"Grrrrr!"
Set cried out and released its Water Balls.
Having reached Level 5, their power was far greater than before.
The moment four Water Balls, each about a meter in diameter, struck the sea surface, a powerful shockwave rippled through the water below.
Fish stunned by the impact floated to the surface.
It was the same principle as the river fishing Rei had done before—stunning fish with the shock of striking the water.
The fish that floated up weren't particularly large.
Of course, "not large" only meant compared to fish like tuna. They were a perfectly fine size for eating.
Riding on Set's back, Rei scooped up the floating fish with a net.
"Gruh!"
Seeing the fish Rei caught in the net, Set purred, demanding a treat.
Smiling at Set's behavior, Rei pulled a fish from the net and handed it to the griffon, who was craning its neck back toward him.
Snatching the fish in its beak, Set tasted the incredibly fresh catch and let out a happy cry.
Sashimi would be one thing, but eating a whole fish live... well, I think I might have done dancing eating with whitebait or something like that.
Having never tried dancing eating himself, Rei could only imagine what it was like.
Since the fish would be moving around in his mouth, it probably wouldn't be easy to eat.
Still thinking about dancing eating, Rei continued scooping up the fish floating on the surface one after another.
He stored each scooped fish in a net he had taken from the Misty Ring—not a dip net, but a net meant for holding the catch.
He hadn't managed to secure every single fish, but he still got nearly ninety percent of the ones floating on the surface into the net.
It would be great if I could store them directly in the Misty Ring... but they're still alive, so that won't work.
The Misty Ring couldn't store living creatures, which meant it couldn't store stunned fish either.
Until he killed them, he had to keep them in the net.
Saba-ori, was it? The thing I saw on TV back in Japan.
In this case, saba-ori didn't refer to the sumo technique, but to the act that gave the technique its name.
Mackerel, which spoils quickly, had its neck broken immediately after being caught to drain the blood.
That was saba-ori, and it was the method Rei had just thought of.
Of course, saba-ori was fundamentally a practice from before refrigeration and freezing technology existed. For Rei, who possessed the Misty Ring—a outrageous Magic Item that stopped the flow of time and preserved freshness perfectly once something was stored—it wasn't strictly necessary.
"Set, we've gathered quite a few fish, so let's head back for now."
"Gruh!"
Set cried out and flapped its wings to head back... but suddenly stopped mid-motion.
A moment later, Rei drew the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring.
"Grrrrr!"
The instant the sea surface exploded, Set beat its wings and shot upward from where it had been just a moment before.
Something that looked like a fish—large, roughly the same size as Set, who was over three meters long—shot through the space where Set's body had just been.
"A fish... no, a monster!?"
He couldn't tell in that instant whether it was actually a fish or a monster.
But there was no doubt it had attacked them, and he wasn't about to just sit there and take it.
And above all...
"I don't know if it's a fish or a monster, but I'm not letting a catch that big get away! Set, let's take it down!"
"Grrrrr!"
Rei's words must have been agreement to Set as well. Letting out a sharp cry, Set fired Water Balls toward the sea.
The same powerful Water Ball attack that had struck the school of fish earlier.
The difference was that before, the aim had been to deliver only the shock to the fish, whereas this time Set was trying to hit the enemy's body directly.
Given the current power of Water Ball, it would undoubtedly shatter the attacker's body, meaning there would definitely be fewer parts to eat.
But when it came to the most effective attack against an opponent in the sea, Water Ball was the clear answer at this point.
If it had shown itself, there would have been any number of other attack methods available... but in the current situation, there unfortunately weren't many ways to deal effective damage to an enemy underwater.
If it was just a matter of attacking, there were other options like Ice Arrow, Wind Arrow, or the Magic Eye of Shock.
But those were merely means of attacking—whether they could deal significant damage was another question entirely.
"Tch, it dodged a direct hit. Set, if it comes out—"
Rei started to say they would attack it directly if it leapt out of the sea like before, but the enemy read his intent and launched something from the water.
Rei couldn't clearly make out what it was, but he still managed to swing the Death Scythe and deflect the attack.
Deflecting it with the Death Scythe, Rei finally understood what the creature had fired.
"Scales?"
The fragments sliced apart by the Death Scythe caught the sunlight, and it was only then that Rei realized the enemy was shooting scales from the sea.
Which means it's a monster? No, I can't say for sure just because it fired scales. Anyway, for now I need to see if it makes another move—
With that thought, Rei continued slicing apart the scales raining from the sea one after another.
Naturally, Set wasn't just taking the attacks passively either.
If the enemy's attacks could reach them, then theirs could reach the enemy.
Leaving the defense against the barrage of scales to Rei, Set continuously slammed Water Balls into the sea.
"Set, can you use King's Intimidation?"
"Grrrr!"
While deploying Water Balls and occasionally firing Ice Arrows, Set cried out to tell him it was impossible.
King's Intimidation could halt the movements of weaker opponents.
