Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: The Preparations of a Half-baked Chef

1

The following morning, Ama Min came to the Fa house on her own. She showed up about when I was done washing and taking care of my knife, and was about to check in on the pantry. The timing reminded me of when Rimee Ruu came to visit.

“I was thinking of accepting the offer we discussed yesterday, assuming I can confirm a few things first,” I started off.

We were seated in the same positions as yesterday.

“Confirm...” Ama Min quietly repeated. “Just what is it that you would like to confirm?”

“Right. There are too many vague points right now, so I’d like to start by asking about them. We also need to talk about the nature and volume of the cooking too, right? I mean, cooking for 100 people is an awful big job.” I looked over at Ai Fa, then went ahead and threw out what I had thought about last night in order. “First off, you said you were fine with the cooking I’ve made up until now, but I can’t wipe away my concern that that may not be enough to satisfy so many people. There are only five days left until the banquet, today included, but I’d still like to try to improve on whatever I can.”

“Right.”

“And so, if you’re going to be buying my skill, then I’d like you to think of it as being not just for one night, but for all five days up until the banquet.”

“Right... So what specifically would you like us to do, then?”

“Specifically, huh? I’d like you to offer me a place and ingredients to experiment with. With as many stoves, ingredients, and firewood as possible. And plenty of folks to sample the final results... Ah, you’re not expecting me to do all the cooking on the night of the banquet by myself, right?”

“That’s correct. As is customary, over ten women shall be assisting with the preparations.”

“That’s a load off my mind. In that case, I’d like to have them do the taste testing. And I’d also like them to assist with these five days of experimentation and also learn as much of my cooking techniques as they can, but only so much so that it doesn’t interfere with their other work.”

“Right. That should be possible, and I understand that it will be necessary.”

“Thank you. And then there’s the giba meat. I’ll need enough for these five days, as well as the banquet, of course. I’d have trouble preparing it all on my own, so I would like to have the Rutim men help out. And besides, if the Rutim clan wants to eat delicious meat from here on out, there’s a certain skill they’ll need to pick up anyway.”

“Yes. That is something we would have wanted to request of you, regardless,” Ama Min replied with a rather joyful-looking smile.

Glad to see that, I gave a nod.

“Then does this all sound acceptable? The ingredients for these five days and the banquet... If you provide those as well as an appropriate price for my services, that would be fine by me.”

“Yes, of course. What we want are your techniques and knowledge. We had already intended to prepare the necessary ingredients for that from the very start.”

It was surely a sign of the girl’s sincerity that she began with “Of course,” just there.

And then, Ama Min sat up perfectly straight and looked directly at me.

“So what price will you sell your strength for, Asuta of the Fa clan?”

“Right... I was thinking I’d like to go with 20 giba worth of horns and tusks.”

In that instant, Ama Min’s previously bright cheery expression grew cloudy for the first time.

“20 giba worth means 80 horns and tusks, yes? We most certainly aren’t qualified to place a price on your strength, but... That feels a little insufficient as a fee. As we said yesterday, we will be receiving a blessing from each person at the wedding, so if we gather those up...”

“I couldn’t accept 200 horns and tusks. I mean, I’m clearly just a half-baked chef in training,” I responded, scratching my head. “To be honest, I worried about it quite a bit. I mean, even if I asked someone what the appropriate price for this sort of job would be, nobody would know.”

“That’s true. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone at the forest’s edge manning the stove for the wedding of someone they’re not related to by blood,” Ama Min said with a smile.

It seemed she really wasn’t just all neat and relaxed. I revised my impression of her to make note of that graceful toughness she had about her, too.

“To be honest, there’s something I kind of want to buy in the post town right now. That would cost 20 giba’s worth of horns and tusks, so I just went ahead and set the price at that... But still, that sounds like plenty enough of a reward to me. I definitely won’t try to cut corners or anything,” I said while looking straight back into Ama Min’s eyes, which were still fixed firmly on me. “I swear to you that for this price, I’ll offer up every ounce of strength I have to that banquet. So, do you want to pay it to buy my skills?”

“It’s precisely because you’re that sort of person that we wanted so badly to obtain your aid,” Ama Min said with a gentle smile. Her smile was just so full of kindness that I couldn’t help but doubt if she really was the same age as Ai Fa, Reina Ruu, and me.

