Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 4.1

Group Performance

Chapter 1: Melancholy of the Second Ruu Son

1

It was the thirty-first day of the blue month.

On this, the month’s final day, Asuta of the Fa clan said his farewells to the Silver Vase, led by the easterner Shumiral, and the southerner Balan’s construction group in the post town. On top of that, Shin Ruu was injured in an attack by Jeeda, who saw the people of the forest’s edge as his enemies. And Shumiral asked Vina Ruu to marry him, requesting that she give him her answer in half a year.

A great deal had happened on the thirty-first of the blue month...but Darmu Ruu of the main Ruu house was in the northern settlement at the time, with no clue what was occurring to his relatives Shin and Vina Ruu.

At the time, things in that part of the forest were just as hectic as they had been for the Fa and Ruu clans. The northern clans were hit hard by the fact that their former parent clan the Suun were now seen as criminals, and they were also tasked with keeping watch over the guilty members of the main Suun house.

Out of that group, the previous clan head Zattsu Suun and his retainer had already had their souls returned to the forest. That just left three to deal with: the head of the main house, Zuuro Suun, his eldest son Diga, and his second son Doddo. Darmu Ruu had come all this way from the Ruu settlement in order to help watch over those three criminals.

Still...these men sure are pathetic, Darmu Ruu thought to himself as Diga groveled at his feet.

They were currently at the settlement of one of the three northern clans, the Dom. Since Zattsu Suun had previously burnt down a number of Dom houses, during the day Diga and Doddo were tasked with helping to rebuild them.

Since he was charged with keeping an eye on them, Darmu Ruu was also working on the same task. Currently, he and Diga were carrying back logs that had been cut down at the outskirts of the forest, but the former Suun heir ran out of strength and collapsed before they made it to their destination.

“Don’t go grumbling about carrying so little weight. And you call yourself a man of the forest’s edge?” Darmu Ruu scolded, but Diga could only keep on cowering and breathing heavily. They had just gotten started, but it seemed that he really was exhausted. But before Darmu Ruu could continue, a low voice called out from behind.

“Second Ruu son, that man won’t move even if you kick him once he’s like that. You should rest up too until he can move again,” the young Dom man wearing a giba skull stated, while carrying another load of lumber along with Doddo, who had once been Diga’s younger brother. The former second son of the Suun’s square face was coated in sweat, and he looked like he was ready to collapse at any moment. “Jeez, they’re such wretches that it’s hard to believe they used to be the leading clan. We held animosity toward you Ruu for a long time for how you stood against our parent clan...but I really have to admit that you were in the right.”

With those parting words, the Dom man left along with Doddo.

As he held back a sigh, Darmu Ruu looked down at Diga, who still showed no signs of rising to his feet. Diga’s feet were tied together with a short leather strap so that he couldn’t run. His face was coated in stubble, and even though he used to be bigger than Darmu Ruu, he had seriously withered away. There was no life in his eyes. And he had been stripped of his hunter’s cloak and necklace of horns and tusks, with his remaining clothing looking quite filthy. It all added up to such a shabby appearance that it seemed hard to believe the man was even a person of the forest’s edge, much less once part of the leading clan.

“You’ve ended up so pathetic because you’re not even properly eating your meals...” Darmu Ruu said as he sat down atop a log lying on the ground. “If you don’t have any strength, then eat some jerky. I have your portion here.”

Diga just listlessly shook his head in response. The sight of that was enough to once again ignite Darmu Ruu’s anger.

“This job was assigned to you due to your crimes. Don’t you have any intention of atoning?”

Darmu Ruu had only raised his voice a bit, but that was enough for Diga to wail, “Aah!” and cradle his head in his hands.

Finding the whole thing ridiculous, the second Ruu son went ahead and bit into some jerky himself. It was giba jerky that had been given to him by the Dom clan, and the powerful stench about it annoyed him even further.

This jerky is seriously terrible.

Even though he had only taken a single bite, the terrible smell of it had permeated his nose. Whether it was the animalistic stink or the stench of blood, it was an unpleasant odor that the lilo herbs used to smoke the jerky just couldn’t cover up. But less than two months ago, Darmu Ruu had eaten jerky just like it each and every day without ever questioning it.

Ugh, he’s so annoying... Darmu Ruu thought to himself as a certain pale chef came to mind. Thanks to him, the second Ruu son had ended up the sort of man to get annoyed by bad-tasting jerky.

