Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

After the lectures were over, they went out to buy fishing rods. Zaroth, despite spending a lot of his money on the bed as well as in the bar, still had a lot left over, so he didn't have a problem buying one of the most premium fishing rods.

"So? Where are we supposed to go now?" Lily asked.

"Well, we bought the fishing rods as well as the bait, so I guess it's time we went and found a river."

Because they wanted some peace and quiet, they exited the capital. It didn't take them long until they spotted a nice-looking river in the forest.

Zaroth observed his surroundings to make sure that they were alone, but not a single human was in sight, so it was safe to assume that nothing was following them. Of course, that didn't mean that he was going to let his guard down.

Zack took a deep breath as he sat on a large rock and shifted his gaze to the river.

Roran sat next to him, looking at his fishing rod, trying to understand how the thing functioned.

"So, do you feel better?"

Zack didn't shift his gaze from the river as he answered, "I think so? I'm not sure anymore…"

"You told us that your family is most likely trying to kill you, right? Then my question is, what do you want to do with them?" Roran asked.

Zack didn't answer. The only thing he did was menacingly smile as his eyes shined brighter than before. This gave Roran all the information he needed.

"Hey, I'm going for a walk," Lily spoke from behind them.

Roran shifted his gaze to her. "Then I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know that there's no way I'm going to leave you alone in the forest, Lily."

Zaroth shifted his gaze between Lily and Roran. 'Is she trying to leave us three alone so we can talk it out?' he wondered. But it didn't look like it would work, as Roran wasn't willing to let her go alone.

With a sigh, Zaroth flicked his fingers.

A second later, Silverfang appeared, slowly approaching Lily, per his master's command.

"If Silverfang is with her, then it should be fine, right?"

Roran grimaced for a moment but then nodded.

Lily flashed a smile at Zaroth as thanks, then disappeared into the forest alongside Silverfang.

Zaroth took a deep breath as he approached Roran and Zack, sitting close to them. He didn't really get the whole fishing thing, but he wanted to try it. His mother often told him that his father loved doing it, so Zaroth had always wanted to try the activity for himself.

He gripped the rod, pulled it back, and flicked it forward. The line sailed through the air, landing with a soft splash in the water.

'I think this is how you're supposed to do it?'

Zack and Roran did the same motion, then patiently awaited. From now on, it was a waiting game.

'So this is peaceful?' Zaroth asked himself, not really getting the whole point but persisting nonetheless. He wasn't going to give up so soon.

Zack wasn't saying anything, as he was gazing at the still water, hopefully starting to feel better.

Shifting his gaze to Roran, Zaroth saw that the man was grinning for some reason.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Roran glanced at him before speaking. "I'm just glad that I got us prepared."

Zaroth raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'prepared'?"

Without saying anything, Roran let go of his fishing rod with one hand as he used it to search something in the bag he had carried.

Zaroth's eyes widened. 'No way, this mad—'

Before he could finish his thought, Roran pulled out an expressive-looking bottle of whiskey.

"We're here to relax. Not to mention, one of the most important things to do when you're fishing is to get something to drink."

"Well, it's not like I'm going to argue or anything…"

Before the two of them could react, Zack grabbed the bottle from Roran's hands as he opened it and began to drink greedily.

After a few seconds, he was done and handed it to Roran. "Thanks, I needed that."

'Well, at least this is going to be relaxing,' Roran thought as he began to drink as well.

*****

Half of the bottle was already gone, and the three of them were engaged in their chat.

"But man, I don't get it. Why do you feel so certain that you were being watched?" Zaroth muttered as he placed a hand on Zack's shoulder.

The man scoffed before answering, "Because! I'm trained, so unlike you two, I always feel when someone is watching me! It's just that it seems I may have been wrong as of late…"

"You!" Roran was about to speak, but suddenly he caught something, so he used his arms to pull the fish toward him.

A second later, both Zack and Zaroth were laughing their asses off at Roran, as it seemed that he got nothing.

"This is bullshit! How is that relaxing in the slightest?!" Roran complained as he threw his rod to the ground. "We've been going at it for more than two hours already and we've yet to catch anything!"

Zack mimicked his motion as he stood up. "Yeah! You tell me. It seems the actual relaxing thing is just getting drunk!"

"You give up too soon!" Zaroth scolded them, still not letting go of the rod.

"Just give me that!" Zack shouted as he picked up the bottle and took a large sip of it.

A moment later, he lay on the ground, finding it hard to move his body.

Roran was sitting, resting his back next to a large rock, looking at the bottle on the ground. He wanted to take a sip or two, but couldn't be bothered to get up.

And Zaroth was laughing at them, though he tried not to be too loud, not wanting to scare the fish.

It certainly wasn't what he envisioned would happen when they went fishing, but at least Zack seemed to be in a better mood.

Actually, was it smart to get drunk to forget about your problems? Wasn't it a better idea to deal with them rather than running from them?

These weren't the questions the men asked themselves, as they were too young to think like that.

All they knew was that alcohol numbed the pain, so they would use it, no matter if it harmed them in the long term. They had yet to grasp what the long term even was.

It was peaceful as Zaroth's laughter echoed through the surroundings.

That was until Luna's words made his spine turn cold. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire

'We are being watched.'