| Author: Cherish the World | Original Source: SFACG |
| Translator: raltzero | English Source: Re:Library |
On the next day, I woke up early as per usual, during the time when the weather was cold and moist as well as very misty.
As I walked out of the city, I breathed some hot air onto my hands. Then, I found myself some level ground to sit on by the lower reaches of the nearby river and retrieved the fishing rod from my back. First, I decided to sprinkle a small handful of sweet fermented rice to entice the fish. After doing that, I hooked an earthworm onto my fishing hook and slowly lowered it into the river. The river in winter is slow-moving and I’m also lazy, so I just silently waited for the fish to bite.
When roughly half the morning had gone by, there were several slender, silver-scaled fish lying on the ground beside me. The sort of fish resembled a long rhombus with plump meat and crispy fish bones. The scales all over it were silvery-white, making it look quite beautiful……and quite delicious. The reason why I fished up this kind of fish is because silver-scaled fish are relatively active and have ample appetites. Even in the winter, they’ll always be fighting for food.
After hooking around 6 or 7 of them, I put away my fishing rod and took out the jackknife on me to cut open the fish abdomens and removed their internal organs. Next, I cut the fishes on each side several times, pierced them with the several dried branches I found nearby and roasted it using a temporary campfire. After the rank smell of the fish gradually dissipated, I took out some homemade seasoning bottles from my bosom and poured it onto a brush. Without care for how much was sprinkled, I slowly brushed it onto the roasting fish.
A sweet-smelling fragrance instantly overflowed.
When one of the fish was roasted to a deep brown, I took it off the bonfire and took a big bite out of it. The outer fish skin was crispy and delicious with a slight charred fragrance. In contrast, the white fish meat on the inside was a tender delicacy with a gravy-like juice gushing out upon biting in, leaving behind some spice on my lips and teeth. Just as I was enjoying it with relish, the river in front of me suddenly rippled and a cold light shimmered first before a silver dagger flashed at me like a meteor streaking through the sky.
With a snap, the roasted fish in my hands, which I hadn’t finished eating, fell onto the ground.
The roasted fish had been cut in half along with the branch used to skewer it and even a section of my sideburns had been shaved off. The dagger edge brushed past my ear and nearly turned me into Black Cat Detective’s sworn enemy. 1
Shiloh gulped for breath as she had been lying in ambush under the water for some unknown amount of time. Seeing that her first sneak attack hadn’t been successful, she didn’t have the slightest will to continue fighting and turned around to leave. It was broad daylight this time and the surroundings were a spacious open wilderness. She had nowhere to escape except for the way she had just come, so she intended to jump back into the water and leave.
But her plain cotton clothes were soaked in the cold wintery water, causing the load on her body to be much greater than it usually would be and making her unable to move like a cyclone. She didn’t even go two steps before I pulled her back by her wrist.
“What are you doing? Are you an enthusiast for winter swimming? Staying underwater for so long on such a cold day, is it for strengthening your body?”
Shiloh held her dagger single-handedly as she coldly looked at me.
I waved my hand and said:
“Fine. You should be very clear on why I’m not being polite to you, yes? If you want to kill me, you only have one opportunity. Once you’ve exposed yourself, you won’t have a second opportunity. Moreover, there aren’t any other people in the surroundings this time, so it can be said that whether or not you can go completely depends on if I’m willing to let you go.”
Shiloh’s expression remained indifferent.
I could guess that she was looking for an opportunity to escape, but she temporarily hadn’t found a way out.
I took down one of the fish off the grill and used the fish head to poke Shiloh’s mouth.
Shiloh’s mouth was closed, but her eyes were glued to the roasted fish.
I laughed:
“Eat one! There isn’t any poison. Try my craftsmanship and I’ll let you go.”
Shiloh just barely opened her mouth and bit onto the fish, so I let go of her. Just as I was about to invite her to sit here, dry off, and eat another two fish, Shiloh held the roasted fish with her mouth and recoiled backwards like a frightened cat with upright-standing hair. With a fierce plunge, she dived into the water and disappeared.
I shook my head and scolded:
“What a waste, you’ve completely ruined the damn sauce on the fish.”
Even though I wasn’t able to see it with my own eyes, I knew that Shiloh had definitely found herself a place that she thought was safe before crawling out of the river and wringing her clothes dry. Then, as the clothes were drying in the sun, she would wear her thin nightwalking clothes, take down the now-cold roasted fish from her mouth, and immerse herself in chewing. After finishing it in two or three bites, she would lick her fingers as she threw the branch into some corner.
Just like a stray cat rummaging through the trash can on the streets.
But it doesn’t matter.
I slowly ate the remaining roasted fish, holding a piece of fish bone in my mouth and returned to my City Lord’s mansion with my fishing rod.
The next day, I went outside the city again.
This time, I entered the woods and collected a lot of dead branches and leaves. After that, I created an isolated circle using pebbles and laid the branches and leaves within the circle before igniting it.
Following the gradual rise of the flames, I took out two sweet potatoes from my bosom and threw it into the bonfire. Using a branch I found on the side, I turned over some of the dead leaves and buried the sweet potatoes underneath them. Then, I found myself an area to lie down on and waited in silence.
When the dried branches and withered leaves started slowly dying out and the blaze gradually faded away, I used a branch to push aside the remaining branches and lightly brushed the ashes off. From the smoldering leaf remnants, I found the two sweet potatoes, picked them up, and began peeling the skin off them. A captivating aroma wafted off of the warm, steaming sweet potatoes and at the same time, the sound of wind came from the top of my head.
As everyone knows, lolis grow on trees in the winter.
And when the loli matures, she’ll naturally fall off the tree and do a free fall.
But you must be careful towards this simple, wild loli as they are very dangerous. She’ll be holding a dagger and threaten the lives of any and all those sitting under her tree at any time and anywhere.
But there’s also no need to be flustered. So long as you move sideways at this time, she will fall face-first into the pile of cold ashes.
When she lifted up her head, her face was black like a small charcoal briquette.
I casually tossed the baked sweet potatoes in my hands at her. In comparison, Shiloh was holding her dagger with both hands and some of the ash dust had gotten into her eyes. She thought that I had thrown some hidden weapon at her, so she opened her small mouth and bit onto it. Afterwards, she rapidly withdrew to a very far area before she used her sleeve to rub the ash dust off her face. Once the charcoal briquette turned into a zebra, Shiloh opened her eyes, lightly sniffed, and took the sweet smelling baked sweet potato down from her mouth.
I didn’t glance at her and instead absorbed myself in peeling off the skin from the other baked sweet potato, exposing the golden-bright flesh. Then, I bit down and enjoyed the delightful, warm feeling. Shiloh stood in place for a while before deciding to keep the sweet potato and ran away.
As for which dark corner she’ll be finding for herself to eat it, this shouldn’t have anything to do with me. It’s like raising a hamster; it can obviously eat the food you throw it in front of you, yet it decided to hide it within its cheek pouch, find a place to hide, and eat it stealthily. Perhaps its innate nature is to be like this, so it’s best to not force anything.
“See you tomorrow~”
After shouting this sentence in the direction she escaped to, I yawned and threw the rest of the sweet potato into my mouth. Today’s Shiloh has been comparatively less hostile than yesterday, which, in my opinion, is a very big improvement.
I’m not in a hurry. Winter, after all, is the season of laziness.
Once I buried the bonfire ashes, I patted the ash dust off of myself and prayed for these woods to grow even better next year. With that done, I stood up and returned to West-Resisting City.
