Once Thor and Asmo and I parted ways once, me and Ra-chan went back to our own place.

'What a delightful friend you were,'

　Then Alecia says with a smirk on her face.

　It's not that her eyes aren't smiling, so she doesn't seem to be talking about sarcasm. It's probably just a simple topic of interest.

''Sorry, they're a rowdy bunch.

Thor and Asmo were very interesting.

They're just stupid.

　Pure Rah-chan says so gently, but as for me, I'm an embarrassing friend wherever I put it, so I can't honestly hold my shoulder for him.

'I've been listening to your conversations too, but you don't have any reservations when it comes to your village friends.

　Hearing my words, Alecia chuckles.

　It's useless to show restraint to them. I won't tolerate them, just as they won't tolerate me.

Well, let's just leave them alone and play catch-up.

That's true.

　I was somehow embarrassed to be told about the relationship between me and Thor and the others, so I changed the subject.

　Then Alecia nodded honestly, without pursuing it further.

　I was expecting her to say something like she wanted to meet Thor and Asmo, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

　It's a bit of a disappointment because I was a bit wary, but it helped.

　I don't care if it's a young Ra-chan, but the combination of Alecia, Thor and Asmo is too dangerous by any stretch of the imagination.

　And I can only see a future where those two will have a rough time and incur Alecia's wrath.

'I got the general idea of how to do it from Elinora-san and the owner. I heard that they use this thing called poi to scoop up small fish.

Yes, that's right. Yes, that's right. We have to be careful not to let the weight of the little fish destroy it.

Ta-da!

　From the side where I was saying what a cautionary note, Ra-chan next to me dunked the poi into the water with great vigor.

　And then he scooped up the small fish, and there was a poi with a wonderful hole in it.

'Huh?　A hole?

'Master Rana, as Master Alfried said, we need to put it in the water slowly.

Really?

　Ra-chan didn't seem to hear the explanation as he followed me.

　I explained again to Ra-chan the basic precautions of scooping small fish.

'Why did you make it weak in the water when you can put it in the water?'

　You're so young and innocent that you say the most obvious things.

　That's exactly what it is.

"It's no fun to scoop them up, right?　It's just something I enjoy doing when I dare to make it harder.

Dare to be difficult?

　Ra-chan didn't understand much of it, but he tilted his head.

'It's the same as when you use psychics to enjoy a throwing target. You had fun using difficult magic from a distance when you could normally afford to do it up close, right?''

'Ah!　I think I've figured out what Al says about daring to make it harder!　It would be fun to try magic!

　It seems to me that I understand the example of magic that I actually tried to do.

　But this sounds like dirty adult sophistry, doesn't it?　No, it's all about having fun. Let's not think about those parts.

'Al, I want to do it again!

Brother, give me some litter. I'll pay you all later.

Thank you.

You're ripping it up a little too quickly!

　As soon as I said I was going to pay it all together, sister Elinora, Luna, and even Eric stuck out a torn poi.

　It seems that all three of them tore it cleanly while me and Ra-chan were having a conversation.

　I mean, as for sister Elinora, you were playing with her at the mansion as well, right?

'Brother, if you break it, give him the poi...'

I understand.

　I don't think there's a point where I don't think about the speed at which I'm tearing it up, but I agree because it would be difficult if the nobles here were paying for the poi individually.

　I nodded, and my brother handed out the poi to everyone.

''Hmm, no everyone. If you do as the brother of the stall says--ah.

　The moment Aleysia confidently dipped the poi into the water, a small fish just charged into the poi and made a hole in it.

　Somehow I had expected something like that to happen, but I didn't know how to say anything to Aleixia.

''Oh, the part that's still there after the hole is made...''

　And so on, but there was no way a novice Alecia could do such an advanced technique, and the rest of the body was turned into waterweed.

　Alecia looks at the poi that has been reduced to just a frame.

　The brother in the stall can't seem to decide if he can give her the poi or not.

Can I have a new piece of poi?

Okay. Yes, sir.

