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

Epilogue

“I’m seriously sorry...!”

It was now the afternoon of the following day, the 17th of the blue month.

I was in the midst of preparing dinner in the Fa house, and Kamyua Yoshu was deeply bowing his head.

Ai Fa was sitting with one raised knee and an angry look on her face, while I stared at the top of the man’s blond head as I checked the taste of the soup.

“As you guessed, that merchant caravan was a scheme designed to entrap the Suun clan. It wasn’t a lie that there were only five bodyguards, but the remaining 18 were all a mishmash of mercenaries and other such experienced fighters. The whole thing was a plan schemed up by the captain of the ducal guard, Melfried.”

“Outside of who came up with the idea, that was pretty much exactly what I had figured. So the elites of Genos really were intending to do away with the Suun clan after all, huh?”

“Hmm... It was ultimately more Melfried’s personal decision, actually. His father Duke Marstein Genos gave his tacit consent, but the cabinet minister Cyclaeus didn’t know anything of the plan,” Kamyua Yoshu stated, finally raising his head.

“Huh,” I replied, adding just a pinch of salt to the soup. “So the elite of Genos aren’t exactly a monolith, then? But isn’t that one heck of a backhand, to jump to that after overlooking their lawlessness for so long?”

“Well, you see, that was all down to the mistake of granting Cyclaeus full authority on the matter, while Melfried heavily values justice and the rule of law, and wanted to bring the blade of judgment down on their necks. Meanwhile, Duke Genos just sort of watched it all play out with an awkward grin.”

“That’s all he did? Sure sounds like the lord of Genos has it easy.”

“He’s kept plenty busy with other matters. Plus, once he entrusted the matter to his cabinet minister, it wouldn’t look great if the duke had to go and blatantly overrule him,” Kamyua Yoshu responded with a carefree shrug of his shoulders, but then he noticed Ai Fa’s chilly gaze and curled back up. And yet, no matter how meek he acted, the man still seemed every bit as sketchy as always. “I was in a pretty tough position, too. Just as Melfried was begging for me to help out, I met the two of you, and then I had that talk with Donda Ruu at their settlement. And that just firmed up my impression that the Suun were the only corrupt clan at the forest’s edge, and the rest of you were a proud people... That all left me more than a little uneasy.”

“Uneasy? Why’s that?”

“Well you see, I was afraid that even if we were successful in exposing the Suun’s crimes, it could lead to the rift between Genos and the forest’s edge growing even deeper... Like, the townsfolk growing more afraid of you all, while spurring on the ill will towards Genos people of the forest’s edge have. It looks like the biggest mistake I made was underestimating what a proud people you were.” I really wanted to respond to that, but I was more interested in confirming Kamyua Yoshu’s intentions at the moment, so I held my tongue. “And so you see, I pleaded to cancel the plan! I really did! But Melfried just wouldn’t listen. He said that a crime is a crime, and criminals had to be punished. ‘No matter what complaints the people of the forest’s edge may raise, justice is on our side!’ Honestly, he’s a lot more hot-blooded than he looks.”

“Right. Well, I wouldn’t say that way of thinking is wrong, exactly.”

But what was it? For some reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to sympathize with that man.

I found that doubt frustrating, but Kamyua Yoshu’s following explanation helped to clear it up.

“It’s not like if something’s not wrong, it’s right. What Melfried finds just is incredibly one-sided. All he seeks is what’s ‘right’ here and now. He casts aside the past and future, and only thinks of the very instant in question. What caused that crime to occur, and what sort of future will be born from passing judgment? Those are factors he doesn’t even consider... I’d say that can make things easier, but it’s also incredibly dangerous,” Kamyua Yoshu said while staring off into the distance and sitting there in his cloak. “To put it more simply, the one to look the other way on the Suun clan’s crimes till now was Cyclaeus. He blew off his responsibility, but Melfried had no authority nor duty related to that, so him butting in to cast judgment would just cause trouble. But Melfried’s only goal was to judge the crime, rather than trying to assert the validity of his actions. As long as the criminals get judged, that’s enough to satisfy him.”

