Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 1.3

3

By the time we stepped back out of the kitchen, the men were gone.

As I tilted my head and wondered where they went, Reina Ruu gently approached and whispered, “The men are in the ritual hall. There’s still some time till the clan head meeting, but apparently the clans under the Suun were complaining about them wandering around the settlement with their blades on them.”

“I see,” I said with a nod.

“Asuta, what should we be doing next?”

“We’ll split into three groups and start making soup as planned. And I’d like you to have the Suun women taste test it at every key point.”

“Taste test it?”

“Yeah. And I don’t mind if it’s just idle chatting or whatever, but could you try to bond with them as much as possible while working? The feelings you put into your cooking are important, after all. If they stay as listless as they are now, it could have an effect on the final dish.”

“Ah... I sort of understand, somehow. You mean the desire to make delicious food leads to the dish turning out tasty, right?”

“Yup. That’s exactly what I meant,” I said with a big nod, and Reina Ruu shot me back a joyful smile.

“Got it. We all may have been a bit too on edge ourselves, because we were dealing with the Suun clan. But we’re all women of the forest’s edge, so I’d like to believe we share the desire to make delicious food for the men.”

Reina Ruu really was both kinder and wiser than most folks.

After I gave the same explanation to Mia Lea and Sheera Ruu, I met up with the members of my group. That meant Vina and Lala Ruu.

“Well then, could all of you from the Suun clan split up into three groups, too? And if you don’t mind, please try to stick as much as possible with members of your house and people you are especially close to.”

With that, we formed our unit of five members of the Suun clan and three of us, grabbed the necessary amount of aria and meat, and headed off to a branch family kitchen.

“Now then, let’s start by chopping up the aria. I’d like you to cut them into wedges, which is done like this.”

One portion of giba soup used two aria and 150 grams of giba meat.

“Now that I think about it, we’re making ten people’s worth of food for Mida Suun thanks to that physique of his, but he couldn’t possibly need 10 servings of soup too, right?” I asked one of the Suun women, taking care to act even cheerier than I did when working in the post town.

However, she just listlessly responded, “I’m not sure...” while chopping up aria.

“Well, I guess it’s better to have too much than to have too little. And besides, the plan is to prepare a little extra of everything, anyway... Is Mida Suun at home right now, or is he out in the forest?”

“I’m not sure...”

“I actually still haven’t ever met the clan head, Zuuro Suun. I know he’s the head of the Suun clan, which makes him the leader of the forest’s edge, but what sort of person is he?”

“Zuuro Suun is a praiseworthy man...”

So this is what an exercise in futility felt like, huh?

Vina and Lala Ruu couldn’t find anything to talk about either, so they were now completely silent.

Seeing that, I decided to change targets.

“Hey, what did you think of that meat from before?” I asked the girl of around ten, who happened to be in this group.

The girl kept on chopping aria like some sort of machine, but she glanced over at me.

“The taste was entirely different than normal giba meat...”

“Right? You see, that was made by draining the giba of blood before it completely passes away, then after that, removing the innards properly. When you do that, even the giba torso tastes good.”

“I see...”

“Do you all toss the torso away into the forest, too? Giba legs are tasty, of course, but there are plenty of tasty parts in the torso, too.”

The girl shook her head, remaining expressionless all the while.

“We don’t discard the torso...”

“Huh?”

“We eat both the head and the torso... The stench is much stronger than with the legs, though.”

“Hmm, I see,” I replied, making sure to stay plenty friendly despite the feeling of unease swelling inside.

So even the members of the branch families eat giba heads and torsos... Wait, isn’t there something strange there...?

Ai Fa had said the Suun clan was monopolizing the reward money from Genos and not carrying out their duty as hunters. So that meant they were using that money to buy aria and poitan and eating a giba down to the bones whenever they happened to catch one? If that was the case, they could keep the dangerous work to a minimum and fool around to their heart’s content for the rest of the time.

But was that not limited to the members of the main house? Were even the folks of the branch families living such lazy lifestyles?

I tried thinking it over properly, but it just didn’t seem realistic. That feeling was probably rooted in my habit of running calculations when working in the post town.

Is the Genos reward money really that great of a sum?

Thanks to this job, I was able to learn the precise number of members in the Suun clan: 8 in the main house and 33 in the branch families, making for 41 in total.

And so, I tried to consider how it would go if all 41 of those people weren’t hunting down a single giba.

To get the minimum amount of nutrition, a person needed three aria and two poitan a day. Converted to money, that would be 1.2 red coins. And since we were talking 41 people, that meant 49.2 coins.

Gazraan Rutim had also said that the reward money was delivered once every three months. That meant roughly 90 days. And so, the clan would require 4428 red coins for that period of time.