No, it wasn’t just the jerky that was an issue. Dinners were even worse. The crudely cut giba meat was either boiled together with poitan or grilled up in a heated pot. The night he arrived at the settlement three days ago, he was left truly astounded at the fact that giba meat that hadn’t been bloodlet was this disgusting.

Still, I’m sure that Reina made food at least a bit better than that even with unbloodlet meat.

Perhaps it was the level of flame she used, the vegetables she chose, or how she cut the meat... At any rate, he didn’t think her meals were anywhere near this awful. But even so, it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it.

Apparently, that discussion with the nobles yesterday didn’t settle things either. When Gulaf Zaza made it back, he seemed like he was in an even worse mood than when he had left. And so, it seemed like they would need to keep on watching and guarding the criminals from the Suun clan for the time being.

Darmu Ruu had decided to head to the northern settlement of his own volition. Since they couldn’t spare the men for guard duty forever, Gulaf Zaza had asked for assistance from the Ruu while they were in their break period, and Darmu Ruu had volunteered himself.

The Lea and Rutim men who had come along with him were in the Zaza settlement, keeping an eye on Zuuro Suun. Even just the thought of having to spend a whole day in a house like that felt tedious, so Darmu Ruu had taken up the task of watching Diga and Doddo in the Dom settlement instead.

The Dom men had left that one man who had spoken to Darmu Ruu earlier behind and then headed out to hunt. And so, the two of them kept watch over Diga and Doddo while repairing the burnt houses...but by the third day, the second Ruu son’s patience was running out.

Was it a complete waste coming all the way out here? he thought to himself while glaring down at the limply seated Diga’s back. Darmu Ruu had left his family and come so far secretly thinking that maybe seeing these pathetic men would help him come to understand his own weaknesses.

◇

Just when did I stray from the proper path? Darmu Ruu pondered to himself.

Up until just recently, he hadn’t felt that anything was lacking in his life. He lived surrounded by his family while wanting for nothing and feeling proud to be a man of the forest’s edge. The only real concern he had at the time was the fact that the shameless Suun were acting as the leading clan.

But he had felt that if the Ruu and the clans under them accumulated further strength, they could take down the Suun in the not-so-distant future. The previous Ruu clan head had his soul return to the forest filled with anger and regret, but the current clan head, Darmu Ruu’s father Donda Ruu, would bring order back to the forest’s edge.

Darmu Ruu respected his father more than anyone. Donda Ruu was the bravest hunter of all the forest’s edge, and only the Ruu had the strength needed to take down the Suun. Darmu Ruu had spent his life up till now filled with pride for being that man’s son and for having been born into the Ruu clan.

The first incident to cause that to start to crumble occurred when he met Ai Fa two years ago. His youngest sister Rimee Ruu and the elder Jiba Ruu had formed a bond with the last of the Fa, who had lost her family and then gotten into some sort of quarrel with the Suun heir. When he heard about that, Donda Ruu proposed to have Ai Fa marry Darmu Ruu, but she turned the offer down. Still, he hadn’t been all that shaken back then. He had just thought that she was a truly foolish woman.

Darmu Ruu had visited Fa house along with his father and brothers. That Ai Fa girl turned out to be rather beautiful, but she wore a hunter’s cloak and blade despite being a woman, and intended to make a living hunting giba... It was absolutely ludicrous.

He had heard that she had only just turned fifteen. It was true that there was an incredibly intense light shining in her eyes, for a woman, but those slender arms could never swing a sword. She would just be throwing her life away, which made her a fool despite her beauty. And so he couldn’t help but feel he would have turned her down anyway.

But then, two years passed, until that day two months ago. Darmu Ruu saw Ai Fa once again at the Ruu settlement, when his youngest sister Rimee Ruu had insisted on having the Fa clan man the stove for Jiba Ruu’s sake. Ai Fa had invited some foreign man into her clan, and Rimee Ruu enthusiastically described to her family how the delicious food that he made was like magic.

When Darmu Ruu heard that, he thought it was all ridiculous. There was no way something like that would give Jiba Ruu back the strength to live on. It would be sad when Jiba Ruu died, but she had lived longer than anyone else at the forest’s edge and already carried out her work. Darmu Ruu probably wouldn’t be able to hold back his tears on the day that her soul returned to the forest, but no matter how sad it might be, it was the way of the world that no one’s life lasted forever. That was just how things went, in accordance with the will of the forest. And Darmu Ruu figured struggling pointlessly against that would just bring needless pain and suffering.

