15 - Thirteen Stories of the Sea

"The ocean!"

"Sea!"

"Cue."

The frustration of turning our backs on the ocean we've come so far to reach in order to secure water. Now is the time for revenge. We will overfish the untouched, rich marine products of the sea.

"Well, Mr. Bell. Agent Raine. I have a mission for you.

"What?"

Oh, no. Bell can't keep up with the conversation and is tilting his head. It's no wonder he doesn't understand the Japanese way of doing things. But it's embarrassing to suddenly become calm here. We'll just have to push through with brute force.

"Agent Bell. Yes, sir. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir."

Good. Then I'll give you your mission again. You will work with Raine to secure the seafood in these waters. Not to mention fish. Don't forget the shrimp and crabs. There's nothing to be afraid of. We have a magic bag with unlimited capacity and time stop. Go get as much as you can. Okay?"

"Yessir."

Cue.

Okay. Go."

I look over at Belle and Rain, who are happily charging into the sea, and wipe off the cold sweat I've been sweating needlessly. It was a close call, but we made it. I look back and see Sylphy looking at me with a stunned expression.

What the hell are you doing?

".................. don't ask."

Sylphy's gaze pierced my heart. I don't want you to look at me.

"Uh, I'm going to collect shells and seaweeds, what about you?"

"...... huh, you're not going to answer, are you?"

"What about Sylphy?"

I'm too embarrassed to explain calmly. I'll just keep my mouth shut.

"Huh. Okay, okay. I'm not gonna ask you again, so stop making that determined face. You're so tense, it's disgusting."

Rude!　But I made it through. The ocean is terrifying. Even as an adult, it takes me back to my childhood.

"I can't help you get food because I don't have a contract. I'll take it easy. Yuta, you go and gather food.

"Yessir."

I leave Sylphy, take off my clothes, and put on pantyhose. I'm glad I'm a trunks guy. It is embarrassing to wear briefs to the sea.

I undress lightly and get into the sea. The water temperature is a little cool, but quite comfortable. Diving into the shallow water, a beautiful world with high transparency unfolds.

Swaying seaweed. Beautiful corals. Vividly colored small fishes. It's like a tropical sea. We drift in the sea, forgetting to secure food for a while. Is this what you call washing our lives?　I'm happy.

*****

Oh, no. I just enjoyed the leisure time with the wonderful sight. Now we must push on to our initial goal of finding food.

When we search the ocean for food, we find a few shellfish that we have seen before on earth. The names may be different, but we find shellfish, turban shells, abalone.... Digging around in the sand, we also find clams and clams.

But at this point, the biggest miscalculation occurs. The magic bag does not seem to hold any creatures. The many shells we have collected with our best efforts ...... will be wasted if we break the shells and kill the creatures. The only way is to cook them right here.

Clams and clams are steamed with sake after removing the sand. Abalone and turban shells can be found at ......, but I'm afraid to cook them raw, so I'll grill them. I don't know how to eat the giant clam, so I'll grill it.

They may look the same, but that doesn't mean they're edible. I'll ask Sylphy.

"Sylphy. Do you know if we can eat them?

"Uh, yeah. I've never eaten it, so I don't know if it's good or not, but I've seen it for sale in the harbor, so I think it's edible."

Good. I took a lot, so it would be hard if I couldn't eat it. I'll get some seaweed while I'm waiting for the sand to drain. I don't know much about seaweed, so I'll focus on wakame seaweed and kelp.

If we can make kelp soup stock, our diet will be a little richer. I'll let it dry on the beach.

I was originally going to take as much as I could, but if we have to cook it, that's about all we can take. Let's hope that Bell and Lane can do the rest.

From a distance, we can see Cadets Bell and Rain bouncing around in all directions. They look like they're having a great time. I trust they are catching fish. If not, we'll try again tomorrow.

The first thing to do is to put the kelp on the beach at ....... Next is steaming ...... so we need a lid that fits the angle of the shovel for steaming. I'll make it out of a rock.

We can cut the rock to fit the angle of the shovel. Yeah, it looks like this. And we need a vessel for steaming sake. We have a donburi, but if we put it in that, we'll be in trouble when we want to eat something else. I'll make two more.

I cut down the tree and finish the two donburi quickly, following the same procedure as in the morning. Now we need spoons. I'll make them. It's time to start cooking. I get the stove ready and make a fire. You're getting used to this.

Next, we'll clean the shovels and set them on the stove. Put the clams and clams in, pour some sake over them, and put the lid on. Wait a while to make sure the lid is open, then sprinkle two capfuls of the precious soy sauce over the clams and steam them lightly again.

The smell is irresistible. The meat is so juicy, and the soup from the sake-steamed clam is so delicious. I want to suck on it right now.

"It smells good. Is this from Yuta's hometown?

