Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: Day of Speculation

1

Our Fa clan had decided on opening a shop in the post town.

Though with that said, there was still a whole ton of stuff we needed to consider first. In fact, there was so much to consider that we were at a loss as to where we even had to start.

However, after thoroughly thinking over that matter too, I came up with three main problems.

In brief:

-Could this be done alongside my work at the house?

-What should I do about carrying supplies?

-How much should I be aiming to sell it for?

Those three key points.

As long as those matters remained unsolved, I couldn’t even begin figuring out my menu.

To be honest though, I already had an idea of what I wanted to do in regards to the menu, so all that was left was to calculate it all out backwards and form a plan, I figured.

First up, could this be done alongside my work at the house?

My lifestyle continued to be rather disorderly, but the tasks assigned to me were ultimately concentrated in the morning and before sunset. If I reassigned the time around when the sun hit its peak that I’d been using to experiment for work and the commute, then it seemed like it’d work out.

It was obvious, though, that the more time I spent preparing my dishes, the less time I would have for work.

I’d need to construct a careful plan so that work could progress smoothly.

Next, the method of carrying supplies.

This was a tough one.

If the plan was to sell hot cooking, then that would require carrying a metal pot and firewood to the post town. And for that I’d need someone to help, but I couldn’t count on Ai Fa for that. After all, she had her work as a hunter, so I couldn’t ask her to hang about the post town. In that case, it took an hour just getting there one way, and it would require two round trips. And obviously, I couldn’t ask her to sacrifice her hunting work just to help me carry stuff.

So that meant I had no choice but to count on a part-timer.

At any rate, it would be a bit dicey trying to run a shop all on my own, anyway. I’d have to leave now and again to use the restroom, and the post town wasn’t exactly my home field, so leaving the stall empty could prove dangerous. After all, you never know where some thug who hated the people of the forest’s edge may be hiding.

And so, at the very least I’d need one person assisting me.

Lastly, how much should I be aiming to sell it for?

This was a pretty tricky one, too.

In my mind, as long as I didn’t come out in the red that’d be fine, but thinking of the future, I couldn’t go selling it too cheaply now.

One of my main goals was getting folks to acknowledge the value of giba meat, so at the very least, I’d like to price it around what the other meat dishes in the post town were going for.

Plus, if I didn’t, I could throw off the prices in the marketplace. After all, if giba meat was going for too low of a price, it could end up strangling the other meat sellers out of business.

Thanks to that, I reached the conclusion that I should go with the same sort of price and size as those kimyuus manju.

All that was left was to calculate out how much of a profit I’d make after subtracting the cost of my ingredients.

With those thoughts in mind, I went to ask Gazraan Rutim his opinion first thing in the morning, and I seemed to have left him quite bewildered as a result.

“My deepest apologies, Asuta. I can’t understand what you’re saying at all...”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Ah, it’s not that I don’t understand the meaning of the words themselves, but even if you ask about profits and prices and hours spent working... I really just don’t know what to do with all that, or how to help you.”

It seemed I had over-explained a bit, there.

It really didn’t make any sense bringing up work hours and price setting to Gazraan Rutim. I just had to work all that out by myself.

“Sorry, you’re right. Um, the point I really wanted to discuss with you was that I need someone to help out in order to open the shop. I’d have trouble carrying a metal pot stuffed full of ingredients all on my own, and I’d also like to have some help around the shop. I believe my only option is to ask a woman of the forest’s edge to assist me, but do you think it would be possible to buy that time and labor with horns and tusks?”

With that, a questioning look appeared on Gazraan Rutim’s earnest face. It really was an unusual expression for him.

“I believe that should be possible, of course. But wasn’t Ai Fa going to be working alongside you when it came to opening a shop in the post town?”

“Huh? No, Ai Fa has her work as a hunter, so that wouldn’t be possible. And if she were to stop hunting giba, then we really would end up going broke.”

“But if you earn coins in the post town, can’t you use those to purchase aria and poitan?”

