Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 18 - Chapter 5.5

5

“We’ll teach those arrogant fools how strong we truly are...” Zattsu Suun muttered while lurking in the shadows of the forest.

It was two days after they had fled from the Dom settlement. Diga and Doddo had run away from Zattsu Suun, leaving only Tei Suun and the former leading clan head present.

Soon a merchant caravan would pass along the animal trail in front of them. When it did, they would move deeper into the forest and use giba summoning fruit to draw the beasts. This was their plan to pillage the merchant caravan’s riches, just as they had done ten years ago.

It was difficult to say what could even come of doing so now. Zattsu Suun had assuredly gone mad from his illness. And with that body, he normally would have long since passed away.

And yet, Zattsu Suun still held on to his strength.

The light in his eyes and the power in his voice remained just as formidable as when he had been in his prime. As he bit down on a forbidden black leaf to relieve his pain and fatigue, Zattsu Suun broke out in a devilish grin.

“Damn treasonous Ruu clan... Accursed pompous nobles... You’ll all be made to prostrate yourselves before me...”

Zattsu and Tei Suun would surely perish in the forest today. Tei Suun was convinced of that fact.

On this day, the fifteenth of the blue month, a merchant caravan would be passing through the forest of Morga on their way to Sym, just as they had done ten years ago, and the Suun had again been asked to provide guidance. That man, Kamyua Yoshu, who had brought the proposal to the Suun clan possessed strength to rival any hunter of the forest’s edge, despite being a townsperson. Furthermore, the request had come under Duke Genos’s name directly rather than passing through Count Turan. In all likelihood, this was a plot to expose the crimes of the Suun clan.

There were undoubtedly skilled fighters accompanying the merchant caravan. No matter how much giba summoning fruit they used, the ill Zattsu Suun and aged Tei Suun alone would clearly have the tables turned on them and be struck down.

It is all in accordance with the forest’s judgment... Tei Suun thought to himself. The uplifting feeling of hunting a giba for the first time in ten years and the sweet dream he experienced at the Dom settlement had all vanished from his heart without a trace. Zattsu and Tei Suun would be killed here today by those townsfolk. That was the fate that awaited them.

“Here they come...” Zattsu Suun whispered with a burning heat.

A large crowd of people could be spotted intermittently, moving beyond the trees. It was a group of thirty or so, roughly the same number as ten years back. They also had a number of totos with them as well, to pull the wagons. And there seemed to only be a few hunters of the forest’s edge accompanying the group.

“Hmph... If they have such traitors to the forest’s edge with them, we’ll need to be especially attentive in gathering giba... Don’t slip up, Tei Suun...”

“Right.”

“We will rebuild the Suun clan’s strength... My bloodline must be the one to rule over the forest’s edge...”

“Yes.”

If that was the proper path, then the mother forest would choose Zattsu Suun over them.

With this one thought stuck in his head, Tei Suun swung the hilt of his knife down upon the giba summoning fruit in his right hand.

A sweet aroma enveloped Tei Suun’s whole body. Drenched in the scent of the fruit, so strong you could almost choke on it, he ran through the forest.

The hoofbeats of despair sounded out behind him. Fortunately, the giba in the area all happened to be starving. As he darted between the trees and occasionally leaped up to high branches, he gathered one mad giba after another.

There had to be nearly ten of them. With this many giba attacking, it could prove a danger even for Kamyua Yoshu’s group. But if they were swallowed up by the fate that Tei and Zattsu Suun brought about, then that would also be down to the forest’s guidance. This Tei told himself as he ran down a path where the giba couldn’t follow.

Though giba could run faster than any human in a straight line, by leading them left and right, up and down, one could avoid having them catch up. But if they did catch up to him, it would mean his death, plain and simple, so Tei Suun just kept on running emotionlessly.

