Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: The Night Before the Festival

1

The sun god’s revival festival would begin on the day of dawn. The day before that, the twenty-first of the violet month, proved to be just as busy as always.

The only change was that tomorrow we would be serving our whole roast giba in the morning and open for business at night. The preparations for the stalls would be postponed to the early afternoon, so it might have seemed like we could take it easy...but no, such shortsighted thinking would have caused us big problems. The cooking that we usually did for the inns in the morning would have to be done in the afternoon before evening arrived too, which required careful planning.

Well, thinking about it at its simplest, all we had done was add the serving of the whole roast giba to our routine tasks, so there was no way our workload would be getting lighter rather than heavier. It nearly moved me to tears that not only had the chefs I had hired for coins volunteered to help out, but the members of the Ruu clan had too. Of course, that wasn’t just on account of it making the work easier. It also made me happy that Donda Ruu and everyone else accepted my words about how offering the whole roast giba for free and running the stalls at night would help to strengthen our bonds with the people of Genos.

Up until now, the people of the forest’s edge had taken care to keep away from the post town during the revival festival in order to avoid any unnecessary strife. Since their only god was the forest itself, they didn’t care at all about the sun god’s revival festival. And since the people of Genos avoided them to begin with, there was even less reason for them to go anywhere near a festival in town. That had been the stance held by the people of the forest’s edge prior to this year.

It would soon be seven months since Ai Fa had taken me in. In that time, the thinking of the people of the forest’s edge, or at least those with ties to the Ruu, had changed dramatically. Hopefully the revival festival would serve as an opportunity to push their relationship with the people of Genos even further in that direction. With that in mind, I certainly wouldn’t complain no matter how busy I got.

“Well then, we’ll be back at the lower fifth hour, so I’ll see you then.”

After finishing up business in the post town, the Fa group separated from Reina Ruu’s to go our own way, and today wasn’t the only day we would be doing so. For the duration of the revival festival, I would be putting a hold on the usual study sessions in order to focus purely on prep work for business.

We five chefs and Ai Fa got into our two wagons and headed for the Fa house. It was the Gaaz woman who was holding the reins for Fafa. During this period, the temporary staff from the Gaaz, Ratsu, and Dagora would be essential for handling the prep work.

After receiving the report from their subordinate Dagora clan, the Beim had also pledged to lend their assistance, but they wanted to build up a stockpile of pico leaves and firewood first before sending over any of their women, so another newcomer would be joining us on the day following the day of dawn.

“Asuta, you guys are planning to head to the Daleim lands tonight, aren’t you?” Yun Sudra called out from inside the wagon. “I would have loved to join you if it were possible. I’ll definitely try to convince my clan head before next time!”

“Right. We’d love to have you along if it won’t be a burden on your household.”

The members of our group who would be helping with the whole roast giba tomorrow morning were planning to stay the night at Dora’s house for two reasons. The Daleim lands were closer to the post town than the settlement at the forest’s edge, and Rimee Ruu and I definitely wanted to get closer to Dora and Tara too.

However, it would be an imposition to have too many people visit all at once, and the members of the small clans had work they needed to handle too, so the chefs heading to the Daleim lands were myself, Rimee Ruu, Lala Ruu, and Toor Deen. The hunters guarding us would be Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, Shin Ruu, and Dan Rutim.

That still made for a pretty large group, but Dora readily agreed to our request even so. Apparently, they temporarily hired a large number of people during busy periods, and they had plenty of bedding to spare.

Then, first thing tomorrow morning, the four of us would get to work, and a little later, Reina Ruu’s group would come to lend their assistance. The fact that the revival festival and the Ruu clan’s break period overlapped was a big help.

“Ah, it looks like everyone’s gathered.”

The Fa house had come into view, and next to it I spotted a group of six women waiting for us, from the Fou, Ran, and Liddo clans.

“Sorry for the wait. How are your preparations going?”

“Well, the poitan are all baked, and the herbs have been ground,” the wife of the oldest son of the Fou house responded as the representative for the group.

Out of all the different things increasing our workload for the revival festival, the production of the curry base stood out especially. We had only needed to prepare enough for about a hundred people for the inns up till now, but over the last several days, that number had rapidly increased. That was why I had needed to leave grinding the massive amount of herbs to these women who didn’t accompany us to the stalls.

When it came to actually cooking, they didn’t tend to get very far without my supervision. But anyone could handle tasks like grinding herbs or baking poitan once they learned how to do it. Without such assistance from the Fou, Ran, and Liddo, we never would have been able to expand our business so much.

It was worth noting that Cyclaeus had especially valued herbs from Sym, so there had been a particularly large amount of them in the pantry of the Turan manor. But according to a report from Polarth that I had heard through Yang, it wouldn’t be too long until they were exhausted at this rate.

