Chapter 263

Fishing

“Ah, I forgot!”

“”Nniyu?””

(Oniichan, what is the matter?)

(Niisama?)

(Is something the matter, Aniue?)

(What, what? What’s up?)

(Tak.u.mi Nii?)

In the middle of playing in the ocean, I suddenly remembered something important and raised my voice, and the kids stared at me worriedly .

“Sorry, I remembered that we forgot about souvenirs . ”

“”Souvenirs~?””

“For Rebecca-san and others . We were told that it would be fine to just talk about our journey, but it would be better to prepare some kind of items, don’t you think?”

(Niisama, did you not say you would take the Tyrant Bear fur we found at the lake as a souvenir?)

Sure enough, Vector did find a good bear fur at the sparkling water lake*** . It has already been processed by artisans at the Kelm’s Adventurer’s Guild . But that’s not good enough .

***(I don’t recall any bears, so it’s either LN-only bear encounter at the hot springs, or the sparkling water lake itself is a place they only visit in the LN version, I honestly have no idea . )

“Yeah, but that’s not enough . ”

“”Ah, wolf!””

Allen and Elena shouted as if they remembered something .

“We did not make promises to get it, but we did talk about getting bear and wolf fur for a rug as a souvenir, didn’t we?”

We also talked about Dragon meat, but that seems quite impossible, so let’s prepare the fur rugs as we said .

(I see . We need to get wolf fur then!)

“It would be nice if we could . ”

“”((((… Wolf . ))))””

When I nodded to Joule’s words, the eyes of the other children turned towards him .

(W, what!? A, are you thinking about getting it from me!? You cannot do that!!)

Joule shuddered .

(My, oh my, Joule, we have not said anything . We only happened to look your way . )

(That’s right . We will commit to getting the fur as long as Aniue wants it, but we would not tear it off of you just because . We only happened to look your way . )

Feat and Bolt claimed that they only happened to look Joule’s way .

Rather, Bolt-san? You were going to pluck Joule’s fur if I said I want it!?

(Oniichaaa~n . )

“They only happened to look your way after talking about a wolf . No one is going to hurt you, Joule~”

“Jou~le~”

“Sorry~”

I comforted the teary-eyed Joule .

Allen and Elena worked together to improve Joule’s mood for a while after that .

“That reminds me, although we have yet to meet them, what are you guys going to do when you meet monsters of the same kind?”

Fenrirs, Celestial Tigers, Thunderhawks, Scarlet King Leos, and Forest Rats are not monsters you would usually meet near the human habitats, but we can’t be sure we won’t ever meet them, so let’s make sure .

(N~? Take them down, of course, if they show hostility . )

(I don’t think they would attack as soon as we encounter them, but… it’s not absolute . I won’t hold back if they show hostility towards you, though . Niisama . )

(I will respond in kind if they attack . But I don’t think I will get aggressive myself if they are not hostile to us . )

(I don’t know who will come out on top, but I’m definitely going to fight them in a contest of strength!)

(My race doesn’t fight too much in the first place!)

“I get it, thank you . ”

For now, it seems that we should be the most careful about other Scarlet King Leos . They are a belligerent type of monster in the first place .

“”Ah!””

Allen and Elena shouted, pointing towards the sea .

“What was it again~”

“Squid~?”

“That seems to be an octopus, not a squid . ”

Its head was round, so it must be an octopus . A large number of octopi could be seen jumping out of the water and diving into the sea like flying fish . I couldn’t see the exact size of the octopi from this distance, but they seemed to be of the common sense size… Well, there seemed to be a little bit more of them, though .

(Those are not monsters, right?)

(Seems like it . )

(Are they coming this way?)

(We just have to beat them down if they are! Say, are octopuses yummy?)

(I don’t know!)

It appears they weren’t monsters but normal octopi .

“Which reminds me, I have no octopi on me~”

I have both regular and demon squid as ingredients, but I don’t have any octopus . I could make Takoyaki, octopus rice, tender octopus stew, octopus karaage, and even some vinegar stuff~

(Alright, let’s get them!)

(Indeed . I’m going to guide them a little . )

(Feat, I’m going too . )

With Joule’s sudden command, everyone began to act to capture the octopi, and Feat and Bolt flew towards the flock of octopi .

“Wait a moment . What’s up all of the sudden?”

(If Tak.u.mi Nii wants it, then we can only get it!)

When I checked with the remaining kids to see what was going on, I got a crazy answer .

To my surprise, it was because of my whispered comment that I didn’t have any octopus!!

(I will make a solid net out of ivy! When the flock approaches, ask Feat and Bolt to drop it on top of them!)

(So once they are captured, you and I will pull them out, Vector)

(Got it! Leave it to me!)

Moreover, they are planning to use dragnet!

“What about Allen~?”

“And Elena~?”

(You guys help them pull too!)

“”Got it~!””

(Ah, Feat, use this!)

(We are capturing them with this? Got it . )

While I was stunned, Mile handed a large net to Feat, who came back after successful herding, and Feat flew above the octopi once more with the net in her arms and released the net onto them . And then Allen, Elena, Joule, and Vector hauled in the net .

(One more pull!)

“”((There we go!))””

The net got pulled up even before I could react to help .

“”So many~!””

(Ohh~ look at how many there are!)

(So much fish, too!)

There were other kinds of seafood that got pulled up alongside the targeted octopi, so Allen, Elena, Joule, and Vector were in great joy .

(Good work! Amazing!)

(My, oh my, we got a big haul . )

(I did not think we would pull so much fish too . )

Mile, Feat, and Bolt stared at the big haul in surprise .

“Good work . I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help . ”

(Oniichan’s work starts from here on out!)

(Yep, yep . Niichan, we leave the great dishes in your hands!)

“”Food~♪””

When I apologized for not being able to do anything to help, they all demanded a meal right away .

“All right . But before that, I’m going to clean those sticky, wet bodies of yours and collect the haul . ”

“”(((((Okaay~)))))””

First of all, I used Washing and Dry to clean ourselves from all the seawater .

We might get dirty and wet again after we finish collecting the still jumping fish, but if we stay in our current state, with the clothes sticking to our bodies, it would be too hard to move . Since I have plenty of magic power to spare, I can clean us again if we get dirty again .

“Then, let’s split up and collect them . ”

“”(((((Ohh!)))))””

Frankly speaking, it took longer to retrieve the fish and octopi than it did to get them out of the sea .

It was partly because we had to sort out the fish that could be eaten, but also because they couldn’t be put into the Infinite Storage in a live state, so they had to be killed first . Allen and Elena also helped me with their own knives, but there was quite a lot of them .

When I secured a good amount, I suggested that we return the rest to the sea, but all of the kids refused, so I continued to work until the end .