Chapter Forty-three: Let’s Quickly Destroy Those Hermit Crabs’ Houses!
The beach after the orca returned to the sea is truly a sight of "bounty." Various seafood sparkle with silver scales on the shore, jumping around energetically. The sheer amount is so plentiful that even with the adventurers who took part in the orca rescue carrying as much catch as they could, there is still an excess remaining.
“Wow, how generous was that orca…”
“Which is precisely why those Offshore Dwellers are known as the ‘Messengers of Fortune.’”
Mr. Ville, grasping a huge shrimp that creaked its joints, looks squintingly out to the dazzling horizon where the whale had disappeared. Yup. Even though the sun is leaning to the west, it’s blinding on the beach with nothing to obstruct it.
…I really should have brought those polarized sunglasses… with their anti-glare function, the blinding light would have been much more tolerable…
In any case, I too must join in gathering the seafood scattered across the beach!
The gently lapping waves are gradually nearing us. This beach will be submerged by the tide before long.
I must take back as much catch as possible before then!
Even after the other adventurers has taken their fill, there is still prey remaining on the beach. The fish seems to have already been collected, leaving mainly squirming shrimp, crabs, and shellfish—creatures that could survive on land for a bit longer. Once the tide came in, the remaining creatures would likely return to the sea. The adventurers of this world do seem quite conscientious.
"Huge shrimp! Massive shellfish too! It really feels like the goddess’s blessing!”
"Rin, over here!”
As I was gathering seafood into a large pot brought from the Camping Car, I was suddenly startled by Ms. Aria’s voice. It was unusual for her to speak so loudly, and before I could even think about it, I felt something wrap around my body, and I was pulled sharply. Upon closer inspection, I saw thin threads wrapped around my body in layers.
Which means…
Sure enough, my body ends up tucked snugly into Ms. Aria’s arms. My face is buried in her rather indelicate bosom, though Ms. Aria doesn’t seem to mind at all. The large pot is also retrieved, its contents sealed in by layers of coiled thread acting as a makeshift lid.
“Ms. Aria? Is, is something wrong?”
“Black Hermits… not too strong, but… I’m worried…”
Following Ms. Aria’s gaze, knee-high hermit crab-like creatures are approaching in numbers of at least twenty as the tide rises. Let’s see… According to Survival, they’re just "passable"… meaning not particularly tasty…! Survival ranks foods from "very delicious," "delicious," "edible," down to the lowest "passable.”
"Might as well thin them out, though it’s a hassle.”
"We can’t have them attacking any children who came here to play.”
Looking around, the other adventurers are also smashing the creatures’ shells. Apparently, they retreat when their shells are broken, so that tactic is being used to drive them from this area.
Those giant hermit crabs could seriously injure an adult, let alone a child…
Mr. Ville was battering them with his sword’s hilt while Mr. Xenon whacked them with his mace… Mr. Ed is magically capturing the shelled ones and tossing them back into the ocean. Meanwhile, Ms. Aria is guarding over me.
Thanks to the other adventurers’ efforts as well, the giant hermit crabs are cleared from the beach before the tide comes in fully.
"Today, thanks to the Offshore Dweller, I bet a lot of folks had a good haul.”
"Indeed, we too were able to secure quite a bountiful catch.”
"At any rate, I’m just glad nothing too crazy showed up today.”
"Yes. No injuries is the best outcome.”
As the tide continued to rise, we hurriedly made our way to higher ground, away from the advancing water… The channel we dug for the orca and the sandy area littered with whelk shells quickly disappear beneath the water’s surface. Although we did encounter the irregularity of a beached orca, it seems we are able to avoid high-level monsters like the fire bear. For us being prepared, it is a bit anticlimactic, but honestly, it’s better that way—we’d rather NOT encounter anything of that caliber… Mr. Ville, Mr. Xenon, Mr. Ed, and Ms. Aria look on with satisfied expressions as the adventurers happily carry their catches back home.
"Shall we head back too? We need to report our quest completion and let Tori know about that Offshore Dweller.”
"Yeah, and we gotta sort out what items to sell.”
"Oh, I’ll lay out a picnic blanket inside the Camping Car first!”
With such a large amount of fresh seafood brought in, the inside of Campy would definitely end up covered in sand…
As I hope for the "big shrimp please" while the others discuss which catches they want, I spread out a picnic blanket over the living room rug to contain the overflowing bounty.
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