Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 2.5

5

After that, we headed farther down the path, leaving the black vamda ape behind us.

What greeted us next were the two big lizards that had been pulling the wagon.

“Those are wors rock lizards. They’re a type of large reptile that lives in the sea of sand that’s to the south and the east from here.”

They were around three meters long, and looked basically like dinosaurs. They were also hiding high up in the trees, looking quite surprised at the arrival of us sightseers.

“They look just like giant madarama snakes. Do they eat people?”

“No. There are hardly any animals that live out in the sea of sands, so these guys have to subsist on nothing but shriveled leaves, and they’re even easier to tame than totos.”

“Hmm. Now that you mention it, they do have the same sort of blank looks on their faces as totos,” Ludo Ruu noted as he stared at the rock lizards up in the trees, showing no concern whatsoever.

“Many people in Sym and Jagar use them instead of totos. They don’t run quite as fast as a totos can, but they’re perfect for a nice leisurely trip.”

We continued farther down the path until our way was blocked by a hanging curtain.

“Now then, welcome to the beast tamer’s stage.”

Just like back at the entrance, Pino pulled the curtain open for us.

Rimee Ruu immediately exclaimed, “Wow!”

“Welcome. Please, come see what kind of show this old man can put on.”

This part of the tent was over toward the road, in the space that would normally be used for stalls. The room was a slightly misshapen square, around five meters on a side, with a simple flat dirt floor. Standing there awaiting us were an old man and two animals.

The old man was the one we had previously seen holding the reins of the rock lizards. His hair had gone shockingly white, and he had grown it out to be pretty long, as well as his beard. Over his skinny frame, he wore a long raggedy robe speckled with black and gray. He stood before us with an easygoing aura about him like some sort of hermit, and he had a gentle expression on his face.

To his left he had some kind of leopard, and on his right there was a lion. The leopard had a light-brown speckled pelt and was quite beautiful. At a guess, I’d say it was about as long as I was tall, and though it was a large animal, it looked incredibly graceful. But unlike the leopards I was familiar with, it had fangs like a sabertooth tiger sticking out of its mouth.

The lion, meanwhile, was a size bigger than the leopard. Its whole body rippled with rugged muscles, and rather than beautiful, it looked incredibly powerful. On top of that, its overgrown mane was seriously striking. It looked exactly like the lions I was familiar with, except the fur coating its body was a pale gray, and its eyes were a perfectly clear light blue.

“This silver algura lion is named Huey. And this one is Sara, a gaaje leopard,” the animal tamer said with a big grin. Though he seemed quite old, he also appeared to be rather hale and hearty. Still, he looked incredibly small, standing there between those two huge beasts. “Young guest, would you mind calling their names?” he asked, pointing at Rimee Ruu.

Rimee Ruu was taken aback, but after taking a moment to collect herself, she addressed the lion. “Huey?”

The silver lion made a sound like it was clearing its throat.

The young girl’s eyes sparkled and she called out to the other animal. “Sara!”

The fanged leopard gave a throat-clearing roar as well.

“That’s amazing! They can understand what we say?!”

“They can make out their own names and the names of the members of their pride,” the old man replied with a smile, pulling his hands out from inside his robe. He was holding a pair of balls that looked to be about fifteen centimeters in diameter. They seemed to be made of rope wrapped around some sort of tough fruit shell.

“Now try calling their names while throwing these,” he said as he tossed the balls Rimee Ruu’s way, only for Ludo Ruu to swiftly snatch them out of the air. After checking them over to make sure there wasn’t anything suspicious about them, he handed the balls to his little sister and Tara, one each.

Her eyes filled with anticipation, Rimee Ruu shouted, “Huey!” and threw the ball high into the air. The lion stretched out its hind legs and caught the ball in its mouth.

Moving to follow suit, Tara yelled, “Sara!” and threw her ball. However, her hand slipped and the ball went flying well off course. Even so, the leopard nimbly leaped and caught the ball from the side before it touched the ground.

