Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 23 - Chapter 3.9

Group Performance: A Descendant of Old Blood

Shilly Rou was standing by herself, at a loss for what to do. She was in the middle of a banquet being held at the forest’s edge, one of the many people from Genos who had been invited to attend. But the only reason she had decided to come here was so that she could learn more about the techniques and skill levels of the chefs of the forest’s edge.

How had things ended up like this...? It had all started with that Yumi girl, who was from the post town. Those traveling musicians had started playing instruments, and Yumi said, “Let’s dance!” and had dragged Shilly Rou into the center of the plaza.

Shilly Rou hadn’t been mentally prepared to go dancing, so while Yumi had been swaying along elegantly, Shilly Rou had found herself simply being dragged along like a leaf that had fallen into a river. The chef had been completely thrown for a loop, until a voice had called out that the giba meat was done cooking, which sent Yumi swiftly running off in that direction.

Before she had realized it, Shilly Rou found herself alone and helpless in the center of the plaza.

People of the forest’s edge were swiftly bustling about all around her. If she moved carelessly, she would probably be sent flying. It felt as if she had been thrust into a shed that was packed with totos, and she had no idea what she should do.

She tried to look around for familiar faces, but that proved difficult as there were too many people blocking her view. How were they able to move around so quickly with only the light of the bonfires to guide them? Surrounded by all those people of the forest’s edge with their beastly eyes, Shilly Rou felt as if she wanted to just crouch down and cower.

Shilly Rou was a resident of the castle town. The town was protected by stone walls, so seeing any kind of outlaw there was almost unheard of. But that was only natural, since nobody who seemed even a little suspicious was allowed to so much as set foot inside. Having been born and raised in such a safe and secure town, this place seemed as terrifying to Shilly Rou as a raging battlefield.

It’s also right at the foot of Mount Morga, she thought, feeling as if her knees were about to give out on her. The terror of Morga was especially emphasized in her household. Shilly Rou had been born into a long-established house. Hers was an especially old bloodline here in the western kingdom, and the “Rou” adorning her name served as proof of that.

When the nation of Selva had been established several hundred years prior, its citizens had cast aside their family names. As a result, the only people in the western kingdom who possessed a last name were land-owning nobles and descendants of old blood—those whose ancestors were independent settlers unrelated to the king.

Now that several hundred years had passed, discrimination against those independent settlers had largely vanished. A bit closer to the capital they might have been viewed as barbarians, but at the very least, they were treated no differently from any other citizen here in Genos. After all, it had been independent settlers who had developed this land in the first place. Two hundred years ago, though, Count Genos and those related to him had been given a royal order to take rulership over this land.

A large river flowed through the region, and there were many places here that were well suited for raising crops, which had come to the attention of the kingdom’s rulers. Up until then, the settlers in the area had just barely been scraping by. While the Lanto and Tanto rivers were a great boon, there was a limit to how much land a mere couple hundred people could clear, so they had chosen to live modest lives instead of working themselves to death. Since the rivers did not have any fish suitable for consumption, they had instead raised kimyuus, and had only grown the aria, fuwano, and mamaria that they needed to survive. Salt and other necessary goods had been things they had only been able to acquire by purchasing them from merchants who visited occasionally. That was the sort of meager lifestyle they had lived.

Two hundred years ago, though, that peaceful way of living had come to an end. Count Genos had led thousands of soldiers and even more civilians to this land, and in no time at all they had taken full control of it. As the settlers had only had to deal with bandits who pillaged their fields or targeted their young women up until that point, they had no means of resisting. Their only options were to leave the land or live as citizens of the kingdom, with the majority of them choosing the latter when forced to make the choice. That included the Rou family.

However, the Rou family had been seen as especially cooperative. While they had been settlers, and had therefore been considered lower class, they had later been permitted to live in the castle town. You could count on one hand the number of independent settlers who had been granted that right out of the hundreds who had lived there.

At any rate, Genos had developed greatly over the course of the last two hundred years. People had come flowing in from towns all over, and at present the population was said to be somewhere between one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. Count Genos had been granted the rank of duke, while the houses of Turan, Saturas, and Daleim had been elevated from knights to counts. Trade with Sym and Jagar had also thrived, leading to the town becoming one of the most prosperous in all of Selva.

Looking back on it now, the house of Genos had practically been exiled when they had been sent here to this land. In Selva, the houses above the rank of count were supposed to be granted territory. But their land had been taken by the royal house of Selva, and they had been told to go take hold of a new territory on their own. They had undeniably been banished, along with the people under them. But they had turned that anger and regret into strength, and developed the town of Genos into what it was today. Nowadays, the people of the capital had come to fear what Genos had become, granting three houses a rank so that Duke Genos alone would not control all that power and wealth, at least according to rumors.

Shilly Rou was a citizen of the Genos castle town. It wasn’t as if her standing was especially high, but she was definitely of good lineage. The Rou had even had several of their members marry into the branch families of count or viscount houses.

The Rou also made a point of passing down certain legends and tales that only the old families knew about. In particular, those relating to Mount Morga. Terrifying beasts lived on the mountain: varb wolves, giant madarama snakes, and red savages. Those who sought to pillage the mountain inevitably met their ends thanks to those beasts, so now the people living here considered attempting to do any such thing to be absolutely taboo. They had made sure to convey that to the new rulers of Genos, which was what had led to the current state of things.

And so, when the people of the forest’s edge had moved here eighty years ago, the idea had been met with a great deal of opposition from the older crowd. Only giba, mundt, and giiz lived at the base of the mountain, but if the worst happened and the new arrivals wandered into the territory of the wolves, giant snakes, or savages, it could have led to a calamity that would wipe out Genos itself. And so they had asserted that the barbarians who had come from Jagar should have been swiftly driven from the land.

However, the ruler at the time had accepted the people of the forest’s edge instead. This was around the time when the giba had started ravaging the crops grown by the people of Genos, so maybe the noble had believed those barbarians who didn’t even have steel weapons would simply die to the beasts out in the forest, unable to properly hunt them.

At any rate, the people of the forest’s edge hadn’t died out, and they had not pillaged Mount Morga either. They protected the mountain as sacred land and curtailed the threat of giba attacks, leading Genos to even greater prosperity.

Currently, Shilly Rou was standing at the foot of that terrifying mountain, and it was giving her an ever worse feeling of being in danger.

When she turned her eyes to the east, she could see the black shape of Mount Morga standing there imposingly. Just looking at it was enough to cause her heart to freeze up with fear, so she had more or less kept her head down since setting foot in the settlement at the forest’s edge.

Oh western god, please save your devoted child... Shilly Rou prayed, closing her eyes tight and grabbing the charm in her breast pocket. But as she did so, a hand clapped down on her shoulder from behind, almost making her shriek.

“Are you all right, Shilly Rou? What are you doing over here by yourself?”

