4
After that, our stalls sold out of food one by one, freeing up some of the women to show Granny Jiba around the outdoor restaurant.
Of course, she was under heavy guard by a group of six hunters, but partway through, Dora and Tara showed up and began talking with her. As I was still stuck working at my stall, I couldn’t hear them very well, but I at least spied Granny Jiba adoringly patting Tara on the head.
Naturally, our flow of customers hadn’t slowed down at all, so we once again sold all the meals we had prepared on schedule. Yumi had been optimistic and prepared 120 meals, so she stayed open the longest again. But once we closed up shop, her line more than doubled, so she would surely sell out too. It was now the third day since the revival festival had kicked off, and it almost felt like everything was going too smoothly at this point.
As we were busy cleaning up the stalls, Donda Ruu approached us, accompanied by Ludo Ruu and looking even more displeased than when he was dealing with Gamley.
“Asuta of the Fa clan, I have something to discuss with you.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Our elder, Jiba, said she wants to go with you to the Daleim lands next time.”
“Ah, do you mean Dora’s house?”
“That’s right. You’re planning to go to that vegetable seller’s house again tomorrow night, aren’t you? The elder has been saying she wants to come along.”
That was certainly a surprise.
“Hmm...” I tilted my head. “His house looked pretty close to capacity with the number of visitors we brought last time. If we add the same number of hunters you have watching over her today, that could prove pretty difficult... What did Dora say?”
“He was the one to bring up the idea in the first place. Or more accurately, his daughter said it and he agreed.”
“Oh. Then I suppose it won’t be any issue.”
“How can you say it isn’t an issue? The elder’s ridiculous whims have been nothing but a giant pain.”
After being taken aback for a second, I let a laugh slip out without thinking.
“What are you laughing about...?”
“S-Sorry. You just looked so troubled that I couldn’t help myself.”
After glaring at me with a threatening, beastly look, Donda Ruu scratched his head. “Hmph. It’s all well and good that she’s got more energy, but if you ask me, she’s got a bit too much... She was always an especially stubborn woman, even for the Ruu clan. Despite her small stature, she’s got a fierce spirit, which makes her difficult to handle.”
Despite appearances, Donda Ruu was still only just over forty years old. Granny Jiba was eighty-five, so by the time he’d been born, she would have been in her early forties. She might have still been acting as the clan head of the Ruu at the time.
She would have been about the age Donda Ruu is now, so it’s like the difference between Donda and Kota Ruu... I can’t even imagine it, I thought to myself.
Then Donda Ruu moved closer to me with an even more intimidating look on his face. “What is that house in the Daleim lands like? I’ve heard the elders there shun us people of the forest’s edge, but would it be dangerous at all?”
“At the very least, it certainly wouldn’t be any more dangerous than the post town. Everyone who lives there just grows vegetables, so they don’t carry weapons... Besides, even as little as you’ve interacted with him, you should have a pretty good idea of what Dora’s like, right?”
Dora had once stood before Donda Ruu and a bunch of other hunters when they had been trying to head to the castle town. It hadn’t just been us and the Ruu clan that time. Even the criminals from the Suun and the hunters from the north like Gulaf Zaza and Deek Dom had been there, which had been quite intimidating for the townsfolk. Even so, Dora had stood alone before them and said he wished to keep forming bonds with the people of the forest’s edge.
Back then, we’d been in a real touch-and-go situation with Cyclaeus. It was so bad that it had seemed as if the people of the forest’s edge would either end up having to destroy Genos or be destroyed by them. How much resolve had Dora needed to work up to stand before us then? Donda Ruu surely understood the answer to that question.
“I will need to talk to everyone who wants to go to the Daleim lands when we make it back to the settlement... Let the others know too.”
“Right. Got it.”
With a sour look on his face, Donda Ruu returned to the wagon.
Ai Fa had been listening to the conversation beside me, and she now brought her face close to mine and commented, “Rather than acting as clan head, Donda Ruu seems to be letting the part of him that’s still her grandson show.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of surprised too.”
“This is good for both Granny Jiba and Donda Ruu, though. While he always has to be strict due to his position, it wouldn’t do for a clan head to forget his feelings toward his family,” Ai Fa said, suddenly breaking out into a smile. “And there’s no reason to worry about Granny Jiba. I’ll be by her side the whole time, so she won’t be in any danger.”
“Right, since you’ll be sharing a bedroom with her. Plus Ludo Ruu and the others will be coming along again, so I’m not concerned at all.”
The only real worry was Granny Jiba’s health, but that was a matter for her and her family to keep an eye on. Personally, I found the thought of her having a chance to interact with the members of Dora’s household quite heartening.
