Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 2.2

2

Pino’s performance to attract customers began shortly after the sun hit its peak.

“Starting today, the Gamley Troupe will be welcoming your patronage! So anyone who’s not in a hurry, take your time and enjoy!” Pino called out, her voice accompanied by the lively sounds of a flute and drum.

Multiple performers now stood before the massive tent that looked like the remains of some sort of dinosaur. In the middle of the lineup were Pino and the large man. The others were standing with their backs up against the tent as they played the accompanying music. It had a really different feel compared to the festival music I knew from back in Japan, with a tune that called to mind India or Arabia more.

The voluptuous woman with long dark-brown hair wrapped up around her head was playing a side-blown flute. Meanwhile, the little masked guy, Zan, was banging away on what looked like a big conga drum. The twins Arun and Amin were twirling wooden sticks with numerous fine metal plates attached to them. Though the scritching sound they made was unfamiliar to me, it certainly was dazzling. Even with just the four performers, their music was quite lively. And yet, something about the tone felt a bit melancholic.

The minstrel Neeya was nowhere to be seen. If he hadn’t just been spouting off blatant lies earlier, perhaps he really had headed to the castle town.

At any rate, the people passing by were now stopping and staring with great interest. On top of that, they were located right in front of our place. As there was nothing but a stone-paved road around ten meters wide between us, they were completely visible from our stalls and outdoor restaurant. The eighty or so customers we currently had seated were giving some impressively enthusiastic cheers.

As those cheers washed over them, Pino and the large man took another step forward. In his arms, the big guy was holding a number of poles which were orange and straight like grigee. There were six of them, looking to be around a meter and a half long and seven to eight centimeters thick. The man tossed one of them over to Pino. She caught it and placed it over her shoulder, then started twirling and dancing to the music playing behind her. Her long braided hair and the sleeves of her outfit fluttered about, earning another cheer from the audience.

It was a gorgeous dance, with every little motion drawing the viewer’s gaze. Even the customers lined up at the stalls had their eyes fixed firmly on her.

In the meantime, the large fellow was slowly moving too. He planted one of the poles he held on the surface of the road so that it stood straight up vertically as he kept it steady with a single fist.

Then, Pino suddenly turned toward him, holding the pole she had been shouldering high over her head with both hands. She took several steps back, and suddenly leaped off the ground. Her small body whirled through the air, and then she swung the pole she held down as if she were pole vaulting, lifting her even higher.

As the crowd cheered, Pino raised the pole once more. Then, the bottom of her pole collided loudly with the top of the one held by the large man. Though I couldn’t explain how it worked, the two poles stuck together, leaving Pino dangling at a height of around three meters.

The crowd broke out in a round of applause. Even if there was some sort of special mechanism to allow the poles to join together, the trick would still be quite difficult to reproduce. From the stall next to me, I heard an “Ooh,” of admiration from Toor Deen.

However, their performance was only just getting started.

The large man tossed another pole up to Pino, who easily snatched it from the air, supporting herself with just her other arm. Using the momentum from the throw, she lifted that pole as well and attached it to the top of the stack. Then, she started climbing it like a monkey.

Since each of those poles were one and a half meters long, that meant the height was now four and a half meters. She was about as high as the tent’s peak at this point.

The man then threw another pole up and Pino repeated the process, bringing her to a height of around six meters in the air. Steadily, shrieks started mixing in with the cheers.

Then the man threw yet another, bringing the height up to seven and a half meters. That was about as high as the roof of a two-story building. It was seriously frightening how the pole was starting to sway and bend. It wasn’t even fixed to the ground. It was reliant on the big guy supporting it with just one hand.

I suddenly felt someone grab my right arm tight. When I turned to look, I found that Toor Deen had left her post and was now clinging to me, her face pale.

Shockingly enough, though, the climax was still to come.

Now there were unmistakable shrieks coming from the crowd.

Toor Deen hugged my arm even tighter too.

At a height of seven and a half meters in the air, Pino suddenly pulled herself up to stand on the end of the pole. And that wasn’t all. The large man then grabbed the pole with both hands and lifted it off the ground.

Even Ai Fa couldn’t help but let slip a sound of admiration. It was beyond impressive. I couldn’t even begin to fathom just how perfect her sense of balance would have to be to pull off such a feat, not to mention the monstrous strength needed for all that lifting.

Then a strange sound descended on us from high above all the shrieks and exclamations of surprise. Pino had started playing a side-blown flute, joining the half-forgotten musical accompaniment.

