Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 23 - Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1: A Hunter’s Pride

1

The day after the friendship banquet was held at the Ruu settlement, the Gamley Troupe departed from Genos, and we returned to our everyday lives.

Half a month had passed since the sun god’s revival festival at this point, and though the post town had mostly quieted down long ago, there had been some lingering energy still hanging in the air for a while longer. The biggest reasons were probably the friendship banquet that we had been looking forward to so much, and the fact that the Gamley Troupe had been staying at the settlement at the forest’s edge.

The Gamley Troupe in particular was a real embodiment of the festival atmosphere, in my mind. It kind of felt like they had brought the lively atmosphere of the revival festival with them when they arrived in Genos.

“We enjoyed ourselves very much too. If at all possible, I’d like to stop by Genos again for the next revival festival.” Those were Pino’s last words before she departed from Genos with the rest of her company. Though I hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to the other troupe members, as I watched their seven wagons leave the settlement at the forest’s edge, I was struck by a strange sense of loneliness.

Even so, I couldn’t keep letting my emotions overwhelm me. We would be taking the day after the banquet off so we would be well rested and ready for whatever life threw at us when we returned to our normal work. After the opening of the outdoor restaurant, we had started selling eight hundred meals a day, and we were doing everything we could to make sure we stayed at or above that level.

Along the way, Ama Min Rutim had yielded her spot to her sister-in-law, Morun Rutim, after having helped out with the Ruu clan’s stalls all this time. She had finally announced her pregnancy to everyone, and was now taking a break from working in the post town.

Even when heavy with child, women of the forest’s edge helped out with work around the house as much as possible. But riding in a wagon that rocked as much and as roughly as ours did and then working around such a large crowd could easily lead to complications, so she stepped down at an early stage just as Li Sudra had done.

Ama Min Rutim and Li Sudra actually had a lot in common, being calm, gentle, and rather unshakable. Having both of them bow out of their work in the post town definitely hit hard, but everyone who remained was doing a good job, and I didn’t have any concerns about Morun Rutim or Yun Sudra, who had been swapped in. The rest of us simply had to offer our congratulations to the two departing women for being blessed with children, and keep on working harder than ever.

Dan Rutim had apparently shed some manly tears when this all came out. The second son of the main Rutim house already had a child, but Gazraan Rutim was his eldest and had gotten married rather late by the standards of the forest’s edge, which probably made Dan Rutim even happier to hear this news than he otherwise would have been. And really, just hearing about his reaction through the grapevine was enough to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

At any rate, the friendship banquet had passed, and it was now the seventeenth of the silver month.

After finishing up in the post town, I set to work on preparations for the next day with a number of women from near the Fa house. Actually, Toor Deen, Yun Sudra, and I were handling most of the tasks, while the other women were just producing curry base and dried pasta. Giba curry and carbonara remained part of the regular menu even after the revival festival, so their assistance was absolutely indispensable.

Once that was done, I was planning to use dinner at the Fa house to give several of our helpers a cooking lesson. The revival festival had been terribly hectic for the Gaaz, the Ratsu, and their subordinate clans, but things had finally settled down for them, so now they had the leeway to engage in this kind of activity again.

The study sessions at the Ruu settlement and doing business in the post town were both incredibly important duties, but the same went for teaching the small clans just how wonderful delicious food could be. Therefore, I had decided to alternate between study sessions at the Ruu settlement and cooking lessons at the Fa house every other day.

In addition to the five who had helped me out with business in the post town today, there were six women from clans like the Fou, Ran, and Liddo in attendance, all working on their own tasks. There were now four new stone stoves installed behind the Fa house, with a leather canopy three times the size of the previous one, creating an outdoor kitchen with a setup similar to our outdoor restaurant.

An unexpected cheer rose from the area of the outdoor kitchen, just as the prep work was about to wrap up. Ai Fa, who had resumed her work as a hunter only yesterday, had returned carrying a massive giba.

“Wow. That’s quite a catch, Ai Fa,” Saris Ran Fou called out, her beloved child clinging to her leg.

Ai Fa replied with a somewhat strained “Indeed.” It was no surprise that she was struggling a bit. The giba looked like it weighed around a hundred kilos. There were fibaha vines tied around the beast’s rear legs, and Ai Fa was coated in sweat all over as she carried it on her back.

“If you took down such a ridiculously massive giba, you should have called for our men to come get it. You’re always giving us those pelts, so feel free to ask for our help every now and again,” an older Ran woman chimed in.

