“What a wonderful view, milady!”
“This is the world inside the ocean…”
“It’s not attacking, masu.”
“Indeed. Perhaps there’s a difference in temperament.”
Or maybe they simply don’t attack beings larger than themselves. Well, not all monsters are ‘humans-must-die’ types, so it’s not that unusual.
We dove in from the beach, gradually entering deeper waters from the shallows. Spreading out below us was a forest of colorful seaweed.
I’ve already ordered Houryuu to collect those seaweeds, as various broths can be made from them, but with so many types, it seems hard to choose. Well, I’ve instructed the Support Drones to analyze the components, so they should point out the most recommended ones.
One way or another, Houryuu and the others are getting used to the Support Drones, and they can communicate with the illustrations on the monitor and body language.
“Let’s collect a few of a manageable size for lunch.”
“An excellent idea, milady.”
“King, like.”
“That silver fish over there is a Swelling Needlefish; it has poison in its needles, but it’s delicious. That bumpy Barracuda over there has delicious bumps. That reddish-black thirty-two-armed one is an Excessive Octopus; its arms are delicious.”
“Secure them all.”
“Indeed.”
Beatrice elegantly moves her fins, holding the SGS-AA21, and quickly attacks the fish with electric mode. She spends the most time handling firearms, so she has the highest accuracy among this group. Depending on the prey, her accuracy can even surpass mine.
“Retrieval, ne.”
“Will do, masu.”
Once Beatrice’s attacks cease, numerous fish corpses float up in the water.
The two of them then swim to retrieve them. The petite Asahi is especially quick.
“As expected, attacking brings them out.”
“There might be reefs on the seabed. I can’t imagine something that big suddenly appearing out of nowhere.”
“Boomeranghead Shark… too smelly to eat.”
What appeared was a shark about three meters long. Its boomerang-shaped head makes it easy to identify.
“Don’t want, masu!”
As soon as she heard it wasn’t edible, the cat-eared mermaid Asahi charged forward!
“That’s an unknown monster, milady!”
“No problem, desu!”
“Indeed! You’re right, milady!”
“Is that what you’re surprised about?”
“But it is indeed rare.”
Even so, I’m not too worried about the small and quick Asahi. By some twist of fate or under what star she was born, none of the village members, including me and Barbatos, can beat Asahi in swimming.
Even without using Mermaid Drop. If she uses it, she becomes unstoppable.
In the huge pool we newly built for training, she overwhelmingly won the all-out tag game using Mermaid Drop.
She was exhausted, of course, but I remember her puffing out her cheeks and looking very proud, which was adorable.
“Fast…”
“There’s no need to worry about walls or the floor, so isn’t she even faster than in the pool?”
“Why does a child born in the forest have this… it makes no sense.”
Well, indeed. This is a talent that wouldn’t have been discovered without such an opportunity.
While I was watching in that way, the Boomeranghead Shark opened its distinctive face tip, its huge mouth, and attacked Asahi.
However, Asahi dodged by swimming gracefully, then sharply circled under its belly and slashed with her SB Lance.
No blood is coming out, so it’s in electric mode.
“She’s learning well. A straightforward, good girl.”
“Yeah.”
The basic strategy for sea fish-type monsters is to attack from the belly side, not the back. It’s like the ‘Umihara Kawase’ technique.
This is because many monsters are active near the seabed, so many individuals are strong against attacks from above. Also, we trained to attack the face area, focusing on attacking in front of the pectoral fins. This is because important organs are concentrated there.
Also, I told them to basically fight in electric mode because the smell of blood easily fills the water. I instructed them not to use blade mode except for individuals with obviously hard bodies or those who seem resistant to electricity, but she didn’t forget.
“Bui.”
“Well done.”
After successfully defeating the Boomeranghead Shark and storing it in the magic pouch attached to her waist, she gave us a peace sign.
“A monster so much bigger than me… first time defeated, masu.”
At the base, Asahi is still treated as a young and inexperienced member. When she acted alone, she had only defeated monsters that she could carry herself, so she probably had few opportunities to face large monsters.
“The sea is orders of magnitude larger than the forest. There might be even bigger monsters, so let’s do our best.”
“Yes!”
While wiggling her body, she’s still looking this way… ah.
“…That was a great achievement. Well done, Asahi.”
“Yes, masu!”
The most energetic reply came. She wanted to be praised.
