Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 4.3

3

“I can’t believe this! How are you not dead?!” Rau Lea yelled, his eyes brimming with rage. “Our blades clearly sliced you! Are you seriously human?!”

“Hmph. I simply used a taboo leaf. I suppose you all know nothing of that, though, since you pay no heed to the bounty of the forest.” His voice was cracking and filled with a mad joy. It really sounded like a different person entirely, but it was definitely Tei Suun’s voice.

He had completely taken us off guard. With his resolve to die... No, with his firm conviction to do so.

An even denser smell of blood than yesterday was streaming into my nostrils. I tried to look down as best I could with just my eyes, and found a disturbing amount of blood pooling by my feet. There were four hunters present, and they most definitely carried out their duty. There was no doubt in my mind that Tei Suun was suffering from fatal wounds.

However, it seemed that Tei Suun’s convictions had surpassed such matters of common sense. Apparently, he was now standing in the thicket behind the stalls, and he had a firm grip on my throat.

Just what sort of battle had occurred for things to end up like this? I had no idea whatsoever.

However, it wasn’t as if I had lost consciousness. No, it had all happened in an instant when I blinked. Tei Suun must have leapt over the stall and charged me like a beast, while three hunters sliced into his back.

But how had he avoided Ludo Ruu, who was positioned so as to guard me? I hadn’t seen it, so I could only speculate, but I could make some assumptions from how the boy’s broken blade now lay on the ground, while he was now gripping his hatchet. As he leapt my way, Tei Suun must have grabbed hold of the pot from the stall and used it to block Ludo Ruu’s attack. Now that I thought back, I did recall hearing the sound of clashing metal, so that would explain how the youngest Ruu son’s blade had broken.

Once I thought things through that far with my somewhat stunned brain, Tei Suun started talking again in that hateful tone.

“I can’t go and die until I’ve properly punished you all for pointing your blades at the Suun clan, the rightful leaders of our people! It’s only fitting that I take this brat who destroyed us with me when I go!”

“That’s insane! You’re the ones who broke the laws of the forest’s edge, so you’ve got no right to call yourselves the leading clan! Just let Asuta go and die already, you stubborn bastard!” Ludo Ruu shouted, looking no less angry than Rau Lea.

However, Tei Suun answered with laughter every bit as devilish as what had come from Zattsu Suun yesterday.

“The laws of the forest’s edge and the town have nothing to do with this! The great Zattsu Suun was trying to grant us new laws and a new order in place of them! You damn fools just weren’t able to understand his grand intentions! You’re all weaklings unable to do anything but serve the townsfolk! You freely gave away our one and only means of resisting them!”

“I’m tired of hearing that crap! You talk about new laws and order, but you bastards just skulked around like bandits!”

“We simply tried to take back the fortune that was unjustly stolen from us! We wished to get ahold of our just reward for risking our lives to protect the fields of Genos! The ones who should be ashamed are the citizens of Genos, who wish to keep us trapped at the forest’s edge while they line their pockets!”

Was that voice seriously coming from a man who had suffered fatal wounds? I mean, it was every bit as loud and enthusiastic as Donda Ruu’s.

There was also an unbelievable amount of strength in the fingers grasping my neck. For some reason Tei Suun only had his right hand on my neck, but if I tried to move in the least those fingers would crush down on my neck as if to punish me. And as pathetic as it was to admit, I had to stand there like a fool and just listen to the exchange.

“So damn stubborn! So are you saying that’s reason enough to play at being petty criminals?! It’d be better to just die than to resort to something so shameless!”

“Then go ahead and die! Get stabbed to death by a giba out in the forest! Die feeling grateful for those mere few coins you get for your horns and tusks! That’s the fate Genos gave to the people of the forest’s edge, after all!”

“You bastard...!” Ludo Ruu cursed, his eyes burning even more intensely.

I then noticed that the other three had moved to encircle us.

The three hunters were all holding bloody blades. Rau Lea looked furious and Shin Ruu was expressionless, but both of them had fires burning bright in their eyes. And as for Ai Fa... Ai Fa’s blue eyes were blazing brighter than anyone present, but she also wore the greatest look of grim resolve I had ever seen.

