“You got that right, boy! We fishermen don’t know much about the monsters on the land, but when it comes to monsters from the sea, we fight them everyday!” [Fisherman 1]
“There are also times when we have to fight with a monster beast over a catch too. After all, monster beasts eye fishes too.” [Fisherman 2]
“Adventurers may be strong on land, but when it comes to fighting in waters and on boats, we fishermen are the strongest!” [Fisherman 3]
A few of the fishermen warming themselves at a nearby fire overheard me muttering to myself and enthusiastically laughed.
I see… So the fishermen of this world fight monsters too.
While I was thinking that, I noticed that some mud salamander managed to slip past the boats.
At that, the naked fishermen from before excitedly bolted off.
The mud salamanders rippling in the lake had set their sights on the net the fishermen were using to catch the fishes, but the fishermen already knew that they would do that, so the naked fishermen went a step ahead of them and waited in the opposite direction.
When one of the mud salamanders was about to make it, a harpoon struck out from the side along with a loud cry.
“Oo!” [Naked Fisherman 1]
“The first one for the day sure is big!” [Naked Fisherman 2]
“It’s too much for one person! We need help!!” [Naked Fisherman 3]
The mud salamander that was struck with the harpoon struggled violently and broke out of the water.
Because of that its body that has been hidden all of this time was suddenly revealed.
It was no less than 5 meters long and was just like a giant salamander.
It had webbed feet like lizards and tadpoles too.
The three naked fishermen stabbed it with their harpoon and dragged it up the beach.
When that giant body had been completely brought onto the land, the people cheered.
“Mud Salamanders won’t die just from being on land, but it’s a lot harder for them to move compared to when they’re in water. What’s more is that with them on land, there’s no threat of being drowned. So it’s good practice to drag them to land first and then slowly finish them off.” [Kei]
Kei-san explained while we watched the naked fishermen fight the mud salamander. After hearing his explanation, I visualized myself doing the same thing.
Before long it was our time to fight.
“Alright. Ryouma, you give it a try! Don’t worry, we’ll help you if it doesn’t work out.” [Kai]
“Okay! …Let’s go!” [Ryouma]
We were currently standing on the right side of the net, and it just so happened that there was one mud salamander that managed to get past through the right side.
I held the harpoon like a spear and clad it with ki, then I ran toward the monster in front of me.
“!” [Ryouma]
The water of the lake was freezing, but thanks to the boiler suit I was wearing, the cold couldn’t penetrate me.
I ignored the cold and waited where the water was shallow enough that it could only reach my knees.
I looked for an opening, and then struck out with the harpoon. The end of the harpoon buried itself deep into the mud salamander.
“!!” [Ryouma]
Naturally, the mud salamander went berserk. It was about 3 meters long, but I held tightly onto the harpoon that was being thrown around with all of its weight.
“!!” [Ryouma]
I’m in the water, and with the body of a child no less. If I’m not careful, I could very well be thrown around myself.
I don’t have much of a footing too, so if I move thoughtlessly, I’ll easily be swept away by the water.
With that in mind, I bent my knees, buried my feet into the ground to cover the entire sole, and then focused my mind to support my body.
“SOooooI!!”
And then in one quick stroke, I pulled the mud salamander onto sh.o.r.e!!
“Alright! You did it!” [Sein]
“Just hold it down now!” [Kei]
Sein-san and Kei-san ran toward me without a moment’s delay, and then with the strike of their harpoons’ handles, the mud salamander that had been dragged into the beach was killed.
At the same time, Kai-san ran past me and attacked the mud salamander trailing behind.
It’s my first kill, but there’s no time to be happy.
I quickly carried the dead mud salamander to the designated position and left it there.
And then as Kai-san pulled the mud salamander he attacked onto sh.o.r.e, Sein-san went into the lake.
Like this the six of us split into two groups and took turns catching and killing the mud salamanders.
Although we had breaks in between, having to run into shallow water from the beach, and then drag a mud salamander to sh.o.r.e while struggling with it in water, and then repeat the whole process… Well, alright, maybe 10 or 20 times isn’t really anything to write home about, but considering we’re going to be doing this until afternoon, I think I can really work up a sweat here!