Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 2.3

3

After that, another five days passed, and we reached the twenty-fourth of the white month.

On that day we once again loaded plenty of meals into our wagon and headed for the post town. Our group was made up of me and Reina Ruu, plus Ai Fa, Ludo and Shin Ruu, and three other hunters as our guards.

Since we were ultimately just delivering the meals and fresh meat to the inns and then purchasing fresh vegetables, there was no real need for me and Reina Ruu to come along. But I wanted to see the state of the post town with my own two eyes, and Gazraan Rutim also recommended that we keep on forging bonds with the townsfolk as we had been.

We wanted to know just what everyone from the post town thought in regards to Marstein’s commands, and also tell them what the people of the forest’s edge were thinking. And so the conclusion was that sure enough, I was the one best suited to act as that information pipeline.

At any rate, though, we ended up carrying out our work in the post town again on that day.

After delivering sixty meals of giba sauté arrabbiata and enough fresh meat for another twenty meals to The Sledgehammer, and seventy meals of meat and chatchi stew plus meat for thirty to The Great Southern Tree, we headed to Dora’s shop.

There was still some time left until the sun would hit its peak, so Yang’s stall wasn’t yet open. However, the number of stalls serving colorful poitan seemed to be creeping upward day by day. And I could smell the sweet aroma of milk fat wafting through the air here and there as we walked along too.

It sure seems like Kamyua and Polarth’s plan is progressing smoothly.

At this point, Cyclaeus and Ciluel were awaiting an inescapable judgment. But Kamyua Yoshu explained that this plot to scale up the demand for poitan was still essential to prevent other nobles from interfering.

“Ultimately, the ones who rule over a land are the local nobles. And since Cyclaeus’s fortune and authority were swelling to the point of equaling that of Duke Genos, it’s important to remove any potential obstacles that could get in our way,” Kamyua Yoshu had said on the day after the meeting. “For example, even though we successfully arrested Cyclaeus and Ciluel, if the Daleim and Saturas houses were bribed, we may not be able to expect a fair trial. After all, the legal officers and interrogators all come from noble houses. If things went poorly, it could even end in a confrontation between the ducal house of Genos and the houses of the three counts.”

But if everything kept on going according to plan and poitan became a staple food in Genos, the profitability of fuwano would drop drastically and the house of Turan would lose a great deal of power in the not-so-distant future. And if that happened, no one with connections to the Daleim or Saturas houses would have to hesitate over fear of reprisal.

Then, Lefreya would inherit the house at the age of just ten, complete with declining finances and the previous head having been convicted as a criminal. On top of that, it would be an inheritance in name only, with her guardian holding all the actual authority.

I couldn’t help but think of the old saying that the sins of a parent will be visited upon their children. Both the house of Turan and the Suun clan had lost their prosperity due to the actions of the men who once led them. It would certainly be nice if that chain of negativity could be severed here and now, but all I could do was pray for things to go that well.

“Hey there, Asuta! Glad to see you looking well again today!”

After we finished heading around to the inns, we stopped by Dora’s vegetable stall, where he greeted us with a wide grin. For these past few days, he’d looked truly, overwhelmingly joyful.

When I mentioned it to him, he said, “That’s true. Those wicked nobles have been arrested, and now it looks like the people of the forest’s edge have a peaceful future ahead of them, right? I can’t imagine any news that would make me happier!”

Cyclaeus and Ciluel’s trials hadn’t even started yet, and we still had no clue as to the whereabouts of the scoundrels serving under them. While for the moment everything was peaceful, the people of the forest’s edge couldn’t exactly go taking it easy just yet.

Even so, Dora just kept happily smiling.

“I’d certainly like to be able to eat giba burgers again as soon as possible. But just seeing you all looking well is plenty enough for me,” he said with a bashful grin, scratching his head through the turban-like white cloth wrapped around his head. “When you do reopen for business, though, make sure to let me know as soon as possible. Lately my poitan are getting bought up as soon as they’re ready, so it’s real difficult keeping up my stock. Just like the notice from Lord Daleim told us to do, though, we’ve been steadily increasing the amount of land used for them. It’ll still be some time before we can harvest the new crops, though.”

“I see. That sounds like it could make you both hopeful and frustrated.”

At any rate, Dora’s smile certainly gave me strength.

But then I noticed his daughter wearing an uncharacteristically gloomy expression, so I went, “Huh?” with a tilt of my head. “What the matter, Tara? Does your stomach hurt or something?”

Her dark brown hair swayed when she shook her head in response. Looking closer, she actually seemed more cranky than gloomy.

