Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 18 - Chapter 5.1

Group Performance: The Downfall of a Lineage

1

“I just can’t stand that noble...”

It was night, and Zattsu Suun, head of the main Suun house and leading clan head of the forest’s edge, was grumbling in a low voice.

He was currently in his bedroom within the main house, and only he and Tei Suun were present. The clan head’s subordinate found the way that Zattsu Suun was positively filling the space with his brimming rage and irritation to be terribly oppressive.

Earlier in the day, they had visited a manor in the Turan lands to the north of Genos to receive reward money from a noble, and this was what had made Zattsu Suun so indignant. The previous representative of Duke Genos had apparently passed away due to old age, and so from today on a new noble would be in charge of negotiations with the people of the forest’s edge. And wouldn’t you know it, the man who introduced himself as the head of the house of Turan seemed even more unpleasant and troublesome than his predecessor.

“The way the nobles look down on us hasn’t changed one bit, and yet...with that man, it was as if he was staring at wild beasts. Even though he himself was as repulsive as a mundt...”

“In the end, the nobles of the city of stone all have corrupted souls. I can’t see any reason to concern ourselves with that fact,” was the only reply Tei Suun could offer. They only needed to see the nobles four times a year, to receive the reward money, so it made sense to just not worry about them.

“But that coward Zuuro would never be able to stand up to those nobles. And even though he finally had a child, it was a girl...”

“Zuuro Suun is still only eighteen. As he grows older, he will surely gain the strength needed to act as leading clan head.”

“Do you truly think that coward will ever amount to anything, however much he ages? My life isn’t endless, you know...” Zattsu Suun shot back as the look in his black eyes grew even more intense.

It was true that Zattsu Suun was six years older than Tei Suun, which meant he was currently thirty-seven. He was also about a fist or so taller, and his body was clearly brimming with incredible strength as a hunter. He would surely be able to maintain his position as leading clan head for five or even ten more years.

But it was true that when hunting giba out in the forest, one never knew when death might come, regardless of how much skill one might have. And if that should happen, would Zattsu Suun’s only child, Zuuro Suun, possess the strength needed to lead their people? Despite what he had said, Tei Suun couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it.

“My second and third sons would have been far stronger... Why did the forest have to take them rather than Zuuro?”

“You shouldn’t say such things. If Zuuro Suun lacks the strength needed, then those of us who share blood with him must lend him the support he needs.”

“Hmph... If Zuuro were even half as bold as Migi Suun...”

“Having even half of Migi Suun’s boldness would still make him quite the ruffian.” Though he feared earning Zattsu Suun’s wrath, Tei Suun still felt the need to offer that rebuttal. “Migi Suun has been behaving intolerably of late. At the previous clan head meeting, he caused such a commotion with the members of the Ruu clan that I worried he was going to draw his blade. The Ruu are nearly as powerful as the Suun, so it isn’t wise to go antagonizing them unnecessarily.”

“Do you mean to say the Ruu could usurp our place as the leading clan?” Zattsu Suun questioned, a black flame blazing in his eyes.

As he felt that rage surge over his whole body, Tei Suun desperately shook his head and replied, “No. Even the Ruu would surely never try something so outrageous... But wouldn’t it be wise to forge some blood ties between our clans?”

“Oh...? You fear the Ruu clan’s strength that much, Tei Suun?” Zattsu Suun asked with a grin like a wild beast as the flickering candlelight illuminated him.

His formidable countenance was as rugged as a rocky mountainside. There were plenty of hunters out there in the Zaza and Dom clans with more intimidating faces. However, Zattsu possessed an overwhelming intensity that far outstripped any of them.

The man was born to be the leading clan head.

He was the ruler of the forest’s edge, stronger and more ferocious than any other.

As Tei Suun felt cold sweat run down his spine he started to answer “No...” with another shake of his head.

However, it was then that they were interrupted by a ridiculous wailing. “Father! Is my father Zattsu there? Father!”

The voice belonged to Zuuro Suun, and it sounded like he was at a complete loss over something or other. Perhaps because his voice surprised her, the infant Yamiru Suun started crying out from some distant room in response.

Though Zattsu Suun’s eyes were now filled with irritation, he didn’t stir. Before long, the door to the bedroom flew open from the outside.