That expression seemed to pierce my very heart, and at last my mind shifted back to reality.

“P-Please, hold on, Tei Suun... You really believe that Zattsu Suun’s teachings were correct...?”

With that, even more strength pressed down on my throat.

“What, are you begging for your life, Fa clan chef? No matter what you say now, I will never forgive you for your crimes! By conspiring with the Ruu, you brought our Suun clan to ruin!”

“No, but—”

“For eighty years, we obeyed the unjust laws thrust upon us by Genos! How many do you think starved to death during that time?! And yet we remained forbidden from touching the bounty of the forest, and kept on earnestly hunting giba! It’s the same for our newborn children, long suffering elders, and hunters who are injured fighting giba... Even without anyone keeping an eye on us, none of them lay a hand on the fruits of the forest, and they just keep on foolishly following those laws till they starve to death! Genos killed all of them! I absolutely cannot accept that as being our proper fate!”

“I don’t agree with that either! That’s why I started doing business here, to bring prosperity to the forest’s edge!” I desperately wrung out, despite the fact that my throat was being crushed.

Tei Suun exploded with laughter once again.

“What foolishness! Why should we need to take such a detour when there’s fruit overflowing right in front of our very eyes?! If we could just partake of the bounty of the forest, we’d have no need for coins at all! That’s the proper way to live for people who take the forest as their god!”

“But that would leave the western fields to be overrun by giba! The people of the forest’s edge are also citizens of the western kingdom, so wouldn’t the proper way of living be for everyone to support one another?!”

“That was why we needed even greater strength! And we would obtain it if no one were to starve any longer! With that our five hundred brethren could grow to over a thousand, allowing us to hunt more giba than ever before! And in turn, no giba would attack those fields even with us taking as much as we please from the forest!”

So that really was it... I thought to myself.

At his core, Zattsu Suun was driven by the same principles as me, Ai Fa, and Gazraan Rutim. By the desire to bring greater prosperity to the forest’s edge...

“Then... Then why did you neglect your duty to hunt giba for these past ten years? Nobody would approve of attacking travelers and pillaging fields, but if you had at least kept acting as hunters and properly explained the importance of gathering strength... If you had explained the need to gather the bounty of the forest, then at least some of the clans may have agreed, right? Then if you talked things over with Genos and got permission to harvest from the forest, everyone would have praised the Suun as a great leading clan!”

“You fool! That’s no different than licking Genos’s boots like we’ve done till now! We must instead shatter the false way of life they’ve given us to pieces!”

“Hey, you didn’t answer Asuta’s question, you shameless criminal. Why did the Suun clan neglect its duty as hunters?” Rau Lea pressed.

“That’s because of you bastards under the Ruu,” Tei Suun spat back. “You’ve been baring your fangs at the Suun clan for 20 years now. And so we needed to start by gaining enough strength to overcome you! Otherwise, the other clans would fear your wrath and pay our words no heed. And so, we were steadily, quietly amassing power while protecting our people and fortune!”

“That’s ridiculous... So you’re saying that’s why you didn’t work as hunters, and instead spent ten years playing at being bandits and idly enjoying yourselves? So what did that get you, then? Just a handful of coins, and the complete loss of your pride and strength as hunters as your clan weakened, right?”

“That’s...! That’s because Zuuro Suun lacked the strength needed to carry on Zattsu Suun’s great ambitions! If Zattsu Suun had only stayed healthy, by now we would all be living proud, proper lives!”

“Then you should be hating the former clan head for falling ill before he could bring that ambition to light, and his successor for being so pathetic. Instead, you just kept blathering about that ambition as you fell to greater and greater depths of depravity, didn’t you?” Then, with a ferocious expression still on his face and the look of a hunting dog blazing in his eyes, Rau Lea tilted his head. “Plus, everything you’re saying just sounds like excuses. I mean, nobody but you and Zattsu Suun have been blabbering about that ‘great ambition’ this whole time. So in the end, it was just you two worrying about that nonsense, right?”

