Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 3.3

3

“These are the three dishes I have created,” Timalo announced triumphantly as a new set of platters were carried into the space between the tables one by one. “This is a black fuwano soup, these are black fuwano dumplings, and lastly, these vegetables are pickled in white mamaria vinegar.”

“Ah, how terribly interesting.”

Thanks to Roy, the awkward feeling in the air that Varkas had created had been completely cleared away. The folks from Banarm stared at the dishes carrying Timalo’s cooking with great interest. Reina and Sheera Ruu were scrutinizing them as well, with deadly serious gazes.

For his soup dish, Timalo seemed to have thrown the black fuwano straight on in, creating a thick dark-gray stew. The fact that it looked a bit like muddy water definitely wasn’t a positive, but fortunately it had a wonderful aroma. It seemed he had used some spicy herbs from Sym, as well as some sort of seafood.

As for the dumpling dish, it involved boiling the black fuwano dumplings with meat and vegetables and serving them together. The dumplings were around the same size as ping pong balls, and sure enough, were dark gray as well. The meat used was thin slices of karon, and as for the vegetables, I could at least pick out the paprika-like ma pula and taro-like ma gigo. Everything in the dish was covered in a creamy white broth.

Then you had the pickled dish, with a variety of vegetables thickly coated in a translucent liquid. I made out the zucchini-like chan, carrot-like nenon, cabbage-like tino, and daikon-like sheema in the dish.

“Hmm. So you mixed the fuwano flour in directly?” the plump member of the envoy group asked as he peered into the soup dish being served to him by a page with great curiosity. He seemed as if he was about to lean forward and start sniffing it at any moment. “It certainly is novel, using the fuwano as-is rather than baking or boiling it. I cannot even begin to imagine how it will taste.”

“Well then, shall we give it a try?” Welhide chimed in, and the three members of the Banarm group moved to taste the soup.

Their reactions were really varied. Welhide lightly knitted his brow, the older man’s eyes shot open wide, and the plump fellow broke out in a wide grin.

“This...certainly is a difficult taste to describe...”

“Yes. I find it quite surprising.”

“Still, it’s rather good, isn’t it?”

They must not have been as accustomed to complex flavors as the nobles of Genos. Wanting to get some insight into their surprise, I went ahead and tried a bit of the soup myself.

The first thing that hit me was a tingling spiciness. He had undoubtedly used chitt seeds and at least two kinds of herbs. I could sense a hint of sourness too.

The seafood scent I had picked up seemed to be coming from a type of crustacean called a maroll, which were akin to sweet shrimp. Whether he had made a stock from them or had mashed them into a paste, they were providing quite a strong aroma, considering I couldn’t detect the texture of their meat in the dish at all.

He had also used sugar and tau oil on top of that, providing a fair bit of sweetness and saltiness. The combination of spiciness with sourness reminded me of Thai food, but then a sweetness like what you might expect from Japanese cooking was added on top, making for a truly complex flavor.

Then he had thrown in some black fuwano, which was akin to wheat or buckwheat, making for a rather floury broth that sluggishly carried that complex flavor across my tongue. If I wanted to be harsh, I would call it overly heavy, and if I wanted to be positive instead, I would say it was a flavor that stirred up the appetite.

The ingredients included what was likely karon sirloin, and I could make out the texture of soft ma pula and tino. Aside from that, he seemed to have used chan, ro’hyoi, and ma gigo, but they were mushy and on the verge of falling apart. They might have made for a good stock, but in terms of texture, they had essentially fused with the soup itself.

“Hmm. There is nothing to complain about in regards to taste. However, it feels as if it clings to the throat a bit,” Marstein said.

“Yes,” Timalo replied while bowing his head. “That is the difference when compared to ordinary white fuwano. With white fuwano, it would go a bit more smoothly down the throat, but in exchange, the flavor vanishes soon afterward.”

“I see. Well, it’s no issue at all as long as you have tea or wine to accompany it.”

At that, one of the pages silently approached and poured white mamaria wine into the duke’s now-empty glass.

“This dumpling dish has a wondrous texture. Is that thanks to the black fuwano as well?” Polarth asked with a smile.

With a triumphant expression, Timalo replied, “Indeed. What sets black and white fuwano apart, aside from a small difference in flavor, is that texture. The different flavor can easily be overcome with herbs, and so I thought it best to try something that would emphasize the texture instead.”

“Hmm. It’s true that this would be difficult to recreate with white fuwano. Personally, I am quite fond of it.”

