Cold water splashed on Orion’s face, yanking him back from the boat’s edge. “Try not to drown, moonbeam. We still have a full day ahead of us.”

  I was just trying to look at the fish. They seem to be of an entirely unknown kind…

  Still, he dutifully walked back toward the main deck where Ophelia was sitting. The riverboat they were traveling on was surprisingly large, considering the dinghies he’d seen going out to fish at night, but apparently, this specific one was reserved for special occasions.

  “Can’t you see we’re getting too close to shore?! Hurry up and adjust the course! If I see any of you slack off, I’ll harpoon you and use you as bait!” Captain Aconite—the witch’s husband— yelled, and the sailors hurried to follow his commands.

  Apparently, a special type of fish could be found on the day the first thaw waters from the Silverpeak glaciers reached the Belt. And that day was today.

  I’m not complaining about the free passage or the fantastic excuse. Anyone who knows anything about Last Thaw understands this is just a routine hunt, so we should be able to pass unnoticed as we head down the Belt toward Valderun. Still, I could have done without the smell and the chaos.

  An unfortunate consequence of being stuck on a boat with two dozen sailors was that the company tended to be of the rough sort.

  Now, Orion wasn’t the type to worry about the lack of conversation. He would have happily locked himself in their cabin and spent the time working on his calculations, but unfortunately, Asteria didn’t seem to think it would do him any good, and so he was forced to “breathe in the fresh air”.

  “I can see a shadow!” a burly man shouted, holding a contraption that looked like a monocle on a stick, if only covered in runes. It was kind of silly, but the sailors didn’t seem to think it was strange, because they all cheered.

  “We got one!” They shouted, rushing around the deck all over again.

  To Orion’s inexperienced eyes, they looked like headless chickens, but he could tell from the grunt of approval the Captain let out that they were doing the right thing.

  The next few minutes were filled with frantic adjustments as nets were thrown into the water, seemingly to hem in the fish rather than catch it. The boat was turned around more than once, following the trail of their prey, and old Aconite stood atop the ship’s bow, gripping a massive harpoon and watching the dark waters with intense eyes.

  “We might want to move now,” Asteria murmured, watching their movements. “It looks like they almost have it.”

  “And then we’ll be able to continue to Valderun?” Ophelia asked tiredly. She seemed to suffer the most from the rocking waves, but hadn’t said anything about wanting to change their plans.

  Once again, Orion added another point to the already very long list of reasons why she couldn’t have possibly been the daughter of a merchant.

  There was hardly any reason for him to keep count now. He had more than enough proof. But he still did it, mostly for fun.

  He knew very well what it was like to wear a false identity like a mask, and Ophelia just wasn’t very good at it.

  “We will. Once they have caught the Snow Flower, they will rush to Valderun, as the price for the first of the season is significantly higher than the last,” Asteria explained.

  A few more minutes of frantic maneuvering, and then sudden stillness took over the ship.

  Orion had already inspected every single sailor once they got on, not wanting to fall for any further ambushes, and could honestly say the crew wasn’t anything special. Aside from the Captain, no one even came close to level sixty.

  Some of that was due to the relatively young age of the sailors, but it was also simply because, without support from a major faction or exceptional talent, it was very hard for anyone to gain much experience.

  And yet, as he watched them fall eerily still, all focused on the now churning waters, he had to reconsider his assessment. Yes, individually, these men might not have seemed impressive, but they were a well-oiled machine, and when working together, they could accomplish much more than the sum of their parts.

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  Finally, the waters broke, and a massive shape breached the surface, angrily bellowing as it did.

  [Snow Flower - Lv. 107 - C-Rank]

  “Ah,” Orion murmured, suddenly understanding why all that effort was needed for just a single fish.

  The beast was at least fifteen feet long and, more importantly, massive. Its shape resembled a koi carp, but on the scale of a whale shark, making it a truly impressive creature.

  The way the water droplets froze in the air in its wake and blocked the path to attack from behind made it clear why exhausting it was the only option.

  The crew didn’t so much as blink at its appearance, having already released all their exuberance earlier. Now, it was just calculations, and at the Captain's signal, they all sprang into action.

  New nets were cast into the water where the Snow Flower was about to fall, forcing it to twist in mid-air to avoid the trap.

  Arrows, tridents, and even knives were thrown at it, all enhanced by some kind of basic mana usage, and the fish swung its tail, releasing a wave of frost that blocked every weapon in its path.

  But it was all a ruse, since the real threat came from the most unassuming member of the crew.

  Old Aconite waited until the very last second to strike. Just before the Snow Flower could sink back into the cold waters and disappear into their depths, he pulled his arm back, revealing the dense muscles beneath, and threw the harpoon with all his strength.