"Yes, it's a simple dish, but I'm quite proud of it, using my hometown sake and hometown seasonings. Try one of them."

Is it my ...... imagination that Sylphy jerked at the alcohol?

"Okay. Yuta should eat it.

"I used only a few seasonings and the ingredients came from the sea. Don't hesitate to try it."

"...... Well, it looks delicious and I'm interested in otherworldly seasonings, so I'll take one."

"Yeah, I'd rather have that big one anyway. In my world, those clams are a popular food. You can grab them by the handful, but be careful, they're hot.

"Let's see, here. This heat doesn't matter to a genie. I'll take it.

I watch nervously as Sylphy puts a clam in her mouth.

"Oh, they are delicious. The smell of the sea and the taste of the shellfish. The combination of them is very delicious.

I got a nice smile. If our tastes are different, there's nothing we can do. If it tastes so good, I guess the tastes of this world are similar. I'm looking forward to going to town.

"I'm glad you like it. You can use the shell to scoop up some of the soup that's in the bottom and drink it."

"Heh, like this?　...... Oh, ...... that's delicious. It's got a great shellfish broth. I wonder if the seasonings and sake also add to the richness.　It's just delicious."

That's high praise. I'll have one too. I pick up a clam and put it in my mouth. Every time I bite into the thick meat of the clam, the clam's flavor overflows. It's great. I want a sip of soup too. I want to keep alternating between the clams and the sake and get all gudeungdengdeng.

But I can't. Zombies will eat me. I shake off my regrets and transfer the steamed rice to a bowl for storage. Next, I'm going to grill some shellfish. Abalone and turban shells.

Anisakis, right?　Are they in shellfish too?　I don't know, but I'll be careful. I'll eat a lot of sashimi when I'm sure my body is safe.

Bake the clams and put them away. Grill and store. When we've finished grilling all the shellfish, Belle and Rain return. I wonder if I should continue to play the "captain's game," but I decide to stop it quietly and pretend it never happened.

"I got so many!"

"Cue."

When I turned around, I saw Belle and Rain flying slowly toward me. They were floating on a large body of water, which was filled with fish and shellfish. Why don't they run away?

"Oh. That's a lot of fish. Great job, you two."

I pat them both down as best I can. Now we need to prep the fish. We've got a lot of fish piled up, so we need to hurry. We'll just steam it, gut it, and put it in storage. But first, I'll do Belle a favor.

"Belle. I need you to blow the seaweed over there gently to dry it.　Raine, please help Belle."

"Yessir."

"Cue."

Belle, you didn't forget. Sylphy's looking at me like I'm trying to teach her a lesson. I'll pretend I didn't notice. We have to catch the fish.

"Sylphie. Are there any poisonous, dangerous or inedible fish in this pile?"

"Well, I know what fish are in the market, but there are a lot of fish I've never seen before. I'll tell you what I know, but for the rest, I'd better just shimmy them up and ask Deanne.

"Okay. Just tell me what you know."

With Sylphy's permission, the fish are shimmed, gutted, and stored. Many of the fish are colorful, perhaps because they resemble tropical seas. But it's a lot of fish. There are shrimp and crabs in the mix, as requested. The fish that Sylphy can't determine are simply shrimps and crabs.

I don't know how to shrimps and crabs. Some of the shrimp look like lobsters and some look like king crabs. I have no choice but to twist the head of the shrimp and put it in the container immediately. Crabs are boiled and stored immediately.

**

"Ah, finally, I'm done. With this many fish, we should have enough for the time being. We won't starve to death."

"Hmm. Good for you. If we can hold out until the magic is up, we'll survive if we don't make a big mistake."

That's right. Unlike Japan, death is all around us. Let's keep our heads up.

Yeah. I'm going to work hard to improve my living environment.

That's a good idea. Should we head back to the base now?

"Yes, I think so. We'll get the kelp and... I wanted a lot of sand. I'll go get some while I'm at it.

We need to make sand beds. No more hard rock beds. When I go to retrieve the kelp, I see Belle straddling Lane and blowing in the wind. When Rain moves, Belle moves too, so that a gentle wind blows over a wide area. Maybe those kids are geniuses.

"Belle. Rain. Thank you. It's very dry. Thank you."

"Great?"

Cue.

You two are so great. You're very good boys."

I pat them on the head and praise them both.

Smiling, I collect the kelp and store a lot of sand from the beach. With this much stored, we should be able to make two or three beds.

"Okay. We're done. I'm going back to the base.

"Yessir!"

"Cue."

"Yuta. Are you going to let him continue to answer the bell?　I think the sooner you correct me, the better."

Yessir explained that it was a special reply, reserved exclusively for Bell Corps members on special assignments. He seemed a little frustrated, but I'm relieved to hear that he was convinced. It's hard work when you get carried away with the tension and do something unnecessary.