Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1: Back to Business

1

Two days after the clan head conference, on the 12th day of the blue month, we managed to safely resume business in the post town.

“Long time no see, Milano Mas!” I heartily called out after circling around to the back of The Kimyuus’s Tail, only for the man to shoot me back his usual sour look.

“You certainly are loud for so early in the morning. And I sure wouldn’t call two days a ‘long time.’”

“Man, it feels a lot longer than that to me. Anyway, here’s to working with you again today.”

“Wouldn’t really call this ‘working together,’ either. Anyway, if you feel like working, then hurry up and take your carts already.”

“Right!” I replied as I stared straight back at Milano Mas’s annoyed face.

“What, you got some sort of problem with me?”

“Ah, no, of course not!”

The Suun clan may have been behind the death of Milano Mas’s friend, and they had fallen... But at least for now, there was no way I could reveal that to him. And even if I did, it couldn’t possibly clear away all his regrets. It wasn’t like the members of the Suun were judged for their crimes against the townsfolk, after all.

I really would like to clear that matter up, too... But seeing if the new leaders of the forest’s edge can form a proper relationship with the lord of Genos comes first.

As I walked along the stone path, I forced down the various emotions swirling around inside of me. Accompanying me was the usual group of Sheera, Vina, and Lala Ruu.

The wooden houses in a row, travelers and merchants walking the streets, huge totos birds pulling heavy loads... The stuffy heat coming from so many people being gathered together... Every last bit of it felt nostalgic to me. It really did feel longer than just two days.

“You look like you’re having fun, Asuta,” Lala Ruu teased as she helped push the cart. She looked like she was enjoying herself too, though, and both Sheera and Vina Ruu also seemed cheerful.

It was probably some sort of reaction to how serious things had been at the Suun settlement. Normally the post town would feel like enemy territory to the people of the forest’s edge, yet they weren’t showing that in the least. Their smiles alone were enough to seriously pick up my spirits.

And as we walked down the stone-paved path, a familiar voice suddenly called out, “Ah! Asuta!” It had come from the dark-brown haired, adorable, young Tara.

Her father Dora was also under his stall’s roof, smiling our way.

“Hey there, Asuta. I’m glad to see you looking well. Did you come by to buy something?”

“Ah, it’s been a while. I’ll take two tarapa, four tino, and 20 aria, please.”

“Got it. That’ll be eight red coins.”

It was a familiar, nostalgic exchange. Somehow, I felt like a powerful homesickness was melting away in my heart.

I guess doing business in town really does suit me well.

Of course, I was still a person of the forest’s edge, albeit a newcomer. For me, the most precious place in this world and the one I called home was the Fa house. Plus, even now a good portion of the townsfolk looked at the people of the forest’s edge with fear or scorn, not even trying to hide it.

Still, this post town had become like a second home, and the people I met here were incredibly important to me.

“Whoa, today’s looking pretty crazy too, huh?”

After getting today’s vegetables from Dora and continuing on, we found every bit as big of a crowd waiting at the northernmost reaches of the stalls as what we saw on our busiest day of business yet, which had been four days ago.

But as the days passed, things had started to look less and less complex. The number of customers from the south and east had certainly increased, but on the other hand, there were fewer onlookers from the west hanging around.

It had already been half a month since we started this business. And so, seeing lines like this was no longer a rarity, and fortunately the customers from the east and south had stopped fighting with one another. Thanks to all that, there was no real value left for onlookers. And by now, there was just one guard left overseeing things, who was currently standing off to the edge of the road looking bored.

“Thanks for waiting! We’ll be starting to prepare shortly, so hold on just a bit longer!”

As we approached, the customers cleared a path for us. And without anyone giving a signal, they then formed neat lines of five in front of each of the carts.

“So, you’re finally here! I was getting sick of waiting!”

The front of the line for the myamuu giba stall was filled by the usual construction group, including Pops and Aldas. Pops was even shorter than me, while Aldas was tall enough to match up with folks from the east. They both had stern-looking faces, but I personally felt rather calmed seeing the odd pair again.

“Thank you for coming to our shop again today. And I’m glad to find you both looking well.”

“Oh, we’re doing alright, but Pops here has been awful noisy these past two days. He just kept saying how he wanted to eat giba meat, and it was a real pain getting him to calm himself.”