“That’s amazing!” the two girls shouted, giving a round of applause.

At the same time, the old man clapped his hands once.

Huey and Sara bowed their heads, then tossed the balls in their mouths high into the air. They flew so far that it almost looked like they would reach the ceiling three or four meters up before they finally fell, only for Huey and Sara to bat them with their right front paws.

The balls once again flew into the air, and this time when they fell, the beasts batted them back up with their front left paws. The animals were alternating back and forth between their forelimbs, essentially juggling the balls.

It was an amazing act. Both Yumi and Myme were now smiling and clapping too.

Finally, the old man gave one more clap of his hands and opened his arms wide, cuing the two animals to headbutt their balls, which then flew through the air in an arc, returning to the palms of the old man’s hands.

Then, he pursed his lips and gave a short whistle.

Instantly, Huey kicked off the ground and leaped over the tamer’s head without any run-up. The second the lion landed, the old man whistled again, and now Sara leaped over him.

He continued to signal them by whistling with a nice quick tempo. The two beasts took turns leaping over him alongside the rhythm, forward and back, left and right. They would leap, land on the ground, face their tamer, and then leap again. What an incredibly invigorating display it was. Those claws seemed sharp enough to bring you to a tragic end if they so much as grazed you, but the old man just kept on smiling gently as the animals moved about him with almost mechanical precision.

“That’s amazing. It’s like there are people inside of them.”

“No, no human could leap through the air that easily.”

Even the hunters were now expressing their admiration.

Finally, the old man let out a single loud whistle.

Huey and Sara both jumped into the air simultaneously, crossing past one another over the old man’s head, then landing and lying down like nothing had happened.

“Now then, would anyone here like to try riding on Sara’s back?”

After a moment of silence, Rimee Ruu energetically waved her hands and said, “I do!”

“Hey, are you sure this is safe?” Ludo Ruu questioned, scrunching up his face and looking down at her.

“She will be in no danger whatsoever. If our dear guest here gets so much as a single scratch, I’ll offer you my wrinkled neck to do with as you will.”

“Giving us a single old man’s neck wouldn’t be much of a trade,” Ludo Ruu grumbled, looking displeased.

However, Rimee Ruu simply said, “It’s fine!” as she walked over in front of Sara.

The old man stroked the leopard’s head gently, and the beast lowered its huge body. Showing no fear whatsoever, Rimee Ruu climbed onto the creature’s back with a “Hup!”

Toor Deen probably would have gone pale with fear again if she had been there, but Tara and Myme were both watching with excitement in their eyes. The most flustered person present might have actually been Yumi.

With everyone following the action intently, the old man gave another whistle and the big cat slowly rose as Rimee Ruu excitedly exclaimed, “Yay!”

Sara started gradually strolling around the room. The beast had such an elegant, graceful stride. I couldn’t help but recall the impression I once had of Ai Fa being “like a leopard.”

“Would you be okay with trying a bit of running?”

“Yeah!” Rimee Ruu replied, wrapping her arms around the leopard’s neck.

With a snap of the old man’s figures, Sara’s elegant stride picked up pace. Since it was a small room, there was a limit to how fast they could get, but it was quick enough that I could feel a breeze as they passed by.

Rimee Ruu’s reddish-brown hair was fluttering about as she squealed in joy. Then the old man gave a sharp whistle, prompting the big cat to turn his way and kick off the ground. With Rimee Ruu still on the leopard’s back, the beast leaped over the man’s head once more.

“Uwaah!” Rimee Ruu clung tightly to Sara’s neck.

They flew through the air, going even higher than the big cats had when they were leaping about earlier, and yet when the leopard landed on the ground, the touchdown was still completely silent. It was an incredibly gentle landing. However, it was still enough to make Rimee Ruu’s arm strength suddenly give out, and she started to slide off of Sara’s back. Quicker than Ludo Ruu could move to intervene, though, Huey bit down on the nape of the girl’s neck.

“Eek!” Yumi shrieked.

