He began by demonstrating the process of scaling, gutting, and filleting. His hands moved like someone who had done this a thousand times before.
He explained as he went, his voice calm and clear, like a teacher who really wanted his student to learn.
"Your turn," Garrett said, giving Rex the knife and pointing to the next fish.
Rex picked up the knife and tried to do what he had seen. It didn't go well.
The knife slipped, the scales went all over the place, and he was pretty sure he killed the fish in every way possible.
Garrett watched without saying anything, then took the knife back. "Here... You just need to keep it like this with a stronger grip."
"And don't hit it too hard because you need those smooth strokes like you masturbate, get it?"
"What the fuck...?" Rex's expression looks confused.
"Hahaha! I'm just messing with ya. Here, look."
He showed Rex how to do it a few times with his hands until Rex got the hang of it.
"That's it," Garrett said, nodding in approval. "You'll get better as you do it more."
For a while, they worked in a comfortable silence that felt normal for two people who were focused on a task. Rex kept looking at Garrett out of the corner of his eye, just like he had done with hundreds of other people before.
The man was undeniably real. That was the first thing that struck Rex.
There was no acting, no hidden agenda, and no manipulation involved. He was simply a genuinely kind guy.
He was the kind of person who would lend a hand to strangers gutting fish, because that's just what you did when someone needed help.
This implied that he might not recognize betrayal until it was already too late.
Rex didn't feel bad about this at all because he knows Mara is one of the most beautiful, sexy MILFs he has seen for the first time in this new life.
"So," Rex said as he worked on his third fish, which was going a little better than the first two, "how did you and Mara meet?"
Garrett's face lit up right away. "Ahaa~ It's that time, huh?"
"Story time~! We lived in the same village, which is about two days north of here."
"My dad was the blacksmith, and her dad ran the general store. We had known each other our whole lives."
"Then you two were childhood sweethearts?"
"Something like that."
"At first, she didn't like me very much because I was too loud and clumsy." Garrett laughed when he thought about it. "I had to court her for three years before she said yes."
"Three years?" Rex whistled softly. "That's dedication."
"She was worth the wait," Garrett said simply, and the sincerity in his voice made it hard to listen to.
"Just look at her! She's beautiful, right?"
"Yep."
Rex could deal with this. A man who was very much in love had worked hard to keep his relationship going and probably thought his marriage was strong because why wouldn't it be?
He would never give anyone a reason to not trust him.
This meant he would never think that his wife might be looking for someone else.
Rex said, "You're a lucky man," and he meant it in his own strange way.
"It's good that you don't know." Rick thought. "Fortunate to have such complete faith."
"I was lucky to live in a world where betrayal didn't seem possible."
"I know," Garrett said. "Marrying her was the best thing I ever did."
...
They finished the fish, and Garrett showed Rex how to get them ready to cook. Garrett talked to Rex the whole time.
He also talked about the town, the bandit attack, how difficult things had been, and how they were trying to rebuild.
Garrett said, "That's why I fish every day now."
"I used to do it for fun, but now it's one of the few places to eat."
"The farms are having a hard time because the trade caravans don't come through anymore."
"Fish keeps us fed."
Rex said, "It sounds like you're keeping this whole town together."
Garrett shook his head. "Not just me, of course. Everyone is doing their part as well."
"We live or die together."
There it was again. That's real goodness coming from someone who's about to get cucked. Rex had never believed in community, cooperation, or any of that noble bullshit.
But he could act like he believed it. And that was simple enough.
"I respect that," Rex said. "Where I'm from, people mostly just took care of themselves."
Garrett said, "That's a lonely way to live," and there was no judgment in it.
Rex almost laughed because what he said was true, but at least he had never been disappointed by anyone. If you didn't expect anything good to happen, you couldn't be let down.
They took the fish that had been prepared back inside, where Mara was waiting. She raised an eyebrow slightly as she watched Rex try to fillet.
Garrett quickly came to Rex's defense and said, "He'll get better."
"Everyone has to start somewhere."
Mara only muttered, "Mm," but she took the fish without any problems and began to make a stew out of them.
The rest of the day went in a similar way. Rex worked, Garrett showed him how to do new things, and Mara watched them both with her tired, sharp eyes.
By the time the tavern filled with diners, Rex was more tired than he had been in years. He was physically exhausted from his work.
But he had also learned a lot.
He had learned that Garrett got up before dawn every day to go fishing. Garrett took his catches to the river's edge, which was two miles from town, meaning he was gone from the inn for hours every morning.
He had learned that during those hours, Mara ran the whole tavern by herself, serving breakfast to the few early customers who came by.
He had learned that their marriage, though clearly loving, faced the challenges common to long-term relationships.
There were small moments of annoyance where there were times when Garrett forgot something, leading to Mara's frustration. There were instances when Mara would raise her voice over trivial matters, causing Garrett's shoulders to droop.
It's minor, not enough to make him think of an unhappy marriage.
But those cracks still existed. Rex had a talent for uncovering them and widening the gaps.
While he served stew to a group of rough-looking men who barely noticed him, the system helpfully chimed in.
[ANALYSIS UPDATE: MARA KESSON]
[DESIRE LEVEL: 5/100]
[RELATIONSHIP STATUS: NEUTRAL WITH SLIGHT POSITIVE LEAN]
[OBSERVATION: SUBJECT APPRECIATES COMPETENCE AND EFFORT]
[OBSERVATION: SUBJECT VALUES HONESTY OVER FLATTERY]
[OBSERVATION: SUBJECT IS LONELY DESPITE BEING MARRIED]
[RECOMMENDATION: BUILD TRUST THROUGH CONSISTENT WORK, AVOID OBVIOUS FLIRTATION, BECOME INDISPENSABLE]
As he walked between tables, Rex read the information with interest. The system helped him more than he thought it would.
It wasn't just keeping track of numbers, but it was also looking at behavior and giving real strategic advice.
"Lonely even though she's married, huh?" Rex said quietly. "Now that's where the affair starts, you know...?"
Throughout their meal, he observed Mara's effortless maneuvering through the crowd. How she smiled at customers, but her eyes never smiled.
And how she looked toward the door every time it opened, as if she was waiting for someone who never came.
He looked at Garrett, who was sitting at the bar eating his own bowl of stew and talking to the regulars. He was friendly and warm, unaware that his wife was exhausting herself while he was out with friends.
It wasn't meant to be mean. Garrett really cared about Mara, but love and attention were not the same thing, and Rex could see that Mara was getting a lot of love but not enough attention.
"Just about right..."