Side: Yuki
Whoosh... whoosh...
The only sound reaching my ears was the rhythmic crashing of the waves, pulling back and surging forward.
Stretching out before me are the blue sky and the blue sea.
Not a single human voice could be heard.
All I hear is the quiet activity of nature itself.
Far from the sandy beach, I'm sitting atop a concrete structure jutting out into the sea, something I built to resemble a breakwater.
Well, since this place was created using the Dungeon Master skill, there was no danger of the sea getting rough. However, purely for my own enjoyment, I built this makeshift breakwater in a location separate from the swimming area.
Why, you ask? It's simple.
Swimming in the sea in the summer—that's a classic. But what are you supposed to do at the sea during other seasons?
For someone who lives in an island nation like Japan, that's a rather foolish question.
The answer is...
Swish!
The sound of cutting through the air echoed, followed by...
Plop.
That sound, and a red point floats up and sinks in the blue sea.
Yes—fishing.
Fishing is a type of trap used to catch fish that has existed since ancient times.
There are various historical records concerning fishing, but the oldest evidence dates all the way back to the Paleolithic era, roughly 40,000 years ago. In Japan, too, fishing hooks made from bone have been excavated.
In other words, fishing is something humanity has been inseparable from.
As an island nation living alongside the ocean, seeking daily sustenance from the mother sea is a practice woven into Japanese history, and in modern times, it has established itself as a popular pastime.
The kind of fishing I'm doing is float fishing.
Using a spherical float and live bait, it"s a relaxing activity where you simply observe the float. Unlike sports fishing with lures or flies that use artificial bait, it doesn't require constant physical movement.
Well, to be precise, the proper way to float fish is to carefully observe the float sinking, and then yank the rod to hook the fish in the mouth before it actually swallows the bait. If the caught fish has completely swallowed the hook, you can consider that a personal failure.
Of course, that's the kind of rule that matters to someone who takes fishing seriously. For someone like me, who just put a fishing rod down so I could relax, I couldn't care less.
Now, changing the subject—what does it mean to spend your time luxuriously?
The key point here is not a meaningful way to spend time, but a luxurious way to spend time. "Meaningful" implies spending time on something with purpose or value, like training or personal growth. "Luxurious," however, is different.
No, I can confidently say there is no more luxurious way to spend time than this.
'It is to waste time'. To use your time wastefully—for anyone, including yourself. To simply zone out. There probably isn't a more luxurious way to spend your finite time than that.
And so, exhausted by the pressures of modern society, I frequently indulge in this luxurious waste of time, heading to the sea to space out and heal my soul. Just like this—gazing at the sky, occasionally raising the rod. This gentle, wasteful flow of time heals me. I don't have to think about a single thing.
"...This is quite relaxing, isn't it?"
"...Nn. Indeed. A first-time experience for me."
Dangling their rods beside me were my escorts for this outing, Samantha and Cleana.
Jessica and Ria are heading to Cleana's country together with my Doppelganger.
Unlike Samantha's case, we're not going to a duke's territory this time. We have to go all the way to the royal capital, so it'll take about 3 days.
I'd been somewhat overwhelmed by the whole situation with the Holy Sword Wielder named Alfin, so when I told my wives that I wanted to take a little break, they immediately gave me permission.
I've left all the preparations for the departure to them, while I take this opportunity to reflect on myself... Or rather, I'm luxuriating in wasting my time and relaxing.
Since the place to relax was my own backyard—inside the dungeon—it was decided that having these two relatively new additions as escorts would be fine, which is why I ended up lowering my fishing rod alongside them.
At first, neither of them was used to this "luxurious" concept of wasting time. One was the second daughter of a ducal house who lived every day in a whirlwind of busyness, and the other held the title of Single Number 3 at the Academy, devoting her days strictly to study and the pursuit of magic.
Both were well-accustomed to using time meaningfully, but using it 'luxuriously' seemed to be a completely novel experience.
"...Just as Yuki-sama says. This really is true luxury."
"...Nn. Agreed. It doesn't cost money, yet we are freely squandering time. Still, I think having this kind of breathing room is necessary. This feeling cannot be obtained under normal circumstances."
"Indeed. There's something about this slow, leisurely flow of time that you simply can't experience anywhere else."
