Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 2.5

5

Roughly an hour later, we were standing once again in front of the Rutim house. And naturally, we were carrying a stupidly huge pot with us.

“Ooh, Ai Fa and Asuta, what are you doing here with that pot?! Did you come here to cook at my place?!”

“Dan Rutim! You’re already back from the forest?”

It hadn’t even been three hours since the sun had hit its peak. And yet, the head of the Rutim clan had already removed his cloak and blades by the time he had greeted us.

“There’ve been a great many giba around lately. We had already gotten our horns and tusks for the day, and then one of the young folks from a branch family got injured just a bit, so we turned back early! So, what’ve you got for me today?”

“Ah, no, we just came to talk to Gazraan Rutim...”

“Oh, is that so?” the clan head responded, his large shoulders slumping in disappointment.

His head was bald with a dark brown beard, and his potbelly jutted out. Dan Rutim closely resembled an arabian genie or Budai or something, and he was looking plenty lively again today.

“If you’re here, Dan Rutim, then maybe it’d be good to have you hear us out, too. The truth is, there’s something we’d like to discuss.”

“Well, I guess I’m up for talking with you...” he said, breaking out in a childish pout.

I wish he wouldn’t steal my clan head’s specialty like that...

“Ah, Asuta and Ai Fa. So it really is you! How did your discussion with Kamyua Yoshu go?” Dan Rutim’s son (who looked nothing like the man) asked, appearing from behind his father.

I hurriedly gave him a bow.

“Sorry for disturbing you so many times in one day. Um, is Ama Min Rutim...?”

“She went to the Ruu settlement along with the other women. She said she wanted to learn to cook a delicious meal as soon as possible, but as a result, I got left behind.”

“Ah, sorry about that too...”

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry about troubling me. Please, come inside. There’s no problem with that, right, clan head?”

“Yeah...”

The Rutim clan head sure sounded like a little kid when he said that.

At any rate, Ai Fa and I handed over our blades along with our metal pot, and were once again welcomed into the Rutim house as guests.

“...And well, that’s about how things went.”

The explanation took a good while this time around.

With his arms crossed, Gazraan Rutim replied, “Hmm... In other words, your impression of Kamyua Yoshu hasn’t really changed, then? However, you sensed a strong attachment to, or perhaps even a fixation on, the forest’s edge... Yet you didn’t believe he was trying to trick you.”

“Right. On top of that, I also did a thorough investigation of the post town. I believe there really shouldn’t be any big issues that arise from opening a shop there, and it really is possible it could be successful... I won’t know if it really will lead to giba meat gaining value or not till I give it a try, though.”

After we said goodbye to young Leito and old man Dora, we stopped by a number of stalls to further my investigation.

As a result, I learned that the snacks at the shops in the area all cost between one and three red coins, they sold between 20 and 50 per day, and the busy period was a bit after the sun hit its peak.

I could put up a fight under those conditions... Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Gazraan Rutim continued on, “Hmm... In that case, I don’t believe there should be any issue. What do you think, clan head?”

“I’ve got no clue. Why does someone from the city of stone give a damn about the future of the forest’s edge? Folks from there should just keep on gathering up stones and building their roads to the ends of the earth. More importantly, Asuta...” Dan Rutim said with a sulky look, staring my way with upturned eyes. He really was striking an eerily close resemblance to my clan head. “You’re talking about making food for those folks from the city of stone, but you won’t make any for me?”

“Ah, no, you see, we just want your opinion on that matter... Is there any problem with someone in my position going and opening a shop in town?”

“No idea. The one to decide that should be the head of the Fa clan, right? Why’re you bothering to ask my opinion?”

“Ah, that’s of course true, but we also wanted to confirm whether other members of the forest’s edge would be opposed to the action of opening a shop in general. And also... The Suun clan manages all dealings with the city of stone, don’t they? I was also wondering if it’d be alright to just go ahead and do it without involving them.”

“The Suun clan...?” Dan Rutim questioned, his goggle-eyes giving way to a glare. “Who gives a damn what those fools think?! If they try to complain about it, then we Rutim will show them a thing or two! So, you want to point a blade towards the Suun, do you, Asuta?!”

“Don’t go looking so excited! I’m here discussing things with you like this precisely because I don’t want to be the spark that sets off some giant conflict!”

“How boring...” Dan Rutim replied, acting apathetic once again.

Then Gazraan Rutim just bluntly stated, “You needn’t worry about that matter. The Suun clan only handles dealing with the Genos castle. You would need to go through them if you wanted to open a shop in the stone walls, but if it’s just in the post town, it shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Is that so? But still... It’s just such a ridiculous idea. Does it really not brush up against any of the laws or taboos of the forest’s edge?”

“There shouldn’t be any issue there, either. In fact, the agreement for us living here at the forest’s edge says we cannot gather the blessings of the forest from Mount Morga or farm our own fields, and must focus on simply hunting giba. Put another way, the only thing the city of stone allows us to do is sell giba.”

“I see...”

“And also, Asuta, this is a bit of a diversion, but the Rutim currently face a bit of a problem.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“We can’t use up all of our meat.”

His handsome face broke out in a strained smile, which was not like him at all.

“The banquet at the Ruu settlement used up an awful lot of meat, but we don’t have occasions like that very often. We’ve been bloodletting and dissecting roughly two per day, and the branch families already have their storage overflowing with meat as a result. It’s so much that we’ll have to just start leaving all the meat out in the woods from tomorrow on.”

