"Haaah… I thought I was going to die..."

As we returned to land, Mognov let out a deep sigh as soon as his feet touched solid ground.

"Ahaha, well, we were reeling in nothing but massive catches," Rio said with an awkward smile.

She was completely right. After pulling in fish that were large enough to capsize the boat with just a bit of thrashing, it was no wonder Mognov had been on edge the entire time.

Some of the fish even used water magic the moment they breached the surface. It was impressive seeing sea monsters attack like that, but for us, it was just another part of the experience.

"As an apology for the trouble, how about I give you one of them?"

"Huh? Are you sure?"

In a large, roofed marketplace area by the port, I pulled out one of the larger fish from my dimensional storage. It was just under ten meters long. I had no idea how much it weighed, but it was clearly too massive to move by hand.

"Gahaha! This thing is enormous!"

"Looks like it'll be a challenge to clean," Rio added.

"That’s for sure. I doubt I could handle this alone, so I’ll go call some people to help."

His speech suddenly sounded more formal, but I decided to let it slide.

After Mognov called for help, about five fishermen gathered, each letting out surprised exclamations. Once we exchanged introductions, everyone turned their attention to the massive fish before us.

"This is a King Blue Tail, isn’t it?"

So that’s what it was called. Mognov had been naming every fish we caught, but since I had never seen these species before, I barely remembered any of them.

The King Blue Tail had a distinct blue stripe running down its body from head to tail, with its tail fin a vibrant shade of blue.

"At this size... it’ll easily go for fifty million frons."

Oh wow, that’s quite a price. Come to think of it, how many of these giant fish had we caught today? Between Rio and me, we must have reeled in around fifty. Best not to think too much about it.

"Anyway, let’s get this thing butchered."

"Alright, we’ll help with the cleaning too."

Since Mognov had promised to teach us how to clean big catches, this was the perfect opportunity to learn.

To make things easier, I pulled out another King Blue Tail from my dimensional storage so Rio and I could practice on the same type of fish.

And so, the massive fish cleaning began.

Before long, word must have spread, because a crowd started gathering to watch. Apparently, whenever a giant fish was caught, it turned into a kind of impromptu "butchering show," where scraps and perishable cuts were handed out to the onlookers.

"Wow, they caught two this time?"

The audience murmured among themselves. But even more than the number of fish, their attention was drawn to us.

"What’s with their butchering method...?"

"The meat is floating on its own."

"How is that thin blade not breaking?"

The five fishermen were working together, using all sorts of tools to carve up the giant fish. They had set up step ladders shaped like a "U" around the fish, standing on them to support the heavy cuts as they separated the flesh.

Meanwhile, Rio and I were cutting ours apart with nothing but a fifty-centimeter short sword. It was a weapon I had made myself, but it was proving incredibly useful as a filleting knife. Using magic, we lifted the fish meat into the air to support it, efficiently cutting through the giant carcass.

With the fishermen’s guidance, our work progressed smoothly.

Before I realized it, the sun had set, and darkness had fallen. Lights had been brought out, and food was being served. The atmosphere had turned into a full-fledged festival.

"This is amazing! What is this!?"

We had also provided some ingredients, and the carpaccio-style dish made with mayonnaise was getting especially high praise.

The fish we had cleaned was already stored in my dimensional storage, but Mognov’s gifted fish had been sliced up and was now being sold to customers.

"This feels different from when we clean fish at the Adventurers’ Guild," I remarked.

"There aren’t any spectators at the guild," Rio agreed.

Among the crowd were adventurers, townsfolk, and even slaves wearing chokers, all enjoying the feast.

From sashimi and grilled fish to seafood soup, a variety of dishes were being served. Some meals made from the fish’s internal organs were limited to today only. I had to make sure to learn how to prepare them properly.

"Gahaha! I didn’t expect things to get this big, but I had a great time. Thanks a lot!"

Mognov approached us, laughing heartily.

"No, no, it’s thanks to you that we even came up with this fishing method," I replied.

"Exactly. I only called out to a couple of adventurers fishing off a pier for some pocket change, and look where we are now," Mognov said, clapping me on the back.

"Tomorrow’s morning market is going to be pretty lively. Alongside all the regular seafood, your catch will be available too. You two should come and check it out."

We had visited some seafood stalls before, but never the port’s morning market. It could be a great opportunity to stock up on ingredients.

"We’d love to," I said.

And so, we enjoyed an unexpected festival at the port.