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

Intermezzo: The Youngest Daughter of the Ruu Clan

Rimee Ruu first laid eyes on that foreigner on the 25th of the yellow month.

After finishing her work for the morning at the river, she took off intently, running down the yellow trodden path through the forest, towards the Fa house. Today was a rare day when she didn’t have much work after the sun hit its peak, so she got her mother’s permission to go out and then practically flew away from the Ruu home.

As Ai Fa had to take care of her entire household on her own, she was far busier than Rimee Ruu. In the two years since Gil Fa, her father, passed away, they had hardly even had a chance to see each other at all.

When was the last time she had met with Ai Fa? It may have been about 10 days at this point.

Just the thought of getting to see Ai Fa was enough to cause Rimee Ruu to naturally break out in a smile. And yet, no one was at the Fa house. Rimee Ruu thought maybe she was at the river, cleaning up after last night’s dinner, but Ai Fa wasn’t there either.

Worried and nervous about the thoughts that maybe she was kidnapped by the Suun clan, Rimee Ruu knocked on the door of the nearest house to the Fa home, which belonged to a small clan known as the Fou.

“Excuse me, this is Rimee Ruu of the Ruu clan! Is anyone there?”

The door slowly opened, and a terribly thin, pale woman’s face peeked out.

“What is it? What business could someone from the Ruu clan have with the Fou clan?”

“Pardon me! I was looking for Ai Fa. Do you happen to know where she went?” Rimee Ruu asked the woman, who she had seen many times in the past. However, the woman seemed to have wasted away far more compared to how she looked in the girl’s memories, and her eyes seemed positively listless. On top of all that, she was cradling a little baby in her arms. The Ruu family had the baby Kota Ruu around, but this one was even smaller. Somehow, she couldn’t help but worry if he would have a chance to grow any bigger.

“Ai Fa, is it...? It seems she headed out to the forest this morning...” the thin woman weakly replied.

“The forest? This early in the morning?”

“Yes... She had some foreigner I didn’t recognize with her.”

“A foreigner?”

Rimee Ruu didn’t quite understand the meaning of the word.

Apparently there were loads of foreigners down in the post town, but they never stepped foot in the forest’s edge. The people from town treated giba and the people who hunted them like they were demons.

“What do you mean, a foreigner? What is Ai Fa doing with someone like that?”

“I don’t know... She was walking around the settlement with him last evening, too.”

“Hmm...?”

She still didn’t get what was going on at all, but Rimee Ruu figured that was best to ask Ai Fa directly, so she gave the woman a small bow.

“Thanks! Well then, I’ll go wait at the Fa house for Ai Fa to return home!”

“Ah... Please hold on. Um, Ai Fa is still refusing to marry into the Ruu clan, isn’t she?”

“Huh? Yeah... What about it?”

“Then... Wouldn’t it be best for you not to be involved with Ai Fa anymore, considering you’re part of the Ruu clan...?”

There was a desperate light in the woman’s lifeless eyes.

“Last night, the eldest son of the Suun clan was prowling around the Fa house... If the Suun and Ruu clans fight, the forest’s edge will be destroyed...”

“Yeah, but that shouldn’t mean Ai Fa and I can’t have anything to do with one another!” Rimee Ruu said, raising her voice without thinking. The woman shrunk away, looking clearly frightened. She was surely afraid of the Suun and Ruu clans, which held the greatest power at the forest’s edge. And she was also avoiding Ai Fa, who had cut ties with both of them.

That was why Ai Fa was left all on her own.

Feeling a little sad over how things had gone, Rimee Ruu gave a “Goodbye” and one more bow. However, the woman called out to her again.

“Please hold on. I know I’ve already given you impertinent advice, but I think that being involved with a foreigner such as that would also be bad for the Ruu clan. Don’t you believe you should be sure to get your clan head’s permission first?”

The image of her father, the head of the Ruu clan, Donda Ruu, popped into Rimee Ruu’s head. It certainly was true that he was always saying not to get involved with foreigners. Rimee Ruu pretty much never left the forest’s edge, though, so she essentially didn’t have any chances to interact with any in the first place, though. As a result, she didn’t know exactly how strong of a taboo it may be.

If Rimee Ruu were to make the wrong choice here and now, there was a chance she could end up banned from interacting with Ai Fa entirely. And that was something she absolutely couldn’t stand.

I just want to be friends with Ai Fa...

