Daga and his team, who had been supporting the efforts at Village Five, finally returned.
It had been about twenty days since they left. I had received word from them around the fifteenth day, and Hakuren had gone to pick them up, but...
Galf was nowhere to be seen.
I asked what had happened to him and was told he had been taken to Shashato City to serve as a special judge for a martial arts tournament. I suppose he simply hadn't been able to refuse.
Was I upset? No, not at all. On the contrary, I wanted him to do his best. It seemed to me that common sense was a bit lacking in this village. While I was self-aware about it, the other residents were highly suspect. Ordinarily, I would have suggested keeping our contact with the outside world to a minimum, but in Galf’s case, I wanted to encourage it.
Good luck, Galf. Do your best as the village’s Common Sense Manager.
Wait, come to think of it, wasn't Galf called the War God back in Shashato City?
Daga and the others had brought back souvenirs.
"These are shrimp caught in the river," Daga explained. "The adventurers we were working with out there gave them to us."
He showed me the shrimp, which were kept in a small jar filled with water. They were enormous for river shrimp—easily in the thirty-centimeter class. They were moving around energetically, but there only seemed to be one in the jar.
Then I noticed several other similar jars. Were they all like that? And more importantly, were they delicious?
"They are quite tasty," Daga replied. "However, rather than eating them immediately, it might be better to increase their numbers first..."
"Increase their numbers? You mean cultivation?"
"Yes. We were told they can be raised relatively easily. Apparently, a pond is fine even if it isn't a river, provided the water is kept clean to a certain degree."
It seemed any kind of feed would do. The real issue was the location. If a pond was acceptable, that simplified things. There were ferocious fish in the river near the village, so if I released the shrimp there, they would likely be eaten instantly.
In that case... should I try raising them in the reservoir? No, the reservoir was our vital water source. Besides, it was wide and deep; trying to catch the shrimp once they had multiplied would be a nightmare. It would be better to build a dedicated, shallow pond specifically for shrimp cultivation.
I wondered where I should put it. I told myself not to rush. First, the team needed to recover from their fatigue. As for the shrimp, staying in those jars forever would eventually weaken them. I decided to dig a temporary pond immediately.
I asked about the risk of cannibalism. Since they had gone to the trouble of putting them in individual jars, I assumed it was a concern. Daga confirmed they would be fine as long as they were fed properly.
I dug a five-meter square pond on the north side of the Residential Area, near the reservoir. Since it only needed to be about thirty centimeters deep, I finished it in no time. Naturally, it was all thanks to the Universal Farming Tool. While drawing water from the reservoir, I laid down some logs to create a fence so no one would accidentally stumble in.
It looked good. I released the shrimp into the water and realized there were quite a lot of them. The adventurers must have worked hard to catch so many. I was grateful, but then a thought struck me: were there both males and females? It wouldn't do if they were all the same sex. I couldn't tell the difference myself, so I simply offered a prayer for a good mix.
We eventually decided to build the permanent cultivation pond on the west side of the village. It would be located a short distance away from the houses and the paths, which required clearing a bit of the forest. We would draw water from the reservoir, and since the Slimes handled the purification, the water quality wouldn't be an issue.
The real problem was the feed. They would eat anything, but if we gave them too much, the leftovers would rot and foul the water. I was specifically planning to use internal organs and the tough parts of meat from monsters and magic beasts. If those were left in the water for too long, it was only natural that the pond would get dirty.
I wondered if putting Slimes in the pond with them would help. Then I remembered—the shrimp would just eat the Slimes. They really did eat anything. I realized I had just had a very foolish thought.
For the time being, I decided to observe their feeding habits in the temporary pond in the Residential Area before starting full-scale cultivation.
One day, I found one of the kittens acting excited by the edge of the temporary pond. It was Miel. Standing before her was a single shrimp, its scissors raised in a threatening display. Seeing it like that, it looked more like a crayfish than a shrimp.
The two of them stared each other down. In terms of sheer size, the shrimp was actually larger than the kitten. Despite the size difference, Miel gallantly pounced. However, before her claws could connect, the shrimp dashed backward with incredible speed. Miel splashed into the water where the shrimp had been a second before.
She scrambled to get out of the pond, but the shrimp immediately went on the offensive. A battle began amidst a flurry of splashing water.
"Okay, that's enough," I said, stepping in.
I scooped Miel out of the pond. Having lost its target, the shrimp turned its scissors toward me and snapped them threateningly. I told it not to be so angry.
"And you, Miel. Don't be so reckless."
I had run over the moment she fell in, but it could have been dangerous if I hadn't been there. Miel looked at me as if to say she hadn't lost and was actually winning, but it was hard to take her seriously when her fur was wet and matted, making her look half her usual size. I dried her off thoroughly, warning her not to let her guard down just because it was summer.
The following day, all four kittens were assembled by the side of the temporary pond. Facing them was a whole swarm of shrimp.
It seemed Miel hadn't learned her lesson. However, I figured even Miel and her siblings would retreat when faced with those numbers. Or so I thought.
Suddenly, Miel used magic. It was fire magic, and the blast was surprisingly large.
"Whoa!" I shouted.
The other three kittens followed suit, casting their own spells.
"Wait, stop! Those are important for cultivation!"
Ignoring my panic, the shrimp began to counterattack by shooting what looked like Water Bullets. The watery projectiles cancelled out the fire magic released by the kittens.
I was stunned. Not only was it incredible, but... that was magic, wasn't it? Could shrimp really do things like that? Were these creatures dangerous? I started to wonder if it was even a good idea to cultivate them.
Actually, that wasn't the immediate problem. "First of all, don't have a magic duel in the middle of the village! This is the Residential Area!"
"It's fine as long as they stay over there," one of the residents remarked. "It's only beginner-level magic, so that much is harmless," said another. "They're certainly energetic, aren't they?"
I was the only one worrying. The Beastman Race, Lizardmen, and High Elves living nearby didn't seem concerned at all.
"Um... did everyone else know the kittens could use magic?"
Judging by the looks I got, I was the only one who hadn't known. I see.
Then I turned to the Lizardmen. I had planned to put them in charge of the cultivation once the permanent pond was ready. "Are you going to be okay with this? They use water magic, you know."
I had been shocked, but the Lizardmen just nodded. They already knew. They assured me it was no problem at all.
I see. Well, in that case, I resolved then and there to make the fence around the permanent cultivation pond much sturdier.
"And you kittens! Stay away from the shrimp!"