Chillin' on an Uninhabited Island in Another World

The fishing contest was getting wildly exciting.

Partly because the fish kept biting nonstop, and partly because every single thing we caught was an edible species that pretty much anyone would at least know by name. It was just plain fun.

“So-kun, So-kun.”

“What is it, Chiyu—wait, is that what I think it is!?”

The fish Chiyu had reeled in was black and wriggling like a snake.

It was an eel.

“We bought rice in the bonus area, too. We can have eel rice boxes.”

The memory of the eel rice boxes I’d eaten back in Japan made saliva well up in my mouth.

“That sounds great. Let’s do our best to catch enough for everyone.”

“In the worst case, just you is fine.”

“No, no, that’s not how this works.”

“It builds stamina, so as long as you eat it, there’s no problem.”

“Why?”

That was not why I wanted to eat it.

Honestly, I’d be in trouble if my stamina got boosted any more than it already had.

Like that, everyone kept catching fish and reacting with fresh excitement each time, but...

Once that settled down, our attention gradually shifted toward the number of fish caught.

First, in terms of efficiency with ordinary fishing, Minori was the best on our team, while Yumekai was the best on the opposing team.

Maybe because Yumekai was a lone-wolf type suited for independent action, she just kept fishing silently.

Minori had been bewildered at first, but she seemed to get the hang of it right away. The whole sequence of lowering the line, reeling in a fish, and removing it from the hook had become extremely smooth and refined by now.

On the opposing team, Shouko and Mamonaka, and on our team, Ms. Luminous, took time removing the hooks or needed support, so they were slightly less efficient.

Shouko in particular was asking Shion to remove the hooks for her, which meant she was also using up Shion’s time.

Urume on the opposing team seemed to be enjoying the fishing more than anything. It was charming how she happily cheered, “Yaaay!” with every single fish she caught, but because of that, her total seemed lower than everyone else’s.

Chiyu and I exchanged words from time to time, but otherwise, we were doing well, so I figured we were contributing to the team.

But the most incredible one of all was our team’s highly capable maid, Roa.

After catching a few fish, she nodded and said, “I see,” then came over to me and requested additional fishing rods and several huge buckets.

Then she skillfully used the rocks and ground to prop them up.

In short, she had unmanned fishing rods lowering lines into the water.

That was where Roa became amazing.

The instant a line was tugged, she moved to that rod and flicked it up.

When she shook the rod again in midair, somehow the hook came loose, and the fish dropped into the bucket she had prepared with a plunk.

Then, at a speed too fast for the eye to follow, she attached bait, propped the rod back up, and moved on to the next one.

There were five fishing rods total, but to my eyes, it looked like Roa had split into five people.

That was how fast she was.

“W-wait, isn’t that seriously crazy!?”

Urume noticed Roa and cried out in surprise.

The opposing team grew flustered, but that did not mean they could close the gap.

If anything, thanks to Roa’s efforts, the gap only kept widening.

Roa was amazing, but so was this river.

It had all kinds of fish, and in huge numbers.

Maybe this kind of fishing experience was something we could only have on this island.

“I shall make myself useful to you without fail, Master.”

Still, Roa’s all-purpose competence really was impressive.

It made sense, considering she had survived on her own for a while.

Apparently she hadn’t been able to fight beasts, so she had run until she ended up separated from the water source as well, collapsed, and was found by Mashiro.

Having her become one of our companions had been an enormous help.

“Ughhh. Let an hour pass alreadyyy.”

Shouko said it like a prayer.

It wasn’t as if that prayer had been answered, but when I happened to check the tablet screen, we had reached the point where only one minute remained before an hour had passed.

“Everyone! Abilities unlock in one minute!”

“Yes! Mashiro, Micron, get ready! Myao, you too, okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Sousuke! Can you put out an extra-large bucket for us too... no, maybe a tub big enough to use as a bath?”

“Yeah, got it.”

I could more or less guess what Shouko’s team was planning.

I placed the extra-large tub as requested.

Then one minute passed.

“For the remaining hour, abilities are allowed!”

As soon as I said it loudly enough for everyone to hear, Shouko’s team moved.

Mashiro entered the river and swatted with his front paws. Fish scooped up from underwater went flying through the air and dropped into the tub.

Micron skillfully did the same thing with her tail.

Miyao, who had the Transformation Ability, transformed into a bear and caught fish the same way Mashiro did.

“Nwahahaha! Now we’re speeding up!”

They certainly didn’t need to spend time baiting hooks or removing fish after catching them.

And if they did it a little farther away, the remaining members could keep trying to catch prey by fishing.

On top of that, this wasn’t the only strategy the enemy team had.

“...Maybe like this.”

I noticed Yumekai wasn’t using a fishing rod, but she was staring at the river as if concentrating on something.

Then, all of a sudden, countless fish floated up from the river.

No, that wasn’t it.

“Wait, is that a barrier?”

“...Hm? Oh, Kuno noticed? Nice.”

First, she deployed a barrier inside the river. She set the entry and exit conditions so fish could enter, but not leave.

That made fish gather inside the barrier.

Once they had built up, she maintained the barrier while shifting its coordinates.

As a result, a barrier containing a large number of fish moved into the air.

“It’s still hard to control, but apparently I can do things like this too.”

There were more than ten fish trapped inside the barrier, and after it moved over the huge tub, she released it.

At this point it was no longer “fishing,” but if we thought of it as “fishing industry,” then there was nothing wrong with having all kinds of methods.

“I see. If that’s how you’re doing it, then we’ll aim for a huge haul too!”

Roa’s efficiency was still a major asset, so I had her continue.

“Chiyu, Minori, help me!”

“Mm. We won’t let them turn this around.”

“Leave it to me. What should I do?”

“Chiyu, keep strengthening me nonstop. Minori, when I give the signal, use water magic.”

I quickly explained the plan.

The two of them understood right away.

Chiyu’s Strength Up wrapped my body in a pale glow.

I used my Crafting Ability to generate a large casting net.

Then I threw it into the river with all my momentum.

“Minori, now!”

“Yes—Water Wall!”

A wall of water appeared just barely outside the range of my casting net.

Now the fish couldn’t escape outside the net.

Pulling in such a large net required a lot of strength, but thanks to the enhancement, I somehow managed it.

When I hauled the net up, it was packed with wriggling fish.

“T-that’s incredible.”

“So-kun, you can become a fisherman too.”

“I doubt real fishing is this easy, though.”

I said it with a wry smile.

This huge haul was only possible because of this island and everyone’s abilities.

But it was clearly effective for this battle.

“Whaaat...!? F-fine, then I’ll get in the river too—”

“No, Shouko. I think we should just keep fishing normally.”

“Gngh. That’s true... We’re not losing, though!”

For the next hour, we changed spots here and there, but our contest continued.

Both teams caught so many fish that it was almost strange the whole area didn’t run out of them.

Then the sound of the timer rang through the river.

And the result of the contest was—