Chapter 131: 117

「So cold」

Yelled my sister. That was no surprise, as the plain had become a field of snow.

We were currently on our way back to the camp. The snow was not so deep that our feet would get caught in it, but it was open terrain, so the wind was biting cold and it cut to the bone.

「So cold～」

My sister shouted again.

「You're making it hard for me to walk」

Complained Maria, who was being hugged by Ea. Ea was wearing a fur coat given to her by Gladvain-sama, but she was still feeling cold.

「No no no, I'm pretty sure my reaction is normal. Maria, aren't you cold?」

Maria was dressed as normal.

She was lightly dressed and her legs were bare. I had gotten her to at least wear a shirt to cover her stomach, but even so, it looked like she should be freezing.

「That's no good, Ea, no good at all. On the left continent, we only call it cold when our eyelashes freeze, you know?」

「You sure live in an unbelievable place」

It's because the winter there isn’t just cold, it hurts.

「Onii-chan, why are you also okay with the cold?」

「Well, I've also experienced what winter is like on the left continent, and this is about the same as the winters in Japan」

「Ugh, it's cold in Japan too, huh? That sucks」

To be fair, it is cold. But thanks to the poncho soaked with dragon blood, I don't feel so cold that I would shiver. I was told that the dragon blood would continue to generate warmth and heat for ten years after it had left the dragon's body.

「Wait, Onee-chan, are you okay?」

「S, so hot」

Rana's forehead was covered with sweat. Her entire robe had been soaked with dragon blood. It must be like having pocket warmers all over the body.

Ea hugged Rana.

「Wow, you're so warm」

「Once the wind picked up, it suddenly started to feel really hot. I'm all sweaty and I want to take it off as soon as possible」

Please don't do the same thing as they do on Mount Hakkouda.[1]

「Speaking of which, Onee-chan, what about the armor the dragon gave you? Are you going to wear it?」

「I don't have that kind of courage」

Ehh~.

I think it would look good on you though. Personally, I'd love to see you wear it.

「Then give it to me. I want to try it on」

「Huh? Ea, for an unmarried woman, that appearance is a bit……」

Bikini armor on a flat-chested person, is there such a thing?

After all, what point is there in hiding what isn't there?

「It's fine, I'm telling you. I'll just wear it as underwear. I mean, you're brushing aside Gladvain-sama's traditions kinda rudely, you know?」

「I'm an elf before I'm her kin, so needlessly exposing so much skin is………」

Rana took another look at what Ea and Maria were wearing.

Is Rana uptight, or are the two of them just frivolous? As someone who likes it either way, it's hard for me to say. I mean, despite being covered up, Rana is still quite sexy.

「You two, let's go shopping for winter clothes later」

「Really? Yay!」

Ea was overjoyed.

「Yay!」

So was Maria.

I felt Rana's gaze, so I nonchalantly handed her my purse. 30 gold coins should be more than enough to pay for winter clothes for the three of them plus some food on the way home.

「Souya, I'm hungry」

Maria's stomach growled loudly just like in the mangas.

「For breakfast……」

Breakfast reminded me of Geto-san. I had broken the token of friendship he gave me. I'm hoping that it's not something valuable, but I wonder if there's any way I can compensate him for it.

「Oh, Geto is here」

Maria dashed across the field of snow towards the camp.

We found Makina and Geto-san shoveling snow at our home. Makina had insulation material attached to her cylindrical pod for the cold weather. Geto-san was clad only in a loincloth like usual. Are fishmen resistant to cold, I wondered.

We followed after Maria at a brisk jog.

「Shrimp! Geto, did you bring any shrimp?!」

「Ohh, little one, you're looking lively this morning. Yeah, I've brought shrimp. And it’s not the small ones that I usually catch」

At Maria's urging, Geto-san took out a shrimp from a container meant for fish.

It turned out to be a big lobster!

「Whoa! Geto-san, that's……!」

I also got excited and ran over as fast as I could.

「Ohh, Souya, I heard you had quite a day yesterday」

「I won't really call it that. As usual, I just barely avoided death」

「That's what "quite a day" means, isn't it?」

That may be true, but the allure of lobster is drawing all of my attention.

