Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter SS1.1

Apéritif: The Hunter’s Path

1

Ai Fa’s father Gil Fa lived his life as a hunter, and met his end in the forest.

It happened the month after Ai Fa finally turned 15.

Gil Fa had been a very strong man, and he carried out his work as a hunter more splendidly than anyone else.

He had been Ai Fa’s greatest pride, and now she had lost him.

Obviously, it was only natural that a hunter would die in the forest. Hardly any men of the forest’s edge died of old age rather than meeting such a fate. And so, Ai Fa earnestly believed that Gil Fa had lived a good and proper life, having hunted more giba than anyone before one finally took him down.

But even so, Ai Fa’s heart was full of grief. She had lost the only family she had left.

Ai Fa’s mother Mei had passed away a long while back, and the Fa clan didn’t have any branch families or followers. Over the decades the Fa bloodline had been withering down, and as of today, Ai Fa had finally found herself the only one left.

How should I live my life from now on...?

Ai Fa leaned listlessly against the wall in the moonlit room, the hunter’s cloak her father left behind wrapped around her as she hugged her knees tight.

Her father had often said with a smile that she looked like a little kid when she sat like that. He wasn’t around to smile anymore, though.

Ai Fa brought back just his giba fur cloak; his two well-worn blades, one large and one small; and the necklace of tusks and horns that were his pride as a hunter. Then, she buried his corpse in the forest, so his soul could return there.

From now on, Gil Fa would surely be watching over Ai Fa along with the souls of their ancestors.

He had truly experienced both a proper life and a proper death as a hunter of the forest’s edge, so it wasn’t permitted to grieve and mourn more than was necessary. But Ai Fa was just too young, so she didn’t even know if this pain filling her up inside was proper for a person of the forest’s edge.

I wish my father would have taught me just a little more about being a hunter... But even if I have such thoughts, would I truly be permitted to live as one?

She reached out and touched the necklace and sword in its leather sheath on the floor.

Ai Fa didn’t know if she was qualified to take up these belongings that her father had left behind.

A necklace with three tusks and horns from her father hung around Ai Fa’s neck.

The only hunting tool she had been given before was a single small knife.

When Ai Fa had turned 13, she was allowed to enter deep into the forest, and started helping her father on his hunts. She had already learned the basics of living as a hunter. How to set a trap, find a giba’s nest, mask your presence, and handle the dangerous fruits that attracted giba to you...

However, Gil Fa still hadn’t acknowledged her as a full-fledged hunter. He had said that since she was a woman, Ai Fa still needed training before she could live that life, and she honestly thought the same. But Gil Fa had also said that someday she would gain that strength and bring back a giba she had hunted with her own two hands, and have the neighboring women make a hunter’s cloak out of it.

She was just one step short. Just a little bit more, and she surely would have gotten ahold of the power and techniques she needed to become a hunter her father could be proud of.

Ai Fa hugged her knees even tighter.

She didn’t have any family or followers, so would she really be able to live on her own as a hunter from here on out? And would it even be proper to do so, as a person of the forest’s edge?

She didn’t have an answer.

My mother wanted me to live as a woman. My father was happy when I helped him in his work as a hunter... Which path should I take?

Her elderly friend Jiba Ruu’s kind face came to mind. When Ai Fa had opened up and mentioned she wanted to become a hunter, her friend’s response was that she should follow the path she believed to be correct.

But everything was hazy right now, and she didn’t know what was right, or even what she wanted.

What should I do...?

Ai Fa buried her face in her knees, feeling like she was wandering aimlessly through a labyrinth without an exit.

It was then that she heard a strange sound from the darkness. It was a creak, creak coming from somewhere nearby.

What is that?

Normally, she would have stood up immediately and searched for the source of the sound. But tonight, she couldn’t even muster the willpower for that much.

Her arms and legs were completely devoid of strength. She was a complete wreck inside, too. Having lost her father just a few hours prior, Ai Fa’s heart was still sinking in a deep swamp of sadness.

Did a giba come down into the settlement? Is the forest trying to help itself not just to my father’s soul, but mine as well?

Naturally, even if a giba did come down to the settlement, it wouldn’t just go sticking its tusks into the sturdy walls of a house, but Ai Fa’s thoughts were in such disarray that she couldn’t even realize that much.

And then, something every bit as unbelievable as a giba attack occurred.

