Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 4.8

8

Not long after, there unsurprisingly ended up being quite a crowd outside the tent.

The nearly twenty bandits who had been apprehended were tied up with straw rope and taken away by the guards. Both the performers and the guests inside the tent were being questioned about the details of what had occurred, and there were a number of passersby stopping to watch the proceedings.

Just as Dan Rutim had noted, the bandits had split into groups in order to attack from multiple entry points. However, the troupe members and the beasts had managed to capture them, and shockingly, not even a single guest had been harmed.

The biggest roles had been played by the big guy, Doga; the armored man, Rolo; the black ape; Huey; and Sara. The folks who had been there and saw them fight talked enthusiastically of their exploits, much to the delight of the onlookers.

“A disruption like this on the very first day makes me seriously concerned about how things are going to go from here on out...” Marth muttered, sounding exhausted after having been assigned to question us. “Apparently, the Blue Beards have been amassing allies ever since they developed some kind of a grudge against these performers, and have been trailing after them for some time. They must have intentionally chosen the day of dawn for their revenge in a sad attempt to spread their infamy further. What an annoying bunch...”

“It was a really big commotion... Um, will the Gamley Troupe be allowed to keep doing business after this?” I asked.

“They aren’t at fault here. In fact, they acted to protect the citizens of Genos and the town while capturing the entirety of a wanted bandit group, so we should be giving them a reward, not tossing them out,” Marth said, sounding quite reluctant and heaving a deep sigh. “Still, to think that you of all people were there in the middle of it...”

“H-Hey, we’re purely victims here too.”

“I’m well aware of that. Regardless, please try to not get into so much trouble in the future.” We were released, but Marth’s group undoubtedly had all sorts of business left to wrap up. That was really unfortunate, considering we were in the middle of the festival. “All right, you’re all free to return to the forest’s edge. Depending on what the bandits have to say, we may have to question you all further.”

“Understood. Okay, we’re heading out now.”

With that, we left the tent, and Pino came running over from where she had been talking to another guard.

“Hold on, you guys! Zetta said you ended up having to defend yourselves with your own blades...” Sounding unusually polite, Pino gave a deep bow. “It was our ineptitude that caused you to suffer such terrible distress. None of you were hurt, though?”

“Right. As you can see, we’re all unharmed.”

“We are truly sorry. If something had happened to one of our guests, we would all feel hesitant about continuing to do business,” Pino said, and then her gaze shifted and fixed on Darmu Ruu. “From what I saw, you seem to be the leader of this group. The troupe leader is still busy with the guards, so allow me to apologize to you on his behalf.”

“You stole goods from those bandits and returned them to their rightful owners... That being the case, there’s nothing to feel ashamed about. And I can’t see any need to apologize when all the bandits who pointed blades at us have been captured.”

“You really mean it? You won’t be worried about visiting our tent in the future?”

“My father and older brother will be the ones to decide that, not me.”

“Then would it be possible to offer our apologies to them as well?”

Darmu Ruu silently jerked his chin and then started walking over to where Jiza Ruu’s group was waiting. Ludo Ruu had already slipped past the guards in order to let them know what had happened.

So Pino and Jiza Ruu are going to talk? That sounds like quite an incredible encounter, I thought to myself as I turned toward Ai Fa. As we walked along, she bowed her head to Giran Ririn.

“You have my deepest thanks for your assistance before. Were it not for that, things may have been somewhat more dangerous for me.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case. After all, you struck down that first arrow quicker than I could react. You really are quite a hunter, being able to move so well with that body,” Giran Ririn replied with the same smile as always. “More importantly, your chest bindings came loose, didn’t they? You should have a woman fix them as soon as possible. If you go inside a totos wagon, you should be able to avoid having anyone see.”

“Right,” Ai Fa replied, casting her gaze downward as Giran Ririn headed over to Darmu Ruu.

“Ai Fa, your bandages came loose? Then, did your broken rib...”

“It’s nothing. If I had needed to move much more, I might have injured myself once again, but Giran Ririn helped prevent that,” Ai Fa replied, her eyes coming back up to shoot me with a glare. “My injuries most certainly haven’t gotten worse, so I’ll still be coming to town with you again tomorrow.”

“Just as long as you’re not hurt. But there’s no need to get so ahead of yourself,” I said, letting slip a strained chuckle and earning a frown from Ai Fa. “That turned into a heck of an ordeal, though. I feel like I’m still seeing spots in my vision.”

“Indeed. Whether it was that beastly being or the man who manipulated flame, we all found each of them to be quite difficult to comprehend... I offer the forest my thanks that they are not our enemies.”

I agreed completely. Still, it felt as if even that whole fiasco was only one small part of the overall festival, as the street was still just as lively and brimming with excitement as always. Even after getting hit with that unforeseen misfortune, everyone from the forest’s edge still seemed to be perfectly calm as they strolled along. The only one who looked like she might cry was Tara, but Rimee Ruu was trying to console her with a smile.

Looking at the state of things, it would surely be no problem for us to keep our business running tomorrow. The sun god’s revival festival had only just kicked off, so we couldn’t let a little incident like this dishearten us.

“So there are ten days left until this banquet is over?” Ai Fa muttered as she walked. Her frown had vanished from her lips at some point as she looked out over the street, just as I had been doing.

“That’s right. The revival festival is just getting started. I’m sure it’ll be a lot to handle in all sorts of ways, but I’ll be counting on you.”

“That goes without saying. And besides...” Ai Fa said, breaking out into a rather childish grin under the dim lighting. “It seems these banquets in town are rather enjoyable. Bandits acting lawlessly aside, that is.”

“Yeah.” I nodded back with a smile of my own as we walked toward a rather angry-looking Jiza Ruu.

And so, though there was a rather significant misadventure on the way there, we were finally able to close the curtain on the first day of the sun god’s revival festival.