“If the business is successful, but if it fails, we won’t get a single coin. Actually, we wouldn’t even have the giba meat to sell in the first place without her hunting...”

“We Rutim could provide that. Just like I said yesterday, we have more meat then we can possibly use.”

“Right. And if the time comes when the business is a success, then I was thinking we’d start counting on you. But what we need at this stage is coins to buy the vegetables we’ll need for my cooking.”

I kept on talking, still unable to read how Gazraan Rutim was really feeling at all.

“Selling cooking made with giba meat in the post town is going to be incredibly hard. As such, I have to keep in mind the worst case scenario that I don’t sell even one over those ten days. If that happens, we could lose all the horns and tusks that Ai Fa has stored up. And so, I believe there’s no path forwards but to have Ai Fa continue her work as a hunter... Plus, I don’t believe Ai Fa has any intention of ever shirking that duty in the first place.”

By my side, Ai Fa nodded.

Gazraan Rutim gave a small sigh, then said, “That’s true. I believe it’s just as you say, Asuta. You firmed up your resolve to open a shop in the post town while facing the possibility of your horns and tusks being wiped out, didn’t you? I was naive in my thinking... But unfortunately, the Rutim clan is shorthanded when it comes to women, so we can’t go lending anyone out to another clan. Just as I mentioned yesterday, the Rutim women are few in number...”

“Is that so? In that case, I guess the Ruu are the only other ones we can discuss it with... Considering Donda Ruu’s attitude, though, I’d imagine that’ll be a bit tricky. Well, if it comes down to it, I guess I’ll just have to come up with a menu where I can handle transporting everything on my own.”

“That’s hopeless,” two voices said in sync.

“W-What is?”

Ai Fa moved her face in close, her anger clearly showing.

“Think about if you happen to succeed, then. You would be wandering around the post town with those coins all on your own, wouldn’t you? Do you really think you are capable of protecting yourself from the ruffians around there?”

“Huh...? Well, that may be true, but isn’t shopping in the post town considered women’s work? If that’s alright, then I should be—”

“So you think you’re stronger than the women of the forest’s edge?”

It felt like the word “Shock!” must’ve just popped up above my head.

Naturally, I wasn’t confident I could carry more than Mia Lea, but I at least wanted to believe I wouldn’t lose out to Reina or Lala Ruu.

“It’s just as Ai Fa says. But with that said, even if you were stronger than the women of the forest’s edge, that still wouldn’t change how dangerous it is.”

“W-What do you mean, Gazraan Rutim?”

“No one from the post town would dare point a blade at a person of the forest’s edge of their own volition. Even if we were discussing a weak child or elder, it was already established several decades ago just what would happen if someone from the city of stone were to harm a person of the forest’s edge.”

Gazraan Rutim’s tone was calm, but what he had said was seriously intense.

Had some sort of huge incident happened back then?

“...But even if you wear the clothing of the forest’s edge, your appearance is still that of someone from the city of stone. If a ruffian in the post town decides your outfit is just for show, then you would be in great danger.”

“Right...”

“On top of that, there’s also the possibility of running into members of the Suun clan in the post town. That matter actually worries me even more.”

Ai Fa gave a big nod in response to Gazraan Rutim’s words.

“I’ve of course thought of that, too... But even if they are part of the Suun clan, would they really openly try to pull something so awful in the middle of the day?”

“...Doddo Suun drew his blade in the post town in the middle of the day, didn’t he? And he did the same at my wedding banquet, too.”

“Yeah, well... That’s true, but... But they wouldn’t be let off if they actually cut someone, right?”

“Of course not. Neither the laws of the city of stone nor the forest’s edge would forgive such an action. And if such a thing were to happen, I would make sure the culprit paid for their crime, even if it cost me my life.”

As he said that, Gazraan Rutim leaned forward, seemingly unconsciously.

“But even if judgment is cast upon the culprit after you’re gone, that wouldn’t make up for it at all. There’s no way trading your safety for the life of some ruffian would be a fair exchange, right?”

