NOVEL WEB Ch. 10.1
Act 2: "At the Edge of the City of Tyranny, a Monster Asked a Question"
Another big one had caught the hook. It was stronger than the previous fish, diving deep then surfacing, moving violently left and right across the lake surface.
"Well, there's no need to wrestle with it."
Safi confirmed the position where water splashed and took aim. The big fish swam swiftly, making it hard to narrow down the target. Gripping the fishing rod, she braced herself with legs slightly apart. It was a stance to avoid the target rushing toward her at high speed.
The pulling technique could potentially cause objects to charge toward the caster at high velocity, leading to serious accidents.
"Alright, now's the time!"
The giant fish that emerged from the water accelerated, tumbling as it approached the black magician. Dangerous. The catch was larger than expected, and even dodging slightly would still result in a direct hit. She instantly activated a second spell—a technique to repel and push objects away.
Canceled out by the pulling force, the target stopped right in front of her.
"That was close. Wow, I've never heard of fishing being life-threatening."
In front of Safi, a giant fish rolled over with its belly exposed. It was completely different from small, lively fish flopping about. It made thuds that shook the ground, making it difficult for the angler to even stand.
"This must be the boss of the monster fish."
It was a type of fish she'd never seen before. Was it even really a fish? It looked like a fat catfish, but had no scales and no visible gills. Its color was purplish silver, somewhat similar to Safi's hair color. It was about the size of a horse, smaller than a water buffalo.
The work of killing and bleeding such a giant fish would be extremely troublesome, and extracting the swallowed hook would also be difficult. Safi tried to burn through the line with flame magic, but it was a special thread that wouldn't cut well. At a loss, she levitated the entire fishing rod.
Her specialty is floating magic. She aimed at the target monster fish and exerted a little effort. Starting slowly, then gradually building momentum, the monster fish ascended to the heavens. High in the sky, it froze and literally went to heaven.
"I wonder if it's delicious or terrible. Before that, butchering it might be tough."
She had pitched her tent by the lakeside and started fishing in the morning—this was already the third one. Monster fish that were troublesome to handle kept getting caught one after another. She didn't know if they were a rare species. The thin, delicious-looking fish wouldn't even bite, but only monster fish took the hook.
"Maybe the bait was unusual."
The Elder Master at the fortress city had given her various rewards. The food supplies were appreciated, but the su cheese among them was unacceptable. Blue mold was densely attached to its surface. His attendant proudly said it was a high-grade product rarely obtainable.
However, it looked and smelled disgusting, and she couldn't bring herself to put it in her mouth. So she had put it on the hook, but apparently the monster fish loved this su cheese. What kind of fish were they exactly...
While puzzling over how to handle the caught prey, an even more suspicious character appeared.
"You there, what are you?"
It poked its face out from the lake surface and spoke. Its body was moss-like green, and its mouth was somewhat pointed like a beak. This was a lake, but it felt like a river child.
"Oh my. What a small and unexpected thing popping up."
Safi instinctively stepped back, but there was no need to panic. The other party was small and physically weak. It looked like a young child. Even without activating black magic, it was a small fry that could be driven off with a single punch. Though she wouldn't drive it off.
"Thank you for taking down the master. We were really troubled by them.”
"Master? You mean that big fish?"
"That's right."
The green child slowly came up to the lakeside and sat down next to Safi. It showed no wariness at all. It seemed friendly and unafraid of the black magician. Safi lowered a fluffy sofa from the sky and urged the small visitor to sit.
"It came down from the sky!"
How nice that the green strange creature was pleased. The creature way of speaking and gestures made it look like a seven or eight-year-old child, but its crown was somewhat concerning. Part of its hair was missing and glittered in the sunlight. Looking at the creature gently with pitying eyes, Safi murmured.
“Poor thing… So young, and already balding…”
"That's rude. Rude for someone I just met."
The creature seemed to get angry and turn bright red, but since the creature was green, it was hard to tell. According to his own explanation, the hairless part was apparently an important body part for living. But it looked completely bald, and could become a source of worry when he reached puberty.
"Could you stop staring? More importantly, you're really strong for a human girl. Who are you?"
She had completely forgotten. This was the long-awaited timing for self-introduction. Safi danced lightly by the lakeside and struck a pose.
"I am Safi the black magician. Having come from the distant eastern edge, revealing the principles of this world and the blind... uh, uh, what was it again?"
Despite secretly practicing repeatedly, she flubbed it again in the actual performance. It was bad that she was arbitrarily connecting words she didn't even understand based on the atmosphere. Still, the green creature seemed impressed.
"Magician... I’ve heard of those. One of them froze the swamp where we lived, and it was a real pain.”
Wasn't that a troublemaker? She thought she earned his respect, but had clearly misunderstood.
That magician was probably a user of water-attribute magic. She had seen skilled magicians who could instantly cover the entire area with ice. Safi could also manipulate ice magic, but it wasn't very useful for attack or defense. When freezing things, she used a different method.
"So where did the lake master go? It was pulled onto land but I don't see it anywhere."
"Oh, that. Wait a moment."
She extended her arm toward the sky. A small lump came falling from above. It gradually grew larger and quietly landed in front of the child. It was the monster fish, frozen solid.
"It fell from the sky..."
Frozen food preservation. During her travels, Safi sent food supplies high into the sky for storage. Vegetables and fruits had disastrous results when frozen, but fish and meat were convenient. She also stored travel necessities in the distant sky, taking them out when needed. Large tents and abundantly stocked cooking tools were examples.
The green child kicked the frozen monster fish with the sole of its foot as if saying "you bastard." It was with the momentum of deep-seated resentment. The giant master had undoubtedly dominated the lake and caused trouble. Safi gently watched over the rampage.
And she was drawn to something like a straw skirt wrapped around its waist. It wasn't a loincloth but something woven from leaves, similar to a short skirt worn by women. Its upper body was bare, but did that part need to be hidden...
"Hey, could you take off what you're wearing down there?"
"What are you saying? We just met, that's so rude."
Safi was scolded again. She wondered if it wouldn't be rude if they hadn't just met, but that didn't seem to be what it meant. The country-raised black magician was somewhat fond of dirty jokes. Even when adults admonished her that it was inappropriate for her appearance, she couldn't put on the brakes.
❁❁❁ From the Author 🧙♀️ ❁❁❁
I cut it off at a subtle point, but it's simply due to character count constraints—the lakeside scene continues next time.
The ideal character count per entry is about 2,000+ characters, designed to be read in one section of a streetcar or national railway ride.
And the "fond of dirty jokes setting" that may seem surprising is actually foreshadowing.