When at last the rocky gorge entered his field of view, Tei Suun climbed up high atop a tree. Having lost their target, the giba let out a thunderous bellow. His chest was searingly hot as if it were ablaze. It seemed he had unexpectedly run out of stamina. But, well, he was fifty-one years old now.

Here they come...

The merchant group appeared atop the rocks. Not a moment later, giba summoning fruit came flying down from another tree. Apparently, Zattsu Suun had also managed to escape pursuit successfully. Tei Suun cracked open some giba summoning fruit of his own while taking care not to completely shatter the shells, and then similarly threw them at the group down below.

The bellows from the giba echoed throughout the forest. Though they had been starting to disperse, those envoys of destruction now leaped out toward the merchant caravan.

First the hunters acting as guides were taken down. When faced with so many charging giba on such an open rocky surface, there was no way to fight back. And so the hunters fell one after another, taking a number of giba with them.

However, the members of the merchant caravan made some strange movements in the meantime. They started cutting the reins connecting the totos to the wagons. Over half of the massive birds fled into the forest quicker than the giba could chase. After that, the remaining men climbed atop the wagons. A number of them didn’t make it in time and were pierced by giba horns and tusks, but the majority managed to clamber up to the roofs. Then the giba attempting to ram the wagons were shot full of arrows. The men had all been hiding bows and arrows under their cloaks.

One of them even pulled out a long spear from a wagon to stab at the giba. When a wagon was toppled, the men standing on it swiftly descended to the ground and brandished blades. Then, when the giba faltered, they climbed atop the felled wagon again.

Giba were unable to jump above the height of their own heads. Despite how terribly powerful and agile they were, that was just how their skeletons were put together, it seemed. These men were fully aware of that aspect of a giba’s capabilities. And on top of that, they were boldly fighting back against over ten of the beasts. At this rate, there was no way the caravan would be wiped out. Not completely.

“You damn impudent townsfolk!” Zattsu Suun shouted as he leaped down to the rocky ground.

Tei Suun followed after him. The former leading clan head was surely intent on dragging those men down from atop the wagons. Surely, as they were no hunters, they would lack the strength to avoid the giba on even footing.

However, that man was also there. The tall blond-haired fellow, Kamyua Yoshu. And he was most certainly just as strong as a hunter of the forest’s edge.

Perhaps sensing Zattsu Suun approaching the wagons from behind the giba, Kamyua Yoshu descended to the rocky ground. A giba instantly lunged at him, but he was able to perform a nimble dodge.

As Tei Suun ran in, he could see Zattsu Suun get hit by a longsword still in its leather sheath and fall to the ground. He had no chance of winning against Kamyua Yoshu either, so he left Zattsu Suun’s fate to the forest and leaped atop another wagon.

Three men were up there ready to face him. Tei Suun promptly knocked two of them down from the wagon.

The last man, a strange fellow with gray bandages wrapped around his face, cast aside his long spear and reached for his hips. His eyes were gray and cold like moonlight. He now held twin longswords, one in each hand.

“Are you also a member of the Suun clan, old man?” he asked in a chilly tone. “Surrender. Your crimes will be judged in accordance with the laws of Genos.”

As if such laws could ever pass judgment on Tei Suun.

No, only the forest could be his judge.

Tei Suun swung the sword he had stolen from the Dom clan. The man’s right blade deflected the slash, and his left sliced diagonally across Tei Suun’s body.

Instantly, a fiery heat exploded from the old man’s chest and stomach. But Tei Suun moved with the momentum of his previous swing and managed to grab the dual-wielder’s collar. Behind him was a cliff. If they fell over it, there would be no chance of survival. If this man wanted to live, he had no choice but to kill Tei Suun.

“Let go.” Even so, the man’s voice remained calm as he punched Tei Suun in the chest. Just like Tei Suun himself had done to someone else ten years prior.

The vice-leader from back then took Tei Suun’s necklace with him as he fell.

And now, Tei Suun ended up falling with the bandaged man’s cloak in his grasp.

