4
While I may have been cradling a question I couldn’t find an answer to in my heart, I still had work to do.
And that meant first off, exchanging the horns and tusks for coins via that old person with a smile like a toad.
“What, is that all, Asuta?”
“Yeah. We just bought aria and poitan, after all. Thanks to that, this should be plenty for now.”
I currently held six red coins in my hand. I had chosen the biggest horn and tusk I had available and offered up those, earning me my war funds for the day.
“You guys sure are amazing, though. Guess that’s what you should expect from a family of 12.”
The pair from the Ruu clan had exchanged five giba’s worth of horns and tusks for coins. They received six coins for that too, only theirs were white coins, which were worth ten times as much as red.
“Hehehe... This will only buy us three days’ worth of food, though.”
“Huh? Then, you come to town once every three days?”
The answer was yes. Or sometimes when they had the people to spare, three of them would come and buy five days’ worth.
Since the Fa house had just the two of us we could buy food for up to 20 days, but they had six times as many people as us, so that was their limit.
From doing the math, three days worth for them would be 108 aria and 72 poitan.
Meanwhile, 20 days for the Fa house was 120 aria and 80 poitan, so it wasn’t all that different.
“We’ve got to get the fruit wine dad drinks, too. I don’t get how that stuff’s supposed to be tasty at all.”
“That leaves five reds... Which other vegetable should we buy today?”
I had thought the same when I did so with Ai Fa, but it really did feel like an incredibly fresh experience, discussing shopping about town with the people of the forest’s edge.
And honestly, I couldn’t help but smile seeing the eldest daughter and youngest son, their heights not all that different, happily chatting away. The pair sure did smile an awful lot, which only made them feel more and more out of place considering the looks of fear and contempt we were getting from the folks about the post town.
Ludo Ruu doesn’t give off the same sort of violent aura as the other men unless he turns it on, and looking at his face it’s actually pretty cute, so I can’t imagine finding him scary at all.
I had been all nervous about Ludo Ruu’s actions at first, but somehow, it now seemed stupid worrying about stuff like that.
Ai Fa was Ai Fa, and Ludo Ruu was Ludo Ruu. I knew just how wonderful of a person he was, and what other people thought wasn’t about to change how I felt.
And so, I decided to stop worrying about people staring.
“Well then, want to go look at vegetables? There’s this old-timer with a shop at the northern tip who—”
“Ah! Hold on a second! The weapon shops! They might have something interesting, so let’s go check!” Ludo Ruu yelled out, pushing through the crowds towards one stall in particular. Well, actually, it was less like he was pushing, and more like the crowd was pulling back around him.
“Sorry. He’s already 15, but he’s still such a child... Though I suppose a woman like me who’s hit the age of 20 without even marrying doesn’t have any room to talk...” Vina Ruu said with a smile. In a way, it actually may have been the most charming expression that I’d seen from her yet.
As I approached the stall, I thought to myself, If she gets that much happiness from being with her family, then she doesn’t need to be so fixated on the outside world...
Ludo Ruu, meanwhile, was going, “Ooh!” like a child as he grabbed one of the bladed weapons. “What is this, a hatchet? It looks like it’s meant for killing people or something.”
“Hahaha. Advancing forces need to clear their way through the forest when in war, too. So if they run into the enemy in the middle of that, they can charge right into battle with that, right?” the ivory-skinned old-timer replied, the expression on his face stiffening a bit.
Ludo Ruu had called it a “weapon shop,” but Genos was far removed from the enemy nation of Mahyudra to the north, so the place never saw actual war. And so, what the shop actually sold were hatchets, axes, knives, and other such bladed tools used as part of everyday life.
“Ah, is this a cooking knife?” I asked, only for the old-timer to look a bit troubled. The expression on his face seemed to say, “What’s a pale kid like you doing dressed in the clothing of the forest’s edge?”
“Yeah, for vegetables.”
It was a size smaller and thinner than my old man’s knife, but it still seemed to have a rather nice cutting edge. I’d seen a lot of knives in the Ruu and Rutim kitchens, but seeing them here at the market really was a different, enjoyable sort of experience.
My old man’s knife is already 20 years old. The next time it gets any significant damage, it’ll probably end up unusable. I can use the knife I’m borrowing from Ai Fa for cutting meat, but eventually I’d like one for vegetables, too.
“...That one costs four white coins and five reds,” said the old-timer, speaking with a bit of restraint in his voice.
Hmm. Roughly four giba’s worth, huh?
If the time comes when we’re living prosperous lives or whatever, then I really would like to buy it.
“Thank you. Ludo Ruu, isn’t it about time we got going to check out the vegetables?”
“Huh? Hold on a second,” Ludo Ruu said, and he started stepping away from the stall. And he was still gripping the hatchet with its thick blade in his hand.
