CH 10

Chapter 10: Port Town

It was the early afternoon the next day.

Dorami and I got on the train to go to the port town.

I’ve visited various towns with Dorami but this is the first time we’ve gone to a port town together. With the cool sea breeze accompanied by the bright sun, Dorami’s nose twitched.

“It smells salty.” (Dorami)

“It’s the smell of the sea. Dorami, is this your first time seeing it?” (Jade)

“The sea saved me when I was still wandering around. It became my precious drinking water. Also, there were lots of fish and I even caught one with my hands!”

“Why did you move out if you had water and food?” (Jade)

“Because by the time you catch one, you’ll be exhausted and even hungrier than when you started…” (Dorami)

“I guess you’re right. But, weren’t you talking about a lake?” (Jade)

“What’s the difference?” (Dorami)

“The size is the biggest difference but seawater isn’t really drinkable water, it’s too salty.” (Jade)

“It’s flavored?! It looks delicious…!” (Dorami)

“I don’t think it tastes that good. Also, if you drink too much, you’ll die.” (Jade)

Dorami turned pale.

“It’s poisonous…?” (Dorami)

“It’s not poisonous, but it IS harmful to your body.” (Jade)

Well, I’m only talking about the human body. I don’t really know how it affects dragons.

“We have to shut our mouths when we’re at sea!” (Dorami)

“There are also monsters in there so it’s fine if you want to wait here on land.” (Jade)

“I want to go too! And, I’ll also tell the people in the capital about Dorami’s bravery!” (Dorami)

It looks like it became a habit for her to want to be praised by people like, “Dorami is so amazing!”, and stuff like that.

“Let’s hurry to the sea!” (Dorami)

“Right! And if we don’t hurry, Garnet-san won’t be able to eat fish today as well!” (Jade)

“Jade really likes Garnet a lot.” (Dorami)

“W-well, yeah. I also owe her for a lot of things so it’s natural to return the favor!” (Jade)

I want to go out to sea as soon as possible, defeat the monsters, and revive the fishing industry.

And, I wanna see Garnet-san have her fill of delicious fish after working hard at her job.

But before that, there’s a place I need to stop by.

“This way.” (Jade)

We walked through some narrow streets and stopped at a white house.

With three floors, it was the tallest building in the area.

Dorami called out to me as soon as I reached for the doorknob.

“Wouldn’t the owner get angry if we just went inside?” (Dorami)

“It’s fine. This is my villa.” (Jade)

“Why do you have a villa?” (Dorami)

“Because the sunset here is so beautiful!” (Jade)

When I visited this town to do a quest, the sun setting over the horizon was just too beautiful.

I thought that Garnet-san would definitely be mesmerized by the sunset.

It’d be a good mood-maker and we might even kiss…

By the time I got to my senses, I had already bought the villa.

“You really like sunsets, huh.” (Dorami)

“I guess so. Anyway, it’s my house so make yourself at home.” (Jade)

“Sorry for the disturbance~! Uh… It’s a bit dusty.” (Dorami)

“I bought it two years ago and left it as is so it’s probably just that.” (Jade)

“Are we here to clean up?” (Dorami)

“I’m here to get some fishing tackle.” (Jade)

“Are you going to catch the monster with that?” (Dorami)

“It’d be good if it did but what I really want to catch is fish.” (Jade)

Even if we go out to sea, there’s no guarantee that the monster will just appear so conveniently.

So, I just decided to fish until it did.

The ideal scenario would be to take the fish we catch to the restaurant we went to yesterday, have it cooked, and then enjoy a meal with Garnet-san who is a regular customer.

If I tell Garnet-san that it’s fish that I caught, I might even score some points!

“I think it was in this room… Ah, found it.” (Jade)

There was a set of fishing gear left in an empty room.

I bought it because I thought that if Garnet-san and I had a child one day, we’d have some fun together. I never thought I’d use it at a time like this.

