I woke up in the morning. I studied until lunch, ate, then went back to studying. Around 3:00 p.m., Marie and I went back to the lake. We caught fish and put them in the bucket. We waited for sundown, then checked if the bucket emitted any light. Our results were meager. We investigated all sorts of fish, and none of them caused the light.
The orbs of light were real. If I could figure out their source, then it might have some connection to magic. That was the hypothesis leading me through these investigations, but I had made little progress. Maybe I needed a new approach.
There was glass in this world. It was really fragile and expensive, but it existed. If I could somehow make glass strong enough to withstand water pressure, then maybe I could create some glasses I could use underwater.
Maybe, but I wasn’t sure that it mattered much. I was just a kid. Pleading with my parents would only get me so far. They weren’t going to fork over money for a pursuit they didn’t believe in. Besides, I had no idea how much money I would actually need. I was in a bit of a bind.
I sat beside Marie and watched the water while she fished. This had become our routine. Even though I could tell Marie was growing bored with it, she still accompanied me without complaint.
She was such an awesome sister. I couldn’t have been more grateful for her. I knew that no matter what happened—heck, even if nothing happened—Marie would always be my ally.
She’s just not a very good fisherman. Today was an especially bad day, but just as I was about to give up, we heard something rustle in the grass. Marie and I spun around right away. Someone, or something, was lurking in there. Our bodies stiffened with fear. We glanced at each another, likely thinking the same question: Is it a monster?
Marie looked scared. I probably did too, for that matter. We were close to home and the village, but that didn’t mean there were zero monsters. Even in the range that Mom and Dad thought was safe, it wasn’t impossible.
The grass rustled again, and a black shadow appeared. I started, but then took a closer look. Was it a monster?
“Oh, come on,” Marie sighed. “It’s just Rose.”
The tension was released from my body. A little girl stood before us. She had blonde hair down to her waist, where it swayed gently. She looked like an average village girl, but she had a refined air about her. Even her mannerisms didn’t betray even a crude hint of her station.
Rose approached us and spoke in a clear voice. “Marie and…is that Lord Gawain’s son?”
“Yeah, this is Shion. He’s my little brother.” Marie nudged me. “Shion, introduce yourself.”
I lost my nerve for a moment. How did this girl know about me? She was just a kid, but it made me nervous to meet someone for the first time.
“H-hello.”
My voice was a bit shrill, but I did my best. I had always felt intimidated when meeting new people. Rose didn’t seem to notice, though. She adjusted her hair before declaring, “I’m Rose. I’m the lone flower growing in this desolate village.”
How shocking! Out of all the possible things she could’ve said, I would have literally never predicted that. She wasn’t horsing around, either. Everything about her appearance and manner of speaking was deliberate. Unlike Marie, she had an air of refinement about her. I was almost moved.
“Just to be clear,” Marie said. “Rose is just an ordinary villager. She’s just acting fancy.”
“Goodness gracious. There’s no need to say such a thing.” Rose scowled at Marie.
Maybe Rose would be easy to get along with. She and Marie seemed close, and their banter was playful.
“Now, might I inquire into what you are doing in such a place?” Rose asked.
“Can’t you tell? We’re fishing.” Marie said.
“I can see that, but why at this particular lake?”
Rose glanced between me and Marie. There seemed to be something beneath the surface of her words.
“Shion knows about it,” Marie said.
“Oh! He does? Shion, is it?” Rose asked brightly. “So, you can see the orbs of light, also?”
It finally dawned on me: Oh, this is the friend Marie was talking about before.
“Uh…yeah, I can.”
“A mysterious occurrence, is it not? Quite intriguing.”
“Is that why you came here?” I asked. “You’re also interested in the orbs?”
“Well, I certainly enjoy their beauty. I often come here to behold them.”
I started to get excited. “Oh! Well then, what do you know about them?! Do you know where they come from, or what they are?!”
Rose didn’t delay her answer. “I don’t know. I simply watch them.”
“Oh. I see.”
As I looked down, Rose poked me in the cheek. “Could you kindly step back, please.”
I flinched. Lost in my enthusiasm, I had ended up right in Rose’s face. “Sorry,” I said as I moved away.
This made Marie fuss, and she puffed up her cheeks.
“Don’t tell me…are you investigating the source of the light?” Rose asked.
“Um, yeah. The first time I saw them I decided I wanted to know more about them.”
“Yes, there is something special about them. They’ve captured my interest, as well.” Rose nodded and did a flawless noble lady imitation by pressing her hand to her chest. “If I may dare ask, why don’t we investigate it together?”
