About half a year passed after that, and the season was moving past summer. The Quinta Territory was already temperate to begin with, so of course summer there was hot-but the wind blew strong and the humidity was low, making it surprisingly pleasant.
And come early autumn, that became even more pronounced. The weather was so fine that it made you want to laze around outside, letting the wind wash over you.
So as a resort area, the conditions weren’t bad at all. It was just that there was nothing to do, being so deep in the countryside.
But now, a new project had begun to take shape here in Quinta, with Flare Walker at its center-aiming to create a new signature activity for the territory.
It all started when Kyle gifted a Magicraft Lantern to his father-in-law, Jack Regal.
”Father was absolutely delighted, I must say,” Flare set down her teacup with a soft clink.
Kyle looked up from his workbench. “Glad to hear it.”
The Magicraft Lantern Kyle had made was several times brighter than an ordinary lamp, and its most distinctive feature was its white light.
To Kyle, who carried the memories of Shiki Satoru’s life-where fluorescent lighting was a given from birth-it was only natural that white light was brighter and easier to see. But to the people of this world, where lamp light was always the orange of flame, just having a white lamp seemed to strike them as revolutionary.
Well, it took quite a bit of work to make the light white in the first place. Naturally, he didn’t know the mechanics of fluorescent bulbs, so he used white opal for the glowing element. That ended up driving the costs up even more, but…
”In any case,” Flare continued, folding her hands in her lap, “House Regal would like to purchase several of them, so Father says he would like to order an additional ten units for now. He did insist upon paying the proper price, of course. Would that be possible?”
Kyle’s eyes widened. “T-ten?!”
Well, House Regal certainly didn’t mess around. Convenient as they might be, ordering ten at once would run you enough to build three or four houses. The fact that they could casually drop that kind of coin on a handheld lantern really showed what it meant to be a great noble house.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Got it. I’ll arrange it as soon as I can, but I’d expect it to take about half a year. Since it’s an order from my in-laws, I’ll prioritize it and push things through as fast as possible.”
Flare nodded, reaching for a quill. “Understood. I shall inform Father accordingly.”
And so the Magicraft Lantern Kyle had gifted his father-in-law had been received even better than expected. Apparently, through his correspondence with his daughter, Jack had taken a strong interest in Kyle’s way of thinking-his inventiveness, so to speak-and had been asking Flare all sorts of questions about whether he had any other interesting projects in the works.
Flare then brought up the idea of surfcasting-the new activity they’d discussed as a replacement for hunting-and Jack latched onto that with surprising enthusiasm as well. In fact, House Regal offered to put up some funding, pressing them to get the fishing environment ready as soon as possible.
Kyle frowned, leaning back in his chair. “Funding? I was thinking more along the lines of developing it as an extension of a hobby first, and then deciding whether to open it up to guests later based on how things went.”
Flare’s expression softened with understanding. “Father has been buried in work lately, I think. He is probably longing for something outside of it… a hobby, if you will. He still hunts, but the mountains are full of insects, and the climbing up and down is getting physically taxing-even when riding a horse. He has been looking for a new pastime to replace hunting.”
Makes sense. In this world, once people got older, apparently all they had left to do was play cards and the like. So it wasn’t so much about making money as it was wanting to try out a potential new hobby as soon as possible. For all Jack said “physically taxing,” he was pretty aggressive about it. Kyle doubted a man like that ever really slowed down.
He tapped his fingers on the desk. “Alright. In that case, let’s start by making three prototypes-enough for us and Father-in-law to try out. We’ll test them ourselves, and if they seem viable, we’ll invite Father-in-law over for a trial run.”
Flare’s face lit up. “That sounds splendid,” Then her brow furrowed slightly. “But what about the logistics? You’re busy with the workshop and dealing with Fidek, so shall I handle correspondence with my family?”
Kyle nodded slowly, then tilted his head. “Yeah, that’d be a huge help. Actually, Flare… are you planning to keep helping me with my work like this from now on?”
She stiffened, her quill pausing mid-stroke. “…Have I overstepped? I understand that I should not meddle too much, but since it involved my family, I could not help but-“
”No, I mean, you’re a massive help,” He held up a hand to stop her. “That’s why I was thinking-if you’re up for it, maybe we could set up an office for you. A proper workspace. We could even make a seal with your name on it, Flare Walker. That’d make things smoother, right? You could have your own budget, hire a few people if you want.”
