I wanted to enjoy a slow life while exploring the territory with a secret gift [craft skill], but I was intentionally banished to the frontier by pretending to be incompetent.

Volume 5-: Lesser Elf Village

Chapter 11-: Let's catch big fish!

(TL By GUST)

"It has arrived!"

I turned around at Terine's voice, which resembled a scream of despair. She was currently clutching a flexible rod with both hands, standing unsteadily and on the verge of collapse.

What Terine held in her hands was the latest model fishing rod I had crafted for each of us since my return with the carriage.

The son of a coastal lord, who finally managed to bring the newly circulating "reel" fishing rod with a device to wind the fishing line, showed it to me in the capital. Though he resided there, on his days off he would join the local fishermen, venturing out to sea and catching fish. Once, he invited me to try shore fishing, where he taught me about the mechanism of this state-of-the-art fishing rod.

"Oh no! It's pulling me!"

"Be careful! I'm coming!"

Setting aside the fishing rod I held in my hand, I rushed towards Terine and tightly gripped the rod together with her. Surprised by the unexpectedly strong tug, I braced my feet and slowly started reeling the line with the reel.

"This seems like a big catch."

"Eek!"

After returning with the carriage, this impromptu fishing contest had turned into a victory for the village children, who had been outperforming us by catching multiple fish. However, most of their catches were small. If we could manage to reel in this big fish on Terine's rod, a comeback was still within reach. I renewed my determination and focused on the task at hand.

However, there weren't any specific rules in this fishing contest that declared the winner as the person who caught the largest fish.

"Don't panic... Stay calm," I reassured Terine as she desperately pulled on the rod, gently moving it to avoid opposing the strength of the fish.

I recalled the advice I had received during that shore fishing experience about what to do when a big fish is hooked. Although it wasn't me who caught the big fish back then.

"Don't force it or the fishing line will break. We need to slowly weaken the fish..."

Flickering glimpses of a fish, about the size of an arm, became visible in the water. Our battle with the fish, which fought desperately to escape, continued for some time. The children gathered nearby, anxiously watching as the fish's strength gradually diminished.

"Rest-sama, whenever you're ready."

Even amidst the commotion, Kieda calmly held a landing net, searching for an opportunity to scoop up the fish and waiting on the shore. I silently nodded in response to his words and whispered in Terine's ear, "Alright, on the count of three, two, one, we'll pull together."

Terine silently returned the nod, and I began the countdown.

"Three..."

The hand holding the rod tightened.

"Two..."

The fish was within reach of Kieda's net.

"One! Pull!"

In unison with the command, we pulled the rod with all our might. Despite its weakened state, the fish was still quite substantial, and its weight on our arms exceeded our expectations.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

Our voices strained with effort.

"It's here!"

Right after Kieda's voice, we heard the sound of the net splashing into the water, followed by a loud splashing noise reverberating in the surroundings. It was the sound of the giant fish thrashing about inside the net.

"Well, this is... quite a catch. Oof..."

Thud.

Simultaneously, we both fell on our backsides.

"Kyaa!"

"Ouch, that hurts!"

While holding our sore bottoms, I hurriedly stood up and offered a hand to Terine, who was also clutching her rear end.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But more importantly..."

"Ah, let's go see the fish we caught."

We brushed off the dirt from our bottoms and headed towards the spot where the children had gathered in a circle. In the center, Kieda was crouched down, seemingly trying to remove the fish from the net.

"Kieda."

"Rest-sama, please have a look."

Saying so, Kieda lifted the caught fish. It may not have been as impressive as the spring's guardian I had heard about before, but the fish was indeed larger than my arm, as expected. No, it was a gigantic fish even bigger than Kieda's arm.

"This is amazing."

"It's only natural that I was dragged around," Terine chimed in as we both tiredly but joyfully discussed the fish. Seeing us, Coritoko and the children beamed with smiles, excitedly joining in.

"My lord! We've never seen a fish this big caught even by the villagers!"

"Incredible!"

"It's a feast!"

"It looks delicious!"

As the enthusiasm shifted towards hunger, it was indeed time for our stomachs to growl. I had heard from Coritoko that the fish the children had caught would be cooked at today's feast, but we also needed to include this massive fish we caught.

"Alright, let's wrap up the fishing contest for now and head back to the village. Bring your equipment and fish with you; we'll load them onto that carriage."

I pointed towards the carriage, delivering the instruction.

"Yes!"

"Got it!"

"We'll tidy up our rods!"

The children energetically replied and dispersed to gather their fishing rods and the fish they caught.

"Now, let's go too. By the way, what is the Holy Beast doing?"

"Still in the same position."

"Perhaps it's having some kind of conversation."

Our gaze focused on the scene before us. The Holy Beast was standing in front of Lironante, continuously speaking in a language only understood by beasts.

"Blurululul."

"Blurururururul."

Sometimes softly, sometimes with a sense of roughness.

We had no idea what it was talking about, as we couldn't understand the language of beasts.

"Could it be that it's giving Lironante a lengthy lecture too?"

"It's possible."

Feeling exasperated, I had turned my attention to stop that lengthy conversation and guide the carriage here with great effort.

Next

Prev