The Fisherman

The carriages made a great looping detour through the forest, circling all the way around, and before I realized it, we had come back close to the academy.

And then we arrived at a large lake on the academy’s northeastern side.

After getting off my horse, I let the horses I had tamed graze freely around the lake.

Even so, I had no idea there was a lake this close by, practically right next to the academy.

If I’d known about this place, I wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble searching for water during the Seven Days of Flame…

Just as I was thinking that, Sir-sensei, who had caught up by taking a shortcut, told me.

“Well? It’s a splendid lake, isn’t it! This is an artificial lake specially made for my appointment here!”

Oh, so it was a lake that had only just been made recently.

Come to think of it, I could see large warehouses and containers stacked up around the lake.

“And this is your battlefield for today! From here on, you lot will secure fish, one of the basics of survival! The fish you catch will become your lunch just as they are, so if anyone fails to catch even one, then assume you’re going without lunch!”

A chorus of displeased “Ehhhs” rose up.

I see, so today’s class was going to teach us how to catch fish.

In a survival situation, fish are an important source of nutrition…

Just as I was thinking that, Sir-sensei began handing out fishing rods he had taken from the containers to the students.

As a rule, I do not object to the content of the teachers’ instruction.

I even properly go along with Kakerukun’s unreasonable impossible games, but this time alone, I finally had to raise my hand.

“S-Sensei! I have a question! You’re not seriously saying we’re going to catch fish with those fishing rods, are you!?”

I had never heard of a survival exercise where fishing rods were prepared for you.

What was more, the higher-ranked classes were being given magnificent rods with magical devices built into them.

“I’ll tell you now, there isn’t one for you.”

But Sir-sensei had completely misunderstood the point of my question.

He ignored me after that and gave an order to the students.

“Bviiiiiiiin! Now then, survival begins! This time only, I’ll permit you to form groups with people other than your classmates! However, be warned that the group that catches the fewest fish will be thrown into the lake!”

At that single command, the students began forming groups with their close friends and classmates.

With enough momentum to ignore everything else around them, the Monaka and Kotone pair came straight over to me.

“Leopin-kun!”

“Master!”

““Together with us…!””

Their perfectly synchronized voices were overwritten by a boorish vibration.

“Bviiiiiiin! Anyone who forms a group with a student from the Special Training Class will be treated as the same kind of failure and will receive no rod! If you want to catch no fish and drown pathetically in front of everyone, then by all means do as you like!”

Sir-sensei probably still didn’t know.

That these two were not the kind of people who would bow to that level of threat.

“Yes! Sir Vibe-sensei! We’ll do it together with Leo-kun!”

“We, as disciples of Master, are bound together for life and death!”

Monaka happily, and Kotone with a dignified expression, declared that they were joining the ranks of the failures.

Perhaps that gave them the push they needed, because then their classmates, Maachan and the others, the Tamer class, and even Akemi’s class all came over to me.

Before I knew it, my group had become the largest force among all the groups.

“B-Bviiin!? T-this wasn’t supposed to happen…!?”

Sir-sensei trembled at the unexpected turn of events.

And then the development I had fully expected took place.

“Well then, since we’ve got the chance, let’s play the ‘Leopin Fishing Match Game’! Okay!? The rules are simple! We’ll split into two teams, Team Leopin-kun and Team Sir-sensei, and whichever side catches more fish before the lunch bell rings wins! Wins, okay!?”

Kakerukun, who had appeared without anyone noticing, once again declared the start of a one-sided game.

My team had around fifty people, but all the remaining students joined Sir-sensei’s team, making theirs around two hundred in total.

And on top of that, we had nothing, while the other side had magnificent fishing rods issued to them.

It was a game in which we were overwhelmingly disadvantaged in both numbers and equipment.

But… I supposed I had no choice but to do it again.

Kakerukun must have thought that with this much of a gap, he could definitely win.

“The earlier ‘Leopin-kun True Hell Marathon Game’ was Leopin-kun’s win, but before I paid it back, I started a new game, so the wager carries over! That means the winner of this ‘Leopin Fishing Match Game’ gets double, a total of six hundred million! Okay? Okay okay!?”

