Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter Pr

Prologue: Crimson Memories

I found myself in the midst of a scorching crimson heat.

My whole body was hot, and my vision was dyed a deep red. It was a world dominated by that heat and blazing color, to the point that it was like I myself had become a flame.

It was hot.

Hellishly, terribly hot.

That was just about the only thing I could think at the moment.

I couldn’t move my body at all, nor could I make a sound. It was frankly a mystery how I had managed to keep my sanity at all in this hell.

Actually, was I even still sane?

To start with, who was I?

Any human thoughts and emotions had long since melted away, leaving behind a pointless existence that only suffered in agony from the heat of this crimson world.

And in all that, only one sensation remained.

My right hand, or at least that’s what I thought it was, was gripping a thin bit of firm wood.

That sensation was the only thing still tethering me to my sense of self. When it was gone, I’d surely burn up and disappear from this world completely.

This is my old man’s kitchen knife.

Even that thought felt like it would soon scatter and disperse. And yet, in this agonizing hell, I kept clinging to it desperately.

Those bastards must have set fire to my house... And even though Reina tried to stop me, I ignored her and leapt into the inferno to get my old man’s kitchen knife, since it’s more important to him than life itself...

Was that how I had ended up in this agony?

There was no way I would be saved after leaping into that sea of flames, so why had I gone and done something like that...? At present, my memories were vague and hazy.

What it came down to is, I had lost control and run into the restaurant filled with red flame and black smoke.

Instantly, my limbs had caught fire and the awful scent of burning clothing and skin filled my nose.

But above even that, the black smoke had overwhelmed everything and left me wandering in a haze as it filled my lungs.

My consciousness had started to fade from the lack of oxygen.

But despite all that, I’d managed to grab hold of the kitchen knife, which miraculously hadn’t burned up. And then my memory cut off until I found myself in my current predicament.

I couldn’t breathe, and my whole body was burning. Time seemed to freeze, trapping me in that one moment, with all the pain it held.

Is this my punishment? I was a huge idiot and threw away my life. My old man and Reina will be devastated...so is this how I pay for it?

It’s not like I wanted to cause them to suffer, though.

My body had practically moved on its own, without me even thinking. It was as if something was leading it...and my head was filled with the certainty that there was no other way forward.

Still, even this hell was sure to eventually come to an end. I knew I remembered the building collapsing and crushing my body.

No matter how much I struggled and clung to my old man’s kitchen knife, eventually I would disappear. After living for just seventeen years only to make a colossal idiotic mistake right at the end, I’d scatter and disperse into nothingness.

And if I couldn’t bear to let this be the end of me...then I had no choice but to leap into that light.

Light...?

Suddenly, I noticed a fleeting golden light flickering beyond the raging crimson.

It was a pale, thin, dim light amidst the roaring flames, and seemed like it would disappear if you touched it.

As if being guided by something, I crawled toward that light.

I sought that frail warm light as I clutched my old man’s kitchen knife, not even having the leeway needed to so much as doubt if it really existed or if I should be approaching it.

And then...

I was somewhat violently pulled back into my current life.

◇

“Snap out of it! Open your eyes, Asuta!” Ai Fa shouted as she clung to my shoulders and shook me.

The world had regained its usual colors, but my sight was soon filled with the sight of a beautiful slender face.

“I’m fine... It’s nothing...” I forced out in a hoarse voice that sounded as if it belonged to someone else.

At that, Ai Fa drew in close as her blue eyes shot me a glare.

“What do you mean you’re ‘fine’?! Whatever, just drink this!” she retorted, thrusting a ladle at my face. The cool water poured into my mouth so quickly that it felt like I was going to drown. However, that was enough to finally get me good and fully awake. After drinking my fill, I placed my left hand on the floor and somehow managed to raise my heavy body.

“I seriously am fine... I just had a bit of a bad dream. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“You’re really all right?”

Ai Fa cupped my cheeks and brought her face real close to my nose. As I looked back into her blue eyes, I repeated, “I’m fine.”

With a small sigh, she let go of my face.

And then, she gently placed her arms around me as if she were handling something fragile.

“Don’t go worrying me like that... It was as if you were suffering from some sort of affliction.”

“Sorry. Was I making noise?”

“You were doing more than just that. Your sweat-drenched body was twisting all about while you deliriously mumbled over and over about how hot it was.”

I could feel the gentle warmth of Ai Fa’s body from where she touched me. And that warmth was enough to wipe out the last lingering remnants of the nightmare.

The sweet aroma from Ai Fa’s hair was wafting in through my nostrils. Around half of my vision was filled with those golden locks, while the rest took in the dimly-lit interior of the Fa house.

I had only had a dull sensation in my limbs, but now they were filling with strength.

Yes, I was fine now.

As long as Ai Fa was there with me, I could keep on living without falling prey to despair.

“To be honest, I was dreaming of when I lost my life in my previous world...”

Ai Fa didn’t reply, instead simply further tightening her arms around me.

“It made me realize again, I really did die once... Well, not that anyone would ever believe me.”

“The past doesn’t matter in the least. You’re living here at the forest’s edge as a member of the Fa clan now, Asuta.”

“Right. And I realized again just how precious that fact is too,” I replied, patting Ai Fa’s head.

Like a peevish child, she ground her forehead up against mine.

And as I accepted that joyful pain, I thought about how I would never make such a mistake again.

Until the day that this life came to an end, I would keep on living in a way that wouldn’t leave me with regrets.

I’d live with everything I had for my own sake and the sake of those close to me, never forgetting the pain caused by that awful mistake that could never be taken back.

As I reflected on those thoughts, I stroked Ai Fa’s silky hair.

“Well then, I guess let’s get started on this morning’s work. The next ten days are going to be hectic, after all.”

Ai Fa just sat there silently, staring.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“There isn’t any sunlight streaming in through the windows,” Ai Fa replied, strengthening her hug. “We start working at the break of dawn. That is the custom at the forest’s edge, and the Fa clan is no exception.”

“Y-Yeah, but there’s already dim light coming in, so the sun may be shining outside the house.”

“However, that light has yet to reach the inside,” Ai Fa retorted, now hugging me so tight that I could swear my ribs were creaking.