Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 4.6

6

After we had all finished cleaning up the stalls, we headed to the Gamley Troupe’s tent.

The number of our people attending this time around had doubled. Myself, Rimee Ruu, and Ama Min Rutim were the chefs who would be going again after being part of the first group, and Lala Ruu, Sheera Ruu, and Yun Sudra had asked to come along too.

Jiza Ruu had told us we should continue to have the same number of guards as chefs, so on that side of things, we were bringing six more people: Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, Shin Ruu, Dan Rutim, Gazraan Rutim, and Giran Ririn. Every last one of them had made it into the final eight of the Ruu clan’s contest of strength, so I could tell Jiza Ruu was being especially cautious for this outing.

Though Rau Lea hadn’t been chosen for guard duty, he didn’t seem especially upset about it, and was just enjoying a chat with Yamiru Lea. I had figured him to be the type who would be brimming with curiosity about the show, but it seemed he was just fine as long as Yamiru Lea was by his side.

On the other hand, someone like Darmu Ruu would never have had any interest in traveling performers. However, there was someone staring sadly at his calm and collected profile: Sheera Ruu, who had just been wearing such a content smile a little while ago. She was quite fond of Darmu Ruu, and had surely wanted to see the show together with him. But since he had failed to make into the top eight at the last two festivals of the hunt, he hadn’t been chosen as a guard.

Just as I was thinking that was a bit of a shame, Rimee Ruu suddenly called out, “Jiza! Tara’s coming with us too today! So wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring along one more hunter?!”

“Leaving six with you should be plenty...but if you want to add one more, then go ahead and do so.”

“Thanks! Come on then, Darmu!”

“What?” the second Ruu son questioned doubtfully, turning to face his youngest sister. “Why me? I don’t have any interest in acrobatics or the like.”

“But we should all be together, right? And the women are all from the Ruu and Rutim, so shouldn’t it be the same for the men too?”

“Hmph... It’s true that it would be better not to trouble our subordinate clans on your behalf.”

And so, it was decided that Darmu Ruu would join us after all.

After that, Jiza Ruu gave out some new orders. “Since you’ll be stepping into such a suspicious place, exercise your greatest caution, Darmu. One man should accompany each of the women.”

In all likelihood, Jiza Ruu was just giving orders as the person in charge here. However, I had no doubt that Rimee Ruu had already thought this far ahead when she spoke, and now she was smiling in a way that said, “I did it!” as she heard her eldest brother’s statement.

At any rate, we ended up splitting into boy/girl pairs. The four that were decided on right from the start were me and Ai Fa, Rimee and Ludo Ruu, Lala and Shin Ruu, and Gazraan and Ama Min Rutim.

“The Ruu clan should stick with the Ruu, right?” Rimee Ruu declared with a mischievous, devilish little smile. It seemed Sheera and Darmu Ruu were also set to be paired up. That would leave the already acquainted Dan Rutim and Tara, and by process of elimination placed Yun Sudra with Giran Ririn.

“I’m Yun Sudra of the Sudra clan. Thank you for looking after me.”

“Ah, think nothing of it. I am the head of the Ririn clan, Giran Ririn,” the hunter replied with a bow.

“My...” Yun Sudra let slip. “You’re not only from one of the clans under the Ruu, but the head of your clan, yes? There’s no need to act so politely toward a woman from a small clan like myself.”

“Is that so? I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to a woman outside of our connected clans in some time, so I was unsure how to act toward you,” Giran Ririn replied with a carefree grin. He was a man in his prime with a medium build, and his mustache and his eyes with their smile lines left quite an impression. Beneath that affable appearance, though, he possessed enough strength to take down even Mida and Ji Maam in contests of strength. It was a lovely sight, seeing him standing there alongside the young Yun Sudra. With their similar gray-brown hair, it made them look as if they were father and daughter or something.

“So, when will that Tara girl be showing up? I didn’t see her at the stall. She’s rather late now, isn’t she?” Dan Rutim asked.

