Chapter 4: The Tenth Day—Fresh Determination
1
At last, the day had arrived.
It was the sixth day of the blue month, our tenth day of business here in the post town.
On the eighth day, we sold 138 meals, and on the ninth it was 142.
That made for a net profit of 1011 red coins.
In terms of giba horns and tusks, that would be roughly 84 heads worth. If the Suun clan was looking to live buried in riches, then it was no surprise I would catch their eyes with numbers like that.
Together, the four of us had earned that sum. In just ten days, we had earned the equivalent of 84 giba. Even if you factored in the value of their pelts, painstakingly skinned and tanned, it would still be the equal of 42 giba. That was the scale our earnings had reached.
Naturally, this business was only possible thanks to the strength of the hunters, and I had no intention of forgetting their efforts. But still, those sure were some crazy numbers. Put another way, the people of the forest’s edge could earn this much money from giba meat, but they had been going and knowingly dumping it in the forest.
Looking at it that way, we still hadn’t done enough.
Giba meat still had an even higher value to it.
If not just giba cooking but giba meat itself could be exchanged for coins, then at that point, prosperity should truly come to the forest’s edge.
That was precisely why I had taken up this challenge in the post town.
“Good morning, Milano Mas.”
Ai Fa had recovered now that two days had passed, so she was accompanying me, Vina, Lala, and Sheera Ruu. And when we arrived at The Kimyuus’s Tail, we found Milano Mas already standing there behind the building waiting for us.
He wasn’t all that large of a man but he was well built, and his yellowish-brown skin marked him as a pureblooded citizen of Genos. He always had a displeased look on his face, and today was no exception.
“So you’re finally here, huh? The guards stopped by the shop earlier.”
“Huh?”
“Apparently, more folks from Sym and Jagar than ever have gathered today. This sign may be backfiring, huh?”
“This sign” referred to the small one beneath the sign for the shop itself. I couldn’t read it at all, but it should have said, “Closed on the 7th, 10th, and 11th of the blue month.”
The plan was to take tomorrow off for the study session, while the 10th was the clan head meeting itself, and then I would need to take the following day off too since I wouldn’t have time to prepare for work.
“I mean, I’d be concerned about just taking time off without letting anyone know... Is it really such a big crowd?”
“No clue. And the guards just told me not to worry about it, too.”
As he said that, Milano Mas reached into the pocket of his pale black apron. What he pulled out were eight red coins.
When I told him I was taking a break, he said in that case the contract for the myamuu giba stall and space would be temporarily canceled, so he would return the appropriate amount of money. Plus, at any rate, if I was going to keep having two stalls, it made sense to have the days on them match up.
With this, my contract with The Kimyuus’s Tail had come to an end for the moment.
The question still remained of what would happen from the day after tomorrow on, but I wasn’t able to get a response just yet.
“I’ll decide by the time you close up shop for the day. That should be fine, right?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind.”
Still, the way that I couldn’t read how Milano Mas was feeling at all just didn’t sit well with me, somehow.
Milano Mas gave a “Hmph,” then glared at each of us in turn.
“Get going already. If you end up causing another commotion, then that’ll be the end of your shop either way,” he bluntly stated.
Leaving it at that, we followed his advice and headed for our spot.
“He had a nasty air about him, right up till the end. If he hates the people of the forest’s edge that much, then why not wash his hands of us already?” Lala Ruu whispered my way as we pushed the cart along.
“Yeah... But regardless of what’s going on in his head, I guess he wants time to think it over till he feels satisfied.”
Yumi had said Milano Mas’s family or friend or something had been harmed by a person of the forest’s edge. If that was true, just how had he felt while dealing with us up till now?
If he had overcome such feelings of hatred and was able to see us as true and proper business partners, then I wanted to keep cooperating with The Kimyuus’s Tail.
Well at any rate, I’ve got to make it through today first.
No matter how things turned out, it didn’t change what we had to do. This tenth day was a turning point of sorts, but we still just had to work our hardest, the same as always.
However, there was just one point that differed from how things had been up till now. For today, we prepared 80 giba burgers.