With that, I went ahead and took a bite of the dish myself.

The fuwano dumplings had been boiled, so when I poked one with a silver fork, I found that it was very soft. I went ahead and tossed the whole thing into my mouth along with its creamy broth coating, and was first hit by the sweetness of karon milk and panam honey.

While the karon milk was the base for the broth, the panam honey had definitely been kneaded into the fuwano dough. On top of that, I could pick up on the saltiness of tau oil and a cilantro-like flavor. The broth had soaked all the way through to the core of the dumpling, so it mixed together with the sweetness from the honey and created another complex and deep flavor.

Just as Polarth had said in his words of praise, even though it had soaked up so much broth, the fuwano still easily broke apart and passed down my throat. If he had used white fuwano or poitan instead, it would have been stickier and clung persistently to the inside of my mouth.

The rough graininess of the fuwano flour had created some friction in the previous soup, but in this dumpling dish it had instead produced a light texture. Making the flour into dumplings had produced completely opposite effects from just using it in its powdered form. I found the idea he had come up with quite unique.

“What do you think, leading clan head of the forest’s edge Dari Sauti? I recognize that the cooking of Genos isn’t very well suited to the tastes of your people, but could I ask for your honest opinion with that in mind?” Marstein asked.

Dari Sauti had remained silent all this time, but upon being directly questioned by the duke, he now looked up.

“I’m having a bit of difficulty eating this soup. I can at least handle these dumplings without any problems...but judging whether it is good or bad is proving tricky. To begin with, we have long since reached the point where any meal that doesn’t have any giba meat in it is simply lacking for us.”

“Hmm... But you looked quite satisfied when you ate the fried rillione dish prepared by Asuta.”

I had cooked that fried freshwater fish in order to pair it with the tartar sauce. At any rate, Dari Sauti blinked and looked like he really hadn’t expected that comment.

“Did I really seem that satisfied? Well, it’s true that I found it quite delicious despite using fish instead of giba meat.”

“Yes, that fried dish was indeed fantastic. However, your dishes are also outstanding to those of us from Genos, Timalo.”

“I’m honored to receive such excessive praise,” Timalo replied with a polite bow of his head.

“These vegetables pickled in vinegar have a mysterious flavor as well. Despite strongly tasting of meat, I cannot find any meat in them at all,” Torst chimed in.

“Indeed,” Timalo replied with a smile. He really did seem to be brimming with confidence today. “That is not just mamaria vinegar. The liquid also has karon fat dissolved into it. I am quite proud of myself for having been able to draw out a different flavor than that of a pickled dish using red mamaria vinegar.”

With that, I reached out toward the last dish. However, this one wasn’t quite to my tastes. The sticky translucent liquid certainly was a mixture of white mamaria vinegar and karon fat. If I described it as a combination of vinegar and beef tallow, perhaps that would provide a clearer image? At any rate, he seemed to have used other herbs, but the vinegar and fat had such a strong presence that I couldn’t quite make them out.

Apparently, they had been marinated long enough to start fermenting, giving the vegetables themselves a strong sour flavor. Beyond that, since the taste was more fatty than meaty, the dish felt really, really heavy to me, which also made it incredibly hard to get down.

I glanced down and to my side and found Toor Deen looking at the floor with tears in her eyes after trying the same dish. I hurriedly held out a glass of tea, which she gulped down and then she let out an uncharacteristic “Phew...”

“Are you all right? You don’t have to force yourself to eat any more,” I whispered.

Toor Deen quietly said, “Thank you,” with teary eyes.

“How about you two, Reina and Sheera Ruu? It’s been some time since you tasted Timalo’s cooking, right?”

“That’s true... I don’t find it truly delicious, but the impression it’s giving me is very different from back then,” Reina Ruu quietly answered. “If I had to say, I think it’s that I can now understand what sort of flavor he’s aiming for. It must be because I now know the taste of Varkas’s cooking.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way. It feels as if Varkas is standing far off in the direction Timalo is trying to run toward,” Sheera Ruu added.

At that, Eulifia called out, “What is it? If you have some thoughts, then we would like to hear them as well. That is why you are also here tasting the same dishes, is it not?”

“Ah, well... Black fuwano has a unique texture, and I think it’s great how Timalo drew that out to its fullest.”

“Hmm? And what do you have to say, Varkas?”

Varkas placed the bowl of soup he had been served down on his table with a clatter. “I have no real thoughts to share.”