Ai Fa breathed a sigh as she lowered the massive giba to the ground by the base of a tree, then turned to speak to the woman “But there’s no guarantee that giiz or mundt wouldn’t come creeping over while I was away trying to summon people. I wasn’t all that far from here when I killed it, so I decided to carry it myself.”

“That’s really something. To think that you can catch such a massive beast all on your own...”

The other women were also staring at Ai Fa with looks of admiration. She had been seriously injured taking down the lord of the forest, and yet she had managed to bring back a sizable kill right after returning to her hunting work. On top of that, Ai Fa was a woman, and she hunted all on her own, so it was impossible to not be impressed with her.

The only person who looked worried was Toor Deen, who stepped forward in front of Ai Fa and said, “Um... Does this mean that you have your full strength as a hunter back? So then...”

“Yes, it’s finally time to fulfill my promise to Lem Dom,” Ai Fa said calmly while wiping the sweat from her brow. As soon as Ai Fa was back to one hundred percent, she was to have a contest of strength with Lem Dom in order to determine the latter’s fate. It had been nearly a month now since that promise had been made. Would Lem Dom be permitted to live as a female hunter like Ai Fa? That question was finally about to be answered.

“I see...” Toor Deen said, staring at the ground with a worried look. But then her aunt, Jas Deen, stepped forward beside her.

“Well then, we’ll run a totos up to the northern settlement once we finish assisting Asuta. Would you be able to do the contest of strength with Lem Dom tomorrow?”

“Yes. Lem and Deek Dom have waited quite a while for this day to arrive, after all.”

Toor Deen and I were the only people in our group who looked concerned about what was to come. The other women, even the members of the Deen and the Liddo who had ties to the Dom clan, all seemed to think that whatever the outcome was, it would simply be the will of the forest. And that went even more so for those without blood ties, like the Fou and Ran.

“I’ll personally inform Sufira Zaza over at the Ruu settlement. But first, I need to take care of this giba...” Ai Fa said, hanging her hunter’s cloak on another tree branch and pulling out a knife that she was carrying on her waist. She didn’t usually go without her cloak like this—outside and with visitors around—but perhaps she was feeling particularly satisfied at having fulfilled her duty as a hunter for the first time in a while. At any rate, she silently skinned the beast, and then pulled out and stacked up the innards.

“Regardless of how it turns out, Lem Dom’s going to return to the northern settlement, isn’t she?” Toor Deen whispered while burying some slices of meat in pico leaves that were held in a wooden box.

Next to her, Yun Sudra replied, “That’s right. Lem Dom has helped the Sudra clan with our work many times, and the house where she’s been living is nearby, so I’ll be sad to see her go... I’m sure that’s even more true for a blood relative like you, Toor Deen.”

“Yes,” Toor Deen answered with a little sigh. They only tended to see each other during morning prep work, but the young girl got along with Lem Dom better than anyone. Maybe she just had a talent for charming obstinate and strong-willed women, as Yamiru Lea and Sufira Zaza had also taken a shine to her.

“Still, who do you think is going to win? It’s hard to imagine Ai Fa losing, but something’s been different about Lem Dom recently. And Lem Dom’s got an amazing body, which makes it even harder to judge,” Yun Sudra said, and I felt similarly.

In any event, everything would be decided tomorrow. No matter how much of a fuss we onlookers made, it wouldn’t do a thing to change Lem Dom’s fate. All we could do was pray for a result that wouldn’t make anyone sad or angry.

Ai Fa hurriedly finished carving up the giba, then washed her filthy body inside and took off on Gilulu toward the Ruu house. Sufira Zaza was staying at the Ruu settlement, and she was probably going to serve as a witness for tomorrow’s contest of strength. After discussing the matter thoroughly with Donda Ruu as well, Ai Fa returned once I had finished preparing dinner.

“So, it’s hamburger steak today?” she asked with a deadly serious look as she took a seat.

“Yeah, with dried milk for the first time in a while too. It’s a fitting meal to celebrate your first catch in a month and a half, right?”

Ai Fa absolutely adored hamburger steak to begin with, but when I added the camembert-like gyama dried milk to the center, her enjoyment of it went through the roof. I could tell that she was desperately trying to hold back a big goofy grin as she nodded and said, “Indeed.” Though we had promised not to hide our feelings from one another, she was still acting the same as she always did in these situations.

At any rate, we went ahead and ate dinner. Yun Sudra had taken Lem Dom’s dinner with her, so we weren’t expecting any visitors. But somehow, even though it was just a normal dinner like so many others we’d had before, there was a very different feeling in the air.

“By the way, about the contest of strength with Lem Dom... Like you said before, it’s not an absolute guarantee that you’ll win, right?” I asked while serving up a sauté of various vegetables and mushrooms.

