Volume 1 - CH 20

[Well then, let's depart!]

I am the travelling alchemist Mei. Today the fishing will commence so I was out to the lake by morning.

[The other fishing boat are starting to gather, so perhaps this spot would work. Go--!]

As I began right in the center of the lake, the competition with the other boats begun. Well, my fishing rod is fully automated so I left them to their own devices. The quintuple spreaded themselves out evenly along the boat, and as if they had a will of their own, they began battling with the fishes.

[Oh!? I got a catch immediately! Amazing!]

There is no mistake that this was a product of the ultimate cauldron as fishes were being caught one after another in the matter of minutes. It was literally a windfall.

...Speaking of which, I do not remember putting any form of bait on the rod. Why are so many fishes biting? Does it have a lure or something I wonder.

[...Well, it doesn't matter. Since they are getting caught anyway]

Giving up on thinking too much into it, this looked like the pole and line fishing of bonito that I saw on TV......while entertaining that thought carefreely, I decided to start the process of moving the fishes to the tank on the boat. The fishes are really lively, jumping with much vigor.

◯ ◯ ◯

Continuing the work for one more hour which was when a single vessel approached me. The boat was around 1 time the size of mine and on board of it was three workers.

[Yo, miss, looks like you are doing really well]

Among the trio, the man who presumably is the captain spoke out. His gaze was focused on the tank of my boat, filled with fish.

[Are you alone? How did you manage to get such a haul?]

[That's a trade secret!]

As I raised my voice to convey this, behind me were the fully automated rod at their work in real time, and I couldn't conceal that fact.

[I am speechless. What kind of magic is this?]

Switching his sight from the tank to the movement of the automatic rod, the captain asked with a bewildered expression.

[This is alchemist!] as I proudly answered, only to be greeted by the trio tilting their neck in confusion. Yeah yeah, I know this was going to happen.

[Well, I don't really get it but are you willing to lend that rod to us? Of course, not for free. How does 1000 Fol a day sounds?]

[U-unfortunately, rental is impossible. This is exclusive to Mei's workshop]

My heart skipped at the thought of 1000 Fol but I was able to turn them down. This fully automated series, if would be bad if the user were to become dependent on it too.

[That is a shame. Well then, let's work hard to not lose the lady! You guys, we are moving to another spot!]

With the call of a subordinate as the signal the boat changed their course and went away. It felt like I was being watched by the ships from every direction. I guess I was being conspicuous.\

As for me, I didn't have the intention to start hiding it now but......while thinking that, the tank was filled to the brim so I decided to return to the harbor for now.

◯ ◯ ◯

[Oh, you are already back?]

When I am back at the harbor, the man from back then is waiting at the adventurer's guild. He must have seen me return as the guild's building is pretty near the harbor.

[Did you at least catch enough for your meal?] as the man took a peep at the tank while posing this question, [As you can see] I gladly obliged and his eyes widened from the view.

[Go ahead at take the necessary amount] as I conveyed my message, he hurriedly prepared a wooden box and started the transfer. There was bountiful of leftover which I then proceeded to store in the bag of unlimited capacity. Regional specialty, aquatic material get!

[Now then, let's take a short break and continue working hard]

Landing on the surface calmly and leisurely, I made for the stores at the main street for lunch. After vexing over it, I decided to order the fish burger. This tartar sauce, exquisite.

Inserting that one moment of rest, and it's back to the lake in the afternoon. Perhaps it has something to do with the water temperature but there an hour where I was unable to catch anything. Then again, as I have already submitted what was required earlier, I enjoyed several activities such as eating sweets at the boat and sunbathing. It was truly a fabulous ocean......no, lake life.

Then I returned to the harbor in the evening, with a haul not unlike that of the morning portion and ended work for the day.

◯ ◯ ◯

For the next two days, the days were like a loop. Securing the needed amount in the morning and then followed by the carefree lake life in the afternoon.

The leftover fishes were sold at the market. There was a lot of reasonably sized fishes from the catch, and the profit averaged at 5000 Fol a day.

Usually, money would be required for the ship's expenses but since everything is forked out by me so there wasn't such a thing. The crew is just me alone so salary is null too. This feels like a lucrative business.

...The person at the adventurer's guild, each time I meet him his face gets paler and paler. Fufufu, I wonder why.