When she turned to look, she found a girl with long blackish-brown hair standing there with a gentle smile. Her name was Sheera Ruu, and she was a resident of this settlement. Shilly Rou was about to breathe a sigh of relief, only to notice a young man with eyes like a beast’s standing there next to her, making the young castle town chef shrink away from the two of them.

“Ah, this is the second son of the main Ruu house, Darmu Ruu. Darmu Ruu, she’s from the castle town, and...”

“She’s that chef from the castle town, right? My old man explained it earlier,” the youth interrupted, rudely cutting off Sheera Ruu and then taking a swig from a bottle of fruit wine. He seemed to be drunk, as his eyes were narrowed sleepily. The state he was in made Shilly Rou even more frightened of him.

“Did you already try the whole roast giba? I was helping to cut it until just a moment ago.”

“N-No, I, um...” She wanted to say she was searching for Roy, who had come along with her, but she found herself unable to get the words out, as if she had bitten into a raw herb that had paralyzed her tongue.

Sheera Ruu smiled kindly. “Well then, I’ll go grab some for you. After all, it won’t be long before it’s gone, at the rate people are eating it. My apologies, Darmu Ruu, but could you keep an eye on Shilly Rou for a bit?”

“Ah, wait, hold on!” Shilly Rou desperately tried to shout, but Sheera Ruu didn’t seem to hear her as she disappeared into the crowd. Shilly Rou felt like she was barely still in the world of the living, trapped alone with a drunkard who had a terrifying look in his eyes. She couldn’t help thinking that someone who drank fruit wine directly from the bottle like he did was clearly a barbarian.

“I’ve heard you made food for my brothers in the castle town, girl?” Darmu Ruu eventually grumbled. “Jiza and Ludo said they never expected to eat food like that in the castle town, and that it was a huge shock for them... Seems you’re quite a skilled chef.”

Shilly Rou didn’t say a word.

“It’s only right for women to man the stove. I’ve got no interest in dishes that don’t use giba meat, but you should be proud of your strength... It’s really rare to hear Jiza say something like that.”

Still, Shilly Rou remained silent.

“Are you listening to me, girl?”

“I-I am!”

“Hmph...” Darmu Ruu grumbled with another swig of fruit wine. He must have been quite drunk, as his footing seemed unstable. “I figured it was all the same as long as I was able to eat giba meat... I was so ignorant back then, seriously... As if anyone could complain after being fed something this good...”

“Huh...?”

“It’s right to make delicious food... It’s irritating, but I acknowledge that fact... So she should be more proud of her strength... She’s got more energy than before, but it’s still not enough...”

“U-Um, what are you talking about...?” Shilly Rou timidly asked, but Darmu Ruu’s eyes remained unfocused. He looked like he would collapse at any moment. Before he could, though, Sheera Ruu returned holding a wooden plate.

“Sorry for the wait. Hmm? Did something happen, Darmu Ruu?”

“No, it’s nothing... I was talking, so give me a proper answer...”

Sheera Ruu turned toward Shilly Rou with a troubled smile.

“I’m sorry. What were you talking about, exactly?”

“I’m not quite sure...”

Shilly Rou wanted to go and cling to Sheera Ruu. Among the people of the forest’s edge, the girl was especially kind, and also seemed to be quite smart to boot. If Shilly Rou couldn’t find that unreliable companion of hers or her guide, then Sheera Ruu was the only person left that she could rely on.

“At any rate, here, have some of this. It’s whole roast giba, and it took all day for us to cook it,” Sheera Ruu said, holding out the plate.

Though she was still feeling out of sorts, Shilly Rou focused her attention on the meal. Roasted meat with the skin still on it had been cut into thin slices and placed atop the plate. The dark-brown skin had a bit of a shine to it, and the meat was white and moist. The smell of meat and pico leaves was coming off of it.

“You have some too, Darmu Ruu. You should really eat something instead of just drinking.”

Darmu Ruu went ahead and reached out, so Shilly Rou did the same. It was giba meat, which she had sampled numerous times at this point. It really did seem that they had only used salt and pico leaves on it, which let the flavor of the meat come across clearly.

Compared to kimyuus or karon, giba meat was much tougher. It might have even been a bit tougher than gyama. That wasn’t to say it was sinewy, though. It had a firm and pleasant chewiness to it from the muscle fibers. There was a wildness to its flavor, very fitting for the beasts it came from. However, she couldn’t sense any unpleasant stench from it at all, so the bloodletting must have been done correctly. A lot of fat and moisture had been cooked off over the half day that it had been roasted, but there was still a layer of jiggly fat between the skin and the meat, so it wasn’t lacking in umami. There was no end to the flavor, no matter how much she chewed. It was definitely a high-class meat, every bit the equal of karon or gyama.

“Giba meat truly is a wonderful ingredient. Still, there wasn’t much technique that went into making this dish. All you used was salt and pico leaves, so the only thing you would have needed to put effort into was managing the flames,” Shilly Rou noted.

“Right. However, Asuta’s aim was to draw out the fantastic flavor of giba meat as much as possible by roasting it for a long time. There were no real tricks to it, but that means anyone can make it, which is quite valuable for the chefs of the forest’s edge,” Sheera Ruu said, giving yet another smile. “And the fact that it takes so long to make gives it a special meaning for us, because having the leeway to spend so much time on cooking is something worth cherishing for us.”

“I can’t quite say I understand... Well, I suppose it’s a fitting dish for this kind of celebration. I’ve heard that in Sym, they customarily serve a whole roast gyama with the head still attached at events similar to this one.” Shilly Rou was only able to remain stouthearted for the moment because she was talking about food. Sheera Ruu, on the other hand, was unrestrained in her joy.

“Well then, allow me to show you another dish. Would you like to try the sweets Rimee Ruu’s group made?”

“Ah, no, I was looking for my companion, Roy...”

Sheera Ruu nodded and replied, “Oh, that Roy fellow is with Asuta’s group. That’s why I’m going to be the one to show you around.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, Asuta was worried because he hadn’t seen you. I said I was going to deliver some whole roast giba for you, though, and he thanked me for helping you out.”

“Th-Then where did Roy and the others go? Did they just leave me behind?”

“Oh, no, I asked to do so. I wanted to get to know you better...but am I just being a hassle?”

The words Shilly Rou initially wanted to say got caught in her throat. The thought of turning down a request from this girl made her feel awkward, and besides...if she refused and asked to be brought to Roy, it would seem like she was a lost child or something.

Besides, I can hardly expect Roy to save me. That young chef seemed to have gotten back his old brazenness recently, which made him quite difficult for Shilly Rou to handle. He was so young and lacked any backing, but he was skilled enough to catch the eye of the previous head of the house of Turan, so he had a firm foundation as a chef. In the end, though, he had only gotten as far as being charged with making food for the servants, but he had still been invited to work at the Turan manor as an independent chef, rather than as anyone’s apprentice. Even so, that’s no excuse for him to be as insolent as he is with Varkas.