A door at the far side of the hall was suddenly violently wrenched open. The room on the other side was used for storage, and it didn’t have any doors to the outside. And on top of that, she had already checked that everything was normal in all the rooms upon returning home, then bolted the entrance door.

But despite all that, the door had opened from the inside.

Soon, a large man holding a candlestick appeared from inside... He had on a hunter’s outfit, marking him as a young man of the forest’s edge.

“Hey there. Sorry for dropping in so suddenly, Ai Fa of the Fa clan...” he said in a strangely sluggish voice that hurt her ears.

She didn’t recognize the man.

In addition to his hunter’s cloak, he had on a necklace of horns and tusks, as well as an impressive blade at his hips. He looked to be just a bit older than Ai Fa, but he was still quite young.

“W-Who are you? What are you doing in this house?”

“I’m the oldest son of the Suun clan, Diga Suun. I’m the eldest of the main family, y’know?”

The Suun clan led the people of the forest’s edge. If he was the eldest son of the main family, that meant he would eventually be in charge of their people.

“I’ve got some business with you, y’see? So even though it’s not quite proper of me, I went ahead and let myself in through your window.”

There was a wooden lattice in each of the windows. That must have meant the sound from before came from him breaking one.

Ai Fa was frankly more dumbfounded than angry.

“That’s ridiculous... You do not just break a part of a person’s house to enter it. Even stepping foot inside without permission breaches one of the strongest taboos of the forest’s edge. Just what were you thinking?”

“The only thing I was thinking about was you.”

The candle lit up the lower part of Diga Suun’s otherwise expressionless face, revealing an incredibly repulsive smile.

With that, Ai Fa finally realized the danger she was in, but it was already too late. She grabbed for the blade laying on the floor, but Diga Suun snapped it up quicker than she could reach it, laughing all the while.

That violent action caused the flame to go out, turning Diga Suun’s large body into nothing but a black silhouette. That shadowy figure threw away the extinguished candle, then held down Ai Fa’s body with both arms.

“I heard your old man, your one and only family left, went and kicked the bucket, Ai Fa. So, how exactly do you plan on living from here on out...?”

“That has nothing to do with you!”

Ai Fa struggled, but Diga Suun had both of her wrists firmly in the grasp of his thick fingers. He was holding her down atop the fur rug, seated atop her waist. No matter how much she fought, his heavy frame didn’t budge in the least.

Ai Fa was tall for a 15 year old girl, and her whole body had been honed by the harsh work of a hunter, but there was still just too great of a difference in their physiques.

As he straddled Ai Fa, Diga Suun whispered, “Oh, it has plenty to do with me. You see, Ai Fa, I was planning on welcoming you into the Suun clan as a retainer.”

“Welcoming me into your clan...?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m the next head of the clan, after all. I mean, I couldn’t quite go and make a woman from a puny clan like the Fa my wife, but if you’re just a retainer, then nobody should be able to complain about it. Clans who have lost the ability to keep on living on their own have no choice but to rely on the bigger families, right?”

Ai Fa didn’t say anything.

“Cast aside the Fa clan and become a Suun. Then, I’ll look after you for life.”

As the pale moonlight illuminated his face, he licked his lips with a repulsive look of joy about him.

Ai Fa glared back at his face, a violent fury pulsing in her chest.

“...There are rumors that the Suun clan has been simply living a life of luxury with the coins given to them by the city of stone, not even bothering to carry out their work as hunters. Is that true?”

Upon hearing her words, Diga Suun broke out in a smirk.

“If you want to know the truth, then just join our clan. If you become a part of the clan that leads our people, you’ll be able to live however you please, too.”

“...And you call yourself a man of the forest’s edge?!” Ai Fa yelled out, and smashed her right knee into Diga Suun’s back.

He was still on top of her waist, so she couldn’t put any proper power behind it. But even so, the shock of the attack caused him to move his upper body forward a lot. Ai Fa took advantage of that opening and headbutted him as hard as she could.

Diga Suun cried out “Ugh!” as blood spurted forth. She had most likely broken his nose.

The large man collapsed and fell off of Ai Fa, writhing around in pain as he held both hands to his face.

“You don’t carry out your work as a hunter despite being born a man, break taboos, and even assault women...! You haven’t earned the right to call yourself one of our people!”