“This kid’s at fault for closing his shop for two whole days! Hey, you better not take a single day more off in the blue month, alright?”

“Yes, I intend to try my best in that regard.”

As we were having that conversation, I hurriedly heated up my metal tray. It was a new tool in my arsenal that I had purchased six days ago, and it was made with iron from Jagar. Since I formed my new contract on the eighth day of the blue month, I had been using it to prepare myamuu giba.

I dropped in some fat, fried up sliced aria, added loin and rib meat that had been marinating, heated it all up again, then poured more marinade over top. When I did, the aroma of fruit wine and the garlic-esque myamuu burst forth, and in turn got the waiting customers all worked up.

“Hey, is it still not ready?! I’m so hungry I feel like my guts are twisting themselves into a knot!”

“Just a little bit longer.”

Rather than moving the cooked meat to a wooden plate, I instead moved it to the edge of the tray. This method wasn’t something I could do with a metal pot. By moving the meat to the edge and only hitting the center with the fire, I could keep it warm without burning anything.

Then I placed some shredded tino atop the crepe-like poitan, and finally added the piping-hot aria to complete the dish.

“Here you are. That will be two red coins.”

After Lala Ruu accepted his payment and handed him the myamuu giba, Aldas shot me a smile.

“Hey, you start doing business with the inn tomorrow, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s the plan.”

“That means we’ll be able to enjoy your cooking both day and night. That certainly has the folks staying at the inn excited.”

Thanks to the praise my cooking had received from Aldas and other customers from the south, the owner of The Great Southern Tree, Naudis, made the bold decision to offer my cooking for dinner.

I kept my hands moving and preparing myamuu giba all the while, but I also gave Aldas a bow.

“I really am grateful to all of you. I never imagined my business spreading in that way.”

“Hey, it’s not like we went and did it for you. We just wanted to get to eat tasty dinners, too.”

“That’s right! So if you go and prepare something that’s anything less than delicious, you won’t be getting off lightly.”

His words were certainly tough, but Pops was positively beaming as he held the myamuu giba with both hands. I broke out in a smile of my own without thinking, bowed and said, “I’ll strive my hardest to live up to your expectations.”

For a while after that, our stalls were a battlefield. There wasn’t much difference in how many I could prepare at once with the metal pot and the tray, so I went double and prepared 15 in each of them at once, but that still wasn’t enough. And so, after one more round to take care of the extra, we finally made it through the intense morning rush.

We then went on rotation for taking a break and snacking, at which point the members of the Silver Vase appeared. It made for yet another familiar, nostalgic occurrence.

“Asuta, it has been, some time.”

“Ah, welcome. Thanks for your continued business,” I said as usual to Shumiral, the leader of the group. And as always, the youth from Sym with his long silver hair put down his leather hood and gave a single, expressionless bow.

Unfortunately, thanks to the rotation, it wasn’t currently Vina Ruu by my side, but rather Sheera Ruu. Shumiral bowed to her as well, and she politely returned the gesture.

“So is it myamuu giba for you today?”

“No. We had that, before your time off. Today, is giba burgers.”

Though his speaking style marked him clearly as a foreigner, his pronunciation itself was absolutely flawless. The people of the forest’s edge still stumbled on words like “giba burger,” but maybe that was down to the difference in how aware they were of other cultures.

“Asuta, how is, the kitchen knife?”

“Ah, I’ve gotten really accustomed to using it. How should I put it? I feel like it’s sturdier than the ones I used back in my old home. I’m certainly grateful that a rookie like me was able to get ahold of something like this.”

“Asuta, you are, a rookie?”

“I am. That goes for my cooking skills of course, but this is also my first time having my own shop, too,” I replied while preparing the myamuu giba for the five members of the group ordering from this stall.

With that, Shumiral’s eyes opened wide for just an instant.

“Asuta, you are very skilled, at cooking. I believe, your dishes, are very tasty.”

“Thank you. I really am grateful to hear you say that.”

“Once you are, a full-fledged chef, just what will you make then...? I look forward, to it, so much it is, frightening,” Shumiral added, his eyes narrowing a bit this time. People from the east didn’t let their expressions shift, so to me, that looked like an incredibly gentle smile.

Then, as one of his comrades went and purchased the giba burgers, Shumiral slowly glanced over the surroundings.

“Is she, not around, today?”

