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“Hey, seriously, what do you think of that old-timer?” I asked Ai Fa while simmering poitan. “I felt like I had less and less of a grip on him the more we talked. Would it be smarter to just not get involved with him any further?”
“...I don’t know,” Ai Fa replied, her voice sounding a bit listless. “I never had any intention of forming bonds with anyone from the city of stone, but that man didn’t say anything particularly illogical. It’s just that his attitude wasn’t serious in the least.”
“That’s for sure. It certainly would be a whole lot easier if we could just trust that old-timer... He’s like the complete and utter opposite of Jiza Ruu, who’s always super serious even if we don’t see eye to eye. And both of them have eyes that make it look like they’re always smiling...”
“And that man... He ate giba meat,” Ai Fa muttered with a gloomy look in her eyes. “I never imagined someone from the city of stone would do such a thing. That was what surprised me most of all.”
“Really? I wasn’t born at the forest’s edge, and I’ve only ever been to the post town once, but that old-timer’s words made sense to me.”
“...What do you mean?”
“Huh? I mean how he said giba and the people of the forest’s edge who hunt them are only seen as symbolic of disaster by the people born in Genos. The folks of Genos had their fields attacked so that leaves plenty of room for misunderstandings and misconceptions, but people born elsewhere have no reason to fear you all, right? Plus it should have been decades since giba were last actually causing such disasters anyway...”
Ai Fa was silent.
“And the majority of the folks doing business there must be Genos natives, so the people of the forest’s edge have probably mostly just dealt with folks who were afraid of them. If there were more foreigners out there who could ignore the strength and slightly isolationist nature of the people of the forest’s edge like that old-timer, maybe those misunderstandings never would have spread around as much as they have.”
“...Asuta, it’s hard to understand what you’re saying,” Ai Fa whined. Yes, Ai Fa went and offered such a feeble complaint, shockingly. “You really were born in a city of stone, even if it wasn’t Genos. Your words are just as confusing as those of that Kamyua Yoshu fellow.”
“Yeah. It’s true that the place I was born and raised really was closer to that post town than this forest’s edge. But just because something’s hard to understand, doesn’t mean it’s alright to neglect the effort to—”
“Who are you saying is ‘neglecting the effort’?”
The frail tone of voice she used seriously took me aback.
As she sat against the wall by the stove, Ai Fa was making an even sadder expression than I had thought, casting her eyes downward.
“It’s difficult to understand, but I’m trying to do so. Are you blaming me for being slow to understand...?”
“N-No, I’m not! Sorry! I was wrong there! So I’m begging you, please don’t cry!”
“As if I’d cry! Just what sort of person do you think I am?!”
That practically sounded like a line I would yell, and Ai Fa’s face was a little red as she said it. Still, that was a whole heck of a lot better than her looking like she was going to cry.
“Well at any rate, let’s at least decide on a plan for now. How much should we be opening up to that old-timer? Is there anything it’d be bad to let him know? And is there anything we really should tell him about? I think it’d be good to at least firmly decide on those matters.”
“Understood,” Ai Fa replied, and then for some reason she suddenly stood up and circled behind my back as I heated up the poitan.
As I was wondering what was going on, she suddenly placed her hands on both my shoulders and whispered into my ear, “What do you think, Asuta?”
I was a bit taller than her, so she must have been standing on her tiptoes. And she wasn’t touching anything but my shoulders, but I could vaguely feel the warmth of her body running all the way down my back.
“H-Hold on a second! Why is it like we’re talking in secret even though we already drove that old-timer away?”
“It’s not certain that man has gone away from this house, is it? What if he’s listening in from the other side of one of these walls?”
Even so, did she really intend to spend the next few hours this close and personal?
“H-Hold on! It looks like the poitan are done heating up. I need to deal with them.”
The warmth from Ai Fa’s body quietly withdrew.
Seriously, this was worse for my heart than dealing with Vina Ruu.
As I transferred the dissolved poitan into a little boat made from a pseudo rubber tree leaf, I stealthily wiped the sweat from my brow.
I had used six poitan, enough for three people.
Kamyua Yoshu was going to return before sunset, so he asked if he could join us for dinner.
“I’m not asking you to let me stay the night! I’m just suddenly very interested in the cuisine of the people of the forest’s edge, is all! And if you need me to pay, that’s no problem!”
The fruit wine he had brought seemed to be especially high class, so I had no intention of asking him to pay. And Ai Fa gave her permission, albeit with a complex expression on her face, so I ended up preparing dinner for three.
“Now then, before we talk things over in secret, why don’t we decide on tonight’s menu?”
While scraping off the burned dregs left by the poitan with a wooden spatula, I turned around and looked Ai Fa’s way.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Hamburgers.”
That was quick!
I looked shocked, and then Ai Fa restated, “...Hamburgers.” I mean, even if you say it again...
“I see. Now that I think of it, though, this menu may require some thought too...”
Ai Fa approached me from the side, placed a hand on my neck, brought herself up to around my height, and then whispered, “What do you mean?”
