Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 5.4

4

Ai Fa...

Her long golden hair flowed down her back all the way to her hips. Atop it was an iridescent veil, and there were small flowers and berries in it here and there throughout.

She had accessories made from berries and metalwork around her neck, arms, and ankles, as well as a thin, slightly purple cloth trailing from her hips.

It was the same sort of banquet outfit the other women were wearing. Yes, it was the same... But none were as beautiful as Ai Fa. Or at the very least, it looked that way to me.

And unlike the other women, she held a blade in a leather sheath in her hand and had the daring expression of a hunter on her face.

“Ai Fa... It’s been a while, hasn’t it...?” Diga Suun said, turning her way while gesturing to halt his younger brother with the drawn blade. “Why, you’re dressed like a woman... Have you finally made up your mind to get married...?”

There was an unpleasant glint in Diga Suun’s sluggish eyes, and a disgusting, vulgar smile crossed his slack face. He looked like he was about to lick his lips, and it made me so mad I was ready to go leaping forward without even thinking about the danger.

Don’t... Don’t you look at Ai Fa with those eyes like muddy water!

Did this man intend to not just trample upon my work, but also the person most precious to me?

However, unlike me, the one faced with that repulsive gaze remained perfectly calm.

“Hmph. It would ruin the atmosphere of this party for an unmarried woman to not be dressed in banquet attire, so I figured there was no helping it and put on such an insubstantial outfit. I believe I taught you full well that I need no husband when you experienced the cold depths of the river bottom two years ago, eldest son of the main Suun house.”

“You...!”

“Hurry and sheathe your blade! You have come to this banquet uninvited, mislead others, and caused harm to our people. Is that how the leading clan should behave?! If you say you lead our people, then you should serve as an example for us!”

Diga and Doddo Suun stared at Ai Fa, rage burning in their eyes.

It was then that the fleshy blimp of a youngest brother, who was looking off elsewhere, abruptly stated, “Hey... Something smells really good... And I’m real hungry...”

His voice was small and high-pitched, like that of a young child. Normally you would figure your voice became deeper the bigger you were, but if you got too fat, did it put pressure on your windpipe?

He really was like a symbol of the depths of the Suun clan’s depravity.

“Shut up! Be quiet, you half-wit!” his older brother angrily rebuked, causing a disappointed look to cross his face as he stopped talking.

I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to butt in.

“If you intend to keep on insisting that you really are here to celebrate the wedding, then first sheath your blades, and clean up that giba. If the Rutim clan head decides to forgive you, then I’ll cook up some—”

“Who’d forgive those bastards?!” a voice other than the Suun men yelled out in response.

I could feel a bundle of bloodlust approaching from behind me. When I turned around to look, I found Dan Rutim and Donda Ruu.

Dan Rutim was still holding large spare ribs in each of his hands, but there were thick veins bulging across his bald head.

Donda Ruu had a container of fruit wine dangling from his hand and a grin like that of a wild beast on his face.

And both of their eyes had raging flames burning in them. These two clan heads were more furious than anyone else.

“You brats... How dare you sully my son’s wedding?!”

Putting aside Donda Ruu, I had never seen the head of the Rutim clan anywhere near this furious. His eyes were open so wide it looked like they were about to burst, his thick eyebrows were raised high, and the plentiful fat on his cheeks was trembling.

His thick lips were turned upwards exposing his sturdy-looking white teeth, and there were thick veins pulsing across his temple, too.

Compared to this, the anger he once pointed my way was like how you would react to a puppy piddling on the floor. He really did look like a furious genie.

I questioned if anyone could keep their wits about them when faced with such rage, and when I turned to look...

Diga Suun was frozen in place and had gone completely pale.

Doddo Suun, meanwhile, was holding onto his blade with trembling fingers.

As for Mida Suun, he was just standing there, looking like he didn’t know what was going on.

“Who would want to celebrate a wedding with scum like you?! And who would let you filth eat such delicious food?!”

As he roared, Dan Rutim bit into the spare ribs he was holding, then threw the remaining white bones to the ground by his feet.

Donda Ruu stepped straight forward, too.

“Suun clan brats... Do you really think punks like you are any match for us?! If you want to pick a fight with the Ruu and Rutim, then you’d better bring your clan head and all the men you’ve got!”

His roar was like lightning crashing down from the heavens.

I just barely heard Diga Suun squeak out a shrill, “Eek!”

“As if we could eat the meat of a giba this old! We won’t be accepting this ‘blessing,’ you bastards!”

With that, Dan Rutim strode firmly forward, then grabbed the fur of the giba with its head in the stove with both hands.

What happened next defied belief.

Somehow, Dan Rutim lifted that giba, which looked to be around 100 kilos, straight over his head with just his arms.

Dan Rutim probably weighed around the same amount himself, but still, that was some preposterous strength.

Diga Suun shrunk away with a “G-Gah!”

Doddo Suun also looked fully ready to flee.

Even Mida Suun let a “Wah!” slip.