When we moved our base of operations from the Fa house to the Ruu settlement, we ended up freeing an extra two hours for Vina Ruu. She used that time to help me with preparations, and as a result we were able to prepare an extra 20 meals.
We had heard a lot of disappointment since announcing that we were taking time off, so I figured maybe we could expect to sell better than ever on the days before and after. This was a measure taken with that in mind, but it was still anyone’s call how it would turn out.
At any rate, as we advanced along the highway, Lala Ruu suddenly let out a “Whoa...”
I looked up, and immediately recognized the reason she had done so. There was a bigger crowd than ever before gathered in front of our space.
In addition to the customers from Sym and Jagar, there were also plenty of people from the west, with it being hard to tell which of them were onlookers and which ones were there to make a purchase. But at any rate, it was such a big crowd that it nearly blocked off the path through the area. I suppose I could see why the guards weren’t going to just keep quiet about this.
“Hey there. You seem even more popular than usual today, don’t you?”
When I turned to look, I saw Dora in his usual space with a great big grin. Tara was there too, smiling away.
“But you’re not going to sell out first thing in the morning, right? We were planning on taking our time and stopping by later.”
“Right. Thank you. Well then... Could I get four tarapa and tino, and 30 aria?”
“Got it. That’ll be 12 red coins.”
After I shoved the purchased vegetables in a bag, we departed for the front.
“Give it your all, Asuta!” Tara called out from behind, cheering us on as we headed towards the sea of customers.
“Sorry for the wait!”
A cheer of sorts rang out in response to my voice, but then it soon went silent. The customers from Jagar must have been restraining themselves due to the guards keeping a watchful eye.
It hadn’t been that crowded in the morning lately, with 20-30 people lining up at most, but today there were about twice as many there. I was only taking tomorrow off, so I honestly felt so honored to see all these people showing up.
“Please hold on just a moment. We’ll be ready to go shortly.”
After setting the lit brazier into the stall, we started stirring the tarapa sauce.
We moved the meat steeped in marinade to another bag.
We diced up the tino, and sliced the aria.
By now, everyone was fully accustomed to the routine.
“Don’t you feel sort of excited, somehow...?” Lala Ruu asked, a joyous smile on her face. “This work is so interesting. I definitely like it way better than peeling pelts at home.”
“I see. Well, that’s what matters most.”
“What will you do from the day after tomorrow on? Are you going to have us swap out for other women after all?”
“I don’t know. Personally, it would be a big help to always have the same members around, though.”
For a second Lala Ruu’s face lit up with excitement, but then her expression clouded a bit.
“Um, in that case, do you mean that you don’t want to work with Reina?”
“Huh...?”
“Reina wants to work together with you really badly, you know. But would that just be a pain for you?”
Lala Ruu was staring straight at me, her blue eyes like the ocean.
Had Lala Ruu seen through how me and Reina Ruu felt, thanks to her strong sensitivity and powers of observation?
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just... I sort of thought it would be for the best if I didn’t go and carelessly approach Reina Ruu too much.”
“Is this really something that’ll be solved by not coming near her?”
“Sorry... I honestly don’t know. Maybe I’m just putting off dealing with it.”
“There’s no point in apologizing to me. At any rate, things will end up taking their own course, so why not just handle things how you like?” Lala Ruu said, shooting a wide grin my way at the end that was just like her.
With that I got myself back on track and added some aria into the heated pot.
“We’ll be open for business momentarily! Please line up in groups of five!”
The first batch to show up in front of me were from the construction group, and included Pops and Aldas.
“Good morning. You’re rather early today, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to slip away till the early afternoon once we start working today, so we rushed on over in a hurry. After all, we couldn’t let today slip us by when you’re already taking tomorrow off, right?” Aldas said with a hearty smile, while Pops stood by his side with a dissatisfied look.
“I see. In other words, you’re at fault for taking a day off. When you do that you earn less, don’t you? And we’re only here in Genos for the month, but you’re going and taking three whole days off? Don’t do that again during the blue month. If you need a break, then take it once we’re back in Jagar.”
“Ahaha, sorry about that... I’ll do my best not to let it happen again this month.”