However, Donda Ruu accepted Rimee Ruu’s request. And so, Ai Fa visited the Ruu settlement along with her suspicious new clan member.

In the two years since Darmu had last seen her, Ai Fa had grown even more beautiful. And in addition to gaining a fist’s worth of height or so, her slender body was now brimming with the strength of a hunter.

Looking at her then, he could see how she was able to act as a full-fledged hunter. And in fact, there were a ton of horns and tusks hanging around her neck. That, more than anything, was proof that she was just as successful as the hunters of the Ruu.

However, that fact threw Darmu Ruu out of sorts. It was true that she might have gained the strength needed to be a hunter. But without any clan members or the like to assist her, she had to hunt all on her own. It was hard to see that as anything but her needlessly putting her life at risk.

As a woman, Ai Fa should give birth to plenty of children, and if they could be raised into fine hunters, then in the end it would amount to even more strength that could be dedicated to hunting giba. And yet, she instead brought some man from another country, who couldn’t even hunt, into her house and was acting like a clan head, which really got on Darmu Ruu’s nerves.

On that night when he saw her again, Darmu Ruu had ended up disparaging Ai Fa. Allowing the fruit wine to drunkenly drive his emotions, he had uttered every vile thing that came to mind. And on top of that, he had once again asked her to marry him.

But despite the cold look she had shot him, Ai Fa didn’t respond to Darmu Ruu. And of all things, that pale clan member of hers had snapped back at him. Even when he was right in the middle of the Ruu settlement with no blade on his person, he hadn’t seem scared of Darmu Ruu in the least.

“Right now, I’m in charge of manning Ai Fa’s stove. But until just five days ago, she handled that too! She hunted giba and manned the stove all by herself! And she did a perfect job of taking care of the work of both a man and a woman. Can you do that?!” that pale chef, Asuta of the Fa clan, had shouted. That foreigner looked even weaker than a woman of the forest’s edge, but he had the blazing eyes of a hunter as he said that.

Darmu Ruu had counterattacked, asking him if he intended to pick a fight with the Ruu clan while half wanting to slice this boy from his mouth to his ear if he didn’t hold his tongue.

But rather than seeming scared, Asuta of the Fa clan had instead looked a touch fed up as he continued: “Hey, I don’t have any issue with the people of the forest’s edge or the Ruu clan. I’m just talking to you, Darmu Ruu. I’m telling you to stop being so rude to my benefactor, Ai Fa.”

Those words felt strangely piercing. Darmu Ruu didn’t know just why he had felt so shaken. But despite the angry glare he’d aimed at the chef, he couldn’t find any words to shoot back, nor could he bring himself to draw his blade.

After that, Asuta of the Fa clan had manned the stove for the Rutim wedding banquet, started doing business in the post town, and even exposed the crimes of the Suun.

But what had Darmu Ruu done in the meantime?

Nothing at all.

He just kept on carrying out his work as a hunter.

Of course, since he was a hunter, there wasn’t anything wrong with that. He had been terribly injured protecting the branch family member Shin Ruu, but after a bit of time off, he was back to working just as hard as before. There was no reason to be ashamed of the life he was living, either as a hunter or as a person of the forest’s edge.

However...he just couldn’t get those words from Asuta of the Fa clan out of his head.

“I’m just talking to you, Darmu Ruu.”

What did he mean by “just you”? It was true that he was ultimately the singular man known as Darmu Ruu, but he was also a person of the forest’s edge and the second son of the Ruu. You couldn’t separate those facts from who he was as a person, and it was meaningless to even consider.

And yet, he felt strangely flustered when he looked at the members of the Fa clan. Ai Fa was carrying out her work as a hunter despite being a woman, and Asuta worked the stove even though he was a man. Neither of those actions were taboo at the forest’s edge, but they also undoubtedly turned their backs on customs formed over the course of many years.

Women were supposed to give birth to children, while men should use all their strength to hunt giba. Otherwise, there would be no order and stability at the forest’s edge. If all the women chose to live as hunters and abandoned their duty to give birth, their people would die out. And there was no way that such a thing could ever be acceptable.

Yet at present, the members of the Fa clan were bringing about a great change at the forest’s edge. Saying he wanted to bring prosperity to the forest’s edge, Asuta of the Fa clan had begun selling giba cooking in the post town, and that had been steadily bearing fruit. On top of that, the Suun clan had fallen thanks to Asuta’s advice. And the members of the Fa clan had formed ties with a man named Kamyua Yoshu, who was trying to expose the past crimes of Zattsu Suun and the nobles.

