Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 2.6

6

A bit before the sun hit its peak, Li Sudra arrived just as we had arranged. And she had four Sudra men along with her, too.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting. I look forward to working with you again today,” Li Sudra stated, her expression the same as always.

However, the clan head was standing next to her, looking seriously nervous.

“Clan head of the Fa, those villains still haven’t shown themselves, have they?”

“That’s right. And I’m glad to see you all doing well.”

“Right. From here on, we’ll be risking our lives to protect our comrades,” the Sudra clan head with his sunken cheeks stated, a light shining brightly in his eyes. Seeing that, his wife Li Sudra broke out in a gentle smile.

“Clan head, if they see a daring hunter of the forest’s edge with such an intense expression on his face, the townsfolk will be too scared to approach. Please, restrain yourself.”

“Hmm? I don’t believe we can afford to be so relaxed. The former Suun clan head was nothing but skin and bones and was on the verge of death, yet he managed to take down a Jeen man, and from what I saw at the clan head meeting, that man from the branch families is also quite skilled. We must be prepared to lay down our lives if need be.”

The Sudra clan head was shorter than his wife, and he didn’t have all that impressive of a physique, either. In fact, it may even be a bit rare to see a man his age so lacking in that regard. However, his generally gloomy face clearly displayed his do-or-die resolve. Under the circumstances, it would have been perfectly reasonable to choose to hold back from helping out with work until Zattsu and Tei Suun were captured, but rather than doing so, he went so far as to volunteer to help with guard duty.

These were the only four men of the Sudra clan, and so they dropped the rest of their women off at the Ruu settlement on their way.

“Clan head of the Sudra, the men of the Ruu are over there in the thicket. The plan is to divide the tasks of keeping an eye on the highway and also guarding against attacks from behind, so please start by talking to them,” Ai Fa stated.

The Sudra clan head replied, “Understood,” with a nod, then he and his men headed in the direction she had indicated. Before long, Vina Ruu and I would have to head over to The Great Southern Tree, so Ai Fa’s group of four would keep guarding us while the four from the Sudra would remain here to keep an eye on the stalls.

Just when the Sudra men disappeared from view, the members of the Silver Vase approached in their place.

“Welcome. I’m grateful that you came out even on a day like this.”

“Yes, I saw, the wanted posters... Are you, alright, Asuta?”

“Yes, we’re just fine. You all should make sure to take care, though. I’m sure this was included on the posters, but the criminals who are on the run are incredibly dangerous.”

“We, will be fine. I worry, about you all, Asuta. The guards said, there is a risk, of you being, attacked.”

Perhaps because of that, we had a remarkable decrease in western customers. Even the number of passersby seemed to be less than usual. Dora had stopped by with Tara, but Yumi and the rest of our regulars hadn’t shown up yet. The fear and unease folks from the west were feeling probably wouldn’t let up until the villains were captured.

“Thank you. We really will be fine, though. After all, we have a number of reliable hunters on guard duty,” I told him with a smile, but I couldn’t spy any shift in Shumiral’s serious gaze.

His eyes then turned towards Ai Fa, who was standing next to the stall.

“Clan head, I am the leader, of the Silver Vase, Shumiral Zi Sadumtino.”

“Hmm?” Ai Fa questioned. She had been keeping a watch on the road from between the two stalls, but now she shot Shumiral a quizzical look. “By clan head, do you mean me? I don’t know you at all, though.”

“I heard of you, from Asuta. Could I get, your name?”

Ai Fa furrowed her brows and seemed even more doubtful as she looked Shumiral up and down.

“I’m Ai Fa of the Fa clan. I’m sorry, but I really don’t have time for idle chatter.”

“Ai Fa... It is, a good name. Are you, protecting Asuta?”

“Yes. It’s a clan head’s duty to protect the members of her clan,” Ai Fa replied, her gaze shifting back towards the road. Her role here was to keep an eye out and make sure nobody suspicious was approaching us by blending into the crowd.

“Please take care, of Asuta. He is, very important, to me.”

With that, Ai Fa shot Shumiral another fleeting glance.

“I will protect Asuta, regardless of whether or not anyone asks me to.”

Shumiral’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he murmured, “Thank you,” before looking over towards the neighboring stall. Vina Ruu was there working hard, just like always.

Shumiral really did see her as someone special, didn’t he? However, he didn’t let any of those inner feelings show today, instead simply leaving once he got the dish he had ordered.

