Shake…
“…. ”
“…. ”
On the blue sea, a lonely ship drifts, glimmering faintly in the darkness.
Splash—
Every time the gentle waves rocked the ship, the red fishing float sank and bobbed back up, repeating the process.
A peaceful and tranquil scene.
However, Da-eun didn’t seem to think so.
Her black eyes, bored as she stared at the float, were half-closed.
Gasp!
Suddenly, the float plunged deeply into the water.
Her eyes, half-lidded, snapped wide open as she gripped the fishing rod tighter.
With a face full of anticipation, as if she had never been bored, Da-eun pulled the fishing rod with vigor, only for disappointment to wash over her features.
“Hmph….”
Not only did she fail to catch a fish, but the bait on the hook remained untouched.
Plop.
Da-eun lazily cast the float back into the water.
Another endless wait began.
With drooping eyelids following the float’s movements, Da-eun finally spoke up.
“…Kana.”
“…. ”
“Kana, Kanaaa.”
Why are you bothering me?
I was practicing feeling the flow of mana beside her, unable to resist her persistent calls, I replied.
“What?”
“I want to be a fisherman who catches people.”
Da-eun’s usual dialogue was half air, half nonsense, so it rarely amounted to anything helpful.
So, I instinctively turned away, sensing that Da-eun was about to ramble on with more nonsense.
“How rude.”
“No, it’s not rude.”
Da-eun, all confidence as she picked up the fishing rod, found it hard to stay still, clearly writhing in boredom.
“If you’re that bored, why not spar?”
“But fighting on the boat is difficult; it’s too wobbly to keep my balance.”
“You have to experience that beforehand. If it’s too tough, at least practice your stance. It’ll help with your balance.”
“Geez… Can’t I just play with you?”
Pouting, Da-eun complained while carefully placing the fishing rod on the holder.
“You have to watch carefully if I caught one or not. Got it?”
“…Me?”
“You’re responsible too, since Kana is the one who’s training me!”
“…Is that so?”
Your confidence is confusing; I tilted my head as Da-eun stuck her tongue out playfully.
“Heh, just kidding.”
“No, I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Really?”
“Sure, how hard can that be?”
The shadows of a one-armed swordsman and Krumo loomed over us.
Fueled by some recent encounter, Da-eun was really pushing herself into training now.
Not only did she voluntarily practice swordsmanship without a word, but when she came to ask about it while I was bedridden, I was utterly stunned…
‘…Who are you?’
‘Huh?’
‘Oh, never mind.’
So, my surprised reaction was unavoidable in this situation.
The lazy Da-eun showing such enthusiasm was a sight to behold.
If a student does something commendable, isn’t it a teacher’s duty to reward them?
“Wait! If that’s the case, I’ll take a different reward; I can’t waste the reward Kana just gave me for simply watching the fishing rod…!”
“No way. What’s done is done.”
“That’s unfair!”
“If you keep being diligent, I might give you something else later.”
“That’s a promise.”
Although she had lit up with excitement, Da-eun had no idea what prize would come.
“By the way, Kana, have you ever fished before? Do you know how to catch fish?”
“Don’t you just pull it?”
Beep! Incorrect answer!
“Sometimes you need to apply force, while other times, you ease up to tire the fish out; that’s the key to fishing. If you just pull hard all the time, it’s exhausting and you might break your rod. That’s a common mistake among novice fishers, so keep that in mind.”
As Da-eun rambled on about the subtleties of fishing, me without much enthusiasm, I asked.
“If you’re so good at it, why haven’t you caught anything?”
“…Hey! Is my finger in the way?”
Seeing Da-eun scrunching up her fingers suspiciously, I lifted the fishing rod.
“Just you wait!”
With a cliché villain line, Da-eun darted away, leaving me staring at her for a moment.
I shifted my gaze from the burgeoning swordswoman to the bobbing float on the waves.
I had caught fish before, but this was my first time attempting to fish, so holding the fishing rod felt bizarre.
Naturally, I had no clue how to hold it, having never done it before, but should I be proud to have instinctively found my center of gravity?
That was hardly a concern.
“It’s better than being clumsy.”
After all, at least I was holding my posture correctly.
Back when I first met Da-eun, she couldn’t hold a stance at all.
Like the leisurely flowing sea, I twirled my thoughts about her.
No, I was merely stating a fact; it wasn’t slander.
Feeling Da-eun’s battle cries from time to time, accompanied by the crashing waves and the wind against the boat, I held onto the fishing rod for a while.
As I stared out at the flowing water, I began to understand why some people liked fishing.
It felt like a moment to enjoy a break, disconnected from the world.
But even so, I didn’t want to take it up as a hobby.
I preferred swinging my sword or catching some sleep during this time.
Splash!
“…?”
As I zoned out, the float plunged deeply into the water.
Staring at the float that had fully submerged in the deep blue water…
“Oh?”
