Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 3.4

4

Now then, it was all well and good to say that we would visit Granny Jiba, but there was a strong taboo against stepping foot into someone’s house without a member of the family to guide you. However, we couldn’t find Rimee Ruu and the rest, (and they were probably still quarreling anyway) nor could we track down the two wives who had been drying out pico leaves. We didn’t even know if anyone but Granny Jiba was in the house right now, but I went ahead and tried calling out, “Excuse me, is anyone there?”

Someone was indeed there.

There were three people we still hadn’t seen yet today. The second son, Darmu Ruu, must have headed out into the forest, but that still left two. And in fact, both of those two opened the door in response to our call. That said, one of them was Kota Ruu, who was still just a baby.

The eldest daughter of the house, Vina Ruu, was standing on the other side of the door with a look of bewilderment, holding Kota Ruu up to her rather impressively shaped bosom.

This wasn’t exactly a pleasant reunion for me. After all, she’d thrust her sex appeal right in my face, even before that whole thing with everyone bathing. But I figured that meant she wouldn’t act all shy over that incident like the other girls. And yet, I could see the blood rather vividly rush to her porcelain-smooth cheeks.

Oh, come on! You’re a devilish woman who was going to get naked all on your own, right?! I screamed out in my heart. All the while, Vina Ruu hid her mouth with the swaddled infant, her drowsy-looking eyes grew moist and showed her clear embarrassment, and she started wriggling her sensual body as if she was desperately trying to escape my gaze.

“A-Ah, Asuta... And Ai Fa, too... I-I was wondering who was visiting, and it turned out to be you two... I-I’ve been watching Kota here in place of Sati Lea, so I didn’t realize at all...” she said, her voice sounding a bit restless.

She was a bundle of sex appeal and coquettishness just like before, but how should I put it...? This sexy big sister was valiantly trying to maintain her posture even while twisting about with embarrassment. And it didn’t seem at all like an act, which left me at a loss.

“U-Um... Jiza told me everything, and I understand, but... I’m sorry. Even so, could you please try not to look at me so much...?” Vina Ruu asked, her face finally completely hidden behind the baby.

Kota Ruu stared straight at me with those black eyes he had gotten from his mother, and let out a “Gah?” while tilting his head. Cut it out! Don’t look at me with such pure little eyes after everything that’s happened today!

“Y-You came to see Granny Jiba, right? Her bedroom is this way. Follow me...”

With that, Vina Ruu took off in a hurry to the other side of the room, practically running rather than gracefully sashaying as she went like she usually did.

I quickly turned around, and found Ai Fa staring back at me with eyes that looked like ice crystals.

“W-Well then, let’s get going to see her!”

There really was no reason for me to be so flustered, but I just couldn’t keep myself calm.

But at any rate, we were visiting Granny Jiba.

There were hallways on either side of the banquet hall leading further into the house, and Vina Ruu headed towards the right-hand one. The corridor was just wide enough for two people to walk side by side and continued straight for about 10 meters, after which there were three doors in a row on the inner wall. If the left-hand hallway was built identically, then that would make for six rooms in total.

The house was certainly bigger than I had thought. They may not have needed to have anyone sleep in a huddle in the banquet hall, even with a huge family of 12 plus a baby.

Vina Ruu opened the door furthest in, then stood in front of it while still squirming all the while.

“Pardon me, Granny Jiba,” Ai Fa said, then passed beyond the door.

Well then, I should too... I thought, but surprisingly (or maybe not?) Vina Ruu grabbed the hem of my clothing.

I turned around, figuring the way she’d been acting really had just been a ruse to get me to let my guard down and seduce me somehow, only to find Vina Ruu hanging her head so much that I could hardly see her face, as she looked at me with teary eyes from the other side of her long, chestnut colored bangs.

“T-The laws of the forest’s edge bind your agreement, don’t they...?”

On their own, those words would sound like some sort of sensual declaration of war.

However, the way she was acting so pathetic made me think this devilish woman was pretending to be an innocent maiden or something, and I had no idea how to react.

“Um... what’s up with the way you’ve been acting?” I asked, making sure to be quiet enough that they wouldn’t hear it inside the room. However, Vina Ruu’s shoulders jumped and she hid her face behind Kota Ruu again.

You know, I really don’t think you should be treating a baby like that...

“D-Don’t look at me so much... P-Please, just leave it at that for today...” she finally squeezed out, then she hastily hurried back down the hallway.

Feeling completely exhausted, I listlessly shuffled on in through the door.

Ai Fa was already in the middle of a conversation with Granny Jiba.

“Oh, is that you, Asuta...? Thank you for coming. You’ve made this old lady very happy...”

The clear smile on the elder’s face caused my heart to ache today just as much as the baby’s innocent gaze from earlier. I couldn’t exactly say so, though, so I just walked further into the room and then kneeled down next to Ai Fa.

The room looked to be around 10 square meters. As for furnishings, there was just a large shelf decorated with stuff like nuts I didn’t recognize, bundles of branches, animal bones, carved wood masks, and the like, while the rest of the room was empty.