That sort of fastidiousness may fit in well with the people of the forest’s edge...

But at any rate, there were still a number of points I wasn’t satisfied on.

“Please hold on. In that case, why didn’t the folks from the castle let us take a break from our work with the stalls? Was it really to use us as bait to draw out Zattsu and Tei Suun? If so, then wouldn’t that mean they wanted to capture the criminals badly enough to put us and the townsfolk at risk?”

“Ah, no, the one to give that order was Cyclaeus. Melfried hasn’t been granted any authority in regards to the people of the forest’s edge. In fact, he saw how dangerous that all was and took his ducal guards out to patrol the post town, even though that isn’t their usual duty.” After saying that, Kamyua Yoshu’s eyebrows drooped apologetically. “You’ve probably already figured this out, but I’m the one who ignited Melfried’s justice-seeking heart about the matter. I earned favor with him through his father Duke Genos, and I told him all I knew about the twisted relationship between the Suun clan and Cyclaeus... and I told him how the warped bond between Genos and the forest’s edge needed to be corrected. From there, Zasshuma, who is a bodyguard rather than a merchant, was brought on board as an advisor and the current plan was put together. I was the one to bring it up to start with, but I wasn’t capable of leading such a large group and all that, so I stepped back to just being a participant and quietly watched things play out.”

Somehow, that course of action felt very much like him. “Onlooker” really did seem to be the role that best fit this aloof man.

“But then I talked to you and Donda Ruu, and I started having some serious concerns. That’s why I figured suggesting you do business in the post town was the least I could do to make up for my actions, seeing how I couldn’t reveal the truth to you.”

“Eh?”

“My thought was that if you could create a bond between the forest’s edge and town, that could leave at least a bit of hope. That perhaps you could relieve at least a little of the fear from the townsfolk and animosity from the people of the forest’s edge. That was what was running through my head when I brought up the idea. But I also honestly do wish for the people of the forest’s edge to live more prosperous lives like I said before, too.”

If Kamyua Yoshu hadn’t made that suggestion to us... Then I never would have met Milano Mas or Naudis, or even Balan and Shumiral’s groups. And I wouldn’t have ended up manning the stove for the clan head meeting either, so I wouldn’t have revealed the Suun clan’s crimes.

By this point, I had difficulty trying to even imagine such a future.

“You were trying to plot out what would be most convenient for the folks inside the stone walls, right...? I can understand that. But—”

“To the people of the forest’s edge, a big fat liar like me is totally unforgivable, right?” Kamyua chimed in, stroking his narrow, stubbly chin. “Well, I don’t especially mind being hated, anyway. Even if they detest me, my deep affection for the people of the forest’s edge won’t change in the least. But if that leads directly to a distrust of Genos, that’d be a real issue. The hunters of the forest’s edge are so honest and pure that I could see them yelling, ‘We’ll leave Morga behind and head to some other forest!’”

“Were you eavesdropping again?”

“I wasn’t! Did someone seriously say that? That’s certainly troubling... And the leading clan heads have all already met Cyclaeus a number of times, too. That must’ve made them feel even more distrusting of folks from the castle.”

I still had yet to meet that Cyclaeus man, personally. Was he truly unrelated to this whole incident...?

“Um, there’s something I’d like to ask you. Before, you said ignoring Cyclaeus’s authority and exposing the Suun’s crimes would just cause trouble. So is that why you ignored Cyclaeus and came up with this crazy plan to corner the Suun clan?”

“Huh? I mean, in order to expose Cyclaeus, first we had to take down his accomplices, the Suun clan.”

“What...?”

I got the feeling I had just heard something completely nuts.

“Ah, had I not brought that up yet?” Kamyua Yoshu questioned while scratching his head. “You see, there’s no evidence. It’s just that there are two or three of Cyclaeus’s political opponents among those who were harmed by people of the forest’s edge. Officially they were attacked by bandits, but since it happened over ten years ago, we haven’t been able to find any clear proof.”

“That’s...”

