Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 1.2

2

“Shin Ruu is going to have a contest of strength with a noble in the castle town...? No doubt Lala will be getting all worked up again once she hears about this...” Vina Ruu remarked after we wrapped up work for the day.

“Yeah, especially considering that this is all happening because a bunch of noble girls are saying they want him there. Lala’s face will probably end up turning as red as her hair,” Ludo Ruu chimed in with a none-too-serious expression. “Now that I think about it, Rimee was going on and on about how good Shin Ruu looked dressed up like a swordsman from the castle town or whatever. I can’t even imagine it. Is he really so handsome that a bunch of noble girls would start losing their heads over him?” he asked Toor Deen, who was cleaning up the neighboring stall.

“Ah, huh?” Toor Deen hesitantly responded, but then she gave a little nod. “W-With the way Shin Ruu and Ai Fa both looked, it was almost hard to believe they were people of the forest’s edge. This may not be much of a compliment, but it’s easy for me to see how someone might have mistaken them for nobles.”

“Hmm... Well, hopefully it doesn’t turn into a big hassle like what happened with Reina. After all, there’s no way folks like that would ever cast aside their status as nobles to marry into the forest’s edge.”

Right. Leeheim had been head over heels for Reina Ruu, only to then turn completely cold toward her and start fostering ill will against the people of the forest’s edge. While Marstein had told him off and pointed out how he was at fault, it still felt necessary to be on guard for this upcoming event.

“Well, there are some folks out there who’re eccentric enough to give up their status and even their god in order to marry someone. Not very many, but some,” Ludo Ruu noted.

“You just had to go and say it. You really can run your mouth, Ludo...” poor Vina Ruu replied with reddened cheeks.

Her brother just chuckled at her expense.

As for me, when I thought about Shumiral, who had been gone for four months now, I sighed to myself. “All right, let’s get out of here. There’s still a lot left to do today.”

With those last words from me, we departed down the bustling road.

Our group was a big one, with four wagons, five stalls, six totos, and twenty-eight people in total. The women who didn’t have to help move everything rode along in the wagons, but we still attracted no small amount of attention with this many people of the forest’s edge marching along. After saying farewell to Yumi, who was still working hard, we passed in front of the Gamley Troupe’s rather lively tent and kept on heading south.

We then split up into groups. One to return the stalls, another to purchase ingredients for tomorrow, a third to exchange the impressive number of coins we had earned, a fourth to put in an order for new tableware and a canopy...and today, we even had a group to taste test some stall food. Naudis of The Great Southern Tree had put out a stall of his own, starting last night, and so Reina Ruu, Toor Deen, and I were planning on giving that a try.

“Well then, once we all finish our separate work, we’ll meet up at The Kimyuus’s Tail,” I said.

“Right. Take care...” Vina Ruu replied.

The three of us were accompanied by Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, and Rau Lea, and we broke off first. Naudis was set up rather far toward the southern end of the stall area.

“Yes, it’s definitely busy around here.”

Just as Reina Ruu said, there were nearly ten customers lined up there. It was past the lower second hour at this point, so the lunch rush was already over, but there was no sign that the number of customers around was trailing off. As we joined the end of the line, the southerner in front of us turned our way with a suspicious look.

“What, you’re going out of your way to pay for giba cooking from somewhere else?”

He must have known who we were. I gave him a friendly smile and replied, “Yes. The owner here is an acquaintance, so we’re really interested in seeing what sort of dish he’s selling.”

“Yeah, the owner has some impressive skills. I was torn over where to eat today, myself, but in the end I decided to come here,” the man said with a grin. “I’ll be heading over to your stalls tomorrow, though. You’re not planning on taking any time off during the festival, right?”

“Of course not.”

It seemed he wasn’t just acquainted with us, he was a regular. A lot of folks from Jagar looked kind of similar, so I sometimes had trouble telling them apart. Same thing with people from Sym.

“Welcome.” Not long after our turn arrived, Naudis greeted us with a smile. “Ah, Asuta and Reina Ruu, I hear your business is running smoothly too.”

The owner of The Great Southern Tree was running the stall himself. Today he had a gray cloth wrapped around his head, with his abundant dark-brown hair spreading out in the back. It made me smile in amusement.

“Because of all that trouble last night, we weren’t able to stop by, but we’ve really been looking forward to this.”

“Yes, that sounded like quite the hardship. At any rate, I’m proud of both of my dishes. I hope they’ll satisfy you.”

Naudis was selling two different dishes at his stall. Just like with the pasta at our place, he had two braziers set up to handle both at the same time. One of them was curry, while the other looked to be a dish boiled in tau oil. He had a stack of thin baked poitan prepared, which he used to wrap around the ingredients.

