Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 19 - Chapter 3.2

2

“Hey there. We’ve been waiting for you, Asuta.” Bartha greeted me with a smile as I headed toward the main house’s kitchen and found her working outside, after we finished watching the preliminary matches for the contest of strength.

“Sorry, I ended up totally leaving everything up to all of you. There weren’t any issues, were there?”

“No. It wasn’t anything difficult. In fact, the toughest part was just not nodding off.”

Jeeda’s mother Bartha was once again wearing the attire of the women of the forest’s edge. She wore men’s clothing in the morning when hunting wild birds out in the forest, but I never caught a glimpse of her then, so I had gotten totally accustomed to seeing her dressed as she was now.

Beside her, today’s special dish was giving off an incredibly pleasant aroma. What I had come up with for today was something I’d wanted to try for a while: a whole roast giba.

When I heard that whole roast kimyuus were commonly sold at the sun god’s revival festival, I made up my mind to give it a shot too.

Furthermore, though the revival festival was officially held from the twenty-second of the violet month to the third of the silver month—a thirteen day period—there were particularly significant days among them such as “the day of dawn,” “the day of the sun’s peak,” “the day of the downfall,” and “the day of the return.” On those special days of celebration, Genos castle would distribute a large amount of free kimyuus and fruit wine, from what I was told, so I was in the middle of trying to figure out if we could bring whole giba roasts into the post town for the townsfolk too.

Though it was easy to say you wanted to roast something whole, the process wasn’t quite so simple. It went without saying that if you just cooked it over an open flame like usual, the heat would burn the surface before the meat could fully cook. We had no choice but to roast that huge chunk of meat over a very long period of time.

“Well, doesn’t it have a nice color to it? It already looks like it’d be extremely good,” Bartha remarked with a satisfied grin.

It was true that the roasted surface of the giba was already doing a lot to stir up my appetite.

I had chosen a young giba that was somewhere between seventy and eighty centimeters long for the dish. We just burned the fur off the pelt, and after removing the blood and organs, there was probably around forty kilos of meat. By the time it was completely cooked, it would probably have lost an additional ten kilos or so in terms of fat and moisture.

For seasoning, we just rubbed salt into the skin and stomach. Since it was a giba the Fou had caught two days ago, it had been pickling in pico leaves until this morning. That was more than enough for seasoning.

The giba was pierced through from throat to rear with a metal skewer, and was placed atop stone supports. Then it was rotated around and around so that it was roasted evenly.

We used the charcoal we got from Mikel for this part. He had instructed us that for cooking large chunks of meat, we should burn this particular charcoal all the way to the center.

Of course, this was my first time tackling a whole giba roast. Even back home, I had never tried to roast a whole pig. All I had to go on was theoretical knowledge gained through watching a television program on the process with great interest.

I had been nervous about going into this event unprepared, so I had practiced the roasting process on a giba hind leg. The seven or eight kilo leg had taken around two hours to cook. On the TV show I watched, a thirty kilo piglet had taken five or six hours to cook. Based on that, I asked Bartha to start the process an hour before the sun hit its peak. There were somewhere between sixty and seventy minutes in an hour here in this world, so I decided to roast the meat for eight to nine hours between the start time and sunset. That way, even using such a primitive cooking method, we could avoid it ending up rare.

Still, we can’t spend that long on it in the post town. We could stay in town overnight and get to work early in the morning so that it’s done by the time the sun hits its peak... But thirty to forty kilos of meat would go in no time, so it would probably be ideal to go with multiple giba that are even smaller, I thought to myself as my gaze shifted from Bartha to the other person present, who was a man rather than a chef. It was Shin Ruu’s father Ryada Ruu, seated there on the ground and keeping an eye on how the charcoal was heating.

“Um, are you helping out Bartha, Ryada Ruu?”

“Yes. Even I can handle a task like this. The women are busy with the other dishes, and they’ll also want to see the hunters in the contest of strength too.” Ryada Ruu had retired as a hunter due to a serious leg injury. But I felt terribly sorry for having a man as healthy as he was—outside of the one leg—handle such a task. “Don’t worry. It’s not about how light or heavy a job may be. And there’s not a lot for me to do today anyway, so I actually appreciate it.”

“But aren’t you interested in the contest of strength, Ryada Ruu? I’m sure you’ve already heard, but Shin Ruu was selected for the top eight.”

“Yes, that’s a first for him, and I’m terribly glad to hear it,” Ryada Ruu nodded with a face every bit as calm as his son’s. “But I’ve already retired from hunting. The young women have the important task of selecting a husband before them, so they should be the ones keeping a close eye on the contest of strength instead.”

