Chapter 1: A Chaotic Day
1
It was the day after the biggest job of my life, the wedding banquet...
I was walking along a stamped down yellow trail through the forest’s edge next to Ai Fa. We were returning to the Fa house from the Ruu settlement, having completed our six day long task.
“Man, I really wish I could’ve seen the banquet all the way through to the end...” I unintentionally let slip, grumbling as we walked.
I overslept this morning despite rarely doing so, so I missed the chance to help clean up.
The sun was already nearing its peak.
Even before coming to this other world I was a firm believer in “Early to bed, early to rise,” but I was just plain exhausted. It really was regrettable.
Ai Fa glared at me from the side as she kept on walking ahead in long, gallant strides.
“You’re still saying that? Your job was to prepare the food for the banquet, so there’s no real need for you to worry yourself about such matters.”
“No, it’s not about responsibility, I just wanted to stick it out with everyone till the very end.”
When I finally woke up this morning (or should I say an hour ago) and went flying out of our borrowed lodgings, I found no trace left of the prior night’s banquet.
The simple stoves made of stone, the stage where the bride and groom had sat, the stands for the torches, and even the burn marks left by the bonfire... It had all been cleaned up neat and tidy, making for a sight that made it feel as if the previous night’s banquet had been nothing but a dream.
From what I was told, apparently everyone got up along with the sunrise and took care of cleaning everything up.
“It’s just, the aftermath of a festival like that feels kind of sad. It’s sort of like a hole got ripped open in my heart.”
This was also the day I said farewell to the Ruu settlement after living there for six days. Over that period of time, I had grown close to a whole lot of folks. I didn’t know how to deal with the men at first, but as I taught them about bloodletting and the dissection process, I started feeling a tinge of trust and affection towards them. And it went without saying how I felt about the women I cooked together with.
Suddenly, I was feeling a whole lot more lonely.
“Well, as long as I have Ai Fa, there’s nothing to worry about!” I loudly proclaimed, shouting out my earnest feelings and earning myself a kick in the leg.
“Cut that out and just move on, already. Some new trouble is surely waiting for us today, after all.”
“Yeah, I know.”
An hour passed in that way before we finally arrived back at our nostalgic home for the first time in six days... only to find a blond haired man in a long cloak waiting for us there.
“Hey there. I’m glad to find you looking well, Ai Fa and Asuta.”
He was tall and spindly, like a praying mantis. His blond hair and goatee were unkempt. He had a long and narrow face and nose. The outer corners of his purple eyes drooped down, making it look like he was always smiling. And also, those eyes strangely had both the innocence of a child and the calm of an old person about them.
Yes, it was Kamyua Yoshu, a capricious man whose true nature was still a complete and utter mystery to me.
“I came, just as promised. If it’s alright, could we talk for at least a bit?”
“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to talk things over with you properly too, so I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Kamyua Yoshu gave a satisfied smile upon hearing that.
“And I’m very much grateful to hear that you’re grateful. I’m also glad to find you in such a good mood, oh lovely female hunter.”
Ai Fa didn’t give him so much as a single syllable.
“Please don’t go smashing my clan head’s good mood to bits... And if we’re going to talk inside the house, you’ll need to let us take charge of your blade.”
“Ooh, is that a custom amongst the people of the forest’s edge? Sounds good to me. I just can’t stop smiling when imagining how much my curiosity will be satisfied today alone,” Kamyua Yoshu said, playing dumb both in words and expression, then offered up his longsword in its leather sheath without a hint of hesitation. It was notably longer than the savage blades wielded by the people of the forest’s edge, but it was also a good bit thinner, so there wasn’t much of a weight difference.
What was this blade meant for cutting, though...?
“...Well then, please come this way.”
Myself, Ai Fa, and our guest passed through the door, in that order.
The Fa house didn’t seem to have changed at all.
Ai Fa kicked off her footwear, hung her fur cloak on the wall, and then sat in her usual position. However, rather than leaning her blade against the wall like she normally did, she kept her guard up and left it near at hand.
I sat down beside her, leaving our guest’s sword nearby as well.
Kamyua Yoshu, meanwhile, gently seated himself without so much as removing his cloak.
He really is a strange fellow...
He saved us from that predicament back in town, and then things almost turned to bloodshed when he showed up at the Ruu settlement. This was my third time meeting the man.
No matter how many times I saw him, though, I could never tell what he was thinking with that aloof smile of his.
“Now then... First off, I would like to offer an apology.”
