Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 1 - Chapter 1.3

3

And so, I ended up leaving that twilight forest alongside Ai Fa. It seemed it really was almost nighttime, as it was getting pretty dark out.

“We wasted a lot of time thanks to you. We should pick up the pace a bit until we’re out of giba territory.”

I asked, “Giba?” while unsteadily walking along, holding onto Ai Fa’s left shoulder to help take the weight off my injured right foot. “You made that pitfall to catch one, right? Is that what you call those boar looking animals?”

“Boar...?”

“Right. It was black, and round, and they had horns growing around here...”

“That’s a giba. You saw one?”

“I did. Actually, it’s more that I was chased around by one. And that’s when I ended up falling in your pitfall.”

“What a fool. Everyone knows that if you’re attacked by a giba, you should climb atop a tall tree.”

“Yeah, well like I said, I’m not familiar with what goes for ‘common sense’ around here.” As I said that, my eyes drifted to Ai Fa’s left shoulder.

“Hey, is this fur cloak made out of a giba pelt, then?”

“Of course. I’m one of the people of the forest’s edge. We make a living by hunting giba, eating their meat, and selling their tusks, horns, and pelts.”

She shot me a displeased look as she carefully pushed her way through the thicket.

“And the people from the city of stone mock us people of the forest’s edge, calling us ‘giba eaters.’”

“Hmm? But why? Boar meat is delicious.”

This is nothing to brag about, but during winter break of my second year in middle school, I participated in a farming camp held by a local hunting club, so I had experience handling boar and deer meat. The boar stew I had back then was truly delicious.

“But we’re discussing giba, not this ‘boar.’ Giba meat is tough and has a strong odor. And so, those of us who eat it also stink.”

“You don’t stink. In fact, you’re positively coated in the most delicious scent.”

The displeasure in Ai Fa’s deep blue eyes grew all the greater. Hmm... It sure is difficult to handle girls this age.

Oh, and for the sake of Ai Fa’s honor, she wasn’t just giving off the scent of animal flesh and fat. The smell of sweet fruit and refreshing herbs was actually stronger about her, and those scents were blending splendidly with the tantalizing fragrance of meat and seriously stimulating my hunger.

“No, I’m serious! I’ve got a pretty good nose on me. Those giba are definitely delicious! I’m sure of it!”

“...When it comes to food, there is no good or bad taste.”

Hey, that hurts! Are you trying to pick a fight with me, as a chef in training?

Still, though, it wouldn’t do any good to go flinging about my personal values from my own world, considering the situation. I focused on keeping myself from saying anything I shouldn’t as we walked onwards in silence.

15 minutes later, we exited the forest and my field of view opened wide.

The sun had already set about 80% of the way. And what that orange fading light shone down upon was a rustic village in a valley.

Ah... so there really are people living here in this world.

For whatever reason, I got a lump in my throat.

It was hard to tell due to the dim lighting, but there were small wooden buildings dotted about the rugged rock faces that almost made it look as if a mountain had been cleaved in two. And from those countless red lights drifted up the smoke from dinner being prepared.

See, isn’t that a nice smell...?

The scent of animal protein and what was likely some sort of herbs or spices was wafting through the air. It took all my effort to hold back my stomach from growling, so I wouldn’t anger Ai Fa again.

“It’s nice and calm out here, outside of the forest. About how many people live here?”

“I don’t know... Well, at most it should be around 500, I’d imagine.”

“500? That’s pretty big. It doesn’t look like that many houses from what I can see, though.”

“...The people of the forest’s edge have settlements from north to south, spread between Mount Morga and Genos’s lands. It would take nearly half a day to walk from where they start to where they end.”

Hmm. So it was a really long, spread out territory, huh? It made sense that the population density was low due to everything being stretched out, but still, I don’t know if it’s really fitting to call it a “settlement.”

I had wanted to try to dig more information out of her, but it was then that an intruder suddenly butted into our conversation.

“Hey, Ai Fa. What’s the deal with the seedy-looking kid?” called out a deep, masculine voice from alongside us. I was just plain surprised, but Ai Fa gave a small “Tch” with her tongue.

