“How do you fish again?” I was out of order. Outdated would be a proper term. Or perhaps too modern? In any case, I didn’t know how to fish.

“You don’t even know that?” Sheila came to me, looked me in the eye, rolled her eyes, and snatched the fishing rod away from me. Her grin was as condescending as ever. I probably ranked closer to a bug in her book than a human.

We were by the pond. It was in the middle of the village. There weren’t any houses nearby but there were plenty of people. Some were fishing, some were collecting water, some were swimming and others were just playing around like us. My eyes sometimes darted around the wet village girls, but I was a responsible guy (somewhat) so I restrained myself, to the best of my abilities.

“First you do this!” Sheila hooked bait on the needle and swung her rod fast. I was surprised. Boy, this kid had agility!

When she had gone back into the house I thought she wouldn’t be coming back, but here I was. I actually hoped she wouldn’t be back, but she basically dragged me out here. And here I thought, I’d be able to get some good information about this world today. I could only bring myself to sigh, as the thoughts raged on in my mind.

“Wow, you’re pretty good.” I couldn’t help but lay down a few compliments though. She really was pretty good at this.

She puffed her chest in pride as if to say ‘Keep ’em coming’.

“By the way, what did you do with that expensive stuff you were talking about?”

“Oh, that was this month’s whole stock of the stuff. It’s pretty expensive so the central church only sends in small amounts.”

Though we were talking about expensive and whatnot, I never saw anyone using money in the village. Was money even a thing? Wait, if it was that expensive then what was this brat doing with that anyway. “What it is used for and why-”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “What are you, a bartender who drank too much? Shut up for a second, will you? I’m focusing.”

For a brat, she really had some nerve.

Within a few minutes, something hooked and she reeled it in. it happened in a flash and now we had a fish that was worth at least three kilos. She was far gifted than I could ever hope to be. Never knew the day would come when I’d be jealous of a brat like this. But I had to hand it to her, she really was worthy of praise.

“Did you even need me here?” My thoughts escaped through my lips. I didn’t want to say it but I couldn’t stop myself. After all, if I had to give an unbiased opinion of myself, I’d say I was pretty useless.

“Nope.” But the kid was probably much more honest than I was.

Her honesty, however, didn’t make me feel any better. Sometimes it’s better not to be that honest. I couldn’t tell that to her proud face though.

Sheila, looked at me with pity and handed me the rod again. “Now you try.” Her enthusiasm was back on track.

I wasn’t particularly disgusted by bugs but I couldn’t really handle them all that well. Whenever I saw any bugs (anything that crawled) they reminded me of the undead bugs which in turn reminded me of the dreadful forest. “Can you at least hook the bait?” My voice shivered a little.

“Uh… No.” Sheila gave me the look of disapproval and just stood there.

I sighed. Life was really weird. Just a week ago I was sitting all day in my room, reading books, playing games and now I was hooking the worm to the needle. Life really was weird.

I swung it back to the water. My body reacted with a shiver. I really didn’t like anything from the Annelida family.

For about half an hour nothing bit. Sheila was pretty happy. She had secured our dinner, so why wouldn’t she be? But I sure wasn’t. Besides, she caught two more.

After another half an hour my fate changed. Something finally bit on my rod.

“Don’t rush. Take it slow but steady.” Sheila came close to me and guided me through it.

I listened to her. It was an arduous catch. The fish was moving all over the place just a moment’s weakness and it would be gone. Calm down, Daarc! You can do this! My pride and hope depended on it. After struggling for a few minutes I finally reeled it in, drenched in sweat. I felt like I’d just accomplished the impossible.

Sheila rolled her eyes as I almost danced in excitement. “Well, that was something.” She didn’t say anything but she definitely wasn’t that impressed.

My fish wasn’t as big as hers. It was almost as big as my index finger but it was still my fish. She had no right to criticize me and actually, she didn’t. She just kept rolling her eyes. Somehow, that made me feel worse.

We went back. I got praised for my catch. But I could tell that was nothing more than obligatory thanks. But I still liked it.

I couldn’t help but acknowledge the taste. “This tastes pretty good.” The soup had my fish, so it was bound to be tasty. I didn’t hold back any compliments when it came to food. Good food was good food.

Dune’s family always had dinner exactly before the evening. That way they could spend time with Dune as a family. I liked this. Reminded me of the good times I had when Father was still alive.

“Thank you,” Milai said.

Milai’s aunt giggled. “This is our family’s special recipe. Fish curry.”

“I see. It’s wonderful.”

We all had a laugh, ate, and before I knew it, Dune and I were back on top of the wall. It was too late to curse my luck. After all, I was the one who chose this.

“Today we’ll learn how to parry attacks. And by we, I mean you!” With a moment’s pause Dune charged straight at me. His grin really was something out of this world.

“Wait, you are not going to teach to me block first?” I choked on my words as Dune rammed straight at me.. Somebody get me out of this world! I regretted my decision all over again.