60 Episode 59 Fish and Herbs




 As I fly over the road to Photoren, I notice that I have a book in my hand.
 It was given to me by Mr. Gainta when I left Herrera.
 He said it had come out of the mine after I left Herrera last time, but he gave it to me because no one but me could read it anyway.
 Perhaps it's a property of flight magic, but even if the speed increases, the magic power consumption increases, and I don't feel any wind.
 I could read it while flying.
 So I thought, and opened the book, looking down from time to time to avoid getting lost.

 The contents were about dragons.
 It describes the conditions under which dragons appear and how to deal with them.

 There are two main conditions for the appearance of dragons.

 First, the density of "magical elements" in the atmosphere must exceed a certain level.
 Magnesium is a word I've seen in the context of magic poisoning.
 It seems to be difficult to distinguish because it is invisible, but it is easy to distinguish because when the density of magical elements exceeds a certain level, it causes various adverse effects.
 Mainly, it is said that sub dragons and other strong demons spawn in large numbers, and that the maximum magical power of human beings decreases in general.
 As far as I know, I haven't heard of anything that has lowered my maximum magic power, so I'm relieved.
 I've only seen one sublong once, and it was far from a mass outbreak.

 Secondly, the trigger for the birth of dragons occurs in places where there is enough magical element.
 The amount of triggers varies depending on the amount of magical elements, but it is said that magical stones are used to force explosions when they are intentionally generated.
 It is said that magic stones help the creation of dragons.
 It is said that wisps are created under similar conditions, and that they are a kind of wasted dragon.

 There are also instructions on how to defeat them.
 Most magic doesn't work on it, and it burns up as soon as you slash it with any sword, so it is impossible to kill it.
 As a result of researching how to deal with it, he found out that he could prevent it from happening again for a while by freezing it with a spell called "Magical Freeze", which was made on a very large scale by magic tools and a large number of wizards, and sealing it deep underground.
 Incidentally, two continents were wiped out before that method was found.
 It's a horrible story.

 This was the main content of the book.
 It's a thin book (not the kind sold at Ariake in summer or winter, but literally thin), so it doesn't go into that much detail, but I'm relieved to know that everything is okay now.
 Should I look into "The Magic Freeze" just in case?
 No, there's no hurry.

 As long as there are no signs, the chances of a dragon being born in my lifetime are probably quite low.
 Even if there are signs, it will take about five years for dragons to appear naturally.
 ...... Well, it is too late to wait, because by the time dragons arise naturally, wizards will be useless and the dragons that appear will be unpredictably strong and unmanageable.
 But it seems that the ancient civilization did not try that hard.
 If they had, they might have died out sooner.
 I don't feel like trying it either.

 As I finish reading, I realize that Photoren is almost here.
 I'll have to get my rank up this time.
 I don't think I'll ever run into a situation where I'll need to cheat on my rank, and I don't want to.

 You enter the city through the gate.
 I landed about 100 meters in front of the gate and ran to the gate so that I wouldn't be surprised, but I don't know how effective it is.
 I went straight to the guild, presented my guild card to the receptionist I saw, and talked to her.

"Excuse me, I'd like to raise my rank.

"You're from Decibatore, aren't you?  One moment, please.

 The receptionist takes your card and goes into the back room.
 A few moments later, the receptionist came out with a new guild card in her hand.
 The new guild card was blue in color with a coppery stripe across the top.
 Does the design change as you move up in rank?

Yes, I can confirm that.  Congratulations on the shortest time between registration and promotion to C rank.

Thank you very much.

 Thank you." We took quite a few detours, but this was still the shortest record.
 I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.
 If the knights in ...... are at a level where even the Radomkos can become knights, then it's not so bad.
 In that case, I would be worried about the security of the city.
 With this in mind, I left the guild.

 Then, I realized that I was hungry.
 By the way, I haven't eaten breakfast.
 I remember hearing that there is a restaurant with good fish dishes a little further towards Desibatore from here.
 I feel like I've been eating a lot of grilled meat lately, so fish would be nice once in a while.

 After a short walk, I found the restaurant I was looking for.
 On the door, there is a large fish symbol.
 It is a familiar fish symbol on Earth, a combination of a triangle and an oval.
 Perhaps the image of a fish is similar in other worlds.
 Well, I don't know of any ocean that is crawling with fish that would sink a ship and eat people.

 You enter a restaurant, take a seat, and wait to be asked your order.
 This seems to be the norm in this world.

"What can I get for you?