“An apology?” I repeated, tilting my head. With that, Kamyua Yoshu smiled even brighter.
“When we first met in the post town, I went and ran my mouth unnecessarily about all sorts of stuff and confused you two. I don’t especially want to actively go against the Suun clan, who lead your people.”
We were suddenly striking at the heart of the matter.
“So could you please cut it out with glaring at me like I’m trying to go up against the people of the forest’s edge? I mean, I came here in the first place because I want to get along with your people. Can’t you believe me?”
Ai Fa had one knee raised and was sitting there solemnly and silently. Regardless of how he may have been taking that, Kamyua Yoshu just smoothly continued on.
“I rushed ahead too much when discussing things back then. I just couldn’t help myself because I was finally getting a chance to interact with people from the forest’s edge, who I had admired for so long, and one of them was a beautiful woman like you, Ai Fa. Please, forgive me.”
Even so, Ai Fa remained silent and expressionless.
This was Ai Fa’s second time meeting him and she had a chance this time around to get her thoughts in order, so perhaps she could now just let a bit of his talkativeness pass her by.
But regardless, it was my job to exchange words with this man and search out his true intentions.
“Well then, let me just ask... What are you after, Kamyua Yoshu?”
“You can just call me Kamyua. And what am I after...?”
“You claimed it was related to work, but you went and came all the way out here just to meet with us. It couldn’t just be to shoot the breeze, right?”
“No, but you see, I really did just want to chat with you...” Kamyua Yoshu said, staring in amazement. “I’ve felt a kinship with the people of the forest’s edge for a while now. But that was all one-sided, and to you all I’m just some suspicious outsider. It’s only natural that you wouldn’t listen when someone like that comes around and starts talking about the laws of the forest’s edge or the corruption of the clan that leads your people. And so, I came here hoping to start out by deepening my relationship with you two.”
With that, Kamyua Yoshu pulled out a bottle of fruit wine from within the folds of his cloak.
“This is a gift, to drink at nighttime or whatever suits your fancy. Ah, right, gotta show it’s not poisoned,” he said, taking a swig of the fruit wine.
“Hmm... I still don’t feel like that answers my question, though. You say you want to deepen your relations with the people of the forest’s edge, but I still have no idea why or for what purpose.”
“Huh? Do you need some sort of reason or purpose for wanting to get along with others? If I had to say... I suppose it would be the empathy I feel towards your people for having to change their gods, the respect for the solitary hunters of the forest’s edge I’ve seen about the post town, and the personal interest and fondness I have for the two of you. I think those three things form the core of my actions.”
He sure could talk. But though his logic was quite sound, his tone and the expression on his face came across as flimsy.
“But you all must have some interest in me to invite me into your house like this, right? I mean, you’re not fond of townsfolk by nature, are you? Is it just hard to ignore it when someone like me comes here to the forest’s edge?”
“Thank you for putting in the effort to acknowledge our feelings... By the way, did you discuss the matter of your job with the Suun clan?”
“Ah, yeah. If I were to try to bypass them and handle it through some other clan, it would trample on their honor and could cause some unnecessary strife, which I would feel bad about.”
This man’s job was to guard a group of merchants heading from Genos to the Eastern Kingdom of Sym. And in the process he wanted to pass through the settlement at the forest’s edge, so apparently he had requested to have the Suun clan help lead the way or something.
“I’m surprised things went smoothly. I mean, considering how you got involved with their main household...”
“Yeah. I made sure to give my real name, but there weren’t any problems at all. I guess you have to be broad-minded to lead a people, even if you are corrupt,” Kamyua Yoshu said with a grin. While it may not be nice to say so, it was honestly hard to trust that face.
“It’ll still be a while before that job comes to pass, by the way. It’s a rather massive group so it’ll take a whole lot of time to prepare, and they also seem to be a rather superstitious crowd. The lucky day for departing on a journey is said to be the fifteenth day of a month, so there are still over twenty days left from today.”
Now that he mentioned it, I still hadn’t learned how the calendar worked in this world, or even which day of what month it was currently.
But so nobody would pick up on that, I just said, “I see,” and gave a vague nod.
“So, it’ll take two whole months between leaving here for the Eastern Kingdom of Sym and returning. That’s why I want to form as much of a bond with you all as possible in these next twenty days. Thank you for accepting a suspicious guy like me rather than just rejecting me, you two.”
“Well, it’s not like we’ve formed a firm bond just yet, though...”
“There’s no value in a bond formed so easily. A bond becomes strong enough to last by overcoming countless trials together.”
