her shoulder and a basket in her hand.

"Okay let's go"

I and Silvie walk to the meeting place with Matius and Marius. And when we arrive there, they already there with Lukas too. Matius and Marius bring their bow and quiver like yesterday but Lukas bring a pick and shovel with him, he seems to want to dig something on that hill.

"Sorry to make you waiting, gentlemen"

"It's alright master Ikki, we not waiting too long"

"Shall we go now master Ikki?"

"Yes, we're in your care in this trip"

So we go through the same route yesterday. Only after the first hill mister Lukas continue his trip to the second hill while we take the opposite direction. During the trip Matius and Marius able to hunt down some preys When I ask what they do with so many preys, they answer that they bartering the meat for the food like kentang (potato) or jagung (corn). Seems there're no currencies in this village since they not under formal government. From the merchant that come to their village they also do bartering, and sometimes keep some silver coins for savings.

The new route that we taking didn't lead to any hills like yesterday, instead, it leads to a small valley. I ask Matius if he knows anything about this valley

"Mister Matius, do you know about this valley?"

"Ah, it's a small valley with many different plants. Nothing is edible thou. Deer, wild goat, pheasant is often seen here, master Ikki"

He's a hunter, of course, he only notices about what kind of prey he can find here. We walk through the valley and see what's inside. On a part in the valley, I see some trees that growing greenie fruits with size like an eyeball. Oh, it's lime! I take some of those lime with me

"Master Ikki, do you want to eat that? It taste is so sour that no one eats it" Matius warn me about this lime.

"It's okay, I'm not planning to eat this directly. What this fruit called mister Matius"

"It's jeru' master Ikki"

I'm nodded. So lime in this world is called jeru'. It's an ingredient with many uses,, for an example to remove fish stench and give fresh aroma for the cooking. It's also can use to wash the plates and remove the grease from the plates.

Silvie also takes some leaves and roots that she find here and put it in her basket. Her activity incites my curiosity.

"Silvie, what are you taking there?"

"Ah Ikki, I take some herbs that usually used for medicine in the village"

"Oh, you know how to make herbal medicine? That's great"

She bashfully smiles when hearing my praise. Hey, I really praise her from my heart you know, not coax her. I think her skill in medicine making it's important to time when medical technology hasn't develop.

"If you have time I also want to learn how to make medicine from those herbs"

"Okay, Ikki" she looks happy when hearing my request.

We explore the valley deeper. This time I do not only see lime but also some other plants that can be used as the food ingredient, Star anise, cinnamon, camellia, hazelnut, castanet, and chili? I pick some of the chilies with interest.

"Don't eat that master Ikki" suddenly Matius give me a warning

"Eh? Why is that mister Matius?"

"That small fruit can burn your mouth"

"What is this fruit called mister Matius?"

"It's called cabai master Ikki. It also called as hell fruit because of making mouth like burn in hell and need lot water to ease the burning feeling"

"Haha, it's so? I will remember that mister Matius, thanks"

Yeah, of course, the hot sensation from chili does not dispel just with water. it's more effective to use something sweet to ease the hot taste from chili from out tongue.

I really like this valley, it's a precious place for a cook like me. I somehow feel this valley is used to be a spice cultivation area, with so many spices can be found here. Maybe if I also search for spices that grow under the soil, I can find ginger, onion or garlic. But I'll do that when I have a chance to visit this valley again.