Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 1.3

3

And so, Granny Jiba and Donda Ruu ended up coming along with us to the post town on the following day, the twenty-fourth of the violet month.

This was no small matter. After all, Granny Jiba was the only one in all the forest’s edge who remembered living in the black forest, and now she was heading to the post town. Just as Jiza Ruu had suggested, on the off chance that something were to happen to her, the hunters under the Ruu would inevitably have to value the laws of the forest’s edge over those of the town and move to retaliate against the criminal behind the act.

Of course, it wasn’t like the fact that she was the elder actually made anything more dangerous. To the townsfolk, she wouldn’t seem like anyone special, so there was no real reason for her to be targeted. From that perspective, you could even say the young women dealing with drunkards and ruffians were in far more danger.

Bottom line: what everyone was actually concerned about was, ultimately, the unforeseeable. There was always a danger of getting caught up in something by pure coincidence, like what had occurred the day before last. In such a situation, Granny Jiba would be even less capable of defending herself than Rimee Ruu. If something happened to her... Well, I could easily understand Jiza Ruu’s concern.

As a result, the number of hunters who would be acting as guards had gone up to a total of sixteen. Six of them had been assigned to protecting Granny Jiba alone, while the other ten would watch over us chefs. Since there wouldn’t be enough room for that many people in the wagons, a number of them would walk to the post town in advance and then meet up with us.

The list of hunters we were bringing was even more distinguished than the group we had for the day of dawn. The familiar members included Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, Darmu Ruu, Shin Ruu, Gazraan Rutim, Dan Rutim, Rau Lea, Giran Ririn, and Ji Maam. The rest were supposedly strong hunters from among the subordinates of the Ruu.

The wagon Granny Jiba and Donda Ruu were riding in also carried two hunters on the inside, with four more walking outside, and was heading straight to the stall area without any diversions. After borrowing our stalls, we caught up to them. At that point, we heard from Sheera and Lala Ruu (who had accompanied Granny Jiba) that the townsfolk and the guards seemed like they hadn’t noticed anything special about our newly increased presence, or at the very least, they weren’t worried about it.

Then, once we arrived at our usual space, we set about parking the wagons. As always, we left them and the totos in the open area behind the stalls, where they wouldn’t get in the way. We made sure leave the south end of the space back there free for Jidura’s wagon, since it was going to need to get in and out during our business hours so that Myme could use it to come and go, while Ruuruu’s wagon that Granny Jiba had ridden in was parked between the ones pulled by Gilulu and Fafa.

Ludo Ruu and Dan Rutim stayed by Granny Jiba’s side constantly, and there were four particularly tough hunters encircling the wagon. Darmu Ruu, Gazraan Rutim, Rau Lea, and Giran Ririn had been chosen for that task.

“That’s quite a heavy guard, considering it’s far from likely that any brigands will even appear,” Fei Beim sullenly remarked as she worked alongside me at the stall.

“Yeah, but if something were to happen, it wouldn’t just impact the Ruu clan. It could completely destroy the relationship between Genos and the forest’s edge. I suspect nothing they could do to prevent that would be overkill, under the circumstances.”

“I know that Jiba Ruu is someone who should be respected, considering she’s lived longer than any of us...”

That alone was enough, I figured. But I understood that Fei Beim’s displeased look came from her nervousness and unease.

At any rate, once all of our personnel were in place, Granny Jiba’s small figure finally appeared from under the canopy. She took a seat at the edge of the wagon’s bed, where Donda Ruu soon sat down next to her. Then, Ludo Ruu and Dan Rutim took up positions on either side of them. It felt as if we were starting work with a figure of worship staring at us from behind.

“Why don’t you accompany Granny Jiba today, Ai Fa?” I proposed, only for my clan head to calmly shake her head.

“She surely feels safe with Ludo Ruu and Dan Rutim by her side. I simply need carry out my own work.”

Well, there were only two meters or so between the stalls and the wagon. Since they could easily call out to us at any time, perhaps there wasn’t really any need to be concerned.

At any rate, we went ahead and opened for business. As soon as we did, none of our customers bothered to pay any more attention to what might have been going on behind our stalls. Since we were all nice and calm too, we were able to concentrate on our work just like always.

For today’s daily special, we had giba cutlets for the first time in five days. Due to the amount we were preparing, I had given up on using lard and switched to reten oil instead.

Reten oil was a type of vegetable-based oil with a flavor similar to olive oil. While the people of the forest’s edge were especially fond of giba cutlets made using lard, it wasn’t as if using reten oil instead seriously impacted the taste. If I had to say, the taste was probably a bit more refreshing compared to using lard, and the coating seemed to have a lighter crunch to it.

