Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 2.5

5

“Well then, see you again tomorrow,” I said to Vina Ruu as she set down the pot in front of the Fa house.

The cleanup and shopping had taken some time, but even so, there were still four hours left till sunset. And in that case, I could afford to take some time with my preparations.

But since we’re going and preparing 150 meals, I’m sure we’ll be in the post town for the full time from tomorrow on. That means I’ve got to set things up so I can efficiently handle everything with that in mind.

As that thought ran through my mind, I went to open the door.

To my surprise, though, it was bolted.

“Huh? Ai Fa, are you back already?” I called out as I knocked on the door.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, I finally heard Ai Fa respond, “Hold on a moment.”

And yet, the door still wasn’t opening. In the end, Ai Fa’s “moment” ended up being roughly 30 seconds.

But eventually, I heard the scraping sound of the bolt coming loose, and then the door creaking open.

And in that instant, my breath caught in my throat.

“What happened, Ai Fa?!”

I had no idea what could have occurred. But Ai Fa was clearly frowning deeper than I had ever seen her do before, her slender face was dripping with anguished, cold sweat, and her eyes had the look of a wounded animal about them.

“Not so loud... Hurry up and get inside,” Ai Fa said, quietly disappearing in the shadow of the door.

At any rate, I went ahead and grabbed the pot packed with luggage and stepped into the house.

Ai Fa was crouched behind the door, still wearing her fur cloak and cradling her own left arm.

“...Bolt the door.”

I hurriedly did as I was told, then leaned over Ai Fa.

“What’s wrong? Does your arm hurt? You weren’t attacked by the Suun clan, were you?”

From what I could see, she didn’t seem to have any external injuries. However, I hadn’t seen her make such a clearly pained face since back when she was attacked by the giant madarama snake.

“As if those fools would get the better of me... My arm bone just shifted while hunting,” Ai Fa wrung out.

Her bone... shifted?

Did she mean it was dislocated?

“W-Where in your arm? It’s your left arm, right? Is it your shoulder? Or your elbow?”

“I told you to quiet down... But it’s my left elbow. I already popped the bone back into place, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Y-You say that, but aren’t you supposed to fix it in place after you dislocate a bone? Umm, is there anything we can use as a splint...?”

With that, Ai Fa smacked her head into my chest.

I suppose that was the only way she could object, since both her arms were busy.

“Nothing will be solved by you making a fuss... I know how to handle this, so you just need to lend me your aid.”

“G-Got it. What do you want me to do?”

“...First, remove my footwear.”

I swiftly did as she asked.

Just how much did a dislocated elbow hurt? And on top of that, she had popped it back in herself... Even if I knew how to do that, I could never manage it.

“I-I took them off.”

“Alright... Now we move...”

Ai Fa slowly rose to her feet, biting her lip all the while.

She suddenly wobbled, and so I supported her shoulders as gently as I could with both hands.

Man... I never imagined Ai Fa actually getting injured...

Even through her thick cloak, I could still feel the high temperature Ai Fa was giving off.

“...Take off my hunting attire.”

“Right.”

I untied the leather straps holding the cloak in place, laid it down on the floor, and helped Ai Fa squat down by the wall.

“...There should still be one strip of cloth I haven’t used. Bring that here.”

Naturally, I obediently followed her orders to the letter.

For the next step, I placed a wooden splint against her forearm, tore off thin strip of cloth and wrapped it all around that, and then hung it from her neck to fix her left arm in place. It was pretty much the same treatment method from back in my old world.

“That’s fine... Now then, there are romu leaves inside my cloak, so take those out.”

There were plenty of hidden pockets sewn into the inside of her cloak. And inside of one of them were several of what looked like nearly pitch-black maple leaves.

“It’s a medicinal herb, for reducing fever... Use a wooden spoon to pulverize that alongside just a bit of water... One leaf will be plenty...”

As she leaned up against the wall, Ai Fa’s voice steadily grew weaker. It honestly felt more like her temperature was on the rise than her having trouble dealing with the sharp pain.

“I mashed it. Do you drink this, then?” I asked, approaching Ai Fa and bringing the spoon up to her mouth.

She gulped down the now paste-like black leaf, grimacing like it was seriously gross.

“Alright... Now I’ll rest for a while. Wake me up for dinner.”

“What sort of food do you want to eat? We have gigo, so should I go and make the poitan into a soup too?”

“You should bake the poitan...” Ai Fa replied, pouting ever so slightly.

When I stared at her pained face, it felt like my heart was being crushed.

“Then how about the same menu as Granny Jiba? And if it’s too hard to eat, you can just add the hamburger and poitan to the soup.”

“...Yesterday was hamburgers, so is it really alright?”

“You don’t need to hold back at times like this, you dummy.”

As I said that, I soaked the leftover scrap of cloth in the water jug then firmly wrung it out so I could use it to wipe the sweat from Ai Fa’s face.

“Ah, that feels good,” she muttered, gently closing her eyes. “Having you here is such a help, Asuta... I suffered a similar injury around a year back, and it was a great struggle just to wrap my bandages...”

“...I’m just glad you didn’t get injured any worse.”

“Ah, that’s true. Injuries like this will heal in just a few days... So in that time, I’ll be relying on you a bit.”

“You can count on me as much as you need.”

I washed off the cloth using water I had ladled up, then placed it on her forehead. The water was naturally room temperature, but I still figured it was better than doing nothing.

“Well then, I’m sleeping... You carry out your own work.”

“Got it. If you need anything, then call for me right away, alright?” I replied, despite knowing that I wouldn’t let Ai Fa out of my sight.

A dislocation was no joking matter, but I really was glad she hadn’t suffered something she couldn’t recover from.

Just what would happen to me if I lost Ai Fa now? I couldn’t ever endure that reality, much less figure out how my day to day life would go.

Just how much resolve did the women of the forest’s edge need to see their men off to the forest each and every day?

“Don’t worry... I’ll be able to move without any issues from tomorrow on... There’s no need to fear the Suun clan...” Ai Fa muttered out of nowhere.

I had been heading towards the entrance to clean up my luggage, but with that I made a U-turn and leaned in over Ai Fa.

“I know. So you just take it easy and get your rest. Try to get better, even just a bit sooner, since I’m making you delicious food.”

With her eyes still closed, Ai Fa broke out in a slight smile.

“I want to eat hamburgers soon, Asuta...”

I gave a nod, wrapped both my arms around Ai Fa’s burning cheeks, then stood up to start preparing for dinner and the next day.