“H-Hey, wait!” the old-timer yelled out, but Ludo Ruu still stood dauntingly in the middle of traffic.
“Sorry, but please don’t come near me!” he yelled out loudly, but none of the passersby would approach a man from the forest’s edge to begin with. And so, the people around him looked a bit annoyed, but they all detoured around the hunter.
“That goes for you too, Asuta and Vina, alright?” Ludo Ruu added, then he swung the hatchet down. Next he swung it back upwards, then all around with a fwoosh, fwoosh.
He was slashing so fast that I half expected to see scorch marks hanging there in the air.
The owner of the weapon shop had gone pale as a sheet. The passersby, too. Some of them just froze in place, while others went ahead and made a quick about-face.
Despite all the fear and discomfort being directed his way, Ludo Ruu just kept on swinging around the hatchet, then at last loudly proclaimed, “I like it! I feel like I could smash a giba’s skull in one blow with this thing! How much does it cost, old-timer?”
“E-Eight white coins.”
That would be six giba’s worth even using big horns and tusks, huh? That sure was quite a price.
Considering you could get roughly 60 meals worth of aria and poitan for that price, it went to show just how reasonable the prices on those ingredients really were.
“Got it! Asuta, hold onto it so nobody else buys it! I’ll be right back!”
With that, he thrust the hatchet into my hands and then took off running like the wind.
The sea of people stepped back around him like he was Moses parting the Red Sea.
“He really is a child...” Vina Ruu said with a smile, but I couldn’t imagine a child ever managing to swing around a hunk of steel like that.
It was one centimeter thick, 10 centimeters wide, and the length of the blade itself looked to be around 30 centimeters, making for a meaty hatchet with a slightly curved cutting edge. It felt like it weighed enough that it’d have to be measured in kilos. Yeah, I could certainly see this thing shattering a giba’s skull.
Why is he able to swing around something like this even though he’s littler than me...?
The physical strength of a hunter sure was frightening.
At any rate, Ludo Ruu came running back and bought the hatchet, so it was dangling from his hip when we finally stood before a stall where vegetables were sold. Naturally, it was old man Dora’s shop.
“A-Ah, welcome!”
The old-timer’s smile twitched when he saw I was with a hunter of the forest’s edge other than Ai Fa, but he energetically greeted us even so.
“Ah, yes, so it really was this place. There aren’t many shops that sell aria and poitan in bags, so I thought that may be the case...”
Apparently this wasn’t Vina Ruu’s first time here.
“Could we get 100 aria and poitan?”
“Got it. The aria will be two white coins, while the poitan will be two whites and five reds.”
“Huh? Isn’t that a lot of poitan?” I questioned, whispering into Ludo Ruu’s ear.
“That’s because dad and Darmu eat a whole lot of them,” the boy replied.
Right, Ai Fa had said that three aria and two poitan a day was the bare minimum to live a healthy life, but it seemed the men of the Ruu clan ate enough for three or four people.
“There, 100 each of aria and poitan. Please check them over,” Dora said, plopping down the bags, and the siblings began happily checking away.
I decided to carry out my own objective in the meantime.
“Hey Dora, there’s a few things I’d like to ask you.”
“O-Oh, what is it?”
“This tino, do people eat it raw?”
Tino was a vegetable like a rose made out of lettuce. It was about the same size as a head of that more familiar vegetable, but its taste and texture was a bit closer to cabbage.
“Of course they do. I prefer it cooked, though.”
“I see. Is it normal to heat up this tarapa before eating it, too?”
Tarapa was about the size and shape of a pumpkin, but it was bright red. It was packed in tight on the inside like a pumpkin, too, but it had some strong sourness to it, and when you heated it up and dissolved it, it tasted just like a tomato.
“That’s right. There are folks who eat it raw too, but it’s just too sour unless you cook it with other vegetables, right? I like to heat it up along with aria.”
“Because aria is real sweet, right? If you chop up the aria finely first and then fry them before cooking them, that’ll draw out even more of the sweetness.”
The old-timer’s eyes went wide in surprise.
“Y-You sure are knowledgeable about vegetables, aren’t you?”
“No, not at all. I don’t even know which vegetable you can eat raw. Ah, by the way, are aria eaten raw?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And then, there’s... gigo, huh? Do you sell gigo here?”
“We don’t. My soil’s not suited to growing it. If it’s gigo you want, Granny Mishil has thick, tasty ones that are real popular.”
“Huh? Which shop is that?”
“I-It’s in the central area, between a leatherworker and a cloth seller. A little old lady runs it by herself, so you would know it as soon as you saw it.”
“Got it! Thank you!” I replied, smiling without even thinking.
In response, the old-timer broke out in the gentlest smile I had seen from him yet.
“Alright, it all adds up. Are you not buying any, Asuta?”