“Ah, father! And Tei Suun... W-We’ve got trouble! S-Some men from the Ruu have barged into the settlement!”

“Ruu men, you say?” Zattsu Suun questioned, grabbing ahold of his blade. “What business could they have with the Suun? Have they decided to take up their swords and snatch away our position as the leading clan by force?”

“I-I don’t know! But there are a whole lot of them! I-It looked like there were around thirty!”

Thirty men... That would mean they had brought along quite a few hunters from the clans under them as well. There were fewer than twenty hunters here at the Suun settlement. If they ended up crossing blades, the Suun would surely fall.

“Those treasonous Ruu devils... If they think numbers like that are enough to take down Zattsu Suun, they can go ahead and try...” the leading clan head scoffed as he slowly rose to his feet. Though Zuuro Suun was a touch larger than his father, he shrank away in fear.

“Leading Clan Head Zattsu Suun, please don’t act rashly. We should start by talking to them and seeing what these Ruu men intend to do by coming here...” Tei Suun said as he also grabbed his sword and stood. At the same time, he was pondering whether the Ruu’s clan head was truly such a wicked man.

It was true that at the last clan head meeting, relations between the Suun and Ruu had worsened even further thanks to Migi Suun’s foolish actions. However, the two groups had immediately dealt with the issue and reconciled. Besides, that had been nothing more than a scuffle between young folks who got a little too worked up, so it would clearly be against the laws of the forest’s edge to take up arms and seek revenge over such a trivial matter.

Has Migi Suun sown the seeds of yet another disaster on top of that one? Tei Suun couldn’t help but feel concerned. However, there was nothing to do now but figure out the truth of the matter.

Leaving the worried women behind, Zattsu, Zuuro, and Tei Suun headed out toward the torchlights at the edge of the settlement.

There were a tremendous number of hunters standing there, facing one another on the east and west. The hunters from the Suun branch houses must have come running as well due to the commotion. However, in the end they amounted to only half as many as were on the Ruu side.

“What is the meaning of this intrusion?!” Zattsu Suun bellowed.

The Suun clan members looked relieved and made way. Instantly, the fury of the Ruu hunters erupted.

“You ask as if you don’t know?! Hand that fool Migi Suun over to us, immediately!” the large figure at the head of the group shouted back just as loudly as Zattsu Suun.

The leading clan head gripped the handle of his sheathed blade and faced the man. “Just who exactly are you? Name yourself for me, the leading clan head of the forest’s edge, Zattsu Suun.”

“So you’re the leading clan head, are you? I’m the eldest son of the main Ruu house, Donda Ruu.”

Though he was still young, the hunter’s blue eyes shone brightly. He was about the same height as Zuuro Suun, but his tall figure was splendidly taut and brimming with a hunter’s strength.

“Oh, so you’re the Ruu heir? So this barbarism has the approval of the Ruu clan head?”

“You say we’re the barbaric ones here?! Hurry up and bring us Migi Suun!”

Donda Ruu didn’t seem to have drawn his blade yet. But even though Zattsu Suun was like the forest’s rage made flesh, this young hunter showed no signs of being intimidated.

Donda Ruu... The eldest son of the main Ruu house, eh?

Tei Suun secretly thought to himself that this youth would surely one day grow into an extraordinary hunter. But in the meantime, he and Zattsu Suun continued to argue.

“What is this about Migi Suun? Are you trying to rehash a matter that’s already been settled so you have an excuse to turn your blades on the leading clan?”

“Nothing’s been settled! Here you are just talking so casually, Zattsu Suun, knowing nothing of the crime committed by your blood relative. Migi Suun kidnapped a Muufa woman who was engaged to be married! Even if you are the leading clan, such a transgression is beyond unforgivable!”

“A Muufa woman...?” Zattsu Suun growled back, his black eyes blazing wildly.

This was the first that Tei Suun had heard anything about this. And since they had been together all day since the morning, Zattsu Suun couldn’t possibly have known either.

“A few days ago, that fool Migi Suun ran into a woman from the Muufa in the post town and pressured her to marry into the Suun rather than the Ruu. She refused him, so now he’s resorted to abducting her. Now that we’re clear about what’s happened, hurry up and bring that fool and the Muufa woman here right now!”

