Quest 2: Attack of the Killer Snails

  The rope-lure was extremely effective in dealing with them, but the Ogoronia’s bodies are now littering the beach. Maybe we can ask the local village for help?

  A whole day ended up passing by with Lukey and Saphina focused on killing the Ogoronia. In the end, they managed to kill a grand total of twenty-six monsters via Lukey’s angling method. This naturally resulted in a pile-up of dead Ogoronia, and they would start stinking up the beach if they weren't properly taken care of in time.

  Meanwhile, the duo's hunting efforts had culminated in the form of a new title.

  That’s… new.

  Lukey had never gotten an angler title, despite fishing for two years around the island. Even after fishing for so long in the harbor of Tranquil Waters, he had never received a title like this. He had always assumed that there was just no title for catching fish by angling, yet here it was.

  Well, I have always gotten surges of aether for catching fish. Maybe it was acknowledged as a successful catch, but due to the weak nature of the fish, there was no achievement.

  Regardless, Lukey knew exactly how he and Saphina got this title. It was because they were taking turns baiting the Ogoronia with the rope-lure and hauling them onto land. For the sake of the achievement, it was considered a live catch; therefore, they were rewarded for it.

  Interesting… Maybe I can try doing this with other monsters in the future.

  Thoughts were swirling in Lukey’s head about how to potentially catch aquaclaws in this same manner. Meanwhile, he and Saphina were walking along the cliffside path once more, this time headed north, to Bluefin village.

  Slung over each of their shoulders was a large sack filled with Ogoronia meat. Their plan, as discussed this morning during breakfast, was to hopefully talk to some of the people in the village and discuss having some of them visit Bum’s Break to help take care of cutting them apart.

  The villagers would be getting free meat for their services; meanwhile, Lukey and Saphina would be getting whatever materials were leftover. They didn’t expect to be getting anything of value, but having the meat be used to feed a village was far preferable to having it rot on the beach or, worse, be eaten by the other Ogoronia.

  “There it is!” Lukey said, pointing down below to a cluster of clay homes with green leaf roofs. “C’mon, it looks like they’re all about to head to their jobs.”

  The cliffside path had become more of a steep slope as it wound around the village; meanwhile, Lukey and Saphina were more than happy to jump off and ride the slope down to the village below. Lukey ended up landing on his side and rode with one arm and one leg down, whereas Saphina was more well balanced, with her feet planted, and slid down.

  It was a quick ride down a long cliff, and the two of them quickly got back on their feet once they hit the ground. Then, after a short walk, they were finally able to approach the village’s western side.

  The duo had left back when it was still dark, specifically so they could catch the villagers before they left for their daily duties. As they entered the village, they could see women with baskets to collect fruits and vegetables; men preparing fishing rods, boats, and nets to venture out to the ocean; and many more types as they went to go perform their daily work.

  The other villagers saw them as well, and they were none too pleased with the strangely dressed visitors that just showed up out of nowhere. The elderly ushered the children inside, women and girls hid out of sight, and the men leveled their gazes at them with caution.

  Well… I can’t say we didn’t expect this reaction.

  The fact was that Lukey was dressed in a brightly colored wetsuit and crimson armor, and Saphina was dressed like a streaker. They blended in about as well as a crab doing the mambo on the beach. It would be insane to think that they would have been easily accepted, given how they looked.

  There was also the fact that Saphina was a zaurian, which would be a strange sight anywhere on the island. Lukey was briefly worried that the fear might ostracize her, but a quick look at her expression denied that.

  “Heh,” Saphina grinned smugly. “Y’know, in many places back home, this is considered a sign of respect.”

  Yup, still a zaurian alright.

  Lukey turned his gaze back to the fishermen and approached them. In the end, these were the people they needed to speak to, since they regularly dealt with acquiring meat for the village.

  The fishermen were all dressed in green vests and brown shorts, much like how Lukey used to dress. They were all tall as well, each one towering over him by around one or two feet. The one in the middle kept a flat cut of hair, while the others around him had slightly longer, wavy locks that flowed behind their heads.

  “Good morning,” Lukey greeted, giving them a smile that betrayed his inner tension. “I’m Lukey, from Coconut Shores down south. I and my companion were both sent to deal with the snail problem at Bum’s Break. We were wondering if you could help us with dealing with the leftover meat from the bodies.”

  Lukey and Saphina showed the sack of snail meat to the men, who then took out the meat and inspected its quality.

  “Snail meat? Can you even eat it?” The one in front said.

  “You can,” another man said. “They’re pretty decent for meat if you know how to cook them.”

