Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2: Price and Determination

1

“Ah, I can see the place where I wash stuff. It finally feels like we’ve made it back home, now,” I muttered while breathing heavily. With that, Ai Fa turned towards me despite having been silent the whole way back.

“What’s with that voice of yours? You have the endurance of a ten year old child, Asuta.”

“Ooh, at least I don’t fall below Rimee Ruu... And hey, you finally said something to me, Ai Fa!”

Ai Fa immediately gave a “Hmph,” and turned back around, picking up the pace.

“Ah, hold up! At least let me drink some water! My throat’s been parched for a while now!”

I mean, I had walked for nearly an hour through the mountains carrying over 16 kilos of luggage. It felt like the skin had worn away on my shoulder where the vine met it, and my legs and back were trembling. I may have been even more exhausted than back when we built the stoves.

By the way, as for the rope bridge of terror, Ai Fa not only took two trips in order to carry my portion too, she also led me across by hand. Well, I’m sure it was due to not wanting her panicked clan member to suddenly hug her from behind again, but at any rate, it was super embarrassing and I didn’t want Rimee Ruu or anyone to find out.

Anyway, I was granted my chance to rehydrate.

“You really are pathetic...” Ai Fa said, her words stabbing at my heart as I gathered up the water trickling from the rocks and drank it.

Ah, it was like sweet nectar.

And having talked to me for the first time in a while already, Ai Fa shifted her tone a little and then continued on, “...You haven’t asked me anything, Asuta.”

“Hmm? You mean about what that old-timer was saying before? Well, there’s all sorts of stuff that I’d love to ask, but I always talk to you about this world at nighttime.”

While placing my hands on my knees and getting my breathing back in order, I looked up at Ai Fa’s face.

“You’ve been using your own judgment to decide what order to tell me stuff, right? And I don’t want to nitpick your choices. I mean, this world is still overflowing with stuff I know nothing about.”

Ai Fa didn’t say a word.

“But if you’re in a better mood now, then there is one thing I’d like to chat about... What did you think of that guy?” I asked, looking down at my own feet as I did so. The bag full of poitan and tino was sitting there, as well as a container of fruit wine.

Ai Fa left without it, but I figured the fruit wine didn’t do anything wrong, so I carried it along with me. Plus the design was a bit different, so I couldn’t help but be curious about what type of wine was inside.

“He was an unbelievably fishy old-timer, but I didn’t think he was a real villain or anything. I was just a bit curious as to how you felt about a guy like him.”

“...I have nothing to say.”

“Wait, are we getting moving again already? Hey, hold on a second!”

I had no other option here, so I slung the bag back over my shoulder and took off after Ai Fa, huffing and puffing all the while.

Even though she was carrying more than me, Ai Fa was walking along totally smoothly.

“If you don’t want to talk then I won’t try to force it out of you, but you seemed pretty on edge back there. Are you bad at dealing with guys like that?”

“...I have no words for anyone from the city of stone.”

“You talked a good bit, though... And wait, aren’t I even more of an outsider than that old-timer? If you try talking to someone, you may find you get along with them better than you expected, you know.”

“...Are you saying we get along?”

“Ahaha! I sort of expected as such, but your mood still hasn’t recovered at all! I’ve been prodding at an open wound all this time!”

“That’s not what I meant to say...”

With that, Ai Fa’s gaze become a bit darker again.

“What’s so strange about me right now?”

“Strange, huh...? It’s just, it seemed like you were thinking about something seriously, I guess? You’ve had a real grave look on your face all the way back from the post town.”

“I don’t know. I think that may have been the first time I’ve talked with a resident of the capital like that, so I’m all mixed up.”

She looked at me with a dark gloom in her eyes, like a lost child.

“What’s so strange about me?”

“No, you’re not strange...” I said. “It’s only natural to feel mixed up after having that sort of a conversation, so you’re not strange at all. I only understood about half of what was being said, but I’m sure it’ll have a big effect on your future... On the future of the whole forest’s edge, right?”

Ai Fa didn’t respond.

“I think I said it already a while back, but that sort of heavy responsibility isn’t yours to bear. If it’s beyond your control, then you should just forget about it.”

Did I go a bit too far, there? But that was half of how I really felt, though.

If what that Kamyua Yoshu guy had said was the truth, then it was possible the Suun clan could lose power while the Ruu clan took charge of the forest’s edge, bringing everything to a peaceful conclusion. But it was also possible it wouldn’t go that way, too.

