3
After finishing my report to Zasshuma, I returned to the stall, where I found two familiar girls holding giba burgers while shooting each other threatening glares.
Lala Ruu, meanwhile, turned and shot me a fed up look.
“Ah, you’re finally back. Do something about these two, Asuta.”
Perhaps it went without saying, but “these two” referred to Diel and Yumi.
Diel was the daughter of a metalwork seller who had come to Genos recently, while Yumi’s father was the owner of the inn known as The Westerly Wind. The former was a short-haired girl with a boyish look, while the latter showed about as much skin as the women of the forest’s edge.
I was at a loss wondering why there was such a dangerous feel in the air, since I had thought they had reconciled.
“Um, what exactly is going on here...?” I called out, only for the two of them to turn my way in sync.
“Hey there, Asuta. It’s not a big deal... I didn’t raise my voice or anything, so I didn’t cause you any trouble, right?”
“Hmm? Then why don’t you hurry on back to the castle town already? You’ve got a nasty enough look in your eyes that I’m sure having you loitering around must be causing Asuta problems.”
“Hey, you’ve got a real nasty look too. So why don’t you run on back to your daddy?”
“I’ve got business matters to discuss with Asuta.”
“And so do I.”
It was certainly true that nobody was shouting.
However, their suppressed rage was flowing through the air like electricity, and I could hear it crackling away even now.
Oh, and Diel’s usual companion Labis was standing there next to her shooting Ludo Ruu a harsh glare, only spurring on the dangerous feel in the air further, while the young hunter of the forest’s edge was just feigning ignorance. I could see why Lala Ruu seemed so fed up.
“A-Anyway, could you step off to the side a bit? And what exactly happened, anyway...? It felt like you two were getting along pretty well yesterday.”
“Don’t ask me. I was just talking about the dish I ate at The Great Southern Tree yesterday, and she suddenly flared up at me.”
“Hmph! If you hadn’t gone and bragged like that, I wouldn’t have gotten annoyed. I want to eat more of Asuta’s cooking too...” Diel replied, looking a bit disheartened.
“Ugh, geez!” Yumi groaned while brushing up her long hair. “That really wasn’t my intention. It was just so delicious that I got all excited talking about it... But if that upset you, then I’m sorry.”
“No... I was too short-tempered there, too. I was just jealous of you, so I’ve also gotta apologize.”
What the heck? I thought with a somehow disappointed shrug of my shoulders.
A few seconds ago they were shooting each other angry glares but now they were both giving embarrassed giggles, only to turn my way with smiles on their faces.
“Anyway, that’s how it is. Asuta’s cooking was just way too delicious! That c-cubed giba meat stew, was it? Whatever it’s called, it was really good!”
“I-I see. I’m glad to hear you say so.”
“Sounds nice. That’s the dish that uses tau oil, right? I wish I could’ve tried it too,” Diel complained with a sort of childish bluntness. Since we were talking about my cubed giba meat stew, it used plenty of the tau oil that came from her home country of Jagar.
As she looked at Diel, Yumi placed her hands on her own slim waist and gave an awkward chuckle.
“You should go eat it too. Can you not slip out of the castle town at night?”
“That’s right. My dad says once the sun sets it’s too dangerous, so he takes away my pass. Plus they raise up the drawbridge at the gate during the night anyway. Hey, Asuta, isn’t there any way I can eat that dish during the day...?”
“Hmm, well I don’t start preparing it till after the sun hits its peak. But if you talk to the inn’s owner then he might be willing to sell it to you after that but before the sun goes down.”
“I see! Then if I can find a day where I’m not busy with work, maybe I could eat it too!” Diel said with a grin, her mood recovered. Meanwhile, Yumi wore a relieved-looking smile.
Diel had a youthful, petite look about her that reminded me of a young boy, while Yumi had rather womanly proportions, making them seem like polar opposites. And yet, their smiles were both equally charming.
“But yesterday was the last day for that cubed giba meat stew dish, right? The owner said from today on it would be a different dish.”
“Ah, yeah, it’ll be a soup today. As for the meat dish, I was going to have him try it out today and then decide. If he decides to use it, then it should make its debut tomorrow.”
“I see! Then I’ll need to try that one out too! Aah, I’m really looking forward to it!”
“Tch! This really is no fair!”
“Ahaha, sorry,” Yumi laughed while patting Diel on the head.
I was worried her temper was about to explode at being treated like a kid, but Diel just puffed up her cheeks instead. They really did seem to make for an amusing pair.
“So, what about you? Didn’t you say you had business to discuss too?”
“Ah, that’s right! There’s something I wanted you to take a look at, Asuta!” Diel excitedly stated, then she pulled out a knife she wore on her hip. Only today, it wasn’t one meant for self defense.
