Chapter 70
Night Fishing
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Claude busied himself with the barbecuing while Welikro looked at the three small fish skin lanterns as he munched away at his beef skewer . Eriksson, who had always loved to fish, put the bait on three fishing rods and flung them into the water the moment the barbecue started . Within 30 minutes, got four rather decently sized fish . It was no wonder the folk of Whitestag believed that fishing during the night was yielded more haul than casting nets during the day .
Eriksson helped Claude by skewering the meat from the side as he watched the wings roasting on the spit with his mouth watering . He kept on asking whether they were done . Borkal on the other hand, Borkal sat lazily against the side of the boat with his blueberry wine in hand and a fork in another on which a large piece of beef steak was pierced .
Using a brush to apply the seasoning evenly on the six wings, Claude flipped them over after that and waved his hand to Eriksson . "Don't rush, it'll be done in a while . " At the same time, he took some cook mutton from the wooden plate beside him and stuffed it into his mouth . He was quite hungry after doing all that work .
One of the three lanterns floating in the lake sunk all of a sudden, causing its fire to be put out . Welikro hurriedly pulled onto one of the rods and cried out, "Quick, come! This is a big one!"
The fish that bit the bait was indeed a large fish . It struggled nonstop and Eriksson stared at the surface of the lake as he held tightly onto the net pocket . The moment Welikro pulled the fish close to the boat and the surface of the lake, Eriksson pocketed the fish with lightning speed .
"It's a redback greenscale fish, about a foot and a half in length and weighing around six catties . . . " Eriksson estimated the size of the fish as it continued to struggle on the deck of the boat . The redback greenscale was a specialty of Lake Balinga . Though it was a freshwater fish, it would taste raw and earthy if not prepared properly . These types of fish were normally made into dried fish floss for better preservation .
"Toss it into the livewell . Your wings are done," said Claude as he brought over the wooden plate with the six wings . After that, he began to roast one of the longtail swordfish that was cut open for himself .
Welikro stepped on the flapping fish in the net and removed the hook from its mouth, before tossing it into the live well . After that, he didn't bait the hook and instead washed his hands with lakewater and took a wing from the plate Eriksson was holding and munched into it .
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Roasting the longtail swordfish was really easy . It just had to be turned from side to side and took only three minutes . Claude put the fish into a wooden plate, brushed each surface with some salt water, and it was ready to eat . Claude liked to eat it that way as he believed that the natural flavors of the fish was preserved . Welikro on the other hand preferred heavy seasoning and applied all sorts to his fish .
Seeing Claude eat the longtail swordfish, Welikro roasted one himself after he finished his wing .
"Aren't you gonna pay attention to the lanterns?" asked Claude .
The problem with night fishing was that it was hard to see the floats clearly in the water . So, the fishermen of Whitestag invented those fist-sized, fish skin lanterns which they secured on top of a small, spherical wooden bobber . Inside the lantern was a small candle that allowed a bite to be detected easily .
The moment a fish was hooked, like the redback greenscale from before, the lantern would be pulled underwater and the fishermen would notice the fire going out . The candle itself was water resistant and could be reused again and again until it ran out .
"There's no need . With the redback greenscale we caught being so big, the other fish must long be scared away by now . I'll just go back to take a look later," said Welikro as he covered his longtail swordfish with seasoning .
Claude shook his head in horror . The sauce will ruin the natural deliciousness of the fish! What a horrible waste . He could've just used any normal fish for roasting if he was going to use that much sauce anyway . . . He took a sip of blueberry wine and heard Welikro say, "Give me some too . "
Claude poured Welikro a cup, which the latter finished in a quick gulp . As he enjoyed the aftertaste, he said, "It tastes sweet, but it isn't strong at all . It's made for women to enjoy . Eyke, bring me that blackwheat ale I bought . "
Claude amde a bitter smile . The blueberry wine was something Borkal wanted to buy no matter what . After tasting the rough wine at Egret the last time, Borkal no longer dared to have any rough alcohol . But ever since the time he stole a slip of blueberry wine from the time his father brought some out to serve guests, he found that it tasted really pleasant with its subtle sweetness and moderate alcohol content . So, he couldn't do without some blueberry wine during this trip .
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Borkal was the one who drunk the most among the four of them . Everyone of them was only 16 and they wouldn't dare to drink too much at home . At most, they could only drink a cup of wheat ale . But all of them had secretly tried some other alcohol before . The more their families wanted to forbid them from doing so, the more they wanted to try it . That was the reverse psychology of teenagers going through puberty .
Claude the transmigrator on the other hand had far better self control than the rest . Welikro and Eriksson did drink a bit of alcohol, but they simply weren't that interested in it . Borkal was the odd one out, drinking the most, yet having the least amount of tolerance for alcohol . He always drank all the way until he ended up dead drunk . Currently, he drank only half a bottle of blueberry wine, but his eyes were already looking rather groggy . It seemed that he would collapse into slumber not long after .
Eriksson finished five roasted wings in one go and finally satisfied his craving . He opened the lid of the barrel with a blackwheat ale and poured the three of them a large cup each .
The ale tasted a little bitter, but felt really refreshing in the mouth . It truly was an ideal drink for relieving thirst . Welikro drank two cups of it it one go . Eriksson took out a pack from the cabin and said, "I almost forgot about this wonderful thing . Claude, give it a try . "
Claude took a look at the little balls the size of fingertips inside the paper bag .
