Chapter 267 (1/2)
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Chapter 267 – Fis.h.i.+ng and Duinkler
Hikaru and the girls, wearing shady masks and hoods, followed Deena out of the room. Some soldiers watched them with great interest, others with disdain, a few baffled.
As for Drake, he was wrapped around Lavia's neck.
Hikaru checked the pa.s.sages that were not off-limits and emergency exit routes. They weren't allowed to see the soldiers' private rooms, the power room, and the bridge. There was no point in checking the storage room. There were no stalls, and Deena only told them the bare minimum. As such, the tour ended in no time at all.
Hikaru's party went out to the deck.
「Ah, please stay away from the railings!」Deena warned.「There are weapons there!」
Not paying any attention to her, Hikaru kept on walking. Waters as far as the eye could see. White clouds. Apart from the other s.h.i.+ps sailing parallel to theirs, there was nothing else. Only a world of blue.
「Now that I think about it, this is my first time on a s.h.i.+p like this.」
Hikaru had been on planes and bullet trains, but never on a cruise s.h.i.+p.
「Might get bored quick.」
Lavia and Paula roamed about the deck. Lavia, in particular, tried to take a peek of the machines covered in cloth.
「No! Please don't do that!」Deena yelled.
As Hikaru wandered the deck, he spotted three men in one corner with fis.h.i.+ng lines in the water. One of them watched his line eagerly, one was staring blankly into s.p.a.ce, resting his chin on his hand, while another lay sprawled on the floor.
Fis.h.i.+ng rods with reels… That's advanced technology right there.
Hikaru wasn't an expert in fis.h.i.+ng, but the anglers he'd seen before—most of them fished at rivers—used more primitive rods, just a pole with a line tied to it. He'd seen rods with reels only once or twice.
It's deep out here in the open sea. Maybe they need longer lines to get a bite.
Hikaru casually used his Mana Detection at the direction of the water.
Holy cow… There's a whole lot of them! A large school of fish was swimming about. He even wondered how the soldiers weren't getting so much as a nibble.
「I see. The hook and bait are not deep enough. Hey, you there. I think you're fis.h.i.+ng in the wrong spot. Drop your line about thirty meters deep.」
The men were startled when Hikaru called to them, all the more so when they realized the voice came from the masked boy. Unfortunately, they could not understand a word he said. Hikaru searched for Deena, but couldn't find her.
「Fine, whatever.」Hikaru muttered.「Let me try.」he said to one man as he held out his hand.
Although still baffled, the soldier knew what he wanted and handed his rod over. As Hikaru reeled in the line, he realized the line wasn't too deep. After confirming that the bait was attached, he dropped the line about thirty meters deep in the water.
「Oh, I got a bite!」
『What?! Who is this guy?!』
『You can actually get fish here?』
『Zzzzzz…』
『You can't! No one's got a bite here before!』
『Yeah…』
『Zzzzzz…』
「Hey, help me out here… Wait, what?!」
Hikaru's rod bent as it became heavy all of a sudden.
「What the?! It's too heavy!」
『You idiot! Pull the rod up!』
『It's gonna snap!』
『Zzzzzz…』
Yelling and shouting, they pulled on the rod, and a tuna weighing about five kilos appeared on the surface. One man rushed to get a harpoon and stabbed the fish with it. They successfully got it onboard.
A different fish was in the tuna's mouth. Apparently it was the one that Hikaru caught at first, but then it got eaten by the tuna.
「This is my first time fis.h.i.+ng. It's actually fun.」
『You're amazing! Incredible!』
『I'm bushed from all that running…』
『Zzzzzz…』
『Oh… Getting friendly with the enemy during break time, eh? Perhaps more discipline is needed.』Duinkler appeared with five soldiers in tow.
『Oh, c.r.a.p.』the men said as they ran away.
The sleeping guy, who seemed to be a habitual truant, jerked awake as he sensed danger and hightailed it out of there.
「I, Duinkler. Nice, meet you.」
It appeared he could speak Hikaru's language, although broken.
「Likewise. I'm Silver Face. A pleasure, I guess.」
One of Duinkler's men looked familiar. He was the guy who went after Deena back when Hikaru snuck onto their s.h.i.+p. The man didn't know about him, of course.
「Want tea? No interpret.」