“Oh? Are you dissatisfied with Timalo’s cooking?”

“If I had to say, then naturally, I am indeed dissatisfied. And I certainly can’t approve of such precious ingredients being used in such a way.”

Timalo’s smile instantly twitched. “Sir Varkas has never praised my cooking even once. It seems our methods and tastes differ too much.”

“Regardless of the methods used, delicious food remains delicious all the same. And I most certainly do not think your methods differ all that greatly from my own... As a result, the flaws stand out all the more.”

“Is my cooking truly that poor?”

“It is. For example, I would not have employed sugar in this soup. If you wished to make it sweet, you should have used minmi or ramam fruit. And maroll alone doesn’t provide enough flavor, so you should have used dried seaweed or fish,” Varkas stated, once again casually throwing out such harsh words. “In regard to the dumpling dish, the meddo herb was unnecessary. The way it clashes with the panam honey is quite unpleasant. And you should have used sugar and milk fat in the broth.”

“B-But would that not make it simply a sweet dish?”

“Sweetness and saltiness would be suitable for that dish. Adding an excess of flavors simply throws off the balance.”

While Timalo was getting angrier and angrier, Varkas was inversely growing ever more chilly.

“There is no need to even discuss the vegetables pickled in vinegar. What purpose could there be in using karon fat in such a dish? It worsens the flavor solely for the sake of novelty. Simply marinating the vegetables in white mamaria vinegar would have resulted in a far better taste.”

“Don’t you think that’s enough, Varkas?” Lefreya once again spoke up, acting as the voice of restraint. “I’m perfectly accustomed to hearing such exchanges between the two of you, but everyone else must be getting rather uncomfortable.”

Varkas didn’t show any emotion in the least as he gave a bow. Lefreya then shot Timalo a glare to stop him before he carried on further, before turning her gaze to the noble guests in attendance.

“Varkas and Timalo are both chefs who have served the house of Turan. Back then, they would always quarrel like this. As I am no longer their employer, there may not be a need for me to explain this on their behalf, but I would ask you to please understand that there is a history between the two of them,” Lefreya stated, resolute beyond her young age.

The folks from Banarm hummed in acknowledgment, sounding impressed with her. It seemed even the arrogant young Lefreya could act like a proper noblewoman when attending an official event such as this. Personally, I couldn’t help but find it a good change for her, seeing how she was able to take the initiative like that.

“Skilled chefs all tend to have a great deal of pride and strong emotions. If that wasn’t the case, I would have brought along the head chef from the castle, but it seems I was correct not to do so,” Marstein calmly added. “Well then, shall we finally partake in Varkas’s cooking? After everything he’s been saying, I am certain he has prepared a dish that we will greatly enjoy.”

The pages then carried in a new tray with a wooden platter that had a bell-shaped lid over it. Underneath the lid was a fragrant whole-roast kimyuus. However, it was no ordinary whole-roast, as the kimyuus was jet black all over. We had already noticed this bizarre oddity back in the kitchen, but the nobles seeing it for the first time were quite surprised.

“What is that dish? It wasn’t simply overcooked and burned, was it?”

“This dish was made using black fuwano and gigi herbs. Shilly Rou.”

“Right.” The young chef nodded, approaching the plate. Apparently, it would be her job to cut the meat.

Using a butcher’s knife and metal skewers the pages offered her, Shilly Rou began slicing off pieces of kimyuus meat without even needing to take a moment to judge her cuts. What appeared from underneath the pitch black surface was lustrous peach-colored meat. She made her cuts in a way that ensured that every piece had some of the black skin on it, and when she was done, she carefully took a small jar and poured some broth that seemed like it was probably pretty hot over the meat.

“Thank you for waiting. Please, enjoy.”

Shilly Rou then swiftly stepped aside, and the pages began handing out pieces of meat on small plates. The kimyuus had been a rather large one, but as there were thirty people present, we each only received a small amount.

Just going by the aroma, it was already clear that this was a fantastic dish. I could smell the sweet and salty tau oil, the fragrant aroma of cooked meat, and a number of spicy herbs mixing together in a complex manner. It was a wondrous scent that stimulated my fairly full stomach once again.

After taking a bite, Marstein started to say, “Hmm, this is...” but even he was unable to complete his thought. The other noble men and women also all let slip sounds of admiration. Only Melfried and Arishuna were able to retain a calm and composed appearance.