  “You can find them along the shores sometimes,” a third said. “But the ones at Bum’s Break are a complete menace.”

  After a long stretch of men discussing amongst themselves, the one at front turned to Lukey and stared at him with a slightly softer expression than he had a moment ago.

  “Alright, we can deal with the snail meat,” the man in front said. “But we can’t leave without permission from the elder of the village. You will need to talk to him before something can be arranged.”

  Great… He's probably the last person I wanted to talk to.

  “Alright, then,” Lukey sighed, “Lead the way.”

  …

  Lukey and Saphina were led to the front of a large house, and the fisherman from before had already told them to wait as he went inside to discuss things with the village elder. Meanwhile, the other fishermen, instead of leaving, had decided to stick around to observe the oddities that were Lukey and Saphina.

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  “What’s with the strange clothes?” A man sitting on a nearby barrel called out. “Is that some weird new clothing from overseas?”

  “No, it was made here, on the island.” Lukey warily explained. “It’s a wetsuit, for diving.”

  “Diving? Wait, do you have a fisherman class? What happened to Triton?” Another man asked.

  “Triton’s doing fine; he’s just busy with other stuff.” Lukey dismissed. “I’m surprised none of you have the fisherman class, though.”

  I remember the emperor told me that there weren’t any others with the class besides himself and Triton, but up until now, I had no idea of how true that really was. Seeing really is believing.

  Each one of the men before Lukey seemed far more capable than him at being a fisherman, both far more muscular and far more levelheaded. This simply baffled Lukey; why was he the only person Triton or Caldoon chose to reach out to, instead of the many other capable fishermen on the island?

  “You shouldn’t be…” a voice echoed from the open doorway. “Having a class means having power, and power is easily abused.”

  From the house, the fisherman with the flat top from before stepped out, alongside a shorter, elderly man with a bald head and a short beard. The elder looked quite skinny, hunched over with a cane and staring at the group with bleary eyes.

  “The number of people who could obtain the class was limited on purpose so as to limit the number of people who could abuse it.” The elderly man said. “A fact that baffles me considering that it was so freely given to you.”

  “Uh… hello,” Lukey stammered. “I’m Lukey, from Coconut Shores, and I’m guessing you’re the elder of this village?”

  “Indeed, I am,” the old man said. “Elder Bluefin the Eighth, son of Bluefin the Seventh, and senior to Bluefin the Ninth.”

  “Ok,” Lukey said cautiously. “So will you be sending people to take care of the meat from Bum’s Break?”

  There was a moment of silence while Elder Bluefin measured Lukey with his gaze. It was only after his assessment that he decided to speak.

  “I’m not going to turn down free food for the village,” the elder stated, igniting some hope within Lukey. “But before I say yes, I need you to confirm a few things.”

  “Alright,” he replied. “Ask away.”

  The elder steadied his gaze and spoke in a very direct fashion.

  “What are Caldoon’s intentions regarding our sovereign icon?”

  Lukey was slightly taken aback; this was not a question he expected to be answering today. Originally, he assumed it would be something about the beach or about Lukey himself. However, it was clear given the circumstances that the elder had far greater concerns on his mind.

  “Well, I can’t exactly say what he’s thinking,” Lukey shrugged. “The plan, as I know it, is to give access to the class to anyone who wants it. To this end, a copy of the sovereign icon is currently being built within Tranquil Waters.”

  After that, a series of cheers erupted from the group of fishermen around Lukey. They all seemed happy to hear that the class would soon be available to anyone who wanted it.

  Well… except for one person.

  “That fool!” The elder shouted. “He plans on upending centuries of tradition! And for what? To make some money? To please the foreigners? Ridiculous!”

  Lukey was taken aback by the outburst but quickly regained face to pursue the matter.

  “If I may ask, what’s so wrong about it? Shouldn't it be a good thing that more people can get the class?”

  “You’d think so, but that’s wrong!” Elder Bluefin refuted. “The sovereign icon is… was considered sacred ever since Hemmingway created the class after he became a sovereign. It’s our history! Our culture! But the way he’s treating it is completely demeaning to what it represents!”

  “And don’t even get me started on that ridiculous town he started! 'Tranquil Waters,’” he spat. “Thousand Acre was bad enough, but now he’s just letting anyone stay on the island! Just wait! Pretty soon, he’ll have sold off all the land to the rich and powerful, and then where will we live!?”