「Dear, could this be……」

「Rana, do you know what that is?」

Do they treat lobsters as a delicacy in the alternate world too?

「This is the legendary emperor shrimp. It's said that the ancient elven emperors went to war over this shrimp. I didn't think it really existed」

Lobsters are amazing.

And don't go to war because of your gluttony, you elves.

「As expected, you're quite knowledgeable, madam. Yes, this is indeed the emperor shrimp. It’s a precious bounty of the sea that’s only eaten when the Apostles of Grizunas have accomplished great deeds. I heard that you drove off that annoying dragon, so I asked my god for one」

「Oh, Geto-san」

I pulled out a small pouch from my pocket and showed him the pieces of the necklace that I had managed to retrieve.

「The necklace that you gave me, Geto-san, it's broken. I'm sorry」

「WHAT?!」

He shifted his sunglasses and squinted closely at the pieces of coral.

「Impossible. There's no way anyone living on land could have destroyed――」

「When I was blasted point-blank by the dragon's breath, it protected me from the flames, but it broke in exchange」

「………What did………………you say………」

He looked shocked.

I guess it's valuable after all.

「Pff」

Then he broke out into a smile.

He has a fish-like face, but it's easy to tell whether he's happy or upset.

「Fuhahahahahaa!」

Raising the lobster to the heavens, he burst out laughing.

「Did you see that! O heavens! O flames! Our fishmen's secrets arts have thwarted your efforts to destroy!」

Uwwoooooo! the fishman yelled at the sky. Though Maria didn't quite understand what was going on, she mimicked him.

Well, I don't quite understand either.

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「Ohh, sorry about that. It's not like me to get all fired up. I got so heated even though I'm a fishman. And despite the cold weather」

Geto-san's all-out attempt at joking was met with an extremely forced smile from Rana.

「Souya, I've never been more happy to have struck a friendship with you than I am today. I'll tell my entire clan about this for generations. I'm sure my god will burst out laughing as well」

Grizunas-sama.

I don't know what kind of god it is, but it's a god that lives in the depths of the sea. I can't even imagine what something like that bursting out into laughter would look like.

「But I'm afraid I can't give you another token of friendship. They are for the purpose of forming bonds with others. Your family and I have already formed bonds of friendship. It doesn't make sense to give one to you again」

「That's true」

We’ve already formed a bond.

There's no need to use objects to initiate the process anymore.

「Also, Geto-san, this is from Lord White-Scale」

I took out the dragon scale.

「Err, "Your blessing that brought forth the water was truly impressive. This is a token of my admiration. This dragon scale shall protect you from all heat," it said」

「Hmmm. Heh, wow」

He exclaimed cheerfully as he studied the scale.

He looks happy.

『Souya-san and everyone, you must be cold. Here are some drinks to warm you up. There's also a kotatsu set up in the tent』

Said Makina, who arrived holding a tray with cups of steaming hot cocoa on it.

「Oh, it's cocoa! I love cocoa!」

Maria was the first to snap up a cup.

「It’s hot~」

She almost burned her tongue. What an incorrigible child.

「Wait, Souya. It said that this would protect me from all heat, right?」

「Huh? Yes, I'm sure it said that」

Geto-san stuck the dragon scale to his chest and took a cup of cocoa.

「Ah, hang on――」

Fishmen are a race that lives in the frigid depths of the sea. If they were to drink such a hot beverage, getting scalded wouldn't be the worst of it.

Was what I was thinking when Geto-san downed the cocoa in one gulp.

「Aah! Aah! It's not hot!」

He followed it up with another cup of cocoa.

「It's not hot after all! I can feel but the slightest hint of warmth, but that's actually quite refreshing. Souya, you know what this means, right?! Souya!」

「Yes! What do you want to eat?!」

Influenced by him, I was also getting heated.

