Chapter 40 : Chapter 40

Chapter 40. The Sea God's Grace is Endless (2)

Chomp, chomp.

“Why can’t he eat this delicious thing?”

“Jeina, stop eating. This is medicine.”

“Didn’t you say he only needed to eat one piece? Fish goes bad if you don’t eat it quickly.”

Whether she knew what Artier's expression meant or not, Jeina cheerfully picked up and ate the sashimi on the plate.

It was a good thing the Blue Marlin was the size of a decent tuna; if it had been the size of a mackerel or a cutlassfish, I probably would have had to go down and come back five more times.

“Collie, can’t you just bear it and swallow?”

“I really want to, but if I hold my breath, I feel like I’m going to throw up right away…….”

“That must be difficult. I understand.”

I just want to leave him be…….

Artier quickly pushed away the thought that briefly surfaced.

‘Calm down. This is obviously a situation set up to farm favorability.’

These kinds of quests don't have much of a reward and make you suffer a lot, but in return, your intimacy with your comrades increases.

It was a rare opportunity, so I couldn't give up just because I was ticked off.

“The fishy smell is the problem, right?”

It wasn't a simple matter of having no appetite. It was because of the ‘unable to consume food’ effect attached to the seasickness debuff.

‘This is why you have to feed the Blue Marlin before setting off.’

Artier racked his brain and then recalled something.

‘Come to think of it, there’s also a consumable item called seasickness medicine.’

That item, which looked like a small cracker, had the same effect as the Blue Marlin but just a different shape.

The lore was that it was processed so that the Blue Marlin, which would spoil quickly, could be stored for a long time.

‘Seasickness medicine is classified as a medicine, not food, so he might be able to use it!’

“Gerard, could you ask if any of the crew members have seasickness medicine?”

Artier walked around the ship with Gerard, filled with hope.

But reality shattered his expectations to pieces.

“We don’t carry things like that.”

“There are no guys on this ship who suffer from things like seasickness.”

This isn't the 21st century where kind crew members roam around.

There was no way sailors, who would pour disinfectant alcohol straight down their throats instead of using bandages, would have something like seasickness medicine.

“This doesn't seem to be working. It seems there’s no way to get medicine on the ship.”

“I didn’t think it would be this hopeless…….”

This seasickness debuff was something you barely had to worry about in the late game, so there weren't many countermeasures for it.

‘Still, it’s not like there are none. I’m sure this happened a few times in the past.’

Artier, scratching his head, walked around for a while, lost in thought.

He lifted his head again when he reached the entrance to the cabins.

“……Can’t I concoct it with alchemy?”

In <Cross Destiny>, anyone could craft items as long as they had the recipe and materials.

Coming into the cabin, Artier placed a piece of the Blue Marlin’s flesh down, brought up an information window in the air, and began to search for something.

‘Huh? There’s no alchemy window?’

Artier checked again, thinking he might have missed it.

But it still wasn't there. No matter how much he looked, the alchemy information window was nowhere to be seen.

“Is it because I don’t have a recipe?”

Then what on earth was I supposed to do?

Was there another way to get rid of the seasickness? Or was he stuck because his preparations were insufficient?

‘No, it’s not like it can only be made through alchemy.’

This wasn't a game, but reality.

No matter how much magic was a part of daily life in this world, wouldn’t it be more abnormal for things to be combined just by touching an information window?

Artier, lost in thought, snapped his fingers a moment later.

“There was. A preparation method for seasickness medicine.”

In order to post on the story and lore board, I had once investigated the preparation method written in an alchemy recipe.

It was nothing more than a lore explanation with no relation to game strategy, but the process was so specific that it could be followed immediately.

“Should I give it a try?”

Finding the kitchen, Artier began to process the Blue Marlin flesh, fumbling through his hazy memories.

First, he finely mashed the fish flesh, then sprinkled salt on it.

Then he mixed the flesh with an egg he had bought at a grocery store and kneaded it with a wooden spatula; the process was similar to making fish cakes.

“After mixing it like this…… uh oh?”

Artier, who was stirring the Blue Marlin mixture in the bowl, suddenly stopped when the ship’s interior tilted and shook.

“What was that?”

Artier put the mixture he was making into his inventory and went outside.

And he had to hear some shocking news.

“What? A storm is coming?”

“Yes. They say the weather around here is originally a bit fickle.”

Gerard pointed to the black storm clouds approaching in the distance.

“This is not good. When it rains, they won’t let us come up on deck. Seasickness will be even worse inside the ship.”

It seemed this damned event even had a time limit.

“Wait just a moment. I’m making seasickness medicine right now. I just need to do the last step…….”

Muttering, Artier suddenly broke into a cold sweat and clamped his mouth shut.

“……Artier?”

“What was the last step again?”

“What?”

‘Do I infuse it with mana? Do I dry it in the sunlight? Do I repeatedly mash and clump it together?’

It's not like Artier remembered everything.

Especially, he didn't go around memorizing every trivial detail of lore that had nothing to do with strategy.

“A way to make seasickness medicine from a Blue Marlin? I’m sorry, but I don’t know that either. I have no need for it, you see.”