But then, Rimee Ruu leaped into the air and shouted, “She’s here!”

Three familiar figures were approaching through the crowd: Tara and her two older brothers.

“Sorry we’re late! Things just got sort of hectic!”

“My apologies. We’ve got a ton of relatives gathered at our house in order to celebrate.”

We had already heard about this earlier, that the Daleim lands had their own way of celebrating.

“Hmm? Where’s Dora? It’s rare for him not to show up at a time like this,” Dan Rutim said.

“Our father went and drank himself into a stupor. He’s not the strongest drinker to begin with and he started at midday, so it’s really no surprise.”

“How sad! And to think, he said we should have a drinking contest someday!” the former clan head replied with a hearty chuckle, while the two sons smiled back at him in amusement. Dan Rutim and the folks from Dora’s household really seemed to be on the same wavelength at this point.

“All right, please take good care of our younger sister. Um, do you mind if we wait here...?” Dora’s older son asked, to which Jiza Ruu gave a confused tilt of his head.

“I don’t especially mind, but I’d imagine the majority of those you share ties with will be leaving.”

“Still, we’d like to get to know the people who are staying here too.”

After a bit of contemplation, Jiza Ruu gave a slow nod.

“Thank you,” the two sons said together.

“Ah, are you all heading to the tent? It’s not dangerous or anything, but you’d better watch out to make sure the other visitors don’t snatch your coins or anything,” Yumi called out from her stall, now sweaty from the heat of her metal tray. She had started up an hour later than us and the okonomiyaki took a little longer to serve, so she was still open for business.

“Right, we’ll see you later. Sorry that you ended up getting left behind.”

“I told you, don’t worry about it! In fact, we should get even more customers without you guys around!”

Now that the other giba dishes had all run out, The Westerly Wind’s stall had a long winding snake of a line in front of it. As she cooked up the batter on her tray, Yumi shot me a grin reminiscent of one of Ludo Ruu’s.

“All right, how about we get going? We’ll see you later, Jiza Ruu,” I said.

“Indeed. If any sort of incident arises, be certain to follow the instructions of the hunters.”

Jiza Ruu’s group would be remaining behind, waiting in our spaces with the stalls and wagons. Among them, Toor Deen and the Ratsu woman saw us off with smiles.

A moment later, we arrived at the Gamley Troupe’s tent. Even though an hour or so had passed since sunset, there didn’t seem to have been any change in the flow of customers. It wasn’t tremendously crowded, but there were always folks approaching here and there. I saw three young women lined up chatting excitedly in front of the fortune teller’s booth too.

Perhaps because we had closed down a while ago, there were now fewer people along the illuminated street, yet there was still no shortage of passersby holding containers of fruit wine as they went. And in the middle of it all, the guards were still standing in the street looking bored.

“Hmm. It really is quite a suspicious place,” Giran Ririn remarked in an amused tone as he looked up at the huge tent. He was the oldest of the group after Dan Rutim, but his sense of curiosity seemed to be as strong as that of the younger members.

We let Rimee Ruu and Tara take the lead once more as we stepped into the tent.

Inside hung what looked like a lantern with a flame enclosed inside glass, but beyond that, it was as black as night. However, there was a similar light a few meters ahead, so we went ahead and walked in that direction.

There were a number of westerners standing around under that light, paying coins to the people in charge of reception—the little guy, Zan, and the minstrel, Neeya. What an odd pair they were.

“Oh beautiful maiden, at last you have come to meet me!” Neeya joyfully remarked upon noticing Ai Fa. Instantly, my clan head half-closed her eyes.

“Minstrel, at the moment you are the one running a business, while I’m here as a customer.”

“Ah, finally I hear your voice. It’s truly beautiful, like the beating wings of a fuluneya bird.”

“Allow me to state this more clearly... I find you unpleasant. Both for your strangely cloying voice and your frivolous words.”

