Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 4.4

4

“Oh, so this is where you were.” Reina Ruu approached us carrying a large plate—big enough to be quite an armful for her—packed with golden-brown, freshly fried, piping hot giba cutlets. Fortunately, the color of my face had mostly gone back to normal by now

“It seems the fires are a little too weak, so the whole roast giba aren’t finished yet, but we made some of these in the meantime. Would you like to have some?”

Everyone piped up in response, Dan Rutim first among them, but Reina Ruu’s gaze remained firmly fixed on Roy and Shilly Rou.

We washed our dirty plates with water from a jug, and the giba cutlets were quickly portioned out onto them. A woman from the branch houses who was carrying a large amount of shredded tino with her then handed some out to all of us to go with our meat.

Worcestershire sauce and sheel fruit juice had been prepared for the giba cutlets, as well as a dressing for the shredded tino. Dora chose the thick Worcestershire sauce and started chowing down on giba cutlets with a joyful smile on his face, which was flushed red from the wine. “This is really good!” he said. “I’ve had fried food at your stalls and even won the giba cutlet sandwich a couple times, but this is exceptional!”

“Ah, that’s because we’ve been using reten oil in the meals we make for the stalls lately. But these were made with giba lard. And our giba cutlet sandwiches are prepared in advance, but freshly fried cutlets have a totally different feel to them.”

While I was explaining, I went ahead and took a hearty bite out of a giba cutlet myself. The coating was nice and crispy, and it had been cooked just the right amount. Frying the cutlets in giba lard gave them an incredibly strong flavor, but not an overly heavy one, so I felt like they had a cleaner taste than tonkatsu prepared with cooking oil, and I had no complaints about them.

“How is it?” Reina Ruu asked, kneeling down on our mat and staring straight at Roy and Shilly Rou from the front.

Having tried the giba cutlets with both Worcestershire sauce and sheel fruit juice, Roy replied, “It’s delicious. You all really seem to have a knack for fried foods. I haven’t tried making them very often, because they feel like they’re behind the times, but regardless, I’m completely certain that I wouldn’t be able to make such a fine fried dish with karon or kimyuus.”

“And what do you think?” Reina Ruu asked Shilly Rou next.

“Well, the impression it gives is rather different from the fried food I once had in the castle town,” she replied in a low voice as she stared at the cross-section of a cutlet she had bit into. “It was a dish served at a banquet that used milk fat, dried milk, and herbs such as sarfaal. I believe if you tried selling this kind of meal in the castle town, people would be happier with something more like that.”

Reina Ruu kept on silently listening.

“But in terms of pure taste, this dish most certainly doesn’t come up short. You fried it in giba lard rather than reten oil or milk fat?”

“Yes, since that is what we prefer here at the forest’s edge.”

“I think it’s quite good. Giba are truly a fantastic source of ingredients, both in terms of their meat and their fat,” Shilly Rou concluded.

As he happily bit into his cutlet, Dan Rutim said, “You’ve got that right! And now that I think about it, you’re that girl who was there that night with the nobles from that Banarm place, aren’t you? Real giba cutlets are great, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t say the quality of the cutlet dish I had in the castle town was much lower than this one’s, and besides, I believe Varkas’s broiled gilebuss fish is better than either,” Shilly Rou firmly replied while shying away a bit. Now that Dan Rutim brought it up, I recalled that they had both been there for the taste testing in the castle town that time when I had presented the Milanese cutlets.

“Hmm. I guess the tastes of us people of the forest’s edge and you townsfolk must be pretty different! But you still managed to serve our people an impressive meal the other day, didn’t you? Ludo Ruu was bragging about it!” Dan Rutim remarked, leaning forward with his goggle-eyes sparkling, only for Shilly Rou to fall back further. “I’d love to try your cooking too, if that’s possible! Especially if you could make something with giba meat!”

“We still are not permitted to handle giba meat in the castle town.”

“Well, we did just deliver a load of giba sausages to the nobles yesterday. Those are difficult to sell in the post town, but maybe they’ll find a market in the castle town eventually,” I said, earning me a glare from Shilly Rou.

“Is that true? Giba meat will be sold in the castle town?” she asked, her tone demanding.

“Y-Yeah. As long as Duke Genos gives his permission, of course.”

“I see...” she said, pensively gazing downward.

“What’s the matter? Did I say something to offend you?”

“Of course not. If that’s true, then you should have told me sooner.”

“Huh? You’re interested in giba meat, Shilly Rou?”

She glared at me again, but this time she looked almost astounded at my words. “I cannot adopt your methods, but giba is an ingredient on par with karon and gyama. As a chef, it’s only natural that I would wish to start working with it as quickly as possible.”