“‘She’?” I said with a slight tilt of my head, then got his meaning, “Ah! If you mean my clan head, she’s busy with other work today. She actually doesn’t normally help with work at the stalls.”

“Clan head...?”

“The leader of my house. She is the clan head, and I’m a member of her clan.”

“I see,” Shumiral said with a nod. “Was your clan head, happy with, the stone?”

“Ah, right... Um, I think so, more or less,” I replied, obviously a bit shaken, and Shumiral narrowed his eyes again, looking like he was enjoying himself.

“I am glad. If anything else, comes up, please consult, with me.”

“Right, thank you.”

With that, the members of the Silver Vase departed, and in their place another familiar customer approached with a smile.

“Hey, there. Looks like business is booming again today!”

She had dark-brown hair and ivory-white skin. Her slender body was covered with just a small top and long skirt, giving her a rather coquettish appearance overall... It was Yumi, the daughter of the inn known as The Westerly Wind.

“Hello there. It’s been some time. Are you alone today?”

“Yeah. I had all sorts of work to help out with all morning. I’m starving, so I slipped out for a bit,” she said with a grin, then she sniffed the aroma of the meat still heating on the corner of the tray. “It smells so good! You can’t get a scent like that just by adding myamuu and fruit wine. It smells way better than kimyuus manju. Giba meat must have a pretty nice aroma of its own, too.”

“Yes. And I believe giba meat and myamuu likely go quite well together.”

“That’s true. It’s not rare at all to find dishes that use myamuu, after all... You thought of how to flavor it and everything on your own, right? You really are amazing to figure out all that!”

“Ah, no. Honestly, I’m still nothing but a rookie as a chef.”

I heard that chefs only existed within the walls of the castle town, so that must have been why I was able to earn such a reputation with my level of skill. It of course still made me happy to hear, but I wasn’t going to let it go to my head.

“Hey, the sun still hasn’t hit its peak, but how many have you sold so far today?”

“Huh? Right, let’s see... I believe each of the stalls have sold between 40 and 50 meals by now.”

“50, in this little time?! That really is some pace... Oh, I’ll take three for today. No matter what it takes, I’m going to get my dad to give it a try.”

“Ah, your father?”

“He’s not worth being referred to so politely. He’s just a stubborn, hard-headed old man,” Yumi said while crossing her arms and pouting. “He says there’s no way giba meat tastes good, and that me and my mom’s tongues have just gone funky from eating it. But today, I’ll smash that hard head of his to smithereens, no matter what!”

“I-I see. Still, the older crowd of folks born in Genos sure do have a strong resistance to giba meat, don’t they?”

“That’s not it at all. My mom’s a pureborn child of Genos, but my dad moved here when he was older. And it’s only my grandparents’ generation that’s afraid of giba rather than the people of the forest’s edge... My dad just says he can’t stand them for whatever reason.”

Being swept aside for “whatever reason” had to be rough. And I felt like Yumi was an invaluable ally to the people of the forest’s edge, considering she was striving to overturn that despite also being a westerner.

“Your work with The Great Southern Tree starts tomorrow, right...?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“If I recall correctly, that’s an inn regularly used by folks from the south, but a lot of people from the west stay there too. When your food gets served there, I’m sure more and more westerners will start eating giba meat,” Yumi said, presenting a rather positive view of things. However, she kept on frowning as she did so. “But if it becomes perfectly normal to eat giba meat, then inns without giba cooking may be seen as behind the times, right? That’s why I figure I’ve got to bust through my dad’s hard head soon.”

“That may be so... But still, it will probably be a good number of years before we could get to that point, don’t you think?”

“Whether it’s in a year or ten, it would still be bad. And actually, there’s a danger of The Great Southern Tree stealing our customers here and now, so we can’t just go and blow it off.”

She certainly seemed to have a drive when it came to doing business. Apparently, Yumi had her act together as a daughter a lot more than I had been thinking. Perhaps even putting aside the question of giba, The Westerly Wind had a bright future ahead once she got married and took over the place.

“Well then, see you again tomorrow!” Yumi called out, then she strode off resolutely holding the three myamuu giba.

“Alright, looks like it’s about time to prepare some fresh meat! I’m counting on you, Sheera Ruu.”

“Right,” she replied with a nod, a serious expression on her face.

Tomorrow, for the back half of the work day I would be leaving the stall to go prepare food at the inn, and I would be putting Sheera Ruu here in charge of the myamuu giba.

