New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out! (2/2 chapters)

 

 

Just like Shellfish

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

Shellfish continued to be caught one after another. Not just by Brown, but also by the adventurers. There were silver-colored shells, as well as dark brown ones. They seemed to be caught in large numbers, but…

“Are shellfish something that can be caught by fishing?” (Elt)

While walking on the surface of the water, I tilted my head. Somehow, I still did not fully understand the aquatic products of this world. There were things similar to my previous life, like salmon and cod, and also things unlike them, such as rainbow fish.

Stella, who was holding my hand, nodded with a soft “hm-hm”.

“Those are shellfish that can be gathered in not-so-deep places. It’s like the rainbow fish, they require at least a little mana to survive…” (Stella)

“You know about them?” (Elt)

“Yes, I ate them during our journey. They’re quite delicious!” (Stella)

Stella smiled with a soft laugh.

Apparently, they were quite delicious. However, watching the center of the lake, only shellfish were being caught. No one was catching any kind of fish. Even rainbow fish were not being caught.

To sum up…

“The surrounding area of the lake has rainbow fish, while the center of the lake is inhabited by shellfish in groups.” (Elt)

“That seems to be the case. I wonder what the difference is.” (Stella)

“Differences in mana, water quality, water depth, the lakebed soil… There are probably many factors. Well, we can investigate slowly.” (Elt)

“Yes, we do have time after all.” (Stella)

Nearby me and Stella was Marcosias. She was also walking on the surface of the water, but…

“What’s wrong?” (Marcosias)

“No, I was just thinking. This water-walking technique seems to require a fair amount of mana… Are you alright with it?” (Elt)

“Thanks for worrying. But I’m perfectly fine!” (Marcosias)

Marcosias puffed out her chest with a proud “ehem!”. Then, as if recalling something while looking into the distance, Marcosias continued.

“Speaking of shellfish, it reminded me. We used to do this in Hell too.” (Marcosias)

“You fished shellfish in Hell?” (Elt)

“We went clam digging for clams. With shovels on the sandy shore.” (Marcosias)

“Piyo, sandy shore… I’ve never seen one, but it sounds fun, piyo.” (Dia)

“Hell has beaches?” (Elt)

“A bored demon made one. Demons are bored creatures. When they want to do something, they spend lots of time preparing. That’s why we did a lot of clam digging in spring.” (Marcosias)

“I see…” (Elt)

Perhaps Stella’s imagination had reached its limit. She had a look that seemed like she understood and yet did not. I did not really get it either. But one could say it was a luxurious lifestyle. To build a beach just to do clam digging. How extremely extravagant.

“It seems Wood is doing fine too.” (Stella)

Suddenly, Stella whispered to me.

I quickly shifted my gaze without letting anyone notice and found them. Lalatoma was sitting between Wood’s legs. They looked quite close. At the very least, it seemed they did not dislike each other.

“Even so, every boat seems to be catching shellfish like crazy.” (Elt)

“Nyaan, I got another one, nyaan!” (Nyaff)

“Me too over here!” (Adventurer)

They probably would not catch everything on the first day, but were there really that many shellfish at the bottom of the lake?

At that moment, Marcosias sniffed the air with a “sunsun”.

“It seems there’s a secret in the bait.” (Marcosias)

“You mean the thing you put on the end of the hook, piyo?” (Dia)

“Ah, I figured it out too.” (Stella)

Stella narrowed her eyes.

It seemed that was enough for her to see the tip of the fishing hook. What sharp vision. Then, Marcosias raised a finger with a flick.

“They’re using grass dumplings as bait.” (Marcosias)

I see… Now that she mentioned it, I could not think of any other bait that would work so well. But everyone, including the shellfish, really loves grass dumplings. Well… I love them too, though.

 

—

 

After wandering around the lake for a bit, we returned to the dock. Other Nyaff Tribe members and adventurers had also returned for a moment.

“Nyan, we caught this many, nyaan!” (Nyaff)

It seemed they held back a little to avoid over-harvesting, but even so, it was quite a haul. There appeared to be many dull silver-colored shells. There were also spiral-shaped shells. They looked like turban shells.

“What’s the name of this dull silver-colored shell?” (Elt)

“It’s called the Marudehotate, nyaan!” (Nyaff)

“Huh?” (Elt)

When I asked again, even the adventurer in his thirties old raised his voice.

“It’s the Marudehotate, sir!” (Adventurer)

Marudehotate… It sounded just like “Marude Hotate” (“Just like Shellfish”).

I quietly approached Naru and whispered.

“It sounds like a fake shellfish name…” (Elt)

“It’s a misleading name, nya. But it’s alright, nya. It’s a legitimate member of the scallop family, nya.” (Naru)

“I-Is that so?” (Elt)

No wonder I had no memory of it in the monster encyclopedia. At home and here, I had read a considerable number of books related to monsters. But there had been no mention of this shellfish. It really was just a regular shellfish.

“These taste best grilled, sir.” (Adventurer)

“Oh yeah, such rich flavor…” (Adventurer)

The adventurers, full of excitement, began preparing for a barbecue. That was fast. More than that, they had no hesitation in eating it. Maybe it was a fairly familiar ingredient to adventurers. Stella was not stopping them, so it was probably safe.

Besides, it was already around noon. We had been active since morning, so naturally we were getting hungry. It might be just the right time for lunch.

“We brought butter, cheese, and olive oil, nya. Will this be enough, nya?” (Nyaff)

“With that much, it’s perfect, sir!” (Adventurer)

They quickly prepared the grill and started a fire. Many of them were used to survival, so it was no time at all before the grilling began. I should contribute something as well. Since I did not catch any shellfish.

“Alright, leave the vegetables to me.” (Elt)

“Ooh!” (Adventurer)

“We’re counting on you, nyaan!” (Nyaff)

Then, I began producing vegetables like onions, carrots, green peppers, and corn.

Cutting them would be Stella’s job. She sliced them at lightning speed, efficiently and gracefully.

“Ugo-ugo, what about me?” (Wood)

Wood asked if there was anything he could do, but Lalatoma was at his feet.

Hmm, today it might be best for them to stay together.

“It’s alright here. Why don’t you and Lalatoma go watch them grill the shellfish? It’s probably your first time seeing this kind.” (Elt)

“Yes! They’re really big shellfish!” (Lalatoma)

“Alright, enjoy the barbecue.” (Elt)

“Ugo-ugo, thank you!” (Wood)

And so, the barbecue ended enjoyably.

The Marudehotate shellfish were thick and, as the name implied, tasted exactly like scallops. Apparently, the shells were also useful, so we decided to take them back with us. In the end, we constructed one of the Large Tree Houses as a storage site and returned to the village before evening. Everyone who had ridden the boat wore contented expressions, and the distance between Wood and Lalatoma seemed to have narrowed.

Good. One could say this was a great success.

 

Territory Information

Place Name: Healberry Village

Special Facilities: Adventurer Guild, Large Tree Tower (with soil bath), Underground Plaza Inn, Cockatrice Large Public Bath, Cockatrice Boat Dock

Total Population: 243

Tourism Level: B (Soil bath, fantastic underground space, Elven cuisine restaurant)

Fishing Industry Level: B (Rainbow fish breeding, broth from scales, Marudehotate shellfish)

Ranching Level: C (Cockatrice sisters, glowing-eyed cockatrices)

Demon Lord Level: D (Demon Maru-wanchan, red super acceleration)

 

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