3 idiot chapter 122

 Episode 122. The Pointy One Tastes Better Stewed

"Is Hearty Eater out at sea again today, I wonder?"

It had been a while since they took down that big one.
Apparently, they were still working the sea job introduced by Daryl, but by now they were getting requests by name.
Even the tough old fishermen would casually come into the guild asking, “Hey, are the Hearty Eater boys around today?”
They were fitting in—really fitting in.

Lately, they’d been constantly out on jobs, rarely even stopping by to report in.

"That's right. I heard they're heading out to sea for several days starting today, so they won't be back for a while."

Daryl shrugged with a “yeah, I’m used to it” expression.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t help but sigh.

"Right. Land or sea, doesn’t matter—but if you run into them, could you tell them something for me? The disassembly’s done, the materials are sold, so they should come collect their share. Also, tell them the Longbird season is starting soon. If they want to contact their home country, they’d better write the letter soon."

The Longbird—those migratory birds that carry letters between nations.

“Oh? That’s unusual, letting a whole clan send letters. Isn’t that thing in pretty high demand?”

Exactly.
And no, I wasn’t suggesting it out of kindness, like “maybe someone’s waiting to hear from them.” Far from it.

“That thing showed up out of nowhere in another country, you know? If it turns out they’re a state-sponsored clan and we’ve had them working here with no communication… who knows what kind of accusations we’d face?”

“Aah, I see. Yeah, considering their stats, you really can’t rule that out.”

Daryl let out a dry laugh, but the more he thought about it, the more nervous he looked.
Good. That’s how serious the situation is.

Our country—no, not even the country as a whole, just our guild—is harboring something that dangerous.
If it turns out they’re Walkers belonging to another nation’s top brass… and we’ve been using them without permission…
Some countries might even take that as a declaration of war.

That’s why we need a buffer. A preemptive statement like:
“They got transferred here by accident, but they’re saving up to go back home.”
If we don’t say that now, I’ll never have peace of mind.

And then there’s the guild branch manager in their home country—

“If it’s him, I think he’ll handle it well. It might cause him some trouble, but… I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

“Ah, the one who’s sweet on you, huh? In that case, guess they got lucky.”

“Seriously, what kind of twisted fate is this… I’m counting on you, Crow.”

Crow Vahlburg.
The guild branch manager of the town they used to live in.
A strict man, with a sharp glare that could cut through steel.
But his work was flawless.
And more than anything, he had that old-school masculinity.

If anyone could handle this without making a mess, it was him.
Trusting him to make the right move, I started writing a letter.

---

【 Hey, hey, it’s been a while.
You do remember me, right? Don’t tell me you forgot…? 】 

“Why does the branch manager always get all formal and dramatic with people he’s got a crush on?”

“Shut up, idiot! Don’t read over my shoulder!”

“Oooh, scary~ Off to work I go~”

“Then hurry up and go! And come back in one piece!”

“Aye aye, roger that~”

As Daryl waved lightly and walked off, I sighed and turned back to my letter.

…………………

………………..

………………..

A tuna boat.
I always thought once you boarded one, you wouldn’t see land for years.
Apparently, things were different here.

They had sails and oars and rowed together—
Surprisingly fast, actually.

And the further out you went, the more powerful the sea monsters became.
Which meant…

“So we can catch tuna pretty close to shore, huh… well, I guess if the big ones are offshore, the little ones would flee closer inland.”

“Brings back memories… I’ve eaten monster tuna before, but why was that one in a forest again? I thought it was a spring, but maybe it was connected to the ocean at the bottom?”

“Well, let’s not dwell on stuff we can’t figure out. Let’s just row and get there faster.”

“Hold up, Hearty Eater! You’re too fast! You’re not catching the wind—you’ve become the wind! Especially you in the back, the big guy! Just how strong are you!? At this rate the sail—ugh, screw it, take it down before the mast snaps!”

I’d borrowed the biggest oar and was rowing away with a heave-ho, heave-ho.
With every stroke from Azuma, the ship visibly sped up.

Not bad at all.
At this pace, we might get back to land earlier than expected—and more time to hunt sounds good to me.

“Full speed ahead! Time to feast on tuna again!”

““YEAH!””

“I SAID SLOW DOWN, DAMMIT!!”

Our current captain was quite the screamer.
And the rest of the crew? Pretty lazy.

A good number of them were just clinging to the ship, not moving at all.
Well, whatever. We can just pick up the slack ourselves.

Daryl’s ship was massive, but this was a proper fishing vessel.
Which meant the harder we worked, the faster it went.

“Heal, heal, heal… Okay, I’m stable.”

[Seasick again? You really don’t do well on boats, Nozomi.]

“It’s because normal boats don’t keep tilting like this or constantly speed up and slow down… I’m sorry, Miss Nozomi, but could you heal me too…”

The two girls were sitting cross-legged nearby, faces pale, muttering to themselves.

Maybe we should pick up the pace and let them rest sooner…

"The two of them look pretty rough—let’s hurry up and get there so they can rest!"

"""Yeeeaah!!"""

"Masters!? No, that’s not what I meant! Please stop!"

"I hate this rocking!!"

[Ahaha! Even a little boat’s a thrill at this speed!]

With renewed spirit, we rowed even harder.

For the record, several oars were sacrificed before we reached the site.

"This is the one I pull, right?"