“That guy from Sym really was worried about you, huh? Did you form some sort of special bond in the past?” Lala Ruu questioned as she stood beside me and helped with the giba burgers.

“Nah, nothing special happened between us. If I had to say, he’s just one of the customers who buys my cooking.”

“Hmm, that’s strange... Still, I guess that’s how your bonds with our Ruu clan got started. So maybe it’s not so strange after all.”

Right, my bonds all came through my cooking.

I was especially close with Shumiral, but Aldas and Pops were important to me too, even if I only just learned the latter’s real name of Balan today.

We may have only talked to each other a few minutes out of each day, but we still shared bonds. And those bonds grew stronger bit by bit as we interacted more and more. Interactions like that were surely why someone like me was able to keep on living here in this other world.

A bit later, just when it was about time to head out for The Great Southern Tree, three more people of the forest’s edge approached: Gazraan Rutim, Dari Sauti, and another one of the men from the Sauti clan.

“Ah, hey there. How did things go with Kamyua Yoshu?”

“It seems the plans for tomorrow truly can’t be changed. That was just as we expected, but he also said that they didn’t need any guards.”

“He said that?”

Tomorrow was finally the day of the big job involving the merchant Zasshuma and the caravan he led. Of course, I had assumed they wouldn’t be able to cancel their plans thanks to circumstances on our end, but what did it mean that they were saying they didn’t need any guards?

“Since there is no telling what actions Zattsu Suun may take, we offered to have all of the Sauti men escort them. However, since they were only asking the people of the forest’s edge to show them the way, it came back to the initial agreement of just four men.”

“But... isn’t that dangerous?”

“Hmph. There are only two of those villains, so even with just four of us we shouldn’t be in any danger. Still, we offered to increase the number of men we’re sending to just be safe, but they blew it off as us worrying too much. I really just can’t stand folks from town,” Dari Sauti chimed in.

He was taller than Gazraan Rutim, and in terms of physique he seemed like he would even be a match for Donda Ruu. He had a gentle looking face, but when combined with his large body his appearance seemed a match for his heavy responsibility as one of the three leaders of his people. As for his age, he must have been just a bit older than Gazraan Rutim.

At any rate, though he usually gave off a pretty mild impression, he seemed to be just a bit irritated by the situation. It really must have been draining dealing with Kamyua Yoshu under such circumstances, though.

“They must have their own sort of pride and dignity, too. It’s the job of those bodyguards to protect the merchant caravan, so they probably don’t want anyone else interfering.”

“I don’t like it. Maybe they’re thinking they’d like to take down those fiends by their own hands, just like the folks from the castle.”

Could that be the case? With the impression I had, I couldn’t imagine Kamyua Yoshu and Cyclaeus having a very friendly relationship. Did Kamyua Yoshu also have a desire to take down those criminals from the Suun clan, though...? It was honestly a mystery what that aloof man was really thinking.

“At any rate, there are apparently 18 in the merchant caravan and five bodyguards. They shouldn’t have any need to fear a mere two criminals. And also... they said even if those villains were to harm any of the merchants or products, the responsibility for that would fall to them as the bodyguards, so we shouldn’t worry about it.”

“I see. If Kamyua Yoshu said all that, then maybe there really isn’t any need to worry.”

Kamyua Yoshu, and that man with the bandaged face, Haan of Dabagg. And there would be three more of their peers, plus four men of the forest’s edge led by Dari Sauti, so it certainly wouldn’t be easy to get the better of them.

“Well then, we still need to report back to Donda Ruu and Gulaf Zaza, so we’ll be heading back to the forest’s edge. Asuta, please take care,” Gazraan Rutim finished with a firm gaze my way, then he departed along with Dari Sauti.

“Well then, we should get going too. Take care of everyone, alright, Sheera Ruu?”

“Right. Please take care.”

With that, I, Vina Ruu, Ai Fa, and the three hunters who were hanging out in the thicket headed away from the stalls. Along the way I purchased the vegetables I needed, and then we made for The Great Southern Tree, getting much harsher stares than usual as we went.

“We’ve still got to decide our roles. I guess we’ll need one each at the front and rear doors, another keeping an eye on the surrounding area, and one to enter the building.” Somewhat surprisingly, the one to act as the leader of the guards was the youngest person present, Ludo Ruu. “We’ll leave the front entrance to Ai Fa, but I guess it doesn’t matter who else goes where.”

“Hold on. Why do I have to take the front entrance? I wanted to be the one to go inside.”

