novelraw Chapter 249: Egg
Chapter 249: Egg
"Nice to meet you... nice to meet you."
The Iceberg Queen swayed gently in the night, but Fisher, engraving magic onto an iron plate with a kitchen knife in the kitchen, was not alone. After all, in the room next door, there was an Azurebird-kin girl repeatedly practicing conversation with her parrot.
Previously, when Fisher saw her huddled atop the mast every day, he thought it was because she didn't want to interact with others. But now, it seemed that wasn't the case...
As a magic component with the Circle Head [Healing] appeared on the iron plate, Fisher exhaled softly. After relaxing his fingers, he once again wiped some magic material powder onto the blade of the kitchen knife, proceeding to engrave the Main Ring part.
"Steel Knife, I saw the captain holding hands with that man earlier. I think it won't be long before Alajina marries him... But, when we were in the matriarchy, Alajina clearly didn't like talking just like me. And yet now she's going to get married... that's why I... feel a little envious. I want to try communicating with others, I can't always rely on you to speak for me. What do you think, Steel Knife?"
"Idiot... idiot."
Steel Knife's response was extremely vague, spitting out words that Fisher could only guess the general meaning of. Yet, Aoxi was able to converse with it fluently; Fisher didn't know if this was due to the innate skills of the Azurebird-kin.
"I know, I will try with others later. But right now I still need your help... Huh, did I say exactly this to you last month as well?"
"Coo coo... coo coo."
The conversation between Second Mate Aoxi and Steel Knife was entirely overheard by Fisher, who was still engraving magic in the kitchen late at night. Originally, he had a bit of a headache from using a kitchen knife to engrave magic, but thanks to this totally unexpected harvest, his head no longer hurt, his hands were no longer sore, and his engraving movements even became much more deft.He remembered that he had been troubled earlier over what excuse to use to research Aoxi. Now, having heard her seemingly self-talking conversation with Steel Knife, Fisher felt as if he had suddenly caught onto a clue.
"Buzz buzz..."
Fisher continued engraving the magic. Before long, the sounds from the adjacent room quieted down a bit. Perhaps she was tired from practicing, leaving only the sound of the wind and rain outside the ship.
Just as Fisher was thinking Aoxi might have gone back, a faint noise suddenly came from that direction again.
"Ugh..."
Fisher's action of using the kitchen knife to engrave the magic crest came to an abrupt end. He seemed to hear a strange sound coming from Aoxi next door, somewhat resembling a moan of arousal, yet much more restrained than that.
Moreover, aside from that, Fisher suddenly conceived a doubt at this moment.
If Aoxi wanted to practice having a conversation, wouldn't it be much safer to practice in her own room than in the dining hall?
Although basically no one came here at night either, the soundproofing where Alajina lived was quite good; unless one was speaking too loudly, they basically couldn't be heard.
So, what did Aoxi come here to do?
Harboring such doubts, Fisher's movements in engraving the magic crest on the iron plate sped up slightly. As time ticked by, the kitchen knife in his hand became as nimble as his own fingers.
Furthermore, drawing analogies, Fisher, who didn't really know how to cook, suddenly thought: if he compared the process of cutting ingredients to engraving magic, would the resulting food no longer look quite as freakish and misshapen as before?
"Ugh, so tired... Let's just put it here. Peo will take care of it. Once winter arrives, I won't have to come over anymore."
"Coo coo... coo coo."
"Let's go, Steel Knife."
After a long time, the conversation between Aoxi and Steel Knife came from the next room again. Aoxi's voice was slightly panting; it was unknown what had just happened.
Fisher knew Peo; she was the Iceberg Queen's ship cook. Old Jack had been learning Northern Border dishes from her earlier, and conveniently, she was also quite interested in Naris food, so they mutually taught each other.
After this sentence, the door of the dining hall next door was opened. Fortunately, the cabin doors of the Iceberg Queen were all extremely heavy iron doors, designed not only to prevent water from flooding in but also to keep people outside from noticing the lights left on in the kitchen. If Aoxi discovered that Fisher had eavesdropped on her entire conversation, he didn't know if she would sink completely back into isolation.
As Aoxi left the area, the healing magic in Fisher's hands was also nearing completion. As the final stroke of the Ring Tail section was outlined by the kitchen knife, the magic circuits on Fisher's body lit up once more. The five-ring healing magic on the iron plate was instantly completed, transforming into a beautiful, faintly glowing pattern.
The Five-Ring Healing Magic, [Immediate Healing], was finished.
Although five-ring magic had flaws in both its activation speed and effect, Isabel's injuries weren't actually that serious; they just looked a bit exaggerated on the surface. This magic was completely sufficient for her.
