Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 23 - Chapter 2.2

2

Only two hours later, our second peak period arrived.

We didn’t have a sun dial set up for today, but the sun was now almost directly overhead, and the schedule for the event in the arena included a short break when the sun hit its peak. And so, over a thousand people were now pouring out of the stone structure, rushing toward the workstations where we were selling food.

The crowd was lining up in front of the food sellers even faster than they had in the morning. That was probably because there were just more people wanting to get a snack at this time of day. Thinking back, we had opened for business around half past the fourth hour, which was a bit too early for brunch, so now the customers were coming at us like a tidal wave.

Our cooking was selling so quickly, it was practically flying out of our pots. I guesstimated that we still had around seven hundred meals’ worth left, but it was vanishing at an almost alarming speed. Unlike during the revival festival, people weren’t able to take their time enjoying their meal today.

Perhaps because of the tremendous smell of the curry, our section farthest to the west seemed to be the liveliest. However, some of our would-be customers did end up leaving when our lines got too long because they didn’t want to wait. It looked like every stall had a line in front of it today. The food area was so lively that it was practically a battlefield.

From what I could see, there seemed to be a lot of rough customers about. But they were fixated on talking about the tournament, and the nature of the food we were serving didn’t seem to even enter their minds.

I was keeping my focus solely on doing business. I took coins from the customers, served up some giba and beans on a wooden plate, added a wooden spoon and a bit of baked poitan, and then presented it to them. Just that, again and again and again. Even the questions my customers asked were purely businesslike, about stuff like the price or whether we sold fruit wine.

“Hey there. Looks like business is booming,” I heard Zasshuma’s voice call out as he approached us for the first time in a while. He was a bodyguard, as well as an acquaintance of Kamyua Yoshu’s.

“Ah, hello. So you’re back in Genos too, Zasshuma?”

“Yeah. I came back for the tournament. I’m someone who makes a living by the blade, more or less, so it’s not an event I can just skip.”

After the revival festival, Zasshuma had left Genos again for a while. It had to have been over twenty days now since I had last seen him.

Zasshuma ordered some giba and beans and then seemed to almost shove his way through the crowd surrounding us, working his way around to the back of the stall with his plate still in hand.

“Ooh, this is good. These are those tau bean things from Jagar, right? They’re all crumbly and have a real interesting texture to them.”

“Right. You can’t really get any proper beans around here, can you?” I replied while handling the customers lined up in front of me. Fei Beim had been dispatched to the customer seating again, so there was no way for me to take any kind of break from my work.

“You look like you’re shorthanded there. I figured I’d tell you the results now that the preliminary matches are done, but it’ll be tough to do that like this.”

“Ah, no! I’d really appreciate hearing about it!” I replied. However, I couldn’t treat the customers in front of me as secondary.

So Ai Fa said next to me, “I’ll ask, then. Shin Ruu and Geol Zaza have been victorious thus far, correct? I cannot imagine hunters of the forest’s edge being defeated so easily.”

“Yeah. Those two won, and are moving on. I made quite a bit of money thanks to them too.”

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

“They’re holding bets in the arena on who’ll win. It isn’t all that exciting, though, because all I have to do is bet on the hunters from the forest’s edge, and the money just comes rolling on in,” I heard Zasshuma remark with a laugh from behind me. “Still, the folks in the stadium know just how crazy strong those hunters are now, so the payout’s sure to plummet. And the hunters’ll be running up against folks who can put up a better fight against them soon enough too.”

“So there are indeed such people in town, then?”

“Yeah, though not many of them, of course. From what I’ve seen the only ones who could put up an even fight... Well, you’ve got Lord Melfried, who you’re familiar with; Login, the vice captain of the ducal guard; Devias, the battalion commander of the militia; and Don, the head of the Red Fangs mercenary company. There were one or two others who looked pretty talented, but it was my first time hearing their names, so I’ve already forgotten them.”

I thought about Geimalos’s son, Leiriss, at that point. It seemed Ai Fa had the same question I did, as she then asked Zasshuma about the young noble.

Zasshuma answered, “Hrmm... I think a young fellow from the Knights of Saturas is still in it, so maybe that’s him? The preliminaries were held with eight groups going all at once, so I wasn’t able to watch all the fights.”

