"Hm?"

The commotion of the port festival had settled, and we were about to head back when I noticed a shadowy figure peeking into the festival grounds from an alleyway.

Though their clothes were a bit worn and dirty, they wore a choker—a clear sign that they were a slave. Slaves weren’t uncommon at the festival, so that alone wasn’t surprising.

Maybe they had heard about the festival but arrived too late. Rio and I exchanged glances and nodded before approaching the alley.

"The butchering show is already over."

When I peeked around the corner and informed them, the figure flinched, their shoulders trembling as they looked up at me with a frightened expression.

They appeared to be a young child, perhaps around early elementary school age, with large fox ears on their head. Though their clothes were worn out, I could see fluffy tufts of fur peeking from their waist—meaning they likely had more than one tail, just like Nir.

"Here, this is for you."

Rio pulled out a freshly grilled fish fillet from her dimensional storage, the same kind that had been served just moments ago.

"…?"

They tilted their head, seemingly unsure of what to do. But the aroma was too tempting to resist. Their nose twitched, and I could see a bit of drool forming at the corner of their mouth.

"Take this too."

I added a plate of carpaccio and handed both dishes over, pressing them into the fox-eared child’s hands.

"Make sure to come earlier next time."

Without waiting for a response, we turned on our heels and headed back to the inn.

The next morning, just as Mognov had suggested, we made our way to the morning market at the port. The sun had barely begun to rise, but for the fishermen, it was already the end of their workday. Boats were returning to the docks, unloading a diverse array of seafood.

Among those disembarking, I spotted what looked like adventurers. Maybe the guild had requests for ship escorts while out at sea.

"…Come to think of it, we haven’t done any guild work in a while."

"Ahaha, we’ve just been eating our way through the city, haven’t we?"

"Let’s stop by the guild tomorrow."

With our plan set, we wandered through the market, browsing the fresh seafood on display. Neatly arranged wooden crates were filled with fish, shellfish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine delicacies.

"We’ll take all of this."

"A-All of it…?"

The fisherman looked at me in shock, but I ignored his reaction and continued buying up everything in sight. With all the massive fish we had caught, I wanted to make sure we had plenty of variety in our stock.

As we made our way deeper into the market, we came across a wooden crate filled with a mix of different fish.

"What’s this?"

Curious, Rio asked one of the fishermen. He smirked and explained.

"These are the ones that don’t make it to the regular market. Some just don’t sell well, but others are poisonous."

"Poisonous?"

Like pufferfish back on Earth, maybe? Something that’s edible if prepared correctly?

"Yeah, some have mild toxins. Some folks actually enjoy the tingling sensation they leave on the tongue."

"Ehh…"

Wait, isn’t that just eating poison? …Well, now that I think about it, I do have poison resistance. That means I could probably eat these no problem.

"There’s also something we call the 'Demon of the Sea' mixed in here… Not even most fishermen dare to eat it. Only the real weirdos give it a shot."

The 'Demon of the Sea,' huh? If some people eat it, that means it’s technically edible, right?

"That sounds intriguing."

"Yeah, I’d like to see it for myself."

Rio and I exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. Definitely worth investigating.

"O-Oh, is that so…"

The fisherman looked disturbed by our enthusiasm, but if there were new ingredients to discover, I didn’t care.

"If that’s the case, there’s a section over there for all the weird stuff. You might find something interesting."

"Oh, thanks! We’ll check it out later."

For now, we focused on the odd fish in front of us. Among them was one that was completely purple. Could this be one of the poisonous ones?

＝＝＝＝＝
Name: None
Species: Illegal Veil
Description: A monster that inhabits shallow ocean waters worldwide.
It carries poison beneath its skin. If bitten or pricked by its fins,
the toxin enters the body.
It’s a weak toxin, so it rarely results in death.
Status: Deceased
＝＝＝＝＝

Ah, yeah. Definitely poisonous.

Also, I noticed that once something died, its stats like strength were no longer visible. Given that it was caught by regular fishermen, it probably wasn’t all that strong to begin with.

"Looks like this one’s poisonous."

"It definitely has that ‘dangerous’ color to it."

"Yeah, but if it’s edible, let’s buy them all."

"…I wonder if I’ll develop poison resistance too?"

"Probably. I mean, with your growth rate, I bet you’ll pick it up pretty fast."

With that, we started buying up all the 'weird' ingredients we could find. Honestly, a lot of them looked pretty familiar to me. There were spiky creatures like sea urchins, slimy ones like sea cucumbers, and even something that resembled a barnacle.

"This kind of looks like a barnacle, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Definitely has that otherworldly feel to it."

"Oh, actually, barnacles like these exist in Japan too."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Ufufu. Have you ever watched those survival shows where they live on uninhabited islands?"

"Oh, those? Yeah, I know what you mean."

"They show up in those a lot."

I never watched those shows religiously, but apparently, barnacles like these made frequent appearances.

"I’ve never eaten one, but I hear they’re delicious."

"Well, now I’m really looking forward to it."

With our haul secured, we happily made our way back to the inn.

For the record, the so-called 'Demon of the Sea' turned out to be an octopus-like creature… with about twenty tentacles. It was honestly kind of unsettling.