I Became a Raid Boss

What to do with the caught fish?

After a brief meeting, we decided to hand the fish over to Atysha.

It looked just like a plain black-scaled fish, but the magical energy emanating from its corpse indicated that it wasn’t an ordinary fish; it was a monster.

I thought this amount of magic shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Back when I was disappointed about not being able to eat it, Da-eun’s strong opposition made our decision.

“Our apostles have a culture of eating caught fish raw, finely sliced, without cooking. What do you think? Would you like to try it, Atysha?”

Upon hearing Da-eun’s words, Atysha was skeptical.

“Eating fish raw…? I can’t quite imagine that…”

“Could there be poison or something?”

“Well, we won’t know until we try…”

“Uh… If we figure it out after eating, won’t it be too late?”

“A little bit should be fine…?”

“That doesn’t sound fine at all.”

Da-eun and Atysha were deep in discussion.

What started as a conversation about whether to eat sashimi had turned into a debate about the presence of poison.

Watching them chat made me feel a strange nostalgia.

I once had times like those.

Times when I had to decide if I could eat monster meat.

“Captain.”

“Oh, Kana. What’s up?”

“This.”

“Hmm? Is that the monster we caught earlier? Why did you suddenly bring it?”

“I thought it might be okay to eat.”

“Hmm… With your skill level, it should be fine. Alright, shall we have some monster meat for the first time in a while?”

“Wow.”

“…Vice-Captain. Dinner is all prepared, so don’t think about picking up anything weird and come quickly. And Captain.”

“Uh, huh?”

“If the Vice-Captain tries to eat something strange, shouldn’t you stop her? How can you encourage her as her guardian? What if she gets poisoned…?”

“Eh, unless it’s an extreme poison like ‘The Bitterness of the World Tree’, Kana or I shouldn’t be affected by regular poisons. So, what’s the issue?”

“…Captain, have you forgotten the Vice-Captain is still young? Children are weaker than adults. You might not care what happens to you, but if you carelessly overlook it and the Vice-Captain gets poisoned, it would be a disaster!”

“T-That’s true… Wait, what do you mean ‘I don’t care what happens to me’?”

“Besides, what if this leads to her developing a habit of picking up weird stuff? What if the Vice-Captain starts eating things she finds on the street, and then people point and whisper about her?”

“…That shouldn’t be allowed! Kana! Sorry, but the monster meat is off the table!”

“…Do you both want to get hit?”

In front of the grim-faced Aaron, I remembered my dad’s flustered moments.

I tilted my head at the dusty memories that popped up.

Hmm, this situation seems a bit different, though…

Well, it’s fine since the greater context is similar.

The very first thing that came to mind was this, as I had a few similar experiences.

Like when our food ran low because the schedule took longer than expected, and there were no good places to procure food.

Or when we were fighting monsters, and the ingredients got contaminated with magical energy.

Every time such things happened, a big discussion broke out.

Just like now.

I feel like every time a group of people who have reached a certain level and can resist light magical energy gathers, this kind of thing inevitably occurs.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yes… surprisingly, it’s quite good… chewy and nutty…”

“No, I wasn’t asking if it tasted good, I meant if eating it would have any issues.”

“Ugh, cough…”

“Don’t suddenly start choking, okay?”

“Isn’t this what you wanted…?”

“Of course not.”

While I was lost in memories, the conversation between those two had progressed significantly.

Beautifully and neatly sliced sashimi, Atysha trying a piece and commenting on it, and Selin providing care with holy power from the side, completing the scene.

Even though she’s just an apprentice, Selin is officially a candidate for a saint; using such high-caliber personnel just to eat monster meat seems outrageous.

If the believers of the Edel Church saw this, they might faint in shock.

I approached them while thinking about that.

Munch.

“Gah…!”

“Munch-munch—”

“K-Kana! You shouldn’t eat that! It’s gross, gross!”

“…Gross?”

Atysha’s face turned quite the spectacle as she suddenly found herself labeled as someone who eats ‘this’ and ‘gross’.

“Ah…! I didn’t mean it like that; I was just worried that Kana isn’t a demon, so eating monster meat might be risky…!”

Realizing her misstep, Da-eun fumbled to explain.

Gulp.

Regardless of what Da-eun was saying, I discarded the sashimi down my throat.

In the world of Silia, there’s a culture of eating meat raw, but eating sea creatures raw is unheard of, so this was my first time trying sashimi.

Of course, if we consider my past life, it isn’t really my first…

But since I couldn’t remember how it tasted or what the texture was like, we can safely say this is my first time, right?

Anyway, the first time eating sashimi was genuinely not bad.