Seeing that the magic was complete, Fisher breathed a sigh of relief. He then washed the kitchen knife—which might be the first one in history to be used for carving magic—and placed it back into its slot. Carrying the iron plate inscribed with the magic, he walked out of the kitchen.
The corridor outside was pitch black. On the entire lower deck, Fisher might be the only one left. Aoxi had also long since left with Steel Knife. In Fisher's line of sight, there remained only the quiet corridor swaying gently along with the entire ship.
Carrying the magical iron plate, he walked forward. Just as he was about to pass the dining hall where Aoxi had been staying moments ago, his footsteps suddenly paused, and he looked curiously toward the dining room next to him.
Hesitating for a second, he gently reached out, grasped the handle of the iron door, and pushed it open.
"Creak..."
As the iron door was opened, revealing the dim gloom inside, Fisher scanned the surroundings and found that the scene in the dining hall seemed no different from when he had visited in the afternoon. However, when Fisher turned on the room's lights, he suddenly discovered a small basket placed in front of the door where ingredients were stored in the corner of the room.
The small basket was entirely made of wood. It seemed to contain something with some weight inside, but a piece of pink cloth covered the item, obscuring Fisher's line of sight.
Fisher raised an eyebrow, approached the wooden basket, squatted down, and gently lifted the covering cloth. Inside, a rather large, smooth-surfaced egg suddenly burst into his view.
The shell of the egg in the basket was extremely smooth. If one observed closely, they could even see traces of moisture on its surface. Those water stains retained the warmth from when it was born, simply lying quietly within the wooden basket...
Just from his very first glance at this egg, Fisher already realized what Aoxi had come here to do earlier.
Fisher suddenly felt that it was a good thing Aoxi hadn't discovered him when she came out earlier; otherwise, eavesdropping on her conversation and discovering that she was laying an egg here would probably make her so ashamed she'd jump straight into the sea.
The vast majority of demi-human races were mammals. Only a few special ones would be different, and the Azurebird-kin were among the ones Fisher currently knew of.
Whether they were from the Northern Border or the Southern Continent, Azurebird-kin shared this trait: although they breastfed, their children were born from within eggs.
At the same time, female Azurebird-kin would produce unfertilized eggs at regular intervals. This phenomenon would be exacerbated, especially when they had not been in contact with the opposite sex for a long period of time.
Logically speaking, the mating season for an ordinary Azurebird-kin occurred only twice a year. However, listening to Aoxi's conversation earlier, it seemed her biological clock had begun to grow disordered due to living on the sea for an extended period, accelerating her breeding rate from twice a year to once every two or three months. This was exactly why she frequently produced unfertilized eggs.
Although unfertilized eggs held no special significance for the Azurebird-kin—they would even boil and eat them themselves—for some unknown reason, staring at the water-stained bird egg before him, Fisher's expression still turned somewhat strange.
It's better not to eat the ship's egg custard tomorrow.
Fisher silently recited a "May the Mother Goddess bless us" in his heart. Then, he placed the piece of cloth back over the basket, covering Aoxi's egg. He turned around, turned off the dining hall's lights, and left the place, pretending nothing had happened.
When Fisher, braving the rain and carrying the healing magic, arrived at Isabel's door, he casually glanced at Aoxi's room next door. The lights were still on there. Following the silhouette projected onto the small window by the light, Fisher saw the figure of the parrot Steel Knife tilting its head in the room. It seemed to have heard Fisher's footsteps outside, but it didn't make a sound.
"Knock knock."
"Isabel."
Fisher withdrew his gaze and knocked on Isabel's door. Before long, a somewhat flustered response came from inside.
"Ah, Teacher Fisher. Wait, I'm coming right now..."
After responding, she waited for quite a few seconds. When the door opened again, Fisher was startled by the Isabel revealed through the crack in the door.
For no other reason than the fact that inside the room, Isabel—wearing a crew uniform and with bandages wrapped around her face—was half-hiding behind the door. Where she was exposed, the smooth, golden long hair that originally adorned her head was left at approximately shoulder length. Moreover, the cut ends of her hair looked extremely rough and uneven, making her beautiful hair look messy and chopped.
Feeling Fisher's gaze lingering on her hair, Isabel retreated a bit behind the door somewhat embarrassedly. Fisher didn't pursue with his eyes, but simply asked.
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"My long hair makes it hard to train, and besides, the other crew members from the matriarchy all have short hair..."
"Is that so."
Fisher looked at the rough cuts on her hair and deduced.
"Did you cut it with scissors?"
"Mhm, there aren't any other suitable tools on the ship, so I... Ah, the rain outside is too heavy, come in first."
Fisher nodded and stepped into Isabel's half-open door. As the sound of the iron door closing rang out, the silhouette of the parrot on the window of Aoxi's room danced a few times before hopping back inside.