Side Story: Fran and Kune 07

Once Kune’s excitement settled, we got back to fishing.

The fish stopped biting, since we had swapped to using live bait. We could no longer catch normal-sized fish, which was expected.

However, I could also sense a large underwater presence approaching us. Our live bait had caught the attention of the big boys.

We held our breath in anticipation for about 30 minutes, and eventually, Fran was the first to get a bite.

「Here it comes.」

The strain bent her rod more than ever before, forming a nasty curve.

Honestly, I found it a wonder that her line didn’t straight out snap. The strengthening enchantment must be doing its job.

「Nice one, Fran! You can do it, nya!」

「Woof woof!」

Cheered on by Kune and Urushi, Fran braced herself to pull.

「Nn!」

Since our rod was not equipped with a reel, Fran would have to pull the fish in with pure strength. Channeling mana would allow us to adjust the line to twice or half the original length, but that alone wasn’t enough to catch a fish.

Normally, this battle would involve the fisher gradually draining the stamina of the hooked fish, otherwise, they would risk getting dragged into the sea. However, Fran was not your average fisher.

「Hup!」

After gathering her strength, Fran pulled the rod up in one go. Her sheer momentum sent the fish monster flying out of the water.

Our catch resembled the giant trevally of Earth, except that it was huge and black in color. Well, even a fish of this size was no match for Fran’s muscles.

The fish drew an arc through the air, pulled by Fran’s line, then I caught it with telekinesis. Still fresh and splashing around with energy!

「Whoa! That’s a good size! Looks delicious, nya!」

「Woof!」

「Hehe.」

Fran put on a smug look from the praise, but Kune quickly turned back to her own rod.

「I got a bite too, nya!」

「Nice. Kune, good luck.」

「Woof woof!」

「Leave it to me, nya!」

Unfortunately, Kune wasn’t able to pull out the fish as easily as Fran. Her stats seemed more focused on agility, so her strength likely suffered as a result.

Moreover, the fish she had hooked was much larger than Fran’s. Perhaps it was an entirely different species than ours. I measured Fran’s catch at about 120 cm, but Kune’s fish exceeded 2 meters long.

Kune began pulling left and right, occasionally jogging a few paces, gradually tiring the fish out. Honestly, this was probably the proper way to fish.

「Nyanyanyanyah!」

「Kune, just a bit more.」

「Woof woof!」

「Nyanya!」

Fifteen minutes later.

After getting dragged by Kune all over the place, the fish’s movements began to dull. Kune, on the other hand, was still full of energy. The curtain was about to close on their battle.

Finally, we would get our hands on that fish monster over 2 meters long!

「Nyanya… nya?」

「!」

「W-Woof!」

Just as Kune was about to make one final pull of the rod…

I sensed a presence with powerful mana diving into the inlet at tremendous speed. The only thing visible above water was a single dorsal fin. Another giant fish, perhaps?

The sheer size made our “huge” meter-long catch seem like a small fry. It might even be bigger than the Dreadnought Destroyer Tuna we caught ages ago.

That tuna had lurked in the deep seas. To think something even bigger would appear in this shallow inlet…

Without any sign of slowing down, it continued right towards us like a bullet. Its target was not Fran or Kune… but the fish hooked on Kune’s rod!

「Gunyah!」

「Kune!」

The newly appeared giant fish bit into the black fish thrashing about on Kune’s line. Her body jolted forward, starting to get dragged toward the sea.

Guess we better step in and help.

「Let go of the rod!」

「Nyahaha! What are you talking about, nya? I was planning to hunt this guy eventually, so this is a lucky catch, nya!」

『Huh? So that thing is the boss of this beach?』

「Of course, nya! A fish only slightly bigger than me can’t be called a boss!」

So the meter-long fish were just round one. All along, Kune had intended to chop them up and turn them into bait for luring out this supergiant fish monster.

「Today is the day I finally catch you, nya!」

Apparently, Kune had faced off against this fish many times, but never managed to catch it. Well, I can kinda understand why.

「…? Why not just take it down with magic?」

「What are you saying! This is fishing, nya! I doesn’t count unless I beat it with my own power!」

Okay, so Kune had some sort of fisherman’s pride. Still, she had struggled with a 2-meter fish. How could she possibly catch this one…?

As expected, Kune got dragged further and further in. One of her legs was already getting splashed by the waves.

「Nyaoh! Super all in, nya!」

So offensive magic went against her doctrine, but enhancement magic was apparently okay. By channeling the mana throughout her body, she managed to hold her ground. Still, I doubted if she could actually reel the fish in.

Slowly but surely, Kune began showing signs of fatigue. This was no easy opponent. After all, we had only managed to catch the Dreadnought Destroyer Tuna after sending electric shocks through the line.

Then, Kune looked over and shouted to us.

「Fran, help me, nya!」

「Okay. What should I do?」

「Grab my waist and pull, nya!」

「Nn!」

I guess she wanted Fran’s help in pulling the rod. So teamwork is okay while magic is off-limits? What is the logic behind these restrictions?!

「Pull, nya!」

「On it!」

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