“Yes, that’s true! In these past ten years, all others who knew of Zattsu Suun’s great will passed away! Zuuro Suun was the only other one aware of it, but he grew utterly corrupt! And so... And so, there was nothing left for the Suun clan but destruction!”

“Then it makes even less sense for you to hate the Ruu and Fa, doesn’t—” Rau Lea started to say in an astonished tone, only for shrieks and murmuring to sound out from the crowd.

Those white-clad soldiers, the ducal guards of Genos, had arrived.

“So you were still alive after all, criminal. A filthy monster like you stepping foot into the town of Genos is a crime worthy of certain death.”

The group of ten soldiers were confidently marching forward, their leader Melfried standing at the head of the group.

However, Ai Fa stood in their way.

“Hold on! What are you planning on doing?!”

“That much should be obvious. We will punish this criminal.”

“You fools! Asuta has... My clan member has clearly been captured! If you approach carelessly, you’ll just cause him to be harmed!”

“I of course have eyes, too. Worry not, woman of the forest’s edge. I’ll send that criminal’s head flying before he can do anything improper.”

“As if you could manage such a thing! You clearly underestimate the strength possessed by hunters of the forest’s edge!”

With her back to us, Ai Fa lifted her blade.

Melfried’s grey reptilian eyes somehow grew even chillier.

“You raise a blade towards me, woman of the forest’s edge? That is a difficult crime to forgive.”

“That’s insane! Don’t you see how he’s smiling away calmly despite how heavily he’s wounded?! What if he snaps Asuta’s neck while you’re aiming for his head?!” Ludo Ruu shouted, also turning Melfried’s way.

In the same instant, Tei Suun started laughing like a devil once again.

“That’s perfect! Kill each other! That’s exactly what you should have been doing this whole time! Until one side destroys the other, the hatred between the people of the forest’s edge and the citizens of Genos will never vanish!”

“That’s enough, Tei Suun. Your words don’t have so much as a shred of logic behind them. You’re just wailing away to distract us from the terror you’re feeling at being unable to accept your own death, aren’t you?” Shin Ruu rather calmly chimed in.

However, Tei Suun’s laughter showed no signs of stopping.

“There’s no fear in my heart! The Suun clan has already met with its fate! So all that’s left for me is to take this unforgivable traitor down with me!”

“Doing that won’t save your soul. Let go of Asuta.”

“Oh, I will! After I’ve snuffed out his life, that is!”

As Tei Suun kept cackling away, Melfried drew his blades. Not just the one, but both of them. And as he held those silver swords in each of his hands, he stared coldly ahead at Ai Fa.

“Step aside. Otherwise, I will have to cut you down as well.”

“I have no intention of crossing blades with anyone from the castle... I’m begging you, please step back,” Ai Fa replied, her voice trembling with emotion.

The soldiers behind Melfried also gripped their pikes tightly.

I could almost hear the air around us come to a boil...

And then, a familiar aloof voice completely blew all that away.

“Cut it out, already. There’s no point to you guys fighting each other.”

It was a tall, lanky man in a long leather cloak.

The man had appeared as if out of thin air, and stood there ruffling his unkempt blond hair.

“This is no time for you to be getting involved. Please keep out of this, Kamyua Yoshu,” Melfried answered while still keeping his eyes fixed on Ai Fa and Ludo Ruu.

But as he trotted on over, Kamyua Yoshu just stated, “That’s not true at all,” in a voice utterly lacking in tension. “You and Ai Fa are both my precious friends. It’s pretty cruel to say I’ve got nothing to do with you two fighting, Melfried.”

“Then do something about this woman of the forest’s edge. I have a duty to uphold the law and keep order.”

“That’s true. But I owe the people of the forest’s edge, too. After all, I went and did something pretty sneaky to them. And so, I feel I truly need to make it up to them for that,” Kamyua Yoshu stated, coming to stand between Ai Fa and Melfried. In that position, it would be impossible for him to dodge if either one of them swung their blade. And then, without so much as lifting his arms out from under his cloak, Kamyua Yoshu turned his back to Ai Fa and us so that he was facing the captain of the ducal guard. “I already fulfilled your request, right? So this time, please listen to mine... It’s only right that we let the people of the forest’s edge settle this themselves.”

