Though Luna was the one who had killed the Shantak, it was large and looked difficult to carry, so I held on to it for her in my Storage spell. It would retain its freshness while stored away, and I could just take it out at the Divine Beastfolk village.
This is a belated observation, but Storage magic is just so convenient. It’s practically required for living outdoors.
Luna was humming happily after scoring her first big kill in a while. “Hm hm hmm! I’ll brag about this to Tailtiu later.”
“That reminds me...”
When I had gone hunting with Tailtiu recently, I felt like she had said that she would boast about her kill to Luna. Them bragging to each other is definitely going to be a heartwarming sight, I thought.
Meanwhile, I turned to Zelos and Merlyn, who looked totally exhausted.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Y-Yeah...”
“Y... Yes. Thank you...”
Though they didn’t seem to be overwhelmed with fear, they looked a bit unwell. This was similar to the symptoms Reina had once exhibited. They were probably sick from exposure to Luna’s mana. Lately, I hadn’t seen Reina be too worried about sudden torrents of energy; she had probably gotten used to it after experiencing it many times on the island. I’d never been affected by excess mana, so I didn’t know how it felt, but judging from how magicians reacted, it seemed to be quite painful.
“I’ll stand guard here for now,” I said. “That’ll keep the monsters away. While I’m doing that, you two can rest.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Merlyn said with a weak nod, and Zelos nodded too.
“It’s pathetic for a Celestial Archmage to need someone else’s help...but thanks,” he said.
Then, they returned to their own tents. Elga looked somewhat worried as he watched them go.
“Are you sure they’re gonna be all right?” he asked.
“Hmm... I mean, it looks like Reina’s gotten used to it, so I think they’ll be fine.”
“Well, we’ll just be as careful as we can. Don’t you think you’d better take them under your protection or something if they’re so weak?”
“Protection, huh... They are fifth and sixth in strength on the continent, so I‘m not sure...”
Still, no matter how strong they might have been on the outside, that strength didn’t apply on this island. For one, Reina always made sure to bring me or Luna with her when she went away from the house, so I knew that this place wasn’t safe, even for those with the title of Celestial Archmage.
“By the way, is that Shantak really dangerous?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess so. Like the Emperor Boar, it’s pretty average here.”
“Huh...”
There were apparently even more dangerous monsters out there. That was worrying. Maybe it really was too risky to let Zelos and Merlyn live separately from us after all.
“Hmmm...”
To be honest, because of my body that never got hurt, I now lacked the usual sense humans have to sense threats. That deficiency wasn’t really a problem on my own, but it could cause big issues if I dragged someone else into danger.
Both Zelos and Merlyn probably had the same natural intuition despite their strength. It was no doubt incredibly stressful for them to live every day trapped on such a dangerous island. And stress itself was also dangerous; it might not lead to physical injury, but it could cause irreparable mental harm. I had only just met them, and we weren’t really even acquaintances, but we might get to know each other better in the future, and I wanted to work together with them on the things we could.
“I’ll try asking Reina for advice later,” I said.
“Good idea,” Elga said. “It’s no skin off my back whatever happens to them, but if you guys are going to feel all guilty about it, then I’ll help out.”
“Okay. Thanks, Elga.”
“Yeah.”
Elga wasn’t very talkative, but he always watched over us. That somehow made him feel like an older brother, and I felt myself wanting to rely on him. Still, I was an independent man; I had to be dependable myself, and not just ask others for help all the time.
“I’ll help too!” Luna chimed in.
“You too? Thanks, Luna,” I said, petting her soft fox ears.
“Ehe he he!”
If I had a younger sister or a daughter, would she be like Luna?
“Anyway, while they’re resting, why don’t we go fishing here?” I said.
“Hey, that sounds fun,” Elga said. “Just hold on.”
He surveyed the area with a sharp look in his eyes, then in a flash scooped up a clump of earth. Before I realized it, he was clutching a bunch of small, wormlike creatures in his hand. Luna was intently staring at it.
“This works for bait, right?” Elga said.
Luna was silent.
“Listen to me, Luna. This is fish bait, so you better not try to eat it.”
“I-I get it! Fish bait... It’s fish bait...”
“You don’t look like you get it at all... But, whatever. You can just use any old branch around here as a rod. The secret is to pick one with a lot of give.”
It seemed that we were going to start by making our own fishing rods. I would have been fine just taking the rod and bait that Reina had given me out of my Storage spell, but listening to Elga carefully explain all the steps was surprisingly entertaining, and I ended up choosing to make a fishing rod myself. I asked Elga, “How’s this? What about this?” as I showed him various branches, but I struggled to get a passing grade from him—every time, he’d tell me to find something better.
“Hey Elgaaa? How about this one?” Luna asked him. She was looking for a suitable branch along with me.
“Oh, that one’s pretty good. You’ll be able to hook a Sea Dragon with it, no problem!”
“Heh heh heh,” Luna chuckled, smugly looking over at me. It seemed that she had settled on a fishing rod.
“Hey, Elga,” I said. “I thought we were just going to catch smaller fish here at the river...”
“You’re so naive! If a troublemaker like you goes fishing, you’ll definitely catch something strange! You at least need to make a fishing rod that can handle it!”
“Hey... Don’t you think you’re being harsh?” It wasn’t like I wanted to cause problems...
“Mister Arata, Mister Arata.”
“Yeah? Are you going to console me, Luna?”
“I already found my fishing rod. Are you still looking?” She proudly showed off her branch again.
“Gah...”
With shoulders slumped, I searched for a branch that was strong enough to catch even a Sea Dragon. However, there was still one thing I wanted to say:
“What the heck kind of branch can possibly handle that?!”
I was just fine with catching some small fish!