I let out a halfhearted “Hah,” even to my own ears.

Six hundred million was money I had never seen in my life, but even if I received it here, it would be nothing more than a rice cake in a painting.

“Then the game starts now!”

At Kakerukun’s signal, the students on Sir-sensei’s team immediately started swinging around their fishing rods and trying to cast their hooks into the lake.

However, there was no bait on the hooks, and their casting was amateurish to the core, so the lines kept catching here and there.

Apparently, those pampered young ladies and gentlemen had never fished before.

Then, when I turned my gaze to my own group, Monaka was right in the middle of taking off her boots and socks and going barefoot.

“Monaka, don’t tell me you’re planning to wade into the lake and catch fish with your bare hands?”

“Huh? Is that not allowed? When we were little, didn’t you show me how to do that, Leo-kun?”

“You can only catch fish barehanded in a narrow stream. Fish in a wide lake like this will flee far away the moment you get close.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Let’s see… Right, wait a moment.”

Using the Dexterous Job Change skill of Jack-of-All-Trades, I changed jobs to Wood Crafter.

From a nearby Shinarigi tree, I cut off a branch of just the right length.

Using my trusty Great Knife of the Giant Boar, I stripped off the leaves and twigs, then tied Daija Vine Thread, which I carried around in place of wire, to the tip.

“Then if I tie on a piece of pumice I picked up, along with a hook and artificial lure I make by processing a little scrap of wood…”

“Done! This is our fishing rod!”

Compared to the fishing rods Sir-sensei was handing out, it looked extremely plain and simple.

It didn’t have a magic reel for winding the line, the hook was thin and small, and the lure’s color was a dull brownish black.

However, the quality inside was first-rate. It gave off the faint glow that was proof of High-Quality craftsmanship.

I continued working at high speed and completed fifty fishing rods in one go.

“A-Amazing… Leopin-kun really can make absolutely anything…”

I handed the final fishing rod to the dumbfounded Maachan.

“All right, looks like the fishing rods have gone around. Then let’s get right to fishing.”

I had just gotten the perfect job for this too.

I activated the Dexterous Job Change skill of Jack-of-All-Trades and changed into an unknown class.

Instantly, my mind became crystal clear, and all around the lake I could see ‘spots.’

Spots known as fishing grounds.

“All right, that over there is the best spot.”

I led everyone away from Sir-sensei’s group, which could only be called a clamor.

Once we moved to the edge of the calm lake surface, I took a piece of bread from my coat pocket.

This was Angel Fluffy Bread that I had baked before.

Thanks to its special effect, it was still fluffy even after several days.

I tore it into small pieces with my hand and tossed them into the lake.

Monaka, standing beside me, gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Leo-kun, what are you doing!? That precious bread…!”

“Don’t panic, Monaka. This is called chum. By scattering bait in advance, it makes the fish easier to catch.”

While waiting for the fish to gather to the chum, I used the knowledge I had gained as a Fisherman to give everyone a lecture on fishing.

After all, pampered young ladies like Monaka, Kotone, and Akemi seemed to be holding a fishing rod for the first time.

Once I had even taught them the basic way to handle the rods, we lined up along the edge of the lake and cast our lines together at my signal.

It was the passive Fisherman skill, Fisherman’s Chant.

“All right, at my signal, slowly raise and lower your rods! Come one, come all!”

“Come one, come all!” echoed the fledgling fishers after me.

The students from Sir-sensei’s team, who had been watching us from a distance, snickered at the sight of us.

“Hey, look at those fishing rods!”

“Pfft! What the heck is that? Isn’t it just a branch with a vine stuck on it!?”

“And what’s with that weird chant from that trash loser!?”

“If fish could be caught with something like that, nobody would have any trouble!”

“Yeah, exactly! Even we, with these top-class fishing rods borrowed from Sir-sensei, haven’t caught a single fish yet!”

The very next moment, the rows of rods all bent sharply at once.

“All right, they’re on! Just like I taught you, pull them up in one motion! Heave-ho!”

…Splashhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

What leapt up one after another amid the soaring spray were…

Fifty fish, sparkling silver in the sunlight…!

“W-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?!?”