Gerard, from whom I had a sliver of hope, also shook his head.

“……Jeina?”

“Is there any of that left? It was delicious.”

“Let’s just not talk about it.”

Suddenly in a hurry, Artier rushed back to the kitchen.

“What was the final process? Ughhh…….”

Cooking the Blue Marlin removes its beneficial effects for seasickness.

So it wouldn't be boiling or grilling. In the first place, that would be a fish cake, not a medicine.

“Do I have to test everything one by one?”

But there wasn’t enough time.

Instead of pondering, Artier quickly moved to action.

“Information.”

[Blue Marlin Poultice (Common, Incomplete)]

Option: Removes the status abnormality Seasickness

Status: 95% of the crafting process is complete

‘Thankfully, the process itself was done correctly.’

Artier hurriedly took a portion of the mixture and tried various things.

He tried infusing it with mana, and also mixing it with dried biscuits or wine-soaked fruits from the ship.

“……This is also a failure.”

But it was all meaningless.

The mana-infused mixture simply got an option to restore some mana, and when he used the other two methods, the item was destroyed and lost its original effect.

Crash!

Splat!

“Aargh!”

And then, an accident finally happened.

As the kitchen shook violently due to the storm, the Blue Marlin mixture that had been on the table flew through the air and fell to the floor.

“I’m doomed…….”

I tried to clean it up in a hurry, but now only a handful of the mixture was left.

‘Should I just give up?’

I can still try one more time.

But I couldn’t think of any more methods.

Splat!

“Huh?”

But then, a suspicious sound came from a corner where boxes were stacked.

‘Did something get in?’

The kitchen had only one entrance.

And I had been alone until now.

Squeak!

“A rat?”

But there was a mouse, happily chewing on a part of the mixture Artier had dropped, frozen in place.

Squeak squeak!

The mouse tried to escape, but it was no use.

Zziik!

Blocking the creature’s path with my leg and moving my hand quickly, the mouse was soon caught in my hand, struggling.

“A stowaway guest is a problem.”

“P-Please spare me!”

“Huh?”

Did that rat just speak?

“I won’t steal and eat! Spare me!”

[Lv.1 Field Mouse]

Title: Lost WandererClass: None

Strength: 1

Agility: 2

Intelligence: 1

Usable Skills: None

I checked just in case, but as expected, it was an ordinary mouse.

Maybe because it was an animal, its stats were pathetic despite being level 1.

‘In that case, it means I’ve become able to understand what it’s saying…….’

There were a few things I could guess.

First, that a druid or another spellcaster used transformation magic to turn into a mouse.

‘But if that were the case, it wouldn’t have been eating that here.’

The second reason was Collie.

It was possible that Collie, a talking animal, becoming his summon had an effect.

‘Good grief…….’

Artier glared at the mouse and muttered in a low voice.

“Isn’t your lie too obvious? You can’t survive if you don’t steal and eat.”

A ship at sea is surrounded by water on all sides.

There was no way to get food other than human food.

“I’m sorry…….”

The mouse, as if it had no intention of hiding it, immediately looked sheepish and lowered its head.

“But you threw this away, didn’t you? Can’t I eat it?”

“……”

The Blue Marlin mixture that fell on the floor couldn’t be eaten anyway.

Artier sighed and let go of his hand. Then, as if it had starved for days, the creature immediately began to devour the fish flesh greedily.

“Thank you!”

“But you’ll steal again once you finish that.”

“I want to go back too. But it’s all water. I can’t go back.”

A mouse will be a mouse.

Artier sighed and placed the bowl he was holding on the floor as well.

“Eat this too.”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

“I don’t think I’ll need it anymore.”

There was still some Blue Marlin flesh left.

Since making the medicine had failed, I was thinking of trying to force-feed him the flesh.

‘It feels a bit wrong to kill a creature that has no intention of resisting.’

It was just one mouse.

Even if it stole food for the entire voyage, it wouldn't cause a problem with the food supply.

“You’re a good human!”

With those words, the mouse spoke no more. It seemed to have lost its mind at the sudden endless feast.

After watching the mouse devour the mixture for a moment, Artier slowly got up and left the kitchen.

‘If I force-feed him, his favorability will drop, though…….’

Still, this would be better than covering the room in a foul smell.

‘Once I complete the quest, the favorability will rise again.’

Rumble!

As the storm intensified, the ship’s interior began to sway as if on an amusement park ride.

“He’s probably in the cabin by now……”

Perhaps the cabin was already in a state of chaos.

Imagining every horrible scene he could, Artier opened the cabin door.

Fling!

“Ah, welcome, sir!”

“You were making something, are you finally done?”

The interior of the cabin was neatly organized.

There were no stained cloths or floors to be seen.

Above all, wasn't Collie greeting him with his usual energetic demeanor?

“Collie, are you okay?”

Artier nodded his head while unconsciously checking Collie’s condition.

The dog that was staggering just a moment ago was gone, and Collie, who had changed back into his boy form, looked completely fine.

“I am fine. That person over there used motion sickness prevention magic on me, sir!”

“That person?”

Artier turned his head.

There, an old man with a bushy beard was talking with Gerard.

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