Then Sheera Ruu spoke up again with concern in her voice. “Is something the matter? If you’re worried about being on your own...”

“Ah, no, it’s fine. If I just start walking, we’re sure to run into each other eventually, so I would greatly appreciate you showing me around until then.”

“I see,” Sheera Ruu said, her eyes sparkling. She was quite trim and reserved for a person of the forest’s edge, but there were times when she displayed strength and vitality quite different from what one would expect from a townsperson, and this was definitely one such time.

“Thank you. Well then, let’s head over to the sweets. Will you be all right, Darmu Ruu?”

“What are you asking for...? It’s not like I’m drunk...” Darmu Ruu grumbled back, his eyelids drooping more and more. He looked even more frightening now than when they had first met.

With that, Sheera Ruu led Shilly Rou off to one edge of the plaza, where there weren’t any stone stoves set up. Instead, a number of plates were sitting in a line on top of a cloth, illuminated by the light of the bonfire. A large crowd was gathered there, and the majority of them were women.

“Hey! Where did you run off to?” one member of the crowd called out loudly—a girl with a different skin color than the people of the forest’s edge. It was none other than the person responsible for the circumstances Shilly Rou currently found herself in: Yumi.

“You’re the one who dragged me out here and then left me!”

“Hmm? Singing and dancing together is the best way to make friends with someone. You were having fun, weren’t you?” Yumi remarked with a giggle. “Still, your dancing was a mess for someone from the castle town. It was like watching a drunken kimyuus flopping about.”

“I-I am merely a chef’s apprentice, not someone in a position to be invited to dances! It isn’t as if everyone who lives in the castle town is an expert dancer, you know.”

“You don’t need to get mad about it. With dancing, all that matters is enjoying yourself.” Strangely, Yumi was acting much friendlier than she had been before. She no longer seemed to be shunning Shilly Rou, and was instead offering her a happy smile. Was that really all it took to make this girl lower her guard?

“It sounds like they’re going to perform again later, so would you like to dance with me some more then?”

“I firmly refuse!” Shilly Rou’s voice had turned a little harsh there, but Yumi didn’t seem to pay it any mind, so the castle town girl was starting to worry that she was going to end up getting abducted again when the music started back up.

“All right, I’ll see you later. We’ve got a bit of business to take care of,” Yumi said, grabbing a large plate and standing up. Apparently, the plate was one she had brought over, and it was now packed with all sorts of colorful treats.

With that, Yumi left the area alongside Telia Mas, so Shilly Rou and Sheera Ruu sat down in the newly opened space. The young women and children who had gotten there before them were all smiling away and stuffing their cheeks with desserts.

The strange sweet that had been served at the tea party and banquet were there, as was a baked sweet. There were also small dishes full of panam honey and fruit juice.

“They all look delicious. Where shall we start, Shilly Rou?”

“Let’s see... I would like to give each of them a try, so I suppose it doesn’t matter which one we start with.”

An older woman with a kindly face promptly served them some sweets. “Please, start with this. I think you’ll find that it pairs well with that pale brown nectar.”

“Thank you...” Shilly Rou replied, accepting the plate. The strange semitransparent confection jiggled as it moved. It was what Asuta had referred to as chatchi mochi.

It seemed that it had been made with karon milk, just like at the tea party, and it had a faint whitish shine to it. The pale brown nectar the woman had indicated seemed to be a mix of sugar and hoboi seeds that had been boiled until they turned black. The fragrant aroma of the hoboi gently tickled her nose.

“These really are delicious. They seem to include different ingredients each time I see them, but rather than it being a case of the ideal ingredients not being nailed down yet, the intent seems to be to simply enjoy various different flavors,” Shilly Rou commented.

“That’s right. I think the kind that uses gigi leaves and karon milk is just as good as these ones.”

“Still, Asuta was the one who more or less came up with the basic idea for this confection, wasn’t he? It certainly doesn’t seem to me that he created this recipe with a mind to use the ingredients’ flavors to their fullest potential,” Shilly Rou stated, but then she recalled that Sheera Ruu wouldn’t know anything about that.

“What are you talking about?” the girl from the forest’s edge asked, and so Shilly Rou quickly went over what Mikel had told her before.

At the end of the explanation, Sheera Ruu said, “So, Mikel and Asuta try to bring out the flavor of each of their ingredients to the fullest, while Varkas tries to distance himself from their original flavors... I see. Now that you’ve broken it down for me, I think I understand what you mean.”

“Good. But this sweet was made with boiled chatchi powder, wasn’t it? I can’t see it as a dish that utilizes the original flavor of the chatchi.”

“No. But I wouldn’t say that Asuta is solely fixated on sticking to the original flavors of the ingredients. It’s more that he’s always trying to use unfamiliar ingredients to recreate familiar dishes... For example, Asuta came up with the idea to dissolve poitan flour in water and then grill it, but he might not have bothered to put so much thought into how to use it if he had encountered fuwano first.”

“In other words...Asuta’s home nation had an ingredient similar to fuwano, and that’s what led to him using poitan in such a way?”

“Yes. Apparently, poitan is what is known as a grain, so he figured that there should have been a way to do something with it.”

This was starting to make Shilly Rou’s head hurt. Asuta had only encountered aria, poitan, and giba meat after he had first arrived at this settlement, and yet just a few months later, he was able to make dishes like the one they were currently enjoying. But at the same time, he had no idea how to handle ingredients that had no equivalent in his home country, so there were quite a few herbs and vegetables that he hadn’t made use of yet. Shilly Rou was certain that no other chef could possibly be as odd as him.

“Asuta truly is a strange man. He’s like a holy being sent to bring happiness to the people of the forest’s edge.”

“To me, he’s an ominous entity leading Varkas astray.”

“Leading Varkas astray? It looked to me like he was just honestly enjoying Asuta’s skills, and even then, he insisted he had no use for Asuta’s techniques himself.”

Shilly Rou had no counterargument to that. It seemed she was doomed to lose every argument she had that night.

“Still, you and Varkas are the unusual ones from my point of view.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Like I said yesterday, you are just as strange and just as important as Varkas in my mind. You were able to make my comrades happy with your cooking, despite being from the castle town and not even using giba meat. I’m truly glad that you came here to the settlement at the forest’s edge,” Sheera Ruu said. But then she let out a shriek.

Darmu Ruu had suddenly sat down next to her, and was beginning to tip over in her direction. At first, he was simply leaning against her shoulder a bit, but then he started sinking down toward her legs. And as soon as his head fell into Sheera Ruu’s lap, he started peacefully snoring away.

