Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad

[Pujimaki]

Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 157


Fortunately, the amount of harvest was not affected, and they caught the usual amount. Despite being tired, they didn't rest. Once they hauled the abalones into the boat, the two checked each trap to catch lobsters, moving purely on habit and experience. They actually found the floaters easily now that the sun was up.

They caught 22 lobsters before leaving for the day. They were two hours late today, but they also earned more, making the delay feel worthwhile.

Today, they earned 69,000 pesos. Nice... Funny, because Maya and Karlos did that position last night, ahem, anyway.

"I'm back," Karlos announced softly.

Karlos opened the gate and found the twins playing in front of the house, running around.

"Papa!" The twins greeted their father with warm hugs and wide smiles. They threw themselves at his legs without hesitation.

"Let me put my belongings away first." Karlos chuckled, carefully carrying the containers to the shed.

"Uncwe!" The twins also greeted Brandon, their childish voices mispronouncing the word.

"Hey, kids." Brandon smiled at them.

Although his crossed eyes were a bit confusing for the kids, they didn't know where Brandon was looking, but they giggled anyway.

Brandon bid farewell after putting their equipment away. He had already received his money today, which was slightly bigger than usual, putting him in a good mood. He was still confused about why their long line had caught fish even though they didn't use bait. The thought kept bothering him. He decided to ask his father later.

"Papa, Jowwybee!" Arabella went straight to the point, not bothering with pleasantries. She hugged Karlos's leg and showed her toothy grin, her sparkling eyes full of expectation, hoping he would agree.

"We already went there last Sunday." Karlos patted her head, trying to reason with her.

Just as he expected, the twins had become addicted to going to Jollybee. The mascot, playground, and restaurant had left a deep impression on them. Even Iñigo was copying his sister's pitiful expression, trying to convince Karlos by mimicking her act.

From their experience, Karlos was the easiest parent to persuade. His resolve always softened whenever they begged him, especially when they looked pitiful. Unlike their mother, who was stricter and made sure they wouldn't grow up spoiled. Tears might work for Maya, but she knew when to pamper or not.

"Kids, let's go inside. I baked leche flan." Maya opened the door and saw her husband and twins.

"Yay!" They immediately forgot about Jollybee and ran inside with their small feet making pitter-patter sounds. Maya giggled before turning to her husband.

"Even the kids think they can fool you. You should have said no on the spot," she said in a teasing tone.

Karlos went inside and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hm, change your clothes. I prepared some in the room, use them. Let me get your bag. I'll wash your lunchbox. I realized that you reheated the mutton last night, no wonder I couldn't find it this morning." She reached for his backpack, intending to help him.

"I'll handle it." Karlos smiled and instinctively touched the bag. He walked to the room with his backpack, moving a little faster than usual.

"..."

Maya stared at the room for a few seconds, her smile slowly fading. For some reason, Karlos always protected his backpack from her, as if he were hiding something. It was a behavior she couldn't ignore.

At first, she didn't think much about it, but Karlos kept guarding his bag, which made her curious and uneasy.

'... Karlos, you're not hiding something bad from me, right? Did another woman try to seduce you?' Her thoughts started spiraling.

She admitted that she was getting paranoid. She even imagined that Karlos was hiding underwear that his mistress had given him... As for why she thought of that specific scenario, Maya had recently watched a telenovela about a hidden affair.

She was worried... If Karlos truly cheated on her, she would kill him and then kill herself. The thought was terrifying, yet sincere. She loved him so much that the idea of living in a world without him felt unbearable. So she would kill him, then kill herself next.

As for the twins... they still had their uncle Joseph, who would take care of them once they were gone.

Maya knew she was being paranoid, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"He's not visiting the red-light district, right? But he's late today..."

She questioned herself again.

Her spiraling thoughts ended when her twins called her to serve them leche flan. Their innocent voices snapped her back to reality.

"Alright, I'll feed you." She led the children to the table and forced a smile. At the same time, Karlos came out and gently kissed Maya from behind, wrapping his arms around her.

"I prepared lunch for you. The kids and I already ate earlier," she said carefully.

"Looks like the kids still want to eat more though." He looked at the twins, who were happily eating leche flan, a type of dessert. In some countries, it was called flan or caramel pudding.

"Hm." Maya smiled, but it looked slightly strained.

"Babe, are you okay?" Karlos sensed that something was wrong and cupped her face.