“Well then, for the price of 20 giba’s worth of horns and tusks, we will—”

“Ah, hold on a second! There’s just one more thing I wanted to confirm!”

As I said that, I stole a glance over at Ai Fa, who was seated by my side. She was seated silently with one knee up in the air, and a real solemn look on her face.

“I man the stove for the Fa clan. As such, I don’t want to neglect that work, either. And so... For the next five days, I would like to participate in the dinners that will also serve as taste tests along with Ai Fa. I won’t impose so much as to ask that you let us stay over, too, but could I at least ask that you prepare a space for me and the head of my clan at dinner?”

“I see. That makes perfect sense...” Ama Min said, then put a finger to her cheek and tilted her head a bit while going, “Hmm...” as she thought.

Ah, I noticed that her looks and personality had this cute disconnect between them that was causing some strange feelings in me... Naturally, I maintained a perfectly serious expression, though.

“I... don’t think there should be a problem. I mean, considering the relationship between the Ruu and Rutim...”

“Huh? What does the Ruu clan have to do with this?”

“The wedding banquet will take place in the central plaza between the Ruu homes.”

Gah.

“And on the day of the banquet, it will be the task of the Ruu women to man the stoves.”

Gaaaah.

“Rather, I should say that the Rutim and Min will be busy with other preparations and won’t be able to help man the stove. You said you wanted to start experimenting with your cooking starting today, yes? I intended to ask if the Ruu women would help you, and if you could be loaned the stoves of the main Ruu house.”

Agaaaaah.

“B-But you all are under the Ruu clan, right? Is it really alright to be asking them for stuff like that?”

“It’s precisely because we’re under them that it makes sense. It’s a parent’s job to look after their children, is it not?”

Well, that may be so, but still... I was really hoping to handle this work in a place I had as few ties to as possible.

“And so, you’ll need the consent of the Ruu clan head Donda Ruu in order to dine with them, but since the Fa clan has ties with them to start with, I’m sure it will be fine.”

Well, we do have ties I guess, but it may just be in a bad way...

And man, this sure was an awkward development here, considering I just said all that stuff about the importance of home cooking...

“I mean, yes, isn’t this an amazing opportunity, to be involved in the preparation of such wonderful cooking? I’m actually jealous of the Ruu women. I’m sure that a great many people will come visit the Ruu clan later on to learn the ways of their cooking.”

I see. Thinking of it like that, maybe it’d be good for Granny Jiba and Rimee Ruu. I mean, Reina Ruu was a really quick learner, and Granny Tito Min and Mia Lea Ruu didn’t fall short at all either. I’m sure they would all do a great job of picking up cooking techniques over these next five days.

And besides, this way I would have a chance to teach the Ruu clan bloodletting and proper dissecting directly. In a way, this was the best possible situation I could hope for, right?

But what about Donda Ruu, Jiza Ruu, and Darmu Ruu? Eating dinner with those oppressive faces staring at me for five days in a row... The thought alone was enough to make me feel all gloomy.

Ah, how fun last night’s shabu-shabu was!

Still, this is part of my job...

Plus, thinking in terms of efficiency, it would be just plain stupid to directly teach the women of the Ruu clan who would be helping to man the stove, and then head back to the Fa house at night to experiment. And so for the sake of my work, I should go ahead and directly tackle dining at the Ruu house. Besides, it’d be the women’s task to handle everything but the test dishes... Ah, was that a sign that I was still being a bit of a coward, that I was thinking like that?

Yeah, that’s right. I want to make a menu that’ll satisfy as many people as possible, so when it comes to testing stuff out, someone as stubborn and unaccommodating as Donda Ruu is perfect. Plus, Jiza Ruu is so straight-laced, and Darmu Ruu has a bad impression of me... I’m going to really need to go at it in order to satisfy that group.

“Um... Is something the matter, Asuta?” Ama Min asked, leaning forward with a worried look about her.

“I’m fine. Well then, you’ll still ultimately need to get the Ruu clan’s consent, but... do you want to buy my skills under those conditions? For the price of 20 giba worth of horns and tusks, that is.”

“Yes, we would like to buy your aid, Asuta of the Fa clan,” Ama Min said with a bright smile, bringing our negotiations to a close.