“D-Darmu Ruu, are you asleep? You must have drank too much.” Sheera Ruu’s face was bright red. She shook Darmu Ruu’s shoulders, but the hunter showed no signs of waking. His eyes were fully closed, and he seemed to be quite comfortable in his current position. He looked a lot younger now that he was unconscious.

“E-Er, could you lend me a hand with laying Darmu Ruu down?” Sheera Ruu asked the older woman who had served the two girls earlier.

The old woman just smiled at her. “But don’t you think he would sleep so much easier on your legs than on this thin sheet? Look how happy his face is.”

“B-But Tito Min Ruu, the customs of the forest’s edge say unmarried men and women aren’t supposed to touch each other if it isn’t necessary.”

“It shouldn’t be any issue when it’s you and Darmu. We’ve been overlooking that kind of thing at banquets since forever ago.”

The other women and children around them simply carried on eating and smiling happily at each other. Sheera Ruu, meanwhile, was going ever redder in the face as she desperately turned to Shilly Rou next.

“Don’t worry. I can get the sweets myself.”

“Uh, no, that’s not...”

Shilly Rou ignored what she said after that, reaching for a baked poitan sweet. It wasn’t as if she was trying to be mean or anything. It was just that Sheera Ruu seemed happy somehow, despite the troubled look on her face, so it felt wrong to interfere.

And so, time continued to calmly pass on by, and the end of the long banquet finally approached.

◇

“Huh?! You plan to stay the night here at the settlement?!” Shilly Rou shouted before she could stop herself.

The celebration at the Ruu settlement had come to a close, and the guests had gathered on one side of the plaza. The man who had caused Shilly Rou’s emotional reaction looked perplexed as he replied, “Of course I do. It’s not like the guards will lower the drawbridge for us if we try to return to the castle town this late at night. We’re just chefs, not nobles.”

“B-But...”

“Or do you want to get lodgings in the post town? We don’t have any connections there, though, and neither of us know which inns are safe. And if we get waylaid by outlaws, I wouldn’t even be able to protect myself, much less you,” Roy added.

Asuta, who had been listening to the conversation, then interjected, “That’s right. The first time I slept in an inn was when we visited Dabagg, and we had bandits break into our rooms. We were okay because we had hunters from the forest’s edge with us, but I’d definitely agree that it can be pretty dangerous to stay at an inn if you aren’t familiar with the area.”

Shilly Rou bit her lip, and looked over the townsfolk standing around them. The young vegetable seller from the Daleim lands—she had forgotten his name—smiled at her. “Normally, we’d be happy to invite you back to our place, but unfortunately, our father drank himself unconscious, and our little sister’s really been looking forward to spending the night at the forest’s edge... To be honest, we’ve been looking forward to this too, so we don’t have any plans to head back home tonight.”

Shilly Rou didn’t know how to respond to that.

“There’s nothing to worry about! The Daleim and Turan lands may have guards protecting them, but this settlement has the hunters of the forest’s edge watching over it! That makes this the safest place there is!” Mikel’s daughter, Myme, chimed in. She was still only eleven years old, so she clearly didn’t realize how terrifying the people of the forest’s edge could be. “They say that giba and mundt don’t enter houses, and criminals won’t come anywhere near this place either, so there really isn’t all that much danger in the first place!”

Even so, Shilly Rou hadn’t spent so much as a single night outside of the stone walls before. And on top of that, she wasn’t particularly close to anyone here. She had known Roy the longest, but they would be sleeping separately regardless, so she couldn’t exactly rely on him.

“Well then, are we good to go...? We have a lot of guests today, so we’d like to divide you up across a number of houses...” a woman of the forest’s edge stated, stifling a yawn. The girl had long chestnut-colored hair and an unusually sensual aura about her. “Asuta and the men can use Bartha’s house, the women of Dora’s family will come to the main house, Myme and Bartha will spend the night at Shin Ruu’s house, and the remaining women can stay at Mida’s house... Does that work...?”

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

They were just going ahead with making arrangements, while Shilly Rou’s concerns were simply shoved aside. Without letting anyone see, she gripped her amulet honoring the western god as she tried to decide what to do, until Yumi leaned in close to her from the side.

“You were planning on going back to the castle town, weren’t you? But if you head back this late, you won’t have time to do anything except go to sleep, right? So why not stay and have fun with us for as long as you can instead?”

“But...I have so much early prep work to take care of tomorrow...”

“Oh, we people of the forest’s edge wake up at the break of dawn, so I can take you back in the wagon around that time if you want,” Asuta said, still smiling.

Shilly Rou knew he didn’t hold any ill will, but she couldn’t help how much he irritated her. She glared at him reflexively, but then Yumi poked her in the cheek and said, “Hey, he’s saying he’ll give you a ride in the morning, so why are you looking at him like that? That’s pretty ungrateful of you, isn’t it?”

Shilly Rou remained silent.

“All right then, guess it’s about time we get moving. You guys really don’t need our help cleaning up?” Yumi continued.

“We can’t have our guests doing our work for us. Besides, all we have to do is put out the fires before going to sleep. We’ll clean up properly tomorrow morning,” the black-haired girl, Reina Ruu, replied. Along with Sheera Ruu, she was the person of the forest’s edge Shilly Rou was most familiar with, but that didn’t mean they were friends.

“Are we good now? Let me show you to the houses,” a young man with bright red hair, yellow eyes, and skin lighter than that of the people of the forest’s edge called out.

Asuta turned toward a beautiful girl with blonde hair. “Well then, good night, clan head.”

“Right.”

That girl was always by Asuta’s side when he came to the castle town. Shilly Rou was pretty sure her name was Ai Fa. She normally dressed imposingly, with a fur cloak and a sword dangling from her hip, but with those removed, she really was incredibly beautiful. And she wasn’t just pretty. She possessed a commanding presence as well, like a female knight. Thinking back to that one tea party, Shilly Rou recalled that she had been dressed like a military officer back for the occasion, which had suited her shockingly well.

And so, the guests who had been invited to the forest’s edge were led to their respective houses. When Roy left with Asuta, all he said was, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” before quickly walking away.

All around the plaza, the residents set about extinguishing the fires, causing the surroundings to steadily grow darker. By the time Shilly Rou’s group reached their house, the lights had all been put out, leaving Shilly Rou terribly on edge.

“We’ll be parting ways here. You can take care of the rest, right, Sheera Ruu?”

“Of course. Good night, Reina and Vina Ruu.”

Reina Ruu—the girl with the chestnut-colored hair—and the women from the Daleim lands continued walking farther into the plaza, while Sheera Ruu led Shilly Rou and the others to the nearby house.

When they were right in front of the structure, Sheera Ruu suddenly said, “Oh my,” which prompted a young man and woman of the forest’s edge who were nearby to turn around and look at her. Had they been talking out here in the dark? The boy had black hair, while the girl’s red hair was tied up in a tail at the top of her head.

