Chapter 34: Ileia Revealed: A Troublesome Reunion

The white stone pavement of the resort town gleamed under the brilliant sun.

A beautiful city with an unobstructed view of the ocean.

A city teeming with tanned, romantic fishermen sailing out to sea.

There, a person in a strange crow costume asked everyone they met the same question:

Where can I find the place that sells the most fish around here?

“Gahaha! Simon’s shop, of course!”

“Hmm, Simon’s shop, for sure.”

“That Simon’s crazy. I think he fishes all day long.”

“Simon…”

“Simon!”

“Si…”

Damn it, why is everyone saying the same thing?

Yes, it’s me.

I asked so many people.

But the more I asked, the more stubborn I became.

Normally, at least one person would advertise their own shop…but everyone mentioned Simon’s shop. Even when I asked other shop owners, it was Simon, Simon…

I wondered what kind of person he was, to be so highly praised, and…

“Hmm, I see why.”

I understood as soon as I arrived at the shop.

Mountains of fish, almost the size of a small building.

A staggering variety, piled high like a mountain range.

“Ah! A customer! Welcome to Simon’s Fish Shop!”

As I entered, a little girl with short brown hair greeted me.

A sweet face, dressed in frilly clothes typical for her age. Surprisingly, she possesses a considerable amount of mana. Around the upper-middle rank of a second-year academy student.

…I doubt this child is Simon.

I bowed politely.

“Are you Simon? I’d like to meet Mr. Simon.”

The girl, unsure how to respond to my formal greeting, simply stared and said,

“Ah, I’m Sia! My brother comes back late at night, so it might be a long wait. I recommend coming around three in the morning!”

“Hmm, thank you.”

I raised my hand to pat Sia’s head, then stopped, remembering my current appearance.

I don’t expect to avoid suspicion while wearing this mask, but this is a little sad.

Sia stood on tiptoe, then puffed out her cheeks, seemingly puzzled that the pat didn’t come.

“Huh? Pat my head! I love head pats!”

I’d be killed.

“Um, no. I think Mr. Simon would scold me.”

“That’s right, my brother’s always overprotective. Even though I can protect myself.”

Sia throws a few punches at the air.

Her form is surprisingly refined. Did her brother teach her?

If she could properly use mana, she could probably beat some mediocre opponents.

Sia, after shadowboxing for a bit, seemed to remember that she had a customer and quickly changed her demeanor.

“So, what are you looking to buy? This fish, the Ipia, has a wonderfully soft texture. It arrived this morning, so it’s incredibly fresh!”

Sia pointed to a pile of glistening blue fish.

Is it similar to tuna? It certainly looks plump enough to eat as sashimi.

But I’m not buying fish to eat, but to rot, so I’ll save that for later.

“What’s the least tasty fish you have? If there isn’t one, I’d like to know which one sells the least.”

“Eh, the least popular one is the Redtice… it’s ugly, the meat is tough, and it has no nutritional value. Why my brother even bothers catching them…”

Sia pointed to a pile of red fish in the corner, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

A strange, peculiar-looking fish with large teeth, almost as big as her head.

This one will do.

“I’ll take them all. Is one platinum coin enough?”

Seeing the bright white gleam from my wallet, Sia’s eyes widened.

“Huh? A platinum coin?! No, one gold coin is more than enough…”

Ah, I only have platinum coins in my wallet.

Hmm… I don’t want to make change. I guess I’ll have to come back regularly to receive the rest.

I pressed the platinum coin into Sia’s hand, which she was vehemently refusing, and said,

“Then, please sell me Redtice every time you catch them. Is that acceptable?”

Sia, with a surprised and bewildered expression, accepted the platinum coin.

But, ever the saleswoman, she quickly put on a bright, childlike smile and said,

“Um, yes! That’s fine. Make sure to tell me when you’ve come, so I can tell my brother!”

“Haha, thank you.”

I tied the Redtice Sia had prepared for wrapping with rope and loaded them onto a cart.

If they accidentally touch my subspace bag, they might leave a fishy smell.

“Goodbye! Don’t forget to come at night!”

Sia saw me off with a bright smile.

Her small figure hopped and skipped, imprinting her image in my mind until she disappeared from view.

“She’s a cute little girl.”

Right.

I’ll be indebted to her during my leave.

There aren’t many places to get fish like this…

 

***

 

“Croak.”

“Gurgle.”

“Groan.”

“Ugh, f*ck.”

As soon as I released the Redtice in my room at the inn, they started thrashing and making strange noises.

Fish guts are all over the bed, and a disgusting fishy smell permeates the room.

“Room!”

“You win?”

The other fish lay quietly, occasionally making noises, except for one large one that seemed to be enjoying itself.

Thwack.

My ungloved right hand grabbed the fish.

“Gah.”

Crackle!

The dominant fish instantly turned black, crumbled, and died.

The other Redtice, witnessing this, fell silent.

“…Can I even control this?”

Any living thing I touch dies.

I can’t figure out how to condense or change the form of this power.

“Is there anything a bit tougher?”

Sigh. A miscalculation.

I was so focused on not harming others that I ended up wasting it.

There’s no other choice. I’ll have to feed the rest to the students…

“…”

“Huh?”

The second fish I had prepared for practice slowly rotted, let out a final gasp, and died.

I haven’t even touched it yet…?

Huh? No way?

I opened and closed my right hand.

A faint purple aura, barely visible to the naked eye, flickered around my hand.

It rose slightly, then subsided, swaying left and right.

“Oh? Can I manipulate this like mana?”

It grows slightly larger when I clench my fist.

When I firmly grasped a fish, they died much faster than when I simply touched them.