"I-I'm okay. Just eat your lunch." Maya stuttered while avoiding his gaze.

"Are you sure? Do you need rest? I'll take care of the kids and you can sleep." He was worried.

"... Actually, I want to talk to you about something. Let's talk after you're done eating." She bit her lip and spoke seriously, gathering her courage.

"I'll eat fast." Karlos suddenly felt nervous. His wife seemed to have something important to say.

'... She's not pregnant, right? I mean, we did it unprotected last month and that's been troubling me for a while. I pulled out quite late because she leg-locked me...' Karlos thought.

After finishing his meal, Maya talked to the twins and told them to yell or knock on the door if they needed something.

"Mama and Papa are just going to talk in the room," she said.

The twins had no problem with that and nodded. They had just finished eating leche flan and wanted to take a nap. Maya placed them on the sofa and let them rest.

"... Babe, is there something wrong?" Once they were in the room, Karlos asked nervously. Having another child would be a blessing, but Karlos knew how difficult it was to take care of a baby.

 

[Pujimaki]

Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 158


Maya sat down on the bed and stared at her husband, her nervousness making Karlos nervous as well.

"What's in the bag?" she asked uneasily while fiddling with her fingers.

"Eh?"

Karlos didn't expect that. But as he stared at Maya, he realized that his wife had found out.

"How did you know?"

"... Karlos, please, just show it to me." Maya bit her lip, close to tearing up.

"You won't get mad, right?"

"Hm." Maya forced a nod... She wouldn't get mad, she would do something worse.

Karlos took a deep breath and prepared himself. It seemed that Maya was aware of the gun. He didn't have a choice but to take his backpack from the top of the cabinet and open it in front of her with slow movements.

"This." Karlos showed the gun to her and revealed the truth.

"... Huh?" Maya was slightly confused by the unexpected outcome. She had been expecting female underwear, but Karlos showed her something entirely different.

"W-What is this!? Why do you have a gun?" She was shocked and scared. Panic filled her voice, and she didn't dare touch it. "Put it down!"

Karlos returned the gun to the backpack. The safety was on.

"This is what you're hiding from me?" Maya realized that she might have been wrong. Her husband hadn't cheated.

'Of course he didn't cheat! Why would anyone even think of that!? My husband is the most loyal man in the world. He would never replace me. How could he cheat when he just folded me like a lawn chair last night...'

Maya sighed in relief. She had already imagined the worst-case scenario, but Karlos was only hiding a gun...

'Nope, this is even more alarming. Why does he have a gun?' Now she had something new to worry about.

"Karlos, tell me honestly. Where did you get this gun? Where did it come from? You're not doing something illegal, right?" She became nervous as she realized that her husband might be involved in something dangerous.

"I got it from Larry. You know that pirates have been attacking boats lately, so I asked for a gun in case we encounter pirates," Karlos explained, though he didn't mention that they had already encountered one. He didn't want Maya to worry.

"Is it really that serious?"

"Just to be safe. We can't predict the future. It's better if we have a weapon to defend ourselves."

"Hm." Maya had no choice but to nod and accept it. She also remembered that her father used to bring a shotgun on his boat whenever he sailed. Back then, piracy had been even more notorious.

She looked at the bag and then at Karlos. Worry filled her chest. She was no longer concerned about cheating, but now she feared that pirates might target Karlos. The thought of asking him to stop fishing entered her mind, but she knew that Karlos would probably disagree.

She stepped closer and hugged her husband tightly.

"I guess that's the reason why you've been acting strange this whole month. You're hiding this gun from me. It's alright, I won't judge you. Just make sure the kids won't find it. It's too dangerous." She felt guilty for mistakenly judging Karlos.

"That's why I put the bag on top of the cabinet. The safety is on, so it won't fire," Karlos assured her as he hugged her back.

"But seriously, I thought you were going to say something shocking. I was scared because you looked so serious." Karlos chuckled while gently holding Maya's face.

"Hm, I thought you were hiding something from me. It was just a gun."

Firearms were not a simple matter, but Maya still felt that it was better than Karlos having a mistress.

"Babe, don't visit the red-light district. I know it's close to the fish port, but you must not," she muttered.

"Where did that topic come from?"

"I'm just reminding you."

"I've never visited that place at all."

Karlos didn't even know their town had a red-light district until recently.