“I see. Regardless, it’s quite a surprise to hear that there are four who can fight on even footing with Shin Ruu and Geol Zaza.”

“Hmm. By the way, how strong of a hunter is that Shin Ruu kid by the standards of the forest’s edge?”

“That is difficult for me to answer, but he was strong enough to make it to the top eight in a contest of strength held by the Ruu clan.”

“That sounds pretty amazing in and of itself. You hunters are all incredibly strong. The shorter guy was able to knock every single one of his opponents’ swords away, and the big guy... He just ran wild like some kind of ferocious beast,” Zasshuma said with a low chuckle. “Back when I was younger, I entered this tournament myself, but I never could’ve beaten Login or Devias, much less those hunters from the forest’s edge or Lord Melfried. Even trying to fight them would’ve hurt my reputation instead of improving it, so I’m perfectly happy to just watch.”

“Hmm... You seem rather skilled for a man from town yourself, though.”

“Well, I have been certified by the capital to work as a bodyguard. Not just anyone can get the better of me. However, all of those folks I mentioned before are even more skilled than I am. For Don, that makes sense. He hails from the northern part of the country. But it’s pretty amazing that those knights of Genos managed to become as strong as they are, living in a land as peaceful as this one.”

It was definitely a surprise to hear that there were four people participating who could fight on even footing with Shin Ruu and Geol Zaza. Then again, Genos did have thousands of soldiers. Maybe as many as ten thousand. But even still, only a few of them could compete with the hunters of the forest’s edge.

Furthermore, even though Shin Ruu had made it into the top eight of the Ruu clan, he was still only a boy of sixteen. Just off the top of my head, I could think of quite a few people who could compete with him, such as the four hunters from the main Ruu house, Gazraan Rutim, Rau Lea, Giran Ririn, Ai Fa, and Mida. And then there were all the strong hunters from the north as well, such as Gulaf Zaza and Deek Dom.

If all of them were to enter this tournament, it’d cause an unbelievable upset. Of course, Donda Ruu and the others would never do such a thing, I thought to myself as I continued serving up food.

Then a new bit of excitement started to come our way. A huge totos-drawn carriage protected by roughly ten guards was pushing through the crowd toward us. It had the emblem of the ducal house of Genos on it. It came to a stop beside our stall, and six people exited the vehicle holding large, deep clay dishes. They were clearly dressed in garb from the castle town, but they looked more like servants than nobles. All of them were middle-aged men.

The servants split into groups of two and lined up before our stalls, drawing tons of attention. They each purchased a huge amount of food, and then went to retrieve a new set of dishes before lining up again. It was all very mechanical.

“This contains giba as well, correct? Could I ask you to serve up enough for ten in this dish?” a servant of Duke Genos asked in a fine baritone as he finally reached me.

“Thank you for your purchase. You’re buying ten of each dish? That’s quite a large amount.”

“Yes, since we will also be serving the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge from this spread.”

That explained it. It took around three servings of our dishes to fill someone up, so with ten servings of five dishes, it would be enough to feed sixteen to seventeen people. There were seven in Donda Ruu’s group, which would go up to nine when Shin Ruu and Geol Zaza were included. If the noble visitors pecked at the rest, they would probably be able to eat everything with no leftovers.

As I thought that through, Yumi called out from the neighboring workstation, “Hey, what about my giba cooking? This is a giba dish Asuta, the chef of the forest’s edge, personally taught me how to make.”

One of the servants turned a very polite gaze Yumi’s way. “Is that so? In that case, could we get ten of that dish as well?”

“Ten? Got it. Coming right up,” Yumi replied with a smile, spreading okonomiyaki batter atop a metal tray.

As the servants took the ten servings of giba and beans back to the wagon, I whispered to Yumi, “Don’t you hate folks from the castle town? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah, but it’s pretty funny, right? Thinking about that lot eating food cooked by someone like me? When my folks hear about this, it’ll probably knock them right on their asses.”

That definitely sounded like Yumi’s way of thinking. And okonomiyaki with giba meat had already been served at a dinner party in the castle town, so the nobles probably wouldn’t have any issue with it.