Zattsu Suun kept glaring up at Donda Ruu, but he also asked his nearby clan members, “Where is Migi Suun?” However, the men from the branch houses on either side of him just shook their heads.

“No one has seen Migi Suun since midday today. After all, the Suun clan is currently in a break period.”

“Hmph. So that’s why he was drinking so early in the post town, eh?” Donda Ruu roughly interjected. “Whatever you all do on your break period is your business, but it’s unforgivable to kidnap a woman who turned down your marriage proposal! Migi Suun must pay for his crimes in order to uphold the order and laws of the forest’s edge!”

“That’s quite the stirring howl you’ve got there. But the louder you bark, the more you show your own foolishness, Ruu clan hunter,” a chilly voice dripping with malice called out from the darkness.

Donda Ruu swiftly turned in that direction while gripping his blade’s hilt.

“Who’s there?!”

“That’s what I should be asking you. This settlement belongs to the leading Suun clan, after all.” A group with an abnormal aura of fervor hanging about them was approaching. When they finally stepped into the light, they revealed themselves to be a group of hunters wearing giba pelt cloaks or skulls over their heads. In other words, men belonging to the Zaza, Jeen, and Dom clans who fell under the Suun. Their numbers seemed to be nearly the same as the Ruu, or around thirty in total. From among the group, the sole man without a pelt or skull over his head stepped forward.

The large man was even taller than Donda Ruu and bulkier than Zuuro Suun, with loose and disheveled hair. His name was Migi Suun. And Donda Ruu seemed to sense that, as the rage in his eyes only grew more intense.

“You’re Migi Suun, aren’t you?”

“Indeed. I’m the Suun branch house head, Migi Suun.”

Migi Suun was the son of Zattsu Suun’s elder sister and was the head of one of the four branch houses. But even though he possessed the most robust figure of any of the hunters present, he had only just turned fifteen, and had taken over as head of his house just half a year prior. Beneath his oddly protruding eyebrows, his big eyes had a strange sparkle, causing the hunter to truly look like a wild beast.

“I figured you would get tricked by the Muufa and come brazenly marching over here before long. I was away from the settlement to ask the other northern hunters for their aid. Leading Clan Head Zattsu Suun, my deepest apologies for causing my comrades in the Suun clan to worry unnecessarily.”

That ruffian Migi Suun was only ever so careful about his manners around Zattsu Suun. Which was to say, there was no one else in the entirety of the forest’s edge that he would abase himself to.

“Can you explain just what in the world this commotion is about, Migi Suun?” Zattsu Suun questioned in a low tone.

Migi Suun bowed his head even deeper. “This is a plot by the Muufa to create strife between the Suun and Ruu clans. A Muufa woman set to marry into the Ruu clan tried to seduce me, of all people.”

“Don’t insult us with such baseless falsehoods! You’re the one who made a pass at the Muufa woman!”

“Oh? What’s your basis for saying I’m lying? When I went to the post town the other day, that Muufa woman called out to me. She claimed she was ordered by her clan head to marry into the Ruu, but she actually wanted to become a part of the leading Suun clan,” Migi Suun said with a twisted grin crossing his huge face. “Since she was already engaged, there was nothing that could be done about it. I told her she should carry out her duty as a person of the forest’s edge and that the strength of the Ruu was growing to match the Suun. I figured that settled matters, but today she snuck away without her clan members noticing and visited my house.”

“You bastard!”

“That woman began stripping off her clothing. She told me to take her as a wife so that the Muufa could become a clan under the Suun. And that the Suun should use their strength to destroy the Ruu for opposing them. It seems the Ruu have been sowing trouble all about, huh?”

By this point, every last Ruu hunter had become as enraged as Donda Ruu. One of them, a youth with dark brown hair standing beside Donda Ruu, shouted out, “That’s enough of your nonsense! Let’s hear the truth of the matter from the woman herself!”

“I’m afraid it won’t be possible to grant that request,” Migi Suun said, turning back toward the Zaza, Jeen, and Dom hunters. A Dom man from the rear of the group stepped forward.

With his burly arms, he was dragging a pulling board with leather straps wrapped around it. Atop that large board was the horrifying sight of a cloth with an unmistakable shape underneath.

The brown-haired youth stood there in utter shock.

“That...can’t be...”