“It’s none of your business, Diga Suun.”

“Of course it’s my business! The Suun family rules the people of the forest’s edge.”

The large figure arrogantly strode up to us. He was a young man with a very similar look to Ai Fa about him. And he was tall, probably about 180 centimeters or so. His frame and muscles were solid, and he looked to be around 80 kilograms. His blackish-brown hair was cut short, his skin was dark, and his eyes were blue. Aside from his hair color, he looked very similar to Ai Fa.

He wore a fur cloak and cloth vest over his massive body, and at his waist was a thick longsword and small knife. Even more fangs and horns dangled from his neck than Ai Fa’s.

The man stood to block our way, not even trying to hide the way he was looking me over.

“Hmm... You’re a strange looking one, aren’t you? Where do you hail from?”

Despite his deep voice, he had a dull, unpleasant way of speaking. And despite his eyes being the same color as Ai Fa’s, they looked far muddier.

He was the second person I’d met after being thrown into this world, but I couldn’t say I had an overly positive impression of him. And yet, customer service had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. If someone like this was enough to get on my nerves, I never would have made it as a merchant’s son. With that in mind, I prepared to be as courteous as possible, but...

“I said it has nothing to do with you,” Ai Fa butted in before I could say anything. “I’m not at all indebted to the Suun family, and getting involved with folks like you is nothing but a pain. It’s annoying just having to speak with you, so hurry up and get that stupidly huge body of yours out of my way, Diga Suun.”

“Why, you...!”

The man looked flustered, but Ai Fa kept going.

“If you have a problem with me, then I’ll take you on whenever you wish. But otherwise, don’t show yourself before me. You’re a real eyesore, Diga Suun.”

And with that, Ai Fa started walking off. Since I was leaning on her shoulder, I had no choice but to follow along. As we passed by the young man trembling with anger, I gave an unassuming nod.

“You damn obstinate stray of a woman! You better take care that nobody mistakes you for a giba and bashes your head in from behind!” the young man yelled out, clearly having lost his cool. It seriously ruined the idyllic scenery.

“Um, I realize it may not be the place of an outsider like me to give an opinion, but... wouldn’t it be smart to treat your neighbors a little nicer?”

“...That man, Diga Suun, he tried to make a mockery of me by sneaking into my bedroom the night that my father passed. And so, I beat him till he couldn’t stand, then I threw him in the river.”

That shut me right up.

“Ever since then, nobody living here will have anything to do with me, because I brought shame to the next head of the family. You’re telling me to treat him nicer?”

“I take back what I just said. And I shouldn’t have bowed to him, either. Hell, I want to slug him one, too!”

When I stopped and took my hand off Ai Fa’s shoulder, she went and grabbed my wrist really hard. Her strong, slender fingers dug firmly into the skin of my wrist.

“What are you saying? There’s no merit in hitting a man like that.”

“No, but still, it’s totally unreasonable for them to make you feel all isolated like that.”

“I can’t say I ever particularly felt that way. Dealing with people who aren’t family is just plain troublesome, so it’s honestly been refreshing, actually.”

She was shooting me an angry glare, far fiercer and colder than that of the man from before.

“But if you were to harm a member of the Suun family, I will be found entirely responsible for having been the one to invite you here. And if that were to happen, then this time I may well be exiled from the village... Do you intend to tell me to live out in the wild?”

“Ah... I see. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking about the position you were in. I guess I was just being a little quick-tempered due to hunger.”

And then, as if to chime in in agreement, my stomach offered a grooowl.

Ai Fa’s shoulders started to quake again, her grasp still firmly on my wrist.

“...Are you doing that on purpose? Should I take that as you wanting to be thrown into the river, too?”

“I-I’m not skilled enough to make my stomach growl on command! And wait, if you want to laugh, then just laugh!”

“Quiet, you!”

Ai Fa thrust away my arm, and started walking away in long strides. I hurriedly reached out and grabbed onto her left shoulder.

And as I admired her beet red ears and neck and whatnot, the aimless thought that kept running through my mind was the people of this world really are warm to the touch, just like back home.