Even if it couldn't stop them completely, it could still slow them down... but only if the target could hear the roar Set let out while releasing it.
Or, even with earplugs, if Set's aura of intimidation could be directed at them.
But this enemy was hiding in the sea—a field overwhelmingly to its advantage.
It had leapt out of the water for its first strike, but after that, it showed no sign of surfacing again.
Since it had failed to devour—or grab and drag—both Set and Rei in its initial attack, it had clearly grown wary.
That was why it was attacking one-sidedly from the sea, where it judged itself to be safe.
"It's being a real nuisance. But... as a big catch, it's perfect. Set, put some distance between us! Just enough that it doesn't give up on us!"
It was a tricky order, but Set followed it immediately, flapping its wings to climb higher... to a position where the enemy in the sea wouldn't lose interest.
"Gruh?"
Set tilted its head as if asking what he planned to do. Rei stored the Death Scythe and took out a harpoon instead.
The harpoon he'd had made in Emosion... the harpoon whose existence he had completely forgotten about.
If it were a monster, it would normally sense Set's presence and not attack... The fact that it's attacking must mean it really isn't a monster? But would a normal fish shoot its own scales as a ranged attack?
Thinking this over, Rei readied the harpoon.
A wire was attached to the end of the handle—an excellent design that prevented the harpoon from being lost after being thrown.
...For some reason, there had been a similar harpoon in Garanka as well.
Though, as expected of a rural village, what was attached there was a thin rope rather than wire.
"Once it comes close to the surface, I'll throw the harpoon. After that, Set just needs to pull it toward shore with your strength."
Even as Rei explained, scales kept flying from the sea.
But having gained altitude, Set was now easily dodging the barrage.
"Grrrr!"
At Rei's words, Set cried out toward the enemy in the sea, signaling it to come out.
In response to what could only be taken as provocation, the presence in the sea gradually grew larger.
It didn't leap out of the water like before, but it did approach the surface to close some of the distance to Set up in the sky.
All while staying ready to dive back underwater at the first sign of danger.
But once Rei's harpoon pierced, that would be enough.
Once the harpoon was embedded, Set just had to fly toward shore, and the wire would forcibly drag the enemy along.
A moment of tension ran through the air... then Set flapped its wings and dove straight toward the sea.
It was a descent so steep that anyone watching would have thought it was about to crash straight into the water.
But Rei, riding on Set's back at that tremendous speed, didn't flinch. He readied his harpoon toward the massive shadow rushing up from the sea below.
The creature in the water must have noticed Set closing in fast.
As if panicking, it tried to dive from the shallows toward deeper waters.
But Set had already committed to its dive, while the enemy was only just starting to move—and that made all the difference.
The seawater that had protected the enemy from Set's attacks until now became an obstacle slowing its escape.
Plunging straight down, Set beat its wings hard just before striking the surface, reversing its dive to shoot straight upward.
To anyone watching who didn't know better, it would have looked as if Set had bounced off the sea.
Like a Triangle Jump off the water.
At the instant Set performed that Triangle Jump-like maneuver, Rei threw his harpoon toward the sea—the moment he was closest to the surface.
If it had been his usual spear throw, he would have driven power through his body from legs to torso to arm, unleashing maximum force.
But riding on Set, he couldn't generate that kind of power.
Instead, Set had approached the sea surface to the very limit, and its speed was added to the force of Rei's throw.
The sensation of the harpoon piercing the enemy's body traveled through the wire to Rei's hands. At the same time, as Set rocketed upward, the full weight of the enemy bore down through the wire.
The enemy was roughly the same size as Set, who was over three meters long. Its weight was naturally comparable... no, considering it was being dragged up from the water against its resistance, it was clearly even heavier.
Rei held that taut wire with his bare hands.
If an ordinary fisherman had been gripping it, a serious hand injury wouldn't have been surprising—such was the crushing pressure.
But the hands gripping that wire belonged to Rei's body, created by combining the techniques of the Majin Zephyle and his clan.
Something like that couldn't do any real damage.
"Ow! Damn, that's one hell of a pull!"
...Though that wasn't to say there was no pain.
"Gruh!?"
Set looked back at Rei on its back, asking if he was all right.
Rei nodded to show he was fine and spoke.
"Set, head for the shore!"
"Grrrr!"
At Rei's command, Set immediately began flying toward the shore.
That meant Rei on Set's back was heading shoreward too—and the wire in his grip, along with the creature impaled on the harpoon, would naturally be dragged along with them.
The creature with the harpoon in it resisted, trying to break free... but unlike before when it had been completely separated from Set, the harpoon, the wire, and Rei now physically connected Set and the enemy.
There was no way it could resist Set's strength so easily... and little by little, Rei and Set closed in on the shore.
As they approached, the water grew shallower, yet Set showed no sign of slowing down... and by the time Rei and Set reached the shore, the creature impaled by the harpoon had been scraped against rocks across its entire body, covered in wounds.