“Ah, I scolded her a bit, so she’s angry at me. It’s nothing for you to worry about, Asuta.”

“Ooh, that’s unusual. What in the world happened?”

“Well, you see... Apparently yesterday she ran into that Leito boy at the roadside. And then, well...”

I had no idea what he was getting at.

But then, Tara stared up at me with her big eyes the same shade as her hair.

“Leito and Mister Kamyua are always making trips to the settlement at the forest’s edge, right? And he said you let them eat your cooking too.”

“Ah, right, I had them do a bit of taste testing before when I was doing some cooking experiments. And...?”

“I wanted to eat your cooking too, and I wanted to come play at your house,” Tara replied, her eyes starting to tear up.

I was left bewildered, while Dora sighed and said, “You’re asking for a lot, you know. Asuta will be starting up his stalls again soon enough, so just hold on till then.”

“You’ve got it nice, Papa... You get to stay in the post town every day and eat Asuta’s cooking.”

“You’re being silly, I—” her father started, and then he awkwardly held his tongue.

Despite the fact that Dora lived on the Daleim plantations not far from the post town, he was apparently visiting dining halls each night in a campaign designed to wipe away the bad reputation surrounding the people of the forest’s edge.

With that in mind, he must have been heading to inns other than The Sledgehammer and The Great Southern Tree, because neither of them had many western customers, which meant he wouldn’t have been eating my cooking. But he must not have explained things to Tara in that much detail.

At any rate, though, I couldn’t stand the thought that I had been the cause of a rift forming between this incredibly close father-daughter pair. And so, I racked my brain to try to find the words needed to calm the young girl down.

“Umm, Tara, you see... I’m actually staying at the Ruu settlement right now, and I haven’t been home in over ten days.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. Those bad nobles have been arrested, but their buddies are still out there. We even have some soldiers from Genos Castle protecting the Ruu settlement during the day. Leito’s only able to come visit the forest’s edge because Kamyua is with him.”

“I see...” Tara murmured, her expression filled with concern. And so, I shot her a smile.

“But eventually, all those bad people will be caught. And if the people of the forest’s edge and townsfolk start getting along, I’m sure you’ll be able to come play at the settlement. So do you think you can wait till then?”

“You’ll let me eat your food too?”

“Yeah. When that day comes, I’ll pull out all the stops and make you a really delicious meal.”

That was finally enough to earn a happy smile from Tara.

“Before that though, we’ve got to reopen the stalls for business. If I manage to develop a new dish, could I count on you for taste testing?”

“Yeah!”

Tara looked like a puppy happily wagging her tail, and as Dora watched her he gave a strained smile.

“She really does get stubborn when it comes to your cooking, Asuta... Sorry for the trouble.”

“Ah, it was nothing.”

After all, you two have already done so much for me... I thought as I smiled back at Dora.

At that point Ai Fa urged, “Time is passing, you know,” and so I finished up my shopping in a hurry.

As we started heading back down the road afterward, passersby kept calling out to us here and there. The majority of them were definitely southerners, but about twenty percent or so were westerners. As for what they were saying, it was a mix of simple greetings and questions like, “When are you going to reopen the stalls?” Since easterners weren’t very talkative, they just gave silent bows or shot us urgent looks.

Regarding the incident involving Cyclaeus, the majority of the details had already been delivered throughout the post town by command of Duke Marstein Genos.

The house of Turan’s head, Cyclaeus, and the militia leader, Ciluel, had conspired with the former leading clan head of the forest’s edge, Zattsu Suun, and were alleged to have committed countless crimes. And now, they were being held awaiting a trial. Additionally, Zattsu Suun’s successor Zuuro Suun had ordered dozens of his relatives to plunder the fruits of Morga, and was being held in Genos Castle for his crimes. The spread of that news had done quite a bit to clear away the disquieting air lingering about the post town.

It was now clear that Count Turan had been the one to protect any people of the forest’s edge—or rather any members of the Suun clan—who had committed wrongdoing around town. But in the future, if a person of the forest’s edge committed a crime, that fact wouldn’t be unjustly swept under the rug. The last of the criminals, Zuuro Suun, would also soon be judged. And since that news was delivered under the name of Duke Genos, it must have made for quite a shock for the townsfolk. Then perhaps if news of the conciliatory dinner party between Duke Genos and the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge also got out, in addition to being even more of a shock, it could show the fact that both sides were trying to put aside past grudges and form fresh bonds with one another.

“I can’t help but be more than a little displeased at you getting dragged out again as a result, though...” Ai Fa whispered into my ears as she held Gilulu’s reins while we walked down the road.