  A sound akin to a sonic boom swept through the ship, causing Orion and Ophelia to stumble back.

  The crew, on the other hand, wasted no time, pulling on the decoy nets and throwing them back down, this time aimed at actually catching their prey.

  The Snow Flower wasn’t done yet, since a beast that large could easily survive a harpoon in its side, but it was bleeding, and as it sank into the water, Orion knew its fate was sealed.

  That turned out to be true sooner than he expected, as the Captain shouted something, releasing a wave of mana, and the harpoon that had been lodged in the fish’s side suddenly took on a silver sheen, then burrowed deeper, shredding not only flesh but organs as well.

  “Careful!” Someone yelped, only to be slapped by an older sailor.

  “The Captain knows to target only the heart, idiot!”

  The fish weakly struggled one more time before going limp, and all of a sudden, the atmosphere relaxed. The sailors still rushed around, dragging their nets and carefully removing the Snow Flower from the frozen waters, but it was clear that the worst was over.

  A groan echoed as the massive carcass was hauled and dropped onto the boat’s deck, and Orion realized that if he had been annoyed by the smell before, it was about to get a lot worse.

  “I think I’m going to pass out,” Ophelia muttered, holding her sleeve against her nose as she watched the sailors work together to pull out the harpoon, releasing another waft of smell.

  “The Snow Flower is the bottom feeder of the Silverpeak rivers. It eats anything from rotting meat to poisonous plants, and as such, it is a prized catch, as from its flesh and organs, many great potions and antidotes can be brewed,” Asteria explained, observing the men at work with the curious look of a master before a clumsy apprentice.

  “Of course, the Sanctum has a direct supply, as we are the only ones allowed to hunt in the frozen lakes where they reside most of their lives. But when the waters start to unfreeze, they move south to the Belt to finish their lives and make way for the next generation to eat their fill.” She then sighed, rolling up her sleeves, “I guess that while they have gotten good at hunting them, they don’t have the experience needed to dress them properly.”

  She only took a few steps before the sailors noticed her approaching, and although some tried to stop her, the Captain raised a hand, stopping them in their tracks. “Let her. If the Magistra wants to pay her fare, who are we to complain?”

  He must know who we are. Margareth didn’t hint at anything specific, but she was a dangerously subtle woman.

  The sailors stepped back, respecting the old man’s command enough to let Asteria approach the great beast. From her sleeve, she drew a thin, silver knife that gleamed menacingly in the light.

  Subconsciously, everyone except Orion took a step back as a sense of imminent danger overtook them.

  Asteria swung down, and flesh that had resisted the sailors’ best efforts parted with ease, allowing her to keep going until she reached the bone.

  Gasps echoed across the deck, as cutting a third-tier monster so easily required either being of the same tier or having a powerful relic. And while the knife was enchanted, it was clearly no legendary weapon.

  From the looks the sailors gave him, Orion knew their behavior would be much more polite from now on.

  It had taken Asteria just over ten minutes to completely break down the Snow Flower, even separating each organ and wrapping them in a special gauze she carried to prevent decay.

  This would apparently increase the resale value enough to make the one catch enough to call the whole effort a resounding success, as Snow Flowers were sold both according to demand—which was highest this close to the season, when alchemists and potioneers had exhausted their stocks and were anticipating their arrival—and based on integrity.

  The heart was done for, as Dittany had destroyed it with his harpoon, but his technique was designed to only damage the one organ, which meant the crew of the Blessed Lady was now in possession of an almost complete set of perfectly preserved organs.

  Orion could see the delight in their expressions as they worked hard to steer the ship toward Valderun. They were now racing against time to arrive first, as it was known that the first Snow Flower could sell for as much as twice the second, and ten times the ones that arrived a day later.

  Asteria had given them great wealth freely, but in doing so, she made sure everyone would work hard to help them reach their destination.

  Unfortunately, even though there should have been enough Snow Flowers for everyone with the right ship and crew, some people thought it would be easier to steal the prize from those who had worked hard for it instead of spending so much time and money catching it themselves.

  Which was how the Blessed Lady ended up being tailed by two sleeker, faster ships, which had noticed their determined sailing down south, rather than north like everyone else, and had correctly realized they were the first ones to catch a Snow Flower.

  “Are we in danger?” Orion asked his mother, eyeing the ships. If the crews were composed of people with strength similar to that of the Blessed Lady, Asteria could easily handle them all. But since they were still too far for him to get a good look, he had a bad feeling about this.

  Her grim silence was enough of an answer, though he waited until she finished her assessment.

  “They appear to be ordinary pirates, but something's off. There is someone strong hiding within their ranks.”

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