Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 2.3

3

After that, we finished our work without any significant incidents.

Our cooking sold smoothly too. All we had left were two servings of giba manju and five myamuu giba.

“With the way things are going, it seems likely that we won’t have enough meals soon. In which case, would you have a problem with us handling things like we discussed earlier?” Reina Ruu asked while cleaning up the stalls.

“That sounds good. It would be smart to not push yourselves with the giba manju and giba burgers, and instead just increase the amount you make of the dishes that are easier to prepare. We have our hands full with the more difficult recipes, after all.”

“That would be a big help,” Reina Ruu replied, but she looked rather down.

“What’s the matter? Is something else worrying you?”

“No, it’s just...Myme’s cooking was so amazing. I can’t help but think that the food I make is inadequate, compared to hers...”

“Huh? That’s not true at all. Your new teriyaki stew sold out even quicker than your giba hot pot stew, right? Yang was really surprised by how skilled you were when he tasted it.”

“But which do you think is tastier, our stew or Myme’s karon milk dish?” Reina Ruu asked, her expression deadly serious. I had to answer her honestly.

“Hmm... In terms of how complete the dishes feel at present, Myme’s would probably come out on top. But I’d say that simply means you still have room to grow. I’d imagine your teriyaki stew will become even tastier as you get more used to making it.”

“Are you saying the flavoring and cooking process is still lacking?”

“I suppose you could put it that way if you wanted to. But it’s incredibly delicious already,” I stated, stopping my cleanup work as I faced Reina Ruu directly. “Let me ask you the same question. Which do you think is tastier? My roast giba or Myme’s dish?”

“That’s...” Reina Ruu hesitated. “I think your roast giba is delicious, of course...but Myme’s dish surprised me more.”

“Right? But still, in my opinion, my roast giba is just as worthy as Myme’s dish as a product to be sold. After all, our customers have really been enjoying these meat-centric dishes, the roast giba and giba steak. Personally, I want to keep working to polish the skills I need and become a chef who won’t fall behind Myme. I don’t think it’s good to fixate too much on what’s right in front of you now and let it shake you up.”

After staying silent for a bit, Reina Ruu nodded and replied, “I see. I’m sorry. It seems I’ve been showing my weakness at every turn... I must be even more timid than Sheera Ruu.”

“That’s not true at all. I really hate to lose at my core, so I can definitely understand how you feel.”

Reina Ruu gave a bashful smile. It was a wonderfully charming expression that suited her perfectly.

Then, a voice called out, “Asuta.” When I turned to look, I found the two Zaza women standing there with Lem Dom. It was the older woman, Mei Jeen Zaza, who had addressed me. “We have carefully observed the actions of the Fa and Ruu clans with our own eyes. We will return today to the northern settlement in order to fully convey to our clan head what we saw and felt.”

“I see. Well then, please take care.”

Mei Jeen and Sufira Zaza were both staring at me and Reina Ruu with terribly intense gazes. Beside them, Lem Dom just shrugged.

“I’ll talk to Deek too, just like I promised Donda Ruu. If fate allows, we may meet again, Ai Fa and Asuta.”

“All right. Regardless of the results, I’ll be praying that the two of you can reach an understanding.”

Ai Fa also gave a silent nod. Would Lem Dom be able to live as a hunter under the Dom clan despite being a woman? That was what she would be discussing with the head of the main house, Deek Dom. It really was anyone’s call whether this would be a long farewell to Lem Dom or if we would see her again tomorrow after she left the Dom.

“Oh, are you already done working for today?” another voice chimed in. This time, though, I could tell it was Pino without even turning to look.

“Ah, yes. Your performance before was amazing. I’m looking forward to the day after tomorrow even more now.”

“Glad to hear it. We got a lecture from the guards not to do anything too dangerous, though,” Pino remarked, sticking her tongue out a bit. It was a very childish expression for her. And yet, I still didn’t feel that I could treat her like a kid. Not at all. “But, well, we let them know in no uncertain terms that we’re not that incompetent. More importantly, thanks for that amazing food earlier. It was so delicious that there was a real scramble at the end to grab the last of it. If we don’t go up to three servings for each of us next time, we could end up seeing some bloodshed.”

“Ah ha ha, thanks for saying so.”

“You really are quite the chef. It was definitely worth coming all the way here to Genos,” Pino said, looking over us as we cleaned up. “So, you’re already heading back? In that case, care to have a little fun first? Doga’s putting on a contest of strength over there right now.”

“A contest of strength?”

Now that she mentioned it, there had been a crowd gathered in front of the tent for a while now. The head of the large guy from before was just barely visible above the crowd, so I couldn’t tell what was going on over there at all.

