Chapter 522 - Morning Prime Time
"—...Achoo!"
"Huh? What's with that cutesy sneeze, you handsome jerk."
"...Shut up. You're just dissing me on reflex now, aren't you?"
"Pretty much."
"Don't 'pretty much' me. Don't get into weird habits like that—by the way, you've got a bite."
"Oh, for real...? Alright, here we go!"
With a few cranks of the reel, I spotted a fish shadow nearby and gave the rod a quick lift.
What emerged wasn't some huge catch making a dramatic splash, but a sleek fish, a little over fifteen centimeters long.
"Whoa, look at it wiggle. Alright, Gossan, you're up."
"You got it!"
Since I don't have any skills for unhooking fish, once I catch one, I just toss it over to Dad. Without the slightest hint of annoyance, he happily takes on the task, even preparing the rig again. The man is clearly an eager beaver.
"Even if they're all small, this is still pretty fun."
"Right? These guys taste great too, so you've got something to look forward to after we're done."
Unhooked by his large, skillful hands, a whiting—a kisu—was dropped into the bucket with a plop. Along with the four already swimming inside, that made five. To my amateur eyes, that was already a pretty good haul.
It was five in the morning. The energetic old man, perhaps channeling a 'weekend dad' style in his short-sleeved shirt and shorts, had woken me up and dragged me out here. I guess it was worth it.
This is the first time I've ever gone beach fishing. I didn't even know you could fish from a beach.
"If you cast a little farther out, you can find sea bass here too. But for a beginner, kisu fishing is best. You can pretty much always catch 'em during prime time."
"What's a sea bass?"
"Oh, you don't know? It's a suzuki. That's what anglers call 'em. They put up a good fight, it's a blast, you know?"
"Huh."
Why is he so overly excited to explain this? Is this one of those things where he acts all knowledgeable, but he actually just heard it somewhere himself?
What an old man, eager to show off what he just learned. This is fun and all, but I am so damn sleepy. He could have at least given me a heads-up yesterday.
"Irori, what's 'prime time'?"
"Why are you asking me? How should I know?"
And this guy, casting his line next to me, is another victim of the ever-energetic General Commander. We're trading lighthearted jabs to keep each other awake, but just like me, he seems to be running on fumes, his handsome, refreshing face all droopy.
He's holding the reel in his left hand. When I asked if his aftereffects from that accident were okay, he just snorted at me for some reason, so I'm not going to worry about him.
Though if he's really recovered enough not to need any worry, that's great news.
"Good grief, you two still lookin' half-asleep. Were you both up late on the first night of the trip?"
""A lot happened...""
I swallowed the part about being tossed around by Ashe's antics and gave a vague answer. We somehow said the exact same words in perfect unison and looked at each other.
"You're wasting your handsome face. Get some sleep, Blonde Samurai—Gossan."
"You got it!"
"You're one to talk. Your goofy smile is looking a little dim, Acrobat."
"Who are you calling an Acrobat? I'm not that goofy."
"And you should really stop with the 'Blonde Samurai' thing. It's just a straight-up insult."
"Oh... How about 'Sword Saint Fanboy' then?"
"Did you say something, 'Sword Saint's Disciple'?"
"Yours doesn't roll off the tongue. I win—Gossan."
"You got it!"
"What kind of contest is this, exactly...? Speaking of the Sword Saint, I received a status report from our master that you're 'not unwell, but unwell.' Do you ever have a time when you're actually doing well?"
"Why are you two always exchanging information about me behind my back? Are you my guardian in Ui-san's faction now?"
"She sends me messages. She must be concerned about you. You should be prostrating yourself in gratitude."
"Well, I am honored, but...—Gossan."
"You got—"
"—Hey, why are you the only one catching anything when we're using the same rig in the same spot? This is ridiculous...!"
I don't know what to tell you, man. I glanced over at our respective buckets, and sure enough, mine was the only one with fish in it. The Blonde Samurai, a.k.a. the Sword Saint Fanboy, was getting thoroughly skunked, and Gossan was too busy doting on us to even cast his line.
Maybe your handsome-guy pressure is seeping out of the bait through the line.
"Well, putting the Bald Samurai aside for a moment."
"Say that again and I'll turn you into sashimi."
"I wonder if kisu sashimi is any good..."
Brushing off his bargain-bin killing intent, I picked a topic that came to mind, seeing as it was the three male rankers of Istia gathered here. It seems he called all the guys, but Uni, woken up just like us, apparently just smiled, said "Good night," and closed the door.
"This is still a ways off, but... about the Four Pillars in two months?"
"Right."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's about the selection match before it..."
At that, they must have figured out what I was getting at. Both of them let out a knowing "Ah," and broke into matching grins.
"In a way, it's your public debut as a ranker. Make sure you put on a good show, Acrobat."
"If you screw up and die a pathetic death, you'll be the laughingstock of the public and me, whether your avatar build is finicky or not."
"Gossan's one thing, but don't you laugh, senpai. Take care of your junior."
Last time, I was truly the challenger, but this time, like the [Sword Protector] I faced back then, I'll have to stand in the way of the contestants in the main selection round.
"My style in PvP is basically to just go all out and overwhelm my opponent with momentum... I wonder if I can play defensively, prop up my opponent, and put on a good show like that."
"It's not a matter of 'can you,' you're going to. If you embarrass our master, I'll slice you into ribbons."
"You really need to stop using that as the ultimate threat against me, you know?"
It actually works, and it makes me tremble. Give me a break.
"Don't worry about it. When the time comes, we'll do what we always do and spar among ourselves to figure out our moves. Just coordinate with your senpai and you'll be fine."
"Well, if that's the case..."
"There's still time. Make sure you keep honing your skills when you're bored."
"Of course."
I can just worry about it then, once I get some advice. Speaking of the selection match, I left partway through last time, so there's another thing I don't know.
"The main selection round is a tournament, right? So rankers will end up fighting each other. What do we do then? Do we go all out, or focus on putting on a demonstration?"
It seemed difficult either way. As I posed the question... a certain Bald Samurai, a.k.a. the Sword Saint Fanboy, a.k.a. the Blonde Samurai, gave me a meaningful smile.
"Both. We fight with all our might while putting on a show with all our might."
Even though he hadn't caught a thing, Irori—the current [Peerless], formerly the [Sword Protector]—looked incredibly cool just standing there holding his rod. With a smug smile, he said,
"So... make sure you climb your way up, junior. We have a rematch, don't we?"
With that grand declaration, he began to crank his reel and smartly lifted his rod.
On the end of the line, there was neither bait nor fish.