Then, I tried factoring in them hunting enough giba to get the minimum amount of necessary meat.

As a rough estimate, each person would need 500 grams of giba meat per day to get the needed amount of nutrition, and it would be possible to obtain around 40 kilograms of meat per giba on average. So, well, if they caught one giba every other day, that should be about right.

That would mean they could get 24 coins every two days for the horns, tusks, and pelt. In a month, that would amount to 360. In three months, it would hit 1080 coins.

Subtracting 1080 coins from 4428, you got 3348. And if you were talking that much every three months, that meant 13392 red coins per year.

For 41 people to play around as they please, they would need that many coins per year at a minimum.

And yet, Kamyua Yoshu had said the reward money was a trifling amount. Of course, as Ai Fa had responded, that was why they were keeping it to themselves. But still... could you really call a number like that “trifling”?

Plus, that was only the absolute minimum number to get what they needed to live. But there was no way that the main Suun house was living so frugally.

Doddo Suun walked around drinking fruit wine in the middle of the day.

Mida Suun was given ten red coins worth of allowance once a month to spend on food.

On top of that, if their blades snapped they needed to be replaced, and assorted other expenses like clothing had to be considered.

That made me think the Suun clan wasn’t just relying on the reward money and were hunting a certain number of giba... But then that comment that they eat giba heads and torsos felt strange to me.

If the reward money was less than what I just calculated, they would need to hunt more than one giba every other day, but as a result, they would end up with an excess of meat.

Something just wasn’t quite sitting right with me. Some part of this felt ever so slightly odd, but I didn’t know what.

And there was also the fact that I still didn’t know the reason behind the branch family members’ listless gazes. I had imagined it being just the main family monopolizing the reward money, while the branch families were forced to keep that secret... but was that not the case?

“Asuta, I think we’re done with the aria...” Vina Ruu called out, bringing me back to my senses.

“Right, well then next up is the giba meat. For the soup, we’ll be using giba leg and shoulder meat,” I said, giving my head a quick shake and focusing on the work in front of me.

No matter how much I racked my brains, as long as I didn’t know the amount of reward money or giba they were hunting, I couldn’t arrive at a proper answer.

Still, I had my definite doubts, so I stowed them away in the corner of my mind.

“The giba leg meat should be cut like I showed you before, with the white fat evenly distributed. And you want the slices to be about this thick.”

There was no response.

I said that idle chatting or whatever would be fine, but when you were dealing with such listless people you were meeting for the first time, it was hard to know exactly what topic would catch their interest. I was starting to feel a stronger and stronger desire to just come out and bluntly ask them what they thought of the main house’s foolishness, but then...

Lala Ruu loudly shouted, “Wah! Y-You scared me there! Who are you? And where in the world did you sneak in from?!”

“I mean, I’ve been here for a while now. I’d say you were just too dense to notice, right?” a high-pitched voice like a chirping bird replied.

I was feeling pretty darn surprised, too. There should have been exactly eight of us in the kitchen, but at some point a ninth had worked her way in: a very small girl.

And yet, I had no idea what age she might be.

She was about one head shorter than Lala Ruu, no more than 130 centimeters, I’d say. Her arms, legs, and torso were all quite thin, but her head alone was strangely large. And her dark brown hair was pulled up tight at the top of her head, like an onion.

With her eyes wide open, their whites really stood out. Her pupils were small and black, though, and had a crafty look to them. Both her nose and mouth were tiny, and her chin came to a point like a triangle.

And for some reason, her tiny body was clad in a tubular one piece dress. The cloth had a swirling pattern, but it was in the style of what was worn in town.

“You’re the foreigner living at the Fa house, aren’t you...?” she asked, her wily eyes staring straight at me. “Hmm, your appearance is like that of the people of the west. Your hair color is like folks from the east, though. Do you have mixed blood from those two nations?”

“No, I come from a much further off country, but... Who exactly are you?”

Naturally, I had an idea before even asking.

I hypothesized that her haughtiness marked her as a member of the main house, in which case it was almost certain who she must be.

Unsurprisingly, her response confirmed my suspicions.

“I’m the youngest daughter of the main Suun house, Tsuvai Suun. Isn’t it proper manners to introduce yourself before asking someone else’s name, though?”

“Ah, I’m Asuta, a member of the Fa clan. Did you come to help out too?”

With that, Tsuvai Suun’s thin eyebrows raised in anger and she retorted, “Why should a member of the main house have to help man the stove? That’s a job for the branch families, right? Don’t go around spouting such nonsense, geez!”

“Ah, so that’s the custom in the Suun clan?”

My alertness had peaked with the arrival of a member of the main house, but still, she didn’t seem to make as bad of an impression as her siblings.