Despite the darkness, it was easy to see how red the girl’s face was when she replied, “Oh, you’re back, Sheera Ruu! Where are Vina and Reina?”

“They’re leading the rest of our guests to the main house. Rimee Ruu and Tara already headed there a while ago.”

“I-I see! Well, talk to you later, Shin Ruu! And I’ll see you tomorrow, Sheera Ruu and Ai Fa!”

“Okay.” The boy named Shin Ruu calmly nodded back. This was the young hunter who had attended the tea party alongside that Ai Fa woman, and he’d also had a swordsmanship competition with a knight of Genos.

The red-haired girl took off running into the darkness, at which point Shilly Rou noticed a woman with a large build and a rugged face like a man’s watching her go. That woman then called out cheerfully, “Hey there, Shin Ruu. I’ll be staying with you tonight, since our male guests will be using the house you all loaned us.”

“I heard. And that girl will be coming with you, right, Bartha?”

“Yes! I’m Myme of the Turan lands! Thank you!” Myme replied with a deep bow. That just left Shilly Rou, Yumi, and Telia Mas in their group, along with three women of the forest’s edge. They weren’t members of the Ruu clan, though, so they were also being treated as guests.

“Mida’s house is the next one over. He doesn’t seem to have made it back yet, though,” Sheera Ruu said.

“Oh, Mida went off somewhere in search of bedding earlier,” one of the women responded. Her ash-brown hair was in a single braid on the side of her head, and she looked like a simple and energetic girl. She appeared to be two or three years younger than Shilly Rou, but she seemed to be pretty mature already.

Actually, all of these women of the forest’s edge seem to be remarkably beautiful. And provocative. Does eating giba help certain parts grow?

As that trivial thought was passing through Shilly Rou’s head, the gray-brown-haired girl turned toward the townsfolk. “Um, if we’re going to be spending the night together, maybe we should reintroduce ourselves? I’m Yun Sudra of the Sudra clan, this is Toor Deen of the Deen clan, and that’s Ai Fa of the Fa clan. I hope we can all get along.”

“Yeah, agreed. You know, I’ve seen you around the stalls, but I think this is the first time I’ve actually heard your name,” Yumi chimed in, as she was apparently not even remotely familiar with the concept of shyness, and Yun Sudra smiled at her in amusement.

That girl named Toor Deen—who was currently trying to shrink into the background next to Yun Sudra—was someone Shilly Rou had seen quite a few times. She had shown such skill at the tea party that she was the first of her people besides Asuta whose name Shilly Rou had made a point to remember. She was only about as old as Myme and seemed quite timid, and yet she was wonderfully skilled when it came to making sweets.

Honestly, when it comes to confectionery, she’s every bit as skilled as most chefs in the castle town. If she continues to build up experience, then she’s certain to eventually become quite remarkable, Shilly Rou thought, looking the young girl over, only for Toor Deen to notice and cast her gaze downward as her face went red. She would always try to hide behind Asuta’s back at times like this, but since there was no one present who could serve that purpose, she just squirmed in place.

Then Yumi abruptly said, “Oh! That’s him, isn’t it? Gah, he’s like a moving mountain!”

Associating the idea of a moving mountain with Morga, Shilly Rou turned to see what Yumi was looking at in a fluster. And when she did, she saw something that was indeed every bit as shocking as seeing Mount Morga moving would have been. A massive figure was holding multiple sets of bedding in his arms as he staggered toward them.

“It looks like you’re having some difficulty there. Allow me to help you, Mida,” Ai Fa called out.

A garbled voice called out from beyond the bedding, “No, I’m fine... Could you just open the door...?”

“I would like your permission as the house’s resident, then.”

“Right... Mida of the Ruu clan says Ai Fa of the Fa clan can open the door to his house...”

After hearing those words, Ai Fa went ahead and opened the sliding door. The huge figure threw the bedding into the house, then turned back to the group with a “Phew...”

Shilly Rou once again felt terrified. He was an exceptionally large hunter of the forest’s edge who she had seen at various points throughout the banquet. Indeed, he would have been impossible to miss. Calling him “large” had actually been a serious understatement. He was roughly two heads taller than Shilly Rou, and had to be about twice as wide as your average man. It was as if a karon’s massive frame had suddenly risen to its feet, and he could hardly believe she was actually seeing such a person.

The large man from the traveling performers had also been abnormally big, but this man was both wider and thicker than him. There was a great deal of fat on his face, arms, and legs, making him look like a meatball wearing clothes. If the man wanted to, he could probably crush Shilly Rou with a single arm.

“Ai Fa... You’re sleeping in my house, right?”

“Yes. We’ll be in your care, Mida.”

“I’m glad. This is the first time I’ve had guests. And it makes me really happy that you’re one of them.”

“I see. Asuta insisted that he wanted to stay with the other guests tonight,” Ai Fa said in a perfectly calm voice, but her eyes seemed to be smiling. “I don’t particularly enjoy taking advantage of the hospitality of other clans, but I must say I’m looking forward to spending the night at a house you worked so hard to build yourself.”

“Hmm... Your words are kinda hard to understand sometimes, Ai Fa.”

“There’s no need to think about them too deeply. It truly is a fine house, Mida.”

“Right. Thanks.”

It went without saying, but the people of the forest’s edge didn’t seem to fear this huge Mida fellow in the least. That was to be expected, as they were part of the same people, but Yumi and Telia Mas seemed totally fine with him too, as hard as that was to believe.

“Since Mida’s back now, I’ll be taking my leave. Will you be all right, Shilly Rou?” Sheera Ruu asked, and the chef awkwardly turned her way. Sheera Ruu’s eyebrows were drooping apologetically. “My room isn’t all that large, so it’s already full with just Myme and Bartha there. I would have liked to invite you as well if it were at all possible, but...”

“Ooh, you’re that friendly with her, Sheera Ruu?” Yumi interjected from the side. “Well, you can just leave her to us for today. We get even fewer chances than you people of the forest’s edge to interact with folks from the castle town!”

“That’s true. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow morning. Will you be able to look after our guests, Mida?”

“Yeah. I will.”

With that, Sheera Ruu left for her own house before Shilly Rou could work up the willpower to speak to her.

“Okay, come on in,” the large fellow named Mida said before disappearing into the darkness inside the house.

Shilly Rou remained motionless for a long moment, until Yumi suddenly grabbed ahold of her arm. “The people of the forest’s edge can move around easily in the dark, but we’ve gotta be careful not to stumble over anything.”

While she still hadn’t let go of her anger over being forced into dancing, Shilly Rou was unable to reject the warmth of Yumi’s grip, so she was forced to walk along with the other girl, despite feeling dejected about all of this.

“Sorry, Mida, but would you mind putting on a light?” Yumi asked.

“Okay. Just hold on a little.”

As the guests removed their footwear, a red light started shining from farther inside. He must have lit a candle using lana leaves. Before long, there was a faint light illuminating the room.