Flare’s quill slipped from her fingers. “Eh?”
She was taken aback by Kyle’s words.
Not only was he allowing her input on work matters-he was actually permitting his wife to operate independently. In this world’s common sense, that was unthinkable. Of course, in commoner taverns and the like, it wasn’t rare for the landlady to wield considerable authority. And even in noble households, wives sometimes gave orders to the servants-but that was always understood to be by the grace of the husband, the master of the house. So normally, even if a wife made a decision, she would use her husband’s seal. Yet Kyle was saying he’d have a new seal made-in Flare’s own name-and grant her full authority and responsibility.
Having her own budget and the power to hire meant she could, theoretically, employ men and open the door to infidelity. That was exactly why it was conventional wisdom not to give a wife such authority. But Kyle was saying he trusted Flare enough to give it to her anyway.
She stared at him, her voice barely a whisper. “Are you certain?”
Kyle met her gaze steadily. “Yeah. Over these past few months, I’ve seen how capable you are. And I trust you, Flare.”
Flare’s eyes glistened. “…Thank you… so very much.”
Huh. Her eyes look a little wet. Did he really say something that moving? He was only stating the obvious.
And of course he trusted her. They’d been married over half a year now and were still lovey-dovey-well, whether they were or not aside-they were still consistently intimate. Just last night, Flare’s naked body in the lantern light was stunning, and the way she pouted in embarrassment at being seen so clearly was… ahem. He caught himself. Got sidetracked.
Anyway, after that, Kyle left all dealings with House Regal to Flare and busied himself with developing rods and reels, arranging boats, and so on. And by handing over some of the tasks he’d been handling himself-especially the ones Flare knew more about-to her for approval, his workload lightened considerably.
That freed him up to focus on Magicraft Devices, but apparently, among the nobles he’d never even met, rumors were flying: “The lord of Quinta has become obsessed with Magicraft and abandoned his duties,” or “Quinta Territory is effectively being taken over by Flare Regal,” Let them talk.
Flare reported back to him properly on every decision she made, so that was simply not true… right? …Right?
And so Quinta Territory grew even stranger-a rare domain where the lord’s wife effectively held a vice-president position with independent approval authority.
Flare breathed in deeply, the salt air filling her lungs. “The wind feels wonderful… though it is a trifle warm.”
Kyle adjusted his grip on the rod beside her. “Yeah. This is basically a fishing boat right now. If we’re making this an activity, we’ll want something bigger-with a cabin, maybe. Something like a cruiser.”
She tilted her head. “Kuruuzaa?”
Kyle smiled, gesturing with his free hand. “I mean, bigger, with a shelter on deck-a place to block the sun and rain.”
Flare nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Something akin to a warship, perhaps?”
”Not sure, but maybe,” He chuckled under his breath. “(Probably not, though.)”
At last, the prototypes for the rod and reel had been refined enough to be workable. Today, they’d come out to do a trial fishing session with Flare.
They’d tested prototypes three times before, and each time there were issues. This third prototype was the one that finally seemed to clear all of them.
Surprisingly, the rod itself was the biggest challenge. With no carbon fiber in this world, Kyle had to use plant-based materials like wood or bamboo. To give it the strength and flex needed to land large fish, he hollowed out the core and reinforced it with flexible metal inserts.
Fishing here was limited to bait fishing with long poles, similar to the way you’d fish for crucian carp back in his original world. Kyle still remembered the skeptical looks the craftsmen gave him when he explained that he wanted to cast line from a reel and reel it back in.
But after repeated trials and pleading with them to make something-anything-that could enable surfcasting, they finally completed a vertical reel similar to what he’d call a baitcaster back in his original world.
They’d done test casts in the open lot beside the workshop, and those went fine, but…
”Alright… here goes,” Kyle took out the rod with a metal spoon-shaped lure attached, wound up, and gave it a light cast.
Holding the line with his finger, he swung the rod a few times to get the timing down, then let go. The lure flew out just as calculated, the line hissing as it peeled off the reel. He pressed his finger against the spool right at the moment it hit the water. A splash kicked up about twenty meters out-pretty smooth casting for a light swing.
He turned to Flare with a grin. “Okay, that looks good. The tricky part is holding the line at the exact moment it lands, or else you get a backlash.”
As he reeled in, the lure came back to the boat without a hitch. It reminded him of the bass fishing he did back in middle school.