She didn’t especially look like a good or sincere person or anything, but she had a bit of an affectionate and humorous appearance to her. I got a sort of deja vu, making me wonder if she was reminding me of a character from a manga or anime or something.

“Hmph! Well, you’re a foreigner, so I guess I’ll let it slide... Hmm, so that’s the magic giba meat?”

“Ah, no, I’m not a sorcerer or anything.”

“What are you saying?! I mean, you were able to sell this giba meat in the Genos post town, right?! The people there all hate giba meat, so how would you do that using anything but magic?!” she hysterically wailed, but then her big eyes narrowed and she stared at me. “Hey... Is it true that you’ve been able to earn 200 red coins in a day doing that? I can’t believe that at all...”

“If you can’t believe it, then I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“Whatever, just give me a proper answer! If you go lying to me, I’ll be able to research it and find out easily enough anyway!”

She was acting pretty familiar, but she was also way too noisy.

I looked around to see what everyone thought of this scene unfolding, and...

Vina Ruu’s sleepy eyes were narrowed as she stared at the intruder.

Lala Ruu also knitted her brows and looked displeased as she glared at the girl.

And as for the women of the branch families, they looked as emotionless as always as they chopped away at the meat. Apparently, the arrival of Tsuvai Suun hadn’t affected them in the least.

“Hey... how many days have you been doing business in the post town for, Asuta?” Tsuvai Suun asked as she sidled up to me. “It was ten days back that Mida started sobbing away, right? So you’ve already been open for ten whole days?”

“Well, that’s about it.”

In actuality it was a 13-day period with one day off, but I was under no obligation to answer so precisely.

“Ten days! So if it’s 200 coins per day, then that means you’ve already earned 2000 red coins!”

“Ah, no, around half of that goes to expenses, and it wasn’t like I was making 200 coins from the very first day...” I hurriedly tried to correct her, but the words didn’t seem to get through at all.

The girl’s eyes had clearly lit up. Somehow, it was like the tenacious stare of a starving beast.

“2000 red coins would be 200 white, or two silver!”

“Ah, yeah, but like I said, it wasn’t like all that money goes right into my pockets...”

“It’s like a dream! Now that the Fa clan has a hold of you, they’ll never need to worry about money again for the rest of their lives! Hmm, let’s see...”

“Hold on a second! Haven’t you heard what I said?! And what does money matter anyway?”

“What do you mean? The reason we’re alive is to make money, right? That makes you the greatest hero at the forest’s edge! After all, making 200 red coins a day is the same as hunting down eight giba in that short a time! And that’s assuming the pelts are skinned, too!”

I was left a bit dumbfounded at how this girl was able to run through calculations just like me.

Could that tenacious glare in her eyes... have come from a fixation on money...?

“I never expected to hear a person of the forest’s edge say they lived just to earn money. Don’t the hunters of the forest’s edge hunt down giba in order to protect the fields of Genos?”

“What are you saying? The hunters hunt giba for coins, too! If there are any hunters out there that feel differently, then they aren’t fit to sell tusks and horns! No matter how much you may try to gloss over it, a person can’t live without money!”

“I mean, that may be so, but...”

“So, the reason the giba multiplying is a problem is because they’ll attack the fields, right? And if that happens, then they’ll eat up all the crops. Then if that happens, they won’t be able to be sold for profit, which is the key issue, isn’t it? So you see, it all comes back to money! That’s the meaning of life! And if you don’t like that, then your only choice is to toss aside all gods and go live with the wild people of Mount Morga!”

Since they were ranked in the pecking order of the mountain alongside varb wolves and giant madarama snakes, were the wild people some sort of human-related species?

At any rate, it seemed that Tsuvai Suun didn’t have even a hint of pride or respect as a person of the forest’s edge.

“Um... I know it seems unlikely, but your mother isn’t someone from town, right?”

“Huh? You’re spouting nonsense again! Who ever heard of townsfolk marrying into the forest’s edge?!”

“That’s true. It’s just, your clothing is sort of in the style I’ve seen about town, and you kinda talk like them.”

“Ah, this...? I didn’t like the outfits our people wear, so I revised mine,” Tsuvai Suun replied, sulking a bit.

With that, the tenacious shine finally started disappearing from her eyes. And thanks to that, I finally realized that this noisy girl was reminding me of a fairy who acted like a real fool in an old anime.

Well... I guess that still makes her pretty alright for a member of the main Suun house...

Still, maybe I only felt that way because I wasn’t a natural-born person of the forest’s edge.

If she were a townsperson I might not necessarily agree with her, but I wouldn’t feel there was anything wrong with her, either. I’d just shrug my shoulders and accept that she was a bit obsessed with money.