“Ah, right. I’ll take two tino and three tarapa, please.”
“Huh? Three tarapa?”
“Right. I was thinking of using it for the shop I’m opening. Ah, by the way... It’s probably best to eat tarapa the same day as you cook it, right? Also, if you cut a fresh one in half, how long will what’s left over last for?”
“Hmm, if you cook it, then it’ll probably last for two days at the most. And if you cut one and leave it out, the moisture will drain from it, but if you just add water when cooking it, it’ll taste the same.”
“I see. You’ve been a huge help. Thanks a ton.”
Tarapa and tino were both bulky, so the five together were enough to fill up a bag.
By the way, tarapa cost one for a red coin, while that same price got you two tino.
I had two coins left in my war funds.
All that was left was buying gigo and fruit wine, and then we’d be done.
“Hmm, what should we do...? Should we just buy tino again...?”
“Tino is stupidly big! Let’s go with something smaller.”
“Then how about pula...?”
“We don’t need any pula.”
“Then what...? I like tino...”
“Let’s go with chatchi, chatchi! It was crazy tasty in that stew!”
“But you need to heat it for a very long time to get it soft like that, right...?”
Chatchi was a vegetable with a texture a whole lot like a potato.
In their giba stews up till now they had just used a strong flame for a short period of time, so the surface was all goopy while the inside was crunchy, which apparently didn’t make it all that tasty.
“It’s fine. I think it should come out like the stew if you just make your soup by heating it up slowly over a low flame. Also, don’t add it after it starts boiling, but heat it up from the start,” I interjected, causing Ludo Ruu to jostle Vina Ruu’s round shoulder as if bragging about his victory.
“See, that’s what Asuta says! So let’s go with chatchi!”
“Alright, alright. I’m fine just as long as it comes out delicious. Um... so we shouldn’t add it once it’s boiling, but instead put it in before lighting the flame...?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe!” Ludo Ruu chuckled, getting his elder sister in a headlock.
“Oww, that hurts...” Vina Ruu complained, wriggling her body in a sensual manner.
These two got along even better than I had thought.
“Huh? There aren’t any chatchi, though. Do you not sell them here?”
“I-If you want chatchi, try Granny Mishil’s place,” the old-timer replied, looking towards Ludo and Vina Ruu with upturned eyes. “Y-You two are rather different, aren’t you? That’s the first time I’ve seen people of the forest’s edge being particular about vegetables.”
“Hmm? I hate pula! You should sell chatchi instead of that stuff!”
“I-It grows on trees, so it’s hard to raise it from scratch.”
“Hmm. There really are all sorts of vegetables, huh?”
Ludo and Vina Ruu were acting the same as always, but the old-timer’s expression had clearly changed. He looked surprised, perplexed, and... happy?
He had openly displayed quite a bit of fear of the hunters of the forest’s edge, but for some reason, he was now staring intently at Ludo Ruu’s face. Was he really that happy to hear what vegetables a person of the forest’s edge liked and hated?
The words, “When it comes to food, there is no good or bad taste,” had seriously upset me. Maybe this old-timer had been cradling similar feelings for a long time now.
As those thoughts ran through my head, a girl’s voice called out from behind, “Ah! It’s Asuta!”
It was Tara. The little girl was holding a kimyuus manju in her hands as she came running on over my way.
When she noticed Vina and Ludo Ruu, though, she suddenly froze in place.
“Huh? What’s with the runt?”
“Ah, she’s this old-timer’s daughter, Tara. I mentioned her before, right?”
“Oh, the kid that you saved, and then she helped you out?”
Ludo Ruu blithely strode over towards the still frozen Tara.
It was a sight that made you feel nervous just to watch, like a nearly grown German shepherd approaching a kitten.
The look of wonder from before had been wiped clean from the poor old-timer’s face, and he had gone completely pale.
“You sure are a runt! You’re just about as tiny as little Rimee. How old are you?”
“E-Eight...”
“The same as little Rimee, huh? But you’re so skinny it makes you look smaller than you should.”
Ludo Ruu crouched down, and looked back and forth between the girl’s face and the manju.
“Something smells good. Is this thing tasty?”
“...Yes.”
“Hmm...”
“D-Do you want a taste?”
Tara had been preciously cradling the manju in both hands, but now she nervously held it out towards Ludo Ruu.
Ludo Ruu, meanwhile, tilted his head a bit.
“Is it alright?”
“I-If it’s just a bite!”
“Ah, got it. Then I’ll take you up on that,” Ludo Ruu replied, then bit into the manju without even using his hands. The way he was going at it, it almost seemed like he was going to bite into Tara’s fingers, too.
Horrified, the old-timer let out a voiceless scream.
Ludo Ruu barely even chewed the manju before swallowing it, then ruffled his yellowish-brown hair, and stood up.
“Hey, it’s not tasty at all.”
