Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 2.4

4

It was the lower sixth hour, around sunset, and we were at the main Ruu house, surrounded by a mountain of food.

Naturally, the members of the Gamley Troupe had left before the sun set, and Lem Dom had also returned home to sleep. Still, the addition of Ai Fa, myself, and the six guests alone was enough to make sure the main hall of the Ruu house was packed.

“This is the first time we’ve invited townsfolk to dinner at the Ruu house. I am grateful to the mother forest that we have been able to forge so many new bonds, when in the past we would always avoid one another if we were unfortunate enough to cross paths,” Donda Ruu began in a serious tone. “Dora the vegetable seller and his daughter Tara from the Daleim lands, Telia Mas and Yumi from the post town, Mikel and his daughter Myme from the Turan lands... Those are the names of the guests invited this night to the Ruu house.”

Dora and the other were sitting in half-circle, and each gave a grateful bow.

“You’ve likely already heard most of our names, but I’ll go through again just to be clear. I am the Ruu clan head, Donda Ruu; beside me is our elder, Jiba Ruu; to my right are my eldest son, Jiza Ruu; my second son, Darmu Ruu; my youngest son, Ludo Ruu; my eldest daughter, Vina Ruu; and my second daughter, Reina Ruu. To my left are my wife, Mia Lea Ruu; my mother, Tito Min Ruu; my eldest son’s wife, Sati Lea Ruu; their son, Kota Ruu; my third daughter, Lala Ruu; and my youngest daughter, Rimee Ruu. And then we have our other guests: Ai Fa and Asuta from the Fa clan, Sufira Zaza of the Zaza clan, Toor Deen of the Deen clan, and Yun Sudra of the Sudra clan.”

Including the toddler, Kota Ruu, that made for a great big crowd of twenty-four in total. And since I hadn’t seen the little tyke in some time, he had grown quite a bit since then. Before, he had spent most of his time sleeping in a woven basket, but now he was able to walk a little, and it was absolutely adorable.

Kota Ruu would be turning two during the brown month. His little face had shifted from androgynous to clearly masculine, and his blackish-brown hair had really grown out. It was even possible that he was larger than Aimu Fou at this point. And currently, Kota Ruu was seated atop Sati Lea Ruu’s lap, innocence shining in his black eyes.

“Well then, let us begin our meal... We offer our gratitude to Tito Min, Vina, Reina, and Rimee, who manned the flame and gave us our life for this night...”

The people of the forest’s edge repeated Donda Ruu’s words, while the guests each followed their own premeal customs.

The Ruu clan’s chefs had made tonight’s dinner. The stuff we had worked on during our study session wasn’t part of this meal, so I hadn’t participated in preparing it at all. The menu included myamuu giba with keru root; sirloin with tarapa sauce; aria, tino, and chan sauté; chatchi salad with aria and nenon; and tau bean soup with herb-rich meatballs.

Apparently, they had been planning to serve a different type of grilled meat as the main dish, but the flavor of the myamuu giba with keru root added to it had left such a deep impression on Reina Ruu that she had made a last-minute swap. As for the tau beans, they had been added to the soup after it had already finished cooking.

They were also serving zozo tea to everyone who didn’t drink alcohol. It was being served in wooden dishes, since they didn’t have any cups specifically for beverages. They would probably buy some if they started making a habit of drinking tea after this.

“This is all very good. Are the Ruu clan’s chefs just especially skilled, even compared to the rest of the forest’s edge?” Dora called out while chowing down on the sirloin sauté.

Reina Ruu offered him a reserved smile. “Our bond with the Fa clan is the oldest, and Asuta has been instructing us for the longest, so I should hope that would be the case.”

“It really is splendid. As a vegetable seller, I feel blessed to know that you’re making such delicious food with my crops.”

“That’s for sure. If you guys keep expanding your sales to the inns, we’ll never be able to compete,” Yumi chimed in.