As that thought was passing through my mind, Lala Ruu was the next one to approach us.
“Hey Asuta, I’ve got something I’d like to discuss...”
“Hmm? Well, it looks like we’re all done cleaning up, so why don’t we talk as we move?”
Once again, there were four hunters sticking close to Ruuruu’s wagon. After checking one last time to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything, we started heading down the road.
“So, what is it you wanted to talk about?”
“Well...” Lala Ruu said, her gaze momentarily drifting down to her feet before she looked up at me resolutely. She brought her fingers together in front of her chest as we walked along the stone path. “Asuta, I have a request! Please bring me along when you go to the castle town this time!”
“Huh? The castle town...? Do you mean for the day when we’ll be unveiling our cooking to the guests from Banarm?”
“Right. It’s also the day Shin Ruu was invited to go, isn’t it? So I want to come along.”
It really was only natural for her to feel that way. After all, Shin Ruu would be going up against one of the most skilled swordsmen in the castle town.
“Hmm, well...I suppose hunters from the forest’s edge don’t really train in the kind of swordsmanship that you’d use against other people, so I can understand why you’re worried.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? There’s no way Shin Ruu would ever lose to some noble!”
“Huh? But...”
“Forget the sword competition! It’s more, well, Shin Ruu... I mean, those noble ladies fell for him and invited him to the castle town, right?” Lala Ruu angrily asked, her face instantly going bright red.
Shin Ruu was on guard duty at the back of the group, so there was no chance of him overhearing our conversation.
“Ugh, jeez, what the heck?! First Yumi’s friend, and then that little performer girl! Why does everyone have their eyes on Shin Ruu?”
“I don’t think Pino really has any special feelings for Shin Ruu, though. They probably don’t even know each other’s names.”
“But that girl from the stall was making eyes at Shin Ruu, and some noble lady summoned him by name, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, I can’t really deny those. But I don’t think they’re seriously considering marriage.”
“Even so, I can’t stand it!” Lala Ruu shouted so loudly that she startled Toor Deen, who was pushing a cart beside us.
I took a moment to process. If I were in Lala Ruu’s position...say, if some noble from the castle town casually hit on Ai Fa, I’d definitely be incredibly worried. There was no way I’d be able to stand the thought of sending her off to the castle town alone like that.
“Right, I understand... I’ll try to come up with a plan so that you can come along.”
“You mean it?” Lala Ruu said, her eyes opening wide in surprise. “But I’m not as useful as Toor Deen or Rimee. And the Fa clan accepted this job, not the Ruu...”
“Yeah, but I’m going to have Reina and Sheera Ruu accompany me anyway. I really want them to taste Varkas’s cooking.” We had only just started making arrangements for the trip, but naturally, I was already planning on having them come along. “I mean, they’ve come up with a wonderful dish using white mamaria wine. They’re still saying they don’t think they’ve perfected it yet, but the castle town doesn’t customarily use wine in cooking, so I’m sure they’ll find it really surprising.”
“But...in that case, they’ll want to ask someone more skilled like Rimee or Ama Min Rutim to assist them, right?”
“Not necessarily. Since we’re going to have a lot of business preparations to do as well, they’ll likely choose to prepare the dish at home and heat it up in the castle town. You know, like they did with the herb-grilled dish in the Daleim lands.”
“But then they wouldn’t need my help for anything, right?”
“Well, from that perspective, there won’t be a need for both Reina and Sheera Ruu to come either. But I’m certain they’ll both want to come along, so you should be able to accompany us too.”
Lala Ruu went silent, and it was easy to see on her face that she was conflicted. She must have been worried about whether it would be all right to skip out on work around the house just because she wanted to. Reina and Sheera Ruu were passionate enough about improving their cooking that they tended not to let that kind of thing stand in their way.
“So, you don’t feel right taking advantage?” I asked.
“Yeah...”
“Then what if the Fa clan asked for your assistance? You should be just as skilled as Yun Sudra, at least. So you could help out with my cooking alongside her and Toor Deen.”
“You’d really be okay with that?”
“Yeah. I’m preparing more dishes than Reina and Sheera Ruu are, so I was planning to ask for a number of assistants to begin with. The Fou and Ran folks are busy with work around their houses, so if I couldn’t get anyone but Toor Deen and Yun Sudra to help out, I had been planning on asking Yamiru Lea to come along.”
Lala Ruu looked down again, then met my gaze with upturned eyes and quietly said, “Thanks. I’ll work hard so that you don’t end up wishing you had picked Yamiru Lea instead.”
“Good. Okay, I’ll be counting on you, then.”