Currently, Ai Fa herself was also trying to cut ties with Rimee Ruu. The reason behind that was the same one the woman had mentioned. Ai Fa had earned the animosity of the Suun clan, and she also shouldn’t have anything to do with anyone from the Ruu clan. On top of that, she had also turned down an offer to marry into the main Ruu household. That hadn’t been enough to result in bad blood, but it was definitely true that Donda had given up on Ai Fa after that point.

Honestly, the idea of Ai Fa becoming part of her family had never felt real to Rimee Ruu, so she really didn’t care about all that. The issue, though, was that nobody was happy about the idea of Ai Fa and Rimee Ruu having anything to do with one another.

“Ah...” the Fou woman let slip in a quiet voice.

Rimee Ruu followed her line of sight, and saw Ai Fa standing there. She was with some unfamiliar foreigner, crossing the road. They were shouldering a grigee pole, which had a large giba dangling from it. While feeling impressed by the way that Ai Fa had hunted down a giba this early in the morning, Rimee Ruu started to carefully examine the foreigner.

A foreigner... Yeah, that was definitely what he was.

His hair was black, and so were his eyes. His skin was like that of the western people, an ivory-white with just a hint of brown to it. And he was still young, probably around Ai Fa’s age.

He was dressed kind of strangely, too. His torso and lower body were covered in pure white, and the only skin he was showing were his face and hands, plus he had some sort of white cloth wrapped around his head.

He... Looks pretty weak, somehow.

Though they were both carrying the giba, only the foreigner was breathing heavily and had unsteady footing. If it went on much longer, he would probably collapse.

And yet, for some reason, this foreigner looked like he was really enjoying himself. And oddly, much as his face was every bit as pale as the folks from the city, there was a strong, brilliant light shining in his black eyes. That one point wasn’t all that much like the city folk. Though with that said, he didn’t resemble the people of the forest’s edge at all either. There was a sort of unusual air about this foreigner, who didn’t seem to resemble anyone at all.

Well, he doesn’t seem like a particularly bad person...

Still, city folk were ultimately still city folk. The people of the forest’s edge and the folks who lived in the city of stone just plain didn’t get along.

Rimee Ruu had absolutely no clue as to why a person like that was hanging out with Ai Fa.

Before long, the foreigner and Ai Fa disappeared from sight, never even noticing Rimee Ruu or the woman.

“You saw him, didn’t you? We’ve never had a foreigner lurking around the forest’s edge like that before. This may be some sort of ill omen...”

“That’s all the more reason that I need to help Ai Fa out!”

Rimee Ruu crossed her arms and started to think. But no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with an answer. There was a limit to what an eight year old child could do, and this may not exactly be the sort of issue where it was alright for her to go getting involved or speaking up. Considering the circumstances, it was important that she clear up what exactly the taboo involving foreigners was about.

She’d gone and run all this way and not even gotten to say a single word to Ai Fa, but there was no helping that.

After saying goodbye to the excessively worried-looking Fou woman, Rimee Ruu went back down the path she had taken there.

“Hmm? Where did you go off to, Rimee?” her youngest brother, Ludo, asked her when she made it back to the plaza in the center of the Ruu houses. The men didn’t have any work to do till the sun hit its peak, and Ludo had always been an early riser.

Since Rimee had run all the way back from the Fa house, she held onto her elder brother’s arm as she caught her breath.

“Um, apparently there’s a foreigner staying at the Fa house! What should I do?”

“Huh...? What’s that about?”

It wasn’t the sort of thing that was easily explained, so Rimee Ruu decided to tell Ludo Ruu everything that she had seen and heard throughout the morning.

“I don’t really get it. What’s that Ai Fa woman doing getting close to a foreigner? And hey, you still haven’t cut ties with her?”

“Of course not! We’re friends for life!”

“Oh, I see. Well, whatever. At any rate, if you want to do anything about that foreigner, you’re going to have to talk to dad first. The taboo against interfering with folks from the city of stone is especially strict, after all.”

“Is that how Ai Fa ended up doing the bidding of such a weak looking guy, I wonder?” Rimee asked, a desperate look on her face, only to get a, “Don’t be stupid,” back from her brother as he mussed up his yellowish hair. “That woman didn’t back down to our dad or those folks from the Suun clan, so there’s no way she’d let some guy from the city just push her around, right? Actually, it’s probably likelier that she captured that guy and is making him help her out with her work. But honestly, I’ve got no clue what’s going on...”

“That’s true. Just what is Ai Fa doing together with someone from the city...? I’ve been thinking really hard about it, but I still have no idea.”