“It’s a tug-of-war using poles. Doga holds two of them, and the audience tries to pull them in the other direction. However many people want to join in, they can all go at the same time. Anyone taking the challenge pays a half coin, and if you pull Doga over, everyone gets ten times that back.”

So were those the same poles used in the act before? If that was the case, quite a few people could join in at once. And yet, I still couldn’t imagine that mountain of a man losing.

“You hunters from the forest’s edge are real strong, right? In that case, maybe one of you could bring Doga down on your own,” Pino said, her eyes drifting away from me over to the side. Her gaze fell on Ludo Ruu, who had been chatting with Ama Min Rutim.

“Ooh, a contest of strength with that big guy? Sounds interesting.”

“Ludo Ruu,” Ai Fa quietly called out.

Turning her way, Ludo Ruu gave a cheerful wink. “In that case, we’ve got the perfect hunter for the job. Hey, where’s Ji Maam?”

“What is it? Some sort of trouble?” a voice called back as a huge figure appeared from behind the wagon.

“Apparently, they’re holding a contest of strength with that guy from town. And we were told that maybe we people of the forest’s edge could win, so why don’t you give it a shot?”

“Oh?” Ji Maam replied, a shine in his eyes as he looked down at Pino. “You’re that girl who put on that fantastic performance before. So you must be talking about that man who’s even bigger than I am?”

“That’s right. You certainly do have a fine build, even if you are smaller than Doga,” Pino replied with a grin.

“Very well,” Ji Maam said with a deep nod. “I must admit that I’m rather curious to find out just how strong that man is. I am the eldest son of the Maam clan, Ji Maam, and if you do not mind, I would like to challenge him.”

“Then it’s decided. In that case, come on over this way.”

This was kind of a strange development. Still, the other guy was the bigger of the two, surprisingly enough, so a loss wouldn’t bring any shame on the people of the forest’s edge. I followed behind the two of them, the man and the girl with such a height difference that it seemed like a joke, along with Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, and a similarly interested Lem Dom.

“There shouldn’t be any issues this way, right?” Ludo Ruu remarked as we walked along, and Ai Fa nodded back.

“Indeed.”

As they didn’t say anything further, I went ahead and asked, “What are you two talking about?”

“Hmm? Well, since we’re dealing with someone who prides himself on his strength, he’d feel ashamed if he lost to someone as small as me, right? So that’s why I’m letting Ji Maam handle it instead.”

“Y-You’re saying you could beat that massive guy, Ludo Ruu?”

“Of course. It’s a tug-of-war with a pole, right? Hunters of the forest’s edge all play that game with firewood as kids, y’know.”

Ai Fa nodded in response to Ludo Ruu’s comment. “Such a match isn’t decided by strength alone. So long as they have a good understanding of that fact, none of us would lose to someone from town.”

“But I’m not completely sure how it’ll play out with Ji Maam. He only ever tries to use pure strength, so it could end up being a good match, don’t you think?” Ludo Ruu commented.

That was seriously astounding to hear.

Meanwhile, Lem Dom was wearing a combative smile beside me. “I’d love to challenge him myself, honestly. But that seems like it would make you angry, Ai Fa, so I guess I had better not.”

“Of course you shouldn’t. You mustn’t go around causing unnecessary quarrels with the townsfolk.”

The sound of men crying out, “Aah!” suddenly overlapped with their chatter.

And then, there was a loud round of cheers.

That big guy, Doga, had taken down six whole men.

Sure enough, they were using those poles from the performance, which were around a meter and a half long. Doga was holding one in each hand as he bowed to the group of challengers.

He really was unbelievably huge. He looked to be around half a head taller than Ji Maam, somewhere in the range of two meters and ten to twenty centimeters. His whole body was coated in muscles that were like stone, and his frame was incredibly broad and thick. It was as if I were looking at a huge grizzly bear that had shed its pelt.

His head was shaved clean, and the blue eyes beneath his prominent eyebrows had a muted shine. He had a big aquiline nose, thick lips, angular cheekbones, and a square jaw. It all added up to a guy who looked like a massive, stern stone giant, the sort that would make a kid cry to look at.

His skin was also so deeply tanned that I couldn’t tell what its original color had been. Though I wondered if he perhaps had blood from Mahyudra in him, I naturally kept that question to myself.

“Doga, this fine hunter here says he’ll play with you. And he’s asking for a one-on-one bout.”

The big guy, Doga, slowly turned to face Ji Maam. His eyes looked void of emotion, almost like an animal’s.

The arrival of a hunter from the forest’s edge caused a stir to ripple through the crowd.

“Youngest son of the Ruu, would you hold on to my hunter’s cloak and blade?”

