Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 2.4

4

Once we put out the flames in the stalls, we swiftly started cleaning everything up.

As I was sweeping all the leftover vegetables from the cutting board and wooden plates into a bag, Vina Ruu shot me a brilliant smile.

“We really sold out after all, didn’t we?”

“That’s true. To be honest, it still doesn’t feel real to me.”

It might not have felt real, but we really did have a mountain of coins. Pretty much none of our customers used white coins, so the cloth bag we were using for coins sure was becoming hard to handle.

We had sold through all 120 meals we had prepared, meaning we had received 240 red coins.

It truly was an awe-inspiring number.

“At any rate, let’s go ahead and return the stalls. Ah... but it feels like it would probably be a good idea to visit the currency exchange first to deal with all these coins.”

Since I had over 200 coins, that made for about 1.5 kilos of weight. And so, it was best to exchange them for white coins as soon as possible.

I had heard that nobody would try to prey upon the people of the forest’s edge, but even so, I didn’t let my guard down as I walked down the stone highway.

Naturally, we drew attention since we were pushing carts along around when things generally got their busiest, but since it was the fifth day, I had gotten used to it.

“Hey, you’ve closed up shop? That’s the longest you’ve gone yet.”

“I’ll be stopping by again tomorrow, alright?”

Those warm calls that came our way were all from folks from Jagar.

However, there were also occasionally people from Sym who gave us a slight bow.

“Ah, Dora, are you feeling alright? Once we return this, we’ll be coming back this way.”

“Oh, good work today. I’m fine... I’m not feeling ill or anything like that.”

Dora was seated atop his usual cloth with his lined-up vegetables, but his face really did look a bit pale, and his smile was a touch weaker than usual.

I was worried about him, but for now, we needed to exchange these coins and return the carts.

The currency exchange was located right between the areas for the stalls and the inns. It was a sturdy building, and was protected by guards. And I called it a currency exchange, but apparently it primarily served as a loan office.

They didn’t earn a commission from just exchanging money, but it also wasn’t like they were in the loan business merely as a hobby or out of good will. No, apparently they were entrusted with that job by the lord of Genos, to assure that money could flow smoothly in the post town.

I couldn’t help but wonder if they had any strong feelings about how my business was increasing day after day. But at any rate, the middle-aged guy there showed no expression on his face as he went about exchanging my 200 red coins for 20 white ones.

We returned the carts to The Kimyuus’s Tail, temporarily had them hold onto our belongings, got glared at by Milano Mas, and then finally U-turned back towards the stalls.

“You know, I just noticed... That Kamyua Yoshu man didn’t show up today, did he...?”

“Ah, now that you mention it... It was so busy that I didn’t even notice.”

Neither Kamyua Yoshu nor the Suun clan had shown their faces. There weren’t any crazy incidents or anything, either. And we had gone and sold through all 120 meals we had prepared. It really was an ideal, peaceful day.

As we walked through the bustling streets of the post town, Vina Ruu seductively shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, not seeing him is all well and good on the face of it... But when you don’t see him, you can’t help but wonder if he’s plotting something somewhere out of sight...”

“Oh, do you hate Kamyua then, Vina Ruu?”

“I don’t like people whose feelings I can’t read... That’s why I love you so much, Asuta...”

Was I really that easy to read?

But at any rate, we had to focus on heading to Dora’s shop for now.

“Hey there. Today sure is bustling, huh?” Dora greeted me and the three girls, somehow looking a little weak. And I didn’t see Tara around anywhere, either.

“You don’t look like you’re feeling too well. It... really isn’t some sort of illness?”

“Yeah, as if I’d go and catch a cold,” he said with a firm shake of his head. “The truth is... This morning, a giba got caught in one of our pitfalls.”

“Huh?”

“We have all sorts of traps around our fields so that the giba won’t get at our vegetables. But this morning, they still got us pretty bad... But one of them was dumb enough to fall into our pitfall.”

“...I see.”

“Yeah. And since we set it up, we had to finish it off. And so we all stabbed at it with grigee spears from the top of the hole, but... On days like this, I just don’t feel like eating meat. Those horrifying sounds it was making are burned into my ears... And just remembering causes me to tremble.”

With that, his rotund body really did start quaking.

“The hunters of the forest’s edge really are amazing. The idea of running into a giba in the forest is like a nightmare. I’m sure my knees would give out just from seeing one... There’s no way I could fight a monster like that.”