The leading clan heads had given their approval to Marstein’s general proposal for the dinner party and Lefreya’s accession to her father’s rank.

Currently the date and who all would attend was still being hashed out, but it had already been decided that it would be held in the castle town and that I would act as a chef. In the near future, news of those arrangements would likely be spread all throughout the land of Genos, along with the decision that Lefreya would inherit Cyclaeus’s rank.

So in all likelihood, Duke Genos is probably also trying to use the dinner party to divert the populace’s attention.

Lefreya’s accession was the one point discussed that would earn him antagonism from his people.

Cyclaeus’s daughter had once kidnapped Asuta of the forest’s edge, but now her crimes were being pardoned and she was being granted her father’s rank. Even with the explanation that it was being done to take the rank of count away from Cyclaeus, who had committed far worse crimes, it still seemed like an order that was sure to strengthen animosity toward nobles.

But the sensational news that Duke Genos would eat giba meat could help stifle that bad impression.

I couldn’t help but think that way, and Gazraan Rutim had apparently arrived separately at the same conclusion. Thanks to that, we brought it up with the leading clan heads, and they decided to accept Marstein’s proposal.

The three leading clan heads seemed like they were pretty much thinking, “Let’s see what you’ve got.” Just how would the lord of their land, Duke Marstein Genos, bring the situation under control? Perhaps they were using this as a test, silently keeping an eye out to see whether the people of the forest’s edge should continue offering up their swords in service of that graceful yet jovial noble.

“Well, it’s not like Duke Genos would go stabbing us in the back at this point. If he did, he’d be declaring to all of Genos that he’s even worse than Cyclaeus,” I replied, but the displeased expression didn’t vanish from Ai Fa’s face.

“Hmm... But I don’t like how the dinner is being held in the castle town. If he sincerely wishes to eat giba meat, then shouldn’t he bring himself here to the settlement at the forest’s edge?”

“Yeah, but, well, we’re talking about a noble here, so there’s no helping that.”

It seemed downright impossible to imagine the lord of such a large town venturing out to a dangerous place like the settlement at the forest’s edge, where giba prowled about. Plus, I had also heard that the Genos side would be preparing a chef for the dinner party too.

It was a chance for the nobles of Genos and the people of the forest’s edge to share their cuisine and open up to one another, deepening their friendships. That was the crux of Marstein’s proposal. And we couldn’t exactly go summoning a chef from the castle town out here and make them cook on nothing but a stone stove. There was no way they’d be able to show their full skill like that.

“At any rate, it’s a point of pride to be invited to man the stove for such an important dinner party, right?” I threw out there, only for Ai Fa to lean in close with a scary face.

“It is, but I still don’t like it.”

Honestly, I was feeling much the same.

However, this was a critical turning point for forging a bond between Genos and the people of the forest’s edge. And I really did feel unabashedly proud to have been chosen to cook for the event. Thanks to that, I intended to give the task my absolute all.

“Now then, what should we go with?”

In the early afternoon on the same day, the hunters had headed out to the forest while I was getting in my cooking practice.

Currently Reina, Sheera, and Rimee Ruu were all gathered in the kitchen.

At the Ruu settlement, three women were assigned to the work in the post town while the others stayed behind to take care of their daily chores. But with us taking a break from working the stalls, it was decided that the three of them could use the free time they now had in the afternoon for cooking practice.

As they would continue working in the post town from here on out, Reina and Sheera Ruu were the fixed members of this group, while the other sisters of the main house took turns in the remaining spot depending on the day.

And starting today, we were to begin specifically preparing for the dinner party.

“You have to prepare a lot of different dishes for a dinner party, don’t you?” Reina Ruu said, tilting her head adorably as she mulled it over.

Apparently when nobles had a dinner party, the custom was for there to always be a multi-course meal served. You started with the appetizer and soup, followed by a fuwano dish, vegetable dish, and meat dish, and then ended with a dessert. And so, we would need to prepare six dishes in total.

“Well, there’s no need to stick to the customs of the castle town. Just make sure to use giba for the meat dish. Everything else, you can do as you please,” Kamyua Yoshu had instructed us, but there was also no reason to go against those customs either. Marstein had proposed the idea in order to deepen the friendship between our groups, and I wanted to make a sincere effort to respond to his request.

“At any rate, what’s key here is the meat dish using giba. I was thinking of locking that down first and then deciding on the rest of the lineup,” I said, my gaze falling to the wooden plate atop the work station.

There was a white powder piled high atop the plate, and it wasn’t either fuwano or poitan. No, it was a new ingredient that I had developed over these past several days.