 A woman who looks like a waitress comes to take your order.

"Do you have any recommended fish dishes?

 Even if there is a menu, it is meaningless if you cannot read it.
 Or rather, you can read the menu, but even if you can read the words "Eratana's Leches", you don't know what it is, so it's no different from a spell dish written in French in katakana.
 Also, what the heck is "Desibatore style of Nerquin"?
 Is it called "Desibatore" style?

If so, I'd recommend these Elatana retschis, they're at their best right now.

 It was a lucky guess.
 The price is not very expensive, 240 Tel per meal.
 But it's not cheap.

So be it.

 I placed my order, and after a while, the food came out.
 It was a little slower than the restaurants in Eyn, but the restaurants in this world work fast.

 The fish that came out was kind of tough.


 It was a whole fish, about 40 centimeters in size, with stinging jaws and fins.
 It's not a scorpionfish, but more like this: ......
 There's something about this fish that gives me a sense of déjà vu.
 I think it's a black bass.
 It's probably a salted fish.
 I wonder if it's good. ......

 Well, since it is recommended, it must be good.
 I cut a little piece of fish called "elatana" and put it in my mouth.
 ...... It's just plain good, tasting like a high-class river fish.
 It looks like ayu fish, though it is quite large.
 Ayu with a lot of volume is the best.
 Even at this price, it's worth the reputation.

 I devoured all the meat in less than 10 minutes.
 However, there was still some meat left on the bones and near the spines.
 However, the tableware in this restaurant is a wooden knife-like thing and something that looks like a broken spoon.
 Unlike chopsticks, they are not suitable for this kind of detailed work.
 It was time to exercise the power of my jaws, which had been strengthened by my ...... status.

 I'll try to chew the remaining meat off the bone.
 ...... It's very tasty.
 The cracker-like texture and the taste of eratana are a perfect match.
 If I'm not careful, it might be better than eating the meat alone.
 As I ate, I noticed that the elatana was completely gone, leaving the backbone and head.

"Thank you for the meal, please pay the bill.

"Yes, that'll be 240 yen.  Please come again. ...... Oh, where are the other bones?

 The waiter asks me with a strange look on his face as he takes my money.

"Oh, it was so good that I ate the whole bone.  Thank you for the food.

 And with that, I leave the restaurant.

"Are you from ......?

 I heard such a voice as I was leaving.
 You're right.

 Now that you're hungry, let's do some work.
 Burning a field is not just a matter of lighting a fire here.
 You have to blow up the island you're planning to plant on beforehand.
 Farming has become very noisy.

 While worrying about the future of slash-and-burn agriculture, we move to the island and dive bomb it.
 The bombing, made more powerful by the defeat of the dragons, struck the entire island, blowing up the trees with a roar.
 About a minute after the bombing, the island regained its tranquility.
 Thanks to the disappearance of the trees, I found out that there is a lake on the island.
 It might be useful for something.
 I got closer and took a peek.
 The water seems to have saved it from being bombed to some extent, but the water is muddy and there are fallen trees.
 There are also a lot of remnants of zunana grass floating around.
 There are no fish in sight, and it seems to be no more than a water source.
 Better than nothing, I guess.

 It seems that we need to let it burn for a few days, so we decide to collect the blown-up weeds and go home.
 I'll take a good rest tomorrow, since I won't be able to rest for a while once the Brokens attack starts.


 --Two days later.
 I'm heading back to the island.
 To burn the trees and secure the farmland, of course.
 Mercia would take care of the rest once the demons were taken care of, so that's pretty much all I had to do.
 In other words, all I have to do is to burn the island down to the ground where it was the day before yesterday.
 That's what I thought, but what was waiting for me was a field of lush zunana grass.
 I couldn't believe my eyes.
 ...... I blew it up the day before yesterday, didn't I?
 I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.
 No, but I'm sure we recovered the wreckage, but what happened?

 Well, whatever the reason, there aren't many places where you can collect zunana grass without trees.
 I mowed it down with water magic, put it in the item box, and set it on fire.
 The large barrage of fire magic swallowed the trees and turned the island into a sea of fire.
 Okay, that's it. I'll come back tomorrow to check on it.
 I'll have to ask Mercia about how to use the large amount of zunana grass.
 We burned it today, so it won't be on the island anymore, but it's still a lot to collect.

 That's what I thought as I left the island and came back the next day to check on it.
 --The next day, I came to see what was going on, and what I saw was a lush, green field of Zunana grass.