“Hmph. Still, maybe she doesn’t have anyone left to rely on but someone from the city. She made enemies of the Suun and Ruu, and the other families are so frightened of getting involved that they won’t even come near her.”

“The Ruu clan isn’t Ai Fa’s enemy!” Rimee Ruu angrily yelled out, but her teasing older brother didn’t pull away his shoulder that she was holding onto.

“Even if we’re not enemies, she turned down the offer to marry into the family, so there’s nothing that can be done about it now. No matter how much you may kick and scream, we can’t go saving someone who isn’t even part of our family.”

“Whatever! Little Ludo, you jerk!”

Rimee Ruu stamped her feet on the ground, and then took off running for the house.

“You’re the little one!” she heard her brother yell out from behind, and then she pulled open the door.

Her father wasn’t there, so he must have still been sleeping. In the reception room, her eldest brother Jiza Ruu and his wife Sati Lea Ruu were quietly talking, their son Kota Ruu in between them.

“Oh, my. What is it, Rimee?” Sati Lea Ruu asked with a gentle smile, swaying the cradle woven from grass all the while.

Rimee Ruu was clearly irritated even as she removed her footwear and came into the house, then plopped down in front of them.

“Listen to this! There’s apparently a foreigner staying at the Fa house! What should I do about it?”

Her brother Jiza Ruu was even scarier than their father, Donda Ruu. But he felt stronger than anyone else about upholding the laws of the forest’s edge, so he would surely be the perfect person to say what should be done in this situation. And yet, the words he spoke after hearing Rimee’s full explanation weren’t something she could simply accept.

“It’s for the best that you avoid approaching anyone from the city whenever possible. Until this foreigner leaves, you shouldn’t go anywhere near the Fa house, Rimee.”

“But why? If that foreigner turns out to be a bad person, Ai Fa could be in danger!”

“As long as the people of the city and the forest’s edge each respect their own laws, nothing dangerous should happen. And that head of the Fa clan calls herself a hunter, so no man from town should be able to get the better of her, right?”

“But...”

“The head of the Fa clan brought a townsperson into this settlement by her own discretion. As long as no problems occur as a result, no one can judge her for that. But if you interfere and throw off the equilibrium of things, bringing forth some sort of incident, then the head of the Fa clan will be the one forced to answer for it,” Jiza Ruu quietly explained, his expression remaining perfectly tranquil. “And so, it’s best that you don’t get involved, Rimee.”

Rimee couldn’t accept that in the least. And yet, when Donda Ruu appeared later on, all he would say was, “Don’t go getting involved with foreigners.” He looked so displeased that she was lucky he didn’t come out and say, “Cut all ties with the Fa clan,” so Rimee Ruu couldn’t exactly push the issue further.

Why isn’t anyone worried about Ai Fa?

That was what made Rimee Ruu saddest of all.

Two years ago, Ai Fa received a request to marry into the Ruu clan. Up until then, she hadn’t interacted with anyone from the clan but Rimee Ruu and the elder, Jiba Ruu, but when Donda Ruu heard how she had thoroughly beaten up the heir to the Suun clan, he found that amusing and tried to set up his second son, Darmu Ruu, with her. It was a pretty ridiculous idea, but at least on the surface, nobody opposed it. The worst that happened was that Jiza Ruu made a bit of a frown.

She had everyone’s pity for her circumstances, seeing how she had lost all of her family at the age of 15, and then earned the animosity of the Suun clan, who led their people. On top of that, she was such a strong-willed woman that she would surely be a good fit for the Ruu clan. And so, pretty much nobody objected to the union.

Rimee Ruu felt a little awkward at the idea of having her friend since she was very little suddenly become family, and it just didn’t sit right with her. But ultimately she accepted that it wasn’t so bad of an idea for everyone, especially seeing how Jiba Ruu’s legs had grown so weak that it had gotten hard for her to go visit Ai Fa.

But in the end, Ai Fa turned the offer down. She said that she would become the head of the Fa clan, and live as a hunter. When Rimee Ruu heard that, she was perfectly satisfied with the answer. After all, when her father Gil Fa was still alive, he had taken Ai Fa out into the forest to help him hunt. And Ai Fa always looked like she was really enjoying herself when he did. That had probably been why it just hadn’t clicked for Rimee Ruu that Ai Fa would never hunt again and instead just become someone’s wife.

