It’s too late, I’ll be eaten.
Mana and I have the same thoughts.
But, that wasn’t what happened.
「 Huh? 」
Mana’s surprised.
It’s shocking because the shark didn’t bite me.
It poked me and rubbed on my body.
「 This shark… 」
It’s hard to see with the goggles but I can tell now that we’re so close.
It’s a sandbar shark.
And I’m guessing that this was the one I played with before.
The way it rubs its cheeks on me is the same, and it’s also carrying me.
「 Ooh, you seem healthy! 」
I accepted the goodwill of the shark
I hugged the shark’s body and patted it.
「 You tamed a shark? 」
Mana’s even more surprised.
Speaking of which, it’s Mana’s first time seeing this shark.
It was Hinako who was with me back then.
「 I became friends with this shark before 」
「 Friends? Shark?! Is that possible? 」
「 This is a Sandbar shark and it doesn’t go after humans 」
「 R-Really? 」
「 Besides, it just wants to be friends with me. Mana is more amazing because you can control the monkeys as you please. That’s a feat no ordinary person can do 」
After playing with the shark, I returned to the boat.
Sure enough, the shark supported me.
He pushed my body up with his head.
(This is a chance!)
Somehow, I feel like this will work.
Common sense says that it’s impossible, but it’s possible here.
Feeling so, I talked to the shark.
「 If you’d like, could you help and carry us there? 」
The shark peeks out of the ocean like a dolphin in a show.
After talking to him, he dove his face into the water.
Then.
「 Hokage! The shark! The shark’s pushing the boat! 」
The shark started pushing our boat.
Furthermore, it did just as I asked, pushing us to the hideout.
Its nose is dexterous.
Furthermore, it’s quite fast.
The hideout is getting closer.
「 Oooooooooh! It can understand me! Amazing! 」
I’m impressed.
I face the shark and keep telling it that it’s amazing.
「 I think Hokage, being able to have a shark friend, is the amazing one here 」
Mana smiled wryly
「 Shinomiya-dono!! 」
「 Hokage-kun!! 」
「 Mana! Hokage! 」
I hear the voices of everyone as we approach the hideout.
I waved my hand and replied.
「 Oh, this is far enough 」
When the boat was in the hideout, the shark stopped pushing.
It slowly moved away and went to the ocean, then turned back to me halfway.
「 Eri, do you have some of the fish Arisa caught? 」
「 I do 」
「 Give me the pot 」
「 Huh?! Oh, okay 」
Eri doesn’t understand my intentions but she did as I told her.
「 It’s our food, but I’ll use this as thanks 」
I took the pot with a fish on it and beckoned the shark.
Then, the shark approached us quietly.
Everyone in the hideout shouted “Shark!” but I didn’t mind.
「 This is my thanks for helping us, take it 」
I dipped the earthenware pot into the seawater and tilted it.
The shark plunged its face into it and ate the fish contained.
It’s munching, stuffing itself with the fish.
「 Thanks for helping us 」
I thanked the shark again, gently stroking its fins.
「 Wow. Hokage’s tamed a shark! 」
Arisa had the same reaction as Mana.
Everyone else had their mouths wide open.
After it finished eating the fish, the shark moved away again.
I said goodbye and it slapped its tail on the water happily.
There was a huge splash of water, blocking our view.
「 Phew, what a cool guy 」
As soon as the splash is gone, the shark was away.
That’s how Mana and I managed to overcome the sea disaster.
◇
Somehow, Mana’s rescue has concluded.
However, the next problem comes in.
From here, we need to work to keep ourselves from catching colds.
「 Warm yourselves up! 」
Mana and I wiped our bodies as best as we could and warmed ourselves near the fire.
A lot of clothing had arrived and we’re forced to put them on.
Fire is set on all sides and we sat in the middle.
It looks like some kind of ritual but the warmth was perfect.
No, I’m not objecting, but it’s so hot that I’m starting to sweat.
To be honest, I want to take off my clothes right now.
「 Hey! Is the bath not done yet? 」
I hear Arisa’s voice at the back of the hideout.
She leads the boys in boiling the bath as fast as she could.
「 Drink this and warm your bodies up 」
Edie serves us miso soup.
The ingredients were wakame, seaweed, beaten eggs, and thinly sliced boar meat.
「 Haha, this is blissful 」
「 Right 」
Mana and I ate some miso soup and breathed a sigh of relief.
A cold could be fatal in this place so everyone’s so desperate to prevent it.
The rush of everyone in here reminded me of an F1 pitstop.
「 Uki 」
While we’re resting, one monkey approached.
I know that it’s not Rita, but I know nothing else than that.
「 What’s wrong? Bismarck 」
Seems like this one’s named Bismarck
I find Mana’s naming sense weird.
That aside, the monkey named Bismarck kneeled to Mana.
「 Ukii 」
It kept on bowing his head to the ground over and over.
「 Is he apologizing? 」
I couldn’t understand.
Looking closely, I see other monkeys outside the fire apologizing as well.
It’s not as much as Bismarck but they’re bowing their heads.
「 Hmm, it was my fault so don’t mind it. Sorry for making you feel sad 」
Mana says a few kind words and hugged Bismarck.
She gently patted the sobbing Bismarck and placed it outside the fire.
「 Hey, what did he apologize for? 」
I ask hed.
「 I stepped on a nut and lost my balance, right? It seems that it was that one who gave me that. That’s why it seems to think that it was its fault that I fell to the sea 」
As usual, she had a perfect translation.
Thanks to that, I understood how the monkeys felt.
「 The incident today wasn’t anyone’s fault. Upon reflection, I guess I didn’t secure the boat. Later, I’ll attach a string to the weight and secure the boat with it. If only the boat hadn’t been washed away, it wouldn’t have been so serious 」
Thanks to the support of our friends, Mana and I avoided catching a cold.
Now that it’s over, we can laugh at it and say “That was a hard time”
But, never again.