Was this just an act? Marie did say she was just an ordinary villager, and her skirt and blouse were crude.
Hey, if it’ll help me figure out anything faster, the more the merrier. Rose saw the orbs, so maybe she could be of use. She seemed to be cool, collected, and intelligent for someone her age. Maybe she’d have a perspective different from Marie’s and mine.
I glanced at Marie to see how she felt. She did not look pleased. Oh, crap. Was she feeling left out? She hadn’t really been involved in the conversation. Sorry, Rose, but I had to prioritize my sister in this situation.
“Marie, what do you think? It’s your call. I’m fine either way.”
My phrasing may have been a bit blunt to Rose, but this way I had both respected my sister’s opinion while making it clear that I was happy to have Rose join us, too. Besides, this was my first meeting with Rose. It’s not like I had a reputation to uphold with her. The best option was to let Marie decide.
As I had hoped, my suggestion reset my sister’s expression back to normal. “Hm, well, I think that would be fine,” she said. “There are some things that she could help us with, right?”
“It would be my honor and privilege!” Rose said.
“Cool,” I said. “We’ll all investigate together. Whenever we have time.”
Marie and Rose nodded, then Rose asked, “What sort of investigations have you been doing? Catching animals from the lake?”
I quickly explained our research’s progress so far.
“Got it,” Rose said. “And that’s why you’re fishing? Because it seems likely that a fish is the lights’ source.”
She was a bright girl—quicker than Marie. I began to feel that she would be invaluable to our investigation.
Still concerned about Marie, I glanced in her direction, but her attention was focused on her fishing pole.
“Got something!” she called. We had stuck the rod into the dirt. It jerked as the line yanked tight, and Marie sprung like a cat to snatch it. She tugged back while moving away from the lake. Her reaction time was a lot faster than mine. She really did have great athletic skills.
Marie tugged the rod once more. A fish heaved out of the water, drawing a clean arc through the air. The fish seemed different from what we’d caught before, yet also familiar.
“It’s a female Etten trout,” Marie said.
“Female?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s our first time catching one. You get males all the time, but the females are hard to catch because they usually stay near the bottom of the lake. This time of year, though, they come to the surface to lay their eggs. So, now’s the time for catching them. Dad told me all that.”
Fascinating, I thought. Something was piquing my interest. I hadn’t figured it out yet, but I felt my intuition flicker.
“Let’s catch a male trout too,” I said. We’d eaten the trout from before a while ago, as it hadn’t seemed special.
“Male trout?” Marie asked. “Well, I don’t know if we’ll be able to catch one, but why not?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just release any other fish you catch.”
“Alrighty.” Marie kept on fishing without questioning me.
“I guess we just have to wait,” I said to Rose. “We only have one rod.”
“It’s all we can do,” Rose said. “Although, I’m not the biggest fan of waiting around.” Letting out a small sigh, Rose sat down next to me. Marie sat on my other side.
I realized that as a kid in my past life, I hadn’t played around with girls like this. Maybe if I had, I would’ve been more comfortable around them and not been a virgin at thirty.
Marie eventually caught a male Etten trout. We put it in the bucket with the female.
“It’s just an idea,” I said. “But now let’s wait till sunset.” We whiled away the rest of the afternoon chatting and waiting.
I learned a lot from our idle small talk. Rose’s caretaker was a commoner in the local village, not far from our house. It sounded like she was only a ten minute walk away. I wouldn’t know, since I’d never been. I hadn’t had a reason to go there, not to mention that other people frightened me.
Time passed, and at last the world around us became vermilion hued. Then, the twinkling lights appeared and rose from the lake.
“Same as ever,” said Marie.
“Yeah, I guess so. But wait…”
I’d been staring at the unchanged bucket, when suddenly tiny orbs of light started to rise. They blipped up like bubbles, slowly, but steadily, increasing in number. Sometimes only one bubble of light appeared, other times two at once.
“There they are!”
“They come from the trout!”
“We did it! That’s it. So, the orbs of light appear from trout courtship!”
“What’s courtship?” Marie tilted her head.
I grimaced to myself. How did she know about eggs, but not about mating? Rose stepped in to explain.
“Courtship is when a male tells a female he wants to get married and have a family together,” she said. “Unlike humans, fish can’t speak, so they have to show it with actions. In fact, I’ve heard that Etten trout tend to breed at nightfall. In other words, when it gets dark, the trout are emitting the orbs of light as a courtship ritual!”