Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.6

6

“Well then, I’ve done all sorts of calculations,” I said, deciding to lay out the plan I had constructed in my head to Ai Fa now that we had eaten dinner. “The ingredients I’ll use are aria, poitan, tino, tarapa, and gigo mixed into poitan. Thinking purely on profits, maybe it would be best to just stick to the cheaper aria and poitan, but I think it would be hard to get folks from around town to try it like that. And so, I decided to try to appeal to them.”

“Hmm.”

“And like Kamyua Yoshu had said, this isn’t a dinner, but a midday snack, so I don’t think I need to worry about the daily intake needed of aria and poitan or anything. And so, I’ll mostly use the aria as seasoning, and only one poitan each. I’ll be using tarapa and tino in exchange, so the nutritional value shouldn’t be all that different from that manju I ate.”

“Hmm.”

“So I tried roughly calculating the cost of ingredients for one dish, and it looks like it’s about 0.65 red coins. Half a day’s worth of aria and poitan works out to 0.55 red coins, so it’s not all that crazy of a number. And so I think it’s best to use a variety of ingredients to improve the overall taste and presentation.”

“...Hmm.”

“On top of that, if I’m creating 10 meals a day while spending that amount on ingredients, I’ll end up with quite a lot of excess tarapa. Even if I make 20 meals in one day, I think I could manage with just 1.5 tarapas. In that case, the tarapa is the most expensive item, so if I make 20 meals in one day, I should be able to keep the unit cost under 0.6 red coins per unit. And if I go up to 30 or 40 in a day, then the price of the ingredients will gradually decrease.”

“......Hmm.”

“Then there are the other sundry expenses. The location and stall fees for ten days add up to two white coins, which converts to 20 red, and then there’s the pay for Vina Ruu, as well. That’s nothing to sneeze at when you add it up. A horn and tusk a day is equal to six red coins, so ten days means 60 of them. That makes the initial expenses 80 red coins. So right now, I calculate that I’ll need to sell at least 40 meals in order to not end up in the red.”

“Hmm.”

“Then, adding in the fee for the ingredients at that highest rate of 0.65 red coins, we won’t go in the red if I sell 60 meals in this ten day period. If I think of that as six meals a day, it sounds like a pretty meager goal. But if I can’t even sell that much, it will mean the taste of giba meat just can’t break through to the folks of the post town and they’ll just keep on avoiding it. Even if I don’t do much selling in the first few days, though, I’ll just have to bear it and hope that the word of mouth spreads.”

“...Asuta.”

“Even if I just sell one or two for the first few days, if I just aim to sell 20 on each of the last three days I’ll come out in the black, so I don’t think my odds are too bad. After all, my research showed that most places were selling between 20 and 50 meals a day there. And I’d just like to reach that bare minimum number.”

“Asuta. Asuta.”

“But even if I think I’ve got a real fighting chance, I still can’t deny that it’s a gamble. This isn’t just a battle of tastes, but to see how much I can overcome the prejudice against the people of the forest’s edge, so there’s a risk that if things go badly I might not even sell a single one. So for the first few days I’ll prepare a conservative ten per day, keeping the costs down so—”

“Asuta!”

“Huh? What is it?”

When I looked, I saw that Ai Fa looked like she was practically clinging to the wall, tilting her head, and glaring my way.

What the heck? Her legs were actually seated in a proper ladylike fashion rather than with one knee up in the air, which was really cute.

“...Do you have some sort of clear purpose behind making me suffer so?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” I asked back, tilting my head.

It was hard to tell because it was dark, but Ai Fa seemed like she was tearing up a bit.

“I don’t get what you’re saying at all! My head just keeps hurting worse and worse!”

“Ah, was it hard to understand? Sorry about that. So to simplify...”

“Enough already! I leave it all to you! My head is pounding!”

It was such an explosion of irritability that it called to mind Lala Ruu.

Even for someone who showed off as much emotion as Ai Fa, this was unusual.

“B-But you told me to explain, right? And since we’re both involved in this, I really do think it’s best that you grasp the fine details, too...”

“I said enough already, geez! My head won’t stop aching!”

Geez?! Did she just say “geez”?!

W-W-W-What should I do? Was Dan Rutim’s childishness contagious or something?

Before my panicked eyes, Ai Fa pressed her head up against the wall and collapsed on down.

“My head hurts...”

“Gah, are you alright?! Hey, Ai Fa!”

I scooped up the now limp Ai Fa and cradled her in my arms.

When I held my hand up to her forehead, she felt just a bit feverish.

“A-A fever from overloading your brain? Hey, are you in pain? Should I get you some water or something?”

“I’m fine... Just stop talking so loud...”

Ai Fa knitted her brows in pain, then closed her eyes tight.

“Don’t move from that position... My head hurts...”

“G-Got it.”