"Good." Maya felt satisfied with that answer.

"I'm sorry," she added.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I love you." Maya didn't explain further. She might have to stop watching telenovelas since they were affecting her mind.

"I love you too."

The two shared a kiss before staring into each other's eyes, then they giggled like fools.

"I actually thought you were going to tell me that you're pregnant."

"Why did you think that? Is it about what happened last month?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not pregnant," Maya confidently said. She knew because she was on her period today. That might also explain why she had been moody and paranoid.

With that, their small misunderstanding ended within the same day. They returned to being sweet with each other.

.........
......
...

"Now that I think about it, we never really explored this island," Karlos said to Brandon while the two were harvesting abalones.

"It's too small to explore anyway. We can just walk for a few minutes and reach the other side."

The small island was only about the size of a basketball court. There was nothing much to see. Most of the trees were coconut trees.

"Now I'm curious to explore it. How about we check it out after this?" Karlos grinned.

"Why not? We've got nothing to do anyway. We can spend a few minutes here and eat." Brandon agreed.

The two continued harvesting abalones. At this point, they had stopped questioning why abalones kept gathering around this reef.

Once the tide rose and reached their chests, it was a sign that they had to stop working. They first carried their harvest to the beach before exploring the island.

Karlos's curiosity was quickly satisfied when they reached the other side of the island after only a minute of walking.

"... It has nothing except small grasses and coconut trees," he muttered. He saw a couple of seagulls, but they quickly flew away when Karlos and Brandon approached.

The two decided to return to the other side where their boat was docked.

However, when they reached the middle of the island, Karlos suddenly paused.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Brandon asked.

"... Isn't that ginseng?" Karlos pointed at the small plant.

"You can recognize ginseng?" Brandon looked surprised.

"That's right."

Back on Earth, one of Karlos's hobbies had been scrolling through short-form videos. Sometimes he watched videos about ginseng and other expensive plants and trees such as agarwood and truffles.

Karlos approached the plant and Brandon followed him. They both knew that ginseng was an expensive medicinal root. Especially in Thera, ginseng had unique properties that could strengthen the body. Mages and Knights in the ancient era had used ginseng to become stronger.

[Author's Note:]

You can read more on my Patreon with:

88 advance chapters of Behind The Spotlight

70 advance chapters of Reincarnated as a Fisherman and Dad

Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/Puji_makii

 

[Pujimaki]

Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 159


Brandon gulped hard as he stared at the plant. Karlos kneeled down and meticulously checked the plant.

"No doubt about it. It's ginseng." Karlos spoke with certainty, his eyes on the leaves and the red berries as he studied every detail.

"Really?" Brandon leaned closer to take a look.

"From the looks of it, it's at least 300 years old." Karlos brushed away a bit of soil, revealing more of the root beneath.

"..."

Now Brandon was speechless, his mind completely blank.

'Is this the difference between an intellectual and someone who isn't? Karlos attended college and gained so much knowledge.' Brandon thought with a mix of awe and jealousy.

Karlos was actually not sure, but for some reason, the ginseng had a unique aura that he couldn't explain. Something ancient and heavy seemed to linger around it. He gently touched the leaves.

"... Let's look further. I feel like there is more ginseng on this island."

"A-Alright." Brandon nodded quickly, feeling both nervous and excited.

After searching the whole island, they found three ginseng plants. Two were smaller, while the biggest one was the 300-year-old ginseng they first saw.

"Do you know how to harvest ginseng? I heard that the roots should be meticulously harvested. If the roots are damaged, the effects will lessen," Brandon asked, remembering what he had heard from older people.

"I know how to."

Karlos had watched a few videos before and remembered the general process.

"..."

At this point, Brandon believed him without question. In the first place, Karlos had recognized the ginseng, which already proved his knowledge.

The two looked at each other and made a decision. What happened last time made them realize that their fishing spot and the island would be discovered sooner or later. It was inevitable. Many fishermen had already tried to follow them. Karlos and Brandon knew that the island wouldn't remain theirs forever. The secret couldn't last forever.

Before that happened, they had to harvest the ginseng as soon as possible, before someone else stumbled upon them.

"Let's use our flat screwdriver to loosen the soil. Follow my instructions." Karlos took charge.

"O-Okay," Brandon replied immediately, ready to help however he could.

The two returned to their bangka and grabbed their tools. Karlos also texted a neighbor to inform Maya that he would be home late. He said that they had caught more fish but didn't elaborate.

