"Nothing's happening," Ruba said, sulking. Elrhain snapped his eyes her way and urged her to be quiet with a suppressed voice.

Silence was an indispensable part of fishing in his former life, as any loud noise would scare away potential catch. He did not know if that was the case here, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

Honestly, even if he preferred otherwise, it didn't matter if he failed to catch any fish after boasting so much. He would be left embarrassed. But ultimately, this was just an initial attempt, a reproduction of Earth's scientific knowledge in a 'grasp in the darkness' manner.

In the grand scheme of things, failures were just as desired as successes. And it wasn't without reason that failure was called the mother of success.

Since Elrhain now had Agwyn's full support, he would try one thing after another. As responsibly as he could, he would go all out to see how his modern knowledge could influence the lives of the denizens of this world for the better.

Besides, the resulting clash between his knowledge of a scientific Earth and the primitive yet charmed life of Fanas Diosca would be immensely crucial to him.

For they might be the riposte to the unanswered questions of his seven decades of life on Earth that haunted him constantly. By the grace of luck or desire, Elrhain would not miss the chance to unearth them here in a world far, far away with all his heart and soul.

For himself and for Agwyn.

What should his relationship be with his new, exuberant family? Can he trust them, and will they trust him back? Why even, in the first place, should he break out of his comfort zone to act like some kind of self-righteous messiah for people who are as ignorant as they are violent?

Elrhain did not know. But he knew that to keep a healthy mindset, he could not ignore his most precious wants, what Elrhain had determined he needed more than anything else. And so, he would try.

Try today, and try again tomorrow, and the day after.

Until he found his answer. Until he could see the meaning to both his pitiful past and present bright lives.

The humid yet cold wind of the lake curled and curved, ruffling Elrhain's bangs as they gently covered his blue, slit pupils. He was the first person in the toddler heap of five children grabbing onto the fishing pole. Behind him were the slightly bored yet somewhat nervous faces of Ruba, Ysbail, and Cati.

Agwyn was last. She smiled sweetly, full of trust but with a hint of something else as their eyes crossed.

Within that split-second gaze, it was as if the spirits of the lakes and the goddess of fate themselves bestowed upon them the last morsel of luck they lacked.

The first opportunity, the fuzzy space of nothingness between success and failure.

"T-There’s something!” Howell yelped as loud as Alleigh as he cupped his eyes with his palms, focusing on the movement of the float. A second later, Elrhain, too, felt a slight tug in his hand.

“Woah!” The slight tug turned into a full-blown lurch, as the little boy could not keep his balance at the sudden appearance of the massive force.

Elrhain slipped, plopping forward with a cute ouch. The rest of the toddlers didn’t fare any better, each piling on top of Elrhain with their own adorable exclamations as the shaft of the fishing pole was wrenched out of their hands.

Only Agwyn, with her herculean strength, grabbed on to it for dear life but refused to let go.

“Hahaha!” Even though she was dragged forward on the sandy shore on her belly like the second female victim of a deep-sea horror movie, her exhilaration was clear.

“Annie! Damnit! Vesiphis, grab her!” Elrhain paled, not sharing his best friend’s glee. He screamed.

But before the words had entirely left his mouth, someone else had shot forward as if catapulted by shadows.

Cadfael!

He clutched onto the fishing pole with his right hand, then planted his feet on the sandy shore. Whatever beast had bit the hook tried to wrestle with all its might, even dragging this mean cousin about two steps forward.

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The fishing line stretched tautly. It zig-zagged erratically, cutting the water.

Then it stopped. Great turbulence of sand and whirls was raised in the water under the battered float, proving the ongoing resistance of the trapped fish. But it was futile.

Cadfael simply held on with one hand. The shadows under his feet glued his body to the lakeshore like an unmoving tree stump. His eyes peered towards Agwyn, who now stood up with a deadpan face full of sand and twigs.

The little girl let go of the fishing pole, then trotted back to Elrhain’s side without uttering a word.

She pulled Elrhain out from his prone position under Ruba, Ysbail, and Cati, then hid like a timid squirrel behind his back.

Elrhain was speechless. He coughed, finding it necessary to say something to the unexpected superhero despite the little girl’s reluctance to acknowledge Cadfael.

“T-Thanks.”

Cadfael narrowed his eyes as he looked away. The shadowy boy gripped the fishing pole with both hands before he spun around and pulled, swinging the shaft over his shoulder as if he was slashing down his sword.

The Zakky vine fishing line whipped once more, raising an audible swoosh. The water under the float ballooned, then finally, the beast was revealed.

The children watched in awe and fascination as Cadfael, the quietest of the Earthloch lot, dragged the large flabby form of a Whiskered Mudlynx straight out of the water into the air.

