Heretical Fishing

Chapter 59: Best Friend

Theo's entire face lit up.

"I love fishing!"

"I—wait, you what?"

"I love fishing!" he repeated, half yell, half whisper. "I've never come across another angler—you're doing it so openly!"

I blinked rapidly, a smile spreading across my face.

"Theo, mate—you've just been upgraded from acquaintance to friend."

He let out a laugh and clapped me on the shoulder.

"You too, Fischer—it was Fischer, right?" His lip curled up into a smirk. "An apt name..."

"Not wrong, mate."

"Aren't you worried someone will see?"

"Not really, hey. The villagers were super hesitant about what they call my 'heretical activities', but they've gotten past it... mostly."

I shrugged.

"What about you? Where do you go fishing?"

"When I get the chance, I go up into the mountains and fish creeks and ponds. I'm part of a fishing club—we get together and exchange tips and locations."

"There's a fishing club?"

"There is," he said with a smile. "We only have five members, but we meet as often as possible when we're back in Gormona."

"You're all from the capital? I'd never expect such heresy from citizens so close to the king."

I waggled my eyebrows, and he laughed again.

"Yeah, we keep it pretty quiet for obvious reasons. I think most of the water aversion is overblown, though. The gods are gone, right? What's the harm in a little fishing and relaxation?"

I gripped his shoulder, beyond happy to find a kindred spirit.

"Theo, my man, you just earned best-friend status."

***

George watched over the rock wall as Theo sprinted through the sand.

He reached Fischer, halting on the spot.

George's grin turned savage as the confrontation began.

Fischer's eyes were wide, and he uttered something with a numb face, a spike of panic no doubt driving into his body.

Will he take him back to the capital for punishment? Will Theo remove this heretical thorn from my side?

George watched on with glee.

Clap the god's pawn in chains, take him from these lands, subject him to the King's—

Fischer's shock turned into... joy?

He said something, and Theo let out a loud laugh, clapping him on the shoulder.

George's mind tried to make sense of the scene unfolding before him.

"What in Triton's girthy conch is going on...?"

The two men by the shore started talking again, hands moving chaotically as they laughed and joked.

"Th—they know each other?"

Theo glanced around, and George threw himself to the floor, knocking the air from his lungs.

Did they see me?

He felt the need to run, to get as far from this place as possible, but he had to know—he had to glean as much information as possible.

He poked his head back up slowly and saw them once more conversing, focused on each other.

George continued scouting, looking for insight.

***

Theo gave me a broad smile.

"Best friends it is!"

He peered past me, his gaze locked on my rod.

"Wow. What is that?"

“Er—a fishing rod?”

“I know what a fishing rod is, but this…”

His hand reached for the reel, a single finger extended, then his head snapped back toward me.

"May I?"

"Of course!"

I held the rod out; he took it with care.

He held the rod's handle in one hand and ran the other along the reel and bracket.

"Is this iron wood?"

"Yeah! The local woodworkers helped me craft it."

"It's beautiful…"

His hand ran up the reel and along the bracket. He lifted it before his face, eyebrows knitting as he tried to comprehend the metal arm's purpose.

"I've seen nothing quite like this reel. How does it work?"

"It's called an Alvey reel. You can twist it like so when casting." I spun the reel ninety-degrees. "That way, the line spools out freely."

Theo's eyes went wide as saucers, and his head rapidly moved to me, to the reel, and back again.

"Fischer... this design is genius! I have to write this down!"

He pulled a notepad from his pocket. He flicked past the first page and went to start writing, but I put a hand on the notepad, stopping him.

"Theo! You drew that?"

"I did. I just had a rather straight-forward meeting with the village's lord, so I did some doodling to pass the time."

He flipped back to the first page and spun it toward me.

A vivid landscape was sketched onto the page, depicting a man holding a fishing rod and standing before a calm river. The strokes were rapid but exacting, and the artist's skill was easy to see, despite how fast the lines had been drawn in.

"Mate, you really made this? It's beautiful..."

His eyes lit up.

"You think so? It's a part-time hobby, and before I found fishing, was my favored source of relaxation. Do you want it?"

"I'd love it! I have some friends who I reckon would enjoy it as much as I do."

With a careful tear, he removed the page from the notepad and held it out to me.

I accepted and slid the sketch into my back pocket, making sure to not bend or crease it.

When I looked back up at Theo, his attention was back on the rod.

"We use reels too, but you can't cast very far—does letting the line 'spool out', as you said, let it go further?"

"Yeah, mate—it lets you cast really far." I pointed out at the jetty. "I didn't use all my strength, and easily sent my bait and sinker out to the end of that dock."

"... you're joking, right?"

I grinned.

"Wanna see?"

***

George watched the men, his stomach sinking, his thoughts roiling.

Fischer passed Theo the rod, and the crown auditor's eyes poured over it as he touched different parts of it with his hands.

Is... is Theo simply a heretic also interested in fishing? Did I jump to conclusions in assuming he was in cahoots with Fischer about our interrogation?