“Eek!” Diga Suun shrieked as he started fleeing towards the door. He removed the bolt, swung open the door, and then tumbled outside.

Ai Fa, meanwhile, grabbed hold of the sword her father had left behind, yelled “Stop!” and chased after him.

Ai Fa could feel an anger of a sort she had never known before filling her up inside. It was like all the sadness she felt over losing her father had turned into pure rage.

Why...?!

Why did a splendid hunter like her father have to die while this scum shamelessly lived on?

Why did the forest thrust such an unreasonable fate on its people?

Diga Suun ran like a wounded animal under the pale, frozen moon, and as Ai Fa chased after him she angrily yelled out without thinking, “Stop running, you coward! Take your punishment for your sins!”

“Waaaaaa!”

Thanks to the weight of the blade, Ai Fa wasn’t quite able to gain on Diga Suun. However, when he hit the point where the flat ground transitioned to the rocky terrain around the Lanto River, he tripped and fell.

As he gasped for breath down on the ground, he turned and looked up at Ai Fa. His expression was one of pure terror, and his face was soaked with blood and tears.

“H-Hold on! I was wrong! I’m begging you, please forgive me!”

“Are you really a member of the clan that leads our people...? No, are you really even one of our people in the first place?”

Ai Fa lifted up the blade with both hands, ever so slightly out of breath. That incredibly heavy steel blade...

When he saw Ai Fa grab the leather sheath, Diga Suun yelled out in even more of a panic, “Y-You’re pointing a blade at a member of the family that leads our people?! Do you really think something like that will be forgiven?! If you kill me, the Suun clan will crush you into dust, Ai Fa!”

“Don’t be a fool! No matter what family you may be a part of, it’s only obvious that you face punishment for breaking the law.”

“J-Just what are you saying I did?! I still haven’t done anything! Killing an innocent person is a greater taboo than any other, right?!”

“...I see. It’s true that you have yet to truly do anything to me. Perhaps it wouldn’t be proper to demand your life for just shoving me down to the floor,” Ai Fa coldly said as she slowly approached Diga Suun. “But you stepped foot in the house of another without permission. I believe the law states you should offer up a toe for that.”

“Eeep!” Diga Suun shrilly screamed out like a little girl, down on his hands and knees on the rocks. “Please! I’m begging you! I just wanted to invite you into the Suun family! I didn’t want to leave a beautiful woman like you all on your own!”

“You fool...” Ai Fa said, her voice quaking with anger, but she could soon feel her own heart go cold.

This blade was meant for hunting giba. It was a precious heirloom, left for her by her father Gil Fa. It felt incredibly foolish to let the blood of scum like this sully it.

“...You truly are the sort of man who isn’t even worth cutting, Diga Suun of the Suun clan.”

Diga Suun slowly looked up. His face, bloodied from his broken nose, turned up at her and twisted into a cowardly smile, as if he sensed her hesitation.

“Right, cutting me down won’t bring your father back, will it? I won’t say anything, so just come live with me in—”

Ai Fa swung the blade in its leather sheath at the side of Diga Suun’s head as hard as she could. With that, Diga Suun’s massive body splashed into the Lanto River, leaving behind a pathetic shriek.

“W-What do you think you’re doing?! You stubborn, violent woman! Don’t think you’ll get off lightly after defying the Suun clan...!”

Ai Fa turned her back to the sound of Diga Suun yelling out as he was swept downriver, and started making her way back home.

As she felt the rocks of the shoreline on her bare feet, she hugged the blade tight. That heavy blade that her father had left behind had nothing to tell Ai Fa, though.

◇

A few hours earlier, the banquet hall of the main Ruu house was filled with the sound of a young child sobbing.

The family was gathered there, and they were in the middle of dinner. Normally there would be endless laughter as everyone sat together, but that day nothing but that heart wrenching sound could be heard.

The one crying was the youngest daughter, Rimee Ruu. The six year old child had been on the verge of tears ever since the meal started, all the while as she scooped up the white stew with thinly cut chunks of giba leg meat. Since she couldn’t neglect her daily partaking in this precious life force, she kept on forcing herself to eat as she sobbed away.

“Hey, won’t you cut it out already, Rimee?” said her father in a voice that rumbled like an earthquake, causing her to stop for a moment. But soon enough, she started sniffling again and wasn’t able to hold back the tears, the sound of crying again filled the hall alongside her chewing her food.