Azuma, holding the net, pulled it up on his own with a splash!—packed with tuna.

There were tons of fish inside.

Meanwhile, on my side—

"Rope this time, huh?"

"Yeah. See, there are all sorts of ways to catch tuna. That’s a different method from over there."

"Fine by me. I just pull it, right?"

"Well, yeah, but… are you sure you can handle it alone? Usually you’d use several people, and some tools—"

"Yo! Hup! Whoa, nice! I got a ton!"

"…Right. Keep it up, then."

And so Azuma, me, and the fishermen hauled up tuna and other seafood.

Nishida, as usual, was guarding the fishermen.

Minami and the Saintess were cooking in the open space on the boat.

"Come eat when you’re hungry!" was basically their battle cry, as they prepared rice balls, miso soup, grilled fish, and more.

They made really small rice balls—perfect for snacking between tasks.

No wonder it was a hit.

"Hey you lot! Today’s a good haul! Keep fishing till you drop!"

"""OOOHHH!!"""

The fishermen were fired up, hauling tuna like mad.

Yeah, this felt like real work for once.

I was starting to enjoy this normal, everyday job… when—

"Kou-chan! Something’s coming! I saw a ‘spear’!"

Nishida reported in.

A “spear,” huh?

That word was intriguing enough to make me whip around and glare at the sea.

There was a sizable shadow swimming through the water…

Not quite as big as a whale or a shark, so it was easy to miss—but it was fast.

"Hearty Eater, battle mode! Sorry, I’m leaving this to you guys!"

I handed off the job to the nearby fishermen.
Each one of them grinned and gave me a big thumbs-up as they took over.

"What do you think it is?"

Azuma must’ve done the same—he stood beside me, staring at the ocean.

The girls began handing out weapons.

"Whatever it is, we should be ready. We’ve got more people to protect than ever this time. And less room to move."

"Hope it’s not another huge one…"

[But the big ones are the tastiest.]

Everyone stared at one point.

I could feel it.
That direction. That’s where they were.

The unmistakable feeling of hostility.

"‘Spear’ in the sea, huh… I’ve got a guess, but you never know with sea monsters. Everyone, stay alert!"

"Hey, Kou-chan, if it is what I think it is, can we do ‘that’ again?"

"That thing we ate before—it was delicious! I definitely want that again."

Nishida and Azuma came over, eyes sparkling.

Come on, focus. The enemy’s right in front of us.

"‘That’? What’s ‘that’?"

"Are you saying you already know what it is?"

[Is it tasty? This ‘that’—is it tasty?]

The girls gathered around, too.

No good—whatever tension we had left just vanished.

Sighing deeply, I turned back toward the water.

"If that thing turns out to be a swordfish, I’ll make it for you! Braised swordfish! So get fired up! Even if it jumps at us, don’t let it cause any damage, got it!? If it puts a hole in the boat, that’s a fatal blow for us! Stay sharp!"

""Uwoooohhh yeahhh!!""

"Braised…? Braised, you say!? You can braise a fish!?"

"Ahh~ I’ve heard of it before, but I’ve never eaten it myself."

[We’re eating it, Nozomi. We’re definitely eating it! I don’t really get it, but it sounds delicious!]

Tense or not, each member of the Hearty Eater team readied their weapons.

And then—

"Hell yeahhh! Swordfish, number one!"

"Leave it to me! I’ll divert it, so Nishi-kun, follow up with the attack!"

"I won’t let it fall off the boat! I’ll eat it!"

"Hiiieee! Swordfish are really that big!?"

[Dinner’s flying toward us! Nozomi, buff first!]

I’ve gotten so used to this kind of chaos that it doesn’t even faze me anymore.

Well, I guess this really is just how we are.

Letting out one more sigh, I lowered my stance and hurled one of my spears.

"Yeah, that one landed."

"I’ll divert it! Everyone, make sure not to get skewered! It’s already dead, so Nishi-kun, Minami-chan, take care of recovery!"

"Understood, Azuma-sama!"

"Ain’t no way I’m lettin’ it get away! I’ll dive in if I have to!"

And so, the giant swordfish came flying through the air.

Its corpse, that is.

With a grand “spear” growing from its nose, and my thrown spear impaled into its forehead, it now sported two spears.

Azuma deflected the thing with his massive shield, sending it flying—where Nishida and Minami were supposed to pin it to the deck with short swords in both hands.

But maybe it had too much momentum. Or maybe the deck was wet. Either way, the two of them slipped and went sliding across the deck at incredible speed.

"O-oi oi oi! Are you two alright!? Stop it somehow—!"

"Protection!"

With the Saintess’s shout, an invisible wall manifested, and the two would-be sailors along with the fish slammed into it with a resounding thud, grinding to an abrupt halt right before reaching the other crewmembers.

And what a satisfying sound it made.

"H-hey, you guys okay?"

I couldn’t help but call out. The two of them clutched their heads, trembling.

"W-we got it... owweeeee…"

"It went WHAM!... uuuuugh…"

Anyway—good work.

I placed my hands on their heads and then looked over at the Saintess.

"U-um, I’m sorry. I thought the crew might get hurt if I didn’t…"

Looking down apologetically, the Saintess had her head gently patted as well.

"Nah, you did good. If it had kept going, it would’ve been a disaster. Can I count on you to heal them?"

"Y-yes, of course!"

And thus, both our job and our hunt continued smoothly.

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