As I replied, I tossed in three kilos of meat.
When the scent of fruit wine and myamuu filled the air, the look on Pops’s face softened ever so slightly.
“Hmm... I can’t get enough of that smell. But you’re closed tomorrow, huh...? Hey, Aldas, just what are we going to eat tomorrow morning?”
“I suppose it’ll have to be the karon wrapped in fuwano that we had been eating before, right? Wasn’t that a favorite of yours, Pops?”
“We already get plenty of karon meat at dinner, though. I want to eat giba meat.”
Then, from his position about a head higher than Pops, Aldas gave a knowing smile.
“Ah, right... Hey, kid, a guy named Naudis may stop by later, so take care of him, alright?”
“Naudis? Is he one of your friends or something?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but well, we’ve known each other for some time. It looks like he’s finally about ready to get up off his backside, too.”
I didn’t get what he meant at all, but I ended up finishing the myamuu giba before I could ask.
“Well then, see you again the day after tomorrow. Don’t go getting sick or taking any more time off, alright?”
“Right. Thank you for your continued business.”
With that, I just had to keep on focusing on making food.
The fifteen I made in advance all sold out in an instant, after all.
“Sorry! Please hold on just a moment!”
We were selling even faster than on the morning of the fifth day, which had been our busiest so far.
I sold right through the next 15 meals too, and the flow of customers only finally came to an end once I sold seven of the next batch.
When I glanced over to see how the giba burger stall was doing, I happened to find Sheera Ruu turning my way too.
“We prepared an extra 20, but we only have five of those left. Should we go ahead and get even more ready?”
“Hmm, let’s wait and see a little longer. I think you’ll be good to start making them once you’re down to three left... Ah, welcome.”
When I finished selling that customer from Sym a meal, we ended up with 52 myamuu giba left and 45 giba burgers. Pretty much no customers from the west had shown their faces yet, but things were still going almost too smoothly.
Plus, over these last three days the number of customers from the west had indeed been growing bit by bit. I believe we actually ended up with over 30 of them yesterday.
Giba meat cooking was slowly but surely penetrating the Genos domain. I’d have to make sure I reported that fact to Gazraan Rutim come tomorrow.
It was then that a cloaked group started coming our way. Naturally, it was The Silver Vase, the group led by Shumiral.
“Welcome! Thanks for your continued business.”
There were exactly ten people in the group from Sym, and as always they split up so that five of them were lined up in front of each stall.
Shumiral was on the rotation for myamuu giba on even days, so he removed his hood as always and gave a polite greeting.
“It is unfortunate, that you are closed, tomorrow. We will come again, the day after.”
“Right. Thank you very much.”
“Asuta, what will you do, about making a purchase...?”
“Ah, yes. I talked to my clan head about it, so I was thinking of stopping over at your shop after work.”
As of yesterday, we had earned over 1000 red coins. That meant it would be 100 white coins, which was finally enough to exchange for a silver.
However, money was meant to be spent. It wasn’t as if we were planning to save up for some big purchase, so I asked Ai Fa if it was about time to spend some of it, and she gave her consent.
“I am glad. I will be, in the shop, until sunset,” Shumiral replied, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
That alone was enough to show the happiness he was feeling. It really felt like over these last few days, I had built up some serious friendship and trust with Shumiral.
“Well then, I will see you later.”
“Right. See you then.”
Once we were done serving the group, we had sold through a full 40 giba burgers.
After we finished the work to prepare the next batch, we would go ahead and take a break.
“Don’t folks from the east sort of resemble the people of the forest’s edge...?”
“Ah, you think so too, Lala Ruu?”
“Yeah... A long time ago, Granny Jiba told me that the people of the forest’s edge may have been born of mixed blood between the east and south.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yup. Granny Jiba didn’t know any details either, though. Long before the war between Jagar and Sym started, clans exiled from their respective capitals met in the forest, and those were the ancestors of the people of the forest’s edge... Apparently that’s what one legend says.”
“Wow, that’s amazing! I sure do find it easy to get along with folks from both Sym and Jagar. Is that why, I wonder...?”