“Hmm? But if one of us men is standing out front of the inn, folks from the west won’t approach. That guy who runs the place already didn’t look pleased, right?”

We had already stopped by to discuss the matter with Naudis in the morning. Which is to say, we told him we wanted to have these bodyguards from the forest’s edge around just in case something were to occur.

“No, but... I mean, I’m a hunter wearing blades, too. Being a man or woman shouldn’t make much difference in the scorn the westerners show us.”

“That’s not true at all. There’s no way a woman with a pretty face like yours would get avoided anywhere near as much as us men.”

“You say that, but you all have soft, womanly faces too, don’t you? And I’m taller than you, too.”

All of a sudden, there was a tension in the air. However, Rau Lea chimed in with a chuckle, “You sure say some funny things. But I’m even taller than you, clan head of the Fa. I’d get bored just standing around, so I’ll take the task of keeping an eye on the surroundings. You all can decide the rest without me.”

“Height has nothing to do with it! Plus there’s hardly any difference between me and you anyway, Ai Fa!” Ludo Ruu wasn’t letting it go so easily.

“...But I’m still taller.”

“I’m about the same height as the Fa clan head.”

“Shin Ruu, you jerk! You’re calling me a runt too?!”

“I didn’t say that. And you’re a better hunter than I am, anyway.”

As that argument wore on, we arrived at The Great Southern Tree.

“I don’t like entering buildings around town, so I’ll take the rear,” Shin Ruu said, retreating from the conflict.

“I’ll blow into a grass whistle if I see anything,” Rau Lea added before also disappearing. That just left Ai Fa and Ludo Ruu shooting each other seriously hostile glares.

“Um, since Asuta understands the ways of the town better than anyone, why not have him decide...?” Vina Ruu proposed, sounding a bit astounded.

“He’d just choose Ai Fa, though!” Ludo Ruu childishly wailed.

It wasn’t good to be doing this in front of the inn. And so I felt a need to speak up, but I couldn’t help but have a heavy heart when considering how that would make Ai Fa feel.

“If you’re letting me decide, then I believe it really would be best to have Ai Fa stand outside... What do you say?”

As expected, Ai Fa stood there aghast.

“But... why...?”

“I mean, my reason’s what Ludo Ruu said before, and since a lot of folks from the west apparently use this inn, I’d like to avoid worrying them as much as possible. That was why we had you stand by the stalls before too, right?”

“That’s... That’s true, but...” Ai Fa muttered, clearly downhearted. Then, she turned her listless gaze towards Ludo Ruu, shooting him an apologetic look. “I see... I was the one only valuing my wants over our needs, here. I’m sorry for trying to push through with that rather than treating the matter logically.”

“Hmm? Ah, you don’t have to go apologizing over it or whatever.”

“However... It is still a fact that I’m taller.”

“Shut up about that, already! What does it even matter?!”

“It doesn’t. That was just me being a sore loser.”

With that, Ai Fa walked along the wall, then flopped down when she was about three meters from the inn’s entrance. Rather than just having one knee up she was cradling both of them like a child and shooting a gloomy gaze out over the road.

“I’ll keep an eye on the highway from here, Asuta...”

“Right!”

“Give it your all...”

“...Got it.”

For some reason, it felt like a powerful sense of guilt was crushing me.

As I pushed open the door to the inn and slipped inside along with the siblings from the main Ruu house, I held back yet another sigh, like I had been doing again and again all day.

“Ah, Asuta, I’ve been awaiting you,” Naudis greeted with a gentle smile from the reception desk. He had already met the men this morning, and it was only Ludo Ruu with us now anyway, so he didn’t look all that nervous. “Well then, I’m counting on you again today. Actually, I’m honestly relieved just by being able to welcome you so casually.”

“Sorry about all this. We’ve made a real commotion for you due to our personal circumstances. At any rate, I’m really grateful for you accepting this matter with the guards.”

“Ah, no, since there are dangerous criminals prowling about, I actually find it reassuring. You can’t rely on the town guards to deal with people of the forest’s edge, after all.”

Still, if I had just been banned in the first place, that would remove any threat of an attack by Zattsu Suun. In spite of that, Naudis had said he wanted me to continue as planned. I certainly felt bad about the whole situation, but to be honest, I was actually more glad that he chose to look at it the way he did.

“I didn’t have the time to tell you this morning, but your cooking was a big hit last night. I sold every last bit of it.”