The distress in Gazraan Rutim’s eyes and the irritation in Ai Fa’s showed me just how short-sighted I had been.

Apparently, my sense of danger really had been lacking.

“Of course, no matter how much of an outlaw one may be, they aren’t going to do that which can’t be undone in front of others so lightly. If they did, it would clearly lead to their own destruction as well. But try thinking about it... If you commute to the post town each and every day, eventually there will be a moment when nobody’s watching. Would it not be simple for a ruffian from the Suun clan to simply lie in wait alongside the path between the forest’s edge and the post town? And if that were to happen...”

“H-Hold on a second! In that case, wouldn’t it be just as dangerous even if a woman from the Ruu or Rutim clan was accompanying me?”

“No. As they are now, the Suun clan lacks the guts to try that. If they were to harm someone under the Ruu clan, Donda Ruu would surely unleash all the anger he’s been holding back up till now, after all.”

As he said that, there was a more intense light in Gazraan Rutim’s eyes than I had ever seen from him before.

“If that time came, the Suun clan would surely be destroyed. And at the same time, a great deal of blood would be shed by the Ruu clan and those under them... It’s possible this very settlement could even meet its end.”

“...Right.”

“The head of the Suun clan is well aware of Donda Ruu’s personality. That’s why I’m sure he must have actually been annoyed at his sons for meddling. After all, the Suun clan’s head values protecting their current carefree lifestyle above all else.”

“...And they crashed the banquet like that even so?”

“Yes. Because they’re big enough fools to even neglect their clan head’s orders.”

That was the first time I had ever heard this earnest young man clearly speak ill of anyone.

This really was a morning of firsts.

“But as I see it, even they don’t have the resolve to lead the forest’s edge towards destruction. Ultimately, even Doddo Suun drawing his blade at the banquet was solely a means of intimidating you, Asuta. Like I said before, I think they lack self-control when it comes to the Fa clan, who are not under the Ruu.”

“Yeah...”

“Even so, Ai Fa is capable of protecting you. That’s why I didn’t feel any threat from the Suun clan, but if Ai Fa won’t be acting alongside you... I believe you do indeed have no choice but to make a request of Donda Ruu. If you can hire a woman from the Ruu clan, you will naturally be safe.”

“Right... But will there really not be any danger there? I mean, I wouldn’t be exposing that Ruu woman to danger in the process, would I?”

“You wouldn’t be. I fear such an incident leading to the destruction of our forest’s edge more than anyone, I swear that on my life.”

There wasn’t so much as a hint of hesitation in Gazraan Rutim’s gaze.

An oaf like me was one thing, but surely the Suun clan couldn’t trip up someone as mature as this. His gaze was just so firm that I couldn’t help but believe that.

That was enough for me to shore up my resolve, but Ai Fa’s gaze was still burning with frustration by my side.

“Asuta, why are you so indifferent when it comes to protecting yourself? There’s no way I would ever let someone as weak as you head to the post town on your own, right?”

“Please don’t stress that point so hard. I’m already painfully aware of how weak I am...”

“I can’t help it. A hunter has their own job, and so does the chef who mans the stove. And the Ruu, Rutim, and Fa clans all have their own roles, too. And I believe that even if we aren’t all under the same clan, we should support each other’s faults so that we can hope to all live better lives.”

With that, Gazraan Rutim smiled for the first time in a while.

“And Ai Fa, is it not the custom of the Fa clan to not rely on others and instead take everything on yourselves? You and Asuta seem quite alike to me, in the way that you push onward towards your goal without thinking of your own safety.”

Gazraan Rutim really was quite the man.

As for why I couldn’t help but think that... Hearing that, Ai Fa was pouting and looking incredibly displeased.

I figured this was probably the first time Ai Fa had shown a face like that to anyone but me.

And as I admired Gazraan Rutim’s greatness... at the same time, for some reason I also felt really jealous (or something like that).

I couldn’t help but sigh as I pondered just how petty I was.