“Whoa! H-Here it comes!” Mia was quick to catch her first fish. She felt tugging at the end of her pole, and she scrupulously reeled it in while it trembled in her hands. Then, a single fish flew straight out of the lake and into the air!
The hook was settled deep in the mouth of the sleek, golden-tinged silver fish. It jumped around in the air, taking the string with it. Mia gingerly reeled it in and glanced at Santeri. “Can you eat this one?”
“You can. It’s known as a coonger, and while they can be quite tricky to debone, they make for an excellent delicacy. This one is in the smaller size, but a skilled chef should be able to prepare it for you,” Santeri responded. She had gotten the go-ahead!
“Oho ho! I can’t wait! Then let’s get back to fishing! I’m ready to catch a ton!”
Mia fished like a maniac! And shockingly, every fish she caught was a perfectly normal, edible fish. As terribly surprising as that may be.
Watching her from behind, Keithwood couldn’t help but remark, “I just don’t understand... Why is Princess Mia so terribly abysmal at picking mushrooms and nothing else?” But anyways...
“Oho ho! This is so much fun! I love fishing!”
Mia was having the time of her life, but after a while of skipping and dancing alongside her fishy friends, she realized something. Wait! I’ve completely forgotten about befriending Orania!
She had been on the verge of awakening to the joys of fishing and being consumed by it, as was prone to happen to Mia when she was having fun. She had the perfect skills for fishing, whether it be her prowess at the Flotsam or her skills at leaf-counting!
We can’t have this. Seeing Bel had convinced me I needed to relax my shoulders a bit, but I was wrong! What I need is to give Bel a good talking-to and convince her to be more serious like me! Was she mistaken, or was she not? Who knows!
Anyway, Mia shifted gears and decided to try her hand at some more small talk. “Orania, I wanted to ask you about the fish I just caught,” she said, making use of her newfound knowledge. I can’t impose my sense of normalcy. Instead, I have to meet her at hers. That’s how I can get her to talk.
Thus, she naturally brought up the topic of fishing. It was the perfect plan! At least...it should have been, but she encountered a surprise pitfall.
“Oh... That one’s a princess salmon... They’re tasty both grilled and simmered, and since they’re quite fatty around this time of year, it’s the perfect time to eat them...”
Yes, Orania...
“They lay quite a lot of eggs, and sometimes, you’ll find them in their stomachs. Those ones are supposed to be the best... The eggs are both squishy and crunchy, and they’re very delicious. You can’t catch them in the Galilea Sea, but I’ve seen them in rivers before... They lay their eggs between rocks...”
...was incredibly loquacious when it came to fish! One question would earn you everything she knows about the fish—its ecology, where to find it, the dishes you can make with it, whatever else—and she’d explain it all in excruciating detail.
“The largest I’ve ever caught was about...thiiiiis big,” she added, mixing in some triumphant tales of her own fishing adventures. She had already been talking for what felt like forever.
Mia sensed that catching a fish now would be disastrous. She’d segue right into talking about that one, and then this would never end! Sensing this impending doom, Mia tried to redirect the conversation...or not.
“Oho ho! I never knew there was so much to the world of preparing seafood, nor did I know the eggs were so delicious! Thank you for teaching me something new!”
Instead, she jumped right into the flow of things herself! All her talk about seafood dishes had left Mia enraptured!
These all sound so scrumptious! Mia was drooling on the inside and was ashamed to discover how little she knew about seafood. Oho ho! I’ll have to try these when I go to Ganudos! I’ll talk with the chef too! If I can add some new dishes to our menu, dinners at the Whitemoon Palace will be even better!
While the two girls chatted quite enthusiastically...it was questionable whether they had actually started to grow any closer.
But we can’t just keep our discussions to fish. Maybe this is the right time to make a move...
Mia once again shifted gears. “You really are a great fisherman, Orania.” First came a push. “Does your father share your skills?”
“Huh...? My father...?” Suddenly, Orania’s tone grew gloomy.
“Yes. He’s the king of a neighboring nation, after all. I’d like to share a meal with him one of these days.” But as the words fell out of Mia’s mouth, she grew ever more aware that Orania’s demeanor had changed.
After a moment of silence, she finally spoke. “Princess Mia... Why don’t we have a competition between just us?”
“Huh? A competition?” Mia was flabbergasted at the proposal.
Orania grinned back at her. “Right... We’ll compete to see who can catch the biggest fish, and if I win...I want you to leave me alone forever. Can you do that...?”
Well, that was blunt.