However, for a person of the forest’s edge, such thoughts were pretty much heresy.

Vina Ruu’s eyes narrowed further as she grew more and more wary. Lala Ruu, meanwhile, looked downright disgusted.

There was no way that someone who denied the pride of the hunters would ever earn respect at the forest’s edge.

“Um... All of the meat is cut now...” one of the branch family women emotionlessly chimed in.

It seemed like every last person here had decided to just ignore Tsuvai Suun.

“Thank you. Well then, let’s light up the stoves.”

We poured water from jugs into the pots, then used lana leaves to ignite the firewood. Tsuvai Suun apparently couldn’t even wait long enough for the water to start boiling before opening her mouth again, though.

“Geez! Mida really has raised a ruckus each and every day ever since he ate your cooking! He gets quiet when you feed him something, but as soon as he’s hungry again he starts wailing! So it’s no surprise that Diga and Doddo got all angry! I know you probably didn’t want to get dragged all the way here either, but it’s been a big pain for us too, so you better take responsibility!”

“Responsibility, huh? Now that you mention it, is Mida Suun really all chained up?”

“Hmm? Ah, for those first few days he was trying to head to town on his own, so it’s possible.”

“‘Possible’? So you mean you didn’t see it yourself?”

“I didn’t. Yamiru’s house is the only place with chains.”

Yamiru’s... house?

“Yamiru Suun has left the main house? But I’m pretty sure she still wears the outfit for unmarried women, right?”

“Yeah, she’s unmarried. But there were lots of open houses, so Yamiru and Diga were given their own.”

I see. In that case, if Mida Suun was being held in chains, then it would have to be Yamiru Suun who did it, huh?

What was going on? When I heard those words from Yamiru Suun I felt incredibly sickened, but I felt indifferent while talking to this girl. Maybe I could actually have a good rapport with Tsuvai Suun after all.

Anyway, as I was thinking that over, the contents of the pots had started boiling.

“Alright, well then first off, please add the giba meat to your pot... When that happens, white scum will float up to the surface, so scoop that out with a wooden spoon. That way, this will end up as a delicious soup.”

It really had been a while since I last taught anyone to prepare giba soup.

Over at the other stove, Lala Ruu was showing two women the method, while Vina Ruu and I were guiding the other three on our end.

“By the way... how old are you anyway, Tsuvai Suun? I’m 17 years old,” I called out during a break in the cooking.

“I’m 12. What about it?” Tsuvai Suun replied with a pout.

“Ah, I was just wondering whether you or Mida Suun were older.”

She was pretty darn small for 12, but regardless, it was a real shock hearing a kid that young say something like people only lived to make money.

“Hmph... There’s no way I could be older than Mida. I wasn’t even born till his mother died, after all.”

“Huh?”

“Mida’s mom died shortly after giving birth to him. Only I am actually the child of our current mom.”

“Ah... is that so?”

A lot of men died young as hunters from what I had heard. Apparently, that meant it wasn’t rare at all for a woman who lost her husband to remarry, but it seemed things had gone the other way around for the main Suun house.

When I heard what came next, though, I was left dumbfounded.

“Yamiru’s mother died right after she was born, too. And it was the same with Diga and Doddo’s moms. Mine is the only one who didn’t die and kept on living. But it’s strange, because she’s not especially strong bodied or anything.”

“Huh? Then you all have different mothers?”

“That’s right. What about it?”

“What...? I mean, I’d never heard of women of the forest’s edge dying so suddenly before now.”

“Hmm? Then is the Suun clan cursed somehow?”

What she was saying was horrifying, yet she didn’t seem to care at all and shrugged her bony shoulders.

“Or maybe they just got bored of life and ended up sick of it... I mean, you all are making faces like you can’t tell if you’re dead or alive, right? I can’t imagine you have long to live if you’re looking like that.” Naturally, the back half of that statement was directed towards the women of the branch families.

As they kept on scooping scum, they listlessly replied, “Yes.”

“Ugh, you’re so irritating! I feel annoyed just being around all of you!”

“Then how about leaving the kitchen...?” Vina Ruu at last chimed in, seemingly unable to take it any longer. “If you aren’t going to man the stove, then there’s no point to you being here... Why did you even come to a place like this...?”

“Hmph! I just wanted to see the greatest hero of the forest’s edge!” Tsuvai Suun stated, glaring at Vina Ruu far above her head. “Up until this foreigner showed up, our clan head Zuuro Suun was the number one hero! That’s why the Suun clan has ruled the forest’s edge! So from now on, the Fa clan may be in charge...”

“It really doesn’t seem you can hold a proper conversation...”

“Hmph! That’s just because you can’t see the true face of the world!”