Neeya stared at her blankly for a moment, then broke out in a captivated smile. “Aah, I simply cannot get enough of those eyes, like a gaaje leopard stalking her prey! Even though it’s my job to make people feel at ease, I myself am feeling some tension here!”

Ultimately, Ai Fa just held her tongue, and I gave an exhausted sigh. I probably hadn’t been forced to deal with someone this flippant since Kamyua Yoshu. “We’re ready to pay the entry fee. Is Pino working right now?”

“Pino? Yes, I’m sure she’s off helping or hindering somebody somewhere around the tent. Her very existence is like a spectacle in and of itself. Take care not to scream if you happen to encounter her in the dark.”

Apparently, this guy’s frivolity ran full force in all directions. But anyway, we added our coins to the woven basket as the small man silently indicated, then he lifted the curtain that led farther in.

Beyond it lay the path through the thicket we had walked the other day. There were lights spaced out at intervals, yet it still remained just as eerie as any forest would be at night. The guests who entered in front of us had already disappeared from view, and I heard a man’s scream coming from the end of the path.

“Ah, is the black ape still there in the same spot? That’s something to look forward to,” Dan Rutim remarked in amusement as he watched over Tara.

We made it all the way to the end of the path without running across either the seven-colored bird or the large turtle. But as soon as we got there, Rimee Ruu excitedly proclaimed, “Ah, it’s Huey and Sara!”

Rather than the black ape, we found the silver lion and the leopard awaiting us on the other side of the woven net. It was no surprise that folks seeing them for the first time would scream. Both of the massive beasts had eyes that shone brightly, even in the dim light of the lanterns. The “oohs” and “aahs” I was hearing from behind me seemed to have come from Giran Ririn and Yun Sudra.

Dan Rutim went, “Hmm...” and stuck his left hand beyond the netting. Instantly, Huey and Sara roared out just as loudly as the black ape had, seriously surprising us.

“What are you doing?! You shouldn’t scare Huey and Sara like that!” Rimee Ruu berated him.

“Ah, sorry. They really are clever creatures.”

Sure enough, the two of them wouldn’t attack anyone without permission from their master. Still, Rimee Ruu certainly wasn’t the only one astounded by how bold and mischievous Dan Rutim was.

After staring in awe at those frightening yet beautiful beasts for a while, we went ahead and continued down the path.

I could hear voices constantly making noise on the other side of the curtains. The majority seemed to be from guests surprised by the performance, but I could also hear the cries of ferocious animals mixed in, and even a strange howl that might have belonged to either a beast or a man; I couldn’t tell. It all built up both our anticipation and unease. However, we didn’t run across any people or creatures on our way to the next space.

We eventually reached the area where the beast tamer, Shantu, had performed. After pulling back the curtain and stepping inside, we found no one there. Just a vase sitting on the ground. It was around fifty centimeters tall and forty wide, with a rounded shape. It had strange patterns engraved into it that might have been in a style from Sym and looped handles on both the left and right. It didn’t have any sort of lid or plug, but I could only see total darkness inside.

We went ahead and spread out around the room, circling the vase at a distance.

“From what I can sense, there seems to be some sort of unusual creature within,” Dan Rutim whispered, the anticipation clear in his voice.

As if in response, the vase began trembling. It gave these short little shakes as if it were a living creature itself. If there really was an animal moving around inside, it had exquisite timing.

However, the thing hiding in the vase was no beast. Ten fingers wriggled up over the brim, causing both Rimee Ruu and Yun Sudra to shriek.

As if enjoying the girls’ reaction, the fingers restlessly stretched out. They were long, slender, bony...and clearly those of a human. Despite how small the vase was, they obviously belonged to a grown man. Something was clearly off here, considering the size of the vase and the fingers coming out of it. And how was a pot with such a wide opening so pitch black inside? Even if we were talking about a child with fingers like those of an adult, there was no way they could compress themselves all the way down to the bottom. After all, much as it was repetitive to bring up again, the vase was only fifty centimeters tall.