“Begone!” Dan Rutim yelled, and threw the giba’s massive body.

With that, the Suun brothers took off running with a pathetic “Waaah!”

The poor giba corpse bounded two or three times, shattering the wooden spears stabbed into its back, before it finally settled near the entrance to the plaza.

Soon enough, the Suun sons disappeared from sight into the darkness.

“You damn fools!” Dan Rutim yelled, overlapping with a tremendous cheer. Everyone present had practically exploded with joy.

That cacophony was proof of just how detestable they found the Suun clan, as well as how much they were always holding back their fury.

“Dan Rutim... Sorry if I was too impertinent there.”

I took the towel off my head and bowed to Dan Rutim.

In an instant, that furious genie erupted with a laugh of “Gwahaha!”

“What are you saying?! I just wasn’t able to even move for a bit there, because I was so mad that I couldn’t breathe! And then you two went and said what I wanted to, and I finally came back to my senses!”

You... two?

With that, I noticed that Ai Fa was standing next to me. She had the same quiet expression on her face as always, but she was dressed completely differently.

“At any rate, those brats obviously just got drunk and decided to interrupt our banquet. If they’d been moving on their clan head’s orders, they would’ve brought along men from their branch families, after all,” Donda Ruu said with flames still burning in his eyes, and then he gulped down some more fruit wine.

“Hey! Return that old giba to the forest! The mundt will clean up after those brats’ carelessness!”

Several men nodded, then ran over to the poor giba’s corpse.

With that, Dan Rutim’s eyebrows drooped with pity.

“Ugh. That giba didn’t do anything wrong... Hey! If you’re reborn as a giba again, then I’ll make you into a delicious meal!” I yelled out without even thinking, causing Dan Rutim to turn my way.

“Asuta! My belly was full of rage, but now it’s all empty! Is the next dish not ready yet?” he asked, placing a thick hand on my shoulder, causing me to unwittingly jump back.

“Your hands! Please, go wash your hands! You just grabbed that giba’s fur! No matter what, don’t go eating ribs with those hands, alright?”

“The ribs are all gone. Aren’t there any more left, Asuta?” Dan Rutim questioned, his thick lips pouting. It was an expression like a sulking baby would make.

“If there are any left, then I’ll grill them up as extras. So please, just wash your hands as you wait... Well then, I’ve got work left, so excuse me.”

“Right! I’m counting on you, Asuta!”

I glanced over at Ai Fa. She nodded back at me, said, “I’ll deal with the broken stove,” then turned her back.

After staring for a few moments at her long, blonde hair covered by the veil rolling down her beautiful back, I took off running to the kitchen.

◇

Time kept on passing, and before long we hit the climax.

The bride and groom had watched over the banquet from atop the stage for the duration, but now the Rutim and Min elders lent them a hand, and they descended to the ground.

Then they were led to the stove constructed in front of the stage.

There, Jiba Ruu was waiting, with Vina Ruu holding her hand.

The pair got down on their knees before Jiba Ruu, and they bowed as the groom offered up his right shoulder while the bride offered her left for the old woman to grab onto.

With her trembling fingers, Jiba Ruu removed the grass crowns from their heads, then warmed them over the stove where herbs were burning. Then, she placed the crown that had been on the groom on the bride’s head, and the one the bride had worn on the groom.

Before long the two slowly stood, then Jiba Ruu removed a horn and tusk from her own necklace and held them out.

“I offer these blessings... Tonight, Ama Min of the Min clan becomes the wife of Gazraan Rutim of the Rutim clan, taking the name Ama Min Rutim. With this, the bonds between the Min and Rutim shall deepen, bringing about greater strength and prosperity for our forest’s edge...”

“I, Gazraan Rutim, bestow Ama Min Rutim upon the forest.”

“I, Ama Min Rutim, bestow Gazraan Rutim upon the forest.”

Cheers filled the air once again.

And as if pushing through those cheers, the women of the Ruu branch families approached the stove where the herbs had been burning, carrying a metal pot.

Inside the pot were a hamburger just waiting to be finished, and the best cut of steak, a fillet.

The women diligently added firewood, leading to a roaring flame that was more than just a little strong. Then, they took Jiba Ruu by the hands and fell back.

In their place, Vina Ruu stepped forward.

Apparently the custom was that after a bride gained her new name, the oldest unmarried woman of the parent clan was to offer her the first meat she would eat.

Vina Ruu stood in front of the stove, then grabbed the fruit wine container that had been dangling from her waist. Only the necessary amount of fruit wine was inside.

Vina Ruu gently poured out the contents of the container into the metal pot.

Suddenly, deep red flames flared up, but they soon died down.

The guests present all went, “Ooh...!”

Next, Vina Ruu withdrew, gracefully pointing to the pot as she did so.

The women then raked out about half of the burning firewood to regulate the flame.

Following that, the bride and groom walked up before the stove, and used a skewer they received from the women in order to split the hamburger in half.

When I saw that meat enter the bride’s mouth, my work was finally at an end.