Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.2

2

With that, my work began.

The first task was giving a lecture on bloodletting, explaining how it was done to the men of the Ruu and Rutim clans.

The men would head off into the forest by the time the sun hit its zenith, so I had to take care of that first, before I started experimenting with my cooking.

It was as if God was telling me, “It’s going to be a rough task, so why not get the hard stuff out of the way so it’ll be easier later on?”

If the day ever came when I was invited into heaven, I’d love to slug God one in the face. As for why, I found myself suddenly dealing not just with Gazraan Rutim (who brought this matter to me) and the men of his clan, but also those of the Ruu clan, too. Geez, it was enough to make my stomach ache.

“Hey, Asuta. Looks like everyone’s gathered now, right?” Ludo Ruu, the one soothing presence in the group, nonchalantly called out.

The group standing before me now was made up of over 20 rugged hunters of the forest’s edge, including 17 of those Ruu men I saw a few days prior. They were standing in the plaza outside of the Ruu homes, giving off a real animalistic stench. There were young and old men mixed into the group, but they all seemed like robust, brawny hunters.

And since they were just about to head out into the forest, there was some serious bloodlust coming off all of them.

“...I’d like to start with introductions.”

With that, Gazraan Rutim stepped up beside me.

“I’m the eldest son of the main Rutim house, Gazraan Rutim. You should have already heard the details, but I have gathered you all here for the sake of helping with the preparations for my wedding to Ama Min in five days. I would like to begin by offering my gratitude to the head of the Ruu main house, Donda Ruu, and his family for graciously accepting this request from the Rutim.”

Donda Ruu was off to the right edge of the group, motionless with his arms crossed. Honestly, I was really shocked that he went and gave his permission for all this. Was it down to the fact that a “parent” couldn’t so easily deny a request from his “child”?

“I have asked Asuta of the Fa clan here to man the stove for the wedding. As the Fa clan has no ties to the Rutim, we will be paying Asuta in order to buy his aid for that night. As for why I am doing such a thing despite it going against the customs of the forest’s edge, it isn’t something that would be so easily explained, so I won’t prattle on about that matter. Just let me state that I have made up my mind on the matter, as the eldest son of the main Rutim house.”

The men didn’t make so much as a peep, so I couldn’t tell whether or not they were disgruntled about this. In fact, all I could see was a calm shine in their eyes, like those fierce animals about to be unleashed.

Apparently Donda Ruu’s younger brother and his children were part of the group. Plus his uncle (his father’s younger brother) and his family were supposedly here, too. That thought had me a little worried, but looking at it another way, they were all descended from Granny Jiba and were Rimee Ruu’s relatives, too.

“Now then, as for the preparations for the banquet... The giba meat that Asuta will be presenting for the meal will use techniques from his home country, requiring special preparation. That has to be performed before the giba’s life is completely severed, and Asuta will now explain it.”

It was finally my turn, so I gave a single nod and then stepped forward.

“I’m Asuta of the Fa clan. Thank you for assisting with this request. To jump right into the explanation, what I’d like you all to perform is something called ‘bloodletting.’ It involves capturing a giba and then draining it of its blood before finishing it off. To be honest, that’s all it is. The spot you’re looking for is between the chest and the neck, a bit closer to the chest. There’s a thick vein above the heart, so you cut that with a blade and then have the blood flow out through there. If you do it right, you’ll know because a whole lot of blood will come spurting out. Please take care not to cut the heart or the throat and kill the giba immediately.”

They remained silent and motionless.

“Um... The crucial point is making sure that you don’t kill it. Even if you shatter its skull, its body will still live on for a while. And as long as you sever a thick vein near the heart while it’s still pumping, the blood will drain out quickly.”

“Hey, I’ve got a question!” Ludo Ruu said, raising his hand.

Feeling a good bit calmer through his interruption, I asked, “What is it?”

“So it’s no good to slit the giba’s throat? That’s how I always finish them off, and a lot of blood always comes pouring out.”

“You’ll end up killing it before the blood all flows out pretty often that way. If you’re lucky you’ll sever the carotid artery without ruining its ability to breath, but otherwise there will still be blood left lingering in the capillary vessels.”

“I don’t really get what you’re saying. In other words, it’s no good, huh? Hmm... If the throat and the heart are out, then it’d be pretty hard to take one down.”

“That’s true. Still, please be sure not to push yourselves too hard. We can manage for the banquet with just a few of the beasts, and anyway, it would be foolish to lose your life for the sake of preparing meat.”