These thoughts planted a seed in George's mind.

Is fishing somehow linked to the power the crown and its agents hold? Why else would a crown representative—not just a crown representative, but a crown auditor—be interested in something forbidden by the crown?

Theo's next action swept George's assumptions and introspection aside.

He reached into his back pocket, withdrew the notepad he'd been writing in during the interrogation, and held it out before Fischer.

George may have reasoned, whether through careful deliberation or mindless self preservation, that Theo was simply showing Fischer something else in the notepad—if not for Fischer's actions.

He reached out, placing a hand on the notepad and bringing Theo up short.

The heretic, the man that was the source of all his life's discomforts, presumed to touch a crown auditor.

Rather than striking the man down, or clapping him in chains, Theo flicked back a page and held it up before the heretic.

Fischer peered at it intently, scouring over the notes Theo had jotted down.

They spoke as Fischer continued looking over the information. Then, with practiced movement, Theo tore the page out and handed it to Fischer.

George fell back, rolling awkwardly as his rotund and powerful frame hit the stone walkway.

He crawled away from the wall with numb limbs, his brain too overwhelmed to register his body's sensations.

When he reached the far corner of a building, he leaned against it, using it to get to his feet.

I was correct...

This knowledge didn't bring George satisfaction; it set a convulsing pool of uncertainty and existential dread into motion.

Fischer isn't just a crown agent—he’s the direct superior of a crown auditor.

George stumbled between rows of buildings, eyes unseeing as the light of the day bled from the sky.

This is worse than I could have possibly imagined.

He lurched, almost falling over as the weight of his discovery settled on his shoulders.

Okeanus’ tempestuous waters—what storm do I find myself adrift in?

***

"What on Kallis is that?" Theo pointed at the rock and sinker, his face scrunched.

"A sinker, mate—a bit of weight helps cast the line out, and keep it still on the ocean floor."

He gave me an askew glance.

"Doesn't it scare away the fish? It's pretty... noticeable."

"Not at all, my man! I love fish as much as you or any of your fishing club members, but even you have to admit, they're pretty dumb. I call this one a 'drop rig'—you can even add more lines coming off the main one. More hooks, more bait, all represented at different levels in the water—that only increased your chances of catching a fish, right?"

"That... doesn't scare the fish away either?"

I shook my head.

"The opposite, mate. I've only used drop rigs with multiple hooks on smaller baitfish, but it's not uncommon to catch multiple fish in the one cast. When a fish gets hooked, its movement catches other fish's attention, and they go for the other hooks."

Theo almost threw the rod at me in his haste; I took it with a smile as he rushed to jot down a sketch in his notepad.

When he finished, I held the rod back out to him.

"Have a go at casting it."

Theo flipped the reel to its casting position, and I grabbed the line with one finger, holding it to the rod so it didn't unspool.

"Hold the line against the rod like this before you're casting—let go just as you cast it out, and the line will flow freely."

He nodded and did so with an intense look of concentration.

"How, uh, how hard can I throw it?"

"As hard as you want, mate. Maybe start with a small throw to get a feel for it."

I stepped back to give him space, and with an overhead flick, he sent the bait out over the ocean.

It traveled about half the length of the jetty, hitting the water with a soft plop.

Theo's smile was a beautiful thing to see, and he let out a soft chuckle.

"Amazing! It feels so solid—this rod is something else, Fischer!"

He flicked the reel back into its natural position. It made a soft click as it did so.

He started reeling, and pure joy swept over his face.

"And the reel feels so smooth! Fischer—I can't believe you made this!"

My heart sang with the purity of the moment, and I bathed in Theo's childlike wonder.

"That cast was perfect. This time, send it as far as you can."

"You're sure?" he asked, not looking away from the rod as he wound the line in.

"I'm sure, mate—I doubt you can mess it up. Just let go of the line as you did before when you cast it."

With Theo's exuberant winding, the sinker and hook came from the water in no time at all.

He flicked the reel back into the casting position and flung the rod back over his shoulder.

"Wait!" I said.

He paused, giving me a questioning look.

I flicked the reel back into the standard position and eased the rod down from above his shoulder.

"You have a bit too much line free. Wind it a couple times so the hook and sinker are closer to the tip of the rod—you'll cast it much further."

He did so, giving the reel a few turns.

"Is this better?"

"Perfect, mate."

Theo nodded, mostly to himself, and tried the cast again.

With the reel in the casting position, the rod over his shoulder, and a finger held to the line, he flung as hard as he could.

As the hook and sinker arced high over the waters of the bay, a faint nudge came from the System, the subtle blip telling me it was no doubt sending through another error message.

I quirked an eyebrow.

For showing someone how to fish? Odd…

***

In a room high atop the castle of Gormona, a relic blinked to life—an exceedingly rare occurrence that was becoming more and more commonplace.

There was no person there to witness the anomaly, yet the artifact still completed its task, printing words out onto its screen.

New Milestone! Fischer has become a fishing trainer!