As Pino played her music, the man shifted his right arm up the pole to a point higher than his head, then used his left arm to pull the lowest segment loose. After that, he lowered his right arm back to around the level of his chest, bringing Pino that much closer to the ground.

Using the same method, the man then pulled the second pole loose. As the third and fourth poles were removed in turn and the whole thing grew steadily shorter, Pino remained at the top, playing her flute with a composed expression.

With only one pole left, Pino took a leap while still blowing into her flute. She landed gently on the big man’s right shoulder with its bulging muscles.

With that, the audience absolutely exploded with cheers. Pino gave them a bewitching smile from atop the man’s shoulder.

Without even realizing it, I had started clapping myself. Of course, I wasn’t really able to applaud very well with my right arm fixed in place.

“Asuta, is it over?”

“Yeah. The girl made it back down safely.”

Toor Deen’s eyes had been firmly shut as she clung to my arm. Once she was able to timidly will them open again and she caught sight of Pino safe and sound, the young girl breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she noticed Ai Fa staring and turned beet red before hurriedly distancing herself.

“I-I’m so sorry! I was just so scared that I couldn’t help but...”

“You needn’t be so flustered. That said, you aren’t a young child any longer, so you shouldn’t go around carelessly touching men from outside of your family.”

It was true that boys and girls were treated differently starting at the age of ten, but still, Ai Fa was being so uncompromising there. Her face still deep red, Toor Deen shrank into herself as she retreated back to her post.

In the meantime, the cheers had continued to wash over Pino and the other performers. Also, the adorable twins had traded their instruments for large thatched baskets, and were darting all about the roadway. They must have been gathering tips from the crowd.

“So that was an acrobatics performance? I see. So that’s how they earn their coins,” Ai Fa remarked.

“Yeah. It really was something.”

“Indeed. It must have required a tremendous amount of training to obtain such physical proficiency. One would need to have great pride in one’s work to be able to do that.”

Apparently, Ai Fa’s impression of the performers was on the rise. And I felt much the same way.

“That was incredible. You guys are quite the performers,” a customer from Jagar lined up at the stall cheerfully called out. At that point, one of the twins approached.

A number of our customers generously tossed some coins into the basket. And then, the child whose gender I couldn’t quite make out bowed and turned toward me.

“Um, is it okay to go over to your guest seating as well?”

Their voice was lovely, like the sound of a bell. But intuitively, I got the feeling I was dealing with a boy. Then again, as someone with a provenly terrible eye, that likely didn’t mean much. It just seemed to me that the twins were a boy and girl pair.

“Yeah, that’s totally fine. Oh, hold on a moment...”

I leaned forward and peered into the basket. It was quite the haul, but naturally, they were pretty much all red coins and half coins. Even the fourth-size coins that I didn’t ever use were mixed in there.

In order to show my appreciation, I went ahead and added a full red coin. The boy then gave me a very grateful bow.

“Take care with the customers who are drinking fruit wine, okay? And hey, are you Arun or Amin?”

“I’m Arun...” the boy replied in a feeble voice before almost fleeing. Shy kids could be awfully cute, I thought. I was really fond of Toor Deen, after all.

“That was amazing! I’ve never seen a performance like that!” Myme called out from two stalls over. She had once again opened for business around forty to fifty minutes later than we did.

“From what I’ve been told, that troupe came for last year’s revival festival too, but you didn’t see them then?”

“No! I was never able to come out to the post town back then,” Myme replied, a sparkle in her eyes that showed how much she was enjoying herself. “Just what sort of performances do they put on in that tent, I wonder? I would really love to find out!”

“Do you want to come along with us? We’re planning to go with Tara the day after tomorrow.”

“Huh? Hmm, I’d like to go, of course...but I shouldn’t go spending money all on my own like that...”

“I’m sure Mikel would give you his permission. And even if he doesn’t, you could have my free invite.”

“Thank you!” Myme replied with a beaming smile. Energetic and carefree girls could be just as charming as the shy ones.

After some time had passed, the sound of the traveling performers’ instruments started moving south. They must have been planning to advertise where it was even more crowded.

Meanwhile, their tent seemed to have opened for business at the same time as that performance. The entrance that had been closed in the morning was now open wide, with customers heading in from time to time.

From what I was told, the animal tamer performed during the day, but I had no idea what sort of performance it was. At any rate, my expectations had really been raised since the morning when I first met Pino and company.