Chapter 21: Couples (3)
September 13, afternoon:
The surface of the water was dyed golden by the setting sun. Reinhild stretched and looked at the results of their fishing. Although the lake was full of fish, the two first-time fishers had only managed to catch a dozen small fish, each less than ten centimeters long.
—Completely not enough to eat.
Reinhild thought silently and then secretly glanced at Subaru, who was still struggling with a large fish in the lake.
"Ohhhh, almost there!"
Subaru shouted excitedly. This situation had been ongoing for more than half an hour, and the big fish in the lake continued to struggle wildly. Reinhild hesitated once more, but glancing at the sun nearing the horizon, and using her Divine Protection of Fog to check the situation in the lake, she made her decision.
—Sorry, Subaru.
Reinhild watched as a fish near her hook was once again scared away by the struggling big fish and finally made up her mind. She subtly picked up a small stone from the ground, flicked it lightly with her finger, creating a tiny splash on the water, and the stone hit a large fish swimming in the lake. Then Reinhild swung her fishing rod, the line wrapping firmly around the dazed fish, and she pulled hard.
—A bit too much force.
Reinhild tossed the completely subdued fish into the bucket, then picked up two more small stones. This time, the stones struck the head of the large fish Subaru was wrestling with.
"Finally out of energy! Watch this!"
Feeling the resistance in her hands decrease, Subaru cautiously let out a bit of line, confirming the fish was no longer struggling before he began reeling it in. Then he gave a strong pull. The fish, regaining a bit of consciousness, tried to struggle, but it was already in the air. Confirming that the fish couldn't escape, Reinhild casually dropped the stone and lifted the wooden bucket next to Subaru.
"Finally caught it! Reinhild, you caught a big fish too. This is a good sign. These two should be enough for us to eat; the rest goes back to nature."
Subaru looked at the two half-meter-long fish in the bucket with admiration, then tossed the small fish back into the lake.
"How do you want to eat them? Sashimi, grilled, soup, or steamed?"
"Well… how about I cook them today?"
Reinhild was clearly surprised, as she had never argued with Subaru over cooking.
—Ah! I see now! I should have let Subaru drive the dragon carriage.
After all this time together, Reinhild instantly realized her mistake. Despite having the kingdom's strongest healer, Ferris, to back her up, Subaru had survived near-death experiences. So yesterday she had packed their travel luggage, carried it onto the carriage, today he drove the carriage, prepared the lunch, Patrasche's care, setting up the tent, collecting wood… Reinhild had instinctively done everything.
Reinhild paused, looking at Subaru's determined gaze. No matter what, she couldn't say no.
"All right, Subaru, I'll leave it to you. Need me to help?"
"No, it's just grilled fish."
Subaru looked a bit nervous staring at the fish in the bucket.
—It's fine. After all, I've seen Reinhild cook so many times and even been to self-service barbecue restaurants.
—Anyway, let's test one first.
Subaru picked up one fish with both hands.
—Such strength!
He felt a little surprised. Veins stood out slightly on his arms, and his fingers pressed into the fish's body, leaving indentations. He placed the struggling fish on the wooden table, knocked it out with a single punch, then picked up the kitchen knife and easily cut open its belly.
—Wow, easier than I imagined.
His experience fighting monsters meant he didn't need psychological preparation, and long practice allowed him to handle the fish easily. This instinctively made him want to take the next step.
Subaru glanced at Reinhild sitting on the dragon carriage, feeding Patrasche, and finally resolved himself. He began carefully separating the bones and meat like Reinhild had, pulling out the flesh. Although he pricked himself a few times on tiny bones, they couldn't pierce the layer of calluses on his hands.
—Done!
After washing the fish, Subaru wiped the sweat above his eyes with his arm, satisfied with his work on the table.
Next, Subaru split the fish in half, skewered it with wooden sticks Reinhild had prepared, then sat on a bench by the fire, holding a skewer in each hand, slowly rotating the fish over the flames.
Reinhild first used a towel to wipe Subaru's forehead sweat, then returned to the dragon carriage, watching him grill seriously. After a few minutes, she remembered her prepared sketchpad and quickly began drawing.
Night had completely fallen without them noticing. Subaru held two skewers in one hand and picked up seasoning bottles, sprinkling them over the fish like a barbecue master.
"All done! Special grilled fish by Natsuki Subaru."
"Then I won't hold back."
Reinhild smiled, took the golden-brown grilled fish, and ate small bites.
Seeing Reinhild enjoy the fish, Subaru breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up the other fish, flipped it once in front of his eyes. Grilling a whole fish is much harder than grilling meat slices or skewers, especially over a difficult-to-control fire, but Subaru's steady rotation prevented any burn marks on the fish.
—Looks pretty good. But there's still one more to cook. Hope my muscles don't ache tomorrow.
—Tastes pretty good.
Subaru observed Reinhild, who had eaten about a fifth of the first fish, and finally took a bite himself, freezing in place.
—So spicy… and isn't it raw?
Exactly. The fish was evenly cooked outside, but the center remained raw.
—Ouch, there's a bone too, and I can't bite it out!
Subaru reluctantly spat out a small piece of fish, then finally located the tiny bone. Even someone skilled at eating fish like him couldn't manage it at first.
Was it just a fluke?
Subaru glanced at Reinhild, who was still carefully eating, hesitated, and then took another small bite.
—Yep, not a fluke… and it's quite salty.
"Rein, if it doesn't taste good, don't force yourself."
Reinhild paused for a moment, then took another small bite with a serious expression.
"I think Subaru doing this well on his first try is really impressive. If you don't want to eat it, it's fine, you can leave it all to me."
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