When I came out of the sea, I saw the four of them eating watermelon. They must have been tired of waiting because I had been diving for half an hour.
“Give me one too.”
“No, this is my watermelon.”
“It’s okay, just bring it to me. Let me eat too!”
I snatched a piece of watermelon from Erna and I put it in my mouth leisurely. She is screaming next to me, but it’s outrageous for her to eat delicious food alone.
“I brought it! You are terrible!”
“Then let me ask you, this is your what, your first piece?”
“Ugh… it’s my third one.”
As expected. I can tell by looking at the stacked skin on the side. I guess that she is also thinking of eating my portion anyway. You are so naive and as sweet as this watermelon, Erna.
“Father, did you get any kelp?”
“Yeah. This is it.”
I took out the kelp I just picked up from the bangle and hands it to Pero.
“It’s bigger than I thought.”
“Right. The kelp around here seems to grow very well.”
In Japan, Hokkaido is spreading its name as a kelp production area. It seems that rich nutrients and cold seawater temperature allow kelp to grow larger, but kelp from another world seems to be a little different. I came to Naji relying on my intuition and I was lucky to suddenly get a hit.
Pero stared intently at the kelp, then he curiously took a bite.
“……Uh-, it tastes bad.”
“That should be the case. Kelp is dried before eating you see. It wouldn’t taste good when eaten raw.”
By the way, kelp can also be eaten raw. However, it is not often purchased at fish stores because it spoils quickly. Dried kelp is probably the most common form outside of Hokkaido, where it is produced.
I pulled out some pieces of wood from the bangle and sticks them into the sand. After that, I stretched out some thread and coiled it to the sticks. Then I hanged the kelp cut into moderately sized pieces to the thread. The wind volume and sunlight is perfect. And in this way, I left the kelp to dry.
“Pero and Freya please watch the kelp dry. I will go towards the town.”
“Yes, I’ll be waiting.”
As he said this, Pero blew on the kelp, and a cold wind drifted around him. As expected from someone with ice attribute, it seems that dried kelp will be produced sooner than expected.
“I’m going to the town too!”
“Go to town”
It looks like Erna and Liz are going with me. I was thinking of going there to hang out by myself but I guess it can’t be helped then. The three of us decided to take a walk together. As we walked along the sandy beach, I saw a tanned beast woman sleeping under a parasol. There are also other stylish women playing in the water at the beach. I thought of opening the eyes on my forehead but I decided to keep it closed. Sometimes, it’s not a bad idea to enjoy the scenery while imagining the hidden places. Hmm, it’s true that swimsuits make women look 20% or 30% more beautiful. At the beach, the figure, including the swimsuit, is supreme. Fufufu.
“Hey! Shinichi!?”
Erna glared at me. It seems that she found out that I am only looking at women. As public manners, it is clearly my bad. I hurriedly looked away and then for some reason, I saw Liz doing some poses.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m more attractive.”
Erna snorts at Liz’s remark.
“With such undeveloped and flat body, you’re one to talk huh.”
“I’ll kill you, Rival!”
The two of them began to glare at each other. Thinking that this is not good, I run to a stall on the beach. I bought two ice cream made from three fruit juices and gave it to Erna and Liz.
“Both of you, please calm down.”
The two of them accepted the ice cream and they began to lick it softly. With this, there will be no fights for a while. For the most part, Liz is still growing so there is no need to rush because it’s going to get bigger in the future.
When we climbed the stairs from the beach and entered the town, I saw a number of residents walking in swimsuits. A woman with tanned brown skin is walking proudly down the street in a risqué swimsuit. The similarly tanned men would whistle and call out to the woman whenever they saw her. In the café overlooking the sea, couples are drinking tea. Many of the buildings were made with white wall, giving the impression that we had come to a Mediterranean resort.
When we go deeper into the town, we reached a place that looks like a market. Fresh fish, shrimp and shellfish are placed on display, and the store staff greets the passers-by to attract customers.
“Hi, welcome! We have a lot of freshest seafood for you! This guys were just caught!”
“Hmmm, they’re all seafood I’ve seen before.”
When I looked at the goods in the store, I saw abalone, turban shells and shrimp. In reality, it may be a different kind from the one on Earth, but I know from experience that it is not so different. I decided to ask the staff a question.
“Can’t you catch bonito around here?”
“Bonito?? What is that?”
He didn’t seem understand me when I said the name of the fish on earth. I took out a pen and paper from the bangle and drew a picture of a fish. I just drew a horizontal line on the body of a tuna-like fish.
“Ah-, that is a ‘Katuon’. It is a fish that can be caught if you go several tens of kilometers offshore from here.”