“Each of them costs one and a half coins. How many do you want?”

“In that case, we’ll take two of each.”

We had three chefs, but a half-portion seemed like plenty for a time like this. If anything was left over, we could offer it to the hunters, who had heartier appetites than we did.

As I was considering my options, though, Ludo Ruu added, “Ah, could we get one of each too?”

“Huh? You want to try it too?”

“Yeah. It uses giba meat, right? Stuff made by townsfolk can be kinda interesting.”

Now that I thought about it, Ludo Ruu had purchased Myme’s and Yumi’s cooking too while on guard duty. Not many men of the forest’s edge would spend money to purchase a meal from the townsfolk, so this was certainly a welcome change to see.

“Well then, that’ll be three of each, correct? Please go ahead and get your money ready.”

Both of the dishes were rather juicy, which was why Naudis prepared them like manju. It was a pretty popular style for snacks here in the post town. After moving out of the way for the next customer, we stepped off to the side of the stall and split up the dishes, then all took a bite.

As expected, the boiled dish did have a tau oil base, and it seemed like it might have used sugar and just a bit of that cinnamon-like herb. Naudis was well acquainted with how to utilize tau oil, and he had prepared a simple, gentle flavor here. As for ingredients, he went with coarsely chopped giba thigh meat, aria, tino, and nenon.

For the curry manju, he had taken another unexpected leap forward. The ingredients he used included the daikon-like sheema, taro-esque ma gigo, zucchini-like chan, and the shiitake and brown beech-like mushrooms, adding up to an impressive variety of ingredients from Jagar.

The curry roux itself was also remarkably sweeter than the last time I’d had it. It was about as sweet as the kind meant for kids back in my home country. You couldn’t get it this sweet just by adding sugar or honey. It was pretty mild in terms of spiciness too, giving it a unique flavor and richness that stood apart from ordinary curry.

“Naudis, how exactly did you make this curry?”

“Ah, well, I only used about two-thirds as much of the curry base and included plenty of aria and fuwano sautéed in milk fat. I also used an equal amount of karon milk and water, and added a good bit of sugar and grated ramam fruit.”

“I see. So this richness is from the karon milk. And the vegetables I don’t use in my own curry give it a delicious flavor all its own.”

“The curries you and the owner of The Kimyuus’s Tail prepare are really delicious, so I wanted to make something just as good that all my customers from Jagar could enjoy,” Naudis replied with a smile while handing a curry manju over to a customer. “My curry has been extremely popular, both here at my stall and at my inn. Furthermore, I feel like more and more of my customers from Jagar are ordering it now. You also serve curry at your stalls, so by the time the revival festival wraps up, I’m sure everyone will know that it isn’t a dish from Sym.”

“That’s true. It would make me really happy if the people of Genos would accept an eccentric dish like curry.”

To be perfectly honest, I would never add the daikon-like sheema or taro-esque ma gigo to curry. However, it wasn’t like they threw off the balance of the dish, and for people unfamiliar with what curry was originally supposed to be like, it might be easy to accept his recipe since they had no reason to think there was anything different about it. It was a whole new flavor brought about by combining the cooking of my old world with that of this new one.

“There aren’t many people from the forest’s edge who dislike the spiciness of curry, so I haven’t put much thought into it, but you really did a good job of mellowing it out by increasing the amount of aria and fuwano,” Reina Ruu remarked with a smile toward Naudis after eating each of her half-servings. “I never would have come up with this. It’s very impressive.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Naudis replied with a warm smile of his own.

The next person to offer their impression was Toor Deen, who bashfully said, “It’s delicious. Especially this dish with the tau oil. It doesn’t seem to use anything but sugar and a few herbs, but it has such a deep flavor.”

“Yes, I used a very small amount of sparkling wine from Jagar in the dish. I can’t use a lot due to the cost, but it really does go so well with tau oil.”

I hadn’t picked up on that at all. It didn’t seem to have added anything in particular to the flavors that were present, but apparently it acted as a barely detectable accent that helped to heighten the taste of the dish.

“Hmm. Not many Lea women can make anything on this level. It’s a bit frustrating, honestly,” Rau Lea whispered.

“Yeah, but I like the curry Asuta and Reina make better,” Ludo Ruu said, also taking care to keep Naudis from overhearing. Ai Fa ate the leftover half-serving but maintained a composed expression and offered no comments.

“Now that I think about it, did you manage to sell out today, Asuta?”

“Yeah. We managed to sell the last of it right on schedule.”

“For reference, could I ask how much that was? I’ve prepared seventy servings of each of my two dishes.”

“Well, on my end we had 160 poitan wraps, 200 carbonara, and 150 of the daily special—giba meat egg drop soup. The Ruu clan had 350 servings of the teriyaki meat stew and 160 of the myamuu giba.”