He may have had some nice lines, taken at face value, but there really was something flimsy about them when they were coming from him. As I wondered just why that was, my stomach suddenly broke the silence with a gurrrgle.
Ai Fa’s glare had been fixed on Kamyua Yoshu, but now it coldly turned my way.
“Are you hungry? If it’s mealtime for you all, then don’t worry about me being here.”
“No, I don’t really normally eat much during the day. It’s just last night I didn’t really get a chance to have a proper meal...”
“That’s not good at all! You’re already so thin, so you need to make sure you eat properly.”
I didn’t exactly want to be told that by such a spindly guy, but maybe he only looked so thin because he was so incredibly tall.
It was hard to tell because of his long cloak, but he seemed to have a firm build from the wrists on up, and if I wasn’t mistaken, his fingers were long enough and his palms thick enough that he wouldn’t lose out to Jiza or Darmu Ruu.
“The sun only just hit its peak. Hmm... I suppose it really would be rough eating nothing but dried meat till sunset. Ai Fa, is it alright if I use up just a bit of meat and aria?”
“Do as you please,” she replied, so I headed towards the pantry.
Our guest called out, “Um, excuse me...” with sparkling eyes and stopped me. “When you said ‘meat,’ did you perhaps mean giba meat? If so, would you mind if I eat just a bit, too?”
In that instant, a crack ran through Ai Fa’s calm expression.
“Someone from the city of stone... wants to eat giba meat?”
“Hmm? Is there something strange about that? It’s mainly just the people of the Genos domain who have such feelings of dread and aversion towards the people of the forest’s edge,” Kamyua Yoshu said with a cheerful smile. “I wasn’t born in the Western Kingdom at all, much less Genos in particular, so to me the giba are nothing but a pest, and the people of the forest’s edge are just brave hunters who take them down. The travelers from the south and west wandering around the post town don’t look at you with such fear in their eyes, right? So this should be nothing to feel surprised about.”
He said all that, but I didn’t even know which ones were the people from the east or the south or wherever. However, I got the impression that there were a lot of yellowish brown skinned folks amongst those who looked at Ai Fa with fear or contempt in their eyes.
“Still, it’s true that no people but those of the forest’s edge eat giba meat, I believe. I don’t know about the south or the east, but at least when it comes to the western lands, giba don’t exist outside of the Morga forest’s edge. If I can have the honor of being the first person of the Western Kingdom to eat giba meat, then that alone would be enough to make my trip out here today worthwhile!”
His eyes were seriously sparkling like those of a child.
Meanwhile, Ai Fa still clearly had a troubled look on her face.
This must have been quite a shocking development, considering how the people of the forest’s edge had been derided as “giba eaters” for nearly 80 years.
“What do you think, Ai Fa? You’re the clan head. I’ll abide by whatever you say,” I asked from my half-risen posture, only to be suddenly grabbed by the collar. I just barely avoided falling over, while Ai Fa came in close in a way that made it look like she was about to bite my throat.
“I... I cannot make a decision. Asuta, what do you think?”
She was so close to me, but she was whispering so quietly that I could just barely hear her. She must not have wanted the guest sitting right in front of us to hear, no matter what.
I moved back in surprise, and then when I saw Ai Fa’s face, I was even more shocked. Her expression remained stiff and chilly, but there was a childish unease in her blue eyes.
Was it really that shocking?
I used my own body as a shield to hide that face from our guest, then drew in close to whisper in her ear.
“As long as it doesn’t brush up against any of the forest’s edge’s taboos, I don’t especially mind. How about if I offer him some meat and aria as thanks for the fruit wine he brought as a gift?”
She yanked me closer by the collar again.
“...I leave the decision up to you.”
Ai Fa’s lips touched my earlobe, causing me to feel a little flustered.
While making sure to hide how I was feeling, I turned back towards our guest and gave an easygoing nod.
“My clan head gave her permission, so I’d like to serve you a light meal. It’ll be as thanks for the fruit wine, so I would like to prepare as much as you’d like rather than just a bite.”
“Then I’ll take as much as you’re having!”
It sort of felt like a huge old dog was happily wagging its tail at me.
But still, this may prove to be a good opportunity. Sharing a meal really was an effective method to have a heart-to-heart talk with someone, after all. And so, I headed towards the pantry again, thinking it would be nice if this let me see inside this suspicious fellow’s mind at least a bit.
In the meantime, Ai Fa gently closed her eyes, showing no intention of responding to Kamyua Yoshu as he blathered away.
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