The servants then steadily retreated, and the crowd rushed back in at the same rate as before. And just when our thousand servings were finally starting to run out, a loud noise came from the arena. The tournament must have been about to restart. Around forty to fifty minutes seemed to have passed. That was right in line with the schedule I had been told in advance.

Then, just as quickly as they had in the morning, the crowd lost interest in us and returned to the stadium. They were all gone in under five minutes, and before long, a distant sound of thundering cheers sounded out from the stadium.

“Okay, that should be all! That was really wild!” Rimee Ruu said while passing by with an armful of empty plates. While it had been more than three hours since we opened for business, we had actually been dealing with customers for less than half of that time. It felt like we had sold our food at nearly double the normal rate while we had been working, with plenty of break time in between.

“How did sales go for you all?” I asked.

“We sold all of the curry.”

“The offal stew has less than twenty left.”

“We only have seven servings left of this dish.”

Adding all the dishes together, we only had thirty-six servings remaining. We had prepared a thousand meals, like we had during the revival festival, and this was what we were left with. For normal business hours, we only prepared eight hundred, so our sales had been really good for the amount of time we had worked. There were twenty leftover servings of the giba offal stew, but that was because we had prepared 350 portions. Besides, those thirty-six servings were only enough food for twelve people. There were eighteen of us including our guards, so we were able to finish them all off and they didn’t even fill everyone present.

“Man, we made a killing! I think I sold even more than during the revival festival!” Yumi said, also looking delighted. She could bring her leftover batter back with her, so it seemed she had brought more than she needed. We traded some offal stew for her okonomiyaki, and everyone ended up reasonably full in the end.

“It looks like you did well, Asuta,” Yang, the head chef of the house of Daleim, called out to us around when we were finishing up our lunch. His helpers Sheila and Nicola were there behind him, as well as the guards they had watching over them.

“Yeah. How about you?”

“Well, I’m satisfied with our sales. Ah, and greetings to you as well, Lady Toor Deen and Lady Rimee Ruu.”

“You too!” Rimee Ruu energetically replied, while Toor Deen gave a polite bow.

“Lady Eulifia of the house of Genos has apparently said that she wishes to invite you chefs of the forest’s edge to another tea party next month. Will you participate once again, Lady Toor Deen and Lady Rimee Ruu?”

“Yeah, since Lady Odifia won’t be happy if Toor Deen isn’t there. By the way, is she here today?” Rimee Ruu asked.

“No, such a young noblewoman would not be invited to an event like this one. While the matches are safe, there is still occasional bloodshed.” In that case, there was no need to worry about the young lady demanding Toor Deen’s sweets today. That was good news for all of us. “I have been invited to Lady Eulifia’s tea party myself, so I’ll be looking forward to being able to enjoy your delicious sweets once more,” Yang politely stated, and then he returned to his own wagon. Sheila had been talking to Ai Fa in the meantime, but seeing him leave, she gave a hurried bow and departed with a reluctant look.

“That Sheila girl always seems to really focus on you, Ai Fa. What was she so eager to talk to you about today?”

“Well, she was inviting me to attend an event—a combat tournament, I think—held by the house of Daleim. I’m not certain why she was making such a request, however.”

“Ooh, so they have different kinds of tournaments beyond just this swordsmanship competition?”

“Yes, though she said it was a minor event held only for people related to their house... And I am not sure why she wanted to invite Sheera Ruu as well.”

I turned toward Sheera Ruu and found her wearing a troubled smile.

“Um, I believe that’s because she was actually talking about a dance party...”

Ai Fa stared blankly at Sheera Ruu. “A dance party? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“I haven’t either, but the townsfolk seem to enjoy dancing, so I could imagine them holding an event just for that.”

“But dancing is simply a way for women in search of a husband to show off, is it not...?”

“Yes, but the townsfolk dance at banquets just to enjoy themselves, right? I guess a dance party must be something similar...”

“I would never participate in such a thing,” Ai Fa grumbled like a spoiled child, glaring at the blameless Sheera Ruu, who simply offered her an even kindlier smile.

“I’m not the best at dancing myself, so I would like to decline as well, if I can... But you told her that you would have no objections as long as the leading clan heads gave their approval, so eventually the house of Daleim is going to make an official request about it, right?”