As I listened to their voices, I reached for my own plate. Just the fact that Varkas had made the dish was enough to make my heart pound with anticipation.

The surface had been cooked up nice and crispy. Just like with the fish he had made last time, he must have added countless layers of glaze while roasting it. The combination of the tender meat and aromatic skin was simply exquisite.

All kimyuus meat had a plain flavor akin to a chicken tender. But the black surface layer added some real complexity to go along with that simple meaty taste. What I picked up on most strongly was sweetness and spiciness. However, I found it quite difficult to determine what they had come from. I could sense the flavor of panam honey, but there was also the mellow sweetness of fruit as well. Even in just this one aspect, it truly was a flavor with some real depth.

The spiciness, meanwhile, must have come from herbs. It wasn’t a sharp, stinging spice, but instead was a kind that gradually stimulated the tongue. And the broth that was added at the end must have used a white mamaria vinegar base. That unique sourness and flavor coupled with the sweetness and spiciness of the black coating led to a fantastic synergy.

Concentrating further, I found a peculiar taste hidden underneath. I would have missed it without paying careful attention, but it was a unique sort of bitterness. At first I thought it had come from the cooked surface or the skin, but apparently that wasn’t the case. It was a strange flavor that brought to mind cacao or the like, and it was serving as the nucleus of the dish.

Did it come from some sort of herb as well? At any rate, it wasn’t a flavor I recognized. It was faint enough that I could have easily mistaken it for the meat being slightly burnt, but when I paid careful attention I could tell the bitterness served to tighten up the overall flavor. It felt as if the bitter flavor was able to combine the sweetness, spiciness, sourness, and saltiness all into one.

“The kimyuus skin is black because I coated it in black fuwano flour and gigi,” Varkas calmly explained. “Gigi herbs are difficult to handle, but I was able to successfully bring them into harmony with the black fuwano and white mamaria vinegar. I added grated ramam, reten oil, tau oil, karon milk, and herbs such as sarfaal to the black fuwano and gigi coating, while the broth uses white mamaria wine and vinegar, panam honey, and ramanpa nuts.”

As I listened to him speak, I licked a bit of that clear broth on its own. Sure enough, I could taste the ingredients he had listed off, though the amount of fruit wine must have been kept low to make it a subtle secret ingredient. With the white mamaria vinegar base, it had a flavor that emphasized sourness and sweetness.

I also scraped off a chunk of black coating not covered in the broth to try on its own, and this time around I could clearly pick up on the bitterness. That must have come from the herb he called gigi. Black fuwano was actually more of a grayish-brown, so the jet black color had to have come from that herb.

I could also just barely detect the flavor and saltiness of the tau oil, but I couldn’t really pick out the ramam or the karon milk. However, I definitely sensed a mellow sweetness beyond the bitterness. Without the broth, the spiciness was making my tongue sting a good bit, though. It seemed the dish was only truly complete with the broth and the coating combined.

“To think that Varkas could create this flavor out of a bland meat like kimyuus...” Reina Ruu whispered quietly enough that only I would hear. “It’s forcing me to recognize how far below him I am all over again. I’m embarrassed to have served such a poor dish.”

“But you two don’t consider that dish perfected yet, right? And I’m the one who pushed you to present it...”

“Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have enough experience yet.”

I looked over at her face with concern, but rather than appearing dejected, she seemed to be burning with competitive spirit. From her other side, Sheera Ruu brought her face close.

“I’m certain this flavoring wouldn’t pair properly with giba or karon meat. It was a taste he was able to achieve only because he used kimyuus... I would be so happy if we could come up with a recipe using giba meat that stacks flavors on top of each other like this and tastes just as good.”

“Yeah. I wonder what sort of herb gigi is... I’d like to see how it would taste with giba.”

When talking with Sheera Ruu, Reina Ruu used the same tone she did with family and was able to show her excitement more openly, which was a relief for me.

“Yes, this certainly is a splendid dish. Still, I cannot imagine anyone but you would be able to prepare something this elaborate, Varkas,” Marstein finally said, causing Varkas to tilt his head questioningly.

“I believe my apprentices should be able to create something that approaches this flavor.”

“In that case, the dish could only be made in your restaurant, correct? I cannot say that would do much for our goal of promoting the usage of these ingredients from Banarm.”

“However, this is a dish that can only be made using the fuwano and mamaria from Banarm. It should serve to inform my shop’s customers about how wonderful they can be.”

