kscans

Chapter 522 - Morning Prime Time

"—Achoo!"

"Huh??? What's with that cutesy sneeze, you pretty boy?"

"Hh... Shut up. You just instinctively mock me now, don't you?"

"Pretty much."

"Don't 'pretty much' me. Stop getting used to strange things—by the way, you've got a bite."

"Whoa, really... Alright, here we go!"

I wound the reel with a kiri kiri kiri sound, spotted the fish's shadow nearby, and lifted the rod with a flick.

What emerged wasn't a huge catch that sent water splashing everywhere, but a sleek fish, a little over fifteen centimeters long.

"Whoa, look at it flop around. Alright, Gossan, you're up."

"You got it, leave it to me!"

I don't have any skills for unhooking fish, so once I catch one, I just hand it off to Dad. Without even a hint of annoyance, he happily takes on the task, even preparing the rig again. He's a total busybody old man.

"Even if they're all small, this is still fun."

"Right? These guys taste good too, so there's more fun to be had after we're done fishing."

Deftly unhooked by his large hands, the kisu, or sand whiting, was dropped into the bucket with a splash. Along with the four already swimming inside, that made five. To my amateur eyes, that was already a pretty good haul.

It was currently five in the morning—rousted from my sleep by an energetic old man in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, who looked like he was playing the part of a dad on a holiday, I had been dragged out here. It seemed to have been worth it.

I'd never gone beach fishing before in my life. I didn't even know you could fish on a beach.

"If you cast a little farther out, you can get sea bass here, too. But for a beginner, whiting is good. You can usually catch 'em during the morning bite."

"Sea bass?"

"Oh, you don't know? It's a suzuki. That's what fishermen call 'em. They put up a good fight, it's a lot of fun, y'know?"

"Huh."

Why was he explaining it with such excessive glee? Ah, I see. He's acting like he knows a lot, but he probably just picked it up somewhere recently, didn't he?

What a know-it-all old man. This is fun and all, but I'm so damn tired. He could have at least given me a heads-up yesterday.

"Irori, what's 'the morning bite'?"

"Why are you asking me? I wouldn't know."

And the guy casting his line next to me was another victim of the hyperactive General Commander. We traded lighthearted jabs to keep each other awake, but just like me, he seemed to be lacking sleep, his handsome, refreshing face looking droopy.

He was holding the reel with his left hand. I asked him if his aftereffects from that accident were okay, and for some reason, he just scoffed, so I decided not to worry about him.

Though if he's recovered to the point where I really don't need to worry, that's great.

"Honestly, how long are you two gonna keep makin' sleepy faces? Were you both stayin' up late on the first night of the trip or somethin'?"

""A lot happened...""

Mainly being messed with by Ashe—I swallowed those words and gave a vague answer, but we had mysteriously spoken in perfect unison, causing us to look at each other.

"You're wasting that handsome face, get some sleep, Blonde Samurai—Gossan."

"You got it, leave it to me!"

"You too, your goofy smile is looking a little dim, you acrobat."

"Who are you calling an acrobat? I'm not that goofy."

"And you, how about you stop with the 'Blonde Samurai' thing already? It's just a plain insult."

"Oh... Fine. Then, 'Sword Saint Fanboy.'"

"Did you say something, 'Sword Saint's Disciple'?"

"That's a mouthful. I win—Gossan."

"You got it, leave it to me!"

"What kind of contest is this... Speaking of the Sword Saint, I received a status report from her saying you were 'not unwell, but unwell.' Do you even have times when you are well?"

"Why are you two always exchanging information about me? Are you part of Ui-san's faction and my guardian now?"

"She sends me messages. She must be concerned about you. You should prostate yourself in gratitude."

"Well, I am grateful, but... —Gossan."

"You got i—"

"—Hey, why is it that you're the only one catching anything when we're casting our lines at the same spot with the same rig? This is ridiculous...!"

Even if you say that—I glanced at our respective buckets, and sure enough, mine was the only one with fish in it. The Blonde Samurai, a.k.a. Sword Saint Fanboy, had gotten completely skunked, and Gossan was so busy fussing over us that he hadn't even cast his rod.

Maybe the pressure of his good looks is seeping out of the bait through the fishing line.

"Well, setting aside the Skunked Samurai..."

"Say that again and I'll make sashimi out of you."

"I wonder if whiting sashimi is any good..."

Shrugging off the cheap killing intent, I picked a topic that came to mind, seeing as it was the three ranked guys from Istia. Apparently, he had called out to all the men, but Uni, who was also woken up, had just smiled, said "good night," and closed the door.

"This is still a ways off, but... about the Four Pillar War in two months?"

"Right."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's about the selection match before that..."

At that, they must have understood the topic I was bringing up. The two of them let out an "Ah..." in unison, and a grin spread across both their faces.

"In a way, it's your first public job as a ranker. Make sure you put on a good show, Acrobat."

"If you screw up and die a pathetic death, you'll just be a laughingstock for the public and me, whether your avatar build is high-risk or not."

"Gossan's one thing, but don't you laugh, senpai. Take care of your junior."

Last time, I was genuinely a challenger, but this time, like the [Sword Protector] I faced back then, I'll have to stand in the way of the participants in the main selection round.

"My style in PvP is basically to just go all out and push my momentum... I wonder if I can play defensively, make my opponent look good, and put on a show."

"It's not a question of 'can you,' you have to. If you bring shame to our master, I'll slice you to ribbons."

"And you, could you stop using that as the ultimate threat against me already?"

It actually works, and I start trembling, so give me a break.

"Well, don't worry. When the time comes, we always do this. We'll spar amongst ourselves and figure out our moves. You can just talk it over with your seniors and make adjustments."

"If that's the case, then maybe..."

"There's still time. Make sure you keep honing your skills whenever you're bored."

"Of course."

I suppose I can just worry about it again then, while getting their advice—speaking of the selection match, there was one more question I had, since I had to leave partway through last time.

"The main selection round is a tournament, so rankers will end up fighting each other, right? What do you do then? Do you go at it for real, or do you focus on putting on a demonstration?"

It seemed difficult either way, so I asked another question... and for some reason, a single Blonde Samurai, a.k.a. Sword Saint Fanboy, a.k.a. Skunked Samurai, flashed a meaningful smile.

"Both. We go all out to put on a show, and we go all out to beat each other down."

Though he hadn't caught a single fish, Irori, the current [Peerless]—formerly the [Sword Protector]—looked incredibly cool just standing there holding his rod. He flashed a stylish smile and said,

"So... make sure you climb your way up, junior. We're having that rematch, aren't we?"

With that grand declaration, he wound the reel with a kiri kiri sound and briskly lifted his rod.

There was no bait, and no fish, on the end of the hook.