As she gulped down a mouthful of hamburger steak and dried milk, Ai Fa nodded and replied, “Indeed. If it were just a single match, I wouldn’t lose even if the whole world were turned on its head. However, with the rules of this contest saying that she only needs to win once over the course of a day, the final result will be up to the forest’s whims.”

“So if she exceeds you in stamina or energy, she could win right at the end... Hmm. I still can’t imagine you losing, though.”

“Right. I agree.”

“But if Lem Dom keeps fighting until her stamina is completely gone, maybe she’ll still feel satisfied.”

As Ai Fa reached for a thick slice of tongue grilled with salt, she repeated, “I agree.” She also seemed to be suppressing her emotions and trusting that the will of the forest would determine Lem Dom’s fate.

If Lem Dom qualified to become a hunter, she would be the second woman at the forest’s edge to do so, after Ai Fa. If that happened, my clan head would find it easier to live the life she had chosen with her head held high, but, well, for someone like her, that alone wasn’t going to affect her performance.

Of course, the neighboring clans and the Ruu have all acknowledged Ai Fa’s strength, but the clans who don’t interact with her very often probably still think of her as a heretic who has turned her back on the ways of the forest’s edge... But Lem Dom’s clan is directly subordinate to one of the leading clans, so if she’s recognized as a female hunter, the way people see Ai Fa might change quite a bit, I thought to myself. But those were just my own personal, selfish feelings. Hunting was a dangerous job where you never knew when you might die out in the forest, so I couldn’t wish for Lem Dom to be victorious just because it would have a positive effect on us. For Deek Dom, this is a crucial moment that will decide whether his one and only family member will live her life as a woman or as a hunter. It feels crass to even think about that kind of thing.

Ai Fa suspiciously narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. “Why do you look so dejected? You haven’t even eaten anything.”

“Oh, it’s nothing... How’s the hamburger steak with dried milk?”

“It’s hamburger steak made by you, with dried milk on top of that. As if it could ever taste bad.” Ai Fa looked irritated and turned away from me. She had broken her ribs a month and a half ago, but after half a month of rehabilitation, she seemed to finally be back to her old self.

While she had been taking a break from her work, I had sensed her subtly growing more feminine over time, with her going on about how she was putting on excess fat in particular. To be honest, I hadn’t really noticed her appearance actually changing in any significant way, but now that she had resumed hunting, I’d say she seemed about twenty percent more awe-inspiring. Her eyes were shining brighter, and her expression felt somehow firmer. It was difficult to explain, but it really reconfirmed to me that this was who she truly was.

At any rate, it doesn’t do anything to diminish how incredibly charming she is, I thought while taking care not to let it show. No matter how close two people are, it’s still good to keep some things private, after all. Not hiding your feelings and spewing out everything you thought were conceptually similar, but very different approaches.

While my thoughts were wandering off on that little tangent, we both finished our dinner. The utensils we had used all went into a pot, and then it was time for our pre-bedtime chat.

Ai Fa had her hair down and was sitting up against the wall as she said, “Asuta,” and beckoned me over to her under the candlelight. “Tonight’s dinner was even more satisfying than usual.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Thank you.”

It felt rather unlike her to just come out and say that, so I made sure to give her a natural smile in return. However, I could sense some conflicting emotions in my clan head’s expression.

“This is somewhat difficult for me to talk about... Are you willing to listen?”

“What is it? It’s not like you to preface things like that.”

“There’s no helping it. As I said, it’s difficult for me to talk about this,” Ai Fa said with a frown, leaning forward. We hadn’t been quite this close to each other in some time. “Well...I have finally regained my strength as a hunter. And this has been my longest time off since I welcomed you as a member of my house.”

“That’s true. I’m pretty sure you were back in action less than a month after you dislocated your left elbow.”

“Indeed. There’s a big difference between injuring your arm and your ribs. After a whole month of not exerting myself properly, it took me half a month to regain my strength.”

“Normally, you would need to train for around twice as long as your recovery time in order to get back to full strength, if I remember correctly. You hunters of the forest’s edge really are something else.”

“I have the invigorating food you’ve always provided me with to thank for that. And I’m especially happy that you prepared a meal I enjoy so much on a day like this.” But if that was true, why did she look so sulky? Since we were closer than usual, my heart rate was slightly elevated at the moment. “Personally, I’m incredibly glad that I’ve regained my strength as a hunter now.”

“Well, I can certainly understand that.”

She fell silent for a moment. “And I believe that my clan member should be just as happy about it.”

“Yeah, you’ve got that right. Wait... Do you think I’m not happy about it?”