The vice-leader’s eyes had been mad with pure hatred, but what sort of gaze was Tei Suun showing? Were his eyes still dead like glass, even now?

As he stared into the bandaged man’s chilly gray orbs, Tei Suun plummeted to the bottom of the cliff.

Partway down, his back slammed into a tree growing out of the rock, yet he still kept falling. His shoulder smacked into the cliff face, and he tumbled down the rest of the way until his whole body finally slammed into the ground.

His vision became a jumbled mix of darkness and deep red. Instead of the intense agony he expected, he felt more like his entire body was engulfed in flame. He couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. And all the while, numerous thoughts raced through his head.

He questioned if this was death.

Saw his wife smiling sadly beyond the darkness.

Noted Oura’s eyes were like glass orbs now too.

Accepted Tsuvai’s displeased frown.

A young Diga and Doddo were crying. Mida, with his round figure, was intently focused on his indulgence in the fruits of Morga. Zuuro Suun acted arrogantly despite his fear of Zattsu Suun’s shadow. Yamiru smiled coldly.

As those figures shifted wildly, growing younger and older, they spoke to Tei Suun.

Please, follow the path that you believe in.

I hope mama gets better soon.

Grandpa Tei just does whatever the previous clan head says.

Tei Suun! Do something about Migi Suun!

He’s gonna kill us...

Did something sad happen, Tei Suun?

I can’t be as bold as my father Zattsu... I’ve always been a failure...

All sorts of visions and words ran through his head.

And from among them, the cold, clear voice of a woman pierced Tei Suun’s soul.

If Zattsu Suun intends to make me shoulder the fate of the Suun, then I shall lead the clan in my own way.

Her eyes were shining with some kind of enjoyment. However, there was no way that she was actually enjoying herself. After all, that girl had been forced to take on the burden of the Suun clan’s fate from such a young age. Tei Suun hadn’t been able to sense how much she was suffering. In fact, he had even wondered why she had grown up the way she did.

So that’s why you killed me? Eyes that burned with lust for revenge scorched Tei Suun’s soul. Did you have that right? You said you would leave everything to the forest, then went and cast the Suun clan’s future into darkness!

Was that the case?

Was Tei Suun truly the one who brought about the Suun clan’s destruction?

If things kept going as they had been and Migi Suun married Yamiru, with the two of them shouldering the fate of the Suun clan together...could they have avoided this end?

Would the light return again to Oura’s emotionless eyes that had become like glass orbs?

Could Diga and Doddo have become proud hunters?

Would Mida and Tsuvai have grown up to be more proper examples of their people?

And would the people of the forest’s edge have taken hold of bright and wondrous lives?

He couldn’t say.

Tei Suun had no way to know.

It was the forest that would judge.

“Ugh...”

And then, Tei Suun woke up.

The lifelike nightmares departed, only to be replaced by a nightmarish reality.

I’m...still alive?

He couldn’t muster any strength. All he felt was a fiery heat coursing throughout his whole body. Feeling slowly returned to his numb fingertips. One of his hands held a blade, and the other seemed to be holding a leather cloak.

Blood was dripping from his body, like water trickling from rocks. When he turned his head, he could see his torso was now stained a deep red. His wound was deep enough that it was possible his ribs would be visible.

But even so, Tei Suun was still alive.

The mother forest...still hasn’t taken my soul?

The world around him was already starting to grow dark. Night was closing in. Apparently, he had spent quite some time in that nightmare.

In that case, he simply needed to lie here and the carrion-eating mundt would finish things. He started to close his eyes, only to sense someone staring at him in the depths of his soul.

Were those his wife’s sad eyes, Oura’s glassy gaze, or Tsuvai’s displeased glare? Or were they perhaps Yamiru’s eyes, finally having regained their light?

Whichever it was, Tei Suun slowly forced his body as heavy as lead to sit up.

No...this won’t do.

Trusting his fate to the forest?