“Reportedly, the issue of needing to increase our imports has been raised to several merchants from Sym, and similar conversations have been had in regards to tau oil and sugar,” Yang had said.

Cyclaeus had monopolized those ingredients to use in his own meals, but now that he had fallen, so much supply had flooded the castle town that they couldn’t possibly use it all. We had been asked to help introduce those unfamiliar ingredients to the post town so that they wouldn’t go to waste. At this point, however, it seemed we had successfully overcome that challenge when it came to herbs from Sym and seasonings from Jagar.

When it came to the herbs from Sym in particular, I had been using up the majority of the supply all on my own. I could recall how astounded and yet pleased Polarth had looked about that.

“Also, the Meem clan delivered some meat here not long ago,” a Ran woman said, pointing at a wooden box I had purchased in the post town.

“Ah, a young giba? That’s a big help!”

I had let a number of clans know a while back that if they caught a young giba of the right size for a whole roast giba, I would like to buy it off of them.

I would have to burn the fur off its whole body right away and then pickle it in pico leaves. Had I not gotten enough of these by the day of, I would have had to use the dressed carcass of a mature giba instead, so this was a real relief.

“Um, which clan were the Meem again?”

“The Meem are a clan located right between the Suun and Liddo settlements. Just like the Auro, they fall under the Ratsu clan.”

There were only seventeen small clans without blood ties to one of the leading clans at the forest’s edge. Among them, eleven approved of the business run by the Fa clan, and we were now actually getting help from the majority of them.

Aside from the Deen and Liddo who fell under the Zaza, we were getting aid from the Fou, Ran, Sudra, Gaaz, Ratsu, Meem, and Auro. I was fairly sure the Gaaz had a related clan called the Matua as well, so that made for eight clans in total. Raielfam Sudra and Baadu Fou helped teach them how to let blood and dissect giba during their break periods, and so we were now able to purchase meat from all of them. Raielfam Sudra had also told me that once his next break period arrived, he intended to visit the last three clans who had been left out last time because they were so far away.

There were only five small clans who opposed our business in the post town—the ones that were leftover when you subtracted our eleven supporters and the Fa clan itself from the total seventeen. Out of those, the Beim and Dagora had already begun learning bloodletting, dissection, and how to make delicious food.

Considering the fact that all the leading clans and those under them were already learning those techniques, that meant only six clans—three that approved of us and three that disapproved—still lived the same way they used to.

Thinking about it that way, I had caused quite a revolution here at the forest’s edge. But while I was happy to realize that, it also made me feel seriously tense too.

“All right, let’s get to work. Please split up into your separate groups.”

When it came to making the curry base, it wasn’t as if we were only making enough for the following day each time. Currently, we had enough prepared for the next five days, and each day we made sure to maintain that much of a stockpile in the pantry.

We chefs split into two groups and got to work on our separate tasks. One group mixed the ground herbs together in the required proportions and gave them a light roasting. The other group took the herbs that had been roasted the day before and made them into the curry base.

One woman each from the Ran and Liddo were at the point where I could leave everything up to the roasting process to them, so the two of them had taken on the role of guiding the Gaaz and Ratsu women. Meanwhile, I took charge of the group preparing the curry base. At present, the only one who had fully mastered the process was Toor Deen, but it seemed like Yun Sudra and the Fou woman would get there soon.

Naturally, I was paying everyone for this work. The minimum hourly wage I offered was two red coins, while the highest rate was five red coins for Toor Deen. The prospects were looking good for giba curry becoming a regular dish, but that meant there would be a need for more people to handle the prep work for it in the future, which forced me to make a plan to get them trained.

If I could leave the curry base production entirely up to them, I would split the profits from it with them as their wages, and then I could spend my time on developing another dish. Just like with the smoked meat production, I was in the process of establishing a system for the division of labor.

“Once this is done, next up is the pasta, right? Is there any other work besides that to be taken care of?” Toor Deen asked while chopping up aria.

“Let’s see,” I said, giving the matter careful thought. “Our real fight will begin in the early afternoon tomorrow. We’ve got to get things ready so that our work will go as quickly as possible. Basically, that means sorting out our ingredients and cutting the meat. And we’ll also need to make the tau oil sauce used for the poitan wraps today.”

We were going to need to finish both the food for the inns and the prep work for the stalls at the same time, so it was incredibly important to come up with detailed procedures. There was no other option than for me to give it all a whole lot of thought. Reina and Sheera Ruu were undoubtedly doing much the same thing for the Ruu clan too.

It was then that Ai Fa let out a strange “Hrm.”

I could hear the sound of a wagon approaching from the north.

When I turned to look without thinking, what I saw made me gulp. It was a wagon with no canopy pulled by a totos with somewhat blackish feathers. Holding the reins was a brawny man wearing a giba skull on his head.