However, Huey had only bitten the fabric of Rimee Ruu’s outfit. All that happened was the youngest Ruu daughter dangled in the air for a moment before being lowered to the ground.

“That really surprised me! Thanks, Huey!” Rimee Ruu exclaimed, burying her cheek in the lion’s mane with a smile. Huey just looked toward us, licking his own nose with a composed expression.

“Hmm. That certainly was impressive! These two are as clever as varb wolves!” Dan Rutim said with a hearty clap, sounding deeply moved.

With the gentle smile still on his face, the old man turned toward the former clan head. “Dear guest, you are a person of the forest’s edge, correct? Do you have any connection to the varb wolves that live on Mount Morga?”

“Indeed! I’ve met a varb wolf twice now, and I owe that beast my life!”

“How terribly interesting. I would love to form a bond with one myself,” the tamer replied, whistling once more. However, because Rimee Ruu was hugging both Huey and Sara at the moment, neither of them moved. Instead, the curtain off to our left suddenly moved.

The new animal that appeared caused the women of our group to coo in delight. It was a lion cub. Actually, it could have been the child of both Huey and Sara. It had a gray coat that was even paler than Huey’s, but it was also speckled like Sara’s.

At any rate, it looked to have only been born recently. It was around forty centimeters long, with a little body that made me think of a stuffed animal. That young animal was holding a large woven basket in its mouth as it toddled on over our way.

“That concludes the beast tamer’s performance. If you enjoyed yourselves, then please grant us some kindness.”

Thinking to myself that this was a pretty clever setup, I offered three red coins to cover the hunters as well. The women happily added half coins of their own, and then surrounded the young animal.

“Such a tiny baby! What’s this little one’s name?”

“That one is named Druey.”

“Um, is it all right to hug the little guy?” Myme asked, seeming unable to hold herself back.

“Please, go right ahead,” the old man replied with a smile.

After Pino had reached in and grabbed the basket from the side, Myme went ahead and scooped up the adorable little creature. It was no surprise that the women would all be so enchanted by such a fluffy little thing.

The little guy really did seem to be Huey and Sara’s cub. The fur around the peak of its head formed a tuft that seemed like a precursor of the mane to come, and I could see fangs peeking out of the edges of its mouth. They would probably develop into formidable fangs like a saber-tooth tiger’s as it grew, turning it into quite an impressive beast.

I guess we had leopons and ligers back in my old world. And I’m pretty sure ligers grew to be even bigger than the lions and tigers that were their parents.

At any rate, the little one was only around forty or so centimeters long right now. But its torso and limbs were thick, short, and stout compared to those of your average cat, which not only made it even more adorable, but also seemed like evidence that the little fellow would one day grow up to be unbelievably huge.

“It’s a good thing Jeeda isn’t here today,” Ludo Ruu muttered to no one in particular. It certainly would have been more than a little awkward having him appear before Sara with his cloak made from a gaaje leopard pelt.

But wild gaaje leopards are violent man-eaters. Those are the ones Jeeda and Bartha were hunting in Masara.

I was reminded that hunting gaaje had to be a job that was just as intense as hunting giba. If I ran into such a massive carnivore out in the mountains, the only thing I could do would be to compose my last will.

“We aren’t getting many guests today. Things were pretty lively up through yesterday, but they seem to have settled down for the moment,” Pino said, having returned to her usual tone.

The women of our group were busy doting on Druey. Of particular note, while Ama Min Rutim had remained silent up till now, she had broken out in a smile that was unusually wide for her as she hugged the cub. It was pretty amusing for me.

At any rate, it seemed like the people of the forest’s edge were enjoying the show put on by the Gamley Troupe as well. Thinking to myself that Lala Ruu would absolutely want to see this too, I turned toward Pino.

“You have thirteen members and quite a few animals to feed on top of that. It must be quite a lot to handle.”

“Especially considering both our people and the animals are such big eaters. Still, it’s generally just the humans who throw a noisy fit when they’re hungry,” Pino replied with a grin as she held the basket under her arm.