Ai Fa furrowed her brow, then turned her glare my way. However, this wasn’t the sort of problem that could be solved by glaring at anyone who was here at the moment.

“If there is an official request, then all you have to do is officially refuse it, right? It’s not like our relationship with the nobles will fall apart just because you refused to go to a dance party.”

“But I said that I had no objections... If I refuse now, won’t I be going back on an agreement for no good reason?”

“If that’s what you think, then you can just go. That Sheila girl probably just wants to see you in banquet attire.”

Ai Fa ground her teeth, glaring at me even more harshly. Apparently, it was my abduction by Sanjura that had led to her forming a bond with Sheila. Did that mean I shared some responsibility here?

At any rate, thanks to that whole thing with Reina Ruu and Leeheim, we had already had a discussion with the nobles about how our values concerning relationships between men and women differed from theirs, so no matter how beautiful Ai Fa would look all dressed up in banquet clothes, we could be sure that no more problematic conflicts would arise as a result. There was no reason for me to get all flustered, no matter how things played out, so I tried to soothe Ai Fa’s anger as I moved on to my next task.

“Okay, that seems like enough of a meal break, so why don’t we go take a look at the tournament? We’ll need to leave some folks behind to keep an eye on the wagons, though.”

That task went to Toor Deen, Yamiru Lea, and Tsuvai, who volunteered.

“Okay, and it would probably be good to leave a pair of guards here too. With this much money around, we can’t be sure there aren’t any bad actors here.”

And so, the remaining chefs and three guards, including Ai Fa, headed toward the stadium with me, accompanied by Yumi and Luia.

The entrance to the stadium was big enough for ten people to pass through at once, but the doors were firmly shut at the moment. There were also four guards lined up to both the left and right of the door, eight in total.

“If you wish to enter, please allow us to inspect the inside of your overcoats,” one of the guards emotionlessly stated.

“By ‘overcoats,’ do you mean our hunter’s cloaks? Why must we do such a thing?” Raielfam Sudra asked from the head of our group.

“No one is allowed inside with bows and arrows. If you do not wish to remove them, you can simply expose the interiors.”

No doubt, that was for the sake of protecting the VIPs. Raielfam Sudra replied, “Understood,” as he spread his cloak open with both arms. Ai Fa and Cheem Sudra both did the same.

“All right. You’re fine to bring your swords in with you, but keep in mind that if you disobey the orders of the guards inside, you’ll be considered guilty of treason on the spot.”

Two of the guards pulled the doors open, just wide enough for one person to pass through, allowing us to enter the stadium single file.

The sound of raucous cheering hit us the moment they opened those doors. The powerful voices of the audience, which had been blocked by the stone walls, were now reaching us clearly. The noise was so intense that I could feel my skin trembling.

Before us was a dimly lit passageway. Once everyone was inside and the door was shut, we started walking forward. Everything around us was constructed from yellow stone, and though the passage was wide, the ceiling was low—low enough that Mida and Ji Maam would surely have had to duck down. It continued for roughly ten meters or so, and once we reached the end, our field of view suddenly opened wide, revealing a space with no roof that reminded me of a baseball stadium.

I spied two knights standing in the center of the arena and crossing blades, probably forty to fifty meters away from us. I squinted and tried to figure out if I recognized either of them, only for a voice to call out, “Hey. You shouldn’t stand here. Go up the stairs and watch from there.”

That had unsurprisingly come from a guard. He was pointing diagonally behind him with the tip of his spear, and sure enough, I saw a wide stone staircase that way. There was seating for the audience built into the interior of the stone wall surrounding the stadium.

The stairs were built of stone too, and grew steadily taller the farther up they went. There were eight levels of seating in total, and nearly all of them were full. It was just like the kind of coliseum I had seen from time to time in movies and so on.

There were a thousand or even two thousand audience members enthusiastically watching the clash between the swordsmen. There weren’t many women or children among them. Most were gruff men. A low wooden fence divided the audience seating and the field, and a large number of guards were lined up along it.

What really caught my eye, though, was one spot off to my right where dozens of guards were gathered. That had to be the VIP seating. It was separated from the ordinary seats with walls, and those walls had guards along them too. The area within the extra walls had plenty of space for people to make themselves comfortable in, and was not only carpeted, but also had a leather awning overhead. However, my vision wasn’t good enough to make out who was sitting where over there. And it was the same for the armored swordsmen too.