I quietly waited for Ai Fa to revive, cradling her body atop my knees.

Naturally, I wouldn’t get all stirred up considering the circumstances, but we were normally never this close, so the feeling of Ai Fa’s warmth certainly made it hard for me to relax.

“Are you alright...?”

“...A little longer,” she replied, tightly gripping my t-shirt.

Her chest wrapped in cloth in the style of the forest’s edge was moving greatly up and down.

She really did look like she was in pain.

“Sorry. I really did over-explain the details, huh...? I guess there’s no need for you to worry about the financial calculations. I mean, I don’t know how to hunt giba or anything, so I guess just leave the money stuff to me.”

Rather than reply, Ai Fa just kept rubbing her head against my chest.

Did her head still hurt?

“Even if I screw up, I’m prepared in order to keep the losses at a minimum. I don’t want to waste even a single one of those treasures you risked your life hunting giba to gather.”

“...How many horns and tusks will we lose if you fail?” Ai Fa asked, seeming to have mostly settled back down.

Feeling a bit relieved, I replied, “If I don’t sell even one up to the bitter end, 12 giba’s worth at worst. It’s pretty unbelievable, right?”

“It is.”

“Yeah, it’s just crazy. But from that, two heads’ worth go to the location and stall fee, while the rest is split in half between the ingredients and what I’m paying Vina Ruu. So the only place I could really cut would be the ingredients.”

“...Right.”

“I hardly saw any shops selling dishes that were just meat in the post town. There was a place that sold bird legs cooked up with just a bit of vegetables, too, but that was apparently meant to pair with alcohol. So I think that in order to compete, I need to come up with something that seems like a proper snack... If I was just focused on the money, though, I could try selling grilled and dried meat.”

“There would be no point to that. We’re living just fine, so you don’t need to worry about money problems,” Ai Fa said, jingling her necklace with her open hand.

Between that and the ones she had in the inner pockets of her cloak, she must have had at least 12 giba’s worth. That only made sense, considering she was taking down a giba every other day despite us being a clan of only two.

However, that was also proof that the number of giba in the forest had started multiplying, and that the danger Ai Fa was exposing herself to was growing in turn. Ai Fa was challenging the post town to a fight, using those horns and tusks she risked her life to obtain as her bet.

To bring prosperity to the forest’s edge... For the sake of her brethren whose names she didn’t even know, out there suffering like the Fa clan once had.

“I cannot speak with words that strongly rouse one’s will the way that Gazraan Rutim can. But... I will have no regrets, even if we lose that many horns and tusks. So just muster your own strength, Asuta, the way that you did when facing off with Donda Ruu, and when you agreed to cook for that wedding banquet.”

“Yeah. I’ll do the best that I can, with my pride as a member of the Fa clan on the line. Is your headache really alright...? How about taking it easy and turning in early for the night?”

“...Right,” Ai Fa replied, not moving.

“Um... Do you think you’re going to lie on the floor?”

“If I’m too heavy, then I’ll lie down there.”

I mean, even if you were heavy, it’s a super comfy sort of weight. And I didn’t exactly feel like forcing you to get off if you didn’t want to...

“...When will you open the shop?”

“Four days from now. The Ruu clan will be going to buy stuff again in three days, so I’ll tag along then and take care of the preparations for the shop. Until then, I’ll be using trial and error to see if I can’t improve anything about the dish I prepared today. Actually, you didn’t say anything but, ‘it’s tasty,’ so do you have any other thoughts?”

“None.”

“I see... What’s tastier? That, or a regular hamburger?”

“...They’re both delicious.”

“If you absolutely had to chose one?”

“Are you trying to make my head hurt again?” Ai Fa said, sounding angry and turning over atop my lap. However, now she wasn’t facing outward, but towards me instead. “If they say that tastes bad, then those townfolks’ tongues have all gone rotten. So if that happens, just give up on opening a shop and only cook for me.”

“That sounds like a pretty happy life in its own way. But first, I have to give it my all to try to succeed.”

“Right,” Ai Fa said with a nod, then she pushed her head up against my chest. “Your happiness is my happiness, Asuta.”

“Yeah.”

“So your success... gives me pride,” Ai muttered, positioned like she was whispering right into my heart.

...It’s fine.

All sorts of problems were sure to pop up after I opened the shop. That was just how reckless of a fight we were taking on.

How much of the preconceptions of the post town could I overturn, faced with 80 years of prejudice and descrimination against giba and the people of the forest’s edge?

At the very least, I wanted to try to do whatever I could.

For the sake of the people most precious to me, and the place where they lived...

I felt proud, being able to call myself one of them.

Suddenly, I realized that Ai Fa had fallen asleep in my arms.

...As long as you’re there for me, I’m sure I’ll be fine, I thought to myself as I felt that pleasant warmth and weight up against my body.