There was a man.
He was neither an exceptional mage nor a wise scholar.
He was just a fisherman who found meaning in life only when he was on his boat.
However, he was now at a crossroads in life while on that same boat.
The stormy weather over the sea had persisted for several days.
“The weather at sea is always unpredictable,” the man muttered.
It was a phrase he had heard and experienced many times during his long years as a sailor.
But for a storm to last two days, that was too much to bear.
He was no longer in his right mind.
“What a damned wind.”
It had been just two days ago when he set out from home with nothing but a few fishing rods and buckets, intending to catch some fish, only to be swept out to sea with no preparations against the unexplainable waves.
Now, he could see no land on the horizon.
The darkness brought winds and rain that rocked the tiny ferry, making it seem like it could capsized at any moment.
The creaking noise accompanied the flickering light, casting shadows on the man’s face.
Raindrops pattered against his waterproof robe, filling the bottom of the boat with water.
The boat was already half-filled with water, but he made no effort to bail it out.
Now, he thought it would be better to sink, as he was prepared to accept death.
After being trapped in a storm for two days, with nothing to eat and being claimed by hypothermia due to the mingling of seawater and rainwater, he reasoned that drowning might not be such a bad way to go.
Seeing no sign of the storm ending, he finally decided it was time to do something.
He lifted his fishing rod.
There was no specific reason for it.
He was hungry, and the food he had brought had long run out.
It goes without saying that food was important in such situations.
Clinging to life was incredibly exhausting, and without something in his stomach, he wouldn’t have the energy to carry on.
However, he was skeptical about actually catching any fish.
Even so, he had decided to fish because it was his calling.
He had lived his life as a fisherman, and if he were to die, he intended to go out with a fishing rod in hand.
Yet hope always seems to find you in moments of despair.
He succeeded in fishing.
‘In this storm?’ Even he couldn’t help but feel bewildered at his own success.
Just as a small, white fish was pulled up onto his hook, the raging storm ceased, and the waves calmed.
Could it be that hope really exists?
However, something felt off.
The fish was unlike any he had seen in his years of experience, making him think that it might be a shame to eat it.
Considering the water already half-filling the boat, he decided to let the fish go, discarding the hook to the bottom and casting the line once more.
He looked at the white fish again, but it remained still.
It was strange.
Despite fishing numerous times, he had only caught the white fish.
The man couldn’t help but wonder, “Is this fish common in these waters?”
He simply ate the fish. Lacking any proper cooking tools, he had to eat it raw, but the long fatigue made it taste reasonably decent.
He devoured it greedily and cast the line again, curious about the identity of this white fish he kept catching.
But he was unaware of the enormous presence lurking beneath the boat.
—–
The man had still not left the boat.
He continued to catch the white fish.
——
“…this is the story of a poor fisherman who has become the spectacle of a kraken.”
“You’re too scary…”
“Weren’t you the one complaining about the lack of a kraken in the aquarium, Diana?”
“I hate krakens!”
At Diana’s horrified exclamation, Luke chuckled and crossed his arms.
Her reaction was quite intense; he had chosen one of the milder kraken stories he knew.
Luke shifted his gaze to the massive tank in front of him, filled with blue lights and various marine creatures swimming around.
It looked as if a part of the ocean had been sliced out and preserved; it was a beautiful sight.
The size of the tank was immense, and even though it was indoors, one could almost feel like they had stepped into the sea itself.
However, catching a kraken in such a tank was nearly impossible.
The kraken was a colossal sea creature with tentacles reaching at least 50 meters in length.
Curious and highly intelligent, it undoubtedly had a talent for magic.
It was said that if it accumulated enough “experience,” it could potentially reach the 8th circle of magic.
However, the lifespan of a kraken is unknown.
The ocean was too vast, and the spaces were too difficult to explore.
If there exists a place in the material plane that embodies death, it would likely be the ocean.
A being that reigns in such a place, the kraken could easily be referred to as the ‘Grim Reaper of the Material Plane.’
It would be an unattainable task for any mere human to investigate such a being and uncover its lifespan.