"What are these?"
"Just try them . " Eriksson kept a tight lip about what they were .
He took one and put it into his mouth and was shocked . Isn't this malt candy? They have it in this world too? He recalled that a hawker dressed like a farmer would show up around his school in his past life with a basket . The basket contained a large piece of malt candy and he would break some off whenever someone wanted to buy some . Though he loved them when he was younger, he no longer liked them that much when he grew up as they stuck to the teeth quite often .
"This . . . this is malt candy . . . " said Claude hesitantly . He didn't know whether it was called the same in this world . Eriksson had mentioned it once the last time, but he wasn't paying attention .
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"Yup, it's Hurian's malt candy that's passed down through generations . " Eriksson didn't mind that Claude figured out his surprise . He handed the bag to Welikro and said, "Didn't we hear that Hurian set up shop in town? I went there after school to check it out and saw these malt candies on sale, so I bought some . It cost one fenny a piece, and I got around two sunar's worth . Still, it's great that Hurian's back . We didn't have any malt candy to eat since he left for the royal capital back then . "
Claude wondered, "What's the status of this Hurian you mentioned?"
Eriksson, understanding what Claude was referring to, said, "He's a peasant, but he's also a limp . He's in his fifties now . "
Oh, a limp in his fifties . No wonder he's allowed to go to the royal capital . Normally, peasants couldn't leave their local towns for no good reason . That was the strongest restriction placed on men aged from 18 to their forties . Most of the people living in the slums were farmers who have lost their land or bankrupt entrepreneurs who came from the three southwestern prefectures .
Whitestag was located within the three southwestern prefectures . They were located at its easternmost part and traveling further east would mean going out of the three southwestern prefectures, which wasn't allowed . While Claude didn't understand why that was the case in the past, his father explained it thusly: the kingdom had a quota for each area for drafting during times of war . Most male peasants would be chosen as enemy fodder, so they weren't allowed to simply go wherever they wanted to avoid the draft .
"Hurian's legs were fine during his youth . I heard the incident occurred some three decades ago . That was when our kingdom first launched an attack on Nasri, and Hurian was drafted during that time . When he was riding a donkey, the poor animal was startled and he fell off it . While his leg was outstretched, a passing carriage ran over it and broke his leg . After he was treated, he ended up as a limp . "
Eriksson snickered and said, "Even though he avoided the first draft, he was still involved in the second war between our kingdom and Nasri after his leg healed . Back then, our kingdom was exterminating the duchy of Berkeley . As Hurian was a limp, he wasn't drafted as a soldier, but as a coachman instead . He spent a year transporting supplies to Berkeley and returned as a peddler after that .
"Some four years ago, he said that he wanted to go to the royal capital and might settle down there for good, so he applied for a permit and proof of identity from the town hall . He didn't look any different now that he's back . He said he returned because he wasn't able to make much money there . Given his age, he also couldn't serve as a traveling merchant any longer, hence his decision to start a shop here . I went to his shop for a look and saw that he has quite a lot of things he brought back from the capital . Maybe you can take a look there to look for something to buy for your siblings . "
"Alright, I'll definitely check it out when I'm free," Claude simply answered, "Do you guys want anything else to eat?"
"No . . . need . . . burp . . . " Welikro shook his head . "I'm already bloated . . . Leave it there for now . Maybe I'll have some for supper when I'm hungry . "
Eriksson picked up the fishing rod Welikro put on the deck and said, "I can't eat anymore either . Let's focus on fishing instead . "
Borkal was knocked out by the bottle of blueberry wine as expected . He was snoring on the boat with his mouth wide open . Claude cleaned up the bottle and the plates and covered him with a blanket to let him sleep .
The three of them started to fish . The spot Eriksson picked for them was rather decent . There were lots of fish that frequently bit onto their hooks . There were also no other fishing boat in the vicinity . WIthin two hours, they managed to catch more than 50 fishes of varying sizes with only four rods . They were kept really busy .
Finally, they managed to catch a short breather as the fish progressively got more difficult to catch, with them only getting a bite every ten minutes . Eriksson called for a short break before they switch places later . For now, he wanted something warm and steamy for his belly .
Claude couldn't be bothered to roast anything else and took out a pot to make some flour soup . After drinking a large bowl of it, he felt filled and warm throughout .
Welikro lazily pulled up the last fishing rod and caught a rather small palm-sized fish . "Let's check the purse seine . We've deployed it for quite a while now, so it's about time we pulled it up and redeploy it for tomorrow morning . The candles in the fish skin lanterns are almost out as well, we only have around five remaining . Let's leave some to use during night duty . If we continue to fish, we'll use them up in half an hour . "
Eriksson gave it some thought and agreed . "Alright, we'll do a you say . I'm quite tired after all that fishing . I think I'll catch some sleep after pulling up the net . "
Claude started to clean up the tools they used for the roast and kept the ingredients back into the cabin . The three of them then proceeded to pull up the seine .
The haul from the net wasn't a lot . They only caught around ten or so fish . Claude felt that fishing them directly out of the water was more worthwhile .
Pulling up the net was really tiring . When they finished, Eriksson looked at the snoring Borkal and said that he felt the urge to kick that lazy bum straight into the lake .