“That’s not it. It’s just, you seem to be quite concerned about the matter with Lem Dom.”

She was right. Saris Ran Fou and the others had all been so impressed with Ai Fa earlier, but Toor Deen and I had immediately started thinking about the upcoming contest of strength instead.

“Er, are you saying I put you in a bad mood, then?”

“I am hardly so petty that I would let something like that ruin my mood. But it does leave me feeling somewhat unsatisfied.”

“Th-Then, what should I do?”

Ai Fa hung her head with her eyes glaring up at me. She was still frowning, but her expression was so adorable it felt almost unfair.

“I believe my father Gil would have given me an affectionate pat on my head...”

“Y-Your head?”

“Indeed. Unfortunately, while you are a member of my house, you are not older than I am, and besides...I realize we do not have the kind of relationship where we should be touching one another so freely. That is why I wanted to have a debate with you about what should be done.”

This was a debate, huh?

My clan head’s adorable sulking face was throwing me seriously out of sorts.

“There’s no need to make this seem more complicated than it is. I just need to show you how happy I am more openly, right?” I asked.

“Are you able to do that...?”

“Yaaay!” I replied, throwing both my arms up into the air. I was trying to channel Rimee Ruu, and be as earnest as I possibly could. However, Ai Fa’s eyes were still boring into me with the sharp glare of a hunter.

“This might be the angriest I’ve ever been since before I welcomed you into my clan...”

“Well, I appreciate that you didn’t slug me.”

“I’m restraining myself from doing so with everything I have, as I fear I might forget to hold back.”

I was getting more and more flustered, and I was even starting to break out in a cold sweat. “Th-Then why don’t you think of a way to solve this? I’ll go along with whatever my clan head decides.”

“This is a problem for the entire Fa clan, and yet you intend to foist it all off on me?”

“I don’t have enough experience with these things to come up with a solution. Could you please suggest what your poor, pathetic clan member should do, dear clan head?”

What kind of face would someone make if they had been eavesdropping and heard my reply? And yet, Ai Fa and I were deadly serious.

Ai Fa remained silent, her gaze falling to the rug at her feet for a while, and then she said, “Try patting my head...”

“Okay.”

With that, I placed my hand atop Ai Fa’s head, feeling a pleasant warmth gradually flowing into me. And then, I gave her blonde hair a thorough patting.

“How was that, clan head?”

“I found myself wondering if you were going along with it reluctantly, which lessened the pleasure I got from it.”

“I wasn’t exactly reluctant. Just a bit flustered.”

“Ah, I see. You can stop patting now.”

I swiftly pulled my hand back, and Ai Fa sidled up beside me with that intense look still on her face.

“We can’t truly understand one another’s feelings when we act so formally with each other.”

“That’s true. I’m in agreement there.”

“Of course... But I should be spending this precious moment in celebration of what I accomplished earlier. It would be sad to fall asleep in a gloomy mood on such a joyous day.”

“If you’re sad, it makes me sad too.”

“Then, would it be all right for me to follow my emotions just for tonight?”

“I guess that works...” I timidly replied, and Ai Fa grabbed hold of me with the swiftness of a wildcat. If my heart had been just a bit more delicate, the shock that gave me would probably have brought it to a halt. Ai Fa was hugging me around my chest, and as if that wasn’t enough, she was also rubbing her head up against my cheek.

“This is how happy I am, Asuta.”

“R-Right, that’s only natural, considering what you’ve had to put up with for the past month and a half.”

“Are you really just as happy as I am?”

“Yeah, your joy is my joy.”

A break period was coming up soon, so the number of giba around the Fa house was on the decline. Because of that, Ai Fa was using giba summoning fruit in her traps, and their sweet aroma was still clinging to her hair and clothing. It was really tickling my nose. My emotions were making me shake like I was being buffeted by a turbulent wind, and I was starting to get a little dizzy.

“I know that I shouldn’t touch you for no good reason. But this is a special night.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m the one who gave you the okay to do what you want.”

I put my left hand on Ai Fa’s back, and cradled her head in my right. Then I patted her soft hair affectionately, and Ai Fa hugged me all the tighter as I felt her warm breath on my chest.

“I’m sure it would be absolutely hellish for me if I couldn’t cook for a month and a half, so I should have been more mindful of just how happy you must be to finally be released from your suffering.”

Ai Fa silently rubbed her cheek against my own.

At this point, my heart felt like it was on the verge of bursting. But even so, I was happy. Of course I was, seeing Ai Fa like this.

And so, we shared in each other’s warmth and joy, until we finally drifted off to sleep.