One could only vaguely speculate that it might live as long as a dragon.
In fact, Luke had gone out to sea several times to investigate the kraken, but each time returned empty-handed, making the information still unknown.
Perhaps it had fled each time.
The ocean was too deep for a solo search, so his ambition to find the kraken was ultimately abandoned.
Now, 5,000 years later, he wondered if there might be a way to do so.
“I’ll have to look it up when I get home.”
Diana trembled her shoulders and, glancing up at Luke, said with a smile, “I no longer dislike krakens! I want to see that white fish you mentioned, sister.”
At that, Luke shook his head.
“No, that’s probably not going to happen. That fish was likely made by the kraken as bait for humans.”
“…Bait?”
“Yes, do you understand the metaphor of this story, Diana?”
Luke spoke as if teasing her.
“To those fish, you are the kraken, Diana.”
“Eek! I don’t like it!”
———-
Observing from a distance were two figures, Yerna and Dayton.
Yerna chuckled softly at Luke, who was playfully teasing Diana.
“Those two seem to have gotten much closer.”
“Indeed.”
In truth, their relationship had never been particularly bad.
Luke often played with Diana, and she had always followed him quite well.
However, during the time they had lived under the same roof for the past few weeks, it seemed she had started to tease him like that.
Their bond truly appeared to have strengthened.
“If it were ordinary, Luke would have just muttered the literal definition of kraken if Diana had asked.”
Yet, speaking of any frightful tales could be troublesome.
Going to the bathroom together at night was quite a hassle, after all.
“Dayton, thank you. I know I suddenly asked, but you took care of Luke without complaint.”
Upon hearing that gentle voice beside him, he turned his gaze in that direction.
What he saw was Yerna’s innocent smile, clearly directed at him.
Dayton felt his heart begin to race in response and blushed.
“Y-yeah. Um, no problem. Luke is always welcome!”
“Hehe, is that so?”
Yerna covered her mouth with her hand, smiling, but her expression suddenly turned serious as if recalling something.
“Oh right, no matter what Luke says to you, you must never touch him, okay?”
“Uh?”
Touch him? What does that mean?
Dayton pondered if Luke had ever said anything to him.
Then one memory immediately came to mind.
While exercising at home, Luke had approached him suggesting he change to training that would aid in combat, which was more of a nuisance than helpful.
“That kind of training only builds unnecessary muscle, doesn’t it? It’s inefficient.”
“Shut up, there’s a reason for everything.”
“Well… if that’s the case, I won’t stop you. But if you’re just being stubborn, I’d recommend stopping. If needed, I could suggest focused exercises that would strengthen useful muscles for combat…”
“No, there’s a reason. Just leave me alone!”
Of course, plain muscle training and training for efficient muscles in combat were very different.
However, it was true that he had been annoyed and snapped at Luke when he was clueless about why he was doing muscle training as he had been quite on edge from not seeing Yerna for a long time.
“But did he really tell on me…”
Dayton began to feel a sense of injustice.
“Yerna, that’s a bit unfair… he came to me first…”
“…Dayton.”
He swallowed hard at the chill in Yerna’s voice, which cut off his words.
“Eep.”
Yerna’s expression was fierce, as if she were facing a monster, causing Dayton to nod immediately.
“No matter how childish my response was, this reaction is too much…”
Dayton couldn’t help but lower his head, feeling crushed.
The atmosphere was good…
Yerna continued to look up at Dayton with a sharp expression, adopting a lecturing tone.
“Just because Luke likes you, you must accept that…”
“Wait a minute.”
“Hmm? Why does he like me?”
“…Didn’t we just talk about this?”
“No, he essentially dislikes me. He only likes my cooking.”
Yerna’s eyes widened in shock as if she had received a jolt, and she muttered softly.
“…Then, was that love letter nothing at all…?”
Dayton reacted strongly to the mention of a love letter, flailing his arms as if trying to defend himself, raising his voice in a panic.
“No, how did you know about that? I didn’t even finish writing it!”
“Eh? Why were you writing a love letter?”
“Ugh.”
‘…I’m in deep trouble.’
