Under the glow of numerous bonfires, a large crowd of people danced and let loose peals of laughter.
"It's a feast!"
"Drink, drink! Have some sake!"
"There's fugu sashimi too! And the hot pot's turned out real nice!"
That night, another banquet was held.
The only difference from the last one was that instead of an inn, the venue was the beach.
The entire village had gathered on the sand, where bonfires blazed bright and merry, and it had turned into a boisterous revelry of eating, drinking, and singing.
Placed at the center of the banquet as the main course was the single-horned shark Rest had caught. The villagers had butchered it, turning it into sashimi and hot pot, and were savoring every bite.
"Come on, come on, let's dance!"
"Sing a song too! Fish-ing, by the, shooooore~!"
"Ho-i ya, ho-i ya!"
The feast was even more lively than the day before.
The villagers sang, danced, ate, and drank on the sand.
The beach was so brightly lit that you'd never guess it was nighttime, and a great many people were laughing merrily.
*…………* There was someone secretly peering in on the festivities.
From within the dark sea, it showed only its eyes, glaring hatefully at the villagers enjoying their banquet on the shore.
"Gyaaaah…!"
It was the monster that had been terrorizing the fishing village, letting out a bitter, frustrated growl.
Its eyes, still fixed on the human village, held a distinctly bitter glint.
*He* liked humans. More precisely… he liked hurting them, liked making them scream.
That was why he had been attacking this fishing village.
Without killing them or letting them be, he toyed with them, tormenting them at random, playing with them like toys.
But then… a strange human had appeared out of nowhere and ruined all his fun.
That human had, of all things, fought back against *him*.
He had been struck by a fierce bolt of lightning, and it actually hurt.
For *him*, that lightning was far from a fatal wound, but if he had to compare, it was like being bitten by a mouse.
It wouldn't cost him his life, but it was annoying all the same.
If anything, what stung more was the frustration of having been counterattacked by such a feeble human.
"Gyaa, gyaa!"
Driven by that frustration, he had destroyed the strange facility the humans cherished so much — the oyster farm. And yet the humans, whose precious things had been destroyed, were cheerfully making a racket.
How utterly infuriating.
"Gyaa…"
He wanted to descend upon those humans and turn their cries of joy into screams of terror.
That was what *He* was thinking, but… there was a chance the human who had unleashed that lightning was still over there.
He loved tormenting humans, but he hated being hurt.
"Gyaaah…!"
Then… *He* turned his gaze away from the beach and looked in a different direction.
Slowly, he swam through the dark sea, heading toward another facility the humans held dear — the pearl farm.
This time, I'll destroy this place. This time, I'll really disappoint them. I'll make them suffer.
It twisted its torn mouth into a grotesque grin and swung its long tail, ready to slam it down upon the pearl farm.
"All right, it took the bait!"
A sharp whistling sound cut through the darkness.
In the next instant, accompanied by a dull *thunk*, searing pain lanced through the creature's tail.
"Gyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
"Hit! Second shot!"
Startled by the unexpected pain, the creature tried to yank its tail back.
But the tail wouldn't move properly. Looking closer, a thick black rope connected the shore to the creature's tail.
A brief pause — then another jolt of agony.
"Gyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Sure enough, you showed up… It's easy to predict what a mean-spirited person will do, huh?"
"Gyahh!?"
An orange flame flickered to life, and a silhouette emerged in its glow.
Standing there was a young man. The creature couldn't tell one human from another, but on instinct, it knew this was the one who had once struck it with lightning.
"Gyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Third shot."
Aimed squarely at the creature writhing in pain and fury, that young man — Rest Clover — fired another metal harpoon straight into it.
—————— I'm posting further episodes on my limited-status notes.
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