“That’s right. I mean, Varkas goes out of his way to have live gyama delivered all the way from Sym. The idea that we have an ingredient as fine as giba so close at hand, and yet we’re unable to make use of it is seriously frustrating,” Roy added.

“I see,” I replied, feeling deeply moved. “Varkas doesn’t let his feelings about that kind of thing show, so I never considered that. I can’t remember him ever expressing much interest in giba meat.”

“Well, my understanding is that he spends a fair amount of time every day experimenting with the ingredients he already has access to. He may not have any time left for giba meat, but he definitely wants it.”

“I can certainly understand that,” I said with a chuckle.

Then Ludo Ruu approached us and said, “Hey, the croquettes are finished now, so I was told to take them around to the guests. Make sure you leave enough for me, okay?”

He was holding a plate with one of his favorites on it—giba meat and chatchi croquettes. The chefs had really prepared a lavish range of dishes for tonight, perfect for a welcome banquet like this one.

“These must have taken quite a bit of skill too. You made them by mixing aria and mashed chatchi together and then frying them?” Roy asked, looking a bit discouraged as he scratched his head. “Damn. There’s no way I’ll be able to keep up with you guys when it comes to fried foods.”

Nobody responded to that statement.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen Varkas make a fried dish either. Is it possible he’s actually not that good at it?” he continued.

“Fried dishes are out of style, so he never receives any orders for them. Isn’t it only natural that he would never have a need to make that kind of food if nobody asks him for it? There’s no such thing as a dish that falls outside of Varkas’s expertise,” Shilly Rou snapped in a huff.

Seeing the look on her face seemed to make Roy grin. “Then you’ve never tasted his fried cooking either. Trying to elevate your master without any proof to back up your claims might end up bringing indignity upon him, don’t you think?”

“You are the last person I want to hear talking about indignity,” Shilly Rou retorted, turning away in a standoffish manner.

Reina Ruu had been watching their exchange with a look of satisfaction, but that last part made her frown a bit. “You two seem to be awfully close to one another, almost like a married couple.”

“Huh? A married couple? I should warn you, I might be willing to let that kind of bizarre comment slide, but Shilly Rou is liable to jump down your throat if you keep saying things like that,” Roy said.

“Really? But at the forest’s edge, men and women who aren’t married or family would never sit as close to each other as you two are.”

“It’s crowded, so there’s no helping it. And unlike me, Shilly Rou had a fine upbringing, so she’s a little nervous to have all these hunters around. It’s not like she’s clinging to me because she wants to.”

“I-I’m not nervous, and I’m not clinging either!”

It was worth noting that Roy and Shilly Rou were indeed sitting so close to one another on the mat that they were almost touching. Reina Ruu was watching them with her eyes half-closed in a way that reminded me of a Buddha statue, but then she just bowed politely and left.

At the same time, a loud thump resounded through the air. Looking toward its source, I saw Doga’s massive frame there, collapsed on the ground. Beside him was Mida, whose body was even larger than the strongman’s.

A few meters away, Rolo was yelling “Grah!” as a young man managed to pin the lanky woman.

The winner jumped to his feet, shouting, “All right!” Surprisingly, it looked like the young man was Rau Lea.

“What?! Why did they get to fight before me?! Mida and Rau Lea both made it into the top eight too, didn’t they, Gazraan?”

“Yes, it seems that the other men were no match. Our guests’ strength is undeniably impressive.”

“Yup! I’d love to face off with them myself!” Dan Rutim shouted and started to rise, but then the musicians gathered in front of the ritual fire once more and started playing that cheerful and nostalgic tune again. Doga and Rolo then walked off into a corner, as if driven away by the music.

“Oh, that’s ‘The Moon Goddess’s Melody’! Come on everyone, let’s dance!” I heard Yumi call out from a short distance away. She grabbed Telia Mas and dragged her over to the ritual flame. The other girl was smiling, but she looked a little nervous.

The rhythm was a relaxed triple time. Yumi was dancing and fluttering along with the melody, which was lively and yet also somehow melancholic. Telia Mas seemed kind of embarrassed, but Yumi shot her an earnest grin and she started timidly going through the steps.

Apparently, it was the same dance we had seen in the Daleim lands, and soon several other women joined them. Ten of them formed a ring with the ritual flame and the musicians in the center. The men cheered and started clapping their hands and stamping their feet. Huey and Sara even stepped forward and began hopping along with the beat.

“Ooh, that looks fun! Tara, let’s go dance too!” Rimee Ruu exclaimed.

“Yeah!”

With that, the two young girls took off running, and even more cheers sounded out for the adorable pair.