At the time, Rimee Ruu was just six so she hadn’t thought it through quite that logically, but when she heard that Ai Fa had turned down the proposal, she definitely felt much more relieved than disappointed.

Even if they weren’t related by blood, Ai Fa was still very important to Rimee Ruu. And if they could keep the same sort of relationship they had up until now, then that was just fine.

But ultimately, Ai Fa ended up changing after all.

She already had bad blood with the Suun clan, and she started saying that she shouldn’t have any ties to the Ruu clan either, even starting to distance herself from Rimee Ruu. On top of that, Rimee Ruu’s family seemed to have lost all interest in Ai Fa, too. At first they were angry and disappointed at the refusal, but before long nobody even bothered to bring up her name.

Even if she didn’t become family, nothing about Ai Fa’s circumstances should have changed. But now nobody pitied Ai Fa, even though she had no one to rely on, she had made enemies of the clan that led their people, and was left to live all on her own.

Ai Fa’s only friends were just her and Jiba Ruu. And Jiba Ruu couldn’t even really do much walking nowadays. In that case, she was the only one left who could be by Ai Fa’s side.

It was that thought that led to Rimee Ruu heading to the Fa house over and over, even though Ai Fa treated her coldly. That had continued on for two years, but now that foreigner had appeared. Just who was he, anyway?

Both her father and brother had told her to stay away, but she just couldn’t leave it be. And so, Rimee Ruu made sure to visit the Fa house nearly every day after first spying that foreigner.

Even if she got close, it should still be fine as long as they didn’t notice. Plus, they only ever told her not to approach foreigners. That meant it should still be fine to wait until they were separated and then grab Ai Fa and have her explain.

Unfortunately, she just didn’t seem to be able to find a chance. They seemed to be practically stuck together both day and night. The only real opportunity was when Ai Fa headed out to hunt when the sun hit its peak, but Rimee Ruu had work back home at that time.

As she idly wasted away time in that manner, five days had already passed before she even knew it.

I ended up being late today, too...

The path she was running intently down was already getting dim and gloomy. Today she helped out peeling pelts, so she was running especially late.

At this rate she definitely wouldn’t make it back to her house in time for dinner and her dad would end up roaring at her, but Rimee Ruu had reached a mental state where she just couldn’t sleep peacefully if she hadn’t checked that day and made sure that Ai Fa was still alright.

Just what does Ai Fa intend to do with that foreigner?

As she observed them closely, she couldn’t sense even a hint of anything dangerous going on. Every once in a while they would quarrel, but neither of them seemed to ever get seriously angry. Even so, she couldn’t see the reason behind Ai Fa letting some foreigner stay in her house.

Did that foreigner want Ai Fa as his bride, perhaps? Or was he just letting himself in uninvited?

But still, if Ai Fa didn’t feel that way about him, surely she never would have let him stay there, and if she was going to respond to his feelings, something was bound to happen. But at least for now, Ai Fa hadn’t cut her long hair that was proof she was unwed, nor had she started wearing a one-piece outfit.

I’d hate it if Ai Fa ended up leaving the forest’s edge...

That was the greatest source of worry for Rimee Ruu.

At that moment, Ai Fa had cut all ties with the people of the forest’s edge. Rimee Ruu and Jiba Ruu were the only ones left who would call her a friend, and even then, she was trying to separate herself from them, too.

Was it really possible to keep on living all on your own? Rimee Ruu couldn’t even imagine it.

And so, it wouldn’t be strange at all if Ai Fa had grown sick of the forest’s edge and was thinking of moving to some far off land.

I mean, I want Ai Fa to be happy, but...

But, she would also just hate it if she could never see Ai Fa ever again. If they were separated for life, that would be unbearable.

That may have been why Rimee Ruu had ended up visiting the Fa house in this manner, day after day.

Just like Ludo Ruu and Jiza Ruu had said, it was hard to imagine that pale townsperson getting the better of Ai Fa. But wasn’t it possible that she would choose to leave the forest’s edge and go off on a journey with him? Perhaps it was because she couldn’t shake that feeling of unease that she felt the need to constantly confirm that Ai Fa was still there.

By the time Rimee Ruu finally reached the Fa house, the sun was approaching the western forest. The second that she saw the light from candles through the latticed windows, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness... She’s still there.

Now she just needed to make sure Ai Fa looked alright, and then she could head straight on home for the day. As that thought ran through her mind, she creeped up to the window as quietly as possible.

Suddenly, Rimee Ruu felt the urge to shout out, “Ah...!”

