落とし穴４６堀：贅沢な時間の使い方 (Part2)
"Item boxes are certainly convenient for things like this."
Just then, I felt a tug on my clothes. Turning toward the source, I saw Cleena pulling on my sleeve and pointing at her fishing rod.
"Yuki, my rod is reacting. Is there a fish on it?"
At her words, I looked at the rod. It was indeed bending in a way that had nothing to do with the waves.
"You've got a bite. Want to try reeling it in yourself?"
"Mm. I will."
Cleena answered immediately, gripped the rod, and began to crank the reel. The rod started to twitch violently.
"Nn!? It’s pulling me!!"
"Stay calm. If it’s not strong enough to drag you in, just keep reeling. Fish don't like being pulled in directions they don't want to go, either."
"Understood."
Perhaps satisfied with my explanation, she cranked the reel with a rhythmic *click-click* sound until she finally hauled the fish out of the water.
"Cleena-san, that’s amazing!"
"Mm. Thank you. Look, I caught one."
As she showed me the fish, Cleena looked just like any other girl her age. She was younger than Samantha but a bit older than Shera—around middle-school age—and in all the time I’d known her, I had never seen her make a face like that before.
"Good job. Let's see... the hook is... lucky, it's caught right in the mouth. What do you want to do? Want to try taking it out yourself?"
"Mm. I will."
With that, Cleena worked with Samantha to carefully retrieve the hook from the fish's mouth.
"It came out cleanly. The fish is still alive."
"Yes, it seems so."
"Good. Though, they're biting more than I thought. It looks like Samantha's rod is reacting, too."
"Eh!? O-oh, you're right!"
"Do your best, Samantha."
"Yes!! I’ll show you I can catch one too!!"
Samantha, though flustered by the unfamiliar sensation, managed to land her fish safely as well. Both of them were a decent size—perfectly edible. As the one who manages the family kitchen, a thought occurred to me.
"If we can catch this many of this size, I guess we’re having fish for dinner tonight."
I said it without much thought. Honestly, even if I weren't the one in charge of the kitchen, if you go fishing and catch something, you’d naturally say it’ll add a dish to the meal. That was the extent of my thinking. But at those words, both of them froze.
"Fish for dinner?"
"Um, is it delicious?"
"Hm? Oh, well, we’re a large family, so if we don't catch more, there won't be enough for everyone. I don't think we can make it the main course yet."
As soon as I said that, they immediately re-baited their hooks and cast them back into the sea.
"We’ll catch a ton!!"
"Mm. I want to eat something delicious."
Ah, that meal from the beach trip. Everyone had eaten until they were stuffed... I wasn't sure if that was appropriate for my wives and the other women, but it made me happy to hear them say the food was delicious. Everyone else was working today, so... yeah. I should prepare a meal they’ll find tasty and reward everyone for their hard work.
Now then, what to do next...
"Alright, you two, take your rods and head to a different spot."
"Eh?"
"Why?"
They turned back to me, looking puzzled.
"This isn't the only place to catch fish. Sometimes, just moving a little bit puts you on a spot where the fish are biting."
That’s right—the most important thing in fishing is the location. You can't catch anything if you drop your bait where there are no fish. But if you drop it where they gather, they’ll bite.
"I see."
"Mm, that makes sense."
"Let’s split up and find a good spot to catch plenty for dinner. Once you find one, the three of us will fish there all at once."
"Understood."
"Got it."
They quickly reeled in their lines, lifted their rods, and headed off to different points along the breakwater.
Now, as for where I’m aiming... the very tip of the breakwater. A breakwater exists to block the waves, but structurally, it divides the water into an inner bay and the open sea. The inner bay is enclosed, calm, and has a narrow entrance like a harbor. The open sea, conversely, faces the ocean and is immediately affected when the weather turns. In other words, they are two different environments.
The tip of the breakwater is the boundary between the two. Fish in the inner bay wait for bait coming from the open sea, and fish in the open sea tend to gather there because the currents converge. It’s a feeding ground for both. It doesn't always work perfectly, but since this place was just built and we’re the only ones fishing here, well...
"Oh, there it is."
The float and rod reacted with small, sharp movements...
"Gotcha!!"
I pulled to set the hook and reeled it in immediately. A good-sized fish. But it was only the first one. It wasn't guaranteed to be a feeding frenzy, so I had to test it a few more times.
As it turned out, it was exactly the hotspot I had predicted...
"Ah, I got another one!!"
"Me too."
"Same here."
The three of us caught plenty of fish, returned before dinner, cleaned and cooked them, and enjoyed a wonderful meal together.
"Today was fun."
"Yes. It was very fun."
"And I'm full. I'm happy."
The two of them looked satisfied, seeing the fish they had caught lined up on the table. Yeah. My time spent just zoning out ended early, but days like this are nice, too. Maybe next time, I’ll bring everyone along for a fishing trip.
Now, I don't know if you’ve ever experienced it, but just sitting there with a line in the water is a wonderful thing. When I was a child, waiting for a bite felt unbearably boring, but now that life is so busy, this kind of fishing feels like it cleanses the soul.
Autumn is deepening, and it’s the season when food tastes best, but be careful not to overeat.
Well then, until next time.