Darmu Ruu’s older brother Jiza Ruu seemed greatly perplexed by all this, as he so heavily valued law and order.

Still, Donda Ruu seemed to acknowledge the strength of the Fa clan, and they really did seem to be trying to lead the people of the forest’s edge down the proper path forward.

Despite all that, Darmu Ruu still wished that Ai Fa would simply live as a woman. That was why he had issued a challenge to her during the contest of strength held at the festival of the hunt. He had thrust the condition on her that if she lost, she would join the Ruu clan.

If she at least fell under the Ruu, there wouldn’t be much of a risk of her dying out in the forest. And if she could learn to find meaning and purpose in living as a woman after being surrounded by so many other people... That was the one sliver of hope he had grasped at with his challenge.

And yet, Darmu Ruu had lost to Ai Fa. At some point, she had grown into an even stronger hunter than he was. No matter how much he struggled at that point, he could never do anything to move her and change her mind.

Then Darmu Ruu came to the northern settlement. He wanted to know just how it was that he had ended up so weak.

Looks like it was all for naught, though, Darmu Ruu thought to himself as he continued looking down at Diga, whose back was now bent like an old man’s. The two Suun men had ended up being far more dimwitted and pathetic than he had expected.

He had thought maybe he could clear up some of his own doubts by learning more about Diga and Doddo, who were born into the leading clan but didn’t possess any strength of their own...but he simply couldn’t see anything of himself in such truly pathetic men.

“My, you look bored, Darmu Ruu,” a voice chuckled from beside him. When he turned to look, he found a Dom woman carrying a large load of lumber and staring back at him. She was the younger sister of the Dom clan head.

“Diga there gets exhausted even quicker than a young child. It’s no surprise you’d have excess energy to burn, having to keep pace with a man like that, is it?”

“Yeah.” Darmu Ruu nodded back, thinking about how that was exactly the case. Then that woman (he believed her name was Lem Dom) stared at Diga with an overwhelming look of contempt.

“You really are pathetic. I’m shocked someone born to be a hunter of the forest’s edge could end up such an unsightly mess. If I were you, I would surely have taken my own life from pure shame.”

Even as the woman disparaged him, Diga didn’t so much as lift his head. And with a hearty shrug of her shoulders, Lem Dom walked off with a powerful gait.

How are they able to live on when they’re so lacking in pride?

As he bit down on the jerky with its awful stench, Darmu Ruu gave a deep sigh to vent his anger.

2

Two days had passed.

On the night of Darmu Ruu’s fifth day in the north, there were intruders at the Zaza settlement, where Zuuro Suun was being held. It happened late at night, when everyone was asleep. Darmu Ruu had been off duty and resting when he was awoken by the Lea man’s shouting.

“Intruders! Men from town in the settlement!”

The piercing sound of a grass whistle continued to shriek into the air, and the doors of the houses all around swung open as hunters came leaping out.

After sharing a look with the Rutim man next to him, Darmu Ruu opened the door to his rear.

There were several figures cowering in the darkness, which then suddenly got up, looking startled. As he tried to sense anyone else nearby, Darmu Ruu lit up a candlestick with a lana leaf.

Zuuro Suun, Diga, and Doddo... Their limbs were still bound, and the window still looked to be properly boarded. Darmu Ruu and the other man were tasked with guarding over and watching these three, never leaving their side no matter what.

“Wh-What’s going on...?” Diga questioned in a trembling voice.

“Someone snuck into the settlement,” Darmu Ruu tersely replied.

In the next moment, Zuuro Suun broke out in a strange wail, “It’s the nobles of Genos... They’re trying to take me away!”

“Hey, Zuuro Suun...”

“I can’t stand it! I only ever followed my father’s teachings! If that’s a crime, then go ahead and take my scalp! Return my soul to the forest!” he wailed like a madman, slamming his head against the wall. During the day he was like a living corpse, which made this current frenzy hard to believe.

“Stop that! Your crimes still need to be judged!” the Rutim hunter warned, hurriedly pinning Zuuro Suun. “Lend me a hand, Darmu Ruu. We’ll tie him down to a pillar.”

“Right.”

Originally, Zuuro Suun had been every bit as large as Donda Ruu. And no matter how much he had withered away, that meant it still took a great deal of effort to suppress his mad flailing. Even after the two of them tied him to the large pillar and shoved a balled-up cloth into his mouth so he couldn’t bite his tongue, Zuuro Suun continued to struggle for a while longer, like a giba that had been caught in a trap.

