Chapter 80.3 - Journey to the Royal Capital 1 Part 3

Editor: Thor’s Stone

“Hey, guys! You can come over here if you wanna try fishing!”

Within moments, dozens of people already rushed over. It looks like everyone wanted to try it as well.

I explained the techniques and gave them a quick demonstration. It wasn’t that difficult, so they should be able to do it properly with just a little practice. I let Katolle try it out first.

His first throw didn’t manage to land very far, but his second one did. He started reeling it in and immediately got a hit.

“Alan-sama! This is–!?”

“Raise the rod and start winding the reel! But do it steadily.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Once you get your catch, another person can switch over.”

“Understood!”

Now then, I guess I’ll fetch some containers to put the fish in as well as the chopping board. I went back to the campsite and found it completely set up.

“Alan-sama, just what are they doing at the riverside?”

Nils from the supply procurement team called out to me and asked. He was one of the few experienced cooks among the Clan members and was apparently quite a skilled one as well. It looks like everyone from the supply procurement team was helping out in making soup.

“Oh, they’re catching fish for dinner. Let’s have grilled fish for tonight. Sorry, but can you guys bring out the large iron plate and prepare it for cooking for me?”

“Understood.”

Tonight’s menu will be grilled salmon fillets with salt.

“I’ll bring you guys fish fillets later and you guys can grill them for tonight’s dinner. You can flavor them with salt. You can also use a bit of pepper and herbs for additional flavor.”

“Understood. I grew up in a town by a river, so I’m pretty good when it comes to grilling fish.”

I returned to the riverside with a cutting board and two large pots. It seems Cleria and the others have already managed to catch more than a dozen fish. With this many, I guess we’ll have more than enough fillets to distribute to everyone.

I had those who were idle carry the fish for me and went downstream in order to start preparing the fish.

“Alan-sama, let us help you out.”

Walter and several others offered to help me. The fishes we managed to catch were being carried over one after another and even if they weren’t exactly that many, I would still have trouble handling them all by myself.

“Sure. I’ll be counting on you guys then.”

However, it seems they weren’t actually able to properly fillet the fish, so I ended up dividing our responsibilities instead.

Some were responsible for scraping off the scales while others were in charge of splitting open the bellies of the fish and removing their innards, washing them clean, and filleting them into three parts. I handled filleting the fish.

We prepared the fish akin to an assembly line. The large pots that were filled to the brim with fish fillets were then brought to Nils and his men.

It’s getting dark already. I guess it’s about time.

“Tell Ria and the others to stop fishing.”

“Understood.”

Then, about fifteen minutes later, we finally finished filleting the last of the salmon. Whew. It was my first time preparing this much fish.

We really caught a lot of them huh. By my count, we caught a total of 25 fish, including the trout I managed to bring in. If we divided them between a hundred-eight people, we’d each have about three to four fish slices each. They were sufficient for tonight’s side dish.

I then went back to the campsite together with Cleria and the others. The girls were very satisfied with their catch and were talking excitedly about them along the way. In the end, it was apparently Elna who caught the biggest fish.

Well, at least Cleria and the girls enjoyed themselves, and we were able to secure some food at the same time.

When we reached camp, I was able to smell the aroma of fish being grilled on the iron plate. It was already quite dark outside, but the vicinity of the camp was brightly lit, as we brought a good number of light magic tools for home use and hung them up on tree branches.

After all fish fillets were grilled, it was finally time for dinner. The menu was bread, vegetable soup, grilled whole fish, and grilled fish fillets that were piled up high on top of large plates.

By the way, the baron and his attendants were sharing the same table with us this time as well. It was only natural since he was a noble and sort of our client.

I expressed my thanks to the supply procurement team who handled the cooking and ate my portion. I started with the fish fillet slices.

Yup, they were delicious. They had plenty of fat and were salted exquisitely. A faint aroma of herbs also wafted from them.

“It’s delicious! Freshly caught fish is the best after all!”

“Exactly! The fish dishes we ate in the city all used dried fish, so this feels quite luxurious.”

Voices exclaiming how delicious the food was rose up from various tables around the camp.

It’s true that we couldn’t eat fish dishes that use fresh ones instead of the dried variety usually apart from opportunities like this one. We could prepare lots of ice and have the fish transported back to the city, but that would probably cost us quite a lot.

In that sense, fresh fish can actually be said to be luxury items in this world huh.

“To think you’d be able to catch this much fish. As expected of Shining Star,” the baron praised.

Everyone seemed happy to hear the baron’s praises. The meal ended with a harmonious atmosphere.

“Alan-sama, we’ll station five sentries to watch over the camp and have the lookouts work in shifts.”

Adjutant Dalshim gave out a suggestion that I couldn’t help but nod in agreement to.

“I understand. I’ll leave it to you. We’ll be in your care then.”

If something did happen, I would notice it right away and get woken up via an alarm, so sentries weren’t really necessary though. But you can never be too secure, as they say. Let’s leave it to them then.

Now it was time to sleep. For security reasons, my personal tent, the tents of Cleria and the girls, and the baron’s tent were all placed in the middle of the camp.

After dimming the light given off by the magic tools, everyone proceeded to crawl inside their tents to sleep.

Oh, Iris was calling me.

『Captain, I have some interesting information for you.』

(What is it?)

『The Atlas Church, the largest denomination of the Ruminas religion, has officially recognized the ‘apostles’ as the envoys of Goddess Ruminas. The announcement was made ten days ago.』

(………The ‘apostles’? Wait, you mean the drones?)

『That’s right.』

The Ruminas religion worships the goddess Ruminas as their one true god, and it could be said that almost all people on this planet were its believers. The doctrine was quite peaceful, and it didn’t arouse much repulsion even from a tried and true atheist like me.

Of course, there were various other denominations of the religion, but the largest one actually recognized the drones as the apostles and envoys of Ruminas huh.

(How much of a share does the Atlas church have in terms of influence and believers?)

『It’s estimated to be about 60% of the total.』

(That’s quite a considerable share. By the way, what’s the official state religion of this country?)

『It’s the Atlas church.』

(In any case, they actually recognized them quite easily huh. I suppose that’s just how fast the story about the ‘apostles’ has been spreading among the general populace?)

『That’s right. By the way, forty-five days ago, a herd of Orcs attacked a carriage that raised the flag of the Atlas church, and a drone happened to pass by and helped it out. Perhaps that event has something to do with it.』

I see. It’s possible that a high-ranking clergy member was riding inside that carriage and he or she was the one who pushed for the drone’s recognition.

But it did feel somewhat rash of them though.

『Captain, we must get a handle on religion as soon as possible.』

(Yeah, I understand. We’ll start making some moves once we arrive at the royal capital. ……I’m going to sleep now. Over and out.)

Religion huh…… How troublesome.

I see. I wasn’t really good with things related to religion, so I might have unconsciously avoided the topic until now.

However, considering the cultural development of this planet, it was an unavoidable problem. This thing regarding apostles may prove useful later on.

Well, we’ll need to get up early tomorrow, so I better go to sleep now.

(D-1, go and dispose of all the monsters lurking near the camp.)

『Roger.』