Chapter 1432: Foraging the Sea, Vacation
On Brest's white sandy beach, two teenagers, wicker baskets strapped to their backs, hurried barefoot across the fine, salt-white sand. Occasionally, they would pause, bend down to pick something up, and skillfully toss it into their narrow-mouthed baskets.
The girl, dressed in a rough linen skirt, glanced at the sun beginning its descent and expressed some concern. "Brother, I keep thinking Mr. Waku will see through your lies... Or, if we apologize to him now, we might still avoid punishment."
The boy's eyes fixed on two small holes in the sand. His small wooden trowel accurately dug down about 20 centimeters away, then from the overturned sand, he extracted an egg-sized sea shell.
"It's too late to apologize now. I've skipped a whole day of class," he told his sister. "Besides, he'll most likely remember the three times before this."
"But what if..."
"Think of the all-powerful Captain Jack, and his miraculous compass!" the boy said with a captivating tone. "Don't you want to know if Miss Elizabeth Swann and Mr. Will Turner finally got married?"
He was referring to the plot of the hugely popular play, Pirates of the Caribbean. Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner were the girl's favorite characters from the original story.
Just three months after Pirates of the Caribbean premiered, news spread that its sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, would be taking the stage across the country.
The girl immediately looked conflicted. This play was practically the dream of everyone living by the sea, whether 70 years old or seven, and she was no exception.
Her brother continued to encourage her, "If we can catch a blue lobster or a large conger eel this time, we can buy two front-row tickets!
"You might even be able to see Mr. Will Turner's beard clearly."
The girl no longer thought about her brother skipping class. "Blue lobsters and conger eels aren't that easy to catch, you know?"
"It's fine, even if we only find a few whelks, we can still buy two tickets in the middle rows."
In their small town, a ticket to Pirates of the Caribbean only cost 1 sou, but they were dedicated theatergoers with high standards, so they insisted on going to Brest city to watch a major troupe perform.
Tickets there cost 4 sous, and prices for the good seats they mentioned earlier could reach as high as 3 francs.
Fortunately, they had lived by the sea since childhood. With enough time, they could rely on the blessings of the sea god—a basket of freshly collected razor clams, scallops, and top shells could fetch 3 sous in Brest city.
They had already skipped class three times before and had saved up a full 1 franc and 6 sous!
Of course, this "business" only existed after Brest began implementing its free elementary education system; before that, the beach used to be swarming with children, and three kids would have to fight over a single crab.
The siblings then began discussing Captain Jack's storyline. They had seen the play three times already, but their enthusiasm hadn't waned.
"Karine, who are those people?" the boy suddenly stopped, frowning as he gazed at the distant beach.
Faintly, they could make out a large group of figures there, lavishly dressed, standing in neat rows in the middle of the sand.
"Perhaps noble lords who came to watch the sunset," Karine whispered.
Nobles often came here, sometimes even holding barbecues or balls on the beach.
"This is bad..."
This was the only path to their "treasure trove." If they went around, it would probably be dark before they arrived.
The boy gritted his teeth and waved to his sister. "Let's try."
They had read in the newspaper that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had promulgated the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Even noble lords couldn't beat or scold them at will, much less have their subordinates arrest them.
At worst, they would sincerely apologize to the noble lords; going home safely should be no problem.
The two walked another hundred meters or so and were, as expected, stopped by a tall, rifle-carrying guard. "Apologies, this area is temporarily impassable."
"We want to go to the reefs on the other side. We promise not to disturb anyone..."
"In three hours, or tomorrow."
The boy peeked inquisitively behind the guard. "May I ask which esteemed lord..."
Before he could finish, he saw what looked like a golden fleur-de-lis emblem on a distant carriage and immediately recoiled.
'It's actually royal family members. It seems there's no way we can buy front-row tickets now.'
He was about to pull his sister away when he heard a lady with a soft, pure Parisian accent say, "Holy Mother Mary, please grant me guidance, I distinctly saw that little thing burrow in there..."
Next to her, a sturdily built young man in a white cavalry shirt and tricorn hat leaned in and dug furiously, but still came up empty-handed.
"Hmm, it seems harder than I imagined..."
That young man was Joseph.
He remembered in the foraging videos he'd watched before, the ground was practically covered in snails and crabs, easily picked up.
But today, after trying it themselves with his mother, he realized it wasn't that simple at all.
A thumb-sized crab, for instance, ran faster than a rabbit.
You'd watch it, only 30 centimeters away, but by the time you reached out, it had vanished five meters away.
Some creatures dug pits at a speed comparable to the "digging worms" in sci-fi movies; a few casual sweeps of their legs, and they could dig half a meter deep.
As the lady frustratedly tossed aside her small trowel and sat on the sand, catching her breath, Karine, as if possessed, called out, "Stick the trowel next to its breathing hole, then dig from the other side. It's definitely in the sand."
"Who's there?" Clauzel immediately tensed, placing his hand on his sword hilt.
A personal guard quickly said, "They are local residents, sir. I'll make them leave right away."
Queen Mary, however, looked at the girl's pretty, wheat-colored face and waved her hand, saying, "Do you know how to catch crabs?"
"Yes, esteemed lady," the girl whispered shyly, hiding behind her brother. "Not just crabs, we can also catch whelks, eels, and blue lobsters."
"Mr. Curtis, please let them approach," Joseph nodded to the personal guard.
The girl approached Queen Mary, gazing at her luxurious attire, fashionable coiffure, and face as beautiful as a fairy's. She nervously clutched the corner of her dress, unable to speak.
Her brother glanced at the small hole on the ground, immediately stepped forward, made a few motions with his wooden trowel, and then pulled out a small crab.
"Aha, you're a genius!" Queen Mary took the crab, laughing like a child. "Can you teach me how to catch them?"
"Of course, esteemed lady."
The boy scanned his surroundings, went to another small hole a few steps away, and took a small cloth pouch from his pocket. "Here's a razor clam, see, just like this..."
He poured the dark yellow powder from the cloth pouch into the hole. A few seconds later, a finger-long "wooden stick" emerged from inside.
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