“I can’t stand it either... Why do we have to be treated like this?” Diga whined as he started sobbing. The sight of that once again caused Darmu Ruu’s anger to flare up.

“What are you whining about now? You shouldn’t even have to ask, considering the countless crimes you all committed.”

“But...but we were just following the rules set down by the Suun clan...” Diga talked back, his expression and tone like that of a young child.

Darmu Ruu found it hard to believe this man was the same age as he, much less formerly the heir to the leading clan of the forest’s edge, and that only stirred up his anger further. Diga was the person Darmu Ruu could stand least of all. He just couldn’t accept a man who would sob so pathetically all the time, even more than either Zuuro Suun, who usually just stared vacantly with the eyes of a corpse, or Doddo, who was always silently wearing a gloomy expression.

“You are being treated as criminals precisely because those rules set by the Suun were wrong. Just the fact that you deceived your fellow people of the forest’s edge to pillage the bounty of Morga while neglecting your duties as hunters would normally be enough to earn you a death sentence.”

“But Zattsu Suun is the one who set those rules... We only followed them...”

“I’m telling you...” Darmu Ruu started to retort, but then the words caught in his throat.

Something was tugging at him.

Darmu Ruu crouched down and stared at Diga’s sobbing face. Though Diga hurriedly averted his eyes, he failed to escape Darmu Ruu’s gaze.

“Former eldest son of the Suun... Did you really not have any doubts about how you were living? You didn’t see any fault with the fact that you were committing more crimes than could be counted while keeping the truth from the clans under you, such as the Zaza and Dom?”

“L-Like I said, those were the rules...”

“Those were mistaken rules set by Zattsu Suun. Even you people must have been able to realize how greatly they strayed from the laws of the forest’s edge, right?”

“B-But... Our family in the main house and all our relatives in the branch houses followed those rules... When all the people closest to me followed them, do you really think I could betray them? A-And if anyone found out we were breaking the taboos of the forest’s edge, everyone would be scalped... We had no choice but to follow the rules laid down by Zattsu Suun...”

The more he listened, the more foolish it all seemed. But even so, the strange sensation billowing up in Darmu Ruu’s chest only grew stronger.

They’re dimwitted, frail, despicable men. The members of the branch houses had followed Zattsu Suun’s rules despite having lost the will to live in order to protect themselves and their families...but these fools were lazing around, feeling untouchable in their position above them, making light of other clans for taking their work hunting giba seriously. My father definitely wasn’t wrong when he determined the members of the main house needed to be punished by having their clan name stripped away.

But...to the members of the Suun clan, those rules had been absolute.

To the people of the forest’s edge, their laws were absolute, but the same was true for the Suun clan and their own rules. If you ignored the question of what was right and wrong, then that would probably hold true.

If...

If Darmu Ruu had been born into the Suun clan, how would he have turned out?

Had he found himself in Diga’s position, what would have become of him?

Up until a mere ten years ago, Zattsu Suun had held absolute power as the leading clan head. If he had been Zattsu Suun’s grandson, and son to that coward Zuuro Suun, raised surrounded by relatives with eyes like corpses, would he have ended up the sort of man he was now? Would he have been a proud enough man to stand up against Zattsu Suun, who insisted his path was the right one? He thought of Donda Ruu’s teachings as absolute and never doubted them, so could he have found fault with what Zattsu Suun said?

Darmu Ruu couldn’t say.

And also...

What would the case be for Ai Fa and Asuta of the Fa clan?

If Ai Fa had been born into the Suun clan, what sort of person would she have ended up as? And if Asuta had been picked up by the Suun instead, what sort of path would he have followed? Darmu Ruu was fixated on the thought.

Those two had stood in direct opposition to the customs of the forest’s edge. Becoming a hunter despite being a woman, inviting a foreigner into your clan, doing business in the post town... None of that was taboo at the forest’s edge, but it certainly went against the way things were done. That was exactly why clans like the Zaza, Dom, Jeen, and Beim opposed the Fa clan’s actions.

But in spite of that, the members of the Fa clan didn’t bend. They wished to live properly as people of the forest’s edge while also opposing customs, and even said they wished to bring prosperity to their people... That was the complex path they had chosen for themselves.

If it were those two...could they decide they were right instead of Zattsu Suun and push forward down the path they believed in?

Without her parents from the Fa clan, Ai Fa might not have ended up as such a proud woman.