It seems to vary depending on my will, or strength, or the surface area of my palm.

“Hmm, I was able to manipulate it from a distance just now, too.”

Although it was a distance of less than 5cm, hardly a distance to speak of.

But the fact remains that my hand didn’t touch it.

Good. The first goal is to rot something from a distance.

Drag, drag, drag…

Crash! Clang!

Large fish, trapped in nets, are dragged between buildings.

Countless items from other shops are broken in the process.

But knowing that Simon will compensate them several times over, everyone just laughs.

A ragged, gray robe.

Dripping seawater, a testament to his recent presence in the depths.

Clang. Clang.

The harsh sound of iron-clad boots—which no sane person would wear in the ocean—striking the white stone pavement.

And with every step, a long, blue harpoon, longer than a streetlamp, strapped to his back, resonates with a low hum.

And between strands of his unkempt white hair, eyes darker than ash gleam with an intense light.

A clear predator. A force to be reckoned with. The eyes of a beast.

The pride of Baiton. Simon.

And an unaffiliated Transcendent.

The only fisherman to return alive from the abyss.

The hunter who single-handedly slew a thousand-year-old sea monster.

But the title he cherishes most…

“Brother!”

A single word, spoken by his last remaining family, the driving force of his life.

A young girl runs towards Simon, fresh from ‘fishing,’ a task even those close to him avoid.

Instantly, the tension drains from his sharp eyes.

Melting away like snowflakes on a warm hearth.

“Sia, was everything alright today?”

He meticulously wipes his seawater-soaked hands on his robe before stroking Sia’s head. His usual disregard for etiquette, leaving trails of seawater everywhere, is nowhere to be found.

With a gentle expression, he kneels and properly strokes Sia’s head.

This wasn’t something Simon wanted. It was a ritual performed at Sia’s request, something he “couldn’t refuse.”

But did he find no solace in the action?

He felt an immense sense of happiness.

Until a certain phrase escaped his younger sister’s lips.

“Ah! A man wearing a mask and a neat coat came looking for you!”

He freezes.

His large hand, ruffling Sia’s neat hair, stops mid-motion.

A mask…? A man…?

Simon harbors no particular ill will towards nobles.

Nor does he favor them.

If he had, he could have easily become a knight, enjoying wealth and prestige.

But he’s content with fishing in the sea every day, in this small, lively town.

But for Simon, a simple man, those keywords

evoked the prejudices and rumors of Baiton, a town populated almost entirely by commoners with little contact with the outside world.

‘Nobles always wear masks and invite young children to parties.’

‘And then they do unspeakable things.’

‘So beware of those who hide their faces, or those with skin so pale it looks unnatural.’

These were mostly scare tactics used to keep the innocent children of Baiton in line.

But how would Simon know? His conversations with people other than Sia were limited to ‘How much?’ ‘Expensive.’ ‘Good.’

And even those were only when his nets or boat were damaged, so maybe once or twice a year.

“But he wasn’t a bad man! He wanted to see you, not me.”

“Aha, I see.”

He felt slightly relieved.

But Simon remembers all those who bothered him.

The one who knelt and begged him to become a knight for the Duke.

The one who brought bars of gold, asking him to become a member of the Empire’s security force.

The woman who brought cartloads of books filled with difficult writing, asking him to become an apostle of God.

The last one wasn’t a bad person, but the aftermath of interacting with her was too much for him.

Even now, some villagers still talk about it. She was the most troublesome.

“He’ll be here soon! He said he’d come late at night!”

Sia, oblivious to Simon’s thoughts, smiled brightly.

“Okay. Then I’ll meet him and we’ll go to bed. Sia, you go to sleep first.”

“Okay! Good night!”

Sia left Simon’s embrace and trotted off.

Since their house was right above the shop, he wasn’t worried.

Simon looked at the streets as night fell.

Deserted, even though the streetlights were on.

Creak…

He pulled out the small chair Sia sits on when there are no customers.

Since there are no other chairs, he always sits hunched over in that small space.

How much time passed?

Tap…tap…

The sound of shoes reached Simon’s beastly senses, honed from years at sea, able to see and hear for miles even underwater.

There was only one person who wore shoes in Baiton. Mr. Karls, who liked to dress up.

But Mr. Karls drowned while fishing last month and was found dead.

Then it’s highly likely that it’s the person Sia mentioned.

But, something felt off about the sound.

‘He’s over 180cm tall, but weighs only about 40kg.’

Impossible.

Is he on the brink of starvation?

But then how can he be dressed so neatly?

Driven by curiosity, Simon stepped out of the shop.

And turned his head towards the direction of the sound.

“…?”

An expensive-looking fedora, a crow mask, a tall figure.

A strange asymmetry – a high-quality glove on the right hand, a cheap one on the left.

A faint smell of fish.

And the familiar scent of lilac.

“Oh, are you Simon? I’m Rei…”

Simon couldn’t hold back.

A voice tinged with both annoyance and a hint of welcome escaped his lips.

“Ileia.”

The woman who made his life the most difficult.

And the woman who made the time they spent together truly enjoyable.

Did she not realize he’d recognize her? Ileia froze.

She waved her hand slightly, as if to continue speaking, then stopped.

Then she looked around.

There was no one else in Baiton at this hour.

Ileia carefully removed her mask.

The same face that should have been kept hidden was revealed.

Translucent skin, eyes bluer than the ocean’s depths.

Silver hair, whiter than the moon’s reflection on the night sea.

Undeniably her.

Even magic couldn’t replicate that face.

“…It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Troublesome woman.”

Ileia placed a hand on her forehead, a look of dismay on her face.

“Just how much have I been wandering around?”

…How would I know?