It was a perfectly ordinary house built of wood. Though it was about as crude as the sheds made for housing kimyuus in the castle town, it really wasn’t all that different from the sorts of buildings you saw in the post town and the Daleim lands. There was a fur rug laid out atop the wooden floor, and there was a cloak and club hanging from the wall. Farther into the main hall were a number of doors, as well as a stone-built stove.

“Ooh, this is a nice place you’ve got. You live here all on your own?” Yumi said.

“Yeah... Mia Lea and Ryada Ruu told me to build one that’s the normal size.”

“Hmm? Well, if you end up with a family someday, you’ll need one this big, I suppose. You people of the forest’s edge seem to have a lot of kids.”

“I can’t make any kids though...”

“Of course you can’t! Your wife’ll be the one giving birth someday!” Yumi said with a laugh.

Mida’s little eyes blinked in surprise far up above her. “But I don’t have the Ruu name, so I can’t get married... And even if I get a clan name, I’m not old enough to marry anyone...”

“Oh, really? It’s not rare at all for folks in town to get married when they’re fifteen or sixteen.”

“But I’m still only fourteen...”

Yumi let out a loud “Huh?!” and Shilly Rou was so taken aback that she felt like her head was spinning.

“You’re that young, Mida? Well, I figured based on how you act that you might be younger than me, but that’s still a shock to hear. Right, Telia Mas?”

“Yes, it is. I thought for certain that you were older.”

“By the way, how old are the rest of you?”

“Seventeen,” “Eleven,” “Fifteen,” various voices answered in turn.

“Ack! You’re only fifteen, Yun Sudra? You’ve got such a young-looking face, but you’re really attractive too.”

“Not as much as you, Yumi. I only just reached the age where I’m able to take a husband,” Yun Sudra replied with a bashful smile. “So, how old are the rest of you?”

“Me? I just turned seventeen as of the silver month! Telia Mas is one year older than me, and... Actually, how old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.” Shilly Rou said.

Yumi grinned cheerfully. “Ooh, we’ve got a lot of folks around the same age here! Tonight’s going to be fun!”

Shilly Rou gave a stealthy sigh, wondering just what sort of fun she was expecting.

Meanwhile, Ai Fa’s gaze had been directed at her feet for some time, but now she called out to Mida, “Hey, you seem to have brought over quite a bit of bedding. Does the Ruu clan have this much to spare?”

“Hmm? Reina Ruu and the others bought them in town...”

“Oh yeah, they bought them on their way back from work. I think that was your last day on guard duty, wasn’t it, Ai Fa?” Yun Sudra explained.

“So it was,” Ai Fa said with a nod. “Still, they seem to have bought quite a few, considering that they would normally have no use for them.”

“Yes, but they could hardly let their guests sleep on the wooden floor, and Reina Ruu said there’ll probably be plenty of other occasions when they need this bedding in the future.”

“I see. So that’s why Donda Ruu agreed to it,” Ai Fa replied in a pensive tone, and then she grabbed some of the bedding by her feet. “I’m not very familiar with this kind of bedding. Should I just stack them up and spread them out?”

“Yeah... We should need three for each of us.”

It was plain woolen bedding, not stuffed with any feathers or the like. Even piling up three of them only created a pad about as thick as the palm of one’s hand, and with nothing but a fur rug covering a wooden floor below them, Shilly Rou certainly didn’t expect to get a good night’s sleep.

“You can use these too,” Mida said once the bedding was all laid out, holding out a number of pieces of long and narrow tree bark in both of his thick hands. Everyone else thanked him and took one, with Shilly Rou alone being perplexed by what they were doing.

“Huh? You’re not going to use a chew stick?” Yumi said.

“Ch-Chew stick?”

“You use it to clean your teeth before sleep. Just chew on the end until it gets soft, and then you can use it to scrape your teeth.”

In the castle town, they cleaned their teeth using brushes made from karon fur. Shilly Rou felt like she was about to break down sobbing as she chewed on the strange bark. Then she rinsed out her mouth with water from a jug, finally completing her bedtime preparations.

After that, Ai Fa and Yun Sudra undid their long hair so it hung down over their shoulders, which made them both look astoundingly beautiful. All of the young women of the forest’s edge had long hair like the noble ladies from the castle town. And the colors of Ai Fa’s and Yun Sudra’s hair were especially striking, similar to those of people from the north and east, making the two of them shine all the more brilliantly.

While Shilly Rou’s mind was occupied with such thoughts, Mida’s thick torso slanted into a bow. “I’m gonna go to sleep. But you can wake me up if you need me.”

“We’ll be going to sleep soon, so we shouldn’t have any issues. You get a good night’s sleep too, Mida,” Ai Fa said.

“Right...” Mida said, his chubby cheeks trembling, and then he disappeared through one of the doors in the back. After waiting for everyone to be seated atop their bedding, Ai Fa blew out the candle, and darkness surrounded them once more.

As she lay down atop the hard bedding, Shilly Rou sighed heavily while trying to make sure that nobody heard her. The smell from the candle made from animal fat still drifted through the air. As silence fell over the room, the sounds of wild birds and insects could be heard outside the window. After a moment, her eyes started to adjust, allowing her to faintly make out the interior of the room thanks to the light of the moon. Her head still felt clear, so she didn’t care to close her eyes just yet. As she sighed once again and wondered if she would be able to work tomorrow, she sensed Yumi squirming closer beside her.

“That sure was fun, wasn’t it? It was almost like we were having another revival festival.” She wasn’t speaking very loudly, but thanks to the surrounding silence, her voice came across clearly through the darkness.

“It was,” Telia Mas answered. “I was never able to visit the Daleim lands at night during the revival festival, so that made tonight even more enjoyable. When you work at an inn, the revival festival is an incredibly busy time of year.”

“Yeah, that’s for sure. I mean, I was able to fool around about as much as I worked, but you didn’t get to leave home for so much as an instant, did you?”

“That’s right. After work settled down, I was always so exhausted, I went straight to sleep.”

“You lazybones. Next year, we’ll have to be sure to get away for a bit and have some fun together. We’ve gotta have a chance to enjoy ourselves after we show our guests a good time, after all.” Shilly Rou then sensed Yumi squirming again. “Hey, what did you guys do in the evening on the day of the downfall? They must’ve had some really impressive banquets in the castle town, right?”

“Was that question directed at me?” Shilly Rou asked.

“Of course it was. You’re the only resident of the castle town here, and the rest of us spent that whole night partying in the Daleim lands.”

As she stared up at the ceiling that was shrouded in darkness, Shilly Rou let a third sigh escape her. “I had a job to do that day. I was summoned to the manor where the noble guests of Genos were staying so I could help prepare a banquet for them.”

“Oh? And after that?”

“I returned home and slept.”