Lala Ruu gave a quick bow and took off running back toward the wagon where Granny Jiba was waiting.
Ai Fa had been listening to the exchange beside me the whole time, and now she nodded to me with a serious look on her face. “Hmm. This seems like a fairly difficult situation. Just what are those noble ladies thinking?”
“I couldn’t say. I’d like to think they aren’t quite as passionate as Leeheim was when he set his eyes on Reina Ruu, though.”
“Hmm... I can never understand how nobles think in the first place, but I especially can’t imagine a noble would ever wish to marry a person of the forest’s edge.”
“That’s true. Well, it’s possible that he just whimsically wanted to share a meal with a girl he found himself attracted to, or something.”
“But would one change their attitude so greatly after being rejected if their feelings were mere whimsy? That noble kept taking issue with your cooking during the last dinner party like he was a different person entirely.”
“Well, since matters of love were involved, I could see his pride as a noble being hurt.”
Ai Fa was being really persistent, so we had ended up on a fairly delicate topic, and now she was moving closer to me, looking like she couldn’t accept my explanation.
“I don’t understand what you mean when you talk about his love. Are you saying that noble really did wish to take Reina Ruu as his bride?”
“No, not as a bride, but maybe something along similar lines... This may be an alien idea for a person of the forest’s edge, but the townsfolk probably have some concept of free love. It was the same way back in my homeland too.”
“Free love...” Ai Fa repeated, looking even more bewildered.
“Er...” As I pushed my stall down the crowded street, I chose my words carefully. “In town, they have a concept of taking a lover who isn’t a spouse.”
“A lover...”
“I guess you could call it something like a trial period to determine whether or not you should get married. It’s a chance to determine whether or not you like one another, so you can find a good match.”
“But a noble would never take a woman of the forest’s edge as a bride. So there would be no point in testing such feelings.”
“Yes, that’s true, but still... Some people just want to enjoy having a lover without getting married. I think Yumi’s friend, Luia, might be that kind of person.”
“Acting like husband and wife, without any intention of getting married?”
Ai Fa’s eyelids were now half lowered. It seemed the straightforward people of the forest’s edge just couldn’t accept such a concept.
“Oh, but I don’t really know how Luia or those noble ladies actually feel, you know. I was just applying the trends from my home country to them...”
“So, such actions were permitted in your homeland?”
“Yes.” I had to reply honestly. After all, lying was a crime at the forest’s edge.
As a result, Ai Fa’s eyes narrowed even more, and the shine in them grew positively piercing. And yet, she wasn’t saying a word.
“Well, different countries each have their own customs. I think the people of the forest’s edge should stick to the path that they feel is right.”
Still no response.
“Er, clan head?”
“What about you?” she asked in a terribly calm voice. But even though her voice was calm, I could sense a storm raging in her tone. “Did you enjoy love with people you didn’t intend to marry before coming to the forest’s edge, Asuta?”
This time, my honest reply was, “No. For better or worse, I never ran across anyone like that in my home country. I was so busy with my work at home that I didn’t have much of a chance to get close to any girls my age.”
The only one I was ever close to was my childhood friend, Reina, and we were practically raised like siblings. The feelings we shared had nothing to do with romance.
At any rate, my clan head was still remaining silent.
“Are you satisfied now, Ai Fa?”
“You’re a person of the forest’s edge now... Never forget that, Asuta.”
“Of course I won’t. You really think I could forget something so important?”
“Very well, then...” Ai Fa stated, furrowing her brow and looking a bit pained. “I promise to stand by you resolutely as your clan head if the time comes when you wish to take someone as a bride. However, I absolutely reject that foolish idea of ‘free love.’”
“Right. I’ve got no intention of importing that particular idea to the forest’s edge.”
Besides, I had no desire to discard my feelings for Ai Fa. Regardless of what she herself might have been prepared to do, that was an unshakable fact.
But I’m sure she still feels the need to work up the resolve to accept whoever I might choose...as the head of the Fa clan.
Ai Fa would definitely get all flustered if I were to tell her I didn’t feel like marrying anyone except her. But then she would feel like she was holding me back, making it so that her clan member couldn’t get married. It would be shameful for her as a clan head.
However, she hadn’t told me to cast her aside and find some other woman to marry yet. The only thing she had said, with equal amounts of joy and sorrow, was that the world just wasn’t fair.
That feeling alone is enough for me, Ai Fa.
Those were my thoughts as I continued to stare in Ai Fa’s direction. In response, my clan head’s cheeks went a bit red, and after I received a sharp elbow to my side, I decided to focus on walking.
And so, Granny Jiba managed to safely complete her trip to the post town, and it had been decided that she would visit the Daleim lands the following day.
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