It was still in its leather sheath, but it seemed to be a cooking knife. Unlike the one that belonged to my old man or my vegetable knife from Sym, the handle was also made of metal, though with diagonal ripples etched into it, perhaps to keep it from slipping.
“Ooh. Is this one of the cooking knives your place sells?”
“Yup! It’s for cutting meat! It’s a little heavy, but it can even slice easily through a kimyuus bone!”
Diel was holding the handle out towards me, and so I accepted as I felt a great curiosity welling up inside me.
“Umm, is it alright if I remove the sheath?”
“Could you really understand how good of a knife it is otherwise?”
Of course I couldn’t. And so, I went ahead and pulled it free.
The blade was a beautiful silver. I didn’t know if I should call it a butcher’s knife or a western-style pointed carver, but regardless, it looked just a bit narrower than my old man’s knife overall.
It was a bit over 20 centimeters, and was slim but solid. And despite even the handle being metal, it actually wasn’t all that heavy. Yeah, this seems like it would feel every bit as nice to use as that knife that rode along with me from my old world.
“It certainly does seem like a good blade.”
It was heavier than my old man’s knife, but it was lighter than the hunter’s one I got from Ai Fa. And the metal handle felt more natural to hold than I had expected, balancing out nicely with the weight of the blade.
“Well? Go ahead and try cutting a bit, too!”
Naturally, I had absolutely no reason to refuse.
I had wanted a meat cutting knife to start with, so as not to overuse the blade that was my old man’s heart and soul. And I had already gotten permission from Ai Fa to buy one, too.
However, none of the blades on sale in the post town had jumped out at me. Perhaps it was because my expectations had been set a bit too high by getting to buy such a splendid vegetable knife from Shumiral out of nowhere.
Anyway, I went ahead and headed to the wagon, then pulled out the bundle of meat I was going to sell to Nail. When I opened it up atop my work space, I found the expected block of pico leaf-coated rib meat. I went ahead and tried out the knife on the edge of the soft meat and smoothly cut off several seven-millimeter-thick slices. Then, I went ahead and minced them up atop my cutting board in no time at all.
Yup, I had absolutely no complaints. At least when it came to cutting meat, it was every bit a match for my old man’s knife.
“This is definitely nice. I have no issues with how it cuts whatsoever.”
“Really? Then will you buy it?!” Diel asked, leaning forward as her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Hmm, but this is meant to be sold in the castle town, right? So it must be pretty expensive...”
“Well sure, it’s expensive compared to the knives they sell around the post town, but in exchange, I can definitely guarantee its quality! It costs 12 white coins in total!”
12 white coins.
The vegetable knife from Sym that I had bought from Shumiral had cost 18. And the knives sold around town cost four or five, while the hunter’s knife I was borrowing from Ai Fa went for six.
Converting 12 white coins into giba horns and tusks, it would be equivalent to around 10 of the beasts, so this certainly wasn’t a cheap purchase. But my old man’s knife had already worked hard for 20 years, so I didn’t want to keep on overusing it.
“Right, I’ve made up my mind. Could I buy this from you, Diel?”
“Hooray! Thanks for your business!” Diel exclaimed with a truly overjoyed smile.
Seeing that extremely pure grin, Yumi and I couldn’t help but smile along with her.
“But why did you bring me a meat cutting knife all of a sudden? I was actually just looking for one recently, but still...”
“Huh? I mean, I just found it real frustrating how you weren’t using a blade from Jagar! That vegetable knife is clearly from Sym, and that other one doesn’t come from Jagar either, right?” Diel said, shooting my old man’s knife a serious look as it sat atop my work station. “And that’s a ridiculously nice knife, too. I don’t know what country it was made in, but I was definitely a little surprised when I saw it. And so, I went and picked out what I figured was the absolute nicest knife I had, to offer you something just as good.”
“I see. I really appreciate it. But shouldn’t you be selling something this nice to a noble instead of me...?”
“Hmph! I think you’re way more amazing than those chefs who work for nobles! And I just figured our best knife should go to the best chef around,” Diel replied, now wearing a truly bold grin.
Perhaps it was the way that her emotions always showed so clearly whenever she smiled, but it was just as charming as always. Maybe I’d gone a little strange in the head, as I could definitely recall finding her grin revolting back on the day we first met.
“Well then, see you around! I’ll definitely be back again tomorrow!”
“Guess I’ve gotta get back to work, too. And I’ll also be looking forward to tonight’s dinner at the inn!”
With that, Diel and Yumi departed to the north and south, leaving me feeling a warmth inside.
In their place, my customer who had the looks of an easterner, Sanjura, approached the stall.
“Asuta, I’ll take one, please.”
“Ah, thanks for your continued business. Um... and thanks for everything yesterday, too.”
“You don’t need to, thank me. It was my natural duty, as a citizen of the west,” Sanjura said with a gentle smile as he pulled back his hood, revealing his chestnut-colored hair.