“Ah, I’m relieved to hear that. You were selling it at five red coins per dish, weren’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right. I also sold some without fuwano and with half the meat for two red coins, just like you suggested. Thanks to that, even customers who wouldn’t pay five red coins for something they never tasted had no concerns ordering it,” Naudis said with a very satisfied looking grin on his face.

I smiled right back at him as I opened up the bundle of giba meat I had left with him.

“By the way, what was the ratio of customers like? Did folks from the west order it too?”

“Of course. By now there are plenty of customers from the west willing to come here out of an interest in giba cooking. I don’t know how that will go from here on out, though...”

I wasn’t sure of that, either.

The stalls had seen a dramatic drop in western customers. If that was because they were afraid of getting wrapped up in something, then that shouldn’t have much of an impact on business here at the inn. However, if this incident was causing animosity towards the people of the forest’s edge to flare back up, that could prove rather serious.

“Well, we just have to be patient until those criminals are caught. But just the number sold to the customers from the south was pretty good, so I certainly intend to keep on working with you,” Naudis said before departing. He looked the same on the surface, but maybe he really was feeling on edge about being in the same room as Ludo Ruu after all.

“Man, it sure is boring waiting around for someone who may never even show up. But I can’t let my guard down, so my shoulders are getting all stiff,” Ludo Ruu complained while giving a big stretch. “If it’s just for a day or two, coming to town can be pretty interesting. But if this goes on for like 10 or 20 days, I’m going to get completely sick of it. And those guys from the Sudra will end up running out of food.”

“It wouldn’t end up dragging out that long though, right? If it did, it’d be a problem for me too.”

“But there’s always a chance they end up dying before they show themselves, isn’t there? Like if they run into a giba in the forest and it takes them down, then they’d end up mundt feed in no time. Then we’d be stuck doing this forever.”

Ah, that really could happen. In fact, it would normally be seen as seriously dangerous to spend the night out in the forest. Plus, Zattsu Suun was sickly and Tei Suun wasn’t exactly young, and they shouldn’t have been properly equipped in the least. With all that in mind, it seemed rather likely that they would die out in the forest without anyone knowing. Would that mean that we would spend the rest of our lives vigilantly on guard against phantoms?

Just how much trouble would Zattsu Suun have to make for us before he was satisfied? As I kept my hands moving with the cooking, I recalled the ominous words Yamiru Lea had once spoken: “Zattsu Suun was a man who was like a bundle of poison.”

◇

After two and a half hours, our work at The Great Southern Tree came safely to a close.

We had yet to receive any news, good or bad. By the time we made it back to The Kimyuus’s Tail, the group from the stalls had already wrapped up their business and completed the shopping for tomorrow.

“We had some meals left today. We sold all the giba burgers, but we only hit around 80 for the myamuu giba.”

Rather than hearing about how the sales went, I felt like I should be congratulating them on making it safely through the day. Still, it was hard not to feel a bit down.

At any rate, we still needed to return the stalls, so I reached out to open the door, only for an angry voice to sound out from the other side before I could do so.

“I’m telling you, you should stop renting out stalls to them! If they just didn’t come to town, that’d settle everything, right?!” I froze in place without thinking. Naturally, he was talking about us. “The folks from the castle are way too soft on the people of the forest’s edge to begin with!”

“I don’t want to get mixed up in their problems!”

“If you didn’t rent them stalls they wouldn’t be able to do business, so you should just give them back what they paid and be done with them!”

I didn’t recognize any of those masculine voices yelling out their complaints.

At any rate, after a moment of silence, Milano Mas responded. “Even if I ended my contract with them, they’d just get their stalls from The Great Southern Tree. And someone from the castle gave them permission, so nothing will come from us complaining.”

“Still, that doesn’t mean we’ve got to just willingly follow along, right?!”

“Do you want their fee that badly?”

“And I mean, you should hate the people of the forest’s edge more than anyone, right?”

In the next moment, a tremendous bang resounded through the air. Someone must have punched a table or wall or something with all their might.

“My relations have nothing to do with what I’m feeling right now! The ones pissing me off at the moment aren’t the people of the forest’s edge, but you lot! If you’ve said your piece, then hurry up and get out! You’re interfering with my business!”

Hearing that, I backed away from the door in a hurry.

The door swung open both ways, and it soon slammed outwards, only for the men who came stomping out to suddenly go, “Gyah!” and freeze in place.

There were over ten people of the forest’s edge lined up there just outside the door. Just how scared must they have felt at the moment? The men were all dressed like merchants, and their faces twisted into looks of despair as they started trembling.