“I’ve always thought that the two of you really are a lot alike. Not just in terms of appearance, but on the inside too.”

Speaking of appearances, Ryada Ruu had long blackish-brown hair, a similarly colored mustache, and was in every way a rather somber and attractive middle-aged man. His almond-shaped eyes and narrow-bridged nose were just like Shin Ruu’s, and his physique was slender and lithe.

“That’s because we’re father and son, tied together by blood. But Shin took strongly after Tari as well, so I’m sure he’ll become an even better hunter than I was.”

“Yeah, you’ve got some great kids, Ryada Ruu. Not just Shin and Sheera Ruu. Your younger kids are so adorable too, I can hardly stand it,” Bartha chimed in with an amused grin while slowly rotating the skewer. Though their personalities were complete opposites, they had both been hunters themselves and had children who hunted now, plus they seemed to be around the same age. I’d be happy for them if they’d grown closer over the last few hours.

“Well, what about you, Bartha? Jeeda’s in the top eight too,” I asked.

“We aren’t even people of the forest’s edge. Jeeda wouldn’t have participated if Ludo Ruu hadn’t begged him so much, so he should have no regrets regardless of when he loses,” Bartha answered, though she was probably kidding a bit. She was smiling again as she wiped the sweat from her brow. It went without saying, but it was intensely hot there next to the supports. And no matter how simple of a task it might have been, it was still important to keep an eye on the intensity of the flame and the state of the meat, so you couldn’t just let your mind wander. “What about you, though, Asuta? Do you have no interest at all since Ai Fa isn’t participating?”

“Pretty much. I’m a little interested in how it turns out, but it feels bad for my heart, watching hunters square off with one another.” Ai Fa herself had arrived in the settlement around when the preliminaries wrapped up, but Rimee Ruu had gotten ahold of her right away, so she was with Granny Jiba around now. “I’m gonna have to move on to the other preparations now. Sorry, but could I ask you to keep this up a bit longer?”

“It’s no skin off our backs. You could even head back out into the plaza. If we need anything, we’ll call for you.”

After giving the two of them my thanks, I headed to the kitchen.

Though I mentioned other preparations, it was ultimately just making the sauces for the whole roast giba. Nothing that would take all that much effort.

Meanwhile, there was a whole lot of commotion from the women on all sides. Apparently, Reina and Sheera Ruu in particular had determined that this would be a good opportunity to give cooking lessons to the members of the clans like the Ririn, Maam, and Muufa, who lived a little farther away, so they were running around giving detailed instructions.

Though she usually worked for me, Yamiru Lea was joining them for today, leaving me operating on my own for the first time in a while. Though I felt just a tiny bit alienated now that the Ruu could prepare delicious food all on their own, I felt even more happiness for them.

Now then, the contest of strength finals should be kicking off soon. The top eight are Jiza Ruu, Gazraan Rutim, Ludo and Shin Ruu, Rau Lea, Mida, Jeeda, and Giran Ririn... Just who exactly is going to end up winning? I thought to myself as I reached out toward the door to the kitchen.

But then, something suddenly hit me in the head.

Looking down, I saw a small nut from a tree at my feet. As I wondered whether a bird had dropped it or something, another came flying at my head.

The culprit seemed to be hiding in a tree about five or six meters away. As I tilted my head and approached, a voice whispered down, “Asuta.”

“Huh? Is that you, Lem Dom?”

“Of course it is. Could you come over here a bit?”

It was just the path to the washing place in that direction, so I did as she asked. Before long there was a turn in the path that meant we could no longer be seen from out front, where Lem Dom swiftly descended to the ground.

“It’s pretty unusual for you to be around here at this time of day, Lem Dom. What about your training?”

“Today’s training is observing the contest of strength. I mean, what could be better than that? But could you lower your voice a bit more?” Lem Dom asked, bringing her face down closer to mine, as she was taller than me. She had a strange mixture of intensity and sex appeal about her, so I felt kind of on edge when she got too close. “Asuta, I have a request to make of you. Could you share some food with me later too?”

“Huh? Didn’t you say you’d get today’s portion tomorrow and rely on the Sudra for tonight?”

Lem Dom helped out with preparing food each morning. In exchange, she was given jerky to eat during the day and a dinner at the Fa house at night. But since I wouldn’t be returning to the Fa house tonight she said her plan was to help the Sudra with their work to earn a dinner there. And that sounded like it would work out just fine, as tomorrow was a day off from work with no help needed, so she could just get her food from the Fa clan then.