As we were all watching in a fluster, the vase tumbled over backward. However, the fingers kept on moving restlessly along the ground, and then the whole vase started darting about the room. It was like something out of a nightmare. Were we dealing with some sort of hermit crab with limbs that looked just like human fingers?

“What is this thing? Are we going to have to shatter the vase?” Darmu Ruu grumbled in a threatening voice, and once again as if in response, the vase suddenly stopped.

Several of the women shrieked again.

The mouth of the vase was now facing straight down, and human arms started growing out of it. In addition to the bony fingers, we could now see the backs of the hands they were attached to, followed by the wrists, and the forearms. A pair of bony limbs were wriggling out of the vase and holding it up.

By the time the elbows had made an appearance, some black object started dangling down. It was as if the very darkness inside the pot had been dumped out, but it was actually a head with long blackish-brown hair. Following soon after was a long, thin human face. At this point, a man’s neck and a pair of arms from the elbow down were extending from the mouth of the upside-down vase. Once again, it was a nightmarish sight. Diagonally behind me, I could hear someone gasp.

Then the pot fell backward once more, and the rest of the man’s parts crawled out. The person who appeared from within was clad in a dark robe and was terribly skinny.

With a vacant expression, he slowly rose to his feet. He might have been skinny, but he was also tall. About as tall as Gazraan Rutim. He was the man named Dilo, who had been standing at reception the other day. Even with his dark brown hair hiding half of his face, there was no mistaking his tall and lean figure that made him look kind of like an easterner.

“The Gamley Troupe welcomes you... I am the nighttime guide, Dilo the vase man...”

“What an amazing performance! How did a tall fellow like you manage to contort yourself to fit into such a small vase?!”

However, Dan Rutim’s frank question naturally received no response.

Well, I was pretty sure similar tricks existed back in my home country too. By dislocating joints and the like, even a fairly sizable man could fit into a vase of that size. The insides must have looked pitch-black thanks to his hair or clothing. It was no surprise that we could make such a mistake in this darkness.

Still, the man was just far too tall and had an incredibly mysterious aura. If he had told us he used magic from Sym to hide in some sort of subspace, I might have almost believed it.

“The path splits in two from here. The right door takes you to the knight’s room and the left to the twins... Which fate will you choose, dear guests?”

“Hmm. ‘Knight’ is a word for a warrior, isn’t it? My interest is more drawn that way, but what about the rest of you?” Dan Rutim asked, seeming like the most excited out of all of us. The knight must have referred to that peculiar armored man, while the twins were obviously Arun and Amin. Since nobody else offered an opinion on the matter, we ended up following Dan Rutim’s preference.

With a relaxed nod from Dilo the vase man, we went ahead and pulled back the next curtain. Once more, we found ourselves faced with a thicket-lined path under the tent.

Just as the curtain closed behind us after we had all gone through, a woman’s scream sounded out from the other side. In all likelihood, the next customers had stepped into the room while Dilo was returning to his vase. That would have surely been a nightmarish sight all its own.

“You didn’t seem that surprised, Tara. Did you already know about that guy?” Rimee Ruu whispered while we were walking along the dark path.

“Yeah, since he was here last year too. But it’s really incredible no matter how many times you see it!” Tara quietly answered.

There wasn’t any particular need to keep their voices down, but they must have felt overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the place.

I also heard Shin Ruu ask Lala Ruu, “Are you all right?”

With my vision, I had no confidence I could even make out where all thirteen members of our group were at the moment, so when I looked over and saw Ai Fa’s face with her commanding gaze, I started to think that Jiza Ruu’s proposal really had been a wise one.

“Hmm? I can sort of sense people quarreling,” Ludo Ruu reported as he stood up front, guarding the two youngest of the group alongside Dan Rutim. “But I can’t sense any bloodlust. Is it just part of the show?”

Since the word “knight” had been used, did the show involve some sort of display of combat? As we walked forward cautiously, I started to notice the disturbance myself. There was the sound of some sort of solid objects clashing and the tremor of something heavy falling to the ground beyond the darkness.