However, I was the only one who eavesdropped on their conversation, so everyone else just shot them blank looks.

“Sorry, but I’ve got business inside, so could you let me through?” I asked in the flattest tone I could manage, only for the men to dash away as fast as they could.

After watching them leave, I once again went to walk inside, only for the door to swing open and Milano Mas to step out with his usual sour expression plastered on his face.

“What, so you’re done? Don’t stop in front of the shop like that. You’ll obstruct my business.”

“Right, sorry.” We didn’t need this many people just to move the stalls, so the four bodyguards and I moved them around back as Milano Mas directed. “Um... Is it alright to keep getting the stalls from you from tomorrow on?” I asked while pushing the stalls, only for Milano Mas to shoot me a glare out of the corner of his eye.

“If you do something questionable and break a stall, you’ll have to pay a fee for that. That’s like I explained to you from the start. There shouldn’t be anything else I need to explain, though.”

“Got it... Thank you.”

Naturally, that statement just earned me an annoyed, “Hmph,” back.

When we arrived at the storeroom behind the inn, for some reason we found a certain tall, skinny, aloof-looking blond guy waiting there for us.

“Hey, there. Good work today. Thanks for the delicious meal as always.”

“Hey, what are you doing back here?” Milano Mas asked in a gruff tone, but Kamyua Yoshu just shot him back a relaxed grin.

“You see, I decided to wait here because I didn’t want to miss Asuta and his group. And if I decided to take it easy in the dining hall, I’d drift off in no time at all.”

This was my first time seeing Kamyua Yoshu today. Since he was saying he had my cooking, though, he must have gone and made a purchase while I was over at The Great Southern Tree.

“I’m glad I got this chance to see you, Kamyua. I heard you’re leaving early in the morning and won’t be back for two months at the earliest, after all.”

Two months... Seeing as I’d been here in this world for less than 50 days, that certainly felt like a heck of a long time to me.

I honestly couldn’t judge whether it was good or bad that Kamyua Yoshu would be disappearing just as the relationship between the forest’s edge and Genos was growing more and more complicated. But either way, it was an unmovable fact that he was leaving. And so, those of us left behind would just have to rack our brains over how to handle things.

“Ah right, I heard that you refused an offer to add more men. Do you really feel there isn’t any danger?”

“Huh? Yeah, of course! A mere two criminals are practically nothing! And actually, there isn’t any reason for madmen trying to flee the forest’s edge to attack us in the first place.”

“But the fact that they’ve gone mad is why you never know what they might try, right? Plus... I think there’s more than a little chance that the merchant caravan you’re guarding will be attacked.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Kamyua Yoshu asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity, but I was a bit concerned about Milano Mas’s presence. It wasn’t like it had nothing to do with him, and he didn’t seem to enjoy hearing about criminals from the forest’s edge. For now, though, he seemed to be feigning ignorance as he checked over the stalls for any damage.

“A bit back, I heard something unusual from a member of the Suun clan. That people live to earn coins, and that since the Suun were the most affluent clan, their head was the greatest hero of the forest’s edge... I figure that biased point of view was passed down through the main house, all the way back from the previous clan head.”

“Uh-huh... So a large caravan stuffed with treasure would make the perfect prey, huh? I see, that certainly is an interesting thought.”

“It would be good if that was all it ended up as, but the wanted man who was the previous clan head apparently said he would restore the Suun clan’s right to rule. That might well have meant getting ahold of as much fortune as possible, rather than attacking the opposing Fa or Ruu clans.”

“Ah, I see. But could they really regain their authority like that?”

“Of course not. The previous clan head is likely the only one thinking that. In fact, a great number of the people of the forest’s edge think that any wealth beyond what’s needed for a basic living is completely unnecessary.”

“How truly intriguing. I wish I could have talked to you a whole lot more before departing for Sym, Asuta,” Kamyua Yoshu said with a bit of a sad smile. “But I get it. There’s a real chance those villains from the Suun will attack the merchant caravan. I wouldn’t be so forward as to say I’m itching for the chance to put my skills to use, but us bodyguards do make a living through combat, after all. So a nice uneventful trip honestly wouldn’t be all that interesting for me.”

With that, his purple eyes glanced over the hunters of the forest’s edge. Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, Shin Ruu, and Rau Lea... And all of them were keeping a careful watch on the aloof man in turn, not letting their guards down in the least.

