NOVEL NEXT C41
C41: Swimming in Gold (3)
With the Millennial Whale as his target, Kagehiko went to a fishing village in search of whale sightings.
“Yeah, the Millennial Whale is really ruining my business.”
“Same here. We can’t get any fish at all. It happens once every ten years.”
“Hmm, so no one’s ever seen the Millennial Whale?”
Kagehiko, who had been canvassing the fishermen in the village, cut to the chase. If he couldn’t find the whale, he wouldn’t be able to extract the contents of its stomach. The tanned fisherman frowned at Kagehiko’s question.
“Are you an adventurer? Don’t do that. The Millennial Whale is a dangerous opponent.”
“I haven’t been out to sea since it started coming out. There were no witnesses either.”
“Hmm, I see.”
I have already interviewed several fishermen, but still no sighting of the whale. At this rate, it may escape into the deep sea before I can find it.
“Nono-chan might know something!”
“Yeah, I think she might…….”
“Who is this Nono?”
When I asked about the name, which I had never heard before, the fisherman cut in, “That’s the one.”
“Nono-chan’s family has been good fishermen for generations, but for some reason they’re obsessed with the Millennial Whale. Every time it appears, they send a boat out to sea and try to catch the whale.
“Nono’s mother and grandmother were swallowed by whales. I hope she doesn’t get swallowed by one, too…….”
“Oh, that’s very daring of them…By the way, female fishermen are rare.”
Even in this world, fishermen who do a lot of hard work are mostly men. In fact, all the fishermen that Kagehiko interviewed were men.
“Yeah, they’ve got a lot of women in the family.”
“I guess that’s the way it is. I don’t know much about it.”
“Thank you for telling me all this. Here, have a drink with me.”
“Oh, thank you! I can’t go fishing anymore because of the whales, and my wallet is getting cold!”
The fisherman’s left, happily accepting the silver coin that Kagehiko offered them.
“Nono…okay, let’s meet her.”
I went to the place the fisherman had told me about and found a small fishing boat anchored in the shallows and shouted.
“Hey, is anyone there? I need to talk to you!”
“Hmm, is there a visitor?”
A girl came out of the fishing boat. She was about 18 years old and looked like a beautiful girl. Her skin was pale for a fisherman, and her hair, which was cut short, was also pure white.
“Hey, I don’t know you. Who are you?”
On top of her head, there was a pure white cat’s eye.