“The head of the Dom clan? It’s been some time,” Ai Fa said.

Deek Dom was even bulkier than Donda Ruu. He silently got down from the driver’s seat. Lem Dom and Sufira Zaza had been riding in the wagon behind him.

“I hear that you suffered serious injuries in the battle with the lord of the forest, head of the Fa clan... How have you been doing since then?”

“Normal movements no longer hurt at all. In another ten days, I will be able to start training to reforge my dulled body back into shape.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m pleased to know that a hunter as excellent as you did not fully lose her strength,” Deek Dom stated, his black eyes blazing from within the shadowy interior of his giba skull. He had such presence and intensity about him that I had trouble believing he was actually the same age as me and Ai Fa. “Up until a few days ago, my foolish clan member has been imposing on you greatly...which is why I’m truly sorry to be making a further request of you today.”

“Clan head of the Dom, what request do you wish to make of me?” Ai Fa asked back, perfectly calm.

Deek Dom held his tongue for a bit, but then he replied, “My fool of a younger sister seems unable to cast aside her desire to live as a hunter. If that is how she insists on being, there is a hurdle I would have her overcome... To face the Fa clan head in a contest of strength once her wounds have healed, and to win. That was the condition I set for her.”

I almost dropped the aria I was holding without thinking.

Ai Fa remained silent, with her expression perfectly composed. Staring straight at her, Deek Dom continued. “Though you are a woman, you possess unparalleled strength as a hunter. I do feel that a woman of similar capability would be qualified to live as a hunter. But put another way, I believe that one must be a hunter on your level in order to be permitted to cast aside her work as a woman...”

Ai Fa still offered no reply.

“If Lem proves she possesses the strength needed to defeat you, I shall rein in my feelings on the matter and allow her to become a hunter.”

“You would entrust the fate of your precious family member to me?” Ai Fa asked back, terribly quiet. “I’ve spent a fairly long time with Lem Dom. If I became attached to her during that time, I could feel a desire to see her wishes fulfilled. In which case, I might yield the victory to her, and you would then allow her to become a hunter without having the proper strength for it, leaving her fated to die out in the forest...”

“I believe that you are not so shallow of a person as to do such a thing. And if Lem’s fate is thrown off its proper path as a result, then that would be my fault entirely,” Deek Dom calmly replied despite the fire burning in his black eyes. “I’ll swear here and now that I would not hold an unjust grudge against you in such a case. I would simply live my life as a hunter until it runs out, cursing my own foolishness all the while.”

“I wonder what I could have done to have earned such trust from you.”

“That’s for me to decide, not you, head of the Fa clan.”

After that, Deek Dom held his tongue and Lem Dom silently stepped forward beside him.

“I wish to make this request of you too, Ai Fa. It seems this is the only path open to me to become a hunter while remaining a member of the Dom clan.” Lem Dom’s expression also looked unusually calm, though she was wearing a smile that seemed to be directed far off toward the future. “I really do want to live alongside Deek. I want to become a hunter as a member of the Dom clan. As Lem Dom. And I swear that if I lose to you, I will never say anything about casting aside the Dom name or becoming a hunter again.”

That was the conclusion Lem and Deek Dom had reached over the course of the last several days.

Ai Fa closed her eyes for a moment, and then in her usual tone stated, “I would never sully a sacred contest of strength between hunters. As long as you understand that much, then I shall accept your request.”

“Thanks, Ai Fa,” Lem Dom replied, her eyes narrowing blissfully.

“You have my gratitude for this kindness, clan head of the Fa,” Deek Dom said, bowing his head. “In that case, I shall allow Lem to continue living near the Fa house as she has been doing. After all, that is what she wishes for. And Asuta of the Fa clan, if it is not an inconvenience to do so, I hope that you will continue to give her work...”

“Right, got it,” I answered while noticing that Sufira Zaza was glaring at Ai Fa with teary eyes. She must have been praying for Deek Dom to refuse to allow any argument and refuse Lem Dom’s request. When that didn’t happen, I was sure she had been hoping that Ai Fa would turn them down.

It wasn’t as if I couldn’t understand how she felt, but it was up to the people involved to decide these things. I had no intention of interjecting when they were all so resolved to see this through.

“Very well. I ask that you continue to watch over my foolish younger sister for now. I need to see Sufira Zaza back to the Ruu settlement, so please excuse me.”

“Sufira Zaza is still staying at the Ruu settlement?”

“Yes. It seems Gulaf Zaza said he wished for her to observe the Ruu’s and Fa’s actions in the post town for a bit longer.”

With that, Deek Dom and Sufira Zaza departed, leaving just Lem Dom behind.

“Well then, once again, I’ll be counting on you two. Could I help out with anything in order to earn my dinner for the night?” Lem Dom asked, showing her usual stubbornness as she flashed the whites of her teeth in a big grin.