“And if possible I’d like to use this too, but what do you think? The people of the forest’s edge have had a favorable reception of the giba cutlets, and the nobles seemed to like my fried kimyuus, so if I can make something comparable with this new ingredient, how about making that the main dish?”

“A dish comparable to giba cutlets?” Reina Ruu stated, her eyes narrowing as she looked spellbound. “If you can create a dish like that so easily, I think I’ll be feeling the gulf between your skill and mine quite keenly.” Despite her words, Reina Ruu had broken out in an incredibly joyful smile.

And next to her, Rimee Ruu was poking at the powder atop the plate. “So this powder’s made from chatchi, right? How in the world did you get it like this?”

“Well, this is what you end up with when you dry out a broth made from chatchi.”

First I had to finely dice up the potato-like chatchi, then wrap it in a thin cloth and submerge it in a pot filled with water. Next, I carefully rubbed it to extract a chatchi broth. After leaving the broth to sit for a while, a starch-like substance settled at the bottom. Once that was done, I separated it into several portions and removed the clear layer of liquid that rose to the top, and finally I took the remaining residue and let it dry out.

If chatchi really were built the same as potatoes, the ingredient I had made would be akin to potato starch. Now that I had encountered fuwano flour, which was closer to wheat flour than poitan was, I really did want a suitable substitute for potato starch too.

“I figure if I use this I can make a fried dish that’s lighter on the oil than giba cutlets. So how about we try that out first?”

I had gone through the effort of figuring out how to prepare this chatchi starch for the sole purpose of trying to make something like tatsuta age, where you deep-fried meat that was breaded with potato starch rather than wheat flour.

Of course, there were a multitude of other uses for potato starch besides fried foods. But since the people of the forest’s edge were even fonder of fried dishes than I had ever expected, I wanted to expand the number of variations I could offer on the idea.

Tatsuta age didn’t need any egg and could be made with the coating somewhat on the thin side, so I figured it would be at least a bit healthier than the giba cutlets. Plus, it would be pretty difficult for clans that weren’t quite as well off as the Ruu to get a hold of new ingredients like fuwano or eggs. And so I figured this dish would be easy to introduce for folks in that situation.

“For the time being, let’s try making a sample to test out. Reina Ruu, could I have you heat up some giba lard?”

“Right, understood.”

“I already let the meat marinate while we were chopping wood. The marinade was made with myamuu, fruit wine, and tau oil, and I let it sit for around the same amount of time as the myamuu giba. I also rubbed salt and pico leaves into it before letting it soak, so now I just have to sprinkle chatchi starch over it and fry it up the same as the giba cutlets.”

“I see. In that case, you can adjust the flavor by changing the ingredients in the marinade and how long you let it soak, right?”

“Right. It’s the same as the myamuu giba on that front,” I replied, stealing a peek over at Sheera Ruu’s expression.

Ever since Darmu Ruu had returned, Sheera Ruu had started looking depressed an awful lot of the time, but unsurprisingly her expression remained resolute while practicing cooking.

“Hey Asuta, can I still not help with frying?” Rimee Ruu asked as Reina Ruu heated up the lard. I just couldn’t bring myself to let an eight-year-old child like her help with something as dangerous as cooking fried foods.

“Well, to be honest I’d probably feel a lot more comfortable trusting you with it than Vina or Lala Ruu, but still... When you heat it up, oil gets really dangerous. If any splashes up and lands on you, it could leave behind a scar that will never go away.”

“I see...” Rimee Ruu replied, sadly staring at the ground. Just like with Tara, it made for a real heartrending expression.

“What’s the matter? Right now I can only have Reina and Sheera Ruu assist with fried foods, and maybe Mia Lea Ruu at most. I don’t think it’s anything for you to worry yourself over.”

“Yeah... But you still can’t bring me along, right...?”

“Huh? Do you mean to the dinner party in the castle town?”

“Yeah. Reina and Sheera Ruu are going to help you out, aren’t they?”

It still hadn’t been determined just how many people would be attending the dinner party. But the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge had decided their party would include six participants, and the noble side wouldn’t have less than that, so we would certainly have to prepare enough food for more than a dozen at the very least.

Since the noble side would also be preparing food, we would only need to prepare half as much for each person, but since we were talking six different courses it would still be quite a lot. Thanks to that, we decided Reina and Sheera Ruu would also come along as assistants, and depending on the circumstances we were also ready to bring on additional hands.

“Hmm, I’m not sure... They would be just about the best I could hope for in terms of cooking skills, but we’re talking about the castle town here...”

