City ​​of Witches 360

Chapter 360 – #78_Outdoor Activities (2)

#358

1.
It was a perfect match.

A dad who brought his daughter fishing, even though she didn’t want to.
A daughter who complained that it wasn’t fun even after arriving.
A dad who was too excited to care about any of that.

It was widely known that Gehenna’s natural landscapes maintained their original forms.
Especially in these uninhabited areas, where human hands rarely touched, there were many fish in the river.
It was no joke; even with Siwoo’s clumsy fishing, he got a bite almost every five minutes.

Siwoo’s happiness didn’t end there.
There was a stroke of good luck.

He had originally come thinking he would catch freshwater fish, but it happened to be the season when migratory fish, salmon, were swimming upstream to lay their eggs.

Thanks to that, large red salmon, not yet fully colored red, were frequently biting the blind lures.
The heavy, bending feel of the fishing rod.
The strong vitality felt at his fingertips every time he reeled.
Seeing a 50cm salmon flapping on the surface like a skipping stone, he couldn’t help but think, “Wow, this is what fishing is all about.”

Last time he went, he barely caught a few fish all day, but he had already caught two.
Both were personal bests.

“Wow, this is crazy. Are you really not going to try?”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“Miss Diana! Look at this. It’s huge!”

Siwoo proudly showed Diana the heavy, flapping salmon.
Even though the river water splashed on his cheeks as the tail flapped, he was just happy.
Diana, who was sitting far away with a dissatisfied look, looked at Siwoo with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

Salmon.
She had eaten it many times, but it was the first time she had seen one alive and wriggling like that.
Besides, his expression as he reeled in the heavily bent fishing rod looked so excited that Diana couldn’t help but feel curious.

What is it about fishing that he likes it so much?
That question arose.
Since she had come all the way here, efficient energy management was out the window.
Instead of just sitting there, wouldn’t it be good to try it herself?

“Just try it once. It’s much more fun than you think.”
“Just once.”

Diana picked up a fishing rod next to her and took off her shoes.
As she dipped her feet into the beautifully shimmering water, the icy coldness made goosebumps rise on her skin.

“How do you do it again?”
“It’s not difficult. You don’t need to throw it too far, and you shouldn’t throw it too close either. See this part here? You grab this and throw it, then let the fishing line flow with the current.”

Listening to the explanation and watching him do it, it didn’t seem too difficult.

“Like this?”

Diana picked up the fishing rod that Siwoo had adjusted and threw the line.
The fishing line quickly flowed with the rather strong current, as the water was shallow.

“Yes, like that. If it goes too far, reel it back in and repeat.”
“It’s nothing special.”
“Right.”

It was as easy as it looked.
She felt like she could catch big fish just like he did in no time.

“It’ll be a problem if our spots overlap, so I’ll move a little further away. If we’re unlucky, our lines might get tangled.”

With that, Siwoo continued fishing, keeping a 15-meter distance.
Diana watched him for a moment, then threw her line again.
The fishing hook flowed leisurely.

Even though it drifted far away, she didn’t feel anything, so she reeled the line back in.
She threw it.
It flowed.
She reeled it back in.
She threw it.
It flowed.
She reeled it back in. She threw it. It flowed. She reeled it back in….

“…….”

Diana’s fishing rod, despite several attempts, remained silent.
Meanwhile, next to her.

“Oh! It’s here! It’s here!”
“Wow~ how many centimeters is this?”
“This guy is no ordinary salmon! But not a chance! Immediate release of power!”

Diana looked at the pile of salmon accumulating next to Siwoo and then looked back ahead.

-Gurgle gurgle

“…….”

She could see the fishing line drifting aimlessly with the flowing river.
Diana quietly reeled in the line and examined the hook closely.
Had he given her a strange fishing rod?
But the lure, the weight, and the hook were all the same as the ones he had shown her when demonstrating.

“That’s right! You’re here!”
“Kuhahaha!”
“There are more fish than water!”

Siwoo looked very excited, while Diana was subtly annoyed.
If she had gone fishing alone, she would have given up, thinking, “Oh, whatever, it’s just boring and annoying.”
But seeing the empty net while he was constantly reeling in fish next to her, she felt a subtle competitive spirit.

Diana pondered for a moment and then approached Siwoo.

“Excuse me.”
“Yes? Yes. Ah, did you catch a lot?”
“…No, let’s switch spots. It seems like your spot is better, so you’re catching more.”
“Shall we?”

Siwoo readily switched places.
Fishing started again.

Since he had been constantly catching fish in this spot, it must be a good spot.
The fishing rods were the same.
There didn’t seem to be any special tricks.
Diana was secretly excited at the thought of catching a lot of salmon now.

“Wow, this spot is good too!”
“We’re having salmon for dinner tonight!”
“What kind of fish is this?”

And the situation repeated itself.
When they switched spots, Siwoo was constantly reeling in fish at the spot where Diana hadn’t even gotten a bite.
On the other hand, Diana was just continuing her exercise of getting the lure wet, not fishing.

“…….”

Diana felt her anger rising with a calm expression.
Her insides were boiling.
Although it wasn’t his intention, his joyful appearance felt like he was taunting her from the side.

“Excuse me!”

Diana summoned Siwoo, who had just caught a salmon the size of his forearm.

“I came out here because I was supposed to do outdoor activities. Please pay attention to me too.”
“Ah, that’s right. I’m sorry. I got too carried away.”
“Please tell me the trick.”
“Yes, here, look.”