Leaving those words behind, Tsuvai Suun toddled out of the kitchen.

For a bit afterwards, an awkward silence filled the space.

“All the members of the main Suun house sure are unique, huh...?” I commented to one of the branch family women. Unsurprisingly, all she said back was, “Yes.”

Tsuvai Suun really may be easier to handle than this bunch.

“Alright... Once you’re done scooping scum, we’ll put the lids on and wait for the time being. We’ll cook it slowly on a weak flame, then wrap things up by adding in aria.”

One of the women took a square wooden board and went to place it atop the pot. However, her hand slipped from it and it splashed down into the pot.

The youngest of the girls shrieked, “Ah!” and then shrunk away, only for the boiling hot liquid to fly and hit her on the arm and face. “Agh!” she screamed and fell in front of the work station, only for a number of cut bits of aria to come tumbling down after her.

There was no time to worry about that, though, so I grabbed the ladle from the water jug without a moment’s hesitation.

“Are you alright?! Don’t move!” I yelled out, pouring the water over the girl. It was a bit aggressive on my part, but there was no helping that.

With that, the strength drained from her body and she sunk down onto the floor.

“Are you okay now? It didn’t get into your eye or anything, did it?”

“I’m fine...”

The girl held her left arm and was firmly biting her lower lip. The skin from her left shoulder to her upper arm and from her left cheek to her throat were all a clear red.

“Gah, that looks painful! Here, use this to cool it down,” Lala Ruu said, pushing a soaked cloth up against the girl’s cheek.

“Thank you...” she weakly replied, casting her eyes downwards.

Then, another voice emotionlessly stated, “My apologies, Toor Suun...”

“Hey! Do you seriously even feel bad about it?! Do you really think you can make it up to her if it leaves scars on her face?!” Lala Ruu yelled, completely and utterly furious.

Lala Ruu had wild emotions to begin with, but this may well have been the most angry I had ever seen her.

However, the woman who had made the careless blunder just stood there emotionlessly, while Toor Suun clung to Lala Ruu’s arm and said, “It’s alright... I’m also at fault for not paying enough attention... More importantly, I dirtied our precious aria. I’m so sorry...”

“The aria don’t matter at all! Well, no, that may not be true, but still...!” Lala Ruu said while tearing at her hair, and I gave a deep sigh.

It was true that we trampled over the spilled aria with our own feet, so now around half of them were utterly unusable.

“There’s no helping that now. We’ll just have to cut fresh ones to replace whatever’s unusable. But I’m a lot more concerned about your burn than that. Shouldn’t we be applying medicine or something to it?”

“It’s alright... We mustn’t waste precious medicine on something this trivial...”

“No, but—”

“I really am fine... Um, thank you...” Toor Suun replied, looking at me and Lala Ruu with a bit of fear visible in her eyes.

It was a very uneasy gaze... but it also looked a lot more human than the dead fish eyes I had been seeing from the branch family women.

“It looks like we’ll need to replace around ten aria worth... I’ll go get that much from the extras in the main house’s kitchen...” Vina Ruu chimed in, but I shook my head and said, “No.”

I figured it was best to have the women refrain from acting on their own as much as possible, too.

“The main house is pretty far, so for now let’s just borrow some of this house’s aria. Um... whose house is this?”

With that, Toor Suun replied, “It’s mine...” as she crouched down in front of us.

“I see. Then sorry about this, but could we borrow ten of your aria? We’ll give you back the same amount later, of course.”

“There aren’t any aria...”

“Huh?”

“We just ran out. I’m sorry...”

The light had swiftly drained from Toor Suun’s eyes. It was like a translucent sludge was spreading through them.

I stared into those once again murky eyes, then turned to face the woman who had dropped the lid.

“Then can we have some aria from your house? It should be closer than the main house, right?”

“My apologies... My house also just ran out...”

I stood up and looked at each of the other three women in turn.

“Honestly, I don’t care who it is. Can we borrow the aria from any of you?”

“I’m sorry...”

“My house is also all out of aria...”

“If today weren’t the clan head meeting, it would have been the day we were scheduled to go to town in order to buy more...”

“Oh, I see,” I replied with a smile. “I was surprised to hear all of your pantries were out of aria. But the Suun clan has a custom of waiting till you run out of ingredients before buying more, huh?”

“Yes...”

“By the way, would it be possible to borrow any poitan?”

“No... We’re all out of poitan at the moment, too...”

“I see,” I repeated again. “Well then, let’s go get the aria we brought. There should still be plenty of extra left, so it shouldn’t be an issue. Could you two go grab ten aria from the ones left by the main house’s kitchen?”

“Right...”