“Don’t you have that Katuon?”
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to catch any in this town for a while. Apparently, there’s a monster that is destroying the fishing grounds around here. All the large migratory fish have run away you see.”
“Is it a magical beast? Then, if we defeat it, you can get it, right?”
“Well, in a nutshell, yes. However, that magical beast seems to be ridiculously big in size and it is extremely ferocious. If you’re thinking of going to fight it, you’d better stop.”
I tried to get more details from the store staff but he refused, saying that it would be quicker to ask a fisherman. I decided to buy turban shell and abalone as a thank you for the information and then we went to eat it right next to the store. To my surprise, this store has prepared a kind of shichirin for its customers. It is a nice service to be able to eat immediately after purchase.
“The abalone is wriggling.”
“Turban is bubbling.”
The two of them are as curious as a child as they stare at the shellfish being grilled on the wire mesh. When I dripped a few drops of soy sauce from the bangle onto the shellfish, a savory smell spread out. For the finishing touches, I put butter on top of the abalone.
Feeling my saliva, I put the thinly sliced abalone fillet in my mouth. I can’t help but let out a gasp of joy.
“It’s delicious! What’s this!?”
“The turban is also delicious.”
“Delicious -nya! Tasty -nya!”
Oh yes, soy sauce and butter is the best combination.
……Hn? Wait-, Isn’t there an extra person?
“Umnya!! What are you doing -nya!?”
I pinched the ear of the cat-eared woman and looked at her face. It was Lena who was stealing and eating with us.
“Eh? Lena? Why are you here?”
“Nyanya!? That face-, Shinichi!? Now that I look closely, I can see Erna too -nya!”
Lena’s expression brightens up and she hugs me tightly. The soft touch was transmitted directly to my body so I feel hot under my nose. I’m on my swimsuit now and Lena is also only wearing a bikini on her upper body. Uhoho.
“Lena, do you want to disappear?”
“Hii! Erna’s eyes are so scary -nya! I’ll leave right away -nya!”
Before I knew it, I saw Erna raising her wand and Lena curled her tail. Lena’s current look is that her upper body is in a blue triangle bikini and her lower body in shorts. She is also wearing a swimsuit underneath that shorts, but the fact that only a part of the panties are visible makes me strangely aroused.
But, when did she get into our midst though?
“It smelled so good so I just ate it-nya. I’m sorry-nya.”
“That’s fine. But why are you here? Wasn’t Lena an adventurer in Ganesha?”
“My hometown is Sarasvadi-nya. What is Shinichi and your comrades doing in this town-nya?”
Sarasvadi is probably the name of this town. I didn’t know it was Lena’s hometown. This is good though, it is very convenient to have acquaintances in town.
“We came here in search of katuon. However, it seems that there is a powerful magical beast and they can’t catch it here anymore. I’d like to hear more about it. Are there any fishermen that Lena knows?”
“My father is a fisherman -nya! Maybe he can get you a ship-nya!”
“Oh, I appreciate that. I would like to meet him!”
“It can’t be helped then-nya. I can’t refuse a request from someone I know -nya.”
Lena says as she picks up a piece of abalone. It was the last slice so Erna and Liz were glaring at Lena.
“Here -nya!”
After that light meal, Lena showed us around the town. When we came to the port, we ran up to the largest of the many sailing ships. The hull of the ship was labeled “Nyachiras Group” and the bow was decorated with a statue in the shape of a cat. Lena calls out to the ship and then a man with white beard and clothes with white and red stripes comes out. He has a pipe in his mouth, he is truly a man of the sea.
“Oi- Lena, who are they -nya?”
“Friend -nya! They said they want to get some Katuon -nya!”
“Katuon-nya? They don’t know about the rumors of the magical beast, do they -nya?”
The man who appeared to be Lena’s father looked at us and then he nodded in approval. Apparently, he gauged that we are strong.
“It’s okay to send a ship -nya. However, I can’t send out a ship for free -nya.”
“If you are okay with Logas gold coin, I could give you about twenty.”
“It’s decided -nya! I’ll guide you to the fishing grounds where the magical beast comes out -nya!”
I got the OK in one go. I just think that the power of money is really great. As soon as we got on board, he unfolded the folded sails and the ship began to move slowly.
The goal is to catch katuon. Let’s set off in search of seafood.
◇◇◇
The dazzling sun shines on the sea and the ship. All of that 360 degree view is the horizon. The wooden sailboat is continuously going forward, moving slightly up and down due to the waves. Fish are jumping in the distance and the contrast between the blue sky and white clouds is pleasant.
“You guys are in luck -nya. Today we have a tailwind and our speed is fast. If we keep going like this, we’ll be at the fishing grounds in about an hour -nya.”