Siwoo gave a more detailed explanation once again, but to Diana, it all seemed the same.
She wondered if it was just luck, so she even borrowed Siwoo’s fishing rod.
But the result was still the same.
Seeing Diana, who was surprisingly only getting misses, Siwoo tilted his head, wondering, “Huh? Why is this happening?” which only made her more annoyed.

“It’s been more than 30 minutes now. I’ll throw it one more time, and if I don’t catch anything, I’m going back.”
“Okay.”

Diana looked at Siwoo, who was answering with a lukewarm tone, as if he was disappointed, and then threw the line.
The float drifted leisurely.
There was still no bite.
Just as she was about to sigh, thinking that this time would be no different,

“Huh?”

It came.
A strong bite.
She felt a strong force that anyone would think was a fish biting.
Diana tightly gripped the fishing rod, which she almost dropped for a moment.

“It bit!”
“W-what do we do now? What do we do?”

Diana, who hadn’t expected anything, widened her eyes at the sudden situation.
Siwoo, who was more excited than she was at the sight of the magnificent bite, was about to give her advice when…
A scene straight out of a cartoon unfolded.

“Hyaaah!!”

Diana, who was holding onto the tightly bent fishing rod, was suddenly pulled away with a scream.
The riverbank was already difficult to balance on because of the strong current, even in the shallow water.
With the strong force pulling the fishing rod as if it would break, Diana fell face-first into the water as if diving.

-Splash!

A powerful splash.
Siwoo belatedly threw himself forward, grabbed Diana’s body with one arm, and held onto the fishing rod with the other.

2.
Diana sat by the campfire next to a folding chair, wrapped in a blanket.
The water that had soaked her clothes and hair had been dried with magic, but maintaining body temperature was important.

“…….”
“Um, are you okay?”

Diana, who had been repeatedly unlucky with the salmon in less than an hour, was in a very bad mood.
Her expression was dark, as if a storm’s core was hovering over her head.

Siwoo, who had caught almost 30 salmon today, had released all but one for dinner and was cautiously watching her.

Actually, this was an unexpected trouble number 2.

Until now, he had only caught red salmon the size of his forearm and the occasional rainbow trout, so he thought there were only those two types.

But the salmon that had tried to drag Diana into the water was a king salmon, which could reach a maximum length of 1.5 meters and a maximum weight of 60 kg.
It was no wonder that Diana, who had been off guard, was dragged away by a salmon as heavy as herself.

“…….”
“Still, the one you caught, Diana, is the biggest.”

Strictly speaking, the salmon had caught Diana, and Siwoo had caught both Diana and the salmon, but…
He tried to put it as nicely as possible, considering her mood.

“Look at this! It’s this big.”

It was over 1 meter long, even at a glance.
He held up today’s dinner menu, which was exhausted and weakly flapping, in front of Diana.

“It’s big.”

Diana, still with a gloomy face, looked at the salmon and then stood up.

“Let’s go back now. It’s been over two hours.”

Fishing had been more fun than he had expected, and he had wanted to coax Diana into enjoying the evening as well, but since things had gone this way, there was no choice.
He could always come again next time.
He packed up the things he had unpacked and put his backpack back on, and then slung the salmon, which was wrapped in ribbons, over his shoulder.

It would be good to return by teleportation, but showing her this beautiful natural scenery was also part of the outdoor activity.
He walked along the hills with her and asked Diana, who still seemed to be in a bad mood.

“Miss.”
“What.”
“I’ve been wondering about something. Can I ask you?”
“Go ahead.”

He had been curious for a while.
People might dislike being bothered and dislike going out, but Diana was extreme.
However, he couldn’t just ask, “Why are you so lazy?” so he asked indirectly, and Diana replied.

“What I do isn’t laziness.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a more high-level… for example, a status quo bias.”

He wondered what she was talking about and glanced at her profile, and then his eyes met Diana’s expressionless eyes as usual.

“My mother and other people too. They stigmatized laziness as a sin called sloth, but this tendency is very important throughout the development of humanity.”
“…….”
“Isn’t the development of science and magic for convenience ultimately derived from the thought of ‘Oh, this is annoying’?”

He had wondered if she would even give him a proper answer, but he got a rather serious one.

“So, instead of pushing me to go around, let’s just use the location board. I’ll talk to Mom for you.”
“Tch.”

Anyway, today’s lesson was over.
He took Diana back to the mansion.
As they passed through the main gate and entered the mansion, Count Yesod was visible in the distance, so Siwoo quietly handed the salmon to Diana.

“Can you hold this for a moment?”
“W-why suddenly this…! It’s, it’s heavy…!”

Diana staggered as the weight of the extremely heavy salmon was placed on her, and she glared at Siwoo.
Just then, the count, who had spotted Diana from afar, came running towards them.

“My daughter…! Did you have a good time?”

Only then did Diana seem to realize Siwoo’s intention.
Siwoo smiled and pushed her back.

“You should go and show off.”

The annoyed expression disappeared, and Diana turned her gaze away.
She nodded slightly and walked towards Count Yesod, dragging the large salmon.

“I’m back.”
“Oh my, oh my! Did my daughter catch this?”
“…Yes.”
“Amazing~ Let’s take a picture right away. Mom will go get the camera!”

Watching Count Yesod patting Diana’s head, hugging her, and showering her with praise, Siwoo thought that today had been a rewarding day.