"Let's loosen the soil around the ginseng. Follow my lead." Karlos gently pushed the screwdriver into the ground and began digging slowly. He wasn't entirely sure if he was doing it correctly, but he continued anyway.

The two worked together. Brandon brushed away the soil while Karlos carefully dug around the plant. Surprisingly, he didn't damage the root at all. Even the thin, hair-like roots remained intact.

They dug up all three ginseng plants and only finished around 3 p.m. They had spent five hours carefully harvesting the ginseng.

They returned to their bangka and left the island. However, just as they were about to leave the perimeter, another bangka appeared in the distance and started approaching them.

Karlos and Brandon immediately became alert, thinking it might be a pirate boat. Karlos even grabbed his backpack, just in case.

Fortunately, it wasn't a pirate boat. They even recognized the bangka because its paint pattern was familiar.

"That's Antonio's bangka... No, that should be Robin's bangka now." Brandon corrected himself, remembering the change of ownership.

"Hey, Karlos! Brandon! You guys are fishing here?" Bastos shouted as he greeted them, grinning widely as if he had just found treasure.

Karlos and Brandon shared the same thought and didn't bother answering Bastos.

"We're caught," Brandon sighed weakly.

The fishing spot they had been hiding for months had finally been discovered by other fishermen. This meant competition would increase and more boats would likely show up.

"But we're also lucky." Karlos grinned and patted a small container beside him.

Brandon smirked as well.

"Yeah, I think this isn't that bad. At least we discovered the ginseng before anyone else did. Karlos, you're really a lucky guy. You just thought about exploring the island, and now we have three ginseng plants." Brandon smiled.

He had always known that their fishing spot would eventually be discovered. The sea belonged to everyone. It was only a matter of time before others found the island.

And now that another bangka had arrived, Brandon had no choice but to accept it.

"I know someone who can help us determine the price of the ginseng," Karlos said. He could call Larry or Roman regarding the matter.

"First, before you make any decision, I want to make something clear. I'll only take 5%," Brandon said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Karlos looked surprised.

"You're the one who discovered the ginseng, and you're also the one who dug it up. I just helped you. We already agreed that I'll get a 5% profit share whenever we make money. That's already enough for me."

"..."

Karlos was speechless as he looked at Brandon's eyes. His crossed eyes made it difficult to tell where Brandon was actually looking.

Still, Karlos could see that Brandon was sincere.

"Alright, since you've made that decision, I'll give the smaller ginseng to you," Karlos said.

"Hey, you don't have to do that."

"I insist." Karlos waved his hand dismissively. In fact, he had already planned to leave the two smaller ginseng plants for each of them while selling the biggest one.

"... Thank you, Karlos."

Brandon felt grateful to have a friend like Karlos. The reason he didn't fight for a bigger share was because of Karlos's unique talent. After working with him for months, Brandon was completely convinced that Karlos was blessed by the sea.

He didn't want to sacrifice their friendship for money. He also didn't want to offend someone who could summon the elusive shark.

Besides, a 5% profit share wasn't bad at all. At the end of the day, it was true that Karlos discovered the ginseng and did most of the work. The credit belonged to him.

He was already grateful that Karlos gave him the smaller ginseng. It could be used as medicine in case Brandon or his parents got sick, although Brandon didn't know the proper recipe.

"Aye, Karlos! Why aren't you guys answering us!?"

Robin's boat got closer and Bastos raised his voice while waving energetically.

Karlos and Brandon stopped talking about the ginseng and looked at Bastos, Robin, and another teenager named Escudero.

Robin averted his gaze while holding the steering handle. He believed that Karlos and Brandon were angry with them. Even Escudero looked down awkwardly, not daring to speak.

"Haha, so this is the place where you guys fish!" Unlike his two friends, Bastos was in a great mood.

At last, after a week of searching the sea, they had found Karlos and Brandon's fishing spot. They had tried to follow them last time, but that plan failed. However, it still gave Bastos a general direction of where they might be fishing.

All he had to do was follow that direction and hope for the best.

And luck was finally on his side.

 

[8ightbit]

"Haha, so this is the place where you guys fish!" Unlike his two friends, Bastos was in a great mood.

Click to shrink...

that's just annoying.. though I'm pretty sure they're not going to find anything as they are not blessed by the ocean..