Only after feeling a heavy weight through the fishing rod did I realize a fish had bitten.
“Ah, it’s biting.”
Alarmed, Da-eun rushed over.
“What is it, what is it?! Did it bite?!”
“It seems so.”
“…Is it really? When Kana said it’s biting, you’re not talking about me, are you?”
As Da-eun cast a suspicious look, she hesitated until she saw me shake the trembling fishing rod. Then her doubts faded.
“Sorry, I thought you were just messing with me since you sounded so calm.”
“Why get so worked up over a mere fish?”
“No… don’t you feel the thrill of it?”
“…Not really?”
When it comes to intensity, isn’t the impact of swords clashing much worse?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Da-eun let out a dramatic sigh.
“I’m not talking about that! Ugh, first, catch the fish. Can’t you feel it resisting?”
“Yeah.”
“When it starts resisting strongly, loosen the line for a moment, and when it feels weaker, pull again. You keep doing that until it tires out. Got it?”
“Okay… I’m not sure.”
“Are you saying you understand or don’t understand?”
“I don’t understand.”
I honestly felt it was just a matter of pulling.
Brrrrrrr!
“Ahhh! Kana!”
Trying to add some strength, the fishing rod suddenly bent dangerously, creaking ominously as it nearly snapped.
“Ooo….”
“Not an ‘ooo’! That was close to breaking!”
“As long as it didn’t break, it’s fine. Want to catch it, Joanie?”
“No! I have to catch it myself! I can’t let you take my first commemorative fish from me!”
A commemorative… fish?
Personally, I felt more like, ‘Should I even celebrate this?’, but with Da-eun’s unwavering refusal, I had no choice.
The teasing wasn’t really my style anyway.
Hmm.
Fine, let’s do it this way.
As I felt motivated, the dark brown fishing rod gradually turned pink.
Now, even though the bottom was underwater and out of sight, confirming that the fishing line had absorbed mana, I pulled the rod.
Swoosh!
With a loud splash, a black fish soared into the air.
Thud!
With a splash on the deck, the fish, yanked from its life and struggling to return home, flopped around wildly.
Despite its struggles to get back, the high guardrail stopped it.
Still, leaving it like this seemed wrong.
The energetic thrashing indicated it could easily flip around the deck if left alone.
I needed to calm it down—
“So… I think I should do this.”
Following what I saw over my shoulder, I cupped my fist and punched down toward the fish’s head.
Thwack!
“Ah.”
…Oops, misjudged the power.
What was supposed to be a ‘thump’ resulted in a ‘thwack’ sound, and in that moment, I sensed the fish’s future.
Crumble.
The fish’s head crumpled inwards, creating a dent in the shape of my fist.
No matter how small my fist was, that minor puncture in a vital area was enough to take its life.
As I looked at the now limp fish, I took a moment to pay my respects.
“…Where do I even start with this?”
Was it the fact that I used mana to catch a fish?
Or that I silenced it with a single punch?
Da-eun, observing all of this, mumbled in disbelief.
While she might not grasp the first part, the latter part seemed easy for her too; her kind of panic was overdone.
“What’s this fish called?”
“Clearly a monster.”
“Is its name Monster? How interesting~”
“…I mean, it’s a monster, not a name.”
“…Oh?”
What a ridiculous conversation this was.
Only then did Da-eun finally understand, scratching her cheek awkwardly.
“I thought you meant the name was Monster. Don’t monsters have names?”
“Some powerful ones that haven’t been hunted for a long time do, but not these kinds.”
Just because they belong to the same biological species doesn’t mean they all look the same as monsters.
If you named every monster you saw, it’d take forever.
“…So we can’t eat it?”
“You can eat it.”
“Wow! So we can—”
“Only once. Life is only once anyway.”
“….”
“Just kidding.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Worst-case scenario, Selin is here too, so you might be in pain but won’t die.”
“Doesn’t that mean we can’t eat it!”
Weren’t they the ones who freaked out about monster meat in Atysha’s official residence, but now salivating at the thought of this?
Da-eun’s shoulders drooped.
“I wanted to show you the fun of eating fish you catch yourself….”
“There’s a whole variety of fun.”
So that’s why she was so obsessed?
“Well, if that’s the case, you didn’t need to tell me, I already knew. Whether it’s fun or not, I’m not too sure.”
“…Eh? But you said you haven’t fished before…”
“I haven’t fished. But you don’t always need a fishing rod to catch fish.”
I already knew the answer in my mind.
With a light flick of my sword toward the sea.
A gentle splash arose, and a fish quickly bobbed to the surface, head missing.
“Like this.”
“…That’s not romantic!”
“No matter how you catch it, it’s pretty much the same if you eat it right after.”
“It’s different! It totally is!”
Even though I had just shown her how it’s done, Da-eun’s face seemed even gloomier than before.
…What gives?
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