Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 1 - Chapter 4.4

4

“See, I really love Ai Fa, and I loved Gil Fa too. When Gil Fa was still alive, he and Ai Fa played with me lots and lots!”

A few minutes had passed.

The mysterious young visitor, Rimee Ruu, was jammed in between Ai Fa and me, smiling widely as she talked. It was hard to imagine that she had just been bawling her eyes out.

I had invited her into the house and tried to console her to get her to stop sobbing, but those tears kept on flowing from her big old eyes. And yet she stopped in an instant when Ai Fa said, “I was lying when I said I hated you,” while rubbing her temple like she had a headache.

“But still, it isn’t a good idea for any member of the Ruu family to come near me, when I’ve earned the animosity of the Suun clan. I must have explained that to you countless times by now.”

“We’re not afraid of the Suun family! My papa is always saying so! And they won’t last long with that dummy of an heir they’ve got, either! The Ruu clan will be leading the people of the forest’s edge before too much longer!”

“The fact that the head of your household, Donda Ruu, is that sort of person only makes the matter that much more important. If your two clans fight, it could lead to the destruction of our entire settlement!”

Once Rimee Ruu’s tears had stopped, Ai Fa started acting even colder than usual. But in spite of that, there was a bright smile on the young girl’s face. She sure did look cute...

She must have been around seven or eight years old. I mean, she certainly was small. She only reached up to around my chest. Her hair was short and reddish-brown, and was fluffy in a way that reminded me of a dandelion. Her skin was naturally a dark, chocolaty sort of color, and her eyes sparkled the hue of a clear spring sky.

Her clothes were made of a beautifully patterned cloth and wound from her right shoulder to down past her hips, making for a little miniature one-shouldered dress. Her slender legs and arms were completely exposed, but she was still just a child so there was nothing wrong with that.

And hanging in front of her chest was a necklace made using three fangs and tusks. There was no way such a young child went out hunting giba, so I figured it either had to be some sort of amulet, or was just purely for decoration.

“Hey, you’re an outsider, aren’t you?” Rimee Ruu asked, looking at me with her big round eyes. They really were a pretty shade of blue. And though they were both blue, they were completely different from Ai Fa’s eyes, which were a deeper color that sometimes reminded me of a burning flame.

“Supposedly a ’spicious outsider is staying at the Fa house. And he may be a forn... foreigner who will cause us trouble, so until we know who he is, I shouldn’t go there. That’s what my papa told me!”

“Hmm. And yet you went and came right here?” I responded in a kindly manner, despite the fact that my attention was half on the giburger steadily losing its heat.

“I didn’t! But then today, I saw you wearing Gil Fa’s clothes! I thought that meant you weren’t an outsider anymore!”

I’d already more or less figured as such, but it seemed that Gil Fa really was the name of Ai Fa’s father. At the moment, I was having trouble figuring if it was alright or not to keep throwing his name out there so lightly.

“Hey! Since you gave him clothes from our people, that means he’s part of your household, right? So that makes him your husband, doesn’t it, Ai Fa?”

“As if I was following that ancient custom! It was an eyesore always seeing him look so filthy, so I simply lent him some spare clothing!”

Yeah, that stung. But still, her face was beet red. I prayed that wasn’t purely out of anger, to offset the pain.

“Rimee Ruu, it’s time for you to leave! I have no intention of being the spark that kicks off a battle between the Suun and Ruu families. Leave this place, and never return.”

“I don’t wanna! My papa only told me not to go near outsiders. So if this guy isn’t an outsider anymore, then it’s fine,” Rimee Ruu responded with a chuckle.

The red-faced Ai Fa simply responded, “Do as you please,” and picked up the half-eaten plate of food. All of a sudden, the little girl’s face lit up with curiosity.

“Hey, what’s that? Why does it smell like that? Is it giba meat? And what’s that flat thing that’s the color of a poitan?”

Rather than responding, Ai Fa silently resumed eating. I reached out to do the same, but the young girl’s head suddenly turned towards me.

“You two carried a whole giba back before, right? Is this the meat from that giba? Why is it in a shape like this? And where’d the poitan soup go?”

“Um, you see... I made this. It may be a weird shape, but this is giba meat, and this one is a poitan.”

I didn’t have the skills necessary to ignore such an innocent child, so I ended up responding as such. The look of curiosity in Rimee Ruu’s eyes grew even stronger, and the words I had been expecting ended up coming out of her tiny mouth next.

“What does it taste like? I want to try it!”

While holding back a sigh, I turned and looked at Ai Fa.

“Hey, Ai Fa. Is there any taboo about giving food to people from another household?”

“As if such a thing would be a taboo...” Ai Fa responded with a look of extreme displeasure, but at least for now she didn’t stop me.