“I’m sure that can’t be true. The Westerly Wind’s giba dishes are really popular, aren’t they?” I said back.

“Nah,” she said with a wide grin showing the whites of her teeth. “We don’t exactly use high-quality ingredients, and when I check out The Kimyuus’s Tail every now and then, I can’t help but think we could never beat them. You and Sheera Ruu have been alternating with Asuta to help them out, right, Reina Ruu?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I can’t tell the difference at all! You sure are something else, Reina Ruu...”

Reina Ruu broke out in a somewhat embarrassed smile at that. Now that I thought about it, she had probably had the least amount of interaction with Yumi out of the four Ruu sisters.

Then, Yumi turned to look in the opposite direction. “By the way, that kid sure is one heck of an eater! His name was...Kota Ruu, right?”

“Yes. Jiza and I are his parents,” Sati Lea Ruu replied with a smile and a nod as Kota Ruu slurped soup down by her feet. The soup had meatballs in it, and the rest of his giba meat had been sliced up small so he wouldn’t have difficulty eating it.

“So cute! And he’s really got his mother’s eyes! Can I hold him again later?”

“Yes, of course.”

As far as I knew, this was their first meeting, but Sati Lea Ruu was polite and outgoing, and never hesitated to engage with our guests.

“Thank you so much for everything today... This old bag of bones has really been looking forward to it...” Granny Jiba said from the head of the group, where she had been enjoying her meal with Mia Lea Ruu’s assistance.

Dora then turned and smiled cheerfully at her. “We’re the ones who should be thanking all of you. Honestly, I wish I could have brought along the rest of my family. But I would feel bad about dumping such a huge crowd on you, so they’ll have to wait another three days until our next visit.”

“I would love to visit your home again, if it wouldn’t be any trouble for you...”

“It wouldn’t be any trouble at all! It only ever gets to be as lively as last time during the revival festival, but please feel free to stop by anytime.”

It seemed the members of the Ruu clan were now allowed to come visit Dora’s house whenever they pleased without needing to make a big deal out of it. I wondered to myself what the clan head and his heir thought of that, but they were both difficult to read—though not in the same way—so glancing over at them didn’t tell me anything.

“I’ve been looking forward to today as well. An old-timer like me can’t exactly go help out in the post town, so I’ve never had much of an opportunity to get to know you all,” Granny Tito Min added, a joyful smile on her plump face. There really seemed to be a lot of friendly, broad-minded women in the main house. The older women in particular had much less interaction with the townsfolk, so they seemed particularly interested in talking with our guests. “And your name is Mikel, right? You’ve got a real glum look on your face. If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, you need only say so.”

At that, Mikel sullenly looked up. “This is just how I am. Don’t mind me... I am impressed with how well all these dishes turned out.”

“It’s really delicious! The keru root seems to pair wonderfully with this dish!” Myme energetically added in place of her unsociable father. “I’ve heard that nobody from the forest’s edge had any interest in good food until Asuta came, so it’s really amazing that you were able to come far enough to make something this delicious in less than a year. There aren’t many places where you can find cooking this delicious in the Turan lands or the post town.”

“That’s true. I can’t believe you were just throwing zozo into soup a couple months ago,” Yumi agreed.

Even with so many ferocious-looking men from the Ruu clan gathered around them, Yumi and Myme didn’t seem to be intimidated in the least. And even though Telia Mas wasn’t saying much, she was continuing to eat with a gentle smile on her face.

As for Rimee Ruu and Tara, they had unsurprisingly secured seats next to one another and been happily chatting away. It had to be more than the fact that they were similar in age that led to them forming such an incredibly close friendship. Their cheery voices and laughter added a lot to the genial feeling in the air, even if they weren’t participating in the conversations around them.

“Oh yeah, an easterner by the name of Kukuluel stopped by the stalls today,” Ludo Ruu somewhat abruptly interjected. Our guests looked confused, as the men from the forest all suddenly became tense. “I’ll give a report before going to sleep. As far as I could tell, though, he seemed pretty trustworthy.”

