At the point where you can see the horizon, you can't help but mistake it for the ocean.
The Lieb River is apparently among the top three rivers on the continent in terms of both length and breadth.
"Wof-kun! Over here!"
"Coming!"
Led by Bid, I headed toward a seawall at one corner of the port town.
Nobody was there. All to ourselves. Well, the two of ourselves, anyway.
"No one's here. We got lucky."
"Seems like it."
I lined up next to Bid.
With practiced ease, Bid baited a hook and cast the line.
The bait was live insects. Bid held them in bare hands and threaded them onto the hook without batting an eye.
Encouraged to do the same, I baited a hook and cast my line too.
For me, fishing was a chance at redemption.
What was it about fishing again? A hobby you can enjoy for a lifetime.
There was something in my past life memories about "if you want a lifetime of enjoyment, learn to fish."
And fishing was the very embodiment of slow life.
That was why I'd wanted to take it up as a hobby.
But both times I'd gone fishing before, the result was zero catches.
And the only things I ever caught were talking land catfish and fishpeople… So I'd given up on fishing.
That makes this a rematch.
Today, I'm going to catch a fish for sure!
"H-h-help, somebody help!"
I'll catch them. It's just one or two fish.
That said, fishing is all about waiting.
"I'm—drowning, this river, it's deep!"
Wait. If you wait, you'll catch something. That's how it works.
Bide your time. Reel in the big one.
"Nice weather today. Perfect for fishing."
Yeah. White clouds drifting across a blue sky… just like the sky I saw in my dream.
Then Bid's rod twitched.
"I'm drown—drowning, I'm drowning!"
"Bid! Your rod's getting a bite!"
"W-w-wait, seriously?!"
Bid fumbled to grab the rod again, then worked the reel with nimble pulls and releases.
"I'm sinking, sinking!"
"Just a little more!"
"I got it! Heave-ho!"
Bid yanked the rod with everything he had. The rod bent into a deep arc, and at the end of the line, a massive fish was hooked. It went flying through the air before landing right in front of Bid.
"Whoa!"
A fish that looked like a black sea bream. Similar to an Iscidai.
But it was a river fish. It looked very much like an Iscidai, though.
"A blackscale! Yes! Got myself a blackscale!"
Bid was grinning from ear to ear. Blackscale. So that was what the fish was called.
"Ooh! Oh! It's sinking — it's going under this time!"
"Is it delicious?"
"Tastes great. I've only had it maybe twice back home."
"Huh. Cooked by Hoss, right... oh, that's not possible now."
"But it should be fine to stick in the storage. I had that bottle of tuna in there, didn't I?"
"Fair point."
For now, I put the blackscale in the bucket.
Alright. I'm catching a blackscale too.
Two hours later.
Why? Why? Nothing. I caught absolutely nothing.
Bid had already caught two blackscales by then.
He'd reeled in four others too. Meanwhile, I had nothing.
"Uh, hey, Wof? I was thinking... what if you used a Relic?"
"A Relic?"
"If you could figure out where the fish are, you'd be able to catch them, right?"
"...Yeah. I'll give it a try."
The Wheel of Fortune doesn't respond to living things.
But I'd made Bid worry for nothing, so I used it anyway.
Green lights appeared scattered throughout the river. Three yellow lights off in the distance too.
They weren't moving at all, so at least they weren't fish.
Something dropped from a boat? Something from a sunken ship?
"Wof, it's pulling!"
"Whoa, it really is!"
I hurriedly grabbed the rod. This was a strong pull. Too strong.
The rod bent nearly to the breaking point—this was a big one! Finally, a big catch!
"Wof, stay calm! Stay cool!"
"Y-yes!"
"Hih-hih-hoo, hih-hih-hoo!"
That's not right. Bid is more excited than I am. I'm kinda happy about that.
Push and pull, push and pull—but something felt off.
The resistance was strange. Or rather, there was no... tension on the line. No way!
I gritted my teeth and yanked the rod with everything I had.
The instant the rod bent so far under the catch's weight that it was truly about to snap—
That was the catch.
It was the waterlogged corpse of a human whose head had turned into a fish.
There was seaweed on its head. This is a river—so why?
"Bluuuurgh!"
It kept spitting fish out of its mouth.
"Bwaaargh!"
"Graaah!"
"It's an undead! We have to put it down!"
I readied my elixir kukri knife.
"I'll cut it! Just cut it!"
Bid drew his Flash Step Sword.
"Blaaargh..."
A fish-person still spitting fish from his mouth... a fish-person?
"Cutting it."
"Hold on a second."
"What is it?"
"This fish-person... we know him."
"Fish... oh!"
Bid seemed to have noticed it too.
Yes, this bizarre person whose entire head had turned into a fish. I knew him.
Not just knew him—this was the second time I'd rescued him like this.
Back then, he'd been drowning in a river, too.
A First-Class delver. Kaigenkyou... I was pretty sure that was his name.
"Gymnema... Sylvestre."
"Bwaaaah!"
"Gwaaaah!"
Gymnema Sylvestre spits fish from his mouth again.
Oh, a crow.
And Mr. Bid. He sheathes his sword.
The diner near the levee.
We sit at a table.
The fish we caught have been placed in Skia Coffin Ehl's vault.
By the way, all the fish that came out of his mouth were released.
"Well now, I've been saved yet again."
Gymnema Sylvestre. Mr. Gymnema thanks me in high spirits.
A passing man and woman flinch and back away. Yeah, it's scary.
"I'm glad you're safe, but why were you drowning?"
"I fell from the boat."
"You fell?"
"A bird took my sandwich, and when I chased after it, I fell. Then I was swept away and sank."
A First-Class delver is being toyed with by a bird.
Mr. Bid eats the olives marinating the grilled fish he ordered.
Several types of small fish are marinated raw in olives, then grilled in olive oil.
Apparently, it's a traditional dish where you pour plenty of olive oil over the finished plate.
Honestly, I feel like all you can taste is the olive oil.
"So, Giumnema, you're heading to Heizen too?"
"That is correct. The plan is to leave Heizen by sea and make for the Coppa Islands."
"Munch munch. A commission, huh? Munch munch."
"That is so."
Islands, huh. Sounds like I'm going to drown again. Will I be okay?
"Munch munch. Sounds like drowning, huh?"
"Ha ha ha. I'll be careful. Still, to be rescued twice, and with the first round of thanks still unsettled at that — it weighs on my conscience."
"Don't worry about it. If you want, you could just treat me to a meal."
"But something like that is hardly — oh, that reminds me."
Giumnema pulled something from his coat and set it on the table.
It was a green crystal containing a blue stone the size of a fist.
The blue radiance reflected off the green crystal, casting a mysterious glow.
Hm? This is…
"That's so pretty! But… blue and green together?"
"Indeed. It's a rare mineral called a blue-green crystal."
"Whoa!?"
"What!?"
We both shot to our feet at the same time. We were that startled.
It was the material needed to upgrade Torquetam's... Lady Rubinas's shield.
Torquetam had gone to Hyzen to obtain it.
And here it was. The blue-green crystal, right here in front of us.
"..."
"..."
"What's the matter?"
"Ah, no, it's just..."
"R-Right... um, could I have this?"
"Of course. Please, take it."
"I'll gratefully accept."
I never expected to get my hands on a blue-green crystal in a way like this.
Holding it in my hands, I felt happy but also something more complicated as I tucked it into my pouch.
Meanwhile, Mineha and Anna Kreuzen had stumbled into an unexpected crisis.