Chapter 516: Souvenir Harvesting
A turtle-like waistcloth spread out, and the ascent began.
“Ah~. Normally, when you shoot up like this, various things tend to come out, but this time it seems fine.”
Wait a minute.
Has there been a time when it wasn’t fine? I understand there’s a water pressure issue, but the way you said that feels ominous, doesn’t it?
“Don’t worry! Even if I feel sick, I’m the type who can’t throw up. I won’t be hurling on top of Turtle-kun!” Chris said cheerfully.
If we shoot up from the deep sea all of a sudden, something much worse might come out, Chris!
“Oh, should we pick up some sea sponge as a souvenir on the way? It’s quite popular with land dwellers, you know. Sometimes they just scoop it up in shallow areas.”
“Ah! Is it possibly sponge? I’ve heard it’s incredibly expensive.”
Chris chatted brightly with the somewhat ominous turtle. I’m glad Chris is here. Ufu can’t talk, and if it were just me and this turtle in this dark sea, I wouldn’t know how to handle it.
In this world, sponges are living creatures with holes all over their bodies that stick to the seabed, known as Mokuyokukaimen or Yuamikaimen. It’s pretty much like bathing and hot water, right?
Thanks to the poor hygiene practices, the culture of baths had declined, turning public baths into breeding grounds for pathogens.
However, thanks to the Heroes, the bath culture is showing signs of revival. Shulm, despite everything, is a cultural hub in a great nation. Though it can’t quite compete with Naruadeid.
Sponges are originally expensive, but with the revival of baths, their prices have risen again. I’ve heard that to harvest sponges, you typically need to dive about thirty meters with weights attached, so the high price is understandable.
There seems to be a business where you hire people possessed by the Wind Spirit to wrap air around you like I do, but accidents happen quite frequently. From what I heard, it sounds like decompression sickness.
“I want some sponge too.”
I heard our island’s germophobic doctor uses it for anesthesia, so having some would be great. They say they put sponges soaked in opium, henbane, and mandrake to make people sleep. Apparently, mandrake exists in this world.
So, we properly harvested sponge at a depth where we could see the sea clearly.
“Wahaha! It’s so mushy! Master, I hate this feeling!” Ex-Staff exclaimed as I poked the sponge with the stone tip.
Startled by the voice or perhaps by the poking of their home, a small fish suddenly swam out in a flurry.
“I never thought I’d be walking on the seabed. I can brag about this to everyone back at Kanum!” Chris said, hands on her hips, looking around with a smile.
It was a bit too reckless to harvest sponge while riding the turtle, so Chris was wrapped in a buoyant air bubble. The seabed, illuminated by light, felt quite nice; the boundary between the sky and the sea was a significant difference in mood.
The sponge was a mix of brown and white where it wasn’t growing, but in return, small fish were colorful.
However, I was starting to miss the outside world, so honestly, I wanted to get back to land as soon as we harvested what we needed. I quickly gathered the sponge and stored it along with Chris’s share in [Storage].
I wonder how to process this? Is it just a matter of removing debris and drying it? I’ll ask Retze or Haulon when I get back.
We harvested sponge without overdoing it and began to ascend. On the turtle’s back, I stretched out and let out a big sigh.
“Ufu!”
Ufu seemed to prefer being outside the water too, stretching just like me. The hem of Ufu’s clothes stretched and dissolved into the atmosphere.
Then, the sea in front of the turtle began to swell.
“What’s that?” Chris exclaimed, startled and on guard.
Neither the turtle nor I made a sound, so Chris was barely reaching for her sword. She looked at me with a mix of surprise and confusion.
“That’s probably Seikai, who asked for help dealing with the Spirit causing the drought.”
As I replied, the swelling sea surface returned to normal, leaving Seikai behind.
“Thank you, Central Spirit King. Thanks to you, my stomach feels much better,” the bearded Poseidon part said with a broad smile, while the dolphin part spoke.
“In the end, instead of bringing you to land, we took you to the depths as per your request. Was that alright?” Seikai’s original request was to bring Karianto Manju up from the sea.
“Yes. I feel absolutely splendid,” Poseidon and the dolphin part nodded. Please stop saying “splendid” after mentioning your stomach. It sounds like you’re talking about your bowel movements.
“…Well, that’s good.” I hope this stops the drought.
The Spirit of Heat should gradually change its nature to become a Spirit of Warm Air, but will it hold?
Once the atmosphere settles, we can plant crops, but the harvest will be even further away. I think we’ll be fine since Mail Wheat will circulate.
“Yes. Besides the promised protection for the ship, I should offer some reward. How about I give you my name?” The dolphin’s tail splashed as if it had thought of something good.
“That would be a problem.” I replied without thinking.