He could only resign himself like that after having tried his hardest until the bitter end. But Tei Suun hadn’t tried at all. There was a time when he’d thrown everything he had into protecting his family and himself, utilizing all his strength to keep living despite his regrets. But now he simply existed, and foisted all responsibility onto fate.

The forest will judge... The forest decides our fate... That’s why we must strive our hardest to walk the path set before us... Otherwise, we have no right to live in the forest.

Tei Suun reached toward his chest that was still dripping with blood. From within his clothes he retrieved one of the forbidden leaves he had received from Zattsu Suun and chewed it up. Then he started to rise to his feet.

Hmph, it doesn’t even completely get rid of the pain.

Even so, Tei Suun managed to stand up. He placed his sword in its sheath and draped the leather cloak he had taken from the man over his shoulders.

First, I must close these wounds. And then...

And then, he would seek out his own fate.

As the world around him went dark, Tei Suun slowly started walking, leaving bloody footsteps behind.

◇

Tei Suun sought his fate from Asuta of the Fa clan.

Though he hesitated, he couldn’t help but feel that the strange youth born in a foreign land was the right person for the task. This young man had been the one to shatter Zattsu Suun’s ambitions. The Ruu clan head Donda Ruu and Fa clan head Ai Fa also played a part in it, but Asuta was at the core of it all. At first Tei Suun had thought Donda Ruu had used Asuta and the role he was now playing as a blade to strike down the Suun, but in actuality it seemed as if the truth was the complete opposite.

Had Zattsu Suun been mistaken? Were the Fa and Ruu who destroyed the Suun capable of leading the forest’s edge toward a proper future? Tei Suun was heading to the post town to find out for himself.

“So, can I now have some of your cooking?”

Once he had cast aside his blade, Asuta held out a dish. It was a strange creation, made with giba meat with no stench and round baked poitan.

When Tei Suun bit into it, an indescribable taste spread throughout his mouth. It was so delicious that the meal he’d had back at the clan head meeting couldn’t even begin to compare.

This truly may be able to move the hearts of the people of Genos.

Tei Suun was satisfied.

And so, he moved to carry out his final task.

As the last survivor of the Suun clan, he had to offer up his soul.

Tei Suun kicked off the ground and grabbed Asuta. As he did, the surrounding hunters cut into his back and right shoulder, but that was nothing. Just like Zattsu Suun, Tei Suun’s body should have already lost the strength needed to stay alive. If they wanted to finish off a walking corpse, they would need to do much more damage than that.

After blocking a blow from the youngest Ruu son with a metal pan, he clenched his left hand around Asuta’s throat. And then, Tei Suun broke out in a grin.

“All of you are sickening traitors! I’ll give you one last bit of payback for destroying the Suun clan!”

If he became a vicious criminal for the people of the forest’s edge to judge, then maybe it would help at least a little to lighten the resentment the townsfolk held. The fear and hatred he and Zattsu Suun had instilled in Genos needed to be cleared by the hands of the people of the forest’s edge.

The female hunter from the Fa and the several others who were aligned with the Ruu surrounded him and Asuta. Surely such daring hunters wouldn’t fail to bring him down.

And yet...

“The laws of the forest’s edge and the town have nothing to do with this! The great Zattsu Suun was trying to grant us new laws and a new order in place of them! You damn fools just weren’t able to understand his grand intentions! You’re all weaklings unable to do anything but serve the townsfolk! You freely gave away our one and only means of resisting them!”

“I’m tired of hearing that crap! You talk about new laws and order, but you bastards just skulked around like bandits!”

“We simply tried to take back the fortune that was unjustly stolen from us! We wished to get ahold of our just reward for risking our lives to protect the fields of Genos! The ones who should be ashamed are the citizens of Genos, who wish to keep us trapped at the forest’s edge while they line their pockets!”

As he shouted, a strange feeling began filling Tei Suun’s heart.