However, it was true that she had the strength needed to live on her own. At the very least, she was strong enough not to fear living a solitary life. Plus, she was proud enough to value her own feelings over the customs of the forest’s edge. So she might well have possessed the guts needed to oppose such a wicked grandfather and foolish father.

And then there was Asuta.

What would have become of that pale chef if he joined the Suun clan instead?

It was possible he could have been killed for running his mouth the very night that he was picked up. No matter how strong of a will he might have possessed, he wasn’t strong enough in body to swing a sword.

Still, if nothing else, he surely wouldn’t want to earn coins for the wicked Suun clan. It was even possible he could have found allies—that mysterious eldest daughter, the youngest son, or even Tei Suun—to bring them down from the inside. At least, that was how it seemed to Darmu Ruu.

Is that the difference between me and them? Darmu Ruu vaguely thought to himself under the light from the candle.

Then he noticed that Diga was trembling as he turned his face away. He must have been scared by Darmu Ruu glaring at him all this time. And seeing that, the rage in his chest started flaring up in a different direction.

If he were born into the Ruu he might have ended up as someone like me, and if I were born into the Suun, it could be me making for such a pathetic sight right now.

Darmu Ruu closed his eyes, holding back the deep sigh he felt coming.

He was weak.

All of his strength came from someone else.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with the power he possessed. He intended to keep on using it for the sake of his family, the Ruu clan, and the whole of the forest’s edge.

But that was surely the strength of the Ruu. If his clan fell, it would be lost as well.

Even after losing all of her family, Ai Fa remained strong. So she had surely made the power she gained as a member of the Fa and a person of the forest’s edge her own strength.

And Asuta had lost not only his family but even his very country, and yet he was showing his strength here in this land that was foreign to him. He had a power in him that Darmu Ruu didn’t possess. That was precisely the difference between them. It was why Asuta was so strong...and why Darmu Ruu was so weak.

But still, that’s no reason to fall to despair!

Darmu Ruu slammed his fist full force into the fur rug on the floor.

“Eek!” Diga pathetically shrieked in response.

And so the night dragged on, unbearably slow.

3

It was ten whole days after that when Darmu Ruu returned to the Ruu settlement. In the end, he spent over half a month up north.

Tomorrow, the third meeting with the nobles would be held in the castle town. Darmu Ruu was set to accompany the leading clan heads as one of their guards.

That was just fine by him. If those nobles tried to pull anything underhanded, he’d repay them with his blade. Darmu Ruu felt no hesitation whatsoever.

Still, that damn Asuta of the Fa clan... I can’t believe he’s so careless, getting kidnapped by some noble girl after he went and ran his mouth like that, Darmu Ruu thought to himself during the banquet being held in the Ruu plaza.

There were several large cloths spread out in various places, and a great number of people who weren’t members of the Ruu clan were around too. There were the leading clans of the Zaza and Sauti, the Rutim and Lea who fell under the Ruu, the criminals of the main Suun house, the Fou and Beim who were tasked with keeping watch over the decisions made by the leading clan heads...and Ai Fa and Asuta of the Fa clan too.

It had been five days since Asuta was rescued from the nobles. After returning from the northern settlement, Darmu Ruu had heard both of how he had been kidnapped and how Ai Fa had gotten him back.

And ever since, he had been awash in profound anger. Even after he threw all that rage directly at Asuta, his mood still hadn’t cleared up.

But Asuta knew nothing of Darmu Ruu’s anger, and was just doing his job handing out food. As that was going on, the second Ruu son took a sip of fruit wine, only for someone to suddenly speak up from beside him.

“Umm...do you mind if I sit next to you?”

When he turned to look, he found Sheera Ruu timidly standing there where his younger brother Ludo Ruu was supposed to be sitting. Sheera Ruu was the eldest daughter of one of the branch houses. Her father was the younger brother of Darmu Ruu’s dad, Donda Ruu. And as the second Ruu son gave a silent tilt of his head, Sheera Ruu broke out in a faint smile.

“You see, Ludo Ruu took my spot...”

Looking around, Darmu Ruu found Ludo and Lala Ruu on either side of Sheera Ruu’s younger brother Shin Ruu, getting all worked up like kids. Things were really just as lively as most banquets.

“He really is flippant. If he’s in the way, then just tell him so. You shouldn’t put up with that behavior from a thoughtless guy like him.”

“You think?” Sheera Ruu replied, wringing her hands as her expression grew all the more delicate and frail.