“That was the plan. But I couldn’t help being curious about things here, so I decided to skip going to the Sudra. And it was really worth it,” Lem Dom said with her eyes blazing bright, undoubtedly because she had observed the fighting spirit of the hunters. “I’ll help out the Sudra tomorrow instead for my meal, so I’d like to receive today’s payment now. What do you say?”

“Hmm. I think I can do that if I borrow ingredients from the Ruu clan... But in that case, wouldn’t it be better to just have you help with my work and attend officially as a guest? Then you could eat as much of the meal prepared for the Ruu as you please. They’re making plenty, so it shouldn’t be any issue to include you.”

“If I could do that, I wouldn’t be asking like this. Why exactly do you think I’m hiding?”

“Ah, I see. So you don’t want to run into anyone from the Zaza clan.”

The four Ruu and Rutim women who had gone to the northern settlement had returned home today. But the women from the north such as Sufira Zaza had remained here on Gulaf Zaza’s orders.

During the last festival of the hunt, Dari Sauti had attended the banquet as a guest and said, “You should have summoned Gulaf Zaza too.” The argument was that doing so would allow him to see in person just how much strength and wealth the Ruu had gained through the power of delicious food and their business in the post town.

Gulaf Zaza had undoubtedly gotten a glimpse of that when he was invited to the dinner with Zuuro Suun and the Suun family. I figured Sufira Zaza’s group might have been ordered to remain here in order to act as his eyes and verify things.

“Really, just how long do they plan to remain here in the Ruu settlement? Is it really taking them this long to learn how to be good chefs?” Lem Dom grumbled. She was related to those women, and they must have shared deep ties from their time living together in the northern settlement. But it seemed she didn’t want to see them, as whenever she went to learn how to hunt birds early in the morning from Bartha, she had been taking care to hide herself.

Since the exchange of women had occurred on the day that we’d headed to Daleim, over a month would have passed by this point. You didn’t have to be Lem Dom to question just why their stay had gone on for so long.

“Well, I guess it just goes to show how interested Gulaf Zaza is in delicious food. Sufira Zaza and the others were supposed to head back soon after the Ruu and Rutim women returned.”

“But they’re staying through tonight, right? That’s why I have no choice but to stay hidden,” Lem Dom complained, roughly rustling her hair. “So, what do you say? Will you prepare me food?”

“Hmm. In that case, I’ll quietly try to ask Donda Ruu if it’s all right to share some food from the banquet. And if he refuses, I’ll go ahead and make some myself.”

“Hmm, so you don’t want to waste the effort on me, then?”

“That’s not it. Everyone from the Ruu clan gave their all to prepare this meal, so I figured you’d want to try some.”

Lem Dom shot me a suspicious glare, but before long she shrugged her shoulders.

“Right, that’s just the kind of guy you are. In that case, I’ll go ahead and rely on your kindness.”

“Okay. Well then, where should I deliver the food? Since everyone is eating outside, how about borrowing Bartha and Jeeda’s house?”

“Sounds perfect. You know, if I were a proper woman, I might have ended up wanting you for a husband,” Lem Dom said in a very unserious tone, and then she reached for a tree branch. “I’ll be hiding out near Bartha’s house once the sun sets. It’ll be a hassle if anyone from the Zaza sees me, so don’t try to look for me, okay?”

“Got it. I’ll see you later.”

Even though Sufira Zaza and the others were around, Donda Ruu had given Bartha permission to teach Lem Dom how to be a hunter. I was sure he’d allow me to share food from the banquet with her too.

If he were the same man he was back when he didn’t care about Ai Fa, he probably wouldn’t have permitted Lem Dom to set foot in the Ruu settlement to begin with.

It would soon be seven months since I had come to the settlement at the forest’s edge. A whole lot had changed since then, and Donda Ruu in particular seemed to be a prime example of that.

He had rejected both the idea of female hunters and delicious food at first, but now he acknowledged Ai Fa’s skills and even permitted members of his clan to do business in the post town. If you had told me seven months ago how things would be now, I never would have believed you. It would just seem insane for a ferocious guy like that to allow all of this.

Thinking back on it, we really have come a long way... Ah, it’s too early to be getting all sentimental, though. The forest’s edge and Genos as a whole were still in the middle of that transition.

But at any rate, in order to carry out my own work, I first needed to locate Donda Ruu.

◇

“Ah, Asuta, I finally get a chance to talk to you again,” Gazraan Rutim called out as I was weaving my way through the crowd toward the edge of the plaza after talking with Donda Ruu. Even though this man had a fierce battle ahead of him, he still seemed every bit as calm and composed as always.

“Hey there. Aren’t you going to be up soon, Gazraan Rutim?”

“No, my battle will be after the next one.”