Ai Fa and the foreigner were eating dinner. And that foreigner... He was wearing the clothing of the people of the forest’s edge. He still had a pure white cloth around his head and chest, but the vest he had on top of that was clearly the sort her people wore. And on top of that, it was definitely the clothing that Gil Fa wore when he was alive.

Then this foreigner really is marrying into her clan? He’s going to be Ai Fa’s husband?

Suddenly a whole new sort of unease and doubt welled up inside of her. Which is to say, she couldn’t help but wonder if this foreigner was qualified to be Ai Fa’s husband.

Rimee Ruu got as high up on her tippy toes as she could manage, and peered at the two of them through the lattice. She was an expert when it came to hiding her presence, so surely even someone as sharp as Ai Fa wouldn’t notice.

It seemed that the two of them were having a bit of an argument today, too.

“Huuuuh? Why? Are you still angry about what happened around noontime?” the foreigner asked, clearly lacking any restraint.

Outside of its pale color, the profile of his face didn’t seem to have anything special about it. City folk had womanly faces to start with, so he probably looked pretty average. He really didn’t stand out at all. Well, outside of the light shining strongly in his black eyes, that was. He really did have mysterious eyes. Despite that strong light, they also looked uneasy, somehow. They looked kind like a woman’s eyes, but also strong like a man’s, which made them pretty hard to pin down.

The one thing Rimee Ruu could say, though... Was that she didn’t find them unpleasant.

“Noontime? Ah. You mean when you lost control of yourself and acted insolently. I had already completely forgotten about that,” Ai Fa replied in a low voice.

As Rimee Ruu wondered with a tilt of her head just how the foreigner had “acted insolently,” the expression on the man’s face took another sudden shift. He went from looking positively panicked to a bit suspicious.

“You forgot... Then why won’t you tell me your thoughts?”

“Stop asking! If I don’t want to tell you, then that’s all there is to it!” Ai Fa suddenly shouted out, causing Rimee Ruu to shrink back. The foreigner looked surprised, too.

This foreigner’s expression sure did shift around a lot, which made it easy to read his emotions. The bigger surprise, though, was how open Ai Fa was showing how she felt. Why was her face going so red, and why was she looking down a bit, and what was with the way that she was hiding her face behind that wooden bowl? That may have blocked the foreigner’s view from where he was sitting, but since Rimee Ruu was observing from the side, she could see Ai Fa’s face clearly. And right now, Ai Fa was looking seriously embarrassed.

“Just drop it! Don’t look at me!”

Ai Fa wasn’t the sort to let others see how she was feeling very often. Whether she was happy or sad, the most there would ever be was a slight shift in her eyes or mouth, which made it pretty hard to tell how she was feeling inside. And that trend had only grown stronger ever since Gil Fa had passed away.

And yet, here Ai Fa was openly showing how she felt, which seriously surprised Rimee Ruu.

Meanwhile, the foreigner gave a sigh, sounding a bit disappointed somehow, and then seemed to get lost in his own thoughts.

That must have been why he hadn’t noticed that Ai Fa had lowered the bowl and started focusing intently on his face. And now, she seemed to have broken out in an ever-so-slight smile.

With her cheeks still red, Ai Fa was staring straight at the foreigner’s face, looking terribly satisfied, and also extremely happy. The gentle, kind light in those blue eyes of Ai Fa’s that she loved so much reminded Rimee Ruu of when Gil Fa was still alive.

Ai Fa...

Ai Fa had never made a face like that in these past two years. Ai Fa’s expression had frozen stiff into something icy cold, as if a part of her heart had died alongside her father.

Then it must be him, right?

Where he was born didn’t matter. As long as he brought peace to Ai Fa’s suffering heart, Rimee Ruu didn’t care if he was a foreigner or whatever.

As that thought passed through her head, she looked at the foreigner and saw that he was looking down a bit and seemed to be smiling, too. He had appeared to be disappointed just before, but now she could see the same joy and satisfaction in his black eyes that she had observed in Ai Fa’s as he looked at the strange meat in front of him.

He must have felt the same way as Ai Fa. After all, families tended to be that way.

Ai Fa had lost Gil Fa, and she had refused the offer to marry into the Ruu clan. But sure enough, it seemed like she still needed family after all. It was just too sad for her to keep on living all on her own.

Rimee Ruu wiped away the tears that had steadily built up with the back of her hand, and then called out in an intentionally cheerful voice, “Hey, what is that that you’re eating?”