At the urging of the guards, we moved all the way up to the seats on the top level. We were farther away from the action now, but even at this distance, I could tell how fierce the battle was. I felt like I could almost hear the clang of their weapons.

Amid all the mad cheering, I caught sight of one of the swordsmen’s blades crashing heavily into the torso of his opponent. They were wearing armor and their swords lacked edges, so there was no spurt of blood. And yet, the swordsman who had been struck was left writhing on the ground, and he showed no signs of rising.

With that, a totos-riding soldier appeared from the western entrance, shouting, “The west! Devias is victorious! Devias is victorious!” while circling the arena, prompting the crowd to cheer even louder.

“What an awful furor. It’s as if we’ve leaped into a thundercloud,” Ai Fa whispered to me with a rather displeased look on her face.

Then a large figure pushed past the crowd in the standing room area and approached us. “Hey there. That was surprisingly quick. There are thirteen swordsmen left now.” It was Zasshuma, who we had just said farewell to not so long ago.

“Thanks. Are the hunters from the forest’s edge still in it?”

“They haven’t popped back up since the break. The match that ended just now was only the third.”

I didn’t really get it, so I asked for clarification, and was informed that the swordsmen drew lots to decide match order, and once they lost, they were out. In other words, after the preliminary matches, it shifted into a huge single-elimination tournament. The matches were being held between the sixteen contestants who made it through the prelims, and what we had just seen was the third one.

“The victor, Devias, will face off against whichever swordsman wins the next match. I figure it’s about time for one of your hunters from the forest’s edge to show up.”

As we were loudly conversing, some fresh commotion arose among the audience. Some among the crowd had stood up and erected several large banners, which people were now shoving their way toward. Having multiple banners set up throughout the stadium meant there wouldn’t be a single massive logjam from hundreds of people trying to move to the same area. Instead, there were smaller clusters of traffic all over.

“The folks who won their bets on that match just now and those who want to bet on the next one are gathering around the bookmakers. The nobles have fun betting among themselves, and the same is true of commoners too.”

Before long, the totos knight was circling around again, shouting out a new announcement, “The next match! To the west, Shin Ruu of the forest’s edge! To the east, Don of the Red Fangs!”

“Oh, so that Shin Ruu guy’s up against Don, huh? That means he’ll be up against Devias next. He got awfully unlucky with the pairings.”

The mercenary swordsman, Don, was wearing a really striking suit of crimson armor. He looked to be a size bigger than Shin Ruu, who was clad in silver.

“What do you think? Considering he’s up against Don, I imagine you’d earn quite a bit by betting on your pal down there.”

“Nah, betting isn’t in my nature.” I said. “Besides, I’ll get chewed out if I go and waste money on something like that.”

Naturally, Ai Fa and the others had no interest in betting, and I didn’t feel like explaining it to them either. No matter how much leeway they had in their wallets, the people of the forest’s edge would never live anything but honorably modest lives.

“Guess I’ll just use this match to check things out, myself. If he can take down Don, then I’ll bet on your buddy in the next match,” Zasshuma said, only for the results to make themselves clear almost immediately. Shin Ruu’s blade flashed, and Don’s sword was sent flying five meters back, where it stabbed into the ground.

The crimson swordsman took off running in the direction of his weapon, but Shin Ruu moved in front of him even quicker. With a sword now pointed at his throat, Don raised both arms, looking deeply frustrated. And then, the biggest cheer yet exploded from the crowd.

“I’m astounded. Even an opponent like Don went down that quickly. I imagine only Lord Melfried and your other comrade stand a chance against him now.”

I felt relieved when I heard Zasshuma say that. I just wasn’t good with this sort of violent stuff. I had hurried over here out of concern for Shin Ruu, but I normally would have preferred to stay behind with Toor Deen’s group instead.

The rules of this tournament were far more brutal than the ones for the contests of strength held by the hunters of the forest’s edge. They might have been using dull swords, but nothing was prohibited beyond that. Even sending your opponent flying was totally legal.

As for how you won, you either had to force your opponent to a point where they could no longer fight, or otherwise get them to admit defeat. There were no penalties for injuring your opponent, and on the off chance someone died, it would just lead to a disqualification.