“You know, it’s possible one of us folks from around town will end up cutting down the former leader of the forest’s edge. You all won’t hold a grudge against us for that, will you?”

“Of course not. It would be a bit vexing, but we wouldn’t just tell you to sit down and let them kill you... Plus, you could probably cut anyone you wanted in two, right?” Ludo Ruu replied.

“That’s not true at all,” Kamyua Yoshu replied, waving his lanky arm as if to brush away the idea. “If possible, I would try to take them in alive. But well, the others are wilder than I am, so I’m certainly glad to hear you say that... Still, there really is still a chance they’ll come after Asuta and everyone, so let’s pray we all make it through this safely.”

“Right. I’ll look forward to reuniting with you in two month’s time,” I replied, at which point Milano Mas finally stepped away from the stalls.

“There aren’t any scratches on them. So if you’re done here, then hurry up and get lost.”

“Got it. Thank you.” For some reason, Milano Mas didn’t look my way. While worrying that he really hadn’t wanted to hear all that about the criminals, I turned back towards Kamyua Yoshu. “Well then, Kamyua, take care on your journey.”

“Yup, you take care of yourself, too. And I’ll see you again sometime, Ai Fa.”

Ai Fa shot him back an unfriendly-looking nod, bringing our farewell to Kamyua Yoshu to a sudden close.

If something were to happen to either of us this could prove our final farewell... but somehow, it just didn’t feel real to me.

Once that was over we returned to the highway, only for someone to push through the crowd and run over our way. Ai Fa immediately went to move in front of me, but it soon became clear that it was no criminal, but rather Yumi from The Westerly Wind.

“Sorry, Asuta! My stupid dad wouldn’t let me visit your stalls today!” she yelled out as she approached, only to stumble from the momentum and grab onto my chest.

“Huh? W-What’s this about your father?” I questioned, very much conscious of the chilly stare of Ai Fa’s narrowed eyes.

“I’m telling you! There was some sort of commotion about criminals from the forest’s edge, right? Thanks to that, my dad wouldn’t let me leave the house! I finally managed to slip out when he left, but you’re done with business for the day, right...?”

“Y-Yes. We hit our closing time.”

“Right. But I... Gyah! What’s with you all?!” Yumi questioned, finally noticing Ludo Ruu and the others and gripping my chest even tighter.

We hadn’t met up with the rest of the group yet so there were only four hunters standing there, but apparently that was plenty enough to frighten Yumi and put her on edge. She was normally so tough, but now her hands gripping my T-shirt were trembling ever so slightly.

“I-It’s alright. They’re all with me. Um... this is one of the regulars at the stalls. She’s the daughter of the owners of an inn called The Westerly Wind.”

Ludo and Shin Ruu wore puzzled stares, while Rau Lea had a sour look on his face. As for Ai Fa... She was expressionless, except for the incredibly frigid glare coming from her half-closed eyes.

The frightened Yumi timidly glanced over the group.

“T-They’re all your comrades, Asuta? Sorry, I was just a bit surprised. This is my first time seeing so many men of the forest’s edge at once...”

“Well, it’s true that men of the forest’s edge don’t come to town very often... So, what were you trying to say?”

“Hmm? Ah, right! I wanted to apologize for not making it to the stalls today! I’m really glad I caught you, Asuta.” With that Yumi finally moved back, though she was still grabbing the fabric of my T-shirt as she stared up at me, a bit of a serious look in her eyes.

“Apologize...? But that’s nothing to apologize over, is it?”

“Still, I’d hate it if you misunderstood! I’m not looking at you all differently because of something some other people of the forest’s edge did wrong! And hey... You’ll open your stalls tomorrow too, right? You won’t go disappearing on me, will you?”

“Y-Yeah. At least, that’s the plan...”

“I see. Thank goodness... Still, there are a lot of hardheads like my dad out there. But there are also folks like me who totally get it! So don’t go hating the post town over this, alright?”

“As long as there are people here to say stuff like that, I’ll be just fine.”

Hearing that, Yumi broke out in a big grin.

The glare from Ai Fa was painful, but even so, I felt a soothing sensation deep down in my heart.

With that, the 14th day of the blue month came to a peaceful close despite the turbulent premonition hanging in the air... And that day arrived at last. The 15th day of the blue month, when a group of over 20 merchants would pass through the settlement at the forest’s edge on their way to the Eastern Kingdom of Sym.

On that day, I would finally meet that man face to face. The root of all the Suun clan’s evils and the cause of their corruption... The former clan head, Zattsu Suun.