It was essentially the same as last night, with only the daily special increasing by thirty meals. It took over an hour longer for us to sell out compared to yesterday, but I was still perfectly satisfied with how we managed to sell everything. Naudis, however, looked astounded when he heard that.

“Those are some truly incredible numbers. A normal stall would be happy if they could sell even fifty meals, or a hundred during the festival.”

“Yeah. But you prepared 140 meals for a single stall yourself, right? So that’s pretty impressive too.”

“Yes, since there aren’t any other stalls selling giba cooking in the area. I hesitated over whether to open my stall near yours right up until the end, but if we can both sell out of everything, I believe I made the right choice,” Naudis said as he stared out at the street. While none of them were selling giba meat, there were a ton of snack stalls about. They all seemed to be getting a good number of customers too, though not as many as Naudis’s. “So many new ingredients have become available in the post town over the last two months. Tau oil, sugar, karon milk, milk fat, reten oil, mamaria vinegar, herbs from Sym, all sorts of vegetables... It’s even been possible to purchase karon torso meat lately. I’m sure anyone who’s visiting Genos for the first time in a while must be absolutely astounded.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

“Still, there’s only a couple shops that handle giba meat right now, and I suspect there aren’t many more that use those other new ingredients well. Our prospective customers are being distracted by all these other stalls for now, but I believe as time passes, more and more of them will be coming our way,” Naudis said, brimming with confidence as he smiled brightly at me. He must have been proud of the fact that not many people out there could make use of ingredients from Jagar as well as he could. Just like with Nail and his Sym-style cooking, I felt that Naudis’s dishes really got at the core of the food culture of Jagar. “At any rate, I would like to increase my order by twenty servings of giba leg meat next time. Will that be a problem?”

“No, I believe that should be fine, but I’ll confirm it once we get back to the settlement.”

“Right, I’m counting on you... Ah, welcome!”

It didn’t seem like he was getting any breaks from the constant flow of customers, so we said our farewells and departed.

I was glad to call Naudis a comrade, perhaps even more so than Myme and Yumi. It was because of them, Milano Mas, and Nail that we had been able to spread the delicious taste of giba meat as widely as we had in the post town. This revival festival was certain to be a huge turning point for the people of the forest’s edge.

I continued to think about such things for some time as we returned to the settlement.

Half an hour passed after that.

We had finished up all our work and returned safely to the Ruu settlement, where we found Rimee Ruu waiting there at the plaza for some reason.

“Welcome back, Reina and Vina! And you too, Asuta and Ai Fa!”

“Right, thanks. What are you doing here, Rimee Ruu?”

“I was waiting for you! Papa Donda said he has something he wants to discuss.”

It was rare for Donda Ruu to summon us like this. But only Reina Ruu, Ludo Ruu, and I had been requested, so we headed to the main Ruu house along with Ai Fa. Meanwhile, Toor Deen departed with Fafa and one of the wagons. She would be getting started on some prep work for us back at the Fa house.

“That’s convenient. It’ll give us a chance to tell my old man about the stuff that noble guy said. Save us a bit of trouble.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

We stepped into the main house under Mia Lea Ruu’s guidance, where we found not only Donda Ruu, but also Jiza, Darmu, and even Granny Jiba waiting for us. Mia Lea Ruu knelt down beside Granny Jiba, while the five of us sat facing Donda Ruu.

“Welcome back, Reina and Ludo. There weren’t any more problems today, were there?”

“No. Those traveling performers seemed to be working as usual too.”

“I see,” Donda Ruu replied, but then he held his tongue.

His right shoulder was still wrapped in bandages, and his arm was in a sling. He had suffered the greatest injuries in the battle with the lord of the forest, and it would still be another month before he was fully healed.

“Asuta of the Fa clan, Reina, Ludo...there’s something I’d like to have you all confirm.”

“What’s got you acting so formal?” Ludo Ruu asked.

“Just be quiet and listen. Our elder, Jiba, has made a stunning request.”

In surprise, I turned toward Granny Jiba. She was wearing a gentle smile on her wrinkled face as Mia Lea Ruu attended to her.

“You see, I have asked our clan head, Donda, if this old bag of bones could visit the Genos post town...”

“Huh?! You want to go to the post town, Jiba Ruu?”

“Yes, that’s right... Things have changed quite a bit there, haven’t they? I want to see what the work all of you have been doing has accomplished with my own eyes...”

I was at a loss for words and glanced around to my left and right at everyone. Rimee and Ludo Ruu were staring blankly, Reina Ruu wore a serious look, and Ai Fa was calmly listening to Granny Jiba’s words.