After a few seconds of silence, Melfried returned his left blade to its sheath.

Kamyua Yoshu said, “Thanks,” then turned towards my clan head. “I leave the rest to you, Ai Fa. Please, save Asuta.”

Without saying so much as a word, Ai Fa did an about face and approached us.

“Tei Suun, I understand that you are filled with regrets. But what good would it do to take Asuta down with you? Doing so would accomplish nothing... In fact, adding to your crimes will only make it harder on your family,” Ai Fa very calmly stated.

“What ‘family’?!” Tei Suun spat. “Anyone who dared yield to the Ruu while holding the Suun name is no family of mine! The only man I call my ally is Zattsu Suun, who lost his life while overflowing with regret!”

“Is that how you truly feel? That ‘great ambition’ is more important to you than your bonds of blood?”

As she talked, Ai Fa did something bizarre. She spread her arms out wide, then indicated for Rau Lea and Shin Ruu to step back. After a second of hesitation, the pair obeyed.

Ai Fa casually lowered her knife, then took a few steps more towards us.

“What are you doing? If you come any closer, I’ll crush your clan member’s neck... Well, I don’t believe my life will last much longer anyway, though, so you can’t change how this ends no matter what you do.”

“Do you hate Asuta that much? All he’s done is try to bring prosperity to the forest’s edge. He has given that goal his all, so that none of our people will have to starve to death any longer. If the Suun clan held the same ambitions, then can you not see the ones to inherit that task are Asuta, the Fa clan, and the Ruu?”

“All you’re doing is wagging your tails at your masters from Genos! No matter how much prosperity such methods may bring, they will never give us back our pride!”

“That’s not true at all! I... No, all of us want to live together in harmony with Genos, not just follow them obediently! Our hope is to live together under the same laws as comrades, rather than try to trample all over what exists now!” I desperately interjected while staring into Ai Fa’s eyes. I felt I had to, considering the grim resolve readily apparent on her face.

“Comrades, you say? You would call Genos our comrades after how they have unjustly oppressed us?! You fool! Genos is an enemy we must force to submit!”

“I don’t believe that! And I can’t imagine Ai Fa and these folks from the Ruu do, either! The people of the forest’s edge have obeyed the law of their own will, so even if it’s unjust, no one has felt like they’ve been oppressed! If the Suun clan alone holds such regrets... Then they must have come from the castle.” There were folks from the castle standing right nearby, of course, but I couldn’t continue on without saying that. “The Ruu, Zaza, and Sauti will take up those frustrations in your place. They’re acting as the leading clans instead of the Suun now, and will be the ones to interact with the castle. And so those regrets held by the Suun clan alone will then be felt by the whole of the forest’s edge. And yet, we will strive with all our might to form proper bonds with them, rather than submitting. And so... Won’t you please entrust us with the future of the forest’s edge?”

“What are you, stupid...?” Tei Suun questioned, his voice positively dripping with hatred. “What do I care for the future of the forest’s edge?! I’ll soon be dead! Zattsu Suun has already passed, too! Ruin and despair is the only fitting fate for a world where the Suun clan has fallen! The forest’s edge, this town, and the castle can all be destroyed for all I care!”

No good, huh? I thought to myself, gnashing my teeth.

It may not even be possible to wipe away Tei Suun’s hatred with my words.

“Then take my life as a final souvenir...” Ai Fa muttered powerlessly.

As my eyes went wide with shock, she took yet another step forward.

“I told you, don’t come any closer! Do you really think you can make an opening by stating such nonsense, clan head of the Fa?”

“That’s not my intention at all. I simply have no intention of shamelessly living on after my clan member faces such harm in front of my very eyes... If you’re going to kill Asuta, then do the same to me!”

“Ai Fa! What are you saying?!”

It didn’t suit Ai Fa at all, saying something like that while choking back tears.

And no matter how hard of a situation she had been placed in, to choose death... That was something the Ai Fa I knew would never do.

As she hung her head in despair, Ai Fa dropped the sword at her hip to her feet. Then, she moved the knife she was holding to her left hand and flipped it so the handle was pointed our way.