You wouldn’t normally see girls under the age of fifteen dancing at a banquet, because usually at events like this one, dancing was a means of courtship. However, today’s banquet was meant to entertain guests, and with Rimee Ruu and Tara joining the dance, a lot of other young girls, even up to the ages of thirteen and fourteen, happily threw themselves into the merrymaking too.

“This is amazing. Inviting the Gamley Troupe to join us was a great idea,” I said, and Ai Fa nodded in response, looking highly satisfied. She must have been happy to see Rimee Ruu enjoying herself so much.

Soon the melody shifted to a brighter quadruple-time, and the girls started dancing more energetically to match it. It seemed like nobody knew the steps to this one, as the choreography was all over the place. They were just moving with the rhythm, but they still looked graceful doing it. At some point, a few of the men started blowing into grass whistles, but fortunately it didn’t clash with Nachara’s flute playing too much.

“What’re you doing?! You should dance too!” Yumi called out, approaching us again with some brisk steps. Her gaze was fixed on Shilly Rou.

“Are you perhaps talking to me...?”

“Who else would I be talking to?! Oh, and you should all come dance too!”

The second half of that statement was directed at the wives from Dora’s household. They happily rose to their feet, and then Morun Rutim was gently urged by her family to stand up and join them too. Shilly Rou, however, had gone pale.

“I-I’ll refrain. I only came here for the food, after all.”

“That’s all the more reason to come with us, isn’t it? The people of the forest’s edge are holding this banquet to help us get along better! If you don’t have any intention of trying to become friends with them, then what are you even doing here?!”

“N-No, but...”

“No matter what goal you had in mind when you came here, you can’t just ignore everything else! Even if the people of the forest’s edge are okay with that, I’m not! Now hurry up and get in that circle!”

And so, Yumi and Dora’s wife grabbed Shilly Rou’s arms and led her away. Shilly Rou was shooting Roy a desperate look for help, but her heartless friend just shrugged back at her.

I feel bad for Shilly Rou, but I think this is the liveliest Ruu banquet I’ve ever seen.

Thanks to the large number of guests, the number of people in attendance was no less than when everyone under the Ruu gathered, and thanks to all the different colors people were wearing—a much wider variety than the handful typically worn by the people of the forest’s edge—the scene was even more amazing to look at.

Then I noticed that Myme was now dancing with Rimee Ruu and Tara. Toor Deen seemed to have been dragged out by Yun Sudra as well. Even if she wasn’t quite dancing, she was still moving around the ritual fire in a circle with everyone else.

Atop a mat a short distance away from us, Gamley was cheerfully guzzling down fruit wine. Beside him were the star reader, Railanos, and the beastman, Zetta. Shantu was clapping along next to the musicians, while Rolo and Doga were surrounded by men who were thrusting food at them. For some reason, Dilo the vase man was chatting with Bartha and Jeeda about something. Perhaps they were pestering him for mysterious tales of foreign lands.

That made a thought come to me and I started looking around for a certain someone, only to find the vermilion-clad person in question already softly approaching me. It was Pino, who wasn’t participating in either the musical performance or the dancing.

“Hello there. Sorry for the late greeting. I am truly grateful that you invited us to this wonderful banquet.”

“Ah, it’s the Ruu clan who invited you. Still, I’m glad to have you all here with us.”

“Oh, I’m happy too. After all, we are creatures who are only truly alive at parties,” Pino said with a giggle as she stood there with her back to the bonfire. “Genos is a large town, but outside of the city walls they only celebrate the revival festival. If the barrier between the castle and the town became a bit lower, the common folk would start to have a bit more variety in their celebrations.”

“Oh yeah? So then, do the other parts of the western kingdom have a bunch of different occasions they celebrate?”

“Yes, they do. That’s why we only come to Genos once a year at most, but this time was especially enjoyable.”

Pino somehow seemed even more mysterious than usual here at the forest’s edge now that night had fallen. It was an odd feeling, like talking to a living doll. She appeared to be just a young girl, yet she seemed more worldly than most adults. Even without any acrobatics or flute playing, she had a strange way of stirring up my imagination.

While we were talking, the music shifted yet again. It now had a more relaxed tempo and a somewhat solemn melody.

There was also a new sound overlapping the others that hadn’t been part of the music before. It was from the seven-stringed instrument Neeya played. He was seated in the center of the group of musicians, providing his wonderful voice as an accompaniment for his instrument.

“Allow me to sing you but a single song. Please, keep your lovely dance going.”

Ai Fa stirred a bit next to me, while Pino chuckled once again.

“Please do not worry, my dear lady hunter. Nothing about this song should evoke unpleasant feelings in any of you, and we have received permission from your leading clan head and elder to present it.”