“But how many people will actually be convinced to order Banarm’s fuwano and mamaria for themselves? Well, so be it... There is no point in quibbling over the matter. I would certainly like to have you continue to make food as delicious as this using your own methods.”

“Very well,” Varkas replied with a bow of his head. Beyond him, I could see Timalo standing there quietly with his eyes closed. His face still looked rather pale, and he didn’t show any signs of recovering.

Now that I think about it, Timalo spent many years beside Varkas, having their skills compared. He must have a pretty strong spirit to not let that break him, I thought to myself.

Then Eulifia excitedly proclaimed, “Now, it is finally time for Yang to debut his dish, is it not? We have been looking forward to your sweet most of all.”

That “we” must have been referring to the noblewomen. Lady Besta and Lady Selanju, who looked almost like sisters, had a real shine in their eyes as they stood beside the next duchess in line.

The next plate to be brought out held sweets made of thin black fuwano dough shaped like spring rolls. They looked like they had been fried in buttery milk fat, and they carried a heavy aroma of the stuff too.

“My, you fried it rather than baking it?”

“Indeed. The sweet that Sir Asuta prepared for the tea party was so splendid that it ended up inspiring me,” Yang said. However, I had made donuts that time. His sweet might have been a fragrant fried dish, but it seemed more pie-like than donut-like.

The gray spring roll-looking sweets had a light pink sauce drizzled over them, with pulpy bits sprinkled throughout that seemed to be minmi fruit, which were similar to peaches.

“Ooh, how tasty!” Yun Sudra declared, before shrinking down and blushing bright red.

Seeing her acting so adorably, Eulifia smiled and said, “Do not worry. We said we wished to have everyone voice their honest opinions, did we not? I find it quite delicious myself.”

“I am truly grateful,” Yang said with a polite bow of his head.

I tried it myself and found it was every bit as good as the sweet he had served at the tea party. It had a crust seemingly made using karon milk and kimyuus egg, giving it a great deal of flavor and an enjoyable crispy texture. Finally, hidden inside the wrap was a sort of jam with an arow and sheel fruit base.

The panam honey and minmi fruit sauce was quite sweet, but the jam had a more restrained sweetness to compensate. The arow berries combined well with the citrusy sourness of the sheel, with an added fruity sweetness that had to have come from white mamaria wine. He must’ve boiled off the alcohol by heating it along with the fruits, creating a gentle flavor that even young children could enjoy.

Also, the pastry seemed to have two additional sources of texture aside from the perfect toughness of the crust and the soft gooeyness of the jam. One of them must have been fibers of kimyuus meat, like last time. The stringy kimyuus breast meat had been finely torn up, giving the dish a rather pleasant chewiness.

The other one seemed like it came from some sort of fruit or vegetable. It had been minced up into small pieces and didn’t provide any real taste to speak of. All it seemed to do was provide a bit of soft and juicy resistance as it easily broke down when you chewed it, adding yet another enjoyable texture to the mix.

“This is ma pula, is it not?” Varkas questioned.

“Yes,” Yang calmly replied with a nod. “Ma pula boiled in white mamaria wine. I added it because the chewiness felt lacking.”

Ma pula—a subspecies of pula—was a vegetable similar to paprika. It lacked pula’s bitterness, and I frequently used it to add color or texture myself.

“What a splendid idea. Just as Shilly Rou told me, you truly seem to be one of the foremost chefs here in Genos when it comes to making sweets.”

“It is the highest of honors as a chef to hear such praise from you, Sir Varkas.”

After giving him a nod, Varkas then turned toward Timalo.

“You are similarly skilled to Sir Yang when it comes to producing sweets, Sir Timalo. It is amazing what heightening a single flavor can do, and if you would apply such techniques to your general cooking, I am certain you could manage to make a fine dish.”

Timalo was biting into Yang’s dish with a frown that quickly grew more intense as he sent a glare Varkas’s way. From his point of view, the person giving him that advice was someone he saw as a rival, so it certainly wouldn’t make him happy to hear it.

“Yes, it truly does have a fantastic flavor. It seems the fuwano of Banarm is well suited for sweets,” Marstein said.

“Indeed,” Yang politely replied. “Trying to bake it as you normally would results in something blander than what you would get from using the standard white fuwano, but with just a bit of added effort, you can make a truly delicious sweet. A great many people here in the castle town eat sweets as snacks, and I believe it will find acceptance easily.”

“In that case, I would like to have Timalo show us his skills as Yang has. You are quite famed among the noblewomen for your confections, are you not?”