With that, the two women I pointed to sluggishly exited the kitchen.

As I watched them leave, I could feel the sense of unease I had sealed away in the back of my mind bubbling back up.

Something was odd here, and seriously wrong.

Was this really a settlement of the forest’s edge?

If Vina and Lala Ruu weren’t standing at my side, I might have been gripped by the fear that I had been thrown into yet another new world.

Everything about this place felt utterly twisted out of shape.

Roughly two hours later, everyone had gathered back at the main house’s kitchen, having completed our giba soup. That meant next on the agenda was baking the dried poitan, then cooking the meat dishes. The sun was right about at the midpoint between its peak and where it would set. That meant we had roughly three and a half hours left, so we were more or less on pace. It was about time for the clan head conference to finally get rolling in the ritual hall, too.

While praying for the success of Ai Fa and the others, we set about guiding the women on how to bake poitan.

“Poitan that’s been exposed to sunlight gets all hard like this, so you first dissolve it in water to return it to a semi-liquid state. Adjust that bit by bit with a ladle, taking care not to add too much water.”

There were no more spare poitan left, so we had to be super careful to make certain that nothing burned this time around.

First, I had Sheera Ruu demonstrate for everyone, then we tore off bits of the baked poitan and had them taste.

“What do you think? It’s like a completely different food compared to that usual goopy heated-up poitan, right?”

Around half the Suun women had their expressions ripple ever so slightly, while there was a clear shift on the faces of the other half.

Was that enough to make them think it was delicious?

I sincerely prayed that was the case.

“Bloodlet giba meat and baked poitan. With just these ingredients alone, you can create an entirely different dinner than what you’ve had up until now. And so, let’s each give it our all to bake the poitan up nice and tasty.”

While baking the poitan, we rotated through the groups and gave them all one-on-one guidance.

The fifteen Suun clan women all took turns baking poitan, while we watched over them and took care to make sure nothing burned. If we clung to them even more tightly than before, that would surely make it harder for them to make any real mistakes.

Ultimately, it took around an hour to bake enough poitan for about 130 people. And once that was done, it was finally time for the meat dishes.

First up was producing the marinade for the myamuu giba.

“This is myamuu. We’ll be chopping it up finely along with aria, then mixing it together with fruit wine. As for the amounts, with one bottle of fruit wine you want to have one myamuu and half an aria. Considering the quantities we’ll need, though, we’ll be making the marinade in pots and adding the meat into it.”

When making myamuu giba, we used a bit under 200 grams of meat per person. That meant the overall volume wasn’t all that different from what we handled back at the stall.

On top of that, we’d have a spare rib per person and around 200 grams of thigh meat steak, which we would supplement with sauteed aria, bringing the menu to completion.

While the meat for the myamuu giba was soaking, we went ahead and cut up the meat for the steaks. By then, it was a bit under two hours till sunset.

We were still doing alright.

At this rate, it seemed like we would be able to fully complete all the dishes with time to spare.

“It looks like the actual cooking will make it in time... But will these women really be interested in cooking delicious food of their own will from tomorrow on?” Mia Lea Ruu whispered.

“Hmm... It’d be nice if at least a few of them felt that way after dinner, but still...”

The outlook certainly wasn’t good in the least. In fact, it was hard to tell if these women even really had much in the way of will or emotions.

“If the Suun settlement weren’t so far away, we’d be willing to come each day until we beat it into them.”

Even Mia Lea Ruu seemed a bit less energetic now. She had come here expecting to teach haughty women like Yamiru and Tsuvai Suun a real lesson. And yet, when she actually made it here, this is what she found. No matter how much of a scolding you gave them, these women would never show any shame, as they pretty much seemed like clay dolls. It was hard to imagine it would be possible to change their way of thinking in just a single day.

“There’s also still the matter of how the men and the folks from the main house react. But regardless of all else, Mida Suun is sure to keep demanding delicious dinners. They’re going to have an obligation to respond to that.”

The men would also need to change their way of thinking and learn how to bloodlet and dissect a giba if they wanted to eat delicious meat, but it was hard to say how that would play out.

And was Ai Fa doing alright...?

“Asuta, all the meat and aria are cut,” Sheera Ruu informed me.

“Thank you. Well then... the marinated meat should be just about ready, so let’s cook that up first. Everyone, please gather by the outdoor stoves.”

Myamuu giba produced a lot of smoke, making it the sort of dish that was better to prepare outside.

“We’ll add the meat to the pot and then stir it with a spoon so that it doesn’t burn as it cooks. To start with, we’ll go ahead and prepare a small amount... Sheera Ruu, could you please?”

“Right,” Sheera Ruu replied, grabbing a handful of meat and tossing it in the pot.