We still weren’t even all that thoroughly aware of what sort of man Donda Ruu was. If that wild man took over in place of the Suun clan and started acting like even more of a tyrant than they did, I would feel really bad for Rimee Ruu and Granny Jiba, too.

And besides, I couldn’t discard the possibility that he had been feeding us nothing but nonsense, either. He knew a bit about the state of affairs at the forest’s edge, but it was also possible he was just teasing us on a whim, so I probably shouldn’t go believing him so lightly.

That was only half of how I felt, though. The other half of me wanted to believe what Kamyua Yoshu had said. I wanted to tear away the right to lead the forest’s edge from the Suun clan. If that happened, there’d be no need to worry about Diga Suun’s sneaky, cowardly actions, and besides, we’d ended up with even more bad blood with the Suun clan after today.

That man who called himself Doddo Suun... It would be a close match as to whether he or Diga Suun was more of a petty jerk, but guys who knew so little shame were actually kind of scary. He was drinking in the middle of the day, and then caused a commotion in the post town. I honestly never would have imagined that someone so vulgar existed at the forest’s edge.

Those guys had no right to lead the people of the forest’s edge... At the very least, I was certain of that much.

Darmu Ruu from the Ruu clan is definitely trouble too, but nowhere near as much as that guy. And if Darmu Ruu’s a wolf, then that guy’s just a stray dog... Actually, I guess that’s pretty rude to stray dogs.

I mean, he was undoubtedly a human being. One who had been afflicted by the poison known as culture, at that.

“...You’ve been keeping rather silent, haven’t you?” a woman’s voice suddenly asked. Naturally, it had come from Ai Fa. “You told me not to forget my surroundings, but then you became lost in thought yourself, Asuta.”

Every now and again, Ai Fa would make a face that made her look younger than she really was. And every time that happened, I couldn’t help but be shaken... So right now, I was seriously thrown off guard.

“No, I wasn’t thinking about anything all that difficult. I was just wondering if animals known as dogs existed in this world.”

“Dogs? Are you talking about how varb wolves came down to human settlements, and their children got along with man? That’s nothing but a legend of the western kingdom, and could be true or an utter fabrication,” Ai Fa said with a frown. “If you want to eat those dogs or whatever, then go to the city of stone. I don’t know anything about them,” she continued on, looking to the side in a huff. A real, good and proper huff. I felt all jumbled up inside, no longer able to tell if I was more annoyed or just finding her adorable.

“Alright, alright already! Let’s switch to a more enjoyable topic, then! Listen, now that the showdown with Donda Ruu is over, I was thinking of tackling a new dish. I mean, my jaw feels like it’s going to fall off after so many nights of doing nothing but testing out steaks.”

Ai Fa stayed facing away from me, but she glanced over at me out of the corner of her eye.

“...Will it be tastier than hamburgers?”

“I won’t know until I try making it. And hey wait, wasn’t the steak good too?”

“That’s true, but... I really do love hamburgers best.”

“Huh?! Didn’t you say the steak was equally tasty? That’s why I decided it was ready for taking on Donda Ruu, you know!”

“They’re equally tasty... But I love hamburgers more.”

I was prepared to start arguing with her, but I was so caught off guard that I forgot what I was going to say. I mean, I think this was probably the first time I had ever heard Ai Fa say the word “love.” At first she said, “When it comes to food, there is no good or bad taste,” but now she had not only said something was “tasty,” but that she “loves” it, too.

It was such a drastic change that I was frankly left feeling astonished.

“You said your teeth could grow weak if you eat nothing but soft meat, but I chew dried meat too, so there should be no worry, right?” Ai Fa asked, looking down a bit with her head tilted to the side. It was seriously unfair the way that she was pouting and shooting me upturned eyes from the side, too.

It was made all the worse by the fact that she totally wasn’t doing it intentionally, either.

“In that case, I really do love hamburgers.”

“I-I get it. Then we’ll go with hamburgers tomorrow. Just let me take on this new dish for tonight.”

Ai Fa looked down even further, and appeared to be holding back a smile. All I could think was thank god my hands were both occupied with luggage.

Well, we had only just finished that showdown with Donda Ruu. We may have something new to worry about, but there was still nothing wrong with taking it easy for today, at least. We’d recharge our spirits thoroughly, and then we could worry about the thing with Kamyua Yoshu tomorrow.

As that thought passed through my head, we finally reached the front of our house, only to find a new cause for concern waiting for us there, in the form of a man and woman who really suited one another.

It was Gazraan Rutim and Ama Min, who were set to be married in six days.