But just as I felt myself being soothed by his grin, he went and said something truly shocking.
“That bandit child was captured, right? I’m glad that, the peace was protected.”
“Huh?!” I exclaimed, freezing in place. I could practically feel the blood draining from my face. “H-Hold on! The boy from yesterday was captured by the guards?”
“Was he not? I thought he was because, there were no wanted posters around.”
“Wanted posters...?”
“Yes. When a criminal is wanted, the guards place up a poster in front of their station. But there wasn’t anything there when, I looked earlier. So I thought he had already been caught...” Sanjura replied while tilting his head and looking perplexed.
I had been holding my breath, but now I finally let out a sigh.
“So that was it? Ah, you really shocked me there... Oh, sorry. The truth is, we never went ahead with any of that.”
“You didn’t put in a request, to the guards?”
This time, it was Sanjura’s eyes that opened wide in shock. Well, it wasn’t all that huge of a shift in expression, but it really did feel unusual coming from someone who looked like he was from Sym.
Ah, but this was no time to be impressed by such things.
“You were assaulted, so you should report that to, the guards. If you leave the criminal be, someone else will get hurt.”
“Yeah, I suppose it is our duty to make that report as citizens of the west. But... He seemed like he was only after people of the forest’s edge, so the townsfolk shouldn’t be in any danger.”
“You all are in danger still, though.”
“We’ll be fine. After all, we’ve got these reliable allies to watch out for us.”
Sanjura’s pale eyes glanced over at Ludo Ruu, who was standing next to the stall.
And Ludo Ruu stared back with a completely serious look in his eyes, utterly different from the one he had when facing Labis.
“Even so, I still think you should, make a report. Are you perhaps holding back?”
“Holding back?”
“Yes. I have heard the people of the forest’s edge, have a complicated position in Genos. I don’t come here that often so I don’t know that much about it, but you are feared and persecuted, are you not?” Sanjura asked, leaning forward with an earnest look on his face. “But the people of the forest’s edge are also, children of Selva. I am too, though my mother was, a citizen of Sym. We westerners are all comrades. You needn’t hold back, and I believe you should rely, on the guards.”
It wasn’t exactly “holding back.”
However, I couldn’t exactly go telling a customer like Sanjura how we couldn’t rely on the guards because of the position held by Cyclaeus’s younger brother.
“So, you’re still reluctant after all...?”
“Yeah, sorry...”
“Then shall I make the report, in your place? I’m not exactly unrelated, so I think I should be qualified, to do so.”
“A-Ah, no! That would actually be a problem for us!”
Trying to hide everything was proving difficult.
And so, I quickly but carefully chose my words.
“Um, you see... He seems to have a deep grudge against the people of the forest’s edge. And so I’d like to talk to him properly, and if it’s a misunderstanding I’d want to clear that up. But if he’s captured as a criminal before that, there’s never going to be a chance for that to happen... And so, we didn’t put in a report with the guards.”
Thinking more on it, Cyclaeus was the one point I really couldn’t be open about.
That Zattsu and Tei Suun committed those crimes ten years back and the Red Beards were executed falsely in turn was steadily becoming common knowledge, so there was no need to hide everything. In fact, it would probably be best for as many folks to know as possible.
However, I’d like to avoid revealing Jeeda’s background if at all possible. After all, I had no way of knowing how that information could end up reaching Cyclaeus.
Still, Jeeda had gone and openly pronounced that he was Goram Redbeard’s son right in front of Sanjura, and the man hadn’t reacted to the name. Apparently he hadn’t been born in Genos, so perhaps he didn’t know anything at all about the Red Beards.
At any rate, Sanjura didn’t ask for any further explanation, instead pulling back while looking a bit sad.
“I see. It seems you have your reasons... I’m sorry for saying too much, there.”
“Ah, no, that’s not the case at all. I really appreciate your concern.”
“I’ll be praying that all of you stay safe. And I hope you can clear up that misunderstanding, too.”
After shooting one last peaceful smile, Sanjura departed with a myamuu giba in hand.
“Hmm, he really does seem pretty darn skilled. Still, I don’t think I’d lose, at least for now while his right arm is injured,” Ludo Ruu muttered while watching the slender man slip into the crowd.
“Could you cut that out already? Just yesterday he helped protect us. So we owe him, don’t we?”
“I know all that. I just feel uneasy when there are guys I’m not sure I can beat with my own hands wandering about. It’s one thing when it’s fellow people of the forest’s edge, but we’re talking about someone from town here...”
I guess that was what it meant to be a hunter of the forest’s edge.
Now that I thought about it, Ai Fa still seemed to be wary of Sanjura, too.
Will those feelings fade if we can forge a healthy relationship with Genos?
In other words, will a day come when the people of the forest’s edge come to view the citizens of the west as comrades, and vice versa?
As such thoughts kept on running through my head, the sun was finally approaching its peak.
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