“You can take my life using this blade. If at all possible, I would prefer it that you kill me first... I don’t wish to see Asuta die.”

“Stop! Don’t come closer! I won’t play into your crafty plot! You intend to hand that blade to this brat rather than me, don’t you?!”

“What are you saying? Asuta is no stronger than your average woman. No matter how injured you may be, you should be able to easily grab the blade before him, right?”

As Ai Fa went to step forward again, Tei Suun wailed, “Stop right there! My right arm can’t move! Your blades must have severed the muscles in my right shoulder. So thanks to that, I can only take one of you down with me! I’ll be strangling this brat to death soon, so if you want to die so badly, then stab yourself in the throat!”

“I see...” Ai Fa muttered. “So you truly can’t move your right arm after all, Tei Suun.”

In the next instant, Tei Suun’s intense grip on my neck finally loosened. Ai Fa leapt forward in the same moment, and she ripped my body away from the crazed man.

Then, somewhere far away, there was a shrill shriek. It must have come from the crowd gathered by the side of the road.

Ai Fa collapsed to the ground, still cradling me.

Then, while pressing me to the earth, she lifted her torso and slashed at the empty space behind her with her knife, now held in a proper grip.

It seemed that caution was completely unnecessary, though. As he leaned up against a tree, a great deal of blood gushed forth from Tei Suun’s throat and left shoulder, and he collapsed on the spot.

“What... the...?” I muttered without thinking as I slowly sat up.

Ludo Ruu’s group, Kamyua Yoshu, and Melfried all hadn’t moved. And yet, Tei Suun sat there positively drowning in blood.

I foolishly thought for a second maybe this was all a nightmare rather than reality... But then I noticed a small figure emerge from behind the tree Tei Suun was leaning against.

“You shameless fool... Your Suun clan cast aside their pride to live without hardship, so what would you know of the pain of losing your child to starvation?” Shockingly, it was the Sudra clan head of all people. That small, gloomy looking man flicked the blood off his knife before sheathing it, then he turned towards the captain of the ducal guard. “The criminal from the forest’s edge has been dealt with. Did I break any of your laws in the process?”

“The order given was for that criminal to be captured dead or alive. None of our laws will judge you.”

“I see. Glad to hear it,” the Sudra clan head muttered, not sounding proud of his victory in the least.

He must have slipped away from the myamuu giba stall when he saw Ai Fa and the others grab Tei Suun’s attention, then slowly, carefully moved around to the thicket while hiding his presence. Then, he sliced the criminal’s shoulder from behind, and while Ai Fa was securing me, slashed the man’s throat.

“Clan head of the Fa, thanks to your quick wits, I was able to get the jump on this fiend. To think that he really wasn’t able to move his right arm...”

“I also have to give you my gratitude for saving my clan member’s life. I can never thank you enough for that,” Ai Fa solemnly replied as her left hand firmly gripped my right.

That warmth and strength felt incredibly precious to me as I slowly rose to my feet.

Then, together with Ai Fa, I walked over towards Tei Suun.

Was there really this much blood within a single human body? At any rate, as he sat in that overwhelming dark red pool, Tei Suun’s expressionless face stared blankly into the distance. As always, I couldn’t sense any emotion from him, and his eyes were cloudy like those of a dead fish.

What sort of expression had he worn just moments ago when he was spitting out those hate-filled curses? I hadn’t been able to see, and I honestly couldn’t even imagine.

“Tei Suun...” Despite the fact that it meant getting coated in blood, I kneeled down next to the man. As the light steadily faded from his murky eyes, he listlessly glanced my way. “On the night of the clan head meeting, were you the one who helped Ai Fa?”

As if refusing to answer, Tei Suun closed his eyes. However, before the weak movements of his chest completely ceased, he slowly opened his eyes once again. And then, his blood-soaked face broke out in the same gentle, satisfied smile he had worn after eating the giba burger.

“At last, I’ve carried out my final task...”

Those were the last words spoken by Tei Suun, a man born to a branch family of the leading clan, who spent fifty years being trifled with by a man overflowing with wicked strength.