Granny Jiba was seated atop a bed made by layering a number of sheets, and her shoulders and feet both had what looked like beautifully colored shawls over them.

The climate around here was like a tropical rainforest, meaning it was always like early summer in Japan. However, the thought of this little old woman sleeping all alone in this dreary room somehow caused me to feel a chill.

“...At nighttime, Tito Min sleeps together with me. That girl lost her husband quite some time ago, too, after all...”

It was as if she had read my mind, earning a bit of a jump from me.

Granny Jiba was sitting up while being supported by Ai Fa as she reached out fingers like withered branches and took my hand.

She looked just like a wrinkled little baby monkey. She must have been naturally small, even before she got this old. However, I could see the clear sparkle of intellect in her eyes that were almost completely hidden by her drooping eyelids, and her face like a dried fruit bore an affectionate expression.

Granny Jiba was looking remarkably healthier than the last time I had seen her, which made me very happy to see.

“Thank you for before, Asuta and Ai Fa. I’ve been eating properly ever since. It may not be as tasty as what you made, but Reina and Rimee are trying their hardest...”

“I’m glad to hear that. It makes me happy to see you well, Granny Jiba.”

Ai Fa may not have been showing her emotions on her face, but the look in her eyes certainly seemed gentler than usual. It was almost enough to make me think I must have imagined that fire in her eyes when the men of the Ruu clan were heading out. And the same was true of her icy glare, too.

“...Donda actually came to see me before, which is unusual. He said you would be coming again three nights from now...?”

“Yes. We will be manning your stove once again. I’m sure that Asuta will cook you another delicious meal, Granny Jiba,” Ai Fa said, shooting me a glance. “...He’s very skilled when it comes to cooking.” The fact that she didn’t add, “but nothing else” must have been down to her samurai-like mercy.

“I’ll do my best to satisfy you,” I added, trying my best to offer a humble response.

“That makes me glad... But that night is the celebration for the Rutim wedding, isn’t it? Donda said so with a big grin on his face...”

With that, her nearly hidden eyes gained an even more penetrating light to them as they looked between me and Ai Fa.

“Tell me, Ai Fa... just what is Donda planning...?”

“Planning, you say?”

“The head of the Rutim clan, Dan Rutim, is just as rough-natured as Donda, like a large ape from the southern forest... If you were to feed that hot-blooded man the same sort of food as last time, he may fly into even more of a rage than Donda and completely ruin the celebration...”

“And he wishes to shame Asuta and I in that manner. Donda Ruu seems to truly not like us from the depths of his heart, after all.”

“Not like you... That must be because you rejected the offer to marry into the family, yes, Ai Fa...?” Granny Jiba said, her eyes fixed on Ai Fa.

My benefactor gave an ever so slightly pained frown.

“There was no helping that, though. Even we women have the right to choose our own husband... But still, Donda must have come to like you. Otherwise, he never would have offered to have one of his precious sons marry you. I’m sure he fell for the way you valiantly stood up to that heir to the Suun clan head on... But then you went and turned down his offer, and on top of that, you even said you would live as a hunter...”

“...”

“I’m not judging you for that, of course... I’m glad that you’re living the way that you believe in... But Donda has pride in his work as a hunter, and at having been born a man. He also thinks of a woman’s work protecting the home as equally important... I’m sure that’s why he cannot forgive you for choosing to be a hunter despite being a woman...”

“...”

“Ai Fa... Donda entrusted the stove to you on such an important night for the Ruu clan. Just what is he plotting...?”

Surely no one could refuse to answer after being asked by someone with such a piercing gaze. And so, Ai Fa bit down on her lip like a child, and then replied after a moment.

“He said that if we fail to satisfy him and the head of the Rutim clan, he will cut off all ties with the Fa clan.”

The room was silent for a while.

Before long, though, Granny Jiba Ruu quietly said “I see,” gently closed her eyes, and then muttered “I see...” once again. “Ai Fa, and Asuta. Are you not able to refuse...?”

“We can’t. In fact, we’re actually the ones who suggested it. Donda Ruu only added his conditions,” Ai Fa said in a firm voice.

Granny Jiba slowly turned and looked at me.

“Right... We didn’t wish for this to become such a huge thing, but we can’t withdraw now, and I also believe this is important for the sake of the Ruu clan, too,” I responded, after giving the matter some serious thought. “Of course, I went and came up with this whole troublesome plot in the first place to defend my own pride and conceit. But now it’s more than just that. I want to satisfy Donda Ruu for the sake of the Ruu clan, too... It’s pretty hard to put into words, but that’s how I feel.”

“I see...” Granny Jiba muttered again. “You believe that to be the correct path, don’t you? Then... if Donda really, truly does try to act so cruelly towards you, these old bones will leave the Ruu clan.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying I’ll discard my Ruu name... Will you then welcome me as a member of your clan and house, Ai Fa?”

“W-What are you saying, Granny Jiba?! I can’t do that!”