As the smell of myamuu and fruit wine spread, a number of the women’s shoulders trembled.

“It smells good, doesn’t it?” I said with a smile to Toor Suun, who was standing right next to me.

The girl’s glasslike eyes slowly started to wander, looking just a bit helpless.

“It’s a wonderful smell...”

“Yeah. I haven’t met a person of the forest’s edge who disliked this smell yet.”

Myamuu had a strong scent like garlic, but both the men and women of the forest’s edge all seemed to enjoy it.

“Once it’s cooked, go ahead and sprinkle a bit of marinade over it. Doing so brings out the flavor even more strongly.”

By the way, we cut the meat just a bit thicker than when selling it in the post town. And also, we soaked it in the marinade a bit less too, to better adapt the recipe for the forest’s edge.

Furthermore, the people attending the clan head meeting were only supposed to bring bowls for soup, so they would be presenting the myamuu giba atop pseudo-rubber leaves. Thanks to that, we wouldn’t be pouring the heated sauce over top of it. To compensate, we mixed it in thoroughly during this step before finishing up.

“Okay, that should do it. Now then, I’d like each of you to sample a bite again...”

As I was saying that, I heard a strange sound. It was oddly high in frequency and unpleasant, like a small bird’s dying shriek.

“What’s that sound?”

I stepped away from everyone and listened carefully. And then, I noticed that the sound seemed to be steadily growing closer.

Ah! It couldn’t be...! I thought to myself, only for my premonition to unfortunately hit the mark.

A massive ball of flesh had appeared from the shadow of the house, now roughly ten meters away. And that bundle of meat was clearly locked onto me as I stood just a few steps removed from the rest of the group.

“Oooooooh...!” he yelled as he charged forwards.

At the same time, someone yelled, “Asuta!” and tried to grab me. Before long I had fallen to the ground, and was wrapped up in something incredibly soft. Through the gaps in the black hair blocking my vision, I could see the bundle of meat raging.

I’ll be trampled! I thought, my whole body freezing up. But just then, someone else stepped forward wielding something long, slender, and dark: a grigee pole meant for transporting pots.

The chestnut-haired woman made an incredibly graceful throwing motion, and the grigee pole stabbed into the ground at the ball of meat’s feet.

With that, his elephant-like legs got all tangled up on the pole.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!” the bundle of flesh screamed out before tumbling to the ground.

He came rolling by close enough to almost graze our noses, only stopping when he collided with a nearby tree.

“Goodness... Is this really a human being...?” the woman who saved us muttered with a sigh, her sleepy looking eyes pointing our way. “It’s alright now. It’s a good thing I arrived before him though, isn’t it...?”

“Yeah... Thanks, Vina,” the person shielding me responded, then slowly rose up. “Are you injured, Asuta?” she asked with a smile.

Naturally, it had been Reina Ruu.

“N-No. What about you?”

“I’m fine. And I’m sorry for shoving you so suddenly,” she said while bowing her head, still straddling my stomach.

This body heat, and this soft sensation... With this position added on top, I couldn’t help but recall the night of the Rutim banquet.

After one last look at my face, Reina Ruu slowly stood up.

“How foolish... Covering him like that would only result in the two of you getting trampled together, right...?” Vina Ruu said with a bit of a sulk.

“Yeah, sorry. I really am no match for you, Vina,” Reina Ruu replied, hanging her head and looking embarrassed.

As I compared the incredibly complex differences in the sisters’ expressions, I also promptly got up on my feet.

“Thank you, both of you. You really saved my life there.”

Vina Ruu’s narrowed eyes glanced my way, and then shot back towards the ball of flesh.

That bundle of meat (Mida Suun, of course) had righted his massive frame and was staring vacantly our way.

“Huh... What was I doing...?” he questioned in a shrill, childish voice.

Yes, it was Mida Suun, through and through.

I was glad to see he was alright, but still, he was just as much of a monster as always.

“Ah... that’s right! There was a really good smell! I smelled it, then I took off running, I think...?”

“Dinner will be when the sun sets! Behave yourself until then!” Mia Lea Ruu firmly stated, slapping down Mida Suun’s whining.

Mida Suun’s busted nose sniffled, then he stood up while clinging to the tree.

“But... I’m hungry...”

“Then go chew on some jerky! The other men are all putting up with it, and we can’t go giving you special treatment!” Mia Lea Ruu uttered, her voice full of authority as she stood in front of Mida Suun.

She possessed a well built physique, but unsurprisingly, she looked as small as a child when compared to the bundle of meat before her. And yet, she didn’t flinch in the least when staring over two heads up at Mida Suun’s creepy face.

