“That’s a big haul!”
I gave a wry smile in response to Shella ’s cheerful greeting.
At her feet were two buckets packed to the brim with shellfish.
“You did well, Shella . You even found clams and cockles. The resale value should be fun to see.”
“I’m curious about that too, but… I’d really like to eat the shellfish in this bucket instead of selling them…”
She pleaded with a hesitant upward glance. From the moment she asked for a second bucket, claiming the first wasn’t enough, this must have been her plan all along.
“Sure, why not? I’ve been craving shellfish myself.”
Since the buckets were filled with seawater, the shellfish had already been partially purged of sand.
“Really? Yay! We get to eat shellfish dishes!”
Shella scooped up Ketsue, who had been peering into the bucket, and spun around joyfully on the spot. At some point, she had kicked off her short boots and was now barefoot.
She splashed in the shallow waves, her delighted laughter echoing like that of a young girl. Although she was seventeen, she seemed quite childlike. Having grown up in a secluded village, Shella likely never had the chance to play so freely.
Her carefree smile was dazzling.
“Just don’t get your clothes wet, alright?”
“Okay!”
That was a good response. With Ketsue clearly enjoying himself too, I left him as her playmate for now.
“Well, I guess that’s about it for today’s catch.”
Living creatures couldn’t be stored in my Item Box, so we carried the live fish and shellfish to the shore in buckets and cooler boxes. The fish Shella shot with her bow and those I speared with my short spear were safely tucked into the Item Box.
During our time gathering and catching, we were attacked several times by Sahagin.
Sahagin are amphibious monsters—grotesque, humanoid fish-like creatures. While a mermaid might be a welcome sight, these half-fish monsters were far from it.
I’d heard they swam in from offshore as soon as they sensed human presence and attacked indiscriminately. Shella had expertly shot down one that tried sneaking up on us from the rocky area.
“Sahagin drop magic stones, right? Their meat isn’t edible, but their gills can be used as alchemy materials.”
Not wanting to dismantle them myself, I stored the corpses in the Item Box and used my skill to process them into materials. Unfortunately, you can’t convert monsters into points unless you’re the one who defeated them.
Checking the bounty list for Sahagin, I confirmed which parts could be sold.
“Alright, looks like we’ve got a good haul with the magic stones and gills. I heard they sometimes drop treasure chests too, but no luck this time.”
It’s fascinating that some monsters drop treasure chests even outside dungeons. While beast-like monsters rarely drop anything, humanoid monsters are known to leave behind rare weapons or treasure.
“Maybe they’re monsters with some kind of storage skill. When they die, the items they hoarded are left behind.”
Curious about what sea-dwelling monsters might consider treasure, I decided to take on more gathering requests in the future. Besides, the fishing and spearfishing had been a lot of fun.
“Let’s sell all the live fish to the Merchant Guild.”
Even the fishing rod I had summoned from a 100-yen shop worked just fine. For bait, I used small chunks of fish sausage, which surprisingly attracted plenty of bites.
I’d heard from a fishing friend that dried squid or salted squid guts worked wonders as bait, but fish sausage seemed to perform just as well.
“Though I did cheat a bit and ended up using water magic to catch them alive.”
The fish caught on the rod were small, so I got impatient and used magic.
I formed a one-meter-wide ball of seawater, trapping the swimming fish inside, and transferred them directly to the cooler box.
Expanding the water ball to two meters and using my Presence Detection skill made it even easier to catch fish.
Fish closer to the shore were smaller, but moving farther out yielded bigger and more diverse catches. In the end, I was very satisfied with the results.
(I might’ve cheated a little, but the method wasn’t specified, so it should be fine, right?)
The fishing was enjoyable, and while I used a short spear instead of a harpoon, I still got to experience spearfishing. Most satisfying of all was collecting a huge number of oysters clinging to the rocky islet.
(Shella also exceeded expectations with her haul of shellfish. Dinner is going to be amazing.)
With the bounty-filled buckets in hand and a content heart, the two of us and Ketsue left the rocky area.
After selling the catch at the Merchant Guild’s Adventurer Branch, we returned to our inn.
As part of the gathering request, we received completion rewards for two people and sold the fish and shellfish after appraisal.
“For the effort involved, the resale value wasn’t that great.”
“Well, it’s not like dealing with monsters. It can’t be helped.”
“True. It’s just fish and shellfish. Still, Sahagin materials brought in a decent profit.”
“I was shocked! Who knew water magic stones sold for so much?”
Sahagin dropped water-attributed magic stones, which were essential commodities. Without water, humans can’t survive, and in this city, the demand for water magic stones was particularly high.
“Even though this is a coastal city, it doesn’t have many natural water sources, and it hardly ever rains. No wonder they’re so sought after.”
With few usable wells, the townsfolk relied on water jars—magical tools powered by water magic stones.
A small water magic stone could produce enough water to sustain a family of four for three months.
“Even at the inn, water for washing up is charged separately. Let’s just use life magic to clean ourselves tonight.”
“Good idea. I heard a single bucket of water here costs a copper coin. Water really is a luxury here.”
Shella , who came from a water-rich village, was surprised by the high cost of water in this town.
(A thousand yen for a single bucket of water—steep even for me, a former Japanese citizen used to abundant water.)
In a town like this, water magic stones would undoubtedly fetch a good price, especially for daily use and agriculture.
“Fishing and spearfishing were fun, so I’ll focus on gathering around the rocky area for a while.”
Targeting Sahagin for their valuable water magic stones would be the priority, with fish and shellfish gathered for our own meals.
Shella and Ketsue seemed to enjoy the seaside gathering, so we decided to continue tomorrow. But for now—
“Let’s borrow the inn’s garden and cook some fish.”
Declaring this solemnly, I was met with cheers from Shella and Ketsue.