“It’s been somewhere in the range of twenty to thirty years now since I last went into town... Once I could no longer handle shopping, I had no reason left to go there... Back then, the townsfolk still feared us people of the forest’s edge... All the more because some of our hunters were committing criminal acts against them, including even murder...”

In response to her words, Ludo Ruu gave a relaxed reply of, “Yeah. There was that one time where some criminals were captured by the guards, and then the head of a clan butted in to get revenge for one of his clan members, right? Well, it’s not like I can’t understand how he felt.”

“Indeed... And after that, the townsfolk came to fear us even more... But their attitude has changed quite a bit thanks to you all, correct?”

“That isn’t just because of the stalls, but because everyone from the forest’s edge worked to take down those villainous nobles and the Suun clan,” I said.

“Yes, that’s true... At any rate, I would like to see how the town has changed before my soul returns to the forest...”

“Your soul isn’t going to the forest soon, is it?” Rimee Ruu asked with tears in her eyes, only for Granny Jiba to give her an even gentler smile.

“Oh, I’m doing just fine. But I’d like to head into town while that’s still true... If I get much older, I won’t be able to handle that kind of strain anymore...”

“It’s true that it could be difficult for your body to handle the trip...” I said, giving the matter some thought. “The path between the settlement and the post town is pretty narrow and sloped, so the wagon will sway a good bit. It won’t take all that long, but it could still do quite a number on your stamina.”

“But we’ll be there the whole time in town, so it wouldn’t be dangerous at all. That’s what you wanted to talk about, right, dad?” Ludo Ruu asked.

“Yes, that’s true. You all understand the current state of the post town better than anyone. I want you to tell me honestly whether or not doing this would expose our elder to any danger,” Donda Ruu replied, his eyes deadly serious.

With a confident look on his face, Ludo Ruu gave a shrug. “As long as we bring along hunters as skilled as we had yesterday, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. She can just ride along when we come to a busy area.”

“But there are a lot of outsiders and outlaws in the post town right now. I’m certain you haven’t forgotten about the group that attacked you last night,” Jiza Ruu calmly interjected.

“Hmph,” Ludo Ruu snorted. “Even then, we didn’t get a scratch on us, right? And it’s safer during the day than at night.”

“But if anything were to happen to our elder...we would have no choice but to take up arms like that clan head from decades ago, correct?” Suddenly, there was an intense invisible pressure coming from Jiza Ruu’s large frame.

Ludo Ruu was a bit taken aback, but he steeled himself to face his brother head-on. “We just have to give our all to make sure that doesn’t happen, yeah? Besides, whether Granny Jiba is there or not, it won’t change what our job is... No matter what sort of crazy stuff may happen, we’ll still have to guard our brethren to make sure they don’t get harmed in any way.”

Ludo Ruu had felt like a kid to me when I first met him, but now he was enduring the full intensity of the aura Jiza Ruu was giving off.

Then Reina Ruu interjected, saying, “I would like to grant Granny Jiba’s wish. The chance to see the townsfolk interacting with us people of the forest’s edge and eating giba meat... I think it would be an incredibly precious experience.”

“Yeah! I’m sure Granny Jiba will love the town too!” Rimee Ruu chimed in, wiping the tears from her eyes and smiling.

Granny Jiba looked upon the young girl’s expression with a kindly gaze. “Oh? You’ve come to love the town, Rimee?”

“I really have! That’s where I met Tara! There are lots of nice people there, like Dora, Yumi, Myme, Mikel, and Telia Mas too!”

“I see...” Granny Jiba said, her eyes drifting downward. “Up until recently, it would have been unthinkable for anyone from the forest’s edge to think of people from town so fondly, wouldn’t you say? I’d like to see with my own two eyes what made Rimee come to feel this way...”

“It’ll be fine. Our elder should get to know everything that’s going on,” Ludo Ruu said.

“I think so as well. And if we pile up a lot of bedding, that should make the swaying during the trip less of a burden on her,” Reina Ruu added.

Then Donda Ruu shot a piercing gaze my way. In response, I made up my mind and gave a large nod. “As far as guarding her goes, I can’t really add anything to what Ludo Ruu said, but I believe this trip will be important for Jiba Ruu, so that she can learn about the current state of the town. Actually, more than that, I should say it would make me so happy if we could show it to her, considering she’s lived longer than anyone else here at the forest’s edge.”

“I see...” Donda Ruu said, his huge body swaying. “In that case, we will fulfill the elder’s request. Allow me to choose the guards. Jiza...”

“Yes?”

“You’ll stay here in the settlement to protect the house,” Donda Ruu said, breaking out in a grin like some wild beast. “Tomorrow, I’ll be going personally.”