  Lukey quickly prepared an outburst but stopped himself at the last moment. Blowing his top didn’t help him before, and it certainly wouldn’t help him now. He needed this man’s cooperation in the future, so the best thing to do would be to try reasoning with him. Lukey quickly set his mind in a tranquil state and carefully went over everything he said.

  Most of it is wrong, but there is some truth to his words. The fisherman class is the legacy of our island, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share it with everyone. Regarding the people of Tranquil Waters, many of them are class holders who provide valuable skills.

  Then, Lukey considered the last part of Elder Bluefin’s statement.

  He’s not exactly wrong; there are many very rich, very powerful people outside of the island. If Caldoon isn’t careful, the island could be taken over, not with force, but with careful political maneuvering.

  It suddenly dawned on Lukey just how much consideration Caldoon put into who gets a stake on the island, and in that moment, he did not envy the emperor.

  I’m not the most eloquent speaker, but I have to calm this guy down. If not for the emperor, then at least for the sake of future cooperation.

  Lukey took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as he could.

  “I agree with you that the fisherman class, sacred to our island, should be preserved.” Lukey began. “But isn’t the emperor doing just that by creating more access to it? If we have more people like Caldoon and Triton, it will almost certainly demand respect, especially from the foreigners.”

  That statement seemed to make Bluefin’s rage subside slightly, and his face gradually lost its tension. Then, after assessing the man for a moment, Lukey continued.

  “What’s more, the people in Tranquil Waters aren’t random foreigners, but people with valuable skills that the island can use. I’ve met many of them personally, and all of them try to contribute in their own way.”

  The more Lukey talked, the more the elder stared at him, less with a look of rage and more with one of stern assessment.

  “Unfortunately, regarding the possibility of foreign powers claiming the island, I would have to agree with you.” Lukey relented. “However, couldn’t we use our class to prevent that? If the island can create valuable fishing businesses and industries, then we wouldn’t even have to rely on foreign powers!”

  Lukey had finally finished his grand speech, while Elder Bluefin was staring at him with a cool intensity. Unfortunately, Lukey was unable to read the man’s expression, which gradually made him more nervous as time went on.

  Finally, the silence was broken.

  “Your words are very thought out, and I can tell you want what’s best for the island,” the elder finally said. “But you lack critical experience, boy. Life rarely turns out exactly as planned, so how exactly do you expect me to have faith in such an absurd plan?”

  “Truthfully? I can’t.” Lukey denied. “All I know is the emperor has put a lot of thought into how best to help the island he was put in charge of. In fact, the reason I’m here at all is because I’ve been sent to help deal with the Ogoronia.”

  Lukey continued.

  “What I can say is that without the support of this and many other villages, the plan will definitely fail.” Lukey asserted. “So, could you, at the very least, lend some support to Ocean’s Bounty in the future; if not because you agree with the emperor, then at least to get a say in how things unfold from here on out.”

  Elder Bluefin fell into thought, and there was a long moment of silence before he gave his reply.

  “’A say in how things unfold,’ huh?” Elder Bluefin mused thoughtfully. “I need some time to consider this. In the meantime, feel free to take the fisherman with you to get that snail meat taken care of.”

  With that they were all dismissed, and the elder went back into his home.

  “Phew,” breathed Lukey, letting out a tense breath. “That was far more tense than I was prepared for. Now I know what a merchant goes through every time they try to close a deal.”

  “That was amazing!” Saphina cheered, slapping Lukey’s back so hard he fell forward. “You must have pretty good charisma if you can pull something like that off!”

  “No, my charisma's terrible." Lukey refuted, "In fact, it’s…”

  Lukey quickly used [Insight] and was amazed by what he saw.

  “…higher than before.”

  A quick look at his titles quickly demonstrated why.

  I guess these are the kind achievements scholars and merchants get.

  Besides the twenty-five-point increase, there were no changes in his rating or status. However, there was something that Lukey noticed in addition to the new title that immediately caught his attention.

  What… is… that…

  It was a new art, or at least that was what it looked like. Unfortunately, according to the messed-up description, it was ill-defined and unusable. A quick attempt at using it just resulted in scattered threads of aether flowing around his body, and Lukey quickly had to stop it to prevent any more unnecessary aether usage.

  I’ll deal with that later when I have more time.

  “Alright!” Lukey shouted. “You heard the old man; you guys will be travelling with us to Bum’s Break! Now, if there are no other objections, follow us!”

  With that, Lukey and Saphina led the group of men out of the village and back up the cliffside path.

  This was more work than I intended, but at least I managed to secure some help with the corpse disposal. Now, all I need to do is focus on dealing with the Ogoronia.