“You’re the only one who would risk his life over something like that, Asuta. And hey, why are you talking to me like that? It’s gross. Do you want me to kick you?”

“Please don’t... Then you just need to bring the giba back and there will be some extra processing after the pelt is peeled, but I’ll explain that later. Well then, that’s all from me.”

None of the men other than Ludo Ruu said anything, and most of them just turned their backs to me. They didn’t say goodbye or anything, or even raise a battle cry like they did five days prior.

With Donda Ruu and Jiza Ruu at their head, the 17 men of the Ruu clan silently left the plaza.

“See you around. I’ll be waiting for a delicious meal from you, Asuta,” Ludo Ruu said before leaving too, a beastly flame burning in his eyes. He was a rather cute little kid, but in an instant, his face shifted to that of a full-fledged hunter. Whenever I saw that it caused a chill to run through me, and it strangely tugged at my heartstrings.

“Thank you. That was a very easy to understand explanation,” Gazraan Rutim said with a smile.

There were only five men left here, him included, all of them belonging to the Rutim clan. The Rutim settlement was a bit far away, so apparently they had sent an elite group to hear my explanation of the process in person.

“Um, it’s probably not my place to be concerned about it, but will things be alright with the Ruu clan? This won’t sour the relationship between your clans, will it?”

“Sour? I don’t quite understand. As a member of the Rutim, I asked the Ruu for their assistance. The clan head Donda Ruu gave his consent, and the men are abiding by that. There shouldn’t be any problems there.”

“Right. But you don’t know what each person is feeling inside, right?”

“Personal feelings are ultimately just personal matters. They have nothing to do with the clan’s intentions. It’s the job of members of the clan to abide by their clan head’s decisions. I’m sure they’ll properly carry out their task. The Ruu clan is powerful, so I have no worries about that.”

“I see...”

“More importantly, there’s something I want to discuss with you, Asuta,” Gazraan Rutim said, his always earnest looking face taking on an even more earnest expression. “Today, I heard from Ludo Ruu how the Ruu and Fa clans were related for the first time. You were invited to the Ruu house to save Jiba Ruu, who was eating less and less. And then, you did a splendid job of saving her soul... Is that the truth?”

“Yeah, well, at the very least, she seemed to enjoy my cooking.”

“I see. It’s true that Jiba Ruu seemed a good bit more energetic than I had heard on that night... Thank you, Asuta. Please allow me to offer my gratitude for that matter, too.”

“Huh? But why?”

“Did you not know? The Rutim and Ruu formed a bond by Jiba Ruu’s daughter marrying into our clan. We have the strongest ties with them of all six clans under the Ruu.”

Is that so? Hey wait, did that mean as the heir to the main house, Gazraan Rutim was Granny Jiba’s great-grandson?

“Yes, my father Dan Rutim is the son of Jiba Ruu’s daughter. Jiba Ruu’s blood runs just as thickly through my veins as those of Jiza and Ludo Ruu.”

“Oh, I see...”

Bringing personal feelings into work was off-limits. But still, since this young man had inherited Granny Jiba’s blood, I really did want to bless his wedding from the depths of my heart.

“I said we had no debts or bonds between us, but it seems that I owe you a debt after all. I really am truly grateful that I’ve had the chance to be involved with you in this manner.”

As he said that, Gazraan Rutim started fishing around inside of his cloak. Then, he held out an even bigger necklace of tusks and horns in front of me than last night.

“Asuta, please accept this. It’s 10 giba worth of horns and tusks, half of your payment. I’ll give you the other half after the banquet.”

“No, you can just give me the whole payment once I’m done with the job. I mean, I may be... Yeah, it’s possible I could end up getting burned to death in the middle of the cooking.”

I couldn’t tell him that I could get yanked back to my old world at any moment, so I made a joke of it instead, but the same serious look remained fixed on Gazraan Rutim’s face.

“You say that, but I could lose my life in the forest at any time, too. Therefore, I’m giving this to you now. It’s proof of my trust in you, now that you have accepted my request. Please, accept it.”

I regretted joking around, now. I couldn’t tell him the truth thanks to my own circumstances, and I took a joking attitude to hide it. That was no sort of way to treat this serious young man at least, though.

“Alright, I’ll accept it. I’ll strive to live up to that trust you’ve shown me.”

Gazraan Rutim gave a wide grin and handed me the necklace.

Even if it had 40 giba horns and tusks on it, it didn’t really weigh all that much... but as it jangled in my hand, it felt a whole lot heavier than it really was.