　Alecia says with a beautiful smile, but there's something like a fighting spirit in her eyes. It smells the same as it did at the pitching target.

'There!　

''Well Eric is an idiot. It's more efficient to wait for these things than to chase them, because they don't add to the force of the water. When the little fish is on top of the poi, you can scoop it up and - see?

　Luna did a great job of scooping up the small fish that came on top of the poi.

　She was the first to catch it, which naturally drew admiration from the crowd.

　Luna-san doesn't often show her expression, but the corners of her mouth are slightly raised and she has what looks like a sour look on her face.

''.......................Elinora has done it before and you haven't scooped one up?

Great. I'll scoop you up.

　Sister Elinora immediately takes advantage of Luna's provocation and rolls up her arms.

　She bends forward with a new poi in her hand.

　Her fierce eyes are like a hunter aiming at her prey. The small fishes may have sensed the murderous atmosphere with their animalistic instincts, and they quickly move away from the Elinora sister's presence.

''Hey!　Why do you have to go away!　Come here!

　Of course the little fish will run away from you if you kill them or something.

Hey, Al. Show me how it's done.

Okay.

　Ra's tugged on my sleeve and demanded an example. I should respond to this as an experienced angler.

He said, "First of all, you need to find out which small fish you should target. "The first thing I need to do is to determine which small fish to target.

　It's also easier to predict because the movement of the small fish is more limited near the wall.

'And I put it in at an angle so that there's no water pressure on the skin of the slime.

　When I said that, I put the poi in so that it was at an angle to the surface of the water, and Rah practiced next to me so that she could imitate me.

　However, he only put in half of it, probably thinking that wetting it all makes the skin weak.

The important thing at this point is to wet all the skin of the slime without being wasteful.

Won't it tear as soon as you put it all in?

That's okay. On the other hand, if you don't put it all in and make a boundary between the wet and non-wet areas, it's easier to tear.

　This is common for beginners who are afraid to get their poi wet.

　Surprisingly, the poi is resistant to water, so you can get it all wet.

　Then I predicted the path of the small fish swimming gracefully and moved the poi at an angle.

If you block the path of the small fish and put the fish between the wall and the poi, you can catch them like this.

'Wow!　I did what Al said and I got it!

　As I explained, I got a small fish, and Ra-chan, who was right next to me, scooped it up beautifully.

　There was a small red fish swimming around in the bottle he was holding carefully.

'Oh, it's amazing how quickly you can imitate it,'

　I didn't expect it to be done in one shot. As usual, Ra-chan's swallowing speed regarding play is unbelievable.

Next time I'm going to scoop out a blue one.

　Now that he's got the hang of it, Ra-chan tries again.

　He aims at the small blue fish at the edge and puts the poi diagonally into the water.

　Then he slowly blocks its path and lifts it up between it and the wall as before.

'Ah!'

　But the little fish didn't get scooped up for free either.

　The little fish on top of the poi chittered and fell through a hole in the poi.

''Ah, it's too close!''

　Not only Ra-chan, but also Loretta, who had been watching the fish with a sense of urgency, let out a disappointed cry.

Because fishes swim using their caudal fin, the power of the caudal fin is the strongest. That's why when you scoop up a fish, try to keep the caudal fin outside the frame, so it won't break easily.

'Heh, I see!

　However, this is a difficult thing to do. Even a small fish can actually go wild.

　If you can't do it, I think the trick is to give up on it to reduce the damage to poi.

I thought I was just scooping up a small fish, but there was a lot more to it than I thought.

It's going to take more skill than I imagined.

　Eric and Alecia muttered in admiration, as if they were listening to my advice.

　This is a battle between a small fish and a human. It is deep.

''Well this time I'm going to try to follow Al-kun's advice.

We've got to scoop at least one fish.

　Luna, Alecia and the others look at the surface of the water with serious expressions while holding poi in their hands.

　The scene is exactly like the goldfish scooping at a summer festival I saw in a previous life. It's perfect if you have a yukata or something else.

　Next time you're in Kagura, you might want to try it with Haru and Shuichi.