The captain at the helm said with a laugh. He is a muscular man of the sea but he seems to be a rather friendly person. He would tell us a lot about what kind of fish we can catch in this area. As for her daughter, she is holding a fishing rod but she is staring at the sea in a daze.
“Do you think you can catch something?”
“Hmm, I don’t know -nya. Fishing is like gambling -nya. Some days you can catch something and some days, you can’t catch anything at all -nya.”
At that moment, there was a reaction to Lena’s fishing rod. The thread is pulled into the sea, and the rod forms a mountain shape.
“It’s quite a big guy -nya!”
She pulls it up with all her might and the hooked creature bounces on the deck. As for its appearance, the color of its skin changes rapidly like an LCD screen, and its two large eyes are staring at us and the other human on the deck.
I immediately recognized it as a squid.
“Aghh-, it’s a failure -nya!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“It is as I said -nya. We can’t eat this Iga -nya.”
“??”
I tilt my head in confusion. Squid here is called Iga but they are basically the same. But, what does she mean by we can’t eat it? Lena, who immediately noticed my confusion, explained to me.
“Iga is a creature with a lot of parasites -nya. In addition to that, it looks disgusting so everyone has been avoiding it for a long time -nya.”
“Don’t you eat squid? You’re joking right?”
I was stunned. How can people in this world not eat such delicious seafood? At this rate, the octopus is probably not eaten for the same reason. I grabbed the squid about 50 cm long and decided to cut it with a knife.
“Don’t tell me… are you really planning to eat it -nya?”
“Yup. Squid can be eaten if it is cooked properly. Watch carefully how I prepare it.”
First, I poke its forehead area (the part just slightly above its eyes). After that, I pierced the area between its eyes. This is an act called shimeru, you kill it by cutting its nerves and piercing its brain. In this way, it is possible to leave a crunchy texture. It seems that the taste does not change immediately even if you don’t prepare it after fishing. The difference on the taste becomes clear after a while though.
Then I cut open the belly part, take out the internal organs and the whole thing is dismembered. When the skin is peeled off, the abdomen is cut into easy-to-eat slices. One thing to keep in mind is that the larger the fillet, the more notched it should be. It is a technique called scoring, it is done by making a shallow cut on the surface of the fillet. With this, it can kill parasites and make it easier to absorb soy sauce and other products.
I then put the fillet on a plate, drip soy sauce on top and it’s done.
“Try it.”
“Are you sure -nya?”
Lena fearfully brings the squid fillet to her mouth. When I tried it too, it was crunchy and really delicious.
“……Not bad -nya.”
“It’s a shame to avoid it just because of its appearance you know. Additionally, parasites can be controlled by the way they are prepared and cooked.”
“I didn’t know that -nya.”
Oops. I forgot Erna and Liz. When I looked at them, they were both down with seasickness. The two of them are lying on the deck and instead of the parasol, Liz’s dark cloud is blocking out the sun for them.
“Enough already… I want to go back to land.”
“I like the sea, I hate the ship.”
Both of their faces turned pale and they are muttering to themselves. They must have feel sick on their first time on a ship. On the other hand, I’m fine, well, maybe it’s a racial trait.
“This area is the fishing ground -nya.”
Hearing the captain’s voice, I looked around and saw no sign of the magical beast in question. As expected, it must be a fish-type magical beast.
“Hn?”
As I looked in the sea, it looked like something huge had just passed under the ship. I wonder if its the rumored creature lurking in this area. Then, a kilometer from the boat, something like a big fish jumped up.
Oh-, it was a mermaid. From afar, the mermaid certainly looked like a fish jumping up and down the sea surface.
“Run away!!”
The mermaid pops her head out of the water and she waves her hands as if signaling something. Eventually, she comes towards us. As the mermaid approached the ship, she shouted a warning.
“Hurry up, run away! That guy is coming!”
I leaned forward and calls out to the mermaid in the sea.
“What do you mean by that guy is coming?”
“You are… Shinichi Tanaka-san?”
“Yes. Well, you are Sophia Binet, right?”
Apparently, the mermaid is someone I know. What a coincidence, in this wide sea, we meet twice already in just one day. But rather than that, I want to know the true meaning of her words.
“You have to get away from here, that guy is coming! Look! He is showing up.”
In the direction Sophia was pointing, something huge appeared from under the sea. It had two triangular ears, and the long torso made it seem like a rocket. The ten tentacles have large suction cups, indicating that it never let its prey escape.
It’s a ridiculously big squid. It is approximately 30 meters long. Then suddenly, it jumped at a position not far from the ship.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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