When he saw that, Darmu Ruu finally came to a realization. “Hey, is the issue that you have trouble complaining about someone from the main house, even if it’s that insensitive jerk? If so, I’ll go drag him away for you.”

“No, that’s not it...” Sheera Ruu answered, breaking out in an expression that looked both joyful and sad at the same time.

At that, Darmu Ruu tilted his head again, wondering just what it was she wanted in that case, only for his grandmother Tito Min Ruu to call out from another seat over.

“How long do you intend to keep on standing there, Sheera Ruu? Just go ahead and sit wherever. Everyone’s moving around as they please, so there’s no need to worry yourself.”

Just as Tito Min Ruu said, folks like Dan Rutim and Rau Lea had positioned themselves where it would be easy to grab the dishes they had their eyes on. And Asuta, Ai Fa, and Jiba Ruu had moved over toward Zuuro Suun’s group, so the original seating arrangement had become completely lost by this point.

Even so, Sheera Ruu shot Darmu Ruu a sad smile and asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

“If that’s what you want, then just go ahead and do it.”

With that, Sheera Ruu finally kneeled down and let out a wistful sigh.

Darmu Ruu then took a sip of fruit wine, thinking about how he really just didn’t get this woman.

“Umm...how was the northern settlement?”

“The food was gross,” he replied as he bit into some giba meat wrapped in a strange coating. It really was irritatingly delicious.

“I see...” Sheera Ruu replied with a weak smile, and then a silence hung in the air.

It was then that Darmu Ruu had a sudden realization: Sheera Ruu was the only one in the whole world who knew how endlessly troubled he had been. On the night of the festival of the hunt, when he lost to Ai Fa in a contest of strength and threw all his raw emotions at Ai Fa...back when he had felt more shaken than ever before, he had talked to Sheera Ruu and gave her a glimpse of the feelings he hadn’t even opened up to his family about.

I’m weak...far too weak!

This weakness may be the same thing that led the Suun to ruin, from being part of a large clan...

Darmu Ruu had whined those feeble complaints, with his back facing the banquet fire.

That’s not true at all! Sheera Ruu had denied as she clung to his back. For some reason, her voice had sounded tearful. He hadn’t had another chance to properly talk with her since that night.

Sheera Ruu must have approached him wondering whether or not he found the answer he was seeking at the northern settlement. When he realized that, Darmu Ruu felt something he couldn’t describe, so he drank more fruit wine in order to drown it out.

“It was a little different than I expected, but I think I found an answer of sorts,” he stated, and Sheera Ruu’s eyes opened wide in shock.

Had that been too abrupt? Darmu Ruu wasn’t exactly skilled with his words in the first place. And that went even more so when he was talking to a young woman.

But as her expression brightened up a bit, Sheera Ruu said, “I see. If it’s made your heart feel even a little lighter, then that’s wonderful news. I really am glad...”

“Even if I know why, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still weak.”

“No, I believe whether you know something like that or not makes a world of difference. I just know that you’ll be all right, Darmu Ruu.”

“Hey, even if I say I know, it could just be guesswork on my part,” Darmu Ruu bluntly shot back, only for Sheera Ruu to give an almost motherly smile.

“That absolutely isn’t true. Please, believe in your own strength, Darmu Ruu.”

Despite the fact that Sheera Ruu was a year younger than him, she would sometimes look so mature. Did that strength come from the fact that she was an oldest child who helped raise three younger brothers? Somehow, Darmu Ruu felt a bit frustrated as he roughly bit into a baked poitan.

It was around then that things got noisy from the seats further down.

Looking that way, Darmu Ruu saw that the tiny former youngest daughter of the main Suun house was shouting at the people around her. Then, that girl suddenly turned around and ran off into the darkness. Asuta took off after her in a hurry, and Ai Fa soon followed. And that whole spectacle only served to irritate Darmu Ruu further.

“That damn fool. Has he learned nothing from what happened?”

Asuta moved without thinking, and then Ai Fa had to clean up his messes. They just kept on repeating the same old pattern.

Darmu Ruu started to rise, figuring he would follow and chew that thoughtless fool out, but Gulaf Zaza and Mida had already stood up and went after them, so he went ahead and reluctantly sat back down.

At that, Sheera Ruu shot him a gentle smile.

“You have trouble letting people weaker than you go out on their own, don’t you, Darmu Ruu? I really am eternally grateful for the time that you saved Shin Ruu.”