Once again, I found that the giba cutlets were extremely well-liked. There were even some customers who told us they had been itching for another chance to try them. The giba and nanaar carbonara—which took the most effort to prepare—was off for the day, and the giba cutlets stall had the longest of the lines.

Around when the sun was approaching its peak, both Myme and Yumi showed up. When Yumi noticed the presence of Granny Jiba’s group for the first time, she said, “Huh?” with a tilt of her head. “Isn’t that the leading clan head from the Ruu? He’s here in town even though by the look of it his injuries aren’t fully healed yet?”

“Yeah. He’s accompanying the elder today.”

“The elder? Oh, that little old lady, huh? Is she the grandmother of Ludo Ruu and the others?”

“No, Jiba Ruu is actually Donda Ruu’s grandmother, so she’s their great-grandmother.”

“Wow. Someone from the forest’s edge has lived that long?! Myme, let’s go say hi. Uh, do you want to come too, Luia?”

Luia was the girl who assisted Yumi with her work. She had a more reserved personality than her friend, which probably meant she was feeling overwhelmed by the guarded feeling in the air, as she hurriedly shook her head from side to side.

While I fried up some fresh cutlets in the pot, I glanced over at Yumi and Myme.

“Ah, you’re the girls from town who have been selling giba cooking, correct...? I’m very grateful to both of you...” I could faintly hear Granny Jiba say.

Then Yumi energetically replied, “Asuta and the Ruu clan have helped us out a whole bunch too! I hope that we can keep on working together!”

“Pleased to meet you,” Myme added with a polite bow of her head.

This was their second encounter with Donda Ruu, and since the familiar faces of Ludo Ruu and Dan Rutim were present, neither of the girls lost their nerve while greeting Granny Jiba.

“Ah, right! Leading clan head and honored elder, would you like to try my cooking? It’s not as good as what Asuta and the Ruu clan make, but it’s still pretty popular!” Yumi offered.

“Ah, yes, I would love for you to try my cooking as well!” Myme added.

“Thank you... I can’t eat all that much, but I would be very happy if I could try a bite of each...”

“In that case, Ludo Ruu can eat what’s left. Our okonomiyaki are tasty, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re doing pretty well for someone from town.”

“Whoa, how pompous! Maybe I should add a heaping helping of chitt seeds to your portion...”

And so, before opening their stalls, Yumi and Myme prepared servings for Granny Jiba and Donda Ruu. As I continued frying my giba cutlets, the girls carried their dishes over on plates, along with meat-carving knives so that they could cut the food up into smaller bits that would be easier for Granny Jiba to eat with her weak teeth.

“Ah, this is delicious... Shockingly so, in fact...”

“You’re flattering me. Myme’s cooking is one thing, but our stuff isn’t all that great. We don’t use expensive ingredients, so I know the taste suffers as a result.”

“No, they really are both delicious... Perhaps I’m just so overjoyed that it’s making them taste even better to me, though...”

The people of the forest’s edge never offered mere polite flattery to anyone for how good a dish was. Granny Jiba’s words most certainly reflected her honest feelings.

“Hmm, I’m getting hungry myself, just watching! Girls, I’ll get some money ready, so could you sell me a serving of each?!” Dan Rutim chimed in.

“Granny Jiba’s leftovers weren’t enough for me either. I’ll split with the others, so could you throw on another one of each?” Ludo Ruu said.

“Thanks for your business! It’ll be ready soon, so just hold on a moment.”

Once the cutlets had fried up golden brown, I lifted them up onto a wire rack. While I was waiting for the oil to drip off, Fei Beim suddenly spoke to me. “Um, why exactly are you smiling like that without saying a word? I’m sorry to say, but it’s a bit creepy.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Listening to the lovely conversation the others were having had naturally caused my expression to loosen up. When I stole a glance at her, I found Ai Fa staring downward with a wonderfully calm look on her face as well.

What was Granny Jiba feeling right now? There were so many customers crowded around the giba cooking stalls, with over a hundred people happily eating away in our outdoor restaurant. And not only easterners and southerners, but even the westerners of Genos who had taken such exception to the people of the forest’s edge were now passionately spending coins to purchase our dishes.

When I had first opened the stall, even southerners had turned a cold shoulder our way. They didn’t fear giba, but they’d still seen the people of the forest’s edge as traitors who had cast aside the southern god of Jagar, so the first people to try our giba cooking with no reservations had turned out to be from Sym, since there had never been any bad blood between us.