It had a slightly fishy taste but also a hidden nuttiness that, combined with the chewy texture, delivered a pleasant flavor.

When I reached for another piece, Da-eun looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“Is it good?”

“It’s bearable.”

“Really? That’s surprising… Usually, first-timers find it off-putting.”

Well, even if I couldn’t recall the taste, I had eaten it back when I lived on Earth.

…But I couldn’t say that without it sounding ridiculous, and even if I did say it, who would hear?

“Maybe I’ve eaten worse?”

“Worse?”

“Like bread fished out of a trash can or half-rotten meat.”

“…Be honest with me. Are you trying to tease me on purpose? Huh? Trying to make me feel guilty… Do you do this often lately?”

Hmm, I can’t deny that.

Still, not wanting to admit it, I responded by taking another piece of sashimi.

Sigh…. “Fine, eat as much as you want. It’s nice to see you enjoying it.”

Da-eun gently patted my head.

Her voice dripped with pity; it seemed my previous statement had impressed her quite a bit.

Well, objectively and subjectively, I did have a hard life.

But Da-eun had a misunderstanding.

“Half-rotten meat was so good.”

A street urchin like me could never afford to see that expensive meat!

Even if it was half rotten, discovering meat was a stroke of genius.

“Okay, I got it, so eat a lot…”

If something feels odd, speak up right away.

Da-eun continued to stroke my head.

“You’ve had quite a hard life, haven’t you…?”

Slide.

Atysha quietly pushed a few pieces of sashimi toward me, and I didn’t decline her goodwill.

If my memory serves me right, I think I used to dip it in seasoning, but I had no such thing here, so there was nothing to be done.

Even Selin, who had been emitting holy power while watching, joined the meal, and Da-eun, who had been staring enviously at her, sat down as if unable to resist.

Despite her reluctance, unlike everyone else eating one piece at a time, Da-eun meticulously cut her already small pieces smaller.

She smacked her lips.

“With the leftovers, we can even make a soup….”

“Soup…?”

“Yes. If you boil the heads and bones together, it becomes super delicious.”

“Hmm….”

Atysha didn’t seem particularly interested.

Which was understandable. Even I, who knew what Da-eun was saying, didn’t find that description endearing.

After finishing the meal and taking one precaution with Selin’s divine protection, we began to clean up.

Since the fish was so large, even though four of us ate, there was still a lot left.

“What should we do with the leftovers?”

“Since it’s raw meat, just toss it in the sea… or use it as bait…”

“But what if the fish eat it and turn into monsters?”

“Are there any healthy fish around here…?”

“Aha.”

With that flow, we managed to clean up the leftover sashimi, and Da-eun, who had completely lost interest in fishing, returned the fishing rod to its place.

As soon as we finished eating, our group scattered as if we had made an agreement, each going about their business.

Da-eun leaned against the railing, staring dreamily at the sea, Selin was beside Da-eun with her eyes closed, feeling the wind, while Atysha was steering the boat.

Looking at it all laid out, Atysha was the only one really doing something.

Well, including me.

…Since I just ate and felt drowsy with nothing to do, I thought I might as well take a nap.

Sitting on a reclining chair with a gentle slope, I slowly blinked my eyes.

The warm sunshine, the cool breeze.

While the magical energy mixed in was a flaw, it was the perfect environment for a nap.

As my mind cleared and I felt the wind, my eyelids gradually grew heavy.

Slumber…

“…?”

While I didn’t bother to stop my slowly closing eyes, a melody carried on the wind gently landed in my ears.

Not a clear song with lyrics, but a light humming.

I thought Da-eun might be singing a lullaby, so I lifted my heavy eyelids.

However, contrary to my expectations, the source of the humming wasn’t Da-eun.

“What’s that sound?”

Da-eun was looking around, flustered, trying to find the source of the humming.

And the same went for Selin, who was standing next to her.

If it wasn’t Da-eun or Selin, then it must be Atysha.

I quickly dismissed my suspicions.

I couldn’t imagine Atysha humming a tune.

The tone of the sound was also high enough to confuse me, and Atysha generally spoke in a much lower voice.

At that moment, Atysha casually commented, having arrived without me noticing.

“It’s the Siren…”

“The Siren?”

“Yeah… It’s a monster that charms prey with song and takes their lives… Looks like it has made a nest around here…”

As soon as Atysha finished speaking, a hazy mist began to clear away, revealing some figures.

The figures were floating on the water, encircling the boat we were on.

Da-eun, unable to hide her tension as she watched, tilted her head.

“…They aren’t very pretty, are they?”

“…”

La—

…I think the humming from the Siren just stopped for a moment.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

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