Chapter One Hundred and Four: Back to Fishing on Rhielle Lake
“The line is so thin!”
“Well, it’s like ‘the power of science is amazing!’ isn’t it? Though from my perspective, Ms. Aria, your thread is even more impressive.”
“Need some of it?”
‘Shall I go ‘swish-swish’ in the water too?’
“Please help me if I catch a big one! And Miso, be careful not to fall into the water.”
With two people, the setup was finished in no time. We only had to prepare things like the portable grill, and since I didn’t want it blown away by the wind, I took it out of storage and put it near the cabin entrance for easy access… and that was it.
That’s how I ended up carrying the fishing equipment with Ms. Aria and Gomamiso, heading to the edge of the lake! Ms. Aria is amazed at the thinness of the fishing line, but to me, Ms. Aria’s thread that can bisect monsters and dice them into cubes seems much more impressive.
…Still, the morning bite time has long passed, and it’s almost noon now… the fish activity must have dropped… Unlike last time, I can hardly see any rises today.
…Hmm… I’m not very skilled, to begin with, and in this situation, I don’t think I’ll catch anything…
…
…Alright! At times like this, a feather jig might work! I’m not sure if it’ll be effective for native trout, but when it’s allowed in managed fishing areas, it’s a powerful ally to avoid going home empty-handed!
“Let’s see… there are some bug-like things flying around, so let’s go with this swimming-type feather…”
“It’s so small! You can catch fish with that?”
‘Fluffy! Is that my toy? Is it my toy?’
“It’s a type of lure that mimics aquatic insects drifting in the water. I have others too! Miso! Be careful, it has a hook!”
I chose a feather jig with relatively subdued colors from my collection… one that could be retrieved to mimic an insect drifting in the water, and tied it to the fishing line. As Gomamiso tried to paw at the jig dangling from the rod with its thick front paw, I hastily raised the rod to keep it out of reach.
Yup, I guess it does look like a great toy for a cat.
I hand Ms. Aria another lure case as she examines the one she is holding, while I quietly approach the water’s edge. Ms. Aria followed me, quietly observing the lures as she walked beside me, her steps nearly silent.
Fortunately, there’s no wind.
I wet the feather a bit to add a little weight…
“Here we go!”
“…It doesn’t… fly… that far…?”
“Well, this is an artificial lure meant for artificial fishing ponds… Lures for natural streams might be different…”
I think I cast it pretty well, but I guess from the perspective of an active adventurer, it doesn’t seem like much of a distance.
I start counting from when it hits the water to determine how deep it sinks… Oh? Around the 5-count mark, I feel a light tap transmitted to my hand. I try to set the hook, but there’s no feeling of a fish being caught. A short bite… like it just nipped at it…! I jerk the rod to bring the lure back to the surface, then let it sink again while counting… When it reaches about the 5-count depth where I felt the bite before, I start reeling in veeeery slowly. Since there was a bite, there must be fish at that depth, right?
“…Like this… make it drift… gently…”
“Do you feel anything?”
“Hmm… I think I felt something like a bite, but… Yes!”
While reeling in, I lightly tap the rod with the fingers of the hand holding it. This supposedly makes the rod vibrate slightly, causing the lure in the water to wobble perfectly… On top of that, I slowly reel in to create the impression of an aquatic insect trying to escape, and then… I feel a sudden weight on the line. I quickly reel in, trying to hook it. The drag starts screeching, and the line speeds out toward the deep water.
“Did you catch something!?”
“I did! It might be quite big, this one…!”
‘I will! I’ll go swish-swish!’
“Miso, stay! Don’t rush me!!!”
As the rod bends towards the water surface, Ms. Aria’s eyes sparkle as she alternately looks at me and the offing. Gomamiso, too, has its claws out, swinging them in the air as if practicing, clearly eager to help.
Wait! Everyone, wait! It’s still far out! The fish hasn’t even come close yet!
I can feel through my hand on the rod that the fish is shaking its head as if trying to shake off the hook.
No, no, no… I won’t let you escape… I won’t let you go!
I maintain tension using the rod’s flexibility and reeling, making sure the line doesn’t slacken. The hook doesn’t have a barb, so if the line loosens, it’ll escape right away!
Suddenly, the water’s surface bursts and a pure white fish body shows itself. It looks like a good size, not inferior to the big one I caught last time.
Moreover, the olive-colored feather jig is firmly hooked in its mouth!
“Rin! It’s big! The fish is big!”
“Indeed! And it’s hooked pretty well! If I can just reel it in now…”
As I keep reeling, mentally praying it doesn’t escape, the milk trout at the end of the line suddenly jumps.
Luckily, perhaps because I’ve been constantly reeling, the line doesn’t seem to have slackened, and…
“Whoa!?!?”
“Did an even bigger one come out!?”
As if chasing after the jumping big milk trout, something even larger breaks the water surface and leaps out.
It’s brownish and streamlined, but… it doesn’t seem to be a fish…?
I follow the briefly glimpsed form with my eyes… and the next moment, a spectacular water column rises. The splash is strong enough that fine water droplets reach us.
“Wh-What was that just now…!?”
“Mad Otter! Eating the fish…!”
I unconsciously stop reeling, and the line goes slack. The drag, which had been screeching moments before, went silent.
D-Damn, it got away after all…!
As I grit my teeth, frustrated at being distracted by something unnecessary, Ms. Aria takes a fighting stance beside me.
Before I can wonder what’s happening, my vision is filled with Survival’s bright red warning alert.
I quickly look up to see the water surface in front of us rising ominously… and that something I saw earlier shows its face.
My eyes meet with glowing, eerie red eyes behind the water veil.
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