“Geez, you’ve got no discipline at all! I’ve thought this for a while now, but what’s with that slovenly physique of yours? If you eat as much as you please whenever you feel the least bit hungry, of course you’ll ruin your body. You need to learn how to restrain yourself better!”

“No...” Mida Suun muttered in a fretful voice. “But I...”

“No buts! And what exactly do you think you’re doing right now, considering how high in the sky the sun is?! If you’re a hunter, you should be out in the forest hunting giba, right?”

Her argument made perfect sense.

And yet, Mida Suun’s puffed up, flabby cheeks trembled as he grumbled, “Work’s all done for today. I caught a big giba already...”

“Hmm? Really? Well then, where is it?”

“I hung it in Yamiru’s house... See, I’m not lying...” Mida Suun replied, suddenly reaching for the club dangling from his waist. Reflexively, I went to take a step forwards, but Vina and Reina Ruu grabbed my arms.

Mida Suun then thrust the top of his club out in front of Mia Lea Ruu’s nose.

“Hmm... I see there’s giba fur and blood stuck to it.”

“That’s right... The giba fell in a trap, then I finished it off...”

With that, Mia Lea Ruu smiled and patted Mida Suun on his arm that was so thick it looked like a tree.

“You certainly did carry out your duty as a hunter. And so, we’ll prepare a delicious meal for you, so just wait patiently back home. We were just about to start grilling the meat, after all.”

Mida Suun let out an eerie, “Uhehe...” and his plump cheeks shook again. Apparently, he just had too much fat on his face, so he couldn’t quite make proper expressions.

Vina Ruu’s fingers were now digging into my left arm so hard that it hurt. It seemed she was trying her hardest to bear with how much he creeped her out.

And then, Mida Suun looked at me. His little eyes like a piglet’s took on a slick shine.

“You really came... Yamiru wasn’t lying after all...”

“Right. It’s been a while...”

“I’m so happy... I’ll get to eat yummy food, right...?”

“Yes. And we’re also in the middle of teaching the Suun women how to make tasty food from now on.”

It was hard to tell whether or not Mida Suun understood what I was saying, as he just repeated, “I’m so happy...”

“Well then, if you understand, then just head on back home like a good boy. We’ve got lots of work to take care of here.”

“Yeah...” Mida Suun responded, his lower jaw wriggling a bit in response to Mia Lea Ruu’s words.

It looked like he must have been trying to nod, but his fat got in the way.

“You promise, right...? I’ll get to eat lots of yummy food...?”

“Right. Look forward to it.”

Mida Suun finally slowly turned around, and I started to breathe a sigh of relief. But then, an idea hit me like a bolt of lightning.

“Hey, Mida Suun! If you happen to have any extra aria in the main house, could we use coins to buy some?” Mia Lea Ruu turned and shot me a questioning look. Mida Suun turned back my way, too. “You see, we just had some aria fall on the ground, so we’re a bit short on them now. So if you have some to spare, we’d definitely like to buy them. What do you think...?”

“But the pantry is barred shut...” Mida Suun responded in his shrill voice. “I think it’s to keep me from snacking on stuff...”

“I see. That’s unfortunate. Aria are yummy, aren’t they?”

Mida Suun blinked his eyes, which were just as unreadable as an animal’s.

“I don’t know the names of vegetables...”

“Ah, is that so? The one that was used in that dish you bought in the post town is called ‘aria.’”

“Hmm...” Mida Suun disinterestedly replied, his little lips forming a bit of a pout. “If you want the bolt loose, should I call for Yamiru...?”

“Ah, no, that’s alright. We’ll just try to make do with what we have left. Thank you, though.”

Mida Suun just gave one last disheartened sounding, “I’m hungry...” and then departed.

“That child really does seem lacking in wits... But still, he has a rather cute side to him too, wouldn’t you say?”

“Stop kidding around...” Vina Ruu groaned, slumping to the ground while still clinging to my arm. “Ugh, he’s so gross... Why did he have to be the one who showed up...?”

“Ahaha, you really can’t handle him at all, can you, Vina?” Reina Ruu innocently chuckled, still holding onto my right arm.

“By the way, Asuta, are we really that short on aria? I get the feeling that what we have should be plenty enough to compliment the meat...” Mia Lea Ruu asked with a look of doubt.

I shot back a friendly smile and replied, “That’s true. If we can’t get them, then that’s totally fine. Let’s just make it work with what we have.”

Of course, since we were cooking for eight people less than expected, we weren’t really short on aria.

As the two beautiful sisters held my arms captive, my gaze shot backwards. Next to the kitchen, there was the door to the pantry, which was firmly shut.

If it’s bolted shut... Then how do they get into that pantry?

The doubts swelling up inside of me were finally starting to vaguely take shape.