Then our field of view suddenly opened wide. This time around, it wasn’t a room partitioned off within the tent, but an open space in the middle of the thicket.

Right in the center of it, the strongman, Doga, and the armored fellow, Rolo, were fighting. We spread out as much as we could in order to take in the clash.

Doga held a massive club, while Rolo was equipped with a wooden sword. However, the armored guy seemed totally helpless when faced with the strongman who was over two meters tall. He only looked to be around my height, and though his whole body was clad in leather armor, he still had a rather slender profile. Honestly, he almost looked like some sort of wooden doll.

With a stiff motion, Rolo took a swing at Doga. His legs even left the ground, making his attack look extra silly. The uninspiring slash of the wooden sword was easily swept aside by Doga’s club. And then, the strongman kicked Rolo hard right in the gut with a huge leg like an elephant’s.

The armored knight flew two meters or so through the air and then crumpled to the ground. Yes, “crumpled” was definitely the right way to put it. I couldn’t help but be concerned about whether it was really an act.

As we looked on silently, Rolo started clattering and trembling. Then, his slender hips suddenly lifted into the air. It made for quite a comical sight, with just his rear sticking up like that.

Trembling like a newborn deer, he feebly rose. Specifically, his lower half stood up, but his head remained on the ground in an incredibly unnatural pose. Then both his arms rose, and they seemed to pull the rest of his body upright. What a strange sight.

While he was fully standing now, it was as if the core of his body was missing. His limbs were all feebly bent, and his head was lolling to one side. Looking closely, only his right heel was touching the ground, and similarly, only the tip of his left foot was supporting him.

Rolo started rattling and walking over toward Doga. With the way he was moving, it was like all the joints in his body were dislocated and he was being manipulated by strings from overhead. With not even the tiniest bit of his skin showing, he looked just like a marionette.

Ah, maybe it’s that sort of act?

With those humorous motions, Rolo sliced at Doga once more, and sure enough, Doga casually swiped the wooden sword aside again. The momentum of the counter seemed to push Rolo backward, and he started to fall over. However, as if someone went and pushed the pause button midway through, Rolo froze in that falling position. One of his legs was in the air as his waist bent diagonally, and his neck dangled loosely. It wouldn’t normally be possible to stop in that pose. It was just so unnatural that I couldn’t help thinking that he really was a doll being held up by strings.

This is what they call pantomime, isn’t it?

After a fair bit of time, Rolo once again stood back up and launched another choppy attack at Doga. However, this time around, Doga’s club swept his slender body aside. Rolo flew through the air once more, but rather than crumbling to the ground, he stopped in another unnatural pose. And then, he charged yet again.

As I stole a glance around at everyone, I found Rimee Ruu’s and Tara’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, the Rutim husband and wife wore relaxed smiles, and Dan Rutim’s eyes were wide open. One of Ludo Ruu’s eyebrows was raised, Yun Sudra was watching with a look of surprise, and Giran Ririn wore a wide grin. Lala Ruu looked excited as she clung to Shin Ruu’s arm, and Shin Ruu himself appeared to be puzzled.

And then, my gaze met Sheera Ruu’s and she shot me a gentle smile.

Both my partner and hers were frowning, with looks of such bewilderment and suspicion that they were like wild animals who had come across a space shuttle. They seemed to be questioning how to even interpret what they were seeing.

It was fair to say both Ai Fa and Darmu Ruu were seriously surprised as they intently watched the armored man’s performance. If I hadn’t had any idea of what pantomime was, I might have felt just as astonished as they were. Those who took it as a comedic show simply enjoyed it, while those who saw it as a bizarre display of physical prowess looked bewildered. That was the overall impression I got.

As I was thinking all that, though, suddenly a beast’s roar sounded out.

Half of our group instantly ducked their heads, while the other half placed their hands on the grips of their blades.