“Yes...” Timalo said with a bow, a rather complex expression on his face. Varkas had disparaged the cooking he had prepared, and yet he was being praised for his skill at making sweets, so it was like he was being pulled in two directions at once.

“What do you think, Odifia? You adore sweets like this as well, do you not?” Eulifia asked her child.

The adorable young girl who looked like a French doll nodded and answered, “It’s tasty. But are these all the sweets they have for us?”

“My, you haven’t had enough yet? There are still a few left on the plate.”

“No, not those. I wanna eat that girl’s sweets.”

Naturally, “that girl” referred to none other than Toor Deen. Anyone who had been listening to their conversation then turned to look at the young chef, making her cling to me from behind.

“You certainly are taken with her sweets. In that case, it is only polite that you at least remember her name properly. That small chef from the forest’s edge is named Toor Deen.”

“Toor Deen,” Odifia pronounced surprisingly clearly as she stared the young chef’s way.

“Leading clan head Dari Sauti, as you heard, my daughter Odifia is quite thoroughly taken with the sweets prepared by Toor Deen. Would it be possible to invite her to the castle town again in the future?” Eulifia asked, her gaze turning toward Dari Sauti rather than her father-in-law or husband.

The leading clan head looked at the noble mother and daughter clad in their pure white dresses and gently smiled. “As long as it does not interfere with her work at the forest’s edge, I cannot see any reason for the Deen clan head to refuse. However, the Deen clan falls under the Zaza, so they would need to give their permission first.”

“My, is there not a member of the Zaza clan present here today?”

In response, Sufira Zaza quietly stepped forward from where she had been standing along the wall. “I am Sufira Zaza, the youngest daughter of the Zaza clan head, Gulaf Zaza... You say you wish to request the cooking skills not of Asuta of the Fa clan, but of Toor Deen?”

“Yes, though I of course would be quite happy to have Asuta accompany her. Having him along might be reassuring for Toor Deen.”

“I see... In that case, I shall convey your words to my clan head, Gulaf,” Sufira Zaza expressionlessly replied as she stared at Toor Deen’s back. The young chef was still clinging to me, and I suspected that she wanted to straight up vanish at that point.

With a deeply satisfied smile, Eulifia then turned toward her husband. Melfried had yet to say so much as a word, and with a chilly look in his gray eyes, he started to open his mouth, only to notice his daughter staring up at him. Instead, he just sighed.

As he looked upon his son’s family with a strained smile, Marstein seemed to collect his thoughts and said, “Now then, let us enjoy an ordinary dinner along with what remains of these dishes. Varkas’s apprentices have prepared quite a feast for us.”

Following Marstein’s words, the pages once again started carrying in even more dishes. Aside from Bozl, Varkas’s other three apprentices had been preparing this meal rather than assisting the master chef. A simmering soup and karon meat dish were laid out atop the tables, as well as a colorful vegetable dish.

“And for a bit of entertainment, we have arranged to have a small contest between Shin Ruu, a hunter from the forest’s edge, and Geimalos, the head of the knights of Saturas. Please, enjoy.”

One of the pages then approached the wall that was to our right. He pulled open the curtain hanging there, revealing a large open window behind it. It looked to be around one meter high and seven or eight wide. There were a number of posts in the middle to reinforce it, but they didn’t block our view of what was on the other side in the least.

Looking through the window, I saw a wide stone-built stage. It was outdoors, but it did have both a floor and a roof for cover. It appeared to be around ten meters in diameter, and was surrounded by thick stone pillars that supported the roof. There were also fires burning in hanging iron braziers that were affixed to the pillars to provide light, since the trees visible above the roof were casting shadows over everything.

We hurriedly moved closer to the window. The nobles seemingly intended to enjoy their meal while they watched, but I was in no mood for eating. Lala Ruu placed her hands on the window sill and leaned forward.

Ai Fa, Jiza Ruu, and Gazraan Rutim silently lined up behind us. With a window of this size, we didn’t have to worry about Marstein and the others not being able to see. However, like Lala Ruu, I was so worried about Shin Ruu’s safety that I wasn’t particularly concerned about inconveniencing the nobles regardless.

Just don’t get hurt, Shin Ruu...for Lala Ruu’s sake.

From beyond the light cast by the flames, two swordsmen then stepped forward, with pages guiding them. Though they were both clad in silver armor, one of them was undoubtedly a young dark-skinned hunter from the forest’s edge: Shin Ruu.