“I’ll show you how much fish I can catch!” (Dorami)

I walked out with the excited Dorami.

After a while of walking in the sun, we arrived at the docks.

Men who seemed to be fishermen were gathering and talking about something.

Everyone looks so serious. I’m sure that they’re talking about the damage caused by the monster.

With that in mind, we head for the small boat. It’s a four-seater boat with a cover for shade.

I wanted to buy a small boat for a date with Garnet-san but instead, I just bought a four-seater boat in advance for when we have a child.

“Whose boat is this?” (Dorami)

“It’s mine. I bought it together with the villa because I wanted to enjoy a boat trip while watching the sunset.” (Jade)

“You must really like the sunset.” (Dorami)

It’s not that I like the sunset, I just like Garnet-san.

“Let’s go. Be careful because it’ll shake.” (Jade)

“It’s making me nervous…” (Dorami)

Just as Dorami took a small step forward and tried to put her foot on the ship…

“Don’t board that boat!”

At the loud call, Dorami slipped and almost fell into the sea.

I grabbed her arm just in time and pulled her up.

“I-I was so surprised… Why did you suddenly call out to me?!” (Dorami)

“Because you guys were trying to get in the sea. Monsters have been appearing for the past half a month so it’s dangerous to go out to sea right now.”

“We know about the danger. We just really need to go out to sea.” (Jade)

“If you really need to go, I wouldn’t say that it’s impossible but… I can’t say for sure, but with a small boat like that, you’ll probably be able to get by without attracting the monsters.”

“Eh?! They won’t notice the boat?!” (Jade)

That’s not good! I wanted to use the boat as bait to lure the monsters!

I don’t know how many days it’d take me if I swim and try to find it underwater.

I won’t be able to stand not seeing Garnet-san for such a long time!

If that’s the case—!

“Whose ship is that?” (Jade)

Everyone looks at the splendid ship that looks like it could carry dozens of people.

If it’s that big, monsters wouldn’t be able to leave it alone.

“It’s my ship.”

“In that case—” (Jade)

I took out three puffy leather pouches from my rucksack.

“There’s 30 million Gol here! Please lend me your boat! If it breaks, I’ll pay you for the asking price!” (Jade)

I don’t know when and where I’ll encounter any nice villas so I usually carry a lot of money with me. That habit became useful at a time like this.

The uncle opened his eyes wide when he saw the contents of the leather pouches.

“I-I can’t accept this much!”

“Please, somehow!” (Jade)

“Even if you ask me that… You, are you really planning to go out into the sea?”

“Yes!” (Jade)

“Then I won’t lend it to you. If you go to the sea in this ship, you’ll definitely become a target for the monsters.”

“I’ll be fine!” (Jade)

“That’s right! Jade is so strong that a monster would be defeated in one hit!” (Dorami)

The uncle looked more frightened than when I gave him the money.

“Jade?! By Jade, you mean that Jade-sama?!”

“Jade-sama?!”

“Really?!”

The uncles who gathered at the dock began making a fuss.

“A sword in the shape of a dragon and a fully bloomed flower crest! It’s the real thing! It’s the real Jade-sama!”

“Why is Jade-sama in a place like this?!”

“Is it for work?!”

“Did you accept the request to subjugate the monster?!”

I shook my head at the eyes full of anticipation.

“No, I’m just here to go fishing. My class is too high to accept the monster subjugation quest.” (Jade)

“I-is that so? If Jade-sama had accepted it, we would be very reassured…”

“However, if you were to go fishing now, you’d get attacked by a monster…”

“I know. I can’t accept the quest but it isn’t against the guild’s rules to defend myself if I’m attacked while fishing.” (Jade)

“Y-you mean that you’re going to use yourself as bait for the monster?!”

“But you won’t receive a reward…”

“Even though Jade-sama has nothing to gain, you would try to save us regardless of the danger…”

“Why on earth would you go to such lengths…?”

