Chapter 316: Fish Searching
The man among men, Rest Clover, performed the greatest bow of his life, seeking forgiveness from Celestine for his rudeness.
In truth, Celestine had not been angry at all; she wore her usual gentle smile. After rinsing off lightly in the open-air bath, Rest stepped out of the inn, shaking off the awkwardness.
“Haah… I really messed up.”
Once alone after parting ways with Celestine, Rest let out a deep, heavy sigh. He never expected to get that drunk. For the first time, he experienced the terrifying effects of alcohol, and it sent shivers down his spine.
After all, distilled liquor has a high alcohol content, and it’s customary to dilute it with water or soda. It was reckless for someone unaccustomed to drink it straight; it was no surprise that he could have suffered from acute alcohol poisoning.
“I’ll have to be more careful from now on… Well, at least I managed to get my hands on some alcohol. That’s good.”
The liquor he had would suffice for the party. It was potent stuff; although he couldn’t discern the taste, Celestine assured him it was fine. Surely, it would satisfy even the refined palates of the nobility.
“Now, I just need some ingredients. Since I’m at the sea, I might as well look for some fish.”
With that thought in mind, Rest headed toward the beach. Ideally, he would catch a Sea Dragon like before, but even if he could find some rare fish, that would be a stroke of luck. Upon arriving at the beach, he noticed a boat just coming ashore.
“Hello there, working hard, I see!”
“Oh, Rest-sama! What brings you here?!”
As he greeted the sun-kissed fisherman, the middle-aged man responded with surprise.
“I was hoping to see if you had caught any rare fish. Do you have anything?”
“Well, there’s nothing particularly rare today.”
The fisherman scratched his head and glanced at the net loaded onto the boat.
“We’ve only caught the usual fish. Of course, if that’s fine with you, I can give you as much as you want.”
“…Could I take a look?”
With permission granted, Rest inspected the catch. The fish on the small fishing boat were all familiar to him. There were no particularly rare specimens, nor any high-end fish.
“Oh… could it be…?”
However, among those fish, Rest spotted something unexpected. A bizarre creature with writhing tentacles—a form that would likely evoke physiological disgust in some.
“Is that… could it be a squid?”
It was the Devil Fish, commonly known as an octopus. This was the first time he had seen it since being reincarnated in this world.
“Ah, Rest-sama, you know about that fish?”
“Yeah, I’ve eaten it before.”
“Well, that’s quite rare. I didn’t think a noble would ever have a taste for it.”
The fisherman explained, astonished.
In this world, it seemed that octopus was also looked down upon. Fishermen in coastal villages and towns would boil it for consumption, but merchants wouldn’t buy it, and if one tried to sell it, they would be met with disdain, told not to bring such a creepy thing.
“Ah… I see. I had a feeling that might be the case.”
Since his reincarnation, he had never seen octopus dishes in the Royal Capital. Even in his previous life, it was only consumed in certain countries like Japan, and it appeared to be a minor food item in this world as well.
(Thinking about it now… Japanese people really eat anything. I never cared about it in my past life, but who was the first person to eat sea urchin or sea cucumber?)
“If you don’t mind, could I buy that from you?”
“Of course, that’s no problem at all. If you’d like, I can have it boiled for you.”
“No, I’ll handle the cooking myself. I have a dish I want to try making.”
Rest accepted the still-living octopus, a sly smile creeping across his face.
“Since I’m at it… I think I’ll throw an octopus party. In a way, this is a rare delicacy, right?”