Was she being serious with all this?
“I mean, it might not be such a good thing to give him the impression that hamburgers are a regular meal at the forest’s edge, right? But if we explain in detail, that’ll involve expanding the conversation to cover our relationship with the Ruu and Rutim. And I think it would be good to decide in advance just how much of that information we should reveal.”
I had no choice but to ask Ai Fa, but she was currently so incredibly close that the aromatic particles coming off of her invaded my nasal cavity even if I held my breath. And even though I had just had a snack, Ai Fa’s aroma was igniting a fresh hunger in me.
Knowing nothing about that mental state of mine, Ai Fa brought her lips up to my ear once again.
“...Why?”
“Hey! If you’re just going to add a little interjection like that, then you don’t need to whisper, right?!”
“I suppose that’s so,” she replied, turning her ear towards me again.
So I really did need to whisper, huh?
“Umm... That old-timer seems to have some sort of connection with the lord of the Genos domain, right? Feeding someone like that false information could lead to further misunderstandings, and besides, he doesn’t seem overly fond of the Suun clan, so doesn’t it seem like a bad idea to tell him too much about the Ruu and Rutim?”
“...But that man has already met Donda Ruu, and he knows of our involvement with that banquet, doesn’t he?” Ai Fa whispered.
It somehow felt like my right earlobe was on the verge of just up and melting off.
“That’s true. And so, the important thing here is... The question of whether we should hide the fact that Donda Ruu is ready to move to crush the Suun clan as the opportunity presents itself, or if we should reveal it.”
This question required a bit of contemplation.
Having exhausted my stamina, I plopped down on the floor and nudged the aria awaiting its turn to shine with the tip of my finger.
“Still, though—”
“Uwah!”
“What is it? Don’t go scaring me like that, you fool.”
“I-I’m the one getting scared here, dummy! Don’t go suddenly whispering at me from behind like that!”
“...You should be able to sense my presence at least that much, right?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the sort of first-rate detection skills you hunters do! So I’m begging you, please approach from where I can see you!”
“So fussy...” Ai Fa muttered in dissatisfaction, moving around in front of me and squatting down. Then, she grabbed my jaw, turned my head sideways, and moved in close.
“But still, as long as the possibility exists of that man having further contact with Donda Ruu, it would also be foolish to try to hide things carelessly... Of course, we have no duty to actively tell him anything.”
I see. So I’ve got nowhere to run. I’m sure this was a case of God testing my reasoning or nature or something.
What a serious pain.
“Got it. Let’s hit on the key point, then. Ai Fa, what do you think we shouldn’t tell that Kamyua Yoshu guy?”
Ai Fa was lost in contemplation once again.
We were close enough that I think if I moved the tip of my nose just 10 centimeters, it would bump into her knee.
I seriously just couldn’t feel calm in this situation.
Before long Ai Fa looked up, then hurriedly whispered into my ear, “...Nothing in particular.”
“Nothing?!”
I reflexively almost wanted to dope slap the back of her head.
Ai Fa pouted her lips, right up close and personal to my face.
“You’re the one who brought up the idea of this secret talk, aren’t you? You must have your own thoughts, right? If so, then let me hear them.”
Then, she turned away in a huff.
What the heck? I was already feeling just as worn out as I was from the big job yesterday...
“I mean, you said that you thought of the Suun clan as the shame of the forest’s edge, but you also couldn’t stand townsfolk trying to deal with them, right? So for example, if that old-timer were to have Doddo Suun executed for his crimes, would that make him an enemy of the people of the forest’s edge?”
Ai Fa furrowed her brows, looking puzzled.
Then, she replied not in a whisper, but in her usual voice.
“If a member of the Suun clan is judged for breaking the laws of the city, they are the ones at fault. In that case, there would be no need to try to get vengeance for them... But if someone from the city were to dare to judge them based on the laws of the forest’s edge, and were using the people of the forest’s edge for their benefit in the process, that would seem to be nothing but a crafty scheme to me.”
I see. The explanation was a little tricky, but ultimately she was saying that if someone breaks the laws of the city then its citizens should judge them, and if someone runs afoul of the laws of the forest’s edge, then the people of the forest’s edge should judge them, huh?
“Hmm... But in actuality, the Suun clan is breaking laws left and right, aren’t they? But currently, there isn’t anyone in the forest’s edge to cast judgment on them, right?”
“What are you saying? I haven’t let the Suun clan’s tyranny slip by even once.”
“I know, and I think that’s amazing... But everyone at the forest’s edge can’t behave the way that you do, right? Just yesterday, everyone was just standing there and bearing that atrocity from the Suun clan with serious anger on their faces, at least until Donda Ruu and Dan Rutim made a move.”
“There’s no way they would ever display hostility towards the Suun clan without permission from the head of their clan. I’m free to behave as I wish, though, because I’m the head of my own clan.”
“Then, I hate to ask this, but... Do the people from small clans without any ties to the Ruu just have to keep on bearing the Suun clan’s tyranny?”