“R-Really?”
“Not in the least. Asuta can make way tastier cooking, you know?”
“I-Is that true?” Tara questioned, turning my way with a look on her face that made it seem like she was smiling and crying at the same time.
I gave a single sigh, then stepped closer to her.
“Well, everyone’s sense of taste is different. I don’t know if it’ll meet the taste of everybody from around town, but, actually, I’ll probably be opening a shop around here soon.”
“Really?! You have to let me try some!”
“Well, it’s a shop, so I’ll be selling it... But I’d love to have you and your dad try it and give your impressions.”
“Yeah!”
She really was a cute little girl.
Ai Fa wasn’t around right now, so I could have this warm interaction with her without getting shot a strange look, too.
As that thought was running through my head, though, I turned around and found Vina Ruu standing in front of the stall, staring intently at me and Ludo Ruu.
The female mind truly was a mystery.
“Well then, we’re going to get fruit wine and chatchi. What about you, Asuta?”
“Right. I’ll get fruit wine too, plus some gigo, then I’ll be done.”
“Ah, gigo! We’ve got to buy gigo too, Vina! The baked poitan won’t taste like that without it, right?”
“It’ll be alright. Even after buying ten bottles of fruit wine, we’ll still have five coins left...” Vina Ruu started to reply, just in time for the sudden appearance of the last member of our cast.
“Hey there, Asuta. What an honest pleasure, getting to meet you three days in a row. Have you finally made up your mind?”
It was Kamyua Yoshu. He had approached us with his long cloak dangling down, not making so much as a sound as he slipped through the crowd.
“I heard from Leito and came looking. And sure enough, here you are at Dora’s place.”
“Right. My business here is done, but I’m glad we ran into you, Kamyua.”
I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Ludo Ruu, but the boy had the same look on his face as always. However, he was tapping away rhythmically at the handle to the hatchet dangling from his hip.
Vina Ruu also smoothly stepped closer, stopping diagonally behind her brother.
“Ah, these two are—”
“Vina and Ludo Ruu of the Ruu clan. I heard from Leito. I figured it would be bad if we missed each other, so I left him back at the inn.”
He was wearing the same aloof expression as always. And his purple eyes, like those of both an old man and a child at the same time, happily looked back and forth between the two siblings.
“I believe I’ve likely already met you once at the Ruu settlement, Ludo Ruu, but allow me to properly introduce myself once again. My name is Kamyua Yoshu, and I make a living keeping travelers safe as a bodyguard. I don’t really have a proper home, but well, this post town has been acting as my headquarters, and I’m a wanderer from the west.”
“Huh,” Ludo Ruu replied, sounding utterly uninterested. His fingers were still tapping away at the hatchet’s handle, though.
“I heard from Milano Mas, too. Sounds like there won’t be any problem with you renting a stall.”
“Right. Now I just need to finish up the menu, then I think I’ll be ready to move forward with opening the shop.”
“So you’ve finally made up your mind, huh? I’m so glad! If it means I get to eat your cooking, then I’ll be coming to see you each and every day.”
“I’ll give it my all effort to prepare a menu worthy of that.”
With that, I had finished my business with Kamyua Yoshu.
Noticing that, Ludo Ruu nonchalantly said, “Kamyua Yoshu. I have a message for you from my father, Ruu clan head Donda Ruu. Will you receive it?”
“Of course! Let’s hear it!”
“‘The forest’s edge will wipe away its own disgrace. If you go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, it’ll get bitten off along with the rest of your head.’ That’s all.”
“Understood. I’ll control myself,” Kamyua Yoshu replied, bowing and generally looking like he was putting on airs.
Ludo Ruu’s expression didn’t budge, and he just glanced over my way.
“Well then, let’s go buy the chatchi and gigo. If we waste too much time dawdling around, the sun will end up setting.”
“Right. Well then, Kamyua, sorry since you just went through the effort of finding us, but we still have shopping to take care of, so...”
“Ah, don’t worry about it! After all, when you open the shop, I’ll be seeing you daily for at least ten days straight. I’ll be praying your business is a success, Asuta.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Kamyua Yoshu slipped away just as smoothly as he had appeared.
Kamyua vaguely felt a bit like a ghost today, somehow.
“That man pisses me off...” Ludo Ruu suddenly threw out there.
“Huh?”
“My blade is for cutting giba. I don’t especially want to use it to cut people, but... Guys who I couldn’t cut even if I wanted to make me angry. Especially when they’re from town.”
“L-Ludo Ruu? You mean...?”
“Me and Darmu would be no match for him. Even Jiza may not be good enough. Dad’s probably the only one who’d have a real chance to take that skinny guy’s head.”
As he said that, Ludo Ruu ruffled his yellowish-brown hair, and then he gave a childish “Tch” with his tongue.
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