The tournament for the final eight was stretched out to allow plenty of rest time between each round. The first one between Mida and Rau Lea had just concluded.

“That was quite a close match just now. I feel bad for Rau Lea,” I noted.

“Yes, Mida truly has grown stronger. He’s gained enough strength to take on giba and is a proper hunter now.”

“Who will you be facing, Gazraan Rutim?”

“I’ll be up against Giran Ririn.”

In that case, his first opponent was the man who had defeated Mida and Ji Maam. He was the one competitor that was an unknown for me, so he had a bit of an ominous aura about him.

“Giran Ririn is a famed hunter. Are you familiar with his clan, Asuta?”

“No, I’ve only heard the name.”

Actually, I had only really interacted with the Ruu and Rutim, and aside from Rau and Yamiru Lea, I had no real contact with their other subordinate clans.

“I see. Well, the Ririn are the newest of the Ruu’s subordinate clans, and five years ago they only had four members to their name.”

“Only four of them? They didn’t have any relatives either?”

“That’s right. Then they took a bride from the Lea and became Ruu subordinates, which Donda Ruu permitted solely because he acknowledged their clan head Giran Ririn’s great strength.”

A clan with just four members was permitted to take a bride rather than having their name stripped from them and being brought into an existing clan... That certainly felt like quite the wild tale.

“They’ve also taken in husbands from the Maam and Rutim, and three of their children have since survived past the age of five, so they currently have ten members. If they can hold out until those young children are grown, the Ririn will avoid destruction. That is why Giran Ririn is a hunter I greatly respect.”

“That’s amazing. It really, seriously is.”

Here in the settlement at the forest’s edge, a clan that lost its strength would soon collapse and be absorbed by a parent clan. Four clans had died out in the last year that way. The Fou only had the Ran under them, and the Fa and Sudra stood on their own, which was the result of dwindling away after consolidating as much as they could.

It was difficult for the Sudra to manage even with nine clan members, so it must have been beyond extraordinary for the clan second only to the Suun in power to acknowledge the strength of the Ririn with only four members and welcome them into the fold.

“As a hunter, it’s an honor to have the chance to compete against Giran Ririn. I’m grateful for the forest’s guidance.”

“Right. Give it your all, Gazraan Rutim. I’ll be cheering you on.”

“Of course. It is no shame to lose in a contest of strength, but I still want to do everything I can to win, as the clan head of the Rutim.” Though Gazraan Rutim appeared just as calm as always, he seemed to be getting worked up under the surface. “By the way, where exactly are you heading, Asuta?”

“Ah, I had a little something to discuss with Donda Ruu, and now I’m heading back to the kitchen.”

“I see. It feels unusual somehow, seeing you acting on your own.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way.”

After sharing a smile with Gazraan Rutim, I went ahead and got back to my work. After finishing the sauces, that just meant watching over the whole roast giba with Bartha and Ryada Ruu. There was nothing to do but to maintain a strong flame at a level where it wouldn’t burn the meat.

After a while, Ai Fa and Rimee Ruu delivered the news that Gazraan Rutim had beaten Giran Ririn. Apparently, they had watched the contest of strength while Granny Jiba was taking a nap.

“Gazraan Rutim has grown even stronger than before. The Ririn clan head was also a hunter worthy of praise, but... No, let me simply say they both fought wonderfully,” Ai Fa stated, an even more intense light than usual shining in her eyes. Though she had to be half dragged into participating last time around, she looked as if she was lamenting the fact that she was too injured to do so now.

At the same time, I was also told how Ludo Ruu had swiftly beaten Jeeda, while Shin Ruu narrowly lost to Jiza Ruu.

“Shin Ruu had an unfortunate matchup. Though he isn’t on the level of Donda Ruu or Dan Rutim, Jiza Ruu is an outstanding hunter.”

“So in short, the ones who moved on to the semi-finals were Jiza Ruu, Gazraan Rutim, Ludo Ruu, and Mida, huh?”

Aside from Mida, that was an entirely different lineup than last time. But on the other hand, they were all in the top eight the last time too. Thanks to Donda Ruu, Dan Rutim, and Ai Fa’s absence, Shin Ruu, Jeeda, and Giran Ririn had managed to earn enough wins to get in, but they were ultimately defeated, leaving behind those four. For the people who were moving on to have achieved such consistent results, it meant they must have won because of skill rather than luck or coincidence.

And supposedly Sanjura’s on Ludo Ruu’s level, while Kamyua is even more skilled than that. Those two must really be monsters to be that strong despite coming from town.

At any rate, the sun had sunk a good bit to the west.

The conclusion of the contest of strength and the start of the banquet were now fast approaching.