“How long were you planning to stay silent about such an important matter?” Jiza Ruu calmly asked.

“When was I supposed to bring it up?” Ludo Ruu replied with a shrug. “I was keeping an eye on those traveling performers the whole time after we returned to the settlement, and then when you guys came home from giba hunting, I had to escort them back to town, so there was no time to discuss it before now.”

“Who is that fellow with the strange name you mentioned? If you don’t mind telling us, of course,” Dora said, and Jiza Ruu silently looked at his father.

Donda Ruu also remained silent as he slurped down his highly aromatic soup, but Ludo Ruu said, “Why not?” as he picked at his chatchi salad. “Actually, I figure it’ll be good to hear Dora’s opinion, right? No matter what the nobles might say, people like him are the ones out there actually tilling the fields.”

“Hey, this is starting to sound kinda ominous. What’s all this about nobles and fields?” Dora asked, sounding worried, and Donda Ruu seemed to make up his mind.

With encouragement from Dora, Ludo Ruu went ahead and explained everything that Kukuluel had said about the plan to cut a path through the forest of Morga in order to secure a route to Sym.

“Goodness, that sounds utterly astounding! I’m amazed they could think up something like that. And they’re even planning to put the northerners to work on it,” Dora said, his voice a mix of admiration and astonishment. “Hmm...” he pondered, bringing his hands together. “Still, I’m not so sure... It’s true that for these past several months, things have been going fine, and we haven’t had giba rampaging over our fields. But if they cut down part of the forest and reduce the available food supply, it could end up breaking that peace, couldn’t it?”

“There’s no way to know for sure until the trees are actually felled. But the nobles are supposedly planning to build a fence around the Daleim lands too.”

“That’ll be a pretty major undertaking as well, considering how vast the Daleim lands are. It’ll also mean even more personnel and materials are going to be needed... Oh, could they be planning on using the wood cut down at the forest’s edge to build it?”

“I have no idea. We haven’t even fully agreed to go along with this yet.”

“I see,” Dora said, tapping his turban-wrapped head with a finger a few times. Then his gaze shifted from Ludo Ruu to me. “Well, it’s not like we have the power to change anything the nobles decide on. By the way, has the head of the house of Daleim given his approval for this?”

“I’d imagine they’ve probably run it by him, but I don’t know whether he’s agreed to it or not,” I said.

When the Black Flight Feathers had come up during our study session in the castle town, I had noticed Polarth acting a little strangely. Melfried must have already spoken with him and the other nobles about this at that point.

“Well, I guess I can put my trust in the lord of the lands where I live. Or at least, in the lord’s second son, who I know pays attention to the needs of the people of Daleim, and of the forest’s edge.”

“Hmm. I’m more worried about them letting northerners loose in the forest than I am about that stuff about clearing a path. I don’t really know the details, but they seriously hate westerners, don’t they?” Yumi asked.

“Huh?” Ludo Ruu tilted his head. “You don’t really know, but you’re still worried? I actually saw a woman from Mahyudra in the castle town, and she was just as much of a looker as you are, Yumi.”

“That has nothing to do with it! But, huh... So they have slaves from Mahyudra working in the castle town, and not just in the Turan lands?”

I was the one who provided the answer to her question. “No, it seems the previous head of the house of Turan was the only person in Genos who used northerners as slaves. The woman Ludo Ruu mentioned was a servant at the Turan manor.”

None of us were very knowledgeable about the people of Mahyudra, so it seemed like the topic would be dropped there. But then, having only half-listened to our serious conversation, Tara suddenly said, “Maybe it would be good if Mr. Kamyua was here, then. Isn’t he from the north?”

Looking as if he had suddenly been hit unexpectedly, Jiza Ruu replied, “Indeed. That man may well be the best equipped to accurately assess whether this course of action is appropriate or not. And he would be able to express his opinion directly to the lord of Genos himself.”