He was about to die an unsightly death as a treasonous criminal. All he had been intending to do now was to confess to their crimes...but the words kept pouring out one after another, far faster than he had expected.

“For eighty years, we obeyed the unjust laws thrust upon us by Genos! How many do you think starved to death during that time?! And yet we remained forbidden from touching the bounty of the forest and kept on earnestly hunting giba! It’s the same for our newborn children, long suffering elders, and hunters who are injured fighting giba... Even without anyone keeping an eye on us, none of them lay a hand on the fruits of the forest, and they just keep on foolishly following those laws till they starve to death! Genos killed all of them! I absolutely cannot accept that as being our proper fate!”

“I don’t agree with that either! That’s why I started doing business here, to bring prosperity to the forest’s edge!” Asuta desperately shouted.

Tei Suun burst out laughing, surprising even himself.

It almost reminded him of Zattsu and Migi Suun.

“What foolishness! Why should we need to take such a detour when there’s fruit overflowing right in front of our very eyes?! If we could just partake of the bounty of the forest, we’d have no need for coins at all! That’s the proper way to live for people who take the forest as their god!”

“But that would leave the western fields to be overrun by giba! The people of the forest’s edge are also citizens of the western kingdom, so wouldn’t the proper way of living be for everyone to support one another?!”

“That was why we needed even greater strength! And we would obtain it if no one were to starve any longer! With that, our five hundred brethren could grow to over a thousand, allowing us to hunt more giba than ever before! And in turn, no giba would attack those fields even with us taking as much as we please from the forest!”

Had Zattsu Suun possessed him? Having died full of spite and regret, was he now borrowing Tei Suun’s mouth to let his feelings be heard?

No...

These were regrets that had undoubtedly been swirling about in Tei Suun’s own heart.

Though Zattsu Suun had undeniably been cruel and merciless, he held his pride as a person of the forest’s edge at his core. Tei Suun had been unable to accept that because he was weak. He lacked Zattsu Suun’s tenacious spirit, and valued his family’s security above the future of his people.

It wasn’t as if Zattsu Suun had been in the right.

However, he hadn’t been entirely wrong either.

The citizens of Genos scorned the people of the forest’s edge even before Tei Suun and the others began committing their crimes and the Ruu clan had been openly rebellious. It wasn’t as if Tei Suun felt no anger over those facts. He had only forced those feelings down because of his own weakness.

Why did they need to be looked down upon by the people of Genos?

They put their lives on the line in order to protect the fields.

And why did the Ruu clan need to defy them?

How much did the nobles of Genos scorn the people of the forest’s edge and make light of them? Why did they have to swallow such vile humiliation at the hands of the Ruu, who were insulated from such disdain and lived like pure, innocent maidens?

“You’ve been baring your fangs at the Suun clan for twenty years now. And so we needed to start by gaining enough strength to overcome you! Otherwise, the other clans would fear your wrath and pay our words no heed. And so, we were steadily, quietly amassing power while protecting our people and fortune!”

Is that really true? he thought as he shouted.

Those were Zattsu Suun’s words, and at the same time also Tei Suun’s.

However, there was only one person Tei Suun could never forgive: Migi Suun.

He had brought about that Muufa woman’s death, twisted Diga’s and Doddo’s souls, insulted Oura, and tried to take Yamiru into his sinister clutches... Tei Suun would never be able to forgive that man. If only Zattsu Suun hadn’t started plotting to make such a fiend his successor, everything might have played out in an entirely different way.

However, Zattsu Suun feared the nobles of Genos and the Ruu clan. I can tell that now. He was afraid of them because with just his own strength he could do nothing against them.

That fear had driven Zattsu Suun mad.

Everything was ever so slightly off.

And his comrades were the ones ultimately responsible.

If they had denounced Migi Suun for his crimes that night... If they had admonished Zattsu Suun when he had plotted to trample over the laws of the forest’s edge... If they had been able to give that lonely king the peace and tranquility he needed, things never would have ended up like this. But the truth was, they had thrust everything on Zattsu Suun. He had seemed so strong, and they thought he could never need their help, so they never even offered it.