The catfish sailed overhead like a fat, slimy projectile. It pointlessly tried to flap its meaty tail and fins, its fleshy lips now hooked up to the other end of the fishing line, pierced to the bone tooth hook.

Thump!

It fell on the shore with a few bounces between Cadfael and Elrhain.

Its chunky body was like a basketball, springing up and down along with its jittery flips. It let out a ‘Guh!’ and a ‘Guo!’ and floundered on top of the sandy shore wondering why its mouth hurt, why the two-legged land monsters were so close, and where all the water went!

It was clearly confused.

“W-W-Whaaaaa-,“ Howell choked in his absolute shock. He jumped up as if a fish-gremlin had bitten his buttocks, then, while windmilling his arms, dashed to the fat helpless fish with stars in his eyes. “What? Why! Hooow!”

He could not speak coherently. Simply staring at the weird fish, then at Cadfael, and eventually towards Elrhain.

“You hunted a gheist! You really did!” Ruba exclaimed, her gaze no less thrilled than Howell’s.

“Well, but without Cadfael…”

“You hunted a fish!” Ah, no good. No one was listening.

Ysbail, Cati, and the Haragol heiress ran to the catch too, ah’ing and oo’ing. This was it; this was their very first hunt. And they did it all by themselves, without manna or magic, just like Elrhain had said!

The village kids followed after Ruba with faces laden with disbelief. Soon they too surrounded the catfish while voicing their astonishment and confusion.

They had helped make the rope stick! They helped hunt it too!

“M-My lord. Amazing. No, truly godlike. I have no words but to praise, for you once again prove the depths of your wisdom.” Vesiphis, whom Cadfael beat to the punch in saving Agwyn, made his way towards Elrhain and Agwyn with a voice mixed half with trepidation and half with second-hand pride. Even Captain Anouk, who strolled behind, had a look on his face as though he could not decide if he should be doubtful or delighted.

“T-This trinket, this weapon. My lord calls it a fishing pole? How in the world did our forefathers never think of a … thing so simple!” But although the winged boy looked lukewarm in his expression, his words betrayed the turmoil in his heart. Before long, this eldest cousin's forced poker face was thoroughly broken by his own panicked blabbering.

“I think I get it. S-So utterly stupid, yet ingenious like a veteran hunter. The gheist bit the hook-shaped bone hidden by the meat and couldn’t get free. It is a trap, a trap we can wield rather than set! We use hooks so much in daily life, yet, yet… ah!”

Elrhain took a step back, avoiding Vesiphis’s spittle as he rambled nonsense. Of all people, he did not foresee the eldest cousin to have a mental breakdown!

No, Elrhain corrected himself. It was an epiphany, not a breakdown. A eureka moment of the possibilities that mundane things possessed.

And it was getting on Elrhain’s nerves.

“—the hook. That peculiar shape of a hook within a hook. They all-“

“Vesiphis!” Elrhain shouted.

“W-What?” Vesiphis jolted awake, then turned his eyes downward to find Elrhain with his nose scrunched up and Agwyn looking at him as if sizing up a fruit.

Elrhain scanned Vesiphis’s face for a moment, then grinned a toothy smile. He would answer Vesiphis’s questions later. Now was the time for action, not words!

“Let’s make more.”

The winged boy was taken aback. But before he could respond, the reply came from behind.

“Yes! More, we need more of these hook-traps.” It was Howell. “Rhainy! We’s got enough sticks and vines here to make seven or eight more of these weapons. We can, right? I’m gonna catch so much fish today, pa’s gonna pop his eyes out.”

Elrhain tilted his body sideways to look behind Vesiphis and past Howell, who was pushing the former from behind.

Ruba and the village kids were throwing the big, incredibly uncomfortable looking catfish up and down while singing a strange song about seaweeds and worms. Cadfael had left to brood in the corner after stealing the spotlight. Still, his eyes were glued in this direction. Was he looking at Agwyn or Elrhain?

Captain Anouk had somewhen walked to Cadfael’s side too. The man squatted down, examining the fishing pole top to down while keeping an index finger on his forehead.

「It’s done, right? 」Elrhain asked.

「Yup. Leave mommy and grandpa to me. 」Agwyn nodded as she replied.

Howell still eagerly awaited even as Vesiphis tugged his ears. So did Roodles. The village boy had a sort of reverence oozing from his being after he witnessed firsthand the fishing pole’s mystical, out of this world ability.

As the honourary vice-president of the Alps Lake Leisurely Fishing Club, he knew what Roodles was feeling well and clear.

It gratified Elrhain.

“For the last time, it’s a fishing pole!” He yelled, but the grin didn’t escape his smug face at all. “But heck, make as many as you want. But a tenth of all fish goes to Alleigh or no deal!”