Dual World Apocalypse: My Harem Gives Me 10x Rewards

"Hm... I see," Adrian mumbled, patting Sera’s head. "Don’t worry about him. When the time comes, I’ll deal with him like I dealt with his brother."

Sera and Adrian had stepped aside for a moment so she could tell him about Juan’s text. Adrian got so engrossed in the discussion that he completely forgot about their communication problem.

Thankfully, Sera understood his emotions. Words did not matter to her, after all.

"But what are you doing here?" Sera asked him, shaking other thoughts out of her head.

Instead of answering, Adiran just pointed at the stream.

"Bathing?" Sera asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Adrian sighed. Since he was too lazy to text her, he just walked into the stream with his hands deep in it.

Sera thought he was trying to catch fish like that, but that wasn’t the case.

"What... is that!?"

A few seconds ago...

Adrian dipped his hands under to look for the trap. Although he had marked the location, the stream was exceptionally strong, and the cage might have moved a bit.

"There you are!" Adrian smiled as he grabbed one of the bars. "Uh... why is it so heavy...?"

The cage felt surprisingly heavy, much heavier than he had expected. He planted his feet firmly on the streambed and, with no other choice, dragged the entire thing to the shore.

The entire time, Sera was staring at his bulging muscles. Only when he pulled the cage out did she notice what he was carrying.

"...a fish trap?"

It wasn’t just a fish trap, but one packed full of fish and crabs. The silver scales of the fish glistened in the sunlight, and several large crabs snapped their claws angrily inside the trap.

The large fish were trapped on one side of the cage while the crabs remained in the other section. The haul was impressive, to say the least. If he used [Salvage] on them, then they would easily get another month’s worth of rations.

However, Adrian didn’t think he would have to use it on them.

"Holy shit... this is just the first one. I set up ten more of these yesterday morning," he mumbled, looking down the stream. "If the other cages are even half filled as this one, I would have too many of them at hand."

Then again, the haul would not go to waste. He could just ask Sera to put them on sale too. After all, the more resources he had to offer, the higher the chance of procuring enough water for the group.

However, before that, there was one thing he needed to do.

Adrian opened the section with the fish and dumped them on the shore. The fish flopped around while the small crabs that had managed to enter the fish section tried to scuttle away.

Adrian quickly gathered them into a large leaf basket Sera had brought along to collect clay and sand for her pots.

After that, he began sorting the fish. The young and small ones were thrown right back into the stream so they could grow and continue working to keep the ecosystem in balance.

The same was the case with females. He threw most of them back in the stream, while he took another leaf basket, filled it with water, and dumped the remaining female fish in it.

Sera wanted to help him sort the catch, but upon seeing him working proficiently, she couldn’t jump in. How could she sort the fish if she didn’t even know the criteria for it?

Adrian looked up, only to see her cleavage as she was leaning forward while trying to see what he was doing. The grass top she was wearing had shifted slightly, giving him an unintended but very clear view. Adrian cleared his throat loudly and quickly looked away, his face heating up a little.

Sera noticed his reaction and realized what had happened. She straightened up immediately, holding her grass top in place with both hands, her cheeks turning pink.

"I’m sorry, Master..." she mumbled, looking embarrassed. "I didn’t mean to..."

Adrian shook his head and sent her a quick text.

<Adrian>: It’s alright. Just be careful.

Then, on second thought, he sent her another message.

<Adrian>: Do you want to help me separate these?

Sera turned back and nodded. When she did, he held up one of the fish, turning it so she could see the underside clearly. He pointed at the small differences and sent her another message explaining how to differentiate between male and female fish.

<Adrian>: See this part? Males usually have a more pointed fin here and a small bump. Females are rounder in the belly area, especially if they have eggs.

<Adrian>: I’m throwing the young ones back in the stream, and the same with most females, so they can lay more eggs later. As for the males, we’ll eat them tonight over the fire with some vegetables and fruits.

He then pointed at the basket and sent another text to her.

<Adrian>: The females in there also have eggs, but I’m carrying them back to the settlement, so they laid eggs in the pond instead.

Sera read the messages carefully and nodded. All the embarrassment she felt earlier disappeared, replaced by curiosity as she focused on learning.

After a few more explanations, she picked up a fish and examined it closely, comparing it to Adrian’s example. After a few tries, she started sorting them on her own, occasionally glancing at Adrian for confirmation.

It showed off Sera’s qualities perfectly. As she was always eager to learn and help, even with tasks she wasn’t familiar with.

Adrian watched her work for a moment, feeling something weird in him. Perhaps it was the pride of a teacher watching his student perform successfully?

Now I almost feel bad for how I treated her on our first day together.

Eventually, he tore his gaze off her and worked alongside while the tribeswomen kept watch. They tried joining as well, but the fish were slippery and would jump off their hands, straight back into the stream.

They couldn’t help it. After all, it was their first time seeing a fish so closely. Previously, they had only seen them while bathing in the stream. They had tried catching them with bare hands before, but failed as the fish were agile in the water.

The women kept trying to pick the fish off the ground, but their light grip would make the fish escape. Soon, the fish noticed it and began flipping towards the women, wanting to jump back into the stream.

"Just stop them and come here," Adrian instructed.

However, Adrian didn’t scold them. As the saying went, there were plenty of fish in the sea. He didn’t mind losing some. After all, there were more cages to go through.

Instead, he taught them too. Soon, they all began sorting the fish together. Huginn also wanted to be part of the action, not because she wanted to help, but because she was attracted to their smell and wanted a taste.

"Alright, here you go," Adrian shook his head, tossing a fish to the bird.

"Caw!" Huginn cawed, letting the fish fall before tearing it open with her beak and talons to enjoy the feast.