“The bad nobles were all arrested though, weren’t they? And Papa Donda and everyone are heading to the castle town to make up with the people there, aren’t they?”

“Rimee, dad will be the one to decide who’s going, so you shouldn’t bother Asuta like that,” Reina Ruu chimed in.

“Right...” Rimee Ruu answered, hanging her head again.

It was certainly true enough that this was no place for me to go carelessly interjecting. And so, I picked up the giba sirloin now coated in white chatchi starch and shot Rimee Ruu a smile.

“Why don’t you try talking to Donda Ruu when he gets back? You can wait till you hear what he has to say before getting all down, right?”

“Yeah,” Rimee Ruu said with a grin, seemingly trying to pick herself up too.

After seeing that innocent smile, I turned my attention to the pot.

“Now then, how is the lard looking?”

“I think it should be just about ready,” Reina Ruu replied, pointing toward the wooden skewer in the lard. Sure enough, the right size of bubbles were now springing up around the skewer’s tip.

Reina Ruu also went ahead and tossed just a pinch of chatchi starch into the lard. If it dropped to the bottom, that would mean the lard was at a medium temperature, while it would be at a high temperature instead if it floated. And with a crackle, the chatchi starch soon popped up to the top.

Since nothing unexpected had occurred as a result of using chatchi rather than potatoes, I went ahead and breathed a sigh of relief.

“All right, looks like I can leave this up to you. Make sure to be careful though, okay?”

“Of course,” Reina Ruu said with a nervous look as she accepted the giba meat. Since there weren’t that many opportunities to prepare fried food, I wanted to let Reina and Sheera Ruu have the experience whenever possible.

Reina Ruu gently added the giba meat into the pot, taking care so that the oil wouldn’t splatter up. Instantly there was a nice, lively crackling sound, and Rimee Ruu’s eyes sparkled as she went “Ooh!” from a short distance away, where she had retreated.

A few minutes later, the coating turned a golden brown, completing the dish. And as Reina Ruu lifted it up with grigee chopsticks, her eyes went wide. “Huh? The coating looks like it’s expanded a bit. Did I mess up somehow?”

“No, the chatchi starch just absorbed some oil and air. I believe that should give it a different texture than the giba cutlets.”

In actuality, I couldn’t really say whether cutlets or tatsuta age were healthier. On top of that, I had no way of knowing whether or not such oil intake was good or bad for the people of the forest’s edge.

However, way back when I made the hamburger steak, Gazraan Rutim said that they would be the ones to determine their own path. And if anyone indulged in the taste to the point of harming their health, then that was their own fault.

I didn’t want to lean too heavily on those words, but I also couldn’t hold back my desire to bring the people of the forest’s edge joy through all sorts of dishes. Was my cooking medicine or a poison? Though I would keep being cautious with that question in mind, I still wanted everyone to eat the food I made. And ever since I heard of how Cyclaeus made himself sick through his luxurious dining, those feelings had only grown stronger in me.

“Now then, the excess oil should have mostly dripped off by now, right?”

Using the chopsticks, I moved the fried meat over to my cutting board and chopped it into four equal parts.

There didn’t seem to be any issues with how it had been cooked through, as the meat was a beautiful ivory-white.

“All right, now how about we give it a taste test?”

“Yay!” Rimee Ruu excitedly proclaimed, snatching up a piece of tatsuta age before anyone else. Without delay, she tossed it into her mouth and chewed it a bit... And then her little face melted into a smile. Yup, she looked absolutely enraptured.

Reina and Sheera Ruu were both looking pretty happy too. Sheera Ruu in particular had placed a hand to one cheek and let out a childish “Mmm!” which was shockingly adorable.

“This is really delicious... I think I may like it even better than giba cutlets.”

“I would say they’re both equally tasty.”

“Umm, umm... I like them both the same too!”

Apparently all three of them approved of it at least as much as the giba cutlets.

And as I let the joy from their smiles wash over me, I also went ahead and brought my portion to my mouth.

Unlike the crunchiness of the cutlet coating, this one had a more crisp texture. And underneath that thin crust was the texture of the giba meat, filled with unbelievably delicious flavor.

The lard had only amplified the taste of the meat further, and it spread throughout my mouth alongside the flavor of the myamuu and fruit wine in perfect harmony. Despite the fact that they were both fried dishes, this really was a completely different taste than the giba cutlets.

Personally, I had no complaints about how it had turned out. Once I fine-tuned the seasonings and carefully examined the best cut of meat to use and how to shape it, I couldn’t see having any issues offering it up at any occasion.

“All right, I guess let’s settle on this as the main dish,” I declared, and everyone nodded back with a grin.