Isekai Nonbiri Sozai Saishu Seikatsu - Chapter 200

“Ha!”

Before long, Franryule, who had fainted, sprang up.

Then, looking around in a hurry, she murmured as if recalling the previous incident.

“I, I… leapt onto a rubber leaf…”

“Even though it was an emergency, I’m sorry for the rather rough way of moving.”

“No, if anything, it was my carelessness that caused it, so there’s no need for you to apologize, Shuu-san. If you hadn’t helped me, I would have panicked and fallen without being able to do anything. Thank you for saving me.”

Franryule bowed her head and thanked him.

It seems she wasn’t angry, even though it turned out to be a rather traumatic experience.

That’s good.

“No, no, it’s my role to protect Franryule-san.”

“……”

“Franryule? Are you okay? Your face is red, and you don’t seem to be feeling well, do you?”

Franryule, with a red face, was staring in a daze.

“N-no, it’s nothing! Oh-hoho!”

When he asked out of concern, Franryure snapped back to reality and smiled.

“This is what the psychology professor called the suspension bridge effect! It’s definitely not that kind of feeling…”

Holding her chest, Franryule muttered something in a low voice.

She had just made such a thrilling leap. Perhaps her breathing hadn’t settled yet.

Let’s wait a little longer until she’s in perfect condition.

“Thank you for waiting. I’m fine now. Let’s move on.”

“Understood.”

While waiting, drinking water, and having a light snack, Franryule seemed to have completely calmed down.

Once she was in top condition, we decided to climb the vine and move on.

However, what was concerning was Franryule’s suspicious behavior.

She kept staring at me, and when I turned around, thinking she needed something, she quickly looked away.

If it happened once or twice, it could be my imagination, but when it repeated five or six times, I couldn’t help but notice.

“Is something wrong?”

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

When I couldn’t help but ask, that was the response I received.

“I see.”

Being answered like that, I couldn’t ask anything further.

Her walking was normal, and she didn’t seem angry, so there shouldn’t be any problem.

Deciding not to worry about Franryule’s strange behavior, I walked ahead.

The vegetation along the path of the giant tree had drastically changed, perhaps due to the shortcut taken via the rubber leaves.

The vines were as thick as large trees and grew in a spiral pattern.

It seemed as though the vines of the giant tree were inviting us to climb higher and higher.

Due to the altitude, the air felt a bit chilly.

Occasionally, the wind blew strongly, causing the thin vines to sway, which was a bit scary.

“Will we find the skyfish soon?”

“Ah, yes. We should find the skyfish soon, as we’re approaching seven hundred meters.”

“What kind of fish are skyfish?”

“As the name suggests, they are fish that swim freely in the sky. They travel in schools and always move with the air currents around the giant tree. Speak of the devil, there they are! Those are skyfish!”

Just as Franryule explained, the skyfish appeared.

Following her pointing finger with my gaze, I saw a school of blue fish.

【Skyfish】

Fish that inhabit the skies around the giant tree, swimming in the air.

About forty centimeters in length. When they spread their wings, their width exceeds seventy centimeters.

Strictly speaking, they glide on air currents using their wing membranes, with a direct flight range of five hundred meters.

They have the habit of flying in schools, reaching speeds of one hundred kilometers per hour.

Delicious when grilled with salt or seared, their roe is also tasty. They make excellent soup stock as well.

After appraising them, it was confirmed they were indeed skyfish.

Despite not being in the ocean, the fish swam gracefully through the air.

Their appearance was surreal yet highly enchanting and very beautiful.

Their silver bellies and wings sparkled in the sunlight.

“So those are skyfish! They’re beautiful!”

Gazing at the skyfish, I couldn’t help but express my admiration.

The entire school moved as one, with not a single fish straying.

“By the way, how do we catch them?”

“In past captures, they’ve been caught with insect nets when they came close or fished one by one with rods.”

When I asked, Franryule replied, pulling an insect net and fishing rod from her magic bag.

“How many were caught that way?”

“…They managed to catch four over three days.”

I thought so. It might not be impossible, but it certainly seems extremely difficult.

Executing this would require extraordinary physical ability and mental strength.

In my view, the skyfish were moving at incredible speed.

Even if I stood ready with an insect net, I didn’t feel confident I could catch any.

“Skyfish don’t migrate aimlessly; they feed on the sky beans growing on the giant tree. If we wait with nets near the sky beans, we might catch at least one…”

She stood ready near the sky beans, but the skyfish skillfully avoided Franryule and only ate the beans as they passed by.

“How about throwing the net instead of using an insect net?”

“That’s a great idea!”

Franryule exclaimed with shining eyes as she took out a casting net and nodded.

We positioned ourselves again by the wild sky beans and waited for the skyfish to come.

After a while, the school of skyfish circled back towards us.

As the skyfish approached, I spread the net wide and threw it just before they could dodge.

“Got them!”

The casting net, spread over a wide area, successfully caught the school of skyfish.

However, in the next moment, the skyfish broke through, and the casting net fell down.

“Oh no!”

What reflected in the sunlight were the sharp wings and fins of the skyfish.

“They tore it apart.”

It seemed their sharp wings and fins had sliced through the casting net.