Both of them agreed, gazing blankly at the horizon.
"Well, a lot of people come to stare at the sea when they have something on their minds, too."
"...I can certainly understand why."
"Nn. Thinking about various things while facing this vast expanse of water feels efficient... though I can't explain why."
It's probably because they're being drawn in by the mother sea.
This feeling is something you can't truly understand until you actually do it.
Just spacing out.
Though, doing only that would get boring eventually, which is why we were catching fish.
Tug, tug-tug.
Just as I was thinking that while watching my line, I saw a clear reaction showing something had taken the bait.
"You two, look at my rod. When something bites, the tip of the rod reacts like that. Naturally, the float sinks and bobs up and down, too."
"Ah, it really is!"
"I'd heard about it, but seeing it in person makes it much easier to understand."
For now, showing them the real thing was the best way to teach.
Once I had their attention, I pulled up the rod.
And there, hanging from the line, was a fish of surprisingly good size.
"That's amazing!"
"Amazing."
Both of them were surprised, but honestly, so was I.
The size of a fish caught just by casting a rod from a breakwater ought to be modest, but... Ah—right, we were the only ones fishing here, so the fish had no reason to be wary of humans.
Normally, at a famous breakwater, you"d only catch a few tiny fish, or at best a large flounder waiting for food in the sand.
Anyway—time to remove the hook.
"Ah... It's swallowed it after all."
"Swallowed it?"
"What do you mean?"
This was their first time fishing, so talking about swallowing a hook probably didn't make much sense to them.
"Look, see how the line goes deep inside the fish, past where you can see?"
"Yes."
"Nn. I see that."
"Originally, the purpose of fishing is to catch fish and eat them—to secure food. The fishing rod and hook are just tools. So, the proper way to fish is to yank the line right before it swallows it, hooking it in the mouth. The reason for that is..."
I reached into my tackle box and pulled out a certain tool.
"What is that?"
"A small iron rod with a hook on it?"
It looked just as Cleana described.
This was an item used when a fish swallows the hook. You thread the line through the hook on the tool, trace it down to locate the fishing hook, and then...
Clink.
The tactile feedback of contacting something hard spread through my hand—that's the swallowed hook.
Because of the way fishing hooks are designed, they have barbs, which makes removing them quite difficult. In many cases, trying to pull one out causes the fish's mouth to tear.
If you do that inside the fish's body...
Crunch.
With that unpleasant sound, I managed to retrieve the hook.
However, the fish, which has had its hook forcibly removed from inside its body, is bleeding and twitching violently.
"...Ugh."
"...I see. Removing the hook inside the body leads to a natural conclusion. And the freshness deteriorates."
"Exactly. Like Cleana said, the fish's internal organs are torn up, and it'll die. Once it dies, it loses its freshness. That's why you need to hook it in the mouth. Samantha, was that too much for you?"
Samantha looked a bit pale as she watched the fish dye the seawater inside the holding bucket red with its blood.
"No... I regularly defeat monsters and the like. I'm simply not used to seeing a fish treated this way. I'm perfectly fine."
"I see. Well, don't force yourself."
"Yes."
For now, using my Item Box ability, I quickly stowed the fish away.
There was no need to let its freshness drop, after all. The Item Box really is convenient for things like this.
Just then, I felt a tug on my clothes. Looking over, I saw Cleana pulling my sleeve while pointing at her own rod.
"Yuki, my rod is reacting. Did I catch a fish?"
Prompted by her words, I looked at her rod. Sure enough, it was bending in a way completely different from the movement of the waves.
"Yep, you got one. Want to try pulling it in yourself?"
"Nn. I'll do it."
Cleana answered instantly, grabbed the rod, and began reeling it in.
The rod immediately began twitching violently.
"Nn!? It's pulling back!!"
"Calm down. Unless it's pulling hard enough to drag you in, just reel it in normally. Even a fish doesn't like being dragged in a direction it doesn't want to go."
"Makes sense."
Seemingly convinced by my explanation, she turned the reel handle steadily until she finally pulled the fish out of the water.
"That's wonderful, Cleana-san!"
"Nn. Thank you. Look, I caught one."
Showing off her catch, Cleana looked like a normal girl her age.
Cleana was younger than Samantha and slightly older than Sheila—around middle-school age—but in all the time I'd known her, this was the first time I'd seen her make an expression like this.