Well, I didn’t mind then. I could be a bit of a glutton, but not that much of one. Besides, as a chef, getting a third-party’s opinion was incredibly valuable.

“Alright then, go ahead and have a taste. It’s completely different than usual giba meat, so don’t be too shocked, okay?” I said, offering her my plate. Then the young girl smiled and opened wide with an “Aah.”

Didn’t she have any wariness about her at all?

While sensing Ai Fa’s cold glare on my right cheek, I cut a mouthful sized bit of burger and sliced aria in half, then spooned it into her little mouth.

The girl’s tiny mouth closed shut, and she started to chew. Suddenly, her big, round eyes grew even rounder.

“Um, how’s it taste?”

“Aah.”

That’s no surprise.

Well, I suppose I could let her have a second bite. But any more than that and it might have an impact on my nutrition, you know?

As that thought passed through my mind, I broke her off a bit of poitan, too.

Chomp.

Nom nom.

Gulp.

Her eyes went wide.

It was rare finding a kid who made so many faces that perfectly matched such varied sound effects.

“It’s...”

“Hmm?”

“It’s delicious!”

With that, she grabbed hold of me.

Ah, so it felt this shocking to suddenly get grabbed by someone who lost control of themself, huh? I really will have to apologize to Ai Fa for doing that.

No, wait, this was no time for that!

Rimee Ruu’s tiny fingers had a tight grasp on my t-shirt, and she was now shaking my body with an amount of force that was hard to imagine coming from a child.

“It’s delicious! Seriously yummy! How is it this tasty?! This is giba meat, right?! So how is it so soft?! Come on, tell me!”

It took so much effort to squeeze that praise out of Ai Fa the first night, but now it was being fired off non-stop like it was nothing.

But still, it was high praise, and as a chef that was definitely nice to receive.

And man, she was way too strong. Did people in a hunting community really start building up their muscles differently when they were this small?

“Will you please stop that? You’re interrupting the meal,” Ai Fa butted in, saving me. She then grabbed hold of the girl by the scruff of her neck and easily pulled her off, apparently having finished cleaning her plate at some point.

“A meal is a means to stay alive. Did the head of your house not teach you that to interrupt one is taboo, as to do so is to threaten the life of another in a way?”

“I’m sorry...”

Rimee Ruu quickly bowed her head, still half suspended in the air by Ai Fa. Then in no time at all, a downhearted expression shot across her face.

“It really was yummy. Thanks. And I’m sorry for getting in the way. I...” she said, then tilted her head to the side suddenly, looking rather cute. She really was an expressive kid.

“I don’t know your name. What is it?”

“I’m Asuta Tsurumi. If that’s too hard to say, you can just go with Asuta.”

“C-Churu...? Okay, Asuta. I, Rimee Ruu, offer a sincere apology to Asuta of the Fa household.”

“No, it’s fine. You just surprised me is all. And thanks for the praise. Oh, and thanks for stopping her too, Ai Fa.”

“Hmph,” Ai Fa let out a curt snort, and she sat back down where she was originally seated.

Rimee Ruu sat right down where Ai Fa released her, but then she wrapped her arms around her little legs and didn’t say a word.

I don’t really get the people of the forest’s edge...

Still, though she may have acted pretty wild, this was the first person of the forest’s edge that I’d met after five days in this other world who didn’t avoid Ai Fa. The rest of them were too afraid of the Suun family to have anything to do with her. In comparison, this girl was showing such open fondness towards her that it was hard not to smile. It really wouldn’t be so bad to get along with her a little more openly...

In the end, though, neither of the two girls said another word, so I just sat there and silently kept on eating. It had gotten pretty cold, but it was still tasty. The dish had turned out great, at least in my opinion.

“That was good. Now then... It’s gotten pretty dark out, so will you really be alright heading home on your own, Rimee Ruu?” I asked. In response, the girl suddenly looked up from her cradled knees, making a face as if she had just remembered something.

Just when I thought she was about to stand up, she instead planted both legs on the rug, then presented both of her arms to me.

“I, Rimee Ruu of the Ruu household, have a request for you, Asuta of the Fa household! Please, won’t you lend me your strength?”

Troubled by the sudden question, I looked to Ai Fa out of the corner of my eye. She was seated with her knees up, furrowing her brow in displeasure.

“Please grant the elder of the Ruu household, Jiba Ruu, the blessing of your different cooking! Jiba Ruu, she... At this rate, she’s going to die soon!”

The tears started pouring from Rimee Ruu’s big blue eyes once again. She wasn’t sobbing wildly this time, though. Instead, she seemed to be bearing it, not letting out a sound as they rolled down her face.