This was probably the most flustered I had ever seen Ai Fa.

But I mean, it made sense. Seriously, I was pretty darn shocked myself.

And yet... I sort of got the meaning behind what Granny Jiba was saying.

“Oh my, so you intend to abandon a poor old woman with nowhere to go to her fate...? If I leave the Ruu clan and the Fa clan won’t accept me, then I suppose I’ll just be left to die by the side of the road...”

“I’m telling you, there’s no need for you to do so! Why should you have to leave the Ruu clan? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Yes, it does... If the Ruu clan were to cut off all ties with you, then I wouldn’t be able to meet you like this anymore, now would I? And those folks from the Suun clan may well stop holding back and try to do something horrible to you... There’s no way I could simply allow that to happen, right?”

“But why does that mean you have to leave?! Even if you were with me, the Suun clan would still—”

“The ones I would be unable to forgive wouldn’t be the Suun clan. No, it would be Donda for trying to thrust that fate upon you...” Granny Jiba firmly stated in a quiet voice. “Donda’s father was my own son. I couldn’t forgive my own grandson trying to force something so cruel on you... And so, I would cut my ties with the Ruu clan. That’s all.”

“That’s ridiculous... What about Rimee Ruu, then? And Reina Ruu? And Jiza Ruu? They’re all your precious family, aren’t they?!”

Ai Fa looked like she was on the verge of tears, but Granny Jiba just quietly stared back at her and gave a relaxed smile.

“Of course they’re all precious family. Jiza, Vina, Darmu, Reina, Ludo, Lala, Rimee... The previous clan head’s wife Tito Min, Donda’s spouse Mia Lea, and Jiza’s beloved Sati Lea... They’re all very important to me, and part of my family... But the head of the clan is Donda. When someone cannot abide by their clan head’s words, they have no choice but to leave.”

“But...!” Ai Fa started, only to be stuck at a loss for words. As if she couldn’t hold it back any longer, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“If Donda were to cut off ties with the Fa clan, I could never forgive that. I’m certain that is absolutely wrong... So as the elder of the Ruu clan, it’s important that I make sure Donda knows that full well.” Granny Jiba gently wiped away Ai Fa’s tear with the tip of her finger. “So you see, leaving the clan is the only proper path for me... Do you understand that, Asuta...?”

“I think I do,” I replied, only for Ai Fa to shoot me a scathing glare. However, I had no intention of retracting what I’d said. “Well, I don’t think I can fully understand the thinking of someone as amazing as you so easily, Jiba Ruu. But if I were in the same position... If my family was trying to do something horrible to someone I cared about, I couldn’t just accept that. I don’t know if I’d really be strong enough to choose to leave my family, but I can understand the idea behind wanting to do so.”

“Asuta, you—” Ai Fa started, grabbing me by the collar, but I placed my own hands on top of her firm grasp.

“Ai Fa, Rimee Ruu may end up thinking the same way as Jiba Ruu. Do you think she would really accept her own father plotting to crush her precious Ai Fa? Rimee Ruu may leave her clan alongside Jiba Ruu. And if she can’t then she may live her whole life hating her father, right?” Ai Fa turned pale, looking absolutely shocked. That pained face caused me to claw at my own chest, but even so, I continued on. “That’s the sort of challenge we’ve taken on. If you can’t stand that, then no matter how much shame it may bring you, we should call it quits here and now. We’re... only thinking of our own lives and our own pride, after all.”

That was especially true of Ai Fa. She really should be more aware of how loved she was by the people around her.

No matter what happened to her, no one would be sad. No one would get angry. That’s what she had thought for these past two years of her life.

I thought that strength of hers was amazing. That loneliness didn’t eat away at her tenacious soul, and I respected that from the depths of my heart.

But... even Ai Fa had made at least that one mistake.

Even as she distanced herself from others, Ai Fa was thinking of Rimee and Jiba Ruu inside. So Ai Fa should have realized the possibility that they were thinking of her just as much, too.

The only people who could achieve true isolation are probably those who never think of anyone else. Anyone who possessed a heart capable of loving others could never truly wish to live all by themselves.

“...Ai Fa. What we need to do hasn’t changed.” I gripped Ai Fa’s hands tight. “We’ve just got to win this fight and satisfy Donda Ruu. That way, no one has to get hurt. Jiba Ruu won’t need to leave her clan, and Rimee Ruu won’t end up hating her father. We just need to satisfy Donda Ruu with a delicious meal.”

If we bowed down to Donda Ruu now, we would lose pride, honor, trust, and status... but we wouldn’t lose Jiba and Rimee Ruu.

I didn’t think that was enough, though. I wanted to be involved with the Ruu clan in a better way than that. And that feeling only grew stronger by coming here today and seeing so many people.

“You can see the proper path forward, can’t you, Asuta...?” Granny Jiba quietly whispered. In response, I smiled back at her as gently as I could manage.

“I don’t know if it’s the proper choice or not. But all I can do is prepare delicious food. Look forward to three days from now, Jiba Ruu.”