CH 56.1

Gentiles

「There it is. 『Shiobuki-tei (Tide Blowing Pavilion)』… Rather, now that you mention it, for it to have a Japanese sign after all this, it’s super fishy, isn’t it?」

「So it’s not『The Spouter-Inn』 or『Shiobuki (Water Blowing)』, huh. I got the gist of it.」

The time was year 1814, the place was in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the center of the North American whaling industry.

Until the latter half of the 19th century, it was known as one of the world’s leading whaling ports, along with Nantucket and New London, Connecticut.

At that time, whales were regarded as no more than resources, the same as coal and iron ore.

The main purpose was the whale oil that was used in various things such as lighting lamps, and while the whales were dismantled on the sea and stripped of their blubber and brain oil for oil extraction, the rest of the meat and bones were dumped directly into the sea as it was.

It was said that from one average sized whale, about 150 barrels of whale oil could be collected.

In particular, the brain oil in the head of the sperm whale was considered to be a first class commodity.

By the middle of the 17th century, the whales of the Atlantic Ocean were already exhausted and the hunting grounds were moved to the Pacific Ocean.

The main consumers of whale oil were Europe and the U.S., and in the 19th century, the U.S. became the largest whaling nation in the world.

Boasting a fleet of over 7,000 whaling ships in its heyday, it was no exaggeration to say that they had exhausted whales from the oceans all around the world.

The reason why the U.S. pressed Japan, which was in the state of enacting a national isolation policy, to open its borders to the rest of the world was because it wished for a supply base for the whaling carried out at the coast of Japan.

Moreover, by the time when the 19th century was approaching its end, the sperm and North Pacific right whales off the coast of Japan had been exhausted mainly by the U.S. whaling fleet, and the dependence on oil resourced energy, whose development had advanced at the same time, led to a decline in whaling.

Giving a sidelong glance to Japan, which had just scraped along and utilized whale meat and blood as food, medicine, and industrial products since the olden days, in the early 20th century, whale resources were once again reevaluated worldwide as an industrial commodity, and the number of whales was inevitably further reduced from the oceans all around the world.

『White Whale: Moby Dick: Or, the Whale』 was a story written based on such a time setting.

「Now then, there should be a man named『Queequeg』 in this place. He probably has tattoos all over his body, so I think he should be easy to recognize.」

「Wow. You’re so amazing, Shizuka-chan. Do you remember the entire contents of this Moby Dick book?」

「… Yeah, well…」

If you extracted the story part alone, the novel titled『Moby Dick』 was very simple.

The story, which began with『Ishmael』 serving as the narrator, developed based on the theme of whaling.

The theme of the story was the battle between『Ahab』, a mad captain obsessed with revenge, and the arch-enemy he chased after, the『Moby Dick』, or so you might think, but what occupied the majority of the text was discussion pertaining to whaling.

The author wanted to confer his extensive knowledge pertaining to whaling, and while he was at it, he wished for people to listen to his views on right and wrong as well as religion, too.

That was right, since no one was willing to listen to him, he decided to spread it to the world in the form of a novel, and the flavoring for that purpose was the clash between the Captain and Moby Dick.

Thus, the points that ought to be grasped as a story were surprisingly few in number.

The main character, 『Ishmael』, boarded the whale hunting ship Pequod, and chased after the『Moby Dick』 along with Captain『Ahab』 and his crews, and in the end, they got the table turned on them and the ship sunk.

As far as the general flow of the story was concerned, that was all there was to it.

The group that had been exploring the town in two groups met up and looked up at a pub that put up a sign saying『Shiobuki-tei』.

The investigation members were in the formation of Seiichi and Mai, Miharu and Rinko, Shizuka and Saki, and Natsumi and Mikan.

The rest of the Craftsman members were finishing up a certain piece of work under Shizuka’s direction, while Kaoru stayed behind to serve as the guard of those girls.

「For better or worse, it’s one of the ten great novels in the world, so I believe those in the know are in the majority.」

「I’ve at least heard of the title, but I’ve never read it, I suppose….」

「To put it bluntly, after reading it, you will feel a sense of emptiness, akin to attaining enlightenment, as well as a sense of resignation, wondering why you picked up this novel.」

Ruthlessly cutting it off and tossing it aside, Shizuka glared at Shiobuki-tei.

They were dressed in attires that blatantly screamed gentiles, but the residents of the town did not show any particular reaction.