“Sure. Give it your all, Ji Maam.”

Ji Maam nodded and then stood in front of Doga. The performer really was a whole size bigger. To a weakling like me, it looked like a clash between two giant monsters.

“Ah, would you mind paying us a half coin, O hunter of the forest’s edge? If you win, you’ll get ten times that back.”

“I don’t have any coins,” Ji Maam muttered, and then he went to remove his hunter’s necklace. He took a single tusk from it and tossed it into the basket on the ground. “That would sell for three red coins. Does that work?”

“Yes, of course. If you lose, we’ll give you two and a half red coins back.” Pino looked terribly amused at seeing just how this would play out. “Now then, could you enter that ring there? If you step out of the ring or fall down, you lose.”

There was a red ring around one meter in diameter on the road. Looking closely, it seemed to be made with a dyed straw rope. Doga was standing in a separate red ring of his own.

Silently, Ji Maam stepped inside the ring as he was instructed. Doga tossed one of the poles he was holding aside and thrust out the remaining one. The Maam hunter casually grabbed hold of the other end.

“Well then, begin!”

The band consisting of the twins, the beautiful woman, and the little guy started playing a stirring tune. At the same time, the two massive men immediately began pulling on the wooden pole.

What a truly stupendous game of tug-of-war... The muscles on the arms and shoulders of both participants were bulging impressively. It felt as if the stone-paved ground under their feet would start to crack under the pressure.

In the face of that tremendous strength, the pole started to creak pathetically. I had trouble picturing this ending in any other way than with the pole up and snapping.

With their waists lowered and both hands gripping the pole, neither of the two budged. They really were competing with pure strength. Both were monsters. Ji Maam for not losing to this mountain of a man, and Doga for not letting a hunter of the forest’s edge take him down.

And then, around a minute later, it suddenly came to an end.

With his feet digging hard into the ground, Ji Maam let out an earth-trembling bellow and suddenly yanked the pole his way.

Doga lost his balance, and with a tremendous thud he fell on the stone-paved road.

Instantly, cheers erupted.

“We have a winner! Amin, please give the challenger five red coins.”

The twin who I felt was most likely a girl continued to play her musical stick as she reached into the basket, taking out the giba tusk and five red coins. Then she very timidly held them out toward Ji Maam.

“Hey, that tusk was offered in place of a half coin, right? If you’re returning it, then you only need to give me four and a half red coins.”

“Ah, I-I’m so sorry...”

Amin replaced one of the red coins with a half coin in a fluster. As he wiped the sweat from his brow, Ji Maam accepted them, and then turned his gaze toward Doga.

“I’ve never met someone from town as strong as you are. You must have done quite a bit of training.”

“For my part, it has been several years now since I last fell in a one-on-one challenge...”

While he had a voice that was just as deep as Ji Maam’s, Doga was surprisingly polite when he spoke. Though I had found his eyes beastly and impossible to read, they now showed a clear respect for Ji Maam. The people in the audience who had watched the bout shouted out once more.

“That’s a hunter of the forest’s edge for you! He was really something else, taking down a guy that size all on his own!”

“All right, let’s give it a try too!”

As new challengers came forward, our group went ahead and stepped away.

As we did, Pino hurried over to join us.

“Thanks, mister. We won’t get any challengers if he doesn’t lose now and then, but Doga doesn’t have it in him to throw a bout on purpose, so you were a big help,” she said quietly, breaking out in a grin. “Still, you hunters of the forest’s edge really are incredible. What an impressive show of strength. Does it come from eating giba every single day?”

“You certainly are interested in us people of the forest’s edge for an outsider, girl,” Ai Fa calmly commented.

“Of course I am,” Pino replied, turning toward my clan head with a beautiful smile. “From what I’ve been told, you secluded yourselves deep in the forest up until very recently, but now you sell meals made with giba in town, and you made a huge stir all throughout Genos by taking down some corrupt nobles. I’ve really been looking forward to seeing just what sort of people you are myself.”

“Hmm. So the stories are being told outside of Genos as well?”

“Yeah. We actually got to hear the details from an old acquaintance.”

“An old acquaintance?” Ai Fa repeated, furrowing her brow.

Pino’s eyes narrowed even further in amusement. “A bodyguard by the name of Kamyua Yoshu. We ran into him in a rural post town around the end of the black month. He sure had a lot to tell us about all of you.”

I was certain that not a single one of us had expected that man’s name to come up when she said it.

As she watched our reaction, Pino let out a laugh from the back of her throat and then casually turned around.

“We’ll be staying here in Genos until the end of the festival. I’m looking forward to continuing to work alongside you. Well then, take care...”