“Oh yeah? After I turned ten, I started staying up until the new year arrived before I went to sleep. The people of the forest’s edge don’t celebrate the sun god, right?”

“That’s correct. We don’t have any such custom,” Yun Sudra replied from a short distance away. It was starting to seem like none of them had fallen asleep yet.

“Gotcha. Still, you guys have plenty of celebrations of your own. You celebrate the hunt, and your births too, don’t you?”

“We do. But small clans like ours aren’t able to put on excessively large banquets. Few clans at the forest’s edge have as many members and subordinates as the Ruu,” Yun Sudra said, sounding amused. “We’ll be holding a festival of the hunt with the other clans that live near us soon, though. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Ooh, that’s good to hear. Ai Fa, Toor Deen, will you be part of that too?”

“Yes. There will be six clans participating, including the Sudra, Fa, and Deen. It won’t be on the same scale as the Ruu clan’s events, but I am looking forward to it as well.”

“I see,” Yumi said with a chuckle. “Young women get proposed to a lot at those festivals, right? That must make them even more exciting.”

“Huh? Ah, yes... I’m surprised you know of such customs.”

“Well, at the party in the Daleim lands, I learned about how you see dancing as a sort of courtship. That’s why you guys didn’t want to dance at first, until we explained that that wasn’t how things worked in town.”

“Oh, I see.”

“You’re still too little, Toor Deen, but Ai Fa and Yun Sudra, you two can already get married, right? Think you’ll find a husband at the next banquet?”

After seeming to hesitate for some reason, Yun Sudra answered, “I’m not sure. I don’t think I’m skilled enough to become a wife yet, though. After all, I only just turned fifteen.”

“Men probably can’t keep themselves away from a girl as cute as you, Yun Sudra. You can worry about building up whatever skills you might need for married life after the ceremony.”

“I suppose...”

“What about you, Ai Fa? You’re so pretty that you probably have the pick of the litter, right?”

That question went unanswered for a long while. Shilly Rou was starting to wonder if she had already fallen asleep, when a voice firmly replied, “I have no intention of marrying. I am a hunter, after all.”

“Huh? Women hunters can’t get married? That’s pretty mean of your people, isn’t it?”

“It isn’t a custom, obviously. After all, there were no female hunters before me.”

“Oh, really? Then why hold back? You should just go ahead and get married.”

“I chose to perish out in the forest as a hunter rather than seeking a husband and leaving behind children.”

For some reason, Shilly Rou felt a stirring in her chest. She could sense one of the other women growing tense somewhere in the darkness. She normally couldn’t perceive such things, but her head was strangely clear at the moment, and it was as if a spirit or the like was silently whispering to her.

“Aw, that’s a shame. I thought for sure that you were gonna get together with Asuta,” Yumi said, seemingly picking up on none of that. “It’s so obvious just from looking at the two of you that you’ve got feelings for each other, and a woman hunter and a guy chef seem like a perfect match. You’re already living together too, so do you really not want to?”

“Only because I decided to live as a hunter... And I’ve already said as much to Asuta.”

“Oh? So what did Asuta say?”

“I cannot speak about his feelings when he himself is not present,” Ai Fa calmly stated.

“I see. That’s such a shame. If you and Asuta were to get married, I would come running over to celebrate with you in a heartbeat.”

The Fa clan head remained silent.

“What about you, Telia Mas? You’re the oldest one here, aren’t you?”

“H-Huh? Haven’t we been talking about this for long enough?”

“Eh? We’re all girls here. Isn’t this a pretty normal thing to get all fired up about at night?”

“I-Is it? I don’t sleep with anyone outside of my family very often, so I don’t really know much about that.”

Somehow, Shilly Rou sensed that the tension seemed to be loosening. And so, she stealthily wiped the sweat from her brow.

“So, what do you say? You’ve gotta have a guy out there you have feelings for, right?”

“Well, yes... B-But I can’t just get married at the drop of a hat.”

“Why not? Don’t tell me you’ve got some obnoxious thing going on in your life that you have to deal with too?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it obnoxious... But if I marry into another house instead of it being the other way around, the Mas name will die out.”

That was a whole new surprise. It didn’t seem like any of them would be getting to sleep at this rate.

“All the families related to the Mas have already died out, so only my father and I still carry our name. That means I have to bring a husband into my house if I’m going to get married.”

“Oh, I see. You’re from an independent settler bloodline. Still, I don’t quite get it. Do you really need to leave your name behind? You aren’t settlers anymore. You’re just ordinary citizens of the kingdom, right?”

“Yes. But I still feel uncomfortable about letting a name that has endured for hundreds of years die out with me. Of course, there’s no purpose in leaving it behind, but still...”

“Gotcha. Oh yeah, you’ve got a family name too, don’t you?” Yumi called out, turning her attention back to Shilly Rou as if it was only natural.

Still staring upward, Shilly Rou replied, “That’s right. It’s true that the names associated with the old blood families seem to be dwindling away. They don’t hold any sort of special meaning, so outsiders don’t place any value in them... But I can understand why you might feel like it would be a shame to let them die off.”

“Oh, really? Then you’ll be taking a husband too?”

“I’m in training, so I have no time to think about marrying... Besides, I have an older brother and sister to take care of that responsibility.”

“Ooh, so you really are the youngest in your family, eh? I had a feeling you might be, since you seem a bit pampered.”

“Wh-Who are you calling pampered?! That is an extremely rude thing to say!”

“Oh yeah? But when you were talking to Sheera Ruu earlier, you seemed like a kid getting spoiled by her big sister.”

Shilly Rou’s cheeks went red in the darkness.

Perhaps sensing that, Telia Mas spoke up once more. “You’ve been asking all the questions, Yumi, but is there any man you have feelings for?”

“Who, me? I’ve been thinking a guy from the forest’s edge might be good.”

“Huh?!” several voices called out in sync.

“A-A person of the forest’s edge?! That’s who you want to get married to, Yumi?!”

“D-Do you have someone particular in mind?”

“Nah, nobody specific, but there’re so many handsome hunters of the forest’s edge to choose from, aren’t there?” Yumi said with a giggle. “But Shin and Ludo Ruu are younger than me, and Ludo Ruu’s older brother is a scary guy. It’s hard to decide which one would be best.”

“I-I see... But I can’t imagine a hunter of the forest’s edge ever marrying into a townswoman’s house, so that would mean you’d need to marry into the forest’s edge, right?” Yun Sudra asked. She must have been at least as surprised as Shilly Rou, if not more so.

However, Yumi remained completely nonchalant. “That’s all the more reason to do it. The lifestyle here at the forest’s edge seems really fun, and I could still come over to the post town every day if I helped out with work at the stalls... Wait, I’m not making you all angry by being so laid-back about it, am I?”

“I-I’m not angry or anything... But a person of the forest’s edge has never married an outsider before...”