“Yup, you’ve got it... Oh, sorry! I mean, I agree.”

“Young children such as yourself have no need to watch the way they speak...” Jiza Ruu calmly stated, and his wife let a little giggle escape her a short distance away from him.

“You’ve exchanged words with a man from Mahyudra before, haven’t you, Asuta of the Fa clan?” Donda Ruu called out.

“I have,” I replied with a nod. “He was the older brother of the woman who works in the castle town. His name is Eleo Chel, and he wanted to know how his younger sister, Chiffon Chel, was doing. I told him, and he thanked me.”

“He must possess a strong, faithful heart to reach out to you like that, despite being a slave...” Donda Ruu said. “To be frank, I can’t help but wonder if the way the nobles of Genos are using these people as tools should be considered a sin... However, I have heard that citizens of the west are treated as slaves in Mahyudra as well.”

“Yes, Kamyua did tell us that.”

It seemed that the girls who had been kidnapped from town by the Suun clan in the past had somehow been taken to Mahyudra to be sold. However, I didn’t want to darken the mood any further, so I refrained from bringing that up.

“We people of the forest’s edge have paid no attention to matters outside of the forest until recently, which has left us unqualified to speak about issues like slavery. That being the case, we have no choice but to continue our discussions with the nobles of Genos if we are to determine the proper path forward.”

Donda Ruu was probably thinking the same thing as me. His tone made it clear that there wouldn’t be any more discussion on the matter, so we dragged the topic back toward something more general and spent the rest of the meal conversing with our precious guests.

Yun Sudra had stiffened up a good bit due to being at the main house of her parent clan, but as time passed, her cheerful nature started shining through, and she began talking to the guests and members of the Ruu clan more openly. Our guests from town were quite interested in the customs of the forest’s edge, so the conversation never ceased, and we ended up having a really enjoyable dinner together.

Questions about cooking were also directed at Mikel, while Telia Mas’s opinions regarding the state of the post town were also asked about. Mia Lea Ruu and Granny Tito Min from the forest’s edge were good at facilitating conversations, and the same was true of Yumi and Dora among the guests, so they were even able to get the really untalkative folks in the room to join in. Out of everyone, only Darmu Ruu seemed a little annoyed with how things were going.

“You’re awfully quiet over there. And you’ve been frowning this whole time, even with all the delicious food to eat,” Yumi remarked, but Darmu Ruu just deeply furrowed his brow in response. “It’s such a shame. You’re a really handsome guy, you know. Girls would be all over you if you would just smile at them.”

“And this is relevant to you in some way?”

“It isn’t, no. But Ludo and Lala Ruu have been worried about you. I mean, their big brother hasn’t taken a bride, and he’s almost twenty.”

“What have you been telling these townsfolk?!” Darmu Ruu shouted, his scarred right cheek now bright red, only for Donda Ruu to quickly silence him.

“Quiet, you. We’re in the middle of dinner, and you will not raise your voice like that. Besides, Ludo and Lala are right. Just when are you planning on getting married, anyway?”

I felt bad for Darmu Ruu, but the exchange was adding even more color to the proceedings.

From there the food steadily vanished, and when the plates were mostly empty, Rimee Ruu rose decisively to her feet.

“Okay, it’s about time for dessert! Tara, could you help me out?”

“Yeah!”

A huge wooden pot-like container had been set down beside the entrance, and the two young girls went and carried it into the middle of the main hall. Meanwhile, Reina Ruu served fresh zozo tea that had been kept warm on a small stove meant for that purpose.

“Today, I made a new kind of chatchi mochi! They’re really tasty, so everyone give them a try!”

The fresh plate full of chatchi mochi was then passed all around.

The sweets themselves had a bit of a light cocoa-like coloring, and a faint brown sauce had been poured over them. Rimee Ruu had gotten really bold this time, employing two new ingredients at once: gigi leaves and hoboi seeds.