“And apparently, there was an incident where a girl was kidnapped from a farm village and sold to slavers. Plus there was that matter with the merchant caravan ten years back. It wouldn’t be possible for the people of the forest’s edge alone to turn the goods they stole into coins. In that case, doesn’t it make sense to think they had someone assisting them from inside the walls of stone?”

“If you know all that, then why haven’t you passed judgment on him?!”

“Like I said, there’s no proof. That’s why we absolutely wanted to capture the criminal Zattsu Suun alive before Cyclaeus could get to him... But unfortunately, all we could get out of him were curses, and he didn’t speak a single word of what we wanted to hear.”

I was stunned into silence.

“But on the other hand, Zattsu Suun clearly stated right in the middle of town that he attacked the merchant caravan ten years back. And so, Melfried figures we’ll just have to use that point to try to go after Cyclaeus from here on out.”

“So you’re planning to expose Cyclaeus’s crimes now?”

“Of course. If he’s guilty, then Melfried’s blades are sure to come swinging. And also... since we’re talking about a treacherous retainer from within the castle walls, I’ll have no reservations about giving my all to help out,” Kamyua Yoshu stated, then he broke out in a grin like a Cheshire cat.

Seriously, what was with this guy...?

It was then that I turned to my clan head, who was shooting Kamyua Yoshu a seriously suspicious look.

“Hey, Ai Fa, what do you think of Kamyua?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, he’s kept deceiving us for over ten days and exposed Dari Sauti and his men to danger, so do you want to call him a big fat liar and a sneak for that?”

“Ah, hey, could you at least leave that sort of talk for when I’m not around...?”

“I don’t especially feel as such,” Ai Fa swiftly, calmly responded. “We knew this man couldn’t be trusted from the very start, and as for the matter with the Sauti men... From what I hear, they simply carried out their duty as hunters faced with giba. The ones worthy of hatred are those villains who spurred on the beasts in the first place.”

“Hmm. But Kamyua’s group probably turned down the request to take on more escorts from the Sauti clan because they wanted to be the ones to catch the criminals. With that in mind, wasn’t that pretty cowardly?”

“Ah, like I said—”

“But they were unable to discuss the circumstances, correct? They also would have been unaware as to what sort of clan the Sauti are. They likely couldn’t discard the possibility that they were secretly collaborating with the Suun clan, plus if they were surrounded by over ten hunters, the fiends may have given up on their attack... It was clearly all done out of their desire to catch the criminals.”

Feeling satisfied, I turned back towards Kamyua Yoshu.

“Just like the folks from the castle aren’t a monolith, the people of the forest’s edge all have their own different ways of thinking, too. And if we want to maintain the bond between us, then we have no choice but to talk, sharing our emotions and reasoning.”

“Talk...? Who should be talking to whom?”

“Us, and you all. The people of the forest’s edge and the citizens of Genos. Kamyua Yoshu... You say you don’t mind if we hate you, but you also stated that you won’t insist Melfried’s way of doing things is correct. Plus, the people of the forest’s edge don’t generally have any interest in folks from the town or castle. There’s no way we can form proper bonds with things as they stand, right?”

“Hmm?” Kamyua Yoshu pondered, tilting his head.

As I stared him straight in the face, I continued on, “To start with, I believe you should have a frank discussion with the leading clan heads. If you can gain the bare minimum of trust that way, then maybe drag Melfried along to the meeting with Cyclaeus scheduled for a few days from now.”

“Melfried? To the meeting? That’s crazy talk, Asuta! Melfried’s right in the middle of sharpening his blades in order to expose Cyclaeus’s old misdeeds!”

“That may be so, but the people of the forest’s edge already know that your merchant caravan was a fake, as well as what happened ten years ago. Those two points will absolutely have to come up... And without you and Melfried present, doesn’t it seem likely that the discussion wouldn’t go anywhere?”

“Oh, my! You couldn’t be saying you want me to be there too, right?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Back where I come from, they had a saying that silence is golden. But there are times where you won’t get anywhere without speaking up, too. I believe that it’s necessary to exchange words if we ever hope to truly understand one another.”

I didn’t believe hopes and prayers alone would be enough.

I truly felt there were times when you needed to bare your heart, no matter how unsightly that might seem. And it may just have been Tei Suun’s actions yesterday that taught me that.

