Paladin of the End - Volume 3.2 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Short Stories

Hobbies: Reystov

I flicked my wrist and cast the baited hook into the glimmering surface of the water. There was a light splash. A circular ripple spread out and soon faded.

“...”

“...”

Beside me was a swordsman of few words, sitting with his lips drawn together and a serious expression on his face. It was Reystov. The two of us were river-fishing together; he’d invited me after we finished a job.

Even after the battle at the Rust Mountains was over, there was no end of things to take care of. The habitats of beasts and the like around here had changed a lot after the battle with Valacirca, and there was an increase in incidents of beasts wandering into where people were living. We were never left wanting for troubles or battles.

One of these was a request, made by Tonio and taken on by Reystov and myself, to kill a monster of a fish that had found its way into the river connecting Torch Port and Whitesails and was now obstructing river trade. The word “monster” really did feel like the most fitting way to describe its appearance. It had wet, slimy skin, big fat lips, eyes that stared at nothing, and a mouth crammed full of thin, venomous fangs. Its body was large enough that it could swallow a person whole, and it was highly aggressive.

The two of us had gone out on a small boat and headed towards the area where a lot of people had said they’d seen the creature. It took a bit of effort to find, thanks in part to underwater enemies we had to fight on the way, but the battle itself was over in a flash. I caught a glimpse of the monster-fish’s silhouette while using Searching magic, and before the word “there!” had even left my mouth, Reystov struck like lightning with his Word-engraved, extending sword. In the fraction of a second it had, the monster-fish moved underwater as if to dodge, but it wasn’t enough. One strike was all it took. Pierced through a weak spot, the monster-fish expired immediately and plopped belly-up to the surface of the water.

Reystov was so efficient, I almost wanted to applaud.

He drew the body close to him with a rake he had prepared and cut off a fillet as proof of the kill. All that was left was to go back home, and that was when Reystov suddenly suggested we go fishing for a bit.

I thought about it. It was no wonder the gigantic monster-fish had chosen this place as its home; there were a lot of sunken ruins in the river around here, and I could see the silhouettes of plenty of fish swimming around. It looked like a pretty good fishing spot. We had plenty of time on our hands, and we’d already gone to the trouble of bringing out the boat. The aftermath of Valacirca had settled down recently—our efforts were starting to pay off—so I thought it could be a nice idea to relax for a little while with our lines in the water. And so, I agreed.

As I started to wonder what we were going to do for gear and bait, Reystov produced two fishing rods and a pot containing doughballs from the back of the boat. I watched him shrug and laughed, realizing that he’d been planning on fishing from the start if he saw the opportunity. Even this dignified veteran swordsman had a playful side.

The two of us baited our hooks and cast out our lines, creating two light splashes in short succession. We sat there quietly with our lines dangling into the water, and every so often, we muttered a few words of conversation. I asked what the bait he was using was made of. He replied that they were made from flour and egg yolk, and the trick was to mix in a little honey. That was how our conversation started.

After that, we covered a lot of things: the town, the people in our lives, swords and spears, and all the adventures we’d been on so far. What surprised me was that Reystov offered me some pretty deep insight on the roots of some of the town’s problems. It probably came from his own experiences. Ours was far from the first town he’d drifted through.

Reystov, whose interests mostly lay in going on constant adventures to polish his sword skills and win honor and glory, had set aside time to think about the town for me. Though he would never say as much, I couldn’t help but think this was an expression of friendship. It made me happy.

That said...

“Um, Reystov?”

“Little longer.”

“Reystov, the sun’s getting pretty low in the sky now.”

“Little longer.”

As usual, Reystov was having what they call fisherman’s luck... or, to be blunt, he hadn’t caught a thing. As the sun slowly declined towards the horizon and I started to get itchy about leaving—it really would be bad if we didn’t head back soon—the float sunk.

“Oh!”

There was a tug on my rod. I hurriedly pulled. I’d hooked a large trout. I reeled it in, caught it in a net, and threw it in the basket, which was reasonably full with all the other fish I’d caught.

I felt awful.

“Little longer...”

“Reystooov!” I whined. Reystov had now gotten completely stubborn.

Get ready, I told myself. It looks like you’re camping out tonight.