Participants were required to wear heavy armor, but there was still a chance of taking a fatal blow if a strike landed in the wrong place. Shin Ruu’s previous opponent, Geimalos, had suffered heavy injuries including bone fractures, for example.

At any rate, the most important thing is that he doesn’t get injured. Of course, if one of his opponents dies, that would be awful too.

While I was thinking to myself, the matches rolled on.

In the next bout, Melfried defeated a foreign swordsman, and the following two matches involved knights of Genos and swordsmen from other towns who gripped their blades tight in sweaty hands as they switched back and forth between offense and defense.

Geol Zaza eventually appeared in the final match that would decide the top eight, and his opponent was a strong one: the vice captain of the ducal guard, Login.

“That guy’s every bit as skilled as Don and Devias, so who knows how it’ll turn out.”

The two seemed to be similar in terms of build, and since they were both wearing silver armor, it was difficult to tell them apart from a distance. But once the match kicked off, I had a much better idea of who was who. One of the swordsmen fought just like a wild beast. He was swinging his huge longsword about willy-nilly with one arm, and their blades clashed with such force that it seemed like they would both snap. His opponent seemed to be having a bit of trouble dealing with the assault, but was still managing to dodge his fierce attacks with deft movements. Really, the match was starting to look more like a fight between a matador and a bull than a contest of swordsmanship.

However, that back and forth didn’t last long. The bull-like fighter’s excess momentum was throwing off his balance, and his opponent would not let the chance to strike slip by. The other’s blade swung down, but the slash was deflected. Despite his unstable posture, the bull-like swordsman had managed to swing his right leg upward, kicking away his opponent’s blade from the side. His opponent stumbled really badly, to the point that the vice captain’s upper body seemed to be swimming in the air. Still on one leg, the bull-like fighter did a spin and smashed his longsword into the side of his opponent’s face.

The swordsman was sent flying, his crushed helmet and blade flying off in separate directions. It was a sight that brought Geimalos’s pitiful defeat to mind, and there were about as many shrieks as there were cheers in response.

“The east! Geol Zaza is victorious! Geol Zaza is victorious!” the totos knight shouted while riding about.

Geol Zaza rested his sword on his shoulder and calmly exited the stadium. Login was then swiftly carried away on a totos-drawn cart.

“He is terribly lacking in experience... While it is not a taboo, one should always avoid unnecessarily injuring an opponent in a contest of strength,” Ai Fa commented with a scowl.

Thanks to the cheers coming from all around us, Zasshuma wasn’t able to hear her on my other side.

“What sort of technique is that, kicking away a slash? That guy was astoundingly strong too. But with the vice captain getting taken out like that, Lord Melfried is sure to get really fired up.”

If they each won once more, Geol Zaza and Melfried would face off in the semifinals. It used to be that Melfried was as strong as Jiza Ruu, and now he was about on par with Shin Ruu, so what would the result be if they were to clash? I wasn’t a hunter, so I hadn’t the slightest clue.

Amid all the commotion Geol Zaza had stirred up, the quarterfinals among the top eight kicked off. Before long, I heard a call of “To the west! Leiriss of the Knights of Saturas!”

“So he’s won his matches thus far too...” Ai Fa muttered with a sharp look in her eyes. With her eyesight, she was surely able to see the movements of the swordsmen in fine detail.

Leiriss was also an exceptionally skilled swordsman. His opponent was a big guy introduced as a warrior from Jagar who lightly swung around his longsword as if it were a stick, but after just a few clashes, Leiriss repelled one of his opponent’s swings and brought his blade down on the man’s left shoulder.

His swordsmanship called to mind an elegant dance. Whether it was down to his speed or his timing, he seemed to be really skilled at warding off his opponent’s attacks. Apparently, the outcome was quite an upset, as I could hear folks lamenting it all throughout the stadium.

“Hmph, what appropriately fancy swordsmanship for a noble. None of the ruffians around here thought much of him and assumed his skills just amounted to a bunch of party tricks, but he might actually be pretty tricky to handle,” Zasshuma said.

In the next match, Shin Ruu took Devias down in a single blow, and Melfried and Geol Zaza also scored wins, deciding the final four for the tournament.