The nervousness was clearly showing on Sheera Ruu’s face. She must have been thinking that because she was being paid more than the others for the job, she wasn’t permitted to mess up. When it came to work, she took things super seriously. But that was precisely why I felt fine leaving the task up to her.

“Well then, I’m getting started,” Sheera Ruu said, throwing some aria onto the tray.

Once that was all nice and soft, she added the giba meat, then used a wooden spatula to move everything around so it heated properly. She was preparing enough for ten people, and from what I could tell by looking, she seemed to have the right amount of aria and meat. She also appeared to be paying careful attention to the color and toughness, and she moved them to the edge of the tray as soon as they were done.

As Sheera Ruu intently watched, I grabbed one of the chunks of meat. She had cooked it... superbly.

“Perfect!” I said with a grin, and she replied with an even greater smile.

“I feel so truly blessed. I give my thanks to the forest for the fact that I met you, Asuta.”

“That’s a bit much. I mean, you were already this skilled to begin with, after all.”

“That’s not true. After all, it’s thanks to you that I’m now able to find even more joy and meaning in manning the stove. If you had never come to the forest’s edge, I would have kept on living feeling ashamed at my own powerlessness,” Sheera Ruu said, looking like she was gazing off far into the distance. “And from here on out, I’ll surely be able to live on with more and more pride. And so, I’m also grateful to Ai Fa for bringing you to us. I bless the fact that you two met above all else.”

“Thank you,” I earnestly replied.

While some like Jiza Ruu wished me and Ai Fa had never met, there were also people out there who felt like Sheera Ruu, too. And since I could become either a powerful poison or medicine, it was important that I showed both sides how I chose to live my life.

With those feelings freshly renewed, I went to grab a knife to cut the tino, when I spied another familiar face. It was the capricious Kamyua Yoshu’s apprentice, Leito.

“Hello, there. I’ll take two, please.”

He was a small-framed young lad with flaxen hair, and as always he had a smile on his face. As I looked back into his light-brown eyes, I replied, “Hello. Thanks for your continued business. Is Kamyua busy today too?”

“Yes. He got back in the morning, and it seems he plans to sleep till the sun hits its peak. His big job is drawing near, so he’s busy with all sorts of preparations.”

Was he really that busy getting ready to guard that merchant caravan? Well, there would be no point to asking that question, and besides, I had work to do.

“Sorry about this, but in that case, could you pass along a message to him? I’d like him to make a bit of time after I finish with the stalls.”

“Oh, my. How rare, for you to have business with Kamyua,” Leito replied with his usual innocent smile, his eyes going wide. “I’m sure he’ll be delighted. I’ll make sure to let him know as soon as he wakes up. He should be staying around The Kimyuus’s Tail, too.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

With that, the youth disappeared into the crowd, which had really started picking up. Once he was completely out of sight, Sheera Ruu shot me a worried look and said, “Asuta, make sure you stay on your guard, alright?”

“Right. He’s insisted he respects the people of the forest’s edge, though, so it shouldn’t be dangerous... probably.”

“That ‘probably’ is worrying. As things stand, the forest’s edge can’t afford to lose you, Asuta. And besides, think of how upset Ai Fa would be if anything would happen to you. Please don’t forget that, no matter what.”

“It’s alright. I’m just going to go talk to him.”

Nothing about that was dangerous... at least for now. However, I had no idea how things would play out in the near future.

Now that the Suun clan had been overthrown, just how would relations with the Genos castle shift? And just how would that change affect us, since we have been doing business in the post town? Any guesses I could make felt like nothing but fumbling in the dark.

Still, if anything happened to me now, it would definitely set things back here in the post town. With just a bit more time, I may be able to impart the know-how needed to do business on their own to the people of the forest’s edge. At the very least, I couldn’t afford to die or disappear till then.

My life doesn’t belong just to me alone anymore.

I needed to be more careful and cautious than ever before, just like I had discussed with Ai Fa last night.

Even though the Suun clan had fallen, it wasn’t as if everything had been resolved. We still needed to make sure we formed a proper relationship with the castle, as that was also an important step in atoning for the sins of the leading clan.

“Well then, the sun will hit its peak soon. Let’s give it our all in the back half, too,” I called out to Sheera Ruu, who still looked a bit worried. Then, I turned with a smile and greeted, “Welcome!” to a new customer.