A large black figure came down right between Rolo and Doga. It was a giant black-furred beast like a gorilla—the black vamda ape.

The eyes of the creature that had suddenly appeared were blazing deep red, and with its huge hand it grabbed Rolo’s head and lifted his body high in the air. Rolo’s limbs stiffly flailed about in a truly pathetic display.

The black ape’s arms were even more burly than Doga’s, and it used them to fling Rolo’s body into the air. The knight’s body flew so lightly it seemed almost unbelievable, until he slammed into an especially thick tree trunk and fell to the ground.

The black ape placed both fists on the ground and bent its thick neck backward to let out another roar. As soon as its roar ended, an eerie silence fell over the space. At some point, Doga had disappeared from sight. Rolo just sat there unmoving, looking like a pile of junk.

With its red eyes, the black ape glared over at our group. But then, there was a clattering sound from Rolo’s armor as his body stirred. The beast vacantly turned his way, and our gazes followed along.

Rolo rose with the same sort of humorously awkward movements as before. With his wooden sword raised, he made an unsteady charge toward the black ape. And when the sword just poked the beast on the head, it was the black ape’s turn to collapse to the ground.

With his wooden sword held high, Rolo let out a victory cry in a shrill, mechanical-sounding voice. “Uraaaaah!” Apparently, it was actually his strange shouting that we had heard from beyond the curtain.

“Thus ends the performance of the knight king Rolo...” Doga stated, his huge figure emerging from the shadow of the trees. In place of his club, he was now holding a woven basket.

At the same time, a whistle sounded out and the black ape got right back up. As it glanced over at Rolo’s choppy victory dance out of the corner of its eye, the beast went and casually clambered back up into a tree.

“That was certainly a surprise. It was a wonderful performance, wasn’t it, everyone?” Dan Rutim commented.

At that, we all pulled out our coin bags.

Tara had told us that the general way of doing things was to add a one-fourth coin if you were satisfied, a half coin if you really enjoyed it, and nothing if you didn’t appreciate the act. And so, we all followed those guidelines and tossed our coins into the basket. Since the hunters didn’t carry coins around with them, the women from their houses covered their share.

“My apologies, but could you pay my portion? You can have this tusk until I can repay you,” Giran Ririn asked Yun Sudra, as he didn’t have anyone else from his clan with him.

“The next guests will arrive soon, so please continue on your way. The next space is over in that direction,” Doga pointed, and we got moving.

There was no curtain, but if I looked carefully I could see that there were ropes stretched between the trees in order to create a path. Since there were lanterns hung in various places, there was no risk of getting lost, but it was still quite difficult to tell just where in the tent we were at this point.

“So that was a black ape of Jagar? It truly did look incredibly powerful,” Darmu Ruu said.

Walking next to him, Sheera Ruu replied, “It was really surprising. I thought for sure that it was going to attack us...”

“Don’t be foolish. No matter how much it roared, that beast didn’t give off any bloodlust at all.”

I had to think that he probably could have worded his response a bit more kindly.

However, when Sheera Ruu replied with, “Is that so?” her tone sounded even more lively than usual.

These must have all been entirely novel experiences for the people of the forest’s edge, and it would obviously be even more fun to experience them alongside the person you had feelings for. As I stole a glance over at Ai Fa’s composed face, I couldn’t help but feel that way.

“Oh my. Welcome,” a voice suddenly called out from above, and I almost let out a shriek. Looking in the direction it had come from, I found Pino’s white face staring at us from the foliage, upside down.

“Y-You scared me there. What are you doing in a place like that?”

“I’m keeping an eye out for any folks causing trouble or looking troubled themselves. Sometimes people even wander off the path,” Pino replied, breaking out in a grin while still hanging above us. “If you’re coming down this path, you must have chosen that blockheaded knight’s performance instead of the twins. Up ahead, you’re finally going to get to meet the troupe leader,” Pino said before disappearing back into the leaves.

Apparently, the climax was now close at hand. We all continued on through the darkness as a group.