Volume 1 Chapter 28 Lydia Of The Mysterious Sea
The Whale No. 1 smoothly glided toward the open ocean.
On the back of Whale No. 1 or Hyomon, I sat in my seat, nervously watching the Holy City street getting farther away and the endless view of just sea and sky.
Children playing on the beach waved their hands at us.
Well, Whale No. 1 is quite rare, after all.
Usually, it's a boat. The only one crossing the sea on a whale and an octopus is Mr. Tsukuyomi, so I think so too.
"Well, don't be so scared. Unlike fishing for sea bream, octopus fishing doesn't go that deep."
"I see... I want to go home..."
"The sea is nice, little lady. It's wide, empty, and free."
"I came to buy hijiki..."
"Hijiki is good, but octopus is great too. Let's have fried octopus today, little lady. I'm going drinking with Margaret."
"It's a public restaurant, so there's no alcohol...!"
"I'll bring the drinks, so it's fine."
"N-no, Mr. Tsukuyomi and Mx. Margaret, if you drink, you'll stay in the restaurant forever..."
They always take care of me.
I thought that if I allowed them to bring drinks just once, it would be fine, but they stayed until the date changed, and it was a hassle.
Well, they listened to my story, so that was nice.
"There's an extra bed on the second floor, right?"
"Are you planning to stay over...?!"
"Is that a problem? We're close, aren't we?"
"We're just shopping buddies...!"
"That's lonely, you know. Right now, Whale No. 1 in my head is saying, 'You fool, teasing young girls...'."
"Whale-whale...!"
I can't really trust Mr. Tsukuyomi's words, even though he always seems carefree.
I thought he was an adult, but it turns out he's a bad adult.
Whale Number One is on my side.
I really don't want to take care of Mr. Tsukuyomi and Mx. Margaret until morning. Even though I owe them a lot, staying over is not okay.
"I was just teasing you, little lady, and now we've arrived at our destination."
"I want to go home..."
"You want fresh octopus, right, little lady?"
"Hijiki rice..."
Maybe I should give up on hijiki rice and go for fried octopus instead...
Fried octopus. Tomato stew. One-legged grill. Thinly sliced carpaccio.
While thinking about octopus dishes, I looked around at the scenery.
There's no steering wheel for Whale Number One.
Actually, there's nothing.
There are chairs and plenty of storage, but that's it. Mr. Tsukuyomi is talking to Whale Number One and giving directions, so it seems like there's no need to steer.
Instead, there's a big magic stone placed on a pedestal in front.
When Mr. Tsukuyomi touches it, a transparent roof like a film disappears suddenly, like a soap bubble popping.
The sea breeze blows, making my hair flutter.
As I look around, I see thick, wiggly octopus tentacles.
A dangerous-looking leopard-patterned octopus, almost black-red with blue spots.
Its pitch-black eyes are staring at me. It's scary. I can't tell what it's thinking; it's an octopus after all.
"Thinking about octopus dishes in front of Hyomon makes me feel really guilty..."
"Don't worry, little lady. Hyoumon and I both want to eat octopus dishes, and we're asking for it to be served fresh."
"Your choice of words is amazing...! I don't think fresh serving counts as a dish...!"
You're so manly, Hyomon.
Even though you're an octopus, you eat octopus while dancing. Are you really an octopus, Hyomon? That's suspicious."
"Alright! Let's pull up the pot. The buoy we set is floating over there. Hyomon, can you get it?"
On the surface of the sea, something round and buoy-like is bobbing up and down.
Hyomon stretches one of his octopus legs to go through the buoy and lifts it up easily.
Splash! Water sprays up. Just with a little effort from Hyomon, the buoy rises high into the air.
Since Hyomon is big, his octopus legs are also very long.
The suction-cupped legs are wet and shining in the seawater. They look really slimy.
Just by lifting it, several octopus pots attached to the rope come up from the seabed.
He skillfully lowers them onto the deck.
Mr. Tsukuyomi takes the rope and pulls it hard.
Octopus pots scatter at our feet. Sea water spills everywhere. I'm getting soaked.
"Ugh, my clothes are cold... I didn't bring a change of clothes..."
"Don't worry about getting a little wet, Lydia. A man of the sea doesn't care about seawater."
"But I'm not a man of the sea..."
Crying softly, I wipe the water droplets from my wet apron, clothes, and hair with my hands. My shoes and socks are soaked with seawater.
"Isn't it enough with just you and Mr. Tsukuyomi, Hyomon? I don't have anything to help with..."
"You're too soft, little lady. It's tough getting the octopus out of the pots. We freeze the octopus instantly with ice magic. We have to keep it fresh. If I were to do this alone, it would be quite a hassle."
"I can't use magic..."
"Hey, I don't want you to use magic. Your job is to take the octopus out of the pot and put the frozen octopus in the storage box... Oh...!"
"Huh...?"
Mr. Tsukuyomi suddenly made a strange sound, so I looked up from the octopus pot at my feet.
At the very end of the rope being pulled up, something was wrapped around it.
It was a huge octopus, too big to fit in the pot.
But since I've already seen Hyomon, it seemed quite small compared to him.
Still, it was about the same size as my body.
"Wow, this is big! It could fill my one leg up! And from head to leg, it's probably bigger than you, little lady!"
The giant octopus was the last catch.
On the soaked deck, the octopus pot and the giant octopus were rolling around.
The octopuses inside the pot were quietly staying in there, but the giant octopus was wiggling its legs and somehow coming straight toward me.
"N-no...! I didn't catch you, Mr. Tsukuyomi did! Please don't be mad... don't come near me..."
I stood up on my seat and tried to escape. Even so, the giant octopus was chasing me, so I ran to the edge of the deck.
"Eek!"
The deck was soaked with seawater, so it was pretty slippery.
Just as I was about to slip and fall, a big leg caught me.
"Hyomon..."
It was slimy and sticky.
The giant suckers were wrapping around my body.
It was gentle, but still...! But Hyomon is an octopus!
"Ugh, no...! Octopus, please let go...! Don't be mad, I'm not tasty...!"
I thought Hyomon's arm, or rather his octopus tentacle, had slipped away, and then a giant octopus, about my size, started wrapping around me.
What's going on today?
Is today the day I get tangled up with an octopus?
I should have asked Mx. Margaret for a fortune. She might have warned me to stay away from the port because of the octopus.
"Hey, little lady, looks like the octopus likes you... By the way, in Wakoku country, there's a spring picture that looks just like you right now..."
"Mr. Tsukuyomi, stop reminiscing and help me...!"
"Being liked by an octopus is something to be jealous of..."
"Don't be jealous...!"
I really want him to stop being so close.
Mr. Tsukuyomi's love for the octopus might be one-sided, but that's not my fault.
"Oh, right. Here you go."
When Mr. Tsukuyomi raised his hand, the giant octopus instantly froze.
The frozen tentacles pulled away from me.
"...Ugh, it's so slimy... this is terrible..."
"This isn't the time to cry, little lady. You still have to pull the octopus out of the pot."
"Uuu... Your Highness..."
Sir Stefan isn't related to the octopus, but the reason I'm tangled up with it right now is mostly his fault.
"I hope the kids at the orphanage slip on the cake cream they dropped..."
I muttered a curse as I dragged the octopus out of the pot.
Tears blurred my vision, making it hard to see the octopus.
It was really slimy and wiggly.
It definitely felt like it could become a bit of an obsession.
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