“Still, using a casting net for a school of skyfish doesn’t seem like a bad strategy.”

The problem was that even if we threw the net, their sharp fins and wings would tear it apart.

If we could solve that issue, we could catch many skyfish at once.

“Shall I stun them with my lightning magic?”

“…No, it’s better not to. Skyfish have very low defense.”

While I considered using electric shock fishing, the assessment revealed that skyfish, specialized for flight, had very low defense. Additionally, they were weak to electricity and heat, and shocking them would likely result in them getting charred to death.

“To incapacitate them, we should aim for a method that minimizes injury.”

Using ice magic to freeze them was another option, but freezing them into ice blocks would likely cause them to plummet to the ground, making retrieval difficult. Preferably, that would be a last resort.

Is there any better method?

Franryule and I folded our arms and thought deeply.

“Hmm, my magic doesn’t have anything that convenient.”

If magic was out, then maybe some other tool… and then I had a flash of inspiration.

“Ah! It’s not magic, but I have a useful item!”

“Really?”

What I pulled out from the magic bag was a sound-light sphere that Lumia had made.

It’s an item that emits a flash and loud noise when it bursts, and it had been very effective against the Red Dragon that appeared near Granter.

While it couldn’t knock out the Red Dragon, it might be able to incapacitate the skyfish.

“When I throw it, Franryule, please throw the casting net at the falling skyfish.”

“Understood!”

I explained the effect of the sound-light sphere and handed her earplugs for noise protection.

For flash protection, I gave her sunglasses made from the processed light-blocking eyes of the Black Antler.

We both looked quite suspicious, but this way, even if the sound-light sphere burst nearby, we would be fine.

With earplugs and sunglasses on, I readied the sound-light sphere, while Franryule prepared the casting net.

After a short wait, the skyfish circled back towards us.

They came with their fins and wings spread wide, more so than before.

Perhaps they were annoyed by us repeatedly interrupting their meal.

If this continued, Franryule and I would be at risk of getting slashed.

However, we stuck to our plan and drew the skyfish closer without fear.

When the school of skyfish descended and came directly in front of us, I threw the item.

“Sound-light sphere!”

The sphere flew and hit the forehead of the leading skyfish with a thud.

The impact caused the sphere to burst, spreading a flash of light and a delayed thunderous noise.

Protected from the intense light by our sunglasses, we saw the skyfish lose consciousness and begin to fall.

“Franryule!”

“Yes!”

As planned, Franryule threw the casting net.

It spread wide in the air.

Despite the turbulent air currents, the net spread perfectly, likely because Franryule was using wind magic as well.

The large net caught the falling school of skyfish all at once.

“We did it—whoa, it’s heavy! Please help, Shuu-san!”

Franryule tried to pull the net filled with skyfish using wind magic, but it was too heavy to lift with magic alone due to the large catch.

In a hurry, I activated wind magic, creating an air current under the net to help lift it.

With a thud, the net filled with skyfish was placed in front of us.

Once we could catch our breath, we removed our sunglasses and earplugs.

“The light and sound were more intense than I imagined.”

“This item was made by Saffy’s apprentice.”

“Alchemists can create not only magical tools but also such convenient items, it seems.”

Franryule looked impressed.

Although I didn’t make it myself, it felt good as a regular customer to have the items from my favorite shop praised.

I felt grateful to Lumia, who had made it. I’d have to thank her properly when we got back.

“Now we’ve got the skyfish.”

“Yes, thanks to you, Shuu-san, they’re very fresh.”

The skyfish in the net were still twitching.

I took one out of the net to examine it.

“It’s light!”

It was about forty centimeters long but very light.

“Skyfish have evolved to fly, so their bodies are as light as those of birds.”

I see. Birds are also light and have fewer organs, as I’ve heard.

Skyfish must have undergone a similar evolution.

While I had only seen them from afar before, they looked even more beautiful up close.

Their backs were a deep blue, and their bellies were white. The blue covering half of their bodies might be to blend in with the sky.

Their bodies were sleek from head to tail, so sharp that touching them carelessly might cut the skin.

“Their wings are beautiful.”

When I spread the large wings, I saw thin bones covered by a transparent membrane.

The transparency was so high that the background was visible through it.

Using these wings and fins, they flew through the sky. Amazing.

“We caught a lot. What should we do with them?”

After finishing my close examination, I asked Franryule.

There were easily over five hundred skyfish in the net. Was it alright to capture them all?

“Well, capturing this many might have unforeseen effects, so let’s limit it to about a hundred.”

“Understood. There are about a hundred that are in a state of suspended animation, so we can store them immediately.”

Upon examining them, I found some skyfish in a state of suspended animation, which could be stored directly in the magic bag. This saved the trouble of individually securing them.

After storing about a hundred skyfish in suspended animation, I lightly sprayed them with water to revive them.

When we untied the net, the skyfish flew off into the sky.

It felt strange to release fish into the sky, but it was a beautiful sight.

“Now, there’s just one more ingredient left that Artorius-sama requested.”

“Yes! All that’s left is to aim for the summit!”

The giant tree fruit at the top. I look forward to seeing what it will be like.