「Pizza! Something with melted cheese! And that one, and that one, and that one too. Urgh! There are too many things that I want to eat. Ngghhhh. Oh! That one, that one! You know, the one we ate together back then. That pot of oil! The one where the two of us ate up all the bread! I want to eat that while it's still hot!」

The fired-up Geto-san handed me the lobster.

「Ajillo it is then! Got it! I'll try making it with the emperor shrimp right away!」

「And some miso soup too!」

「Okay, with pleasure!」

I'll use the lobster to make the soup stock.

「Geto, what about curry?」

「Ohhh, I'll eat it. But leave out the spicy stuff」

Geto-san readily agreed to Ea's suggestion.

「Geto, do you want to try some Napolitan? I just learned how to make it yesterday」

「Napolitan? I don't quite know what that is, but sure」

He was also on board with Maria's suggestion.

Rana turned to me with eyes that said, "What about me, dear?"

「Rana, please cook some rice. Please cook only rice」

「Okay, leave it to me」

「Makina, give everyone a hand」

『Roger! Makina had absolutely nothing to do in the fight against the dragon, so Makina is going to give it everything Makina has got!』

It was an opportunity for the whole family to repay Geto-san for the delicious food he always gave us.

A dance of ingredients, flames, and seasonings ensued.

Despite the cold weather, our excitement never cooled. We cooked one dish after another and lined them up in front of Geto-san. Geto-san too was devouring plate after plate of food with the eagerness of a child.

The person eating the food was doing it with such gusto, so the ones cooking got fired up as well.

To be honest,

We went overboard.

――――――Three hours later.

「What sort of creature is this?」

「Maria, no. Don’t」

I stopped her from poking the belly with a stick.

「Ugh, I ate too much」

That's right, Geto-san, you ate too much. To be honest, I think we went overboard ourselves. Though you could have just stopped eating midway through.

「Souya, sorry, but roll me over to the river」

「………………Got it」

Geto-san, who was sprawled on the ground, had bloated up from eating too much. He had become more like a sea lion than a fishman.

It appears that fishmen are a race that bloats up when they eat more than they need.

I did as he asked and rolled him to the river. He plopped into the water with a splash. He floated back to the surface of the water and used his limbs, which had become shorter as they were buried in his jiggly flesh, to keep himself in place.

「Kurgh」

Damn it, the sight is so surreal that I almost burst out laughing.

Despite his comical appearance, Geto-san started to speak in a serious tone.

「Souya, madam, Ea, Maria, and Makina. The food was extremely delicious. There are many fishmen, but there are likely none who know the bliss that I do. I thank you」

「No, Geto-san, it was our pleasure」

I answered on behalf of everyone.

Or rather, everyone else is too busy holding back their laughter to reply.

「During the winter, we fishmen will go into a short sleep. This is goodbye for a while. I've packed the container full of seafood. There should be enough to last the winter」

「Got it, thank you very much. Be well, Geto-san」

「Yeah. I should be able to digest all the food during my hibernation. I'll drop by as soon as I wake up. I'm looking forward to another delicious meal. Well, let's meet again in the spring. ………………See you」

「See you」

There was a splash of water.

As usual, Geto-san swam against the current of the river. His movements looked quite a bit more comical than usual, but his speed was the same. With incredible speed, the sea lion disappeared from view.

It was goodbye for a while………………but what an amusing parting it ended up being.

[1] Mount Hakkouda/Hakkōda is home to the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Which hosts the “Hirakasa Naked Pilgrimage", a female-led festival where people in white clothing walk roughly 8 km from the Miyata Shrine in Hirakasa to the Yasaka Shrine in Obuke to pray for health, safety of their family, and fertility. (pic courtesy of cooljapan-videos.com)

Geto-san!!! Bye bye!!! Haha, he faded from the story for a while, but came back big time, and is now going to leave for quite a bit. But how many of you saw that coming when the dragon decided to give him that reward? Now he can eat all the hot food he wants! I mean, really? A dragon scale and that’s what it’s used for? Can you believe that?! I love this author so much.

Other than this being a Geto chapter, there’s some reinforcement of plot points going on. Did you catch them? Well, 2 more chapters to go! Is there something that still has to be resolved? Stay tuned!

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