“To return the favor!” (Dorami)

Dorami responded.

The uncles made a fuss.

“To return the favor… to whom?”

“I’m sure he means to return the favor to the country where he was born and raised.”

“What patriotism…!”

“Cheers for Jade-sama!”

“Cheers to the Selfless Hero!”

After the uncles sent me off while cheering, Dorami and I boarded the large ship.

When magic power began flowing from the magic stone embedded in the steering wheel, the propeller at the stern of the ship began to move.

And then—

“…Nothing is coming out.” (Dorami)

We went out to the sea without any incidents.

I stopped the propeller and we waited for a while but there weren’t any monsters coming out.

“Do you wanna go fishing?”

“I do!” (Dorami)

I knew it would take a while for it to come out so I decided to go fishing as I originally planned to pass the time.

“I’m going to catch a big one!” (Dorami)

We cast our fishing rods.

With a small splash of water, the hook with artificial bait slowly sunk into the sea.

“…”

“…tug!”

After a while, my fishing rod moved.

I pulled the fishing rod and winded the reel—”

“I got it!” (Jade)

I caught a fish about the size of my palm.

“What do you think? Does it look delicious?” (Jade)

“It does! Alright, Dorami won’t lose!” (Dorami)

Dorami was so excited but by the time I caught 5 fish, she still hadn’t caught one.

“Do the fish hate Dorami…?” (Dorami)

“I don’t think so. Maybe it’s just the wrong spot, wanna switch with me?” (Jade)

“I do!” (Dorami)

I switched places with Dorami and cast my fishing rod again.

“Woah!” (Dorami)

Suddenly, Dorami’s fishing rod shook violently.

It looks like it might break.

“I-it’s a big fish! This is going to fill me up~!” (Dorami)

As Dorami drooled while imagining the fish that wouldn’t be able to fit on the plate, it happened.

ZABAAAAAAN!”

Suddenly, the surface of the sea began rising greatly.

From there, a giant scorpion appeared.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!” (Dorami)

Dorami screamed while being bathed by the seawater. Her face was distorted because she was scared but it was also partially because she tasted a lot of seawater.

“So this is the true identity of the monster…!” (Jade)

It was originally a monster that lived in shallow waters—a Marine Scorpion.

However, its size is just a different magnitude from the ones I know.

Did it happen because of a strange mutation or did it just grow bigger over time? Both of its hands are like gigantic scissors that look like they’re able to easily cut a ship in half.

“Go back to the sea! Go back!!” (Dorami)

Dorami took out some pebbles from her pocket (she found some pretty rocks during their travels and picked them up) and threw them at the Marine Scorpion.

After she hit its hard shell, the Marine Scorpion attacked the side of the ship with its huge pincers.

With a sharp sound, it tried to cut the ship in half.

“W-w-w-what are we going to do?! At this rate, the ship will be split in half!” (Dorami)

“It won’t happen. I’ve strengthened the ship with magic. All that’s left is to defeat it!” (Jade)

I kicked the deck of the ship to launch myself at the monster. I landed on its head and slammed my fist into it.

BAKIIIIIIIIIIN!

Its head was shattered into pieces as blue blood and black smoke emerged from the Marine Scorpion. The ether was sucked into my flower crest.

“I thought I was going to die…” (Dorami)

When I returned to the ship, Dorami was sitting flat on the floor.

It looks like her knees collapsed.

“Well then, all that’s left is to go home.” (Jade)

I want to go home quickly and feed Garnet-san some fresh fish.

We returned to the port.

When I told the fishermen what happened, they rejoiced.

“Thank you, Jade-sama! Now I can fish with peace of mind!”

“By the way, Dorami was the one who caught the monster!” (Dorami)

“Thank you, Dorami-sama!”

“You’re welcome!” (Dorami)

I returned to the capital with Dorami who was in a good mood from being praised by the fishermen.