“Hey! Didn’t you hear me say to cut it out?!” the head of the Ruu clan finally exploded.

Rimee Ruu winced and slowly turned to face her father, but those tears streaming down her smooth cheeks showed no sign of stopping.

“But... But Gil Fa died... He was still so young and strong, but...”

“No matter how young or strong someone may be, as long as they’re living as a hunter, they should expect to die in the forest at any moment. It isn’t wrong to lament that loss, but if you go too far, you could end up sullying that hunter’s pride.” The one who said all that wasn’t the clan head, but the eldest son, Jiza Ruu. As he looked at Rimee Ruu with his thin eyes, he tilted his thick neck just a bit. “Who was that Gil Fa person to start with, anyway? I haven’t heard of any family with such a name.”

“He was the dad of Ai Fa, who Rimee and Granny Jiba formed a bond with... Not that I know more than his name myself, though,” the youngest son Ludo Ruu said while chewing his meat. Then he turned to the second son, who was seated next to him, and said, “Darmu, you said you’d seen him before, didn’t you? Back when you accompanied dad to that meeting of clan heads last year.”

“Yeah. He was a real strange man,” Darmu Ruu replied while drinking fruit wine, sounding rather uninterested in the subject. “Even though he didn’t have any family to bring along with him, he still showed up to the meeting with a necklace of tusks and fangs. He didn’t look too odd in terms of appearances, but something about him felt fishy.”

“He wasn’t fishy! Gil Fa was just that strong of a hunter!” Rimee Ruu yelled out loudly, tears streaming down her face. “But even so, a giba killed him... Now Ai Fa’s all alone...”

“That Fa clan only consisted of the father and daughter? In that case, though, the girl’s only options are to marry into another related family, or else become a retainer,” Jiza Ruu said in a severely calm voice, only for Rimee Ruu to shake her little head back and forth, causing her reddish brown hair to sway.

“The Fa clan doesn’t have any family left... What’ll happen to Ai Fa...?”

“No family? In that case, just how was that Gil Fa man hunting giba? No matter how strong a hunter may be, it simply wouldn’t be possible to hunt down enough on his own, right?”

No one had an answer to that question.

After a bit of silence, the second son Darmu Ruu muttered with a look of displeasure, “That’s why I said he was fishy...”

“And I said he wasn’t! Ai Fa’s been helping him with his hunting ever since she turned 13! For these past two years, it’s been the two of them, not just him on his own!”

“What? Why was a woman helping a hunter with his work?”

“That’s...” Rimee Ruu muttered, hesitating a bit. “...That’s because Ai Fa wanted to become a hunter, so she just ended up helping Gil Fa...”

“A woman hunter?”

The women present had just been politely watching over the proceedings up until now, but even they couldn’t hide their surprise.

The only ones who really knew Ai Fa were Rimee Ruu and the elder, Jiba Ruu. And Jiba Ruu had been sick in bed since last month, plus it was too hard for her to make it to the dining hall, so right now Tito Min Ruu was assisting her in her bedroom.

“What a ridiculous story. Normally under those circumstances, he would have had no choice but to become a retainer to another family along with his daughter. That way even if the Fa name was lost, they would still have their lives.”

“Yeah. And for him to make his daughter help him in his work as a hunter. Come on! I really don’t know what he was thinking.”

“Like I said, Ai Fa was the one who said she wanted to help out! Don’t say mean things about Ai Fa and Gil Fa, stupid Ludo!”

“Oh, shut it. Don’t take your anger out on me, little Rimee.”

“You’re little too, Ludo! Little Ludo! Little idiot Ludo!”

Ludo Ruu’s cheeks puffed up and he looked about ready to say something back, but when he saw his tiny sister’s tear stained face, he started looking a little down, too.

“...Well anyway, now that her dad is dead, that Ai Fa girl really doesn’t have any choice but to rely on another family. If she marries into some nearby house and lives as a normal woman, then she can live enough for herself and her father, right?”

“Right. That’s the proper way for a woman of the forest’s edge to be,” Jiza Ruu said, signaling the end of the conversation.

Rimee Ruu resumed dejectedly eating her dinner afterwards, and Donda Ruu ultimately didn’t have anything else to say after his previous outburst.

Nobody present realized those blue eyes that shone brighter and more intensely than anyone else’s were deep in thought.