“From Donda Ruu and Granny Jiba?” Ai Fa said, but Neeya started his song before she could get her confirmation.

It was a tale of the eastern people, from a time even further back than the era of Sym’s unification thanks to the efforts of Misha the White Sage... It was the story of the eighth tribe of Sym that was spoken of in legend.

Long ago, there was an eighth tribe in Sym. However, they did not live in any fixed place, instead wandering all throughout the country. If they were in the mountains, they would live as the people of the mountains did, and when in the plains they would live like the people of the plains instead. They were the Gaaze tribe, also called “the people of the clouds” by others.

They were a peace-loving tribe, but whenever they were attacked, they would strike down their foes with unparalleled strength. They drifted across the land without a care, like puffy clouds in the sky, but when the times called for it, they would turn pitch black and become a thunderstorm, proving themselves to be more powerful than any other tribe.

Eventually, they became ostracized in Sym. The two largest tribes among the people of the mountains who effectively ruled the land got into a dispute with them that evolved into a bloody feud. Apparently, those mountain tribes also eventually became the barbarians who later drove the Rao to the brink of destruction. Of course, the Gaaze were more powerful than the Rao and refused to simply resign themselves to defeat, but it was clear to all that the conflict would never end until one side or the other was brought to ruin.

And so, the Gaaze tribe abandoned Sym. After all, no matter where they went within the country, they would be unable to avoid conflict with the people of the mountains. If they moved to the plains, they might end up involving the tribes living there too. Fearing what would happen if the war were to spread, the Gaaze instead sought a place to live outside of Sym’s borders, heading west.

Eventually, their path was obstructed by a dark gray bog, which forced them to turn south. There they came across a rocky mountain so rugged that they could no longer ride their totos, so they released their mounts on the plains and advanced through the area on foot. For a people as tough as them, even the most rugged mountain was no great challenge for them to traverse.

What awaited them on the other side of the mountain was a barren desert. They could never survive in such a place, so they crossed it as well.

Beyond the wasteland, they found a black forest where equally black beasts lived. This was certainly not a place where they could live peacefully either, so they decided that they would proceed through the black forest, and travel farther to the west or south from there.

However, it was then that the Gaaze encountered the people of the white queen. They were incredibly strange, small and white in appearance, and completely impossible to understand. It was almost hard to believe that they were human. But somehow, they possessed the unusual ability to hear the voice of the forest.

They belonged to no named god, and instead called the forest their mother. The Gaaze—who had abandoned their god, Sym—sensed some sort of fate at play, and worked together with the people of the white queen to fell the black beasts.

Eventually, the chief of the Gaaze promised himself to the white queen, and together they had a child.

The Gaaze decided they would live in the forest, and die there as well. They learned the words of the white queen, and the two groups came together as one in their battle against the black beasts, becoming the people of the black forest.

That was the end of the story.

The final note of Neeya’s song vanished beyond the borderline between the firelight and the darkness.

The people of the forest’s edge responded to the song not with cheers and applause, but with silence. At some point, everyone had stopped dancing. They were all just standing there, as if their souls had been sucked out of them. Yumi, Myme, and Telia Mas were standing in the middle of the crowd, looking around at everyone in bewilderment.

“That was the tale of ‘The Black King and the White Queen.’ You there, young lady, do you have a request for my next song?” Neeya said, still looking entranced as he turned toward Yumi.

Yumi shot him a doubtful look, but then she crossed her arms and said, “Let’s see... That one just now didn’t seem to be very good for dancing. Maybe something like ‘Vairus’s Banquet’?”

“A tale of the fire god Vairus? That one is our troupe leader’s favorite.”

On Neeya’s signal, Zan started banging away on his drum again, while Nachara and the twins began playing a grand, energetic melody.

The women who had been standing around dumbfounded came back to their senses and started moving again, following Yumi’s lead. The whole plaza was once again awash in a lively musical performance, with enough excitement and mirth that it made the silence from a moment ago feel like a figment of my imagination.

“Ai Fa, that song just now...” I said, turning toward my clan head.

“Yes,” she replied with a nod and a grave look on her face. “He referred to the people of the black forest... And the Gaaze were the leading clan before the Suun.”

“Oh, so I was right? I’ve suspected for a while that the legend told in that song might have something to do with the people of the forest’s edge,” Pino chimed in with an amused smile, her vermilion sleeves swaying. “Your elder seemed quite moved when she saw the black ape, so I mentioned the song and asked if you all would be interested in hearing it. Your leading clan head gave his permission, so I told that blockheaded minstrel to take center stage.”