Ai Fa bit her lip a bit and glared up at me, then replied, “Even if they are the clan that leads our people, if they were to openly act in a tyrannical manner, all of our people would have no choice but to turn to the Ruu clan. And so, those fools have been exercising some small amount of self restraint so that things wouldn’t come to that.”
“In other words, they keep their evildoing in secret because they can’t let it be out in the open, huh?”
Ai Fa let those words stand.
“Ai Fa, you’re strong. Because of that, you were able to rein in Diga and Doddo Suun’s wrongdoing. But if folks who lack your strength just have to choke back tears in the shadows... I really don’t think I can just accept that.”
“...I only have the power to stop tyranny happening in front of me,” Ai Fa responded, grabbing me by the collar again. It didn’t feel violent, though. More like she was clinging to me a bit.
“I can only manage myself. And so...”
And so, she had lived on her own?
And so, I became a burden for her?
I nodded and placed my own hands over Ai Fa’s.
“I’m sorry if it came across like I was blaming in you. Nobody would ever forgive something so inhumane. I mean, that was why the Ruu and Rutim folks were so furious, too... By the way, is the Suun clan’s power really all that great? They may have nearly 100 men under them just like the Ruu, but would everyone under them just do as they say?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know all of the clans under them.”
“Ah, I see... But those folks under them can’t all be corrupt, right?”
“I have no way of knowing that, either... But if all hundred of them under the Suun clan were neglecting their giba hunting duty, the forest would have long since been overflowing with the beasts.”
“That’s true. I mean, if a hundred out of the five hundred living in this settlement were corrupt like that...” I started to say, only to remember some ominous words I had heard. “...Now that I think of it, Ludo Ruu told me there were too many giba around. Shin Ruu’s dad had his leg done in because three giba charged them at once, even though they don’t usually attack in packs. And then he asked how things were with the forest around the Fa house lately, but...”
A somewhat intense expression crossed Ai Fa’s face, and her hands kept gripping my collar.
“You should have been aware of that matter since the day after we met, Asuta.”
“Huh?”
“You asked me if the giba would be wiped out if we kept hunting them each and every day. And at that time, I replied that rather than decreasing, the number of giba was growing year by year.”
I was silent.
“The number of giba is clearly increasing. It’s obviously an abundant period at the moment, but even so, it’s a bit odd how many there are... To be honest, there are currently so many giba filling the forest that I don’t even need to use the giba summoning fruit.”
“Huh? Then you’re not doing any sacrificial hunting?”
“For the last few days, I haven’t been. Even so, I’ve still been taking down one every two days.”
“Really? That is odd. Then this sweet smell isn’t from the giba summoning fruit?”
Ai Fa’s face immediately flushed beet red, and her fingers grasping my collar grabbed on tighter.
“The scent of giba summoning fruit doesn’t disappear easily once it gets in my hair! And I’ve told you for a while now to stop spouting such nonsense about my smell, haven’t I, Asuta?”
“No, but I was just complimenting you...”
“Silence! At any rate... the number of giba continues to grow year by year.”
“I see. Still, Ludo Ruu didn’t go and state it so clearly. He ultimately just said he got that feeling.”
“...The Ruu settlement is located farther south than my home. And the Suun settlement is north of here.”
While there was still a bit of red to her cheeks, a raging flame had been lit in Ai Fa’s eyes.
“Which is to say, if the Suun clan were to keep neglecting their duty as hunters, the effects may appear more strongly to the north.”
“...So as far as you can tell, the number of giba has continued to grow?”
This may be more urgent of a situation than I had been thinking.
Even setting aside my petty morals and sense of justice, ignoring the corruption of the Suun clan may lead to the downfall of the people of the forest’s edge in general, huh?
“...Ai Fa. This may be too big for us to handle. Shouldn’t that Kamyua Yoshu guy try to form a relationship with the Ruu or Rutim rather than us?”
“That would be pointless.”
“Huh? But why?”
“Consider Donda Ruu’s disposition. That man is prepared to take up his blade without a hint of hesitation as soon as the Suun clan’s corruption crosses the line. He would say that we don’t need help from the city of stone, and would wish to restore order to the forest’s edge by our own hands... And I can’t say I don’t understand that feeling.”
Then, though it was rather unlike her, Ai Fa gave a sigh.
“It’s precisely because I understand that feeling that I didn’t want to become the spark that lights up a conflict. A great many hunters would be lost in an all out battle between the Ruu and Suun, and order at the forest’s edge would surely collapse.”
“But even so, you won’t rely on the city of stone’s aid...?”
I couldn’t help but sigh myself.
The situation was so incredibly tense, and Ai Fa and I had a chance encounter with someone who seemed to be connected to the greatest authority in the Genos lands.
Just what sort of role did the gods or devils or whatever have laid out for our tiny clan of two?
For the time being, all I could think to do as a mere powerless chef was to slice off some meat for my clan head and our guest.
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