And now, all sorts of people were enjoying giba cooking. There were still a lot of people in the post town and Daleim lands who feared giba and the people of the forest’s edge, and there were undoubtedly a good number of folks in the castle town who felt outright contempt for us. But folks like that would never come anywhere near this place.

It was possible that we felt so good about our progress because we were only seeing the most positive side of things. But in just half a year, we had managed to fill in the rift between us so much. Fear and habitual avoidance had been fostered over the course of eighty long years, and yet, how much had we softened the relationship between us already? In another year, or ten, or eighty down the road, would we have forged an even better relationship? We were giving our all to see that hope realized.

Granny Jiba moved here to Genos back when she was only five years old or so.

The black forest of the south had been burned down in the fires of war. As they’d had no desire to become soldiers for Jagar, the people of the forest’s edge had then abandoned their homeland and their god to move here. Roughly a thousand of their number had survived the journey. When they had arrived en masse here in Genos, undoubtedly with their eyes shining like beasts, rejecting all outside communication, probably wearing pelts that came from the black apes and bearing weapons that weren’t made of metal on their hips, how frightened and shocked must the citizens have been?

The order that the lord of Genos at that time had given—for them to live at the forest’s edge and hunt only giba—might well have been issued out of fear and a desire to keep them at a distance. Or perhaps he even wanted them to be wiped out entirely by the vicious animals. After all, they had then gone on to lose a full half of their number over the course of just a few years.

However, the people of the forest’s edge had lived on. They switched out their black ape pelts for those of giba, purchased steel weapons using tusks and horns, and grew even tougher as they overcame their harsh new circumstances.

Thanks to their efforts, the threat of giba attacks had decreased over time, and instead the people of the forest’s edge themselves had come to be feared more. They valued the laws of the forest over those of the town, paid no heed to the people or the goings-on of the outside world, and dedicated themselves solely to hunting their ferocious prey. As they took the might of those beasts into themselves, they grew even stronger, and eventually the townsfolk had started to treat them like living natural disasters instead of the giba.

There were surely countless misunderstandings at work there. Not to mention the simple fact that the two groups were so different from one another.

The people of the forest’s edge were so earnest and proud that they had no fear of being misunderstood or isolated. In fact, they themselves likely felt similarly to the townsfolk, that the gulf between them was too wide for them to ever truly connect, and so they kept their distance.

That was the history that Granny Jiba had watched for the past eighty years. So what did she think now, seeing what was happening before her? Someone as young and inexperienced as me couldn’t even begin to imagine.

“Hey there! Sorry we’re a little late today,” a girl’s voice suddenly called out with a laugh, derailing my train of thought. I then realized a number of the traveling performers were now standing in front of my stall. The acrobat, Pino; the minstrel, Neeya; the strongman, Doga; and the twins, Arun and Amin.

“Could we get the same amount of food as always today? I’ll leave what you give us up to you.”

“Sure. Thanks for your continued business. I believe you all enjoyed these giba cutlets. We can sell you the giba manju and myamuu giba on other days, so how about we go with some cutlets, soup, and curry?”

“How thoughtful. It’s nice to be able to take it easy and leave it all up to you.”

“All right. I don’t have enough of them ready yet to fill your order, so it’ll be a little while.”

I quickly added some battered sirloin into the boiling oil. In the meantime, Neeya, the incurable philanderer, once again tried making advances on Ai Fa, earning him a chilly glare from Pino.

But then, Pino’s black eyes suddenly shifted to look behind the stall, and she remarked, “Oh? There seem to be quite a few hunters back there as well. And they don’t seem to be the average sort. Is that someone important?”

“Yeah. One of them is a leading clan head of the forest’s edge. He’s also the clan head of everyone from the Ruu working here.”

“A leading clan head...” Pino repeated, her eyes narrowing. “So he’s the father of Jiza Ruu, who I spoke with on the day of dawn? That certainly is something. I’ll have to wake our blockhead of a leader.”

“Huh? What’s this about the troupe leader?”

“You were our guests, and we exposed you to danger. I asked for our apologies to be passed along to the leading clan head that night, but they were brushed aside as being unnecessary,” Pino said as she stepped back. “I’ll leave you in charge here, Doga. I’m going to go get the boss.”

“Ah, hold on! We should probably make sure that the leading clan head will see you first, right?!” I looked over at Ai Fa and she gave me a single nod before rushing off toward the wagons.

She returned before the cutlets were finished frying and told us, “You have been given permission to meet with him. However, he says your apologies won’t be necessary.”