“Ah... That definitely makes sense.”

We had an excess of meat back at the Fa house from the giba Ai Fa had hunted, too. Since it would only last half a month, or 20 days at maximum, even when preserved with pico leaves, we’d been making a massive amount of smoked meat, but it still showed no signs of decreasing.

“If we could exchange that meat for coins, it certainly would improve our lives. And also... It feels like a shame, leaving meat that could be truly delicious if it was just prepared properly for the mundt. The meat from giba we screwed up the bloodletting on should be plenty for them.”

“We’ll keep on bloodletting, even from tomorrow on! Even if we have too much meat, there’s only so many ribs, after all!” the clan head yelled out, despite remaining slumped down.

His son gave another strained smile, then nodded.

“...In that case, from tomorrow on we’ll be discarding all the meat but the ribs in the woods. The leg and shoulder and back meat, which will be properly bloodlet and prepared.”

“Man, that really is a waste!”

“Yes. And yet, we can’t go giving it to members of another clan. If we did, then powerless clans may give up on gathering horns and tusks entirely, and just decide to eat nothing but meat,” Gazraan Rutim stated, his expression tightening a bit as he leaned forwards. “Asuta. We intend to pass on the techniques we learned from you to the Min, Lea, and other related families. And I believe that eventually, it’s knowledge that should be possessed by all the people of the forest’s edge.”

“Huh? Even the Suun clan?”

“Of course. After all, if it resulted in them diligently hunting giba, then that would be the best possible result.”

I see. I still must not have been a proper member of the forest’s edge, as I couldn’t think of the Suun clan as anything but an unforgivable foe.

“But doing so at present would be dangerous. Powerful clans like the Suun are one thing, but this knowledge shouldn’t be granted to small clans not under the Suun or Ruu just yet.”

“Huh? But why?”

“Because the meat is simply too delicious. Take a small family that had never tasted torso meat before and simply thrown it away, if they were to learn of the flavor... I fear the danger would exist that they lose out to their own weakness and not hunt many giba, again, giving up on horns and tusks to instead just eat meat.”

Was such a thing really possible?

There could be folks out there who hated the idea of eating pungent torso meat, so they’d been desperately hunting a great number of giba. And as a result, the taste of delicious meat could destroy that drive. Could that happen...?

It may well be possible.

At the very least, if Gazraan Rutim was bringing it up, the chance of it happening was greater than zero.

And of course, as someone who wasn’t a hunter, there was no way I could fault those folks for their weakness.

“I believe that is what it means for knowledge to act as a poison.”

“Poisonous knowledge, huh...?”

“Yes. If you use too much of a strong medicine, it will act as a poison. I believe that is how your strength can become a poison, too.”

Those words caused my heart to skip a beat.

My strength, a poison...

“That’s why I believe we shouldn’t spread this knowledge to any small clans unrelated to us just yet. But if it becomes such that giba meat can be exchanged for coins in the post town, those people could still get ahold of aria and poitan by selling meat. Then they could eat proper meals and live proper lives, growing stronger as hunters.”

“Right...”

“Then, your strength will serve as a medicine for us all, Asuta,” Gazraan Rutim said with an encouraging smile. “And so, if the time comes that the two of you find your path leads you to opening a shop in the post town, then I’ll be hoping for your success more than anyone. And I’m certainly willing to lend you my aid towards that goal... As a friend.”

“Thank you... Sincerely. I’ll think it over tonight and come to a conclusion. And when I do, you’ll be the first one to know, Gazraan Rutim.”

Was I really qualified to have such a great man call me friend?

If I wasn’t, then I’d like to strive to earn that right.

Still... Back when I first met him, I never imagined Gazraan Rutim would become such a big part of my life.

It was all down to the bonds between people. My meeting Ai Fa led to meeting Rimee Ruu, then the Ruu clan, and then Gazraan and Dan Rutim.

And Kamyua Yoshu, too...

Ai Fa and I had to start by determining if his presence was medicine or poison.

I worked up my nerves, deciding that I had to discuss it with my clan head.

“Seriously, thank you so much. I’m really glad I talked to you, Gazraan Rutim.”

“It makes me proud to hear you say that, Asuta. Are you leaving already?”

“Yes. Sorry again for bothering you multiple times in one day.”

“Wait, you’re seriously leaving?!” Dan Rutim roared. “There’s not much time till the sun sets, right? And the Fa house is far, isn’t it? So you should just stay here in the Rutim house till morning!”

“Ah, no, that’s too...” I started to argue, but then I came back to my senses a bit.

It would take over an hour to get back to the house from here. There was still some time till sunset even so, but I may not actually have enough time to dry out the poitan in the sun. And unless I used that yam-esque gigo or took the time to make a stew, I still hadn’t come up with a way to make liquid poitan any easier to eat.

“Asuta, the Rutim women don’t seem to have returned from the Ruu settlement yet. And they only just started commuting there yesterday, so they haven’t had much of a chance to learn the techniques just yet... If you don’t mind, could you man our stove for the night?” Gazraan Rutim stated, though I don’t know if it was due to his father’s expression or mine.

“...Please let me have a quick discussion with my clan head,” I said, making as serious of a face as possible before leaning in close to Ai Fa’s ear. “Ai Fa. If we head home for the day now, we may end up having to deal with pure poitan broth for the first time in a while.”

Ai Fa maintained her usual serious look, gave a single nod, and drew close to my ear.

“I’d hate that.”

And so, it turned out that I was manning the Rutim stove for the day.