Zattsu Suun came to value only his own pride.

They were the ones who made him that way.

And so Zattsu Suun started to believe that his was the one and only correct opinion.

The Ruu clan head Donda Ruu now possessed as much strength as a leader as Zattsu Suun ever had. The heads of the Rutim, the Lea, and the other clans under them looked upon him with pride, and they seemed to live side by side, working together.

If Tei Suun’s comrades had worked together with Zattsu Suun like that...then the former leading clan head surely would have led them well with his great strength.

“That’s insane! Don’t you see how he’s smiling away calmly despite how heavily he’s wounded?! What if he snaps Asuta’s neck while you’re aiming for his head?!”

Tei Suun suddenly realized the youngest Ruu son was shouting not at him, but at someone else. It was a soldier from the castle town clad in white armor. He could never forget those chilly gray eyes. So then, the merchant caravan truly had been a trap set by Genos.

“That’s perfect! Kill each other! That’s exactly what you should have been doing this whole time! Until one side destroys the other, the hatred between the people of the forest’s edge and the citizens of Genos will never vanish!” Tei Suun shouted, following the impulses now driving him. This would do just fine. There had been no need for the farce of trying to play the role of some great villain and bringing about his own destruction. He was the last survivor of the Suun clan, and Zattsu Suun’s tenacity would carry him forward till the bitter end.

If their strength was not enough to take him down, then there would never be a bright future for the people of the forest’s edge.

He dared them to destroy him. To use their strength to slice open the path to a new future.

That was what Tei Suun thought as he strangled Asuta.

And then...

That female hunter of the Fa, Ai Fa, calmly stood before him.

“Do you hate Asuta that much? All he’s done is try to bring prosperity to the forest’s edge. He has given that goal his all, so that none of our people will have to starve to death any longer. If the Suun clan held the same ambitions, then can you not see the ones to inherit that task are Asuta, the Fa clan, and the Ruu?”

“All you’re doing is wagging your tails at your masters from Genos! No matter how much prosperity such methods may bring, they will never give us back our pride!”

“That’s not true at all! I... No, all of us want to live together in harmony with Genos, not just follow them obediently! Our hope is to live together under the same laws as comrades, rather than try to trample all over what exists now!” the boy, Asuta, interjected.

Tei Suun knew all that.

But speaking of ideals alone wouldn’t be enough to carve out a new future.

These people, they didn’t yet know how crafty the nobles of Genos, Count Cyclaeus Turan in particular, really were.

“Comrades, you say? You would call Genos our comrades after how they have unjustly oppressed us?! You fool! Genos is an enemy we must force to submit!”

“I don’t believe that! And I can’t imagine Ai Fa and these folks from the Ruu do either! The people of the forest’s edge have obeyed the law of their own will, so even if it’s unjust, no one has felt like they’ve been oppressed! If the Suun clan alone holds such regrets... Then they must have come from the castle,” Asuta shouted. “The Ruu, Zaza, and Sauti will take up those frustrations in your place. They’re acting as the leading clans instead of the Suun now, and will be the ones to interact with the castle. Those regrets held by the Suun clan alone will then be felt by the whole of the forest’s edge now. And yet, we will strive with all our might to form proper bonds with them, rather than submitting. So... Won’t you please entrust us with the future of the forest’s edge?”

“What are you, stupid...?” Tei Suun shot back. “What do I care for the future of the forest’s edge?! I’ll soon be dead! Zattsu Suun has already passed too! Ruin and despair is the only fitting fate for a world where the Suun clan has fallen! The forest’s edge, this town, and the castle can all be destroyed for all I care!”