“I couldn’t either. The hunters seriously have my respect.”

Would Ai Fa return home safely again today? I really wanted to hurry on back and see her doing just fine.

“Still, haven’t there been a lot of giba for the last month and a bit? My place is still fine, but I’ve heard the folks closer to the forest’s edge have suffered so much damage they feel like they’re hanging on by a thread. Apparently they’ve even torn up and eaten aria about to be harvested all the way down to the roots.”

As he said that, he shook his head and looked dejected.

“Somehow, it feels like the losses are getting worse year by year. Is it going to be like my grandfather’s time again, when they’d come flowing from the forest day in and day out...?”

“It’ll be alright, I think. But they really do seem to be on the rise, don’t they?”

Or perhaps it was the number of hunters of the forest’s edge not doing their duty that was growing. But the truth remained a mystery.

“Apparently back before the people of the forest’s edge came around, we farmers used to get together and play at hunting giba. And from what I heard, the giba killed a whole lot of people in the process... My grandfather himself got stabbed in one of his legs and had to use a cane for the rest of his life. I hate it... I could never do something like hunting giba.”

“Dora...”

“Ah, sorry. The people of the forest’s edge put their lives on the line to hunt giba, so this isn’t the kind of thing I should be grumbling to you about. From tomorrow on, I’ll start coming again to have some of your delicious cooking.”

“Right. And I’m glad to have you as a customer.”

Had Tara not opened up to us because this was what her father had been worried about?

Even if he had acted bright and friendly when talking about it, it wasn’t something the people of the forest’s edge could just turn a blind eye towards.

Just how many giba are those guys from the Suun clan even hunting, anyway? I can’t imagine they’re not hunting any at all... But the folks from the main house are coming to the post town in the middle of the day just to drink and eat snacks.

The Suun clan was supposed to be on the same scale as the Ruu, so naturally it would have a huge effect if they weren’t carrying out their duty as hunters.

“...Don’t look so serious there, Asuta. Now then, how much will you be buying today?” Dora asked. He was trying to be overly considerate, so I went ahead and tried to shift gears too.

After all, all I could do for now was try my hardest to run a successful business.

“Sorry. Well then, I’ll take two tarapa and 30 aria... And could I get 150 poitan, too?”

“So you’ve finally hit 150 poitan, have you?! Well then, does that mean you’ll be preparing that many meals for tomorrow?”

“That’s right. I figure that’s probably going to be the limit for what we can make with four people.”

The prep work for the giba burgers took time, so the plan was to instead increase the number of myamuu giba up to 90. Then we would use the next five days to see if we could keep preparing that many each day without putting too much strain on ourselves.

“Also, the Fa house’s stockpile of meat is reaching its limits,” I said to Vina Ruu as I counted poitan. “I’d like to start getting some meat from the Ruu house from tomorrow on, so could I ask you to convey that to Donda and Mia Lea Ruu?”

“Yeah, got it...”

We had already discussed that matter, but I was still racking my brains over what to do about the price.

The Ruu clan had an excess of meat, so Mia Lea Ruu had simply told me, “We don’t need any payment. Take as much as you want.” But we still didn’t know how long I’d be running this business for, so I couldn’t go and essentially just take their meat for free forever. So ultimately, I suggested that I should at least pay for the work of bloodletting and dissecting, which they accepted.

It was an amusing negotiation in which the buyer was trying to raise the price while the sellers were attempting to lower it, but when we finally settled things, we decided on an equivalent amount to that giba’s horns and tusks. That meant 12 red coins for a large giba, and eight for a small.

I still felt that was way too cheap, so someday I’d have to raise it to a fairer price.

“Well then, I’ll be counting on you from the day after tomorrow onwards. Sorry that it’s going to be so much to carry.”

The plan was to have Vina Ruu carry the meat supply for the next day to the Fa house in the morning. Even so, she shot me back a bright smile as I finished counting the poitan.

“If I’m just taking it from one house to another it’ll be no problem at all, since I can use a pulling board. And besides, Lala and Sheera Ruu will be handling much tougher work while I’m just strolling along...”

“Yeah, that’s right. You should have to strain yourself a bit too, Vina.”

They may not talk much during work, but Vina and Lala Ruu really did seem to get along well. And Sheera Ruu was standing there right beside them, a casual smile on her face.

Yes, everyone was wearing satisfied grins. It was clear that those smiles came from the sense of fulfillment from having put in a hard day’s work.

Or at the very least, that was how I was feeling.