“Really? In that case, when Granny Jiba and the people from back then were driven from the forest in the south, they should have gone to the east rather than the west, huh?”
“Hmm... But the eastern kingdom uses a different language, right? Plus, the south and east were already enemies by then, so I suppose they had no choice but to rely on the western kingdom, which was friendly with both.”
“Ah, I see... Well, no matter what I have to say about it now, I suppose it won’t change how we live our lives.”
As we had that conversation, they apparently managed to finish preparing the giba burgers.
By this point, I was able to completely leave seasoning the tarapa sauce up to Sheera Ruu.
“Alright, then let’s go ahead and take a break. We just finished our preparations over here too, so do you mind if we go first?”
“That’s fine!”
I grabbed two giba burgers while Lala Ruu chose a myamuu giba with tarapa sauce, and we headed on over to Ai Fa. She looked like she was asleep, but when we had approached within two meters, her eyes shot open and she looked up.
“Were you asleep? Sorry about that. We brought a snack, but do you want to eat?”
“Yeah.”
Ai Fa had completely recovered.
Just to be safe, she had restrained herself and not come to town yesterday or the day before, but by today it had been six days since she had injured her left elbow. The plan was actually to set it free from its bindings tomorrow morning, even.
“I’ll still need some time before I can head into the forest, but I should be fairly recovered by the time of the clan head meeting,” Ai Fa had explained.
There were four more days till then. It really would have been bad to head to the Suun settlement with her left arm in a sling, so I was seriously glad to hear it.
“By the way, you said you were buying something after closing up shop, right? What were you thinking of?” Lala Ruu asked, brimming with curiosity while joyously stuffing her cheeks.
“Um, you see, I was actually planning on buying a cooking knife and an iron tray.”
“Iron tray...?”
“Yeah, that’s right! It’s actually a new item the guy running the pot store got in! It really seems like it’ll be useful to have around!”
“Is that all...?”
“Yeah, that’s all.”
I felt great satisfaction in the idea, but Lala Ruu was shooting me an incredibly bored look.
“Those are both cooking tools, aren’t they...?”
“Yup. But I mean, those alone will end up costing me 33 white coins.”
I had come to the decision with Ai Fa that once we had saved more than 100 white coins, I would spend around half and save the rest. And so, I would purchase the Sym-made cooking knife for 18 white coins, and the Jagar-made iron tray for 15, adding up to 33 in total.
“Ah, you’re talking about that blade the silver-haired guy from Sym showed you, right? You looked like you really wanted it.”
“Yeah! That’s right!”
“So what about you, Ai Fa...?” Lala Ruu asked, giving up on me as a cooking-obsessed fool and turning towards my clan head.
However, Ai Fa just responded, “I don’t particularly need anything,” while carefully eating away at her miniature giba burger.
“Huh? Nothing?”
“Yes. My blades are still perfectly usable, and we have no lack of medicine or cloth.”
“Then what about banquet clothes, or accessories? You just borrowed Granny Jiba’s old ones last time, didn’t you?”
“I have no intention of using such things in the future.”
“Huh? But I mean, you might be asked to man the stove for a banquet again like last time, right?”
“...I’ll deal with that when it comes,” Ai Fa bluntly answered.
Lala Ruu looked entirely dissatisfied.
“What the heck? It’s like Asuta’s the only one enjoying himself.”
“That’s right. This is the Fa clan’s fortune, so I’d like you to use as much as you want, as the clan head. Even ignoring what we make today, we’ll have 17 white coins left to spend, right?”
“If you want to use them, then use them as you please. And wait... You aren’t buying anything but cooking tools anyway, are you? I won’t tell you to waste it, but you should use it more on whatever you please.”
“Hmm. In that case, I’ll use it on some other odds and ends, I guess,” I replied, only for Ai Fa to repeat, “Use them as you please,” with a look of satisfaction.
“Got it. That’s just what I’ll do, then.”
“Hey, Asuta...” Lala Ruu said, shooting me a rather irked look.
But then, she seemed to see something in my expression and muttered, “Well, whatever...” before tossing the rest of her snack into her mouth.
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