''Phew, we got a lot of shellfish!

Ira, who had set the bucket down on land, said with satisfaction.

Looking inside the bucket, there were many edible shellfish such as jigiri clams, funilid clams, stone mussels, and boue clams. He was very skillful to have picked up nearly half a bucket by himself.

I got my fair share too!

Letty then places the bucket next to it.

It contained a sufficient amount of shellfish, though not as much as Ayla's. However, perhaps because he did not have as much knowledge and experience as Ira, he limited himself to the easy-to-pick-up species, such as jigiri clams.

'You're good, Letty. But I have more numbers and varieties than you, so you win!

'Oh, it was a race! If it was a race, I would have picked more!''

Letty, who is surprisingly competitive, looks frustrated when Ira says so.

Letty is usually calm and understanding, but she shows this childish side to some people close to her, such as Ira and myself. This gap is adorable, even though she is my sister.

'Well, what about Tori? You were taking it easy anyway, so you probably have the fewest.''

Ira smiles confidently and says, "I'm not sure how much I've harvested.

No, I might have more than you, you know?

With these words, I hide the contents of the bucket behind my back so that no one can see it.

Ira saw this and took it as a sign of strength, but then his smile deepened and he made a suggestion.

Heh, so do you want to bet? The one with the larger quantity will buy you a juice in town.''

'I don't mind, okay? Well, I guess it's Ira who loses, huh?

'You said it, right? Then show us Tori's harvest!

I sound slightly impatient, and Ira says in a strong voice, "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do.

I've been waiting for her to say that.

I had somehow expected Ira to say something like this, given his personality.

Here.

I put the bucket I had hidden behind my back out in front of me.

It was filled to the brim with shells, more than half the bucket's weight.

What? Big brother, when did you pick so much?

'I can't believe Tori, who is such a pain in the ass, picked so many!

Perhaps not expecting me to be collecting so many shells, Letty and Ira were surprised.

I don't mind this kind of simple work.

I don't mind working alone in silence. I don't have to think about anything else because I just repeat the same thing over and over again.

You're good at preparing and peeling vegetables, aren't you?

Hearing my words, Letty seemed strangely convinced.

'That's not fair, Tori! You hid the bucket behind your back and looked away suspiciously on purpose, didn't you!

'Not as much as Ira, who only offers a bet after he's sure his opponent is less than he is.'

'...... big brother and big sister Ira are both cheaters.'

Letty speaks of heartless words, but she is wrong.

I never said I picked less or more, nor did I lie.

I made a few theatrical gestures like hiding the bucket behind my back and looking away impatiently, but it was Ira who offered me the bet. So I'm not a coward or anything.

'Anyway, I win the bet, so you'll have to buy me a juice later, right?

'd*mn ...... it's so frustrating that I fell for that play by Tori! A bet is a bet, so I'll be sure to buy you a drink!

Ira exclaims somewhat in desperation. It was exhilarating to turn the tables on someone I was so sure was going to win. I'm looking forward to a drink when we get back to the city.

Well, I guess that's enough shellfish for now.

We now have enough shellfish to serve for dinner.

With this much food, we should be able to serve enough to satisfy the customers even if the cafeteria is full.

I guess so. We have enough shellfish now, let's use the nets to catch small fish and shrimps.

Ira's opinion was not disputed, and since that was the plan, Letty and I grabbed our nets and headed back to the river.

We see many small fish swimming in the water, but when we chase after them, they leave in a flash.

Instead of chasing them, it would be easier to catch the ones hiding in the thick water plants at the edge of the river.

I move to the edge and quickly scoop them at the waterweeds with a net.

When I lifted the net from the water, I found something bouncing around in the net.

I pulled it up and observed it, and found it to be a river shrimp or a small goby.

The small goby was also large enough to be worth eating, but the river shrimp was smaller.

Both are tasty foods when eaten whole and deep-fried.

It is amazing that we can suddenly catch something edible.

Did you catch them already, big brother?

'Yes, three river shrimps and two small goby.

Hearing Letty's surprised voice, he puts them in another bucket, this one containing shellfish.

The little gobies were so surprised that they started to make noises in the bucket, but soon quieted down as if they understood that they could not escape.

'We can't lose this one either! Urya!

Oh, there's a fish in Ayla's net!

Whoa, it looks like they caught something too.

Ira rinses out the sand in the net and checks his catch.

Geez, a dodonko!

'Ah, that's a miss.

Ira grunts at the sight of the flat-faced little fish, and Letty laughs.

Dodonko are small fish that live underground in rivers, or to put it simply, they are the fish version of sand mussels. They have a lot of sand in their bodies because they prey on insects and other prey with a lot of sand. In addition, their flesh is light and not very tasty. Therefore, it is categorized as an inedible river fish and is famous as an outlier.

Next! Don't net them and you'll catch shrimp and small goby!'

Ira grabs the tail of a dodonko and throws it far away, then stares at the surface of the water and moves the net.

Letty, too, carefully moves the net while watching the surface of the water.

Letty loves river shrimps. He seems to be more enthusiastic than when he is catching shellfish.

'...... Letty, there are river shrimps at your feet!

'No way! Where is it?

When I say this, Lettie reacts in an amusingly energetic manner.

'Right there.

'Oh, really! But it's going to be hard to catch.

As I pointed, Lettie noticed three river shrimps at her feet.

However, there were many pebbles lying around them, and if I tried to chase them, they would run away behind the stones.



'I'll drive him in, Letty, you wait there with the net.

'Okay!

River shrimps have a habit of jumping backward when an enemy approaches. So, if I close the distance from the front, they will naturally enter Letty's net, which is positioned behind them.

The river prawn entered Letty's net on its own.

I've got one! And look at that! All three of them are huge!''

Letty comes up to me holding the net and shows me the shrimp she has caught.

The three river shrimps bouncing powerfully in the net were all big and had long scissors.

It's true! These will definitely taste good deep-fried.

'Somehow the river prawns are already starting to look red!

Letty says something interesting as she puts the shrimp in the bucket.

It seems that the river prawns have already turned red in Lettie's mind.

'Okay, let's keep on catching river shrimps like this!

'Yes!

'Hey, I want to eat river prawns too, so I need your help.

I wonder if he became envious when he saw Letty and I working together to secure the fish.

Ira blurted out in a slightly sad tone in his voice.

''I can't help it. I'll help Ira next time.

'For God's sake!

'There's a river shrimp near Ira's right foot.'

'What? Really?

When I say this, Ira reacts quickly and looks at the area near his right foot.

She looks cute like a small animal as she shakes her head vigorously and looks around.

Hey, I can't find you anywhere, can I?

'Yes, it's a lie.

I chuckled and told her the truth, and Ira dexterously hit the surface of the water with her net and sent water flying toward us.

I think this is a much more difficult trick to pull off than catching a river shrimp.