「The question is, will the main character, 『Ishmael』, exist, or will we have to play that role, but…. For the time being, let’s beat the crap out of『Queequeg』 and secure him.」

「Hey.」

「As expected of Shizuka. So simple and easy to understand.」

「I’m not going to waste my time listening to the overly ornate, roundabout and long-winded speeches as in the original work. Let’s ignore the favorability events and keep collecting the key characters.」

A few moments later, shouts and screams could be heard from inside Shiobuki-tei, and a group of robbers and kidnappers carrying a sack that could hold a single person came out.

「Next, let’s go to the Seamen’s Bethel.」

「Okay. Let’s keep going.」

「… Is this really going to be okay?」

◇ ◇ ◇

「M, meal~….」

「Then, you know what to do. Doggy-san.」

A deal Doggy-san who ends up getting hungry instantly.

The figure of her plopping down into an大 character and growling exudes no sexiness at all.

But I also have nothing to do, so let’s make her comfort my ennui.

「D, demon~. Sex beast~. You’re intending to toy with me again~.」

「Then I’ll take this botamochi for myself.」

「That’s just too cruel~. Geez, just do whatever you want.」

I got her commitment.

I toy with Doggy-san who gave in to her appetite and sold her body to me.

「Yum. Rather, is sticking and rubbing your face against my belly fun?」

「Verily.」

Perhaps finding it ticklish, Doggy-san doesn’t like it, but the fluffy level of her belly is very high.

The fur on the back is quite hard, and the tail for instance is so crisp.

I wonder if she regularly washes it with some fabric softener.

「The fluffiness over here is the softest, so….」

In exchange for food, it could be said that I’ve thoroughly known about the condition of Doggy-san’s body.

「Doing mofumofu things is fine and all, but I think it’s fine even a bit more erotic event were to occur.」

「How presumptuous.」

Even though she’s just a Doggy-san, what in the world is she talking about?

Even if she wags her hips at me, I just genuinely find it charming.

「I feel like I’ve been terribly insulted. Or rather, where are you getting the meal from? If by any chance you have some kind of magic item that makes delicious food come out infinitely, I’ll trade it with everything I have, so please give it to me.」

「Even if you do a dogeza a straight face, I don’t have such a wonderful item.」

It’s simply that Yuki-chan has been sharing her harvest with us.

It seems that there was an abundant harvest of rice.

Yuki-chan’s farm, which can have twelve period crops, let alone semi-annual crops, reeks of cheat.

「For the time being, let’s eat it while it’s hot.」

「Wow, delicious-looking rice porridge has appeared!」

This time, she blesses us with a big iron pot full of egg porridge.

Yuki-chan truly is a goddess.

Perhaps using the Ushi-oni that we couldn’t finish eating and ended up turned into jerky, quite the nice broth she has produced.

At this rate, I get the feeling that I’m going to end up getting fat.

What a harsh survival it is.

◇ ◇ ◇

「You guys, if you’re planning to get on that ship, you’d better drop it. Haven’t you ever heard of the story of Ahab? Ahab, the man cursed by the god, on his last voyage, whale…. Gebu.」

「Prophet, obtained!」

「On a day when although there is no island, it smells of one, Ahab will die and rise again, beckoning everyone. And then they will all die, leaving one person behind…. It said. Ah, and we don’t need Elijah the prophet, so please leave him alone. He may pop up later on his own, though.」

「… I’m not sure what to say about conquering a『Lore (Legend)』 quest in such a power-driven, bulldozing manner.」

Next to the several sacks that had ended up becoming completely quiet, Kaoru, holding his forehead, let out a sigh.

「Well, the scene is certainly progressing, though.」

「Yes. Without Touma-kun around, Shizuka-chan and the others are starting to get out of control, I suppose. In a lot of ways.」

「Let’s go back to the whaling ship Pequod. The preparation to depart should have been in order. Mikan-senpai, how’s the situation with that thing?」

In response to Shizuka’s question, Mikan gave a thumbs up and nodded.

「It was done a long time ago. Currently, it’s more like I’m attaching all sorts of additional equipment with everyone.」

「Now then, well. Let’s get it started, shall we…. haa.」

「It’s a rare chance to play a leading role, so put your spirits into it!」

Mai literally kicked Seiichi’s ass as he dropped his shoulders.

「Well then, let’s get going. To the sea, where Touma-san and the Moby Dick are.」