“It’s not a taboo or anything, though, right? After all, you did welcome Asuta into one of your clans. And none of this is even that serious. I’m not thinking about trying it anytime soon... I mean, I haven’t even found a partner yet!” Yumi laughed, but then she adjusted her tone a bit before continuing. “Still, it’s something that I’ve been thinking about lately, especially now that I’ve been invited to the forest’s edge. Just a little while ago, I never would have considered marrying someone from the forest’s edge, even as a joke... B-Besides, I’ve got a friend who’s actually fallen for a hunter of the forest’s edge, and even though Asuta warned us against it, it still felt like a wonderful idea to me. I mean, you’re all so serious and honest.”

“Huh...”

“So, well, I guess it’s more like I’ve fallen for the people of the forest’s edge in general. I’m just a silly little girl right now, though, so I’m sure no man of the forest’s edge would even have me! But if I meet someone I can love with all of my heart instead of having all these silly feelings about them, I’d like to really give it my all.”

“I see...” Yun Sudra muttered in a quiet tone. “It’s difficult for me to truly understand the feelings of a townsperson like you... But I do think it would be wonderful if someone from town married into the forest’s edge.”

“Oh yeah? Hearing you say that makes me feel a lot better about this.” Yumi was getting all worked up, though she also sounded embarrassed. “Oh, but let me just say, I’m not after Asuta or anything, Ai Fa!”

“Hmm?”

“I’d be happy if I could become someone more like him, but that doesn’t mean I’m interested in marrying the guy. I just want to make sure there’re no misunderstandings between us about this.”

“I see,” Ai Fa calmly replied.

Shilly Rou ducked her head, as it seemed like things were going to get tense again, but Ai Fa’s voice remained gentle, though Shilly Rou sensed something different in it now.

“I feel similarly to Yun Sudra. If nothing else, I never expected to hear a townsperson such as yourself say you admired us people of the forest’s edge. As we do wish to form proper ties with all of you, those words are incredibly precious.”

“Ah, really? I’d imagine there are a lot of folks who would feel that way if they got as close to you as I have,” Yumi remarked with another chuckle. “Well, I guess it’s about time to get to sleep. You’re getting up early tomorrow, right?”

“Was that question just now directed at me...?” Shilly Rou had to ask again.

“Seriously, that should go without saying. Your eyes are open, so why have you just been staring upward this whole time?”

Yumi’s figure suddenly appeared in Shilly Rou’s field of vision, and she was seriously thrown by the sight of the other girl’s face with hair hanging down all around it, just as long as that of a woman of the forest’s edge.

“You haven’t smiled even once. Did you not enjoy the banquet?”

“As I’ve told you, I didn’t come here to have fun.”

“Then, do you regret coming with us?”

As she stared up at Yumi’s face, illuminated by the moonlight, Shilly Rou pondered the question. From start to finish, it had been a truly miserable day. She was utterly exhausted, so going to work tomorrow was sure to be a major ordeal. Just imagining it was enough to make her feel a little depressed. But now that she was being asked if she regretted coming to such a place...her answer seemed to be no.

“I don’t especially regret it...”

“I see. That’s good.” Yumi smiled in the darkness. “I don’t expect you to think of me as a friend after just one day, but would you like to have some fun again sometime?”

“I don’t have that kind of time to spare.”

“Hey! In this situation, you should at least say ‘if the opportunity arises’ to be polite if nothing else! That helps smooth things over, you know.”

Shilly Rou sighed for the umpteenth time. “Well then, if the opportunity arises...”

Yumi was taken aback for a moment, but then she broke out in a joyful smile. After staring up at her for a bit, Shilly Rou closed her eyes.

Genos really does have all sorts of different people living here. Roughly two hundred years had passed since Count Genos’s forces took over this land that had been cleared by the independent settlers... Folks from other towns had moved here, and eventually the people of the forest’s edge had as well, which had led to Genos developing into the place it was today.

With her pale skin, Yumi was surely the descendant of people who had come here from elsewhere. The large number of such people moving here was a big part of what had allowed Genos to become so prosperous.

If Genos had not flourished, the stone highways passing through it wouldn’t have been built. And without those, they wouldn’t have nearly as many merchants visiting. Only folks from Sym would travel unpaved paths in order to do business in other lands.

Because so many different people lived outside the stone walls and contributed to the town, the people of the castle town were able to enjoy extravagant meals. That much was plainly obvious, but this was the first time such an idea had ever occurred to Shilly Rou.

It may not improve the quality of the food I prepare, but... Perhaps this was why Roy had wanted to brave the dangers outside the stone walls in order to check in on the people of the forest’s edge. Shilly Rou felt that she could understand the meaning behind his actions a little bit better now.

If all you knew was the castle town, you could only bring joy to the people living there. Shilly Rou’s cooking had been highly praised, but that was only because Roy had understood the tastes of the people of the forest’s edge. She had simply followed his advice, and picked out dishes from her repertoire that seemed fitting.

If she was only ever going to deal with residents of the castle town, that would have been just fine. But people from all over the continent gathered here in Genos. Varkas often served guests from far off lands, and Shilly Rou yearned terribly to keep up with her master in that regard as well.

And then you had the people of the forest’s edge. With Asuta leading the way, they had been acknowledged by the nobles as outstanding chefs, despite knowing almost nothing about the castle town. Furthermore, they had proved to be extremely successful in the post town as well, even with such an incredibly diverse mixture of people constantly passing through it.

If people were raised in completely different circumstances, their standards for what food was delicious would naturally be different as well. Someone raised in Sym would have tastes influenced by the cuisine of Sym, and the same was true of Jagar.

Shilly Rou had only ever seen the castle town, so when she had to prepare recipes from Sym or Jagar, she did precisely as she was instructed. But if she kept cooking that way, could she truly satisfy any and all customers who came to her as the people of the forest’s edge did? Did she even have the skills necessary to please people hailing from the myriad other towns within the western kingdom, whose cultures were not nearly as distinct as Sym’s and Jagar’s were from Selva’s? The thought made her feel truly uneasy.

Had Tatumai and Bozl understood such things from the beginning, since they hadn’t been born in Genos? Was Varkas’s genius the reason he could make anyone happy using his knowledge and technique alone, despite being a pure-blooded citizen of Genos?

Shilly Rou hadn’t reached either of those states yet. Sheera Ruu had greatly praised her cooking, but that was all thanks to Roy. That warm, gentle smile should have been directed at him instead. If she had cooked as she normally would, she likely would have disappointed the people of the forest’s edge just as Timalo had. Sheera Ruu might not have seen so much in her. And that thought made Shilly Rou’s heart ache. Her own lack of experience filled her with frustration.

Then...what would Yumi or Telia Mas think if they ate my cooking?

Feeling so helpless that it almost made her start to cry, Shilly Rou finally gave in to the urge to sleep with that final thought floating through her mind.