It seems that the fish names created some confusion, let me explain everything here.

Esaraharu is skipjack tuna
Orlein is normal tuna
Naiban is kelp

Such is the setting. [¹]

When I opened my eyes, I found myself on top of the bed in the mansion. How much did I drink? I can’t recall how I even got here. My head is filled with lead. A hangover. There was no one around me. Usually, I can find Mei’s and Rico’s beautiful faces next to me but not today.

I applied recovery magic to ease my headache. Although wobbling, I managed to stand up. I got up from the bed, changed my clothes, and went outside.

「Riko~」

Rico wasn’t present in her room. Mei wasn’t in her room either. I went down the stairs and headed for the dining room. No one was present there too.

「Gon~. Ferris~. Peris~. Luara~. Where are you~? 」

There was never a time when no one was present in the mansion. A sense of unease quietly forced its way into my heart. What happened with everyone? Where did they go?

Come to think of it, Irimo and Jeneha should be outside. I hurriedly made my way to the stables. There, I saw Irimo.

「Irimo. I’m glad. You are here. Where is Jeneha? Where is everyone? 」

However, Irimo just quietly averted her face from me. [²]

「Irimo?」

She doesn’t look me in the eyes. I stood up and teleported to the Kairiku town to avoid the awkwardness. I heard a noisy voice from the beach. I made my way in the direction of the voice at full speed.

There was a crowd there. In the center of the crowd, there was…..Rico!

「Rico~~~!」

I approached Rico while waving my hand. Ah, this dignified face, pure white skin, and flat chest. It’s Rico, it’s my Rico.

「Rico~ I became worried when I didn’t find you upon waking up. I’m glad」

「What are you, smelly! It stinks! Do something about your foul breath! 」

I ended up being rejected by Rico in front of me. Amongst the laughing crowd, I quietly applied purification magic to my mouth and body. Come to think, I spent my time drinking and eating the esaraharu together with garlic. No wonder it smells.

Looking closely, there was also Peris, Ferris, and Luara. Everyone came here to deliver breakfast to the people. Since I was sleeping like a log, they completely ditched me. And Mei went to check the drying barrier, condition, and taste of the dried esaraharu.

「There shouldn’t be any problems with this method」

Then she proceeded to explain the method to operate this barrier to the women of the sea tribe.

For now, I gathered everyone after the breakfast. Although we managed to exterminate the esaraharu here, another town, Tohotsu, is facing the same problem. There are also salt-producing facilities there, we shouldn’t delay too much. As such, I decided to move leaving behind only a bare minimum of people.

After two hours of walking, we reached the Tohotsu city. We began planning as I distributed the boxed lunches. In essence, the plan is the same as before. After a short strategy meeting, we proceeded with the plan.

Everyone performed with a great sense of familiarity in their movements. The plan proceeded at a greater pace than a day before. And as we dealt with the esaraharu, an even bigger fish showed itself.

「……Naiban! Naiban came out! 」

The sea tribe people caused a commotion. I heard that it’s an elusive fish that you can’t easily find. It was a few meters in size. It kept swallowing the esaraharu in great numbers. Since I had an opportunity, I decided to capture about 10 of them. As expected, even the sea tribe had a hard time with them, the task was finally completed near the evening.

While they were at it, I made another drying barrier and a new, experimental one. That was the barrier with a function to remove the microbes.

I spent a lot of MP to make it and put the esaraharu inside. I brought them out in the evening and tried eating them. To be honest, it was tasty. I made this barrier using the idea of canned good, but it seems to be a success. I decided to store this time’s sashimi there. I also stored the esaraharu that is yet to be dismantled in it.

Today’s dinner was made out of the esaraharu and naiban. Naiban sashimi were exquisite. Same as the day before, there was a loud party, but I don’t intend to repeat the same mistake again. Rico and rest teleported back to the mansion while I spent my time drinking until morning. As for me facing the sea and trying to imitate ma*ion?  This would be my little secret.

In the morning, I somehow recovered from my hangover and stood up. When I went to confirm whether Mei’s lectures about dried esaraharu bore fruit when everyone teleported over. After everyone had breakfast, I invited willing people amongst the soldiers and adventurers to stay in this territory. Unexpectedly, several dozen of them raised their hands. It seems that they bonded with the sea tribe through the night of drinking.

After the talk with the head of the Tohotsu city, I decided to station 15 humans here. The sea tribe will take care of their housing. Don’t mistake it for a gratitude, but I also erected a barrier around the city to prevent people with malicious intentions from entering.

Then, I returned to the Kairiku town and cast a 「fish won’t rot」barrier here too, I also left the esaraharu from the other town here. Afterwards, I took the rest of the people with me to the Kurumfar mansion and constructed the living quarters nearby.

Even if I call it living quarters, it’s just a barrier. I made it impossible to see inside of it from the outside akin to a magic mirror. It’s not that spacious, but I spent a lot of MP to adjust the temperature and its defensive qualities. This should be enough for 150 people. When it was finally completed, I became unsteady on my feet.

Meanwhile, the men created a simple toilet while women made it suitable to live in, the living environment was established surprisingly fast. Squeezing what was left of my power, I dug a well using earth magic and hardened the surroundings making it usable. Some people expressed their desire to construct the houses themselves, perhaps it’s better to leave it to them.

I handed the lunch boxes for today, together with clothing and daily necessities. I thought that it would bring some disorder but Pius and Aga distributed the good in an organized fashion. From that perspective, the fact that the new arrivals didn’t file any complaints demonstrated their leading capabilities. As expected from the ones who have been brought up by Rico.

The women approached Rico to express their gratitude for the vast amount of daily necessities.

「Do not thank me」

「But Ricolette-sama……」

「You should thank my husband, Rinos. If you want to thank someone, thank him」

「Rinos-sama, thank you very much. We have found a place to live」

「I’m glad for you. It would be nice to make it into a nice city! No, let’s make it a nice city! 」

「Yes!」

A full radiant smile. Rico seems to be satisfied.

Being sent off by that smile we returned to the mansion. I, who wasted almost all of my MP, fell asleep immediately without eating dinner.

And once again, I greeted the next day.