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

Prologue: Over the Ravine

Before me was a sight that made me feel like my insides were shriveling up with fear.

We were at a ravine, roughly a thirty minute walk from the Fa house. We had passed by the river where I usually did my washing, walked down a rough, rocky path with Mount Morga visible to our right, and then finally arrived at this grand, terrifying scenery.

It really was a ravine.

There was a river I didn’t know the name of cutting through between the steep cliff faces, making plenty of noise.

That noise was coming from seriously far away, though. The distance between the top of the cliff where we stood and that raging river must have been around 20 meters.

20 meters... by the standards of my world, that was around the same height as a five story tall building.

Well, I wasn’t exactly good with being so high up, but it wasn’t exactly like I had a strong fear of heights. Looking down from the top of the cliff on the flowing river below, I was just barely able to keep my legs from trembling.

The real source of terror, though, wasn’t the ravine itself. No, what had me really shaken was the unsteady-looking handmade rope bridge stretched across.

“You’re kidding me, right...?” I asked, only for my beloved benefactor to ask back, “What?” with a truly puzzled look on her face.

I couldn’t help but sigh at that reaction.

It looked to be roughly 20 meters across, and the bridge was a meter wide. It had a really primitive look about it, being made out of old logs tied together with light brown dried out vines.

Despite there not being any wind blowing, it was still swaying back and forth. I could feel my spine giving out just from the thought of stepping foot on it.

“I’ve got to say, this thing makes me extremely nervous...” I forced out.

This may have been the most tense I’d been since coming to this other world, but my benefactor just shot me back a doubtful look.

She was a person of the forest’s edge and the head of the Fa clan, Ai Fa. And it probably goes without saying, but she saved my life and let me live with her, and was a daring and dauntless female hunter.

Her long hair was done up in a complex manner, and was a golden blonde that was rare here at the forest’s edge. Her brightly, firmly shining eyes were a deep blue. And her carefully honed, slim body had a creamy, chocolate color to it. Though she was an average height and her body was slender, there was an overwhelming liveliness about her.

She had on the giba fur cloak that proved she was a hunter, as well as beautifully colored cloth hiding just her chest and waist. A knife and savage sword dangled from that tight waist of hers, and she had leather footwear wrapped around the lovely contours of her legs and feet.

A necklace made with quite a number of tusks and horns dangled above her shapely chest, and her slim wrist had on a bracelet made from grigee fruit, meant to ward away insects.

Yup, that was Ai Fa’s usual look.

Last night, after my work for the Rutim’s advance celebration had been safely completed and we were together in the house allotted to us, she had seemed different than usual, but that abnormality seemed to have been completely wiped away with the dawn of this new day.

That was a good thing. It really was, but... I mean, I couldn’t exactly feel glad while faced with the terror in front of me now.

“Asuta, could it be that you’re trying to tell me you’re concerned about this bridge?” Ai Fa calmly asked. “In that case, such concern is unnecessary. This bridge was made using fibaha vines. Even if they appear rather slender, they remain tough like human hair even after withering like this.”

Even if they were tougher than they looked like she was saying, that didn’t exactly cause my fears to just vanish. And I mean, wouldn’t it be better for peace of mind to use something that looked more thick and sturdy even if it was a bit weaker?

“This bridge has hung here since before I was born, in constant use without any problems up till this day. There is no way that it’s dangerous.”

“No, that’s illogical, saying something will be fine today just because it hasn’t had any problems yet! And wait, the longer it’s been used, the more worn out it must be, right?!”

“That’s why we must carefully check that the vines haven’t been damaged anywhere while passing by. And whenever someone finds an issue, they are to repair it. That is how we have maintained this bridge for decades now.”

“Clan head Ai Fa... Even so, I cannot clear away the unease I’m feeling inside. Are there not any safer, more agreeable routes?”

“This is the quickest route between my home and the Genos post town. Any other path would take several times longer.”

Right, we were in the middle of heading to town to exchange giba horns and tusks for food. Normally Ai Fa would have taken care of restocking our aria, poitan, and fruit wine with more time to spare, but we had the whole showdown with Donda Ruu. That was finally settled yesterday, so after first returning home and taking care of the basic tasks of checking the pantry and gathering pico leaves, we headed out on this trip.

This was my first chance to step outside of the forest’s edge since arriving in this other world 20 days back. My heart was trembling with both excitement and unease towards the unknown I was venturing into.

And currently, it was trembling for a different reason altogether.

“Can’t we move past this already? If you keep on hesitating here, the sun will end up setting before we carry out our task.”

“Please, just hold on! Um... would you mind if I hold your hand?”

Ai Fa’s brows immediately furrowed, and she stated, “I firmly refuse. What purpose would there be behind that? After all, if the bridge were to happen to fall, holding my hand most certainly wouldn’t be enough to save your life. If you need to hold onto something, then you should make it the vines supporting the bridge.”

“N-No, but you see, I just want peace of mind! I feel like I can rely a great deal more on the beloved head of my clan than on these unstable vines!”

“If you don’t stop with that irritating manner of speaking immediately, I’ll cut out your tongue.”

“I’m sorry.”

“At any rate, I refuse to pointlessly hold hands. If you’re that uneasy, then just hold onto the hem of my cloak or something,” she coldly, calmly stated before turning back towards the bridge.

I caught hold of her cloak and clung to it firmly with both hands.

“A-alright, I’m ready! Let’s head out!”

Ai Fa gave a deep sigh without even turning around, then started walking without a hint of hesitation. I no longer had a choice but to follow along after her like one of the drones from a certain space shooter game.

Ai Fa’s foot touched down on one of the logs, and the bridge swayed far more than it had up until now.

I worked up my nerves, and stepped onto the logs, too. The bridge shook once again.

“Gyah!”

“You’re so noisy.”

“H-hold on! At least hold onto the rope! I mean, I’ve got both my hands occupied, here!”

“You really are noisy.”

Ai Fa simply kept on moving forward at her usual jaunty pace, paying no heed to my concerns.

Sway, sway... Man, it sure is swaying like crazy.

There was no way I dared to look down. If I did, I would probably collapse on the spot.

But still, the rope bridge was only 10 meters long. We’d somehow inched our way over half that distance already, so I felt like if I just kept my gaze fixed on the back of Ai Fa’s head, I could make it through this somehow.

However...

“...Hmm. The vines are fraying,” Ai Fa nonchalantly stated, which caused the logic and calm in me to get together and fly off into the distance.

“Gyah!” I yelled out and hugged Ai Fa’s torso tight, putting my weight on her. The bridge swayed back and forth, and it felt like my feet were going to slip off of the logs.

“Ah! Gyah! Waaaah!”

“You fool! Let go of me! Do you really want to die, huh?!” Ai Fa angrily roared, here voice echoing throughout the ravine.

It was like rifles giving a salute, signalling the start to what would be a very long day.