Riverden City doesn't have any surplus food? Lucas raised an eyebrow, and after a moment of thinking, he understood. Not every city is as wealthy as Sedona City; many cities struggle to get by during the winter, barely avoiding hunger.
"What are you doing right now? Spearing fish?"
Lucas asked, glancing at the palm-sized fish on the ice. He could tell that the woman in front of him was quite cautious, so he decided to change the subject to break the ice.
"Mm." Camilla hummed lightly, a flash of pride flickering in her brown eyes.
Who else could do what she was doing, catching fish in the winter? In her nineteen years of life, she had never heard of anyone catching fish under frozen river water.
"Being able to spear fish in winter is quite impressive." Lucas chuckled lightly, or rather, it was luck.
After the river freezes in winter, fish usually stay in deeper, warmer areas of the water and rarely come close to the ice unless they are lured by bait.
"..." Camilla's brown eyes grew even more cautious, and she didn't respond to Lucas's words. She subtly shifted toward the spot where she had placed the fish on the ice, fearing that the fish she had speared might be stolen.
She thought her father was right; the man in front of her was starting to use sweet talk to deceive her and ultimately steal the fish.
"Uh..." Lucas shrugged, realizing the attempt at conversation had failed.
Nicole and Mina exchanged amused glances. The woman in front of them had made the young master helpless, as if the young master was the bad guy.
"Grrr~~"
Suddenly, a growling stomach broke the silence. Lucas and the others turned to see a flush spread across the woman's face, her hands and feet becoming a bit flustered.
Could she not be flustered? Camilla was mortified, her stomach choosing this exact moment to make noise, and she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ice.
A glimmer of amusement flashed in Lucas's eyes as he turned to Nicole and said, "I'm hungry, let's prepare for afternoon tea."
"Alright." Nicole responded softly, understanding what Lucas meant. After all, what could be more tempting than food?
"Afternoon tea?" Mina was stunned for a moment. Eat on the ice? She suddenly couldn't keep up with Lucas's line of thought.
"Young master, what would you like to eat?" Nicole blinked her beautiful eyes and asked. Pastries were out of the question, so they could only make some simple food, like noodles or porridge.
"Fish," Lucas smiled faintly, stepping on the ice. "Let's drill an ice hole and fish. In this kind of weather, grilled fish would be perfect."
"Fishing through an ice hole?" Mina blinked, glancing at the ice hole on the ground. She immediately understood the young master's intention.
"Okay, I'll prepare the fire." Nicole replied with a soft smile, turning towards the ice sled and struggling to move the stove.
"Ma'am, let us do it," Chris and the others stepped forward immediately, showing some initiative. They quickly combined several ice sleds into a makeshift platform.
"Number five, feed the horses." Chris ordered. "Number three, lay down the animal hides..."
"Understood!"
"Dig an ice hole," Lucas called out.
"I'll do it!" Mina raised her hand, answering before Chris could, her eyes fixed on Lucas. She was quite interested in fishing.
"Alright, you do it then," Lucas chuckled, shaking his head. The cat-eared girl seemed to get excited whenever fish were involved.
"Hehe..." Mina giggled, her sleeves shaking as she quickly pulled out a knife and squatted on the ice to start chiseling the hole.
Fishing through an ice hole? What kind of fishing method was that? Camilla stared with wide brown eyes, watching the people around her suddenly get busy, wondering if this was even more impressive than her own ice-hole spearing.
She didn't dare lower her guard, worried that these people might be planning something harmful for Riverden City. Still, she couldn't help but watch with curiosity as they performed their strange actions.
"Ha...done," Mina exhaled lightly, shaking her sore wrist. After about ten minutes, she had created an ice hole the size of a bucket opening.
Mina then pulled out a small iron box about the size of two fingers from her pocket. Opening it, she retrieved a fish hook and a bobber wrapped in fishing line—this was the simplified fishing gear Lucas had given her. If they were in the wild, it could easily be tied to a stick to make a simple fishing rod.
Next, she took a piece of tough beef jerky from a box on the ice sled and threaded it onto the hook as bait, dropping it into the ice hole.
Camilla stared blankly at Mina's actions, frowning. She didn't understand—was the fish really stupid enough to bite the hook?
"Dig a few more ice holes," Lucas turned to Chris and the others. "Otherwise, there won't be enough to eat."
"Yes, sir." Chris and the others drew their knives and started chiseling ice holes. After about ten minutes, they had created several more holes and set up their simplified fishing gear. The method of fishing under the ice had been taught to them by the city lord.
The War Wolves were well-equipped with fish hooks like these, which made it easier to get food in the wild. Lucas planned to introduce this technique to the entire army, especially to the logistics team.
"Huh?" Mina felt the fishing line twitch. A flash of joy crossed her eyes. A fish was testing the bait.
"Got it!" Mina yanked the line, and a fish, about the size of two palms, was pulled up onto the ice.
"This..." Camilla widened her brown eyes. How long has it been? And they already caught a fish?
Three minutes later, Mina pulled up a second fish, followed by a third and a fourth…
"I've got one!" Chris yanked up a fish, about the size of a palm.
"Me too!" Number two also pulled up a fish.
"..."
Camilla felt numb. She glanced down at her own ice hole, her spear, and the one fish she had speared after a long struggle.
Then she looked at the others, who caught ten or so fish in just a short time, while she had only managed to get one unlucky fish after poking around with a spear for half the day. The comparison made her feel like an invisible spear had pierced her heart. Ouch.
Lucas sat on the makeshift platform made of animal hides and glanced at the stunned woman, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He didn't believe he couldn't handle a native girl.
"Young master, you're so bad," Nicole scolded with a playful tone. She was roasting the fish, occasionally flipping it over.
"It smells so good," Lucas chuckled. Bad? This was just a strategy, or perhaps, he was just hungry. Grilled fish on the ice was a first for him.
Half an hour later, the fish on the ice had piled up like a small hill. As long as the hooks were placed deep enough, it was easy to pull up fish.
"Young master, these fish are so dumb, they bite the hook as soon as you drop it," Mina pouted in complaint, feeling like there was no sense of achievement.
The fish were so dumb, so easy to catch... Camilla stared bitterly at the fish at her feet, wondering if she was dumber than the fish herself.
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