The Dom man casually removed the cloth.

Underneath was exactly what everyone had expected, lying there cold and still.

It was so unbelievably gruesome that Tei Suun looked away without even thinking.

“This fool demanded that if I wouldn’t marry her I should give her my eyes in accordance with the laws of the forest’s edge and came at me with a blade. It’s ridiculous, considering she stripped all on her own, isn’t it? A fool like this isn’t even fit to call herself a woman of the forest’s edge...”

“Bastard!” the youth shouted, moving to leap forward. But before he could, Donda Ruu swiftly grabbed his arm.

“Don’t, Dan Rutim.”

“Why not?! I won’t just let this outrage slide! Look...look at what he did to a fellow person of the forest’s edge!” Dan Rutim’s long brown hair was disheveled as he tried to grab at Migi Suun. Though he looked to be scarcely twenty, his tall figure was brimming with just as much strength and intensity as Donda Ruu.

“Zattsu Suun, as the leading clan head of the forest’s edge, I would like to hear your judgment on the matter,” Donda Ruu stated calmly despite the fire blazing in his eyes.

Zattsu Suun gave a wicked, devilish smile in return.

“Just as Migi Suun said, such a fool isn’t fit to be called a person of the forest’s edge. There was no option but for her soul to be returned to the forest. It certainly is fortuitous that we learned the truth before this became a more serious matter... If the Suun and Ruu were to fight, it would split the forest’s edge in two, and both sides would be destroyed.”

“I see. So that is your response?” Donda Ruu replied in a voice utterly lacking in emotion, and then he scooped up the body lying on the pulling board with both arms. “I am not in a position where I can determine the path the Ruu clan should take on my own—yet. That is what you should all find fortuitous...”

“Hmm, I can’t really say I grasp your meaning, but do the Muufa perhaps need to be punished in some way for perpetrating this injustice?”

“We will still forge blood ties with the Muufa, you can be sure of that. And if you attempt to lay a hand on any clan under the Ruu, then you had best be fully resolved to face the consequences.”

Donda Ruu and Zattsu Suun’s glares clashed like lightning. Finally, Zattsu Suun sneered with his teeth bared like a giba’s tusks.

“It certainly is commendable, to take pity on such fools... Out of respect for the profound emotions you hold, I shall overlook the crime you have committed by speaking so rudely toward the leading clan. Pass that along to the Ruu clan head as well.”

After that, the members of the Ruu and their subordinate clans departed while forcing down their fuming rage.

Once they were completely gone from sight, Zattsu Suun turned toward his own subordinate clan members.

“Hunters of the Zaza, Jeen, and Dom, it seems we’ve imposed on you quite a bit. But thanks to your efforts, the wicked Muufa plot has been thwarted, and the Ruu have been left in shame for their ignorance. You can rest here at the Suun settlement for the night... And allow us to show our appreciation for your efforts by sharing some fruit wine with all of you.”

The hunters all slowly bowed their heads in turn.

There was a strange compelling force behind Zattsu Suun’s words. Even if anyone present had their doubts as to Migi Suun’s claims, they had been wiped away at this point.

Migi Suun wore a faint grin and Zuuro Suun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead while they and the hunters headed to the main Suun house. But when Zattsu Suun went to follow, Tei Suun quickly whispered, “Leading clan head, just how exactly are you planning to handle Migi Suun?”

“Handle him? Migi Suun simply carried out his duty as a person of the forest’s edge. I don’t see any need to reward him for that.”

Tei Suun was at a loss for words.

Migi Suun was utterly lacking in self control, a fact that the members of the Suun clan knew painfully well, so it shouldn’t have been difficult at all for them to sense the truth of what had happened... Did Zattsu Suun truly believe someone from a clan as small as the Muufa was trying to stir up trouble between the Suun and the Ruu?

Zattsu Suun’s lips twisted up into a grin, as if sneering in response to Tei Suun’s doubts. “Really, if Zuuro were even half as capable as Migi Suun, there wouldn’t be any need to worry about the future of the Suun clan... I swear, nothing ever goes right in this world...”

Tei Suun couldn’t find anything to say in response to that.

Thinking back, that night was the start of the Suun clan’s steady march down the path to ruin.

However, it would still be quite some time before Tei Suun would realize that fact.