Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 1 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Short Stories

Rimee: Zero

The youngest daughter of the Ruu house was born when Ludo was seven years old.

“She’s all wrinkly and red. She’s not cute at all.”

Ludo Ruu poked the cheek of the infant sleeping in the cradle woven out of grass. 

“Cut that out. What if you end up getting the baby sick by touching her with your filthy hands?” his sister Vina asked in a relaxed voice. She had just turned 12, and always had a sort of sleepy look about her.

“They’re not filthy! I just washed them! And wait, she isn’t sick already? I mean she’s so small and wrinkly and red...”

“Babies are all like that at first. Lala was too, right?”

“I was only two when she was born. I don’t remember that at all.”

“Oh, is that so? I get the feeling that you were even smaller than this, you know...”

“Stop messing around! There’s no way that’s true!” Ludo angrily yelled, smacking his sister on her rear, which had gotten unusually large all of the sudden recently.

“Oww... What are you doing...?” Vina asked, ruffling her angered brother’s hair.

“What are the two of you up to?” their eldest brother, Jiza, called out through the door. Ludo and Vina stopped in their tracks in the middle of their grappling and slowly turned to face their big brother. “Don’t make such a fuss around the baby. Infants are very weak just after being born, and even something slight could lead to a mistake that can’t be taken back in such a situation.”

Jiza was 15 years old. He was the oldest son of the Ruu house, and was already doing a fine job as a hunter. He had a grinning expression on his face as always, but his presence was still enough to get Ludo and Vina to hurriedly separate themselves.

Vina slumped her shoulders, while Ludo shot his brother a look of dissatisfaction.

“But Vina was saying I was even smaller than this when I was a baby. There’s no way that’s true, right big bro Jiza?”

“Hmm? Well, this child is a girl, and I do get the feeling that you were bigger... But still, you shouldn’t let yourself get worked up over things like that. What matters is the future, so you should make sure to eat properly and grow into a fine hunter.”

As Ludo gave a “Tch!” his mother returned from the elder’s room, held in his father’s arms.

“Oh, you looked over her for me, Vina and Ludo? Thank you. We’ve finally decided on her name.”

“Hmm, so what is it...?”

“It’s Rimee. The youngest daughter of the main Ruu house, Rimee Ruu. I hope you two will help so that she grows into a splendid young lady,” their mother Mia Lea said, looking incredibly happy and proud. 

Even amongst the prosperous Ruu clan, Mia Lea was the first one to birth seven children. And their father Donda may have been an incredibly blunt person, but his eyes seemed to have a gentler look about them than usual.

“Rimee, huh? Hey, they say your name is Rimee,” Ludo said, reaching out and poking the baby’s cheek. With that, her tiny eyelids slowly opened, and her pale blue eyes looked at Ludo. Then she let out a weak sounding, “Gwah,” and her already wrinkly face wrinkled even more. Since she had only just been born her eyes must not yet be able to see, and she shouldn’t have been able to properly change her expression. But somehow, that wrinkled face looked like she was smiling happily at Ludo.