“Hmm, is this enough for now?”
“Continuous battles are quite tiring, milady.”
“This dungeon is in such a place that there have been no intruders in the past, so the monsters are unfamiliar with people.”
“Still can go, masu.”
Asahi, who is the most energetic, says she can still go, but as expected, it’s an ocean dungeon. Since we don’t know the scale, I want to take a break around here.
“However, I don’t see any islands where we can rest, milady?”
“Yeah, I’m tired.”
We’re not constantly submerged; we also come up to the surface, but I can’t find any small islands around here.
“If above is no good, then below?”
The seabed is muddy, so it’s not a very good environment, but it can’t be helped. Let’s at least rest where sunlight reaches.
“Around here, okay.”
“…Indeed, no problem. Everyone, prepare.”
Asahi has cleared out the surrounding enemies, but I’ll check the situation of the surrounding monsters with the Underwater Meter just in case. There’s no reaction from powerful monsters, so it seems okay.
I take out a machine from the Spatial Storage and place it on the seabed. I activate the indoor planetarium-shaped device.
When a huge bubble pops out from it, the water around the machine is pushed away, creating a space with air inside where people can live.
This is a special item called ‘Field Maker’ that pushes away water from the seabed or lake bottom and creates a space where people can live. It’s used to create spaces where people can relax underwater or to build bases using larger versions.
There are also civilian products, and they are used for leisure activities.
The generated bubble is also enchanted with concealment magic, so you can’t see the situation inside from the outside.
However, since there is no barrier or anything like that, the problem is that something can break in if it charges in.
However, since there is no water inside, even if fish-type monsters charge in, they will be in a situation where they are beached on the ground.
By the way, I can hear a splattering sound.
“Auu.”
“I told you to prepare.”
It seems that Beatrice, who was floating slightly, lost her water and fell to the ground. She’s holding her nose, probably because she hit her face.
“Master, hurry.”
“Yes, yes.”
I distribute the antidote, and each of them takes it. They change from mermaid form to ordinary human legs.
“Makes no sense.”
“Well, I don’t know the detailed components or system either.”
I check the condition of the ground. It’s a little muddy, but it seems okay, so I use telekinesis to level the ground and then take out a container house. This time, I’ve chosen a family size instead of the single size I usually use.
“Please prepare these. Avoid the poisonous parts.”
I hand over some of today’s harvest to the Support Drones waiting in the container house. They will prepare sashimi using the application of dismantling monsters.
“Let’s take a shower.”
It’s considerate to finish before the women. Also, if I don’t finish quickly, Asahi might jump in.
I quickly take a shower and come out, letting the women take a shower. While the women are showering, I prepare the meal with the Support Drones.
I’m excited about the seafood, which is a first in this life.
“Various sashimi, broth-filled pot. Grilling net also ready!”
There’s a possibility that they might be resistant to eating it raw, so I plan to have them dip it in the broth-filled pot for shabu-shabu or grill it on the net. So, I’ve sliced it thinner than usual.
This side will definitely be delicious too.
In fact, some of the shellfish had things mixed in that couldn’t be eaten without cooking. Also, I’ve excluded anything that would obviously require an antidote after eating.
I’ve had everything scanned, so there’s no need to worry about poison or parasites.
“いただきます (I humbly receive)”
The women haven’t returned yet, so I’ll start eating first. First, the sashimi. I eat it with soy sauce.
Yeah, they were colorful fish monsters, but now they’re just red-fleshed and white-fleshed fish.
The ones around here are normally delicious as sashimi. This one is a little chewy, so I’ll shabu-shabu it…
“King, already eating.”
“Hey, drying your hair comes first, milady!”
“Beatrice, dislike…”
“Agree, will get wet again anyway.”
“Even so, desu!”
The three of them emerged with towels and hair dryers in hand—or rather, it looked like two of them were fleeing from Beatrice.
“No dinner until your hair is dry.”
“Whaaaat?!”
“That is only natural.”
At least get the moisture off. I don’t want water droplets flying around while I’m eating.
The lightly boiled white fish is delicious with ponzu sauce. Perfect.
“King-sama, it looks delicious.”
“Here, Asahi-san, you go first.”
“Leave some for me~”
“There’s a lot, I can’t eat it all.”
“Yummy.”
“Don’t sneak bites.”
Go get changed.