“I see...” Ai Fa said.

“But still, legends are ultimately just legends. They’re all tall tales told by minstrels, so you can laugh off most of what they say. After all, no living person can speak to the truth of what happened several hundred years ago.” Pino stepped toward us and leaned in so that her face was close to ours as we sat atop the mat. “Our job is to surprise people and bring them joy. We don’t care about anything but that... And that blockhead is the same as the rest of us on that front.”

“Are you saying we shouldn’t feel angry about what that man did before?”

“My, what a frightening expression... Yes, that fool is a scoundrel who can only enjoy life when he’s singing. He would never use his precious songs for something petty like picking a fight. I doubt he was trying to do anything as childish as giving Asuta a scare with his tale, at least.”

Ai Fa didn’t say anything in response.

“I’m not asking you to forgive that blockhead. And I certainly won’t try to make excuses for myself if I’m bothering you by bringing it up. It’s just...” Pino said, her red lips twisting up into a smile. She was backlit by the bonfire, so her black eyes were cast in shadow. I could feel a chill run down my back. It was like I was peering into an abyss. “Old man Rai, our star reader, is a citizen of the west, but he apprenticed under an easterner. He’s a pretty eccentric guy, but he’s very skilled, to the point that he can rival the great star readers of Sym in terms of his ability to tell fortunes and his knowledge in general. And star readers have been terribly interested in people without stars for quite some time...”

“Hey,” Ai Fa interjected in a sharp tone.

But the girl with the abyss-like eyes only smiled wider in response. “I have no intention of running my mouth where I shouldn’t. It’s just that old man Rai has all sorts of things he’d like to tell you about starless ones. We owe you an awful lot, Asuta, so isn’t it only natural that we’d want to help you out?”

Neither of us answered her.

“Of course, no one truly knows what starless ones really are. However, old man Rai has at least a little information on the subject that wouldn’t reach the ears of anyone who isn’t a star reader. So if you want to hear what he has to say, Asuta...”

“I know myself better than anyone,” I replied, feeling like I was getting sucked into those eyes. “I may not know exactly how I ended up here, but I remember what happened to me in very fine detail. And besides, I’ve already decided to live the rest of my life as a person of the forest’s edge.”

“So you don’t care about what it means to be a starless one?”

“That’s right. No matter what I might hear, it won’t do anything to change the path I’m on.”

Pino instantly held her tongue, but kept on staring into my eyes.

There’s a saying about how when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you, right?

Eventually, Pino straightened up, tilted her head toward the sky, and started laughing. “If that’s how you feel, then I suppose there’s nothing to discuss. Sorry for getting the wrong idea,” she said, lowering her head again to look at us directly with a completely different kind of smile. It was a transparent expression, filled with an all-encompassing affection. “We decided to cast aside our pasts as well, so we can focus on enjoying the present together instead. Just thinking about tomorrow is tiring enough, to say nothing of what happened yesterday. Nobody cares less about stuff like fate and stars than we do.”

“You do, huh?”

“Yup. I like that spirit of yours, Asuta. So much so that I’d love to throw you into our wagon and make off with you if I could.”

“Hey,” Ai Fa said warningly.

“Don’t make such a scary face. I’m fond of the people of the forest’s edge, so I’d never do anything so ridiculous. If I did, you’d probably chase me all the way to the ends of the world.” As she was talking, Pino’s expression steadily shifted back to one we were more familiar with—an impudent, teasing smile, like she saw right through everything and everyone...and yet, there was something charming about it that I couldn’t help but like. “We’ll be seeing you again a year from now. Take care until then, okay? I hope you’ll feed us some more delicious giba when we come back, Asuta of the Fa clan.”

“Yeah, of course,” I said, finally managing to smile back at her.

It was then that the music finally came to a stop, and Sheera Ruu took advantage of the gap to loudly call out, “The whole roast giba is finally ready! Why don’t you all take a short break and give it a try?!”

Looking in that direction, I saw that Vina and Reina Ruu had left the circle of dancers and were now standing beside Sheera Ruu, who had her meat carving knife at the ready. The people of the forest’s edge and their guests all cheered and started swarming toward them.

I also rose to my feet and looked down at my beloved clan head and our companions from town. “Let’s head on over too. With this many people around, it’ll all get eaten if we take too long.”

“Indeed,” Ai Fa replied with a nod.

“I suppose that’s true,” Shilly Rou added, also nodding.

Behind us, Roy, Dan Rutim, and Dora were rising to their feet as well.

With the pale moon hanging above us in the sky, the darkness of night continued to descend over the world, yet this plaza alone remained awash in light, with the banquet showing no signs of ending anytime soon.