"Nice job. Let's see... the hook is... luck is on our side, it's caught right in the mouth. What do you want to do? Want to try removing it yourself?"
"Nn. I'll do it."
Saying so, Cleana worked together with Samantha to carefully remove the hook from the fish's mouth.
"It came off cleanly. The fish isn't dead."
"Yes, it isn't."
"Good job. Man, we're catching more than I expected. Looks like Samantha's rod is reacting now, too."
"Eh!? I-Is it really!?"
"Do your best, Samantha."
"Yes!! I will pull one up too!!"
Though flustered by the unfamiliar sensation, Samantha also managed to safely pull up a fish.
Both catches were of a perfectly edible size.
And so, as the person in charge of the family kitchen, a thought naturally crossed my mind.
"If we can catch fish of this size pretty consistently, tonight's dinner is going to be fish dishes."
I casually voiced that thought.
Well, even if I weren't in charge of the kitchen, anyone going fishing would naturally say something like, "If we catch enough, that's one more dish for dinner."
Yes, I said it with that exact mindset, without thinking deeply about it at all.
However, those words made both of them freeze in place.
"Fish dishes?"
"Um... Is it delicious?"
"Hm? Ah, well, we have a big family. Unless we catch a lot more, there won't be enough for everyone, so it can't be the main dish."
The moment I said that, the two of them instantly re-baited their hooks and cast them back out into the sea.
"I am going to catch a mountain of them!!"
"Nn. I will eat delicious food!!"
Ah, they were remembering that meal from when we went to the beach.
Everyone had eaten themselves into a food coma back then... As wives and women, I wondered about that reaction, but as the cook, nothing made me happier than hearing them call my food delicious.
Besides, everyone else was busy working today... That's right—I should prepare a delicious meal to reward everyone for their hard work.
In that case, what we needed to do next was...
"Alright, you two, grab your rods. We're moving to a different spot."
"Eh?"
"Why?"
The two turned back to look at me in confusion.
"This isn't the only place to catch fish. Just moving a short distance can lead you to a spot where the fish are biting much better."
Indeed, the most crucial factor in fishing is location.
Dropping bait where there are no fish will yield nothing.
On the other hand, drop it where fish gather, and they'll bite.
"I see."
"Nn, that makes logical sense."
"So, let's split up and look for good spots where we can catch enough fish for tonight's dinner. Once we find one, the three of us can fish there together."
"Understood."
"Got it."
The two of them quickly reeled in their lines, raised their rods, and scattered to cast their lines at various points along the breakwater.
Now then, the spot I was aiming for was... The very tip of the breakwater.
A breakwater exists, of course, to block waves.
Due to its structure, it separates the water into an inner sea and an outer sea.
An "inner sea" refers to an area enclosed by the breakwater—always calm, with a narrow entrance, like a harbor. Conversely, the "outer sea" faces the open ocean and is immediately affected whenever the sea grows rough. In short, the environments of the inner and outer seas are completely different.
And the very tip of the breakwater is the boundary between the inner and outer seas.
Fish living in the inner sea wait for food coming from the outer sea, while fish in the outer sea tend to gather there because currents converge at that point. It serves as a shared feeding ground for both.
Of course, this doesn't work everywhere. But this breakwater was newly built, and we're practically the only people fishing here. So...
"Oh, here it comes."
The float and rod twitched in small, sharp motions...
"Now!"
I yanked the rod to set the hook in its mouth and immediately reeled it in.
A fish of impressive size came pulling out of the water.
However, that was only the first one. There was no guarantee they were biting non-stop just yet. I needed to test it a few more times.
In the end, just as I had predicted, this spot turned out to be a goldmine—
"Ah, I got another one!"
"Me too."
"Same here."
The three of us caught a massive haul of fish, returned home before dinner, gutted and cooked them, and enjoyed a wonderful meal together with everyone.
* * *
"Today was really fun."
"Indeed! It was thoroughly enjoyable."
"Nn. My stomach is full. I am so happy."
Both of them had satisfied expressions on their faces as the fish they caught were served on the dinner table.
That's good.
My plan to just space out ended halfway through, but... this kind of thing is nice, too.
Maybe next time, I'll bring everyone along and go fishing with the whole family.
