“Alright, Mama, everyone, here we go!”

With her husband’s shout, he thrusts the net into the waterfall basin. As expected, in the blink of an eye, several Dragonfish leap at it, and two latch onto the net and frame.

“Two got caught! Mama, here we go… Whoa, it’s heavy…”

With a heavy thud, she pulls up the net and sets it on the ground. The Dragonfish immediately let go and begin crawling across the dirt.

Then, Mika’s shovel whistles through the air as it swings down.

Dada finishes off the stunned Dragonfish with a knife to its vitals.

The other one is paralyzed by Zurah’s lightning magic, allowing Gatt to drive his sword into it.

Dragonfish are covered in tough scales, making them nearly impervious to slashes and stabs while they’re moving. Even if you manage to pierce them, they thrash violently, making it dangerous. However, there’s one vulnerable spot between their gills and eyes—if you immobilize them and strike there, a single blow is enough to take them down.

Gatt and Zurah are about the same size as the Dragonfish, but fighting on land gives them the clear advantage. Despite his small stature, Dada precisely drives his knife into their weak point, finishing them off effortlessly.

“This is so much better. Earlier, I was wondering how many hits it’d take to bring one down,” Mika remarks.

They gather the immobilized Dragonfish in one spot and activate the freezing magic tool to preserve them.

“Now we can eat them later!”

“Mika… you really want to eat Dragonfish that badly? I don’t think they’re all that tasty…”

“If it’s edible, we’ve gotta at least try it first!”

Can we make sashimi out of it? They’re not poisonous, so we can try it once. And we’ve got healing magic just in case!

Alright!

Pumping herself up, she tightens her grip on the shovel.

“Okay, Papa. Next one, please!”

“Here we go, Mama, Zurah!”

After several rounds of hauling up the net, eleven Dragonfish are piled up behind them.

Peering into the waterfall basin, they can still see plenty of Dragonfish shadows lurking beneath.

But then—as her husband thrusts the net in again—he notices something strange.

“Huh? Hey, Mama, something’s off. They’re not biting.”

At his voice, Mika rushes over, and Dada flies closer to the basin from above. What they see is…

The remaining Dragonfish biting and fighting each other.

“This is bad! They’re cannibalizing—they’ll grow even bigger!”

At Dada’s panicked shout, Gatt and Zurah hurry over. The fish thrash violently in the water, completely ignoring the net as they tear into each other.

“Zurah, can you use lightning magic?”

“I can try, but the basin’s pretty deep—it might not reach. Still, I’ll give it a shot!”

Zurah raises her staff and chants, “Gyaggyaa!” as she sends a bolt of lightning into the basin. For a moment, the Dragonfish at the bottom seem to freeze, but none float to the surface—they just keep fighting.

Diving into the freezing water isn’t an option, and throwing rocks does nothing. All they can do is watch helplessly as the Dragonfish battle and evolve.

Then, Mika suddenly turns around.

“Hey… can the freezing magic tool work underwater?”

“I’ve never tried using it like that.”

“Does Acid sell those? Are they expensive?”

“Yeah. Hmm… about 100,000 yen? Plus a 10,000-yen magic stone inside.”

“Then I’ll buy one and pay you back when we return to Acid. Can I borrow this?”

Without waiting for an answer, she plucks the freezing magic tool from the Dragonfish pile, flicks it on, and casually tosses it into the waterfall basin.

The temperature is already below freezing, and the waterfall is covered in icicles. Naturally, the basin’s water is frigid.

So what happens when you throw a freezing magic tool into it?

As everyone watches, a white mass forms at the bottom, rapidly expanding and engulfing the Dragonfish.

The ice spreads swiftly, and in moments, the waterfall basin transforms into a solid, white skating rink.

“Well, we’ve stopped the Dragonfish from evolving for now…”

“But… what do we do about this?”

The basin is frozen solid—likely until spring.

And the Dragonfish inside probably aren’t dead.

Meaning… the problem of giant Dragonfish has been postponed until spring!

……

……

“Let’s just take our catch and go home.”

Sashimi is all about freshness, after all!