The jiggly translucent chatchi mochi had been made by kneading gigi leaves, karon milk, and sugar into them, and the brown sauce was caramelized sugar with ground hoboi seeds. She had combined the tastes of the cacao-like gigi leaves and the sesame-seed-like hoboi seeds. It was a pretty adventurous experiment, but Rimee Ruu’s instincts when it came to making confections were second only to Toor Deen’s, so it had turned out quite well.

While the sauce was highly sweet, the mochi was more restrained in that way. The gigi and milk gave the dish plenty of flavor, and it had a really pleasant texture. It had ended up as something like warabi mochi with a cocoa-like flavor and a sweet honey-like sauce with the aroma of sesame seeds added on top. I thought it would probably synergize quite well with the zozo tea.

“Ah, delicious...” Granny Jiba remarked with a wrinkled smile. Rimee Ruu had put a lot more effort into creating her chatchi mochi than she had for her other desserts out of consideration for Granny Jiba, who had weak teeth. And of course, nobody had any complaints about the flavor.

“It is indeed. So much so that it feels like a shame to finish eating it,” Sufira Zaza said, seemingly without thinking, only to quickly school her expression a moment later, but she failed to escape the sharp-eyed Rimee Ruu’s notice.

“Thanks! I’m glad that you always seem to enjoy our desserts, Sufira Zaza!”

Sufira Zaza’s cheeks turned red, and she offered no response. I thought it was a pretty adorable contrast with how strict she usually acted.

Since the Ruu clan head and second son were still banned from drinking fruit wine, they were chowing down on their chatchi mochi with as much enthusiasm as they’d had while eating dinner.

“Yeah, it’s really good. I know I was saying that sweets probably wouldn’t do well if you tried to sell them at a stall, but with something this tasty, it might just work,” Yumi said.

She and Telia Mas were also smiling and enjoying their chatchi mochi. They had refrained from joining in on our taste testing earlier, since they had wanted to wait until it was officially unveiled here.

“This is wonderful. I’d like to try making it too... But I wonder if it’s too soon for me to start working with sweets?” Myme stealthily asked, only to be met with a glare from her blunt father.

“If you think you can learn to make sweets while also figuring out how to handle meat, vegetables, and seasonings, then do as you please. But don’t come crying to me.”

“Jeez! If it’s not okay, then just tell me so! You don’t have to say it in such a mean way!”

As I listened to that exchange between father and daughter, I stole a glance at Ai Fa next to me. Her expression remained as calm as always as she brought her chatchi mochi to her mouth.

“All the food has been good, hasn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

“I’m really looking forward to the banquet in three days. It’s not bad, being treated entirely as a guest, actually.”

“But the day before that, we must head to the castle town again. Hopefully, we will be able to say that trip was enjoyable as well.”

Now that she mentioned it, the peace banquet with the house of Saturas would indeed be happening two days from now. Though we hadn’t explicitly been invited by name, we would be attending in order to help build a stronger relationship with the house of Saturas, which ruled over the post town.

“Well, the house of Genos will be managing the event, so I don’t think there’s anything to be all that worried about. I couldn’t even begin to guess what sort of food they’ll be feeding us, though.”

Apparently, Varkas wouldn’t be in charge of the kitchen on that day, since he would be dealing with a request from a different noble. As such, the person currently under consideration to fill that role was the head chef of the house of Saturas.

“Even if it were Varkas handling it, the food they serve could never be as enjoyable as tonight’s. I can’t even imagine ever being as happy in the castle town as we are here at the settlement at the forest’s edge right now, eating a meal prepared by our comrades.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

That was how incredibly heartwarming and just plain fun the meal we had enjoyed tonight was. Would the day come when we would be able to share this joy with the nobles as well? I had no way of knowing, but it was an unshakable fact that I felt truly blessed in this moment.