“Thank you for that. Okay, just hold on a moment.”

With that, Pino took off, and by the time the giba cutlets were ready, she had returned with the leader of their troupe, Gamley.

The other troupe members left, carrying their food, and Donda Ruu walked over to our stalls, accompanied by Ludo Ruu. Meanwhile, Shin Ruu took Ludo Ruu’s place and stood so that he was blocking Granny Jiba from the view of the performers.

“I am extremely delighted that you made time for us during such a busy period. I am Gamley, leader of the Gamley Troupe.”

He had on a red turban and a long red coat, and wore a number of accessories that jangled as he gave an affected bow. His hair was long and curly, and his slender chin had a goat-like beard growing from it. This one-eyed, one-armed man truly was a strange fellow. Also, it seemed it really was true that he wasn’t fond of daylight, as his single eye kept blinking wearily.

“I’m one of the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge and the head of the Ruu, Donda Ruu. You helped my comrades out before, from what I hear.” Donda Ruu stood there dauntingly between the stalls and wagons, looking down at the performers. He must have heard about Gamley’s mysterious skill with flames, because he seemed to have no intention of letting the man come near Granny Jiba. “As I said before, there is no need for apologies. My comrades visited your tent of their own volition, and I also heard that you stepped forward to protect them from those bandits. So what is there to apologize for?”

“It was a huge failure on our part, allowing our valued customers to be threatened with blades. Spectators should be able to enjoy our performances without any worries at all while under that tent, so we feel that we misstepped terribly that night.”

“I see... I can tell that you have a great deal of pride when it comes to your business. It will serve you well to maintain that attitude as you continue with your work.”

“I am delighted to hear you say that. We also wished to return your entry fees, but will you not accept those either?”

“It’s like my son told you the night before last. There’s no reason for you to return what you’ve been paid.”

“I see. That’s a shame,” Gamley said as he looked up at Donda Ruu. Just like Pino, he didn’t seem to be a bad person, but he certainly was incredibly enigmatic. “But this still doesn’t feel right to us... In that case, how about the next time you visit our tent, you can come in for free?”

“What?”

“Or do you not want your precious comrades going anywhere near such a dangerous place in the future? In that case, I suppose I’ll simply have to keep bowing my head until you accept.”

Though his expression was deadly serious, it looked to me like Gamley had a smile in his eyes. Meanwhile, Pino had remained silent the whole time, with her hands folded in front of her. She had the poise of an adorable doll.

“You certainly are a crafty one...”

“Yes, even a starving beast would surely turn the other way when faced with someone so seedy-looking.”

“It isn’t as if I’ve forbidden my clan members from approaching your people... I simply said not to spend coins wastefully.”

“How splendid. I promise we will show you a performance to equal the payment we have received,” Gamley said, his right arm moving toward Pino. All at once, a number of small red flowers fell from his outstretched hand for Pino to catch. He had surely just set things up so they would fall from the sleeve of his coat, but it looked as if those flowers had come straight out of his palm itself. “That’s enough for fourteen, the number who visited the night before last. If you have these paplua flowers, you can enjoy our performances without paying, so please accept them.”

Donda Ruu shot Ai Fa a look, and she went ahead and accepted the flowers for us. It wasn’t a great time to say so out loud, but she really did look lovely in a different way than usual with her arms full of those red blossoms.

“Well then, I believe that is all we needed to speak about,” Donda Ruu remarked, moving to leave.

However, Gamley then called out, “Hold on a moment. There is one more thing I wished to discuss, on an unrelated topic. I have a request I’d like to make of you, as a leading clan head of the forest’s edge.” Donda Ruu silently narrowed his eyes, while Gamley grinned despite his own eye being bleary. “The forest and mountain of Morga have quite a few intriguing beasts hidden within, giba foremost among them, correct? Could we have your permission to capture them?”

“What was that...?”

“As you might have already heard, we gather unusual animals from all over the world and train them to perform. We’ve had our eyes on the beasts of Morga for some time.”

“So you wish to try to train the beasts of Morga to do tricks?” Donda Ruu questioned, a blaze starting to simmer in his blue eyes. “Let me start by saying, no one is permitted to set foot on Mount Morga. That is not our law, but one that comes from Genos. If you pillage that place and incur the anger of the verb wolves, giant madarama snakes, and red savages, Genos itself will be destroyed.”

“Ooh, how frightening.”

“Now that I think about it, from what I’ve been told, for one among your number, it’s difficult to tell if he’s a man or a beast. He couldn’t possibly be...”