An immense amount of blood was gushing from the wound on his back. Tei Suun’s life wouldn’t last much longer now. If the people of the forest’s edge lacked the strength to even bring down someone in his state...then it was unfortunate, but Asuta’s soul would have to return to the forest alongside him. The forest would surely accept the soul of this young chef. Even if he had been born in a foreign nation, Asuta was a true and proper person of the forest’s edge.

“Then take my life as a final souvenir...” Ai Fa suddenly muttered powerlessly, approaching Tei Suun.

“I told you, don’t come any closer! Do you really think you can make an opening by stating such nonsense, clan head of the Fa?”

“That’s not my intention at all. I simply have no intention of shamelessly living on after my clan member faces such harm in front of my very eyes... If you’re going to kill Asuta, then do the same to me!”

“Ai Fa! What are you saying?!”

No matter how dauntless she might appear, apparently she was still a woman in the end. It seemed she would not be the one to bring about Tei Suun’s demise.

Ai Fa tossed aside her sword, and held out her remaining knife toward Tei Suun. “You can take my life using this blade. If at all possible, I would prefer it that you kill me first... I don’t wish to see Asuta die.”

“Stop! Don’t come closer! I won’t play into your crafty plot! You intend to hand that blade to this brat rather than me, don’t you?!”

“What are you saying? Asuta is no stronger than your average woman. No matter how injured you may be, you should be able to easily grab the blade before him, right?”

“Stop right there!” Tei Suun shouted. “My right arm can’t move! Your blades must have severed the muscles in my right shoulder. So thanks to that, I can only take one of you down with me! I’ll be strangling this brat to death soon, so if you want to die so badly, then stab yourself in the throat!”

“I see... So you truly can’t move your right arm after all, Tei Suun.”

Not a moment after Ai Fa muttered that, a hot sensation rushed up Tei Suun’s left arm. At the same time, all the strength in the limb gave out from his elbow on down and Ai Fa snatched Asuta away.

Then...

An even hotter sensation ran across his throat.

His vision was awash in white light.

Suddenly, he felt his back slamming into something.

No, wait, Tei Suun had been standing with his back to a tree to begin with. It seemed without him realizing it, he had crumbled to the ground.

“You shameless fool... Your Suun clan cast aside their pride to live without hardship, so what would you know of the pain of losing your child to starvation?” a dark shadow said from beyond the light. It was impossible to tell what he looked like, but the speaker was assuredly a person of the forest’s edge.

And so, all was as it should be.

So it’s finally over?

His consciousness was rapidly fading.

The white light steadily grew black...and the faces of his family passed through the back of his mind.

Oura, Tsuvai... Mida, Diga, Doddo... Now that you have discarded the Suun name, you should live on alongside your new comrades.

Yamiru, you too... You don’t need to be bound by the Suun name any further...

Zuuro Suun, you will have to die a martyr for the Suun just like the leading clan head, no doubt... It’s unfortunate, but I’m sure the forest will accept your soul as well...while Zattsu Suun’s soul will inevitably be shattered by Selva’s spear... Just prepare yourself, and know that you are far better off than that...

The people around him seemed to be offering responses to Tei Suun’s words, but he lacked the strength needed to hear them.

Beyond that, a strangely clear voice asked, “Tei Suun... On the night of the clan head meeting, were you the one who helped Ai Fa?”

Two black shadows seemed to be looking down on him. Perhaps they were Asuta and Ai Fa. They could have been nothing but an illusion he was seeing on the verge of death, or perhaps it was one final glimpse of the living world. Tei Suun couldn’t say, but regardless, he gave them a smile.

It wouldn’t do to mistake him for a kind man.

It wasn’t as if he had rescued Ai Fa out of any concern for her wellbeing. He just didn’t want his blood relations, Diga and Doddo, to sully their hands further.

That’s the sort of narrow-minded man I am, Asuta...

Now the curtain could finally close on the Suun clan.

Tei Suun would leave the remaining hardships to those he left behind.

And he prayed that they were heading toward a bright future.

With that final thought, Tei Suun yielded his body and soul to the warm, gentle darkness.