Anyway, he’d figured out the whole “cast and retrieve” thing, so from here on out, all he needed was for the fish to cooperate… For the next hour or so, Kyle and Flare repeated the cast-and-retrieve cycle from the boat. And as for today’s catch?
Flare clapped her hands together. “My, we caught considerably more than I expected!”
Kyle laughed, holding up the catch. “I never imagined one could catch so many without any bait at all…”
Maybe it was because nobody around here had ever fished this way, but the local fish were completely unspooked. In just about an hour, they’d landed four decent-sized fish.
They sailed back to port and brought their catch straight to Leaping Fish Diner to have it cooked. While they were there, Kyle made a fish rubbing of the biggest one1. Flare was amazed by that too.
She leaned in, examining the inked impression. “I never would have thought to coat the actual fish in ink and press it onto paper. When hunting, one might have a trophy mounted or display the bones, but this certainly gives an accurate record of the fish’s size, serves as proof of the catch, takes up no space, and does not smell. Quite excellent, really.”
Kyle nodded, holding up the paper. “Right? Frame it and it looks great too. Makes a perfect souvenir for anyone who loves bragging about their exploits.”
Unlike bait fishing, where you just sit and wait, casting lures keeps you active with the cast-and-retrieve motion. Even if you don’t catch anything, it’s still enjoyable-and when you do catch one, you get to eat it like this. Nothing better.
Fish you caught yourself always tastes better than store-bought, and since the cooking spot is a proper eatery, even those who didn’t catch anything can still have a meal.
If friends come together and compete over who caught the bigger or tastier fish, that competitive spirit will spark ambition. They might start wanting better gear-their own rods and lures.
Flare tapped her chin thoughtfully. “In that case, I daresay Father might be worth inviting. However, the boat does look rather shabby, so if we are to host nobles, I believe we must do something about the vessel itself.”
Kyle rubbed his chin. “I’ll leave that to you. And of course, we can’t just put them up at any old inn. Even if it’s small, we should prepare a standalone cottage-like a pension-or convert some of our spare rooms into guest quarters.”
Flare smiled, already planning. “Yes, I think we ought to begin by inviting Father, a few nobles close to him, and perhaps some friends of yours to stay at our home. If it proves profitable, we could then construct a somewhat more luxurious lodging facility exclusively for fishing guests-something akin to a hunting lodge.”
So, like a deluxe version of a fishing inn from his original world. In that case, it should face the sea with a great view-somewhere you could see beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
And so, their first boat fishing expedition was a huge success. After this, they’d refurbish the medium-sized fishing boat into something sleek and cruiser-like, and once that was finished, they’d invite Jack over.
Kyle also planned to reach out to his few friends-even someone considered as eccentric as he was had a friend or two. Though he had a feeling that friend was quite the oddball too.
And so, after some time, as autumn deepened, Kyle and the others would begin inviting guests to what was likely this world’s first sport-fishing activity. For the inaugural guests, they selected his stepfather, Jack Regal, and Kyle’s few friends-specifically, the second son of the neighboring Harper territory, a self-proclaimed playboy noble brat by the name of Aile Harper.
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿To be continued.
Trivia:
- Kyle’s casual granting of independent authority to Flare represents a radical break from noble traditions, where wives typically held no autonomous decision-making power and any authority derived solely from their husband’s seal.
- The repeated emphasis on Flare’s pout and embarrassment at being seen naked in bright lantern light subtly underscores how Kyle’s modern inventions create intimacy by removing the privacy that dim lighting once provided.
- Jack Regal’s eagerness to invest in surfcasting hints at a deeper generational anxiety—a nobleman confronting physical decline who seeks dignified alternatives to hunting, not mere entertainment.
- The protagonist’s familiarity with bass fishing from middle school subtly highlights his modern-world origin and contrasts with the fantasy setting’s primitive fishing culture.
- Flare’s immediate grasp of the fish rubbing’s practical advantages—space efficiency, odorlessness, and evidential value—reveals her aristocratic upbringing’s emphasis on record-keeping and display customs.
- The gradual business expansion plan—from personal invitations to dedicated luxury lodging—mirrors classic isekai economic progression tropes, but grounded in a realistic assessment of noble clientele expectations.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A traditional Japanese method of making a print from a fish by applying ink to its body and pressing paper onto it. Used to record catch size and serve as a decorative trophy. The technique emphasizes the cultural gap between the modern protagonist’s knowledge and the fantasy world’s customs.