“Stop bringing up old stuff like that already,” Darmu Ruu said dismissively with another swig of fruit wine. Whether it was because of the alcohol or how irritated he was, the scar on his right cheek was throbbing and felt hot. The wound was one that he had received saving Shin Ruu. “And besides, it’s not like I’m concerned for Asuta of the Fa clan or anything. I just find it annoying how he acts so rashly and causes trouble for the folks around him.”

“I see... But the incident the other day wasn’t Asuta’s responsibility, but rather Shin and Ludo Ruu’s. At least, that’s what I heard.”

“Yeah, but if he hadn’t gone and started doing business in the post town...” Darmu Ruu started to complain, but then he swallowed his words.

It was none other than Donda Ruu who permitted them to keep doing business in the post town with guards despite the risky situation with the nobles. And the ones on guard duty were Shin and Ludo Ruu, hunters of the Ruu clan. Darmu Ruu had thrown his anger at Asuta during the day, but thinking on it more carefully, the Fa clan really might have been in more of a position to rebuke the Ruu.

He really is annoying...

But even so, Asuta of the Fa clan really needed to be more considerate of his own position.

By this point, Ai Fa could no longer keep on going without him. You could tell that much just by looking at them. If she happened to lose Asuta, Ai Fa would probably also lose the will to live... Just the thought of Ai Fa’s eyes that shone with such a firm light being full of despair instead was more than Darmu Ruu could bear.

Damn it! I swore I wouldn’t run my mouth anymore, so why do I still have to be so worried about all this?!

He reached out for the container of fruit wine, only for another hand to overlap his from the side.

“Darmu Ruu, drinking nothing but wine is bad for you. Please, eat some food,” Sheera Ruu said, shooting him an incredibly concerned look.

However, Darmu Ruu brushed aside her slender fingers and stroked his right cheek.

“I know to eat without needing you to tell me. Besides, this much wine isn’t enough to do anything to me.”

“But you’ve already had two containers of fruit wine. Aren’t you going a bit too quick?”

Darmu Ruu scratched his head with a sour expression. However, his scar on his right cheek kept throbbing, as if it was expressing its agreement with Sheera Ruu. Since he found it a pain to argue, Darmu Ruu reached out again for that meat with the strange coating. It seemed that everyone had been quite taken by it, as there was only a tiny amount left.

“What do you think of that dish?”

“It’s annoyingly tasty... That man really may know some sort of magic to lead people’s hearts and minds astray.”

“Oh, my,” Sheera Ruu said as she broke out into a smile, a joyful light shining away in her eyes. “Reina Ruu and I were tasked with manning the stove, so I don’t think that should be a concern... And I was the one who fried up those giba cutlets.”

“What?” Darmu Ruu exclaimed in surprise.

“That meat has a slightly darker coating than the others, right? It seems I let it stay in the giba fat a bit too long. Asuta said it wouldn’t be an issue, but I’m finally able to feel at ease now that I’ve heard what you thought of it,” Sheera Ruu stated with another incredibly cheerful grin.

As he bit down on that vexingly delicious meat, Darmu Ruu scratched his head again. “So you can smile like that too, huh?”

“What? Even I smile, you know.”

“You’re always weeping and stuff when I see you...”

“My... I don’t recall ever crying in front of you, Darmu Ruu.”

“What are you saying? You’re always...” he started to retort, but then he realized he might have just been remembering back to when they were both young. They had grown estranged at some point along the way, but they were still relatives who grew up together in the Ruu settlement. And when they were kids, they would play together regardless of gender and help out the adults with their work.

Now that I think about it, I heard that while Asuta was abducted, Reina and Sheera Ruu took charge of the stalls.

The Sheera Ruu in Darmu Ruu’s memories never could have handled such a big role. And besides, no matter how far back he went in his recollections, he could never recall her ever wearing such a bright, resolute smile.

I guess people really do change...

How was he changing, though? He had discovered an unforeseen weakness inside of himself, and worried over what was the proper path to walk in life... Just what sort of fate awaited him, exactly? Darmu Ruu couldn’t even imagine.

Can I change too, like Sheera Ruu did? Darmu Ruu thought to himself as the girl’s cheeks grew slightly red and she turned away. Even if they were relatives, it was still impolite to keep staring at someone else’s face like that.

After a few moments of silence, Sheera Ruu timidly looked up and said, “Darmu Ruu, please take care tomorrow. I’ll be awaiting your safe return...”

“Right,” Darmu Ruu nodded as he tossed the remaining bit of meat into his mouth.

Despite how late it had grown, there was no sign of the lively banquet atmosphere dying down.