“Oh, Zetta is the unfortunate child of a black vamda ape...or at least, that’s our official story. But at any rate, he most certainly isn’t one of the savages of Morga. After all, his fur is pitch black rather than red.”

“I see. So that’s why the soldiers of Genos didn’t take him down,” Donda Ruu grumbled. “At any rate, Mount Morga is firmly off limits. Furthermore, it’s the duty of the people of the forest’s edge to hunt the giba lurking out in the forest. You’re saying you wish to come into our hunting grounds to capture a giba?”

“Yes, as long as that would be permitted,” Gamley replied with an easygoing smile as his eye blazed like an inferno. “Is that forbidden as well? I believe it shouldn’t run afoul of the laws of Genos as long as we don’t pillage the fruits of the forest, but is it not permitted for anyone but you people of the forest’s edge to hunt giba?”

“There is a law that townsfolk shouldn’t set foot in the forest carelessly...”

“I can’t say I quite grasp the limits of what would be counted as careless. When we asked the guards around town, they scolded us and said not to attempt anything so absurd.”

It was as if his words were a wriggling eel, impossible to pin down. I couldn’t help but feel it would have been a good idea to summon Gazraan Rutim as well, but it would have been rude to suggest that to Donda Ruu.

At any rate, with both eyes blazing brightly, but his voice remaining perfectly calm, Donda Ruu replied to Gamley’s arrogant statement. “The laws of Genos may not have a specific rule about this idea of yours because nobody has ever been foolhardy enough to try it before now. However, we have our own laws at the forest edge.”

“Oh? And what would those laws say about this?”

“Firstly, each clan has their own hunting grounds, and it’s forbidden to step into one belonging to another clan. That’s because you don’t have any way of knowing where they’ve laid their traps. It’s a law that must be followed in order to protect yourself as well.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Secondly, it’s forbidden to finish off a giba using poison. Bringing poisonous plants from outside of Morga to the forest’s edge or using poison and making giba meat inedible are both strictly forbidden.”

“I see. But apparently, if you use certain poisonous plants from Sym, you can avoid spoiling the meat if you know what you’re doing.”

“Thirdly, the forest of Morga is part of Genos territory, so you cannot take action there without permission from the lord of the land. As such, it is Duke Marstein Genos who can determine whether or not it would be acceptable for you to capture a giba for the sake of your performances, not us.”

“Yes, that’s the most troublesome part. Someone as suspicious as myself would never be granted an audience with a noble, after all,” Gamley casually remarked with a shrug of his slender shoulders. “Well, we do have one blockhead of a minstrel in our group who can come and go from the castle town as he pleases, so I suppose he would be our one sliver of hope.”

Donda Ruu offered no comment.

“Still, assuming we do get the duke’s permission, would we be able to capture a giba without getting in your way?”

“You would need hunters from the forest’s edge accompanying you. And once again, only the lord of Genos can order us to do so,” Donda Ruu replied, his facial expression suddenly shifting into the same kind of daring and beastly grin that he had shown us yesterday. “Without an order from the lord of the land, we won’t be so much as lifting a finger for outsiders. And if any fools were to trample on our hunting grounds without giving proper notice, we would have to judge them in accordance with the laws of the forest’s edge. That’s all I have to say.”

“Understood. You have my deepest gratitude for putting up with this tedious conversation. If fate brings us together again in the future, I hope that you will treat me kindly,” Gamley said with a bow before swiftly doing an about-face.

As she also stepped back, Pino whispered to us, “Sorry about our blockhead of a troupe leader. I’ll keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t inconvenience you all, so I hope that you’ll forgive him.”

With that, she disappeared into the crowd, and Ludo Ruu stretched his arms up to the sky while remarking, “Hmm. What an unusual bunch. They sort of remind me of that Kamyua guy somehow.”

“Hmph, you think so too?” Donda Ruu replied, his beastly grin now gone as he stroked his chin and pondered. “We’ll have to send totos to the Zaza and Sauti when we get back. After all, depending on how things play out, we may end up needing to let that ridiculous group into the forest.”

Could that really happen? Honestly, I couldn’t even begin to fathom whether or not it would be a good thing if it did.

Regardless, there surely wasn’t any real chance that we’d be ordered to deal with a hassle like that while the revival festival was going on. Considering that we already had a trip to the castle town ahead of us, it just wouldn’t be possible for us to deal with yet another burden.

At any rate, I just focused on the work in front of me as Donda and Ludo Ruu returned to Granny Jiba’s side.