By this point, I had already seen a good number of the thirteen members of the troupe.

There was the acrobat Pino, the minstrel Neeya, the twins Arun and Amin, the little masked man Zan, the strongman Doga, the flute player Nachara, the fortune teller Rai, the beast tamer Shantu, the thin man Dilo, who had stood at the entrance, and the strange person in the suit of leather armor whose name I didn’t know, but whom I had seen when they were pulling the wagons into town on the first day. That was eleven.

“So, is Gamley the troupe leader’s name?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The troupe leader hates sunlight more than anything, so he won’t show himself before nightfall. And we’ve got one other blockhead in the troupe who only moves around at night, so the two of them are both probably snoring away right now.”

Adding in those two nocturnal members, that came out to exactly thirteen. I would be looking forward to meeting them three days from now.

“Ah, I haven’t seen that person wearing the leather armor. Do they prefer the night too?”

“Hmm? Ah, Rolo’s pretty useless in the morning and generally just holes up in the tent. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get everyone’s names sorted out. So that armored fellow’s name is Rolo?”

“Sir, are you saying you remembered all of our names?”

“Yeah. Aside from the one you said isn’t awake right now, I’d say I have everyone down.”

Pino’s eyes narrowed as if she were staring at something dazzling. “That’s wonderful to hear. Well, the blockhead who only moves around at night is named Zetta, and the fortuneteller’s full name is Railanos.”

“Zetta and Railanos? Thanks, got it.”

“Hey. You know, I still haven’t even heard your name yet.”

“Oh, Kamyua didn’t mention it? I’m Asuta of the Fa clan. Sorry for being so late in introducing myself.”

“Asuta of the Fa clan... That’s a wonderful name,” Pino said, grabbing ahold of her fluttering sleeves and giving an adorable bow. “You seem to have already memorized my name, but I’m Pino the acrobat. I look forward to working alongside you all until the end of the festival, Asuta of the Fa clan.”

“Right back at you.”

Pino still remained a deeply mysterious girl I didn’t really know anything about. However, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that she wasn’t a bad person. Even if I had a terrible eye for that kind of thing, I still hoped that my impression was correct.

“By the way, just what sort of relationship do you have with Kamyua? We’ve gotten pretty deeply entangled with him ourselves.”

“Well, he wanders all over the continent, so we just sort of run into him now and then. But he’s definitely an interesting guy. He seems to be rather skilled too.”

“That’s certainly true,” I replied with a smile. Unsurprisingly, even an eccentric group like this one still regarded Kamyua Yoshu as being an intriguing fellow.

“Well, we really stand out while we’re traveling, so it’s not rare at all for us to get attacked by bandits. Huey and Sara really come in handy at times like those.”

“Yeah, I could imagine bandits just up and fleeing at the sight of them.”

They had that big fellow, Doga, and the little guy, Zan, on top of that. With formidable people like them and a collection of intimidating beasts on hand, it was hard to imagine a bandit group that would try their luck with these guys.

If they travel without bodyguards, it’s only natural that they’d be well prepared.

Upon hearing that, I thought I could kind of understand the strangely fierce aura I had noticed from Zan, who specialized in throwing knives.

I felt like I had learned enough about them for now. “Well then, I guess it’s about time for us to leave. Thank you so much for taking the time to guide us today.”

“And thank you too. If the mood strikes you, feel free to come back any time. Huey and Sara can show you all sorts of other tricks too, after all.”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely be back!” Rimee Ruu energetically replied. After having given the young cub some love for a while, she was now snuggled up against Huey’s huge frame.

“We’re looking forward to visiting your stall again too. We’ll be counting on you for some delicious food tomorrow,” Pino said with a bewitching smile.

And with that, the day’s performance was brought to a close without incident. We would next visit the tent at night, three days from now, after we wrapped up our business on the day of dawn, when the sun god’s revival festival would finally kick off properly.