He was practically acting as Zattsu Suun’s lawyer as he constantly proclaimed how the Suun clan’s way was correct, while the people of the forest’s edge present angrily argued back. It wasn’t just me, either, but Ai Fa, Ludo Ruu, Rau Lea, and Shin Ruu... Those true-born hunters fought back against Tei Suun with their emotions and thoughts.

As a result of all that, the townsfolk got to hear their voices. And it was likely their first time hearing the thoughts and feelings of the people of the forest’s edge.

After Tei Suun’s corpse was carried away and the soldiers released us, Dora and Tara had suddenly come running up to us. Both the father and daughter were sobbing away. At first I didn’t know what was going on, but after a bit they calmed down enough that Dora managed to choke out the words while wiping away his tears.

He said that he hadn’t known the people of the forest’s edge lived like that, and that they hadn’t shown anywhere near enough gratitude, and that he was embarrassed to have looked down on them before meeting us.

The people of the forest’s edge never touched the fruits of the forest, even if it meant starving to death. It seemed that fact had left Dora feeling seriously overwhelmed. As someone who made a living by tending his fields, the idea that the people of the forest’s edge were being compelled to live such lives to protect them was surely unbearable for him.

We couldn’t exactly continue running the stalls for the day after all that, so we just wrapped up our work with The Great Southern Tree and then headed back. But we decided to timidly head to town the following day (in other words, today) and found that the place seemed peaceful once again. The westerners didn’t all greet us with smiles, of course, and a lot of folks still looked at us with marked fear and bewilderment. And yet, it felt like something had clearly changed.

The shift was hard to put into words, and it felt different than even before the incident. It was like they were staring intently at the people of the forest’s edge in an attempt to figure something out... The gazes pointed our way now were clearly filled with more than just fear and discrimination. There was something else there, too.

It felt like the question, “Just who are these people, really?” was constantly being silently asked of us.

The townsfolk now understood just how much resolve the people of the forest’s edge had when it came to carrying out their task as hunters. And in turn, the people of the forest’s edge now knew just what awful actions their brethren had taken that incited such fear in the townsfolk.

The real fight starts now, I thought to myself. Could the people of the forest’s edge and the townsfolk truly come to understand one another? Was it possible for them to become good neighbors when their temperaments were so very different? We were finally standing at the starting line for figuring all that out.

With that in mind, it was important to strive to bring the folks from the castle to that same point, too.

It was possible to give up whenever. And so I felt it was important to give it our all and aim to reach a mutual understanding until we hit that point. If after everything it turned out we just couldn’t get along at all, then we would have no choice but to go our separate ways. But until that time came, we just had to keep plunging forward no matter how rocky the trail. So as to not let the death of Tei Suun, that man who kept acting as an accomplice to Zattsu Suun’s evil to the bitter end, go to waste.

“Asuta...”

“Hmm?” I questioned, turning to look Ai Fa’s way only to find her shooting me a disquieting glare.

“When will we be able to have dinner? I’m starving.”

“Ah, sorry about that. I just need to cook up the hamburger.”

Ai Fa then nonchalantly lifted her right hand and covered her mouth. In all likelihood, she had been unable to stop herself from breaking out in a smile when she heard the word “hamburger.”

“Well then, I guess it’s about time for me to get going. I’ll treat that proposal from you as my homework, Asuta. And sorry for bothering you while you’re busy.”

With that, Kamyua Yoshu slowly rose to his feet.

As I kept preparing to cook the hamburger all the while, I said, “Huh?” and turned his way. “You’re not going to eat with us, Kamyua? But I prepared enough for three...”

“Eh? You’re inviting me to dinner? Under these circumstances?”

“I mean, considering when you showed up, I figured that had to be what you had in mind.”

“Even I’m not that shameless...”

“So then you really are leaving?”

“No! If you’re willing to treat me, then I’d love to take you up on that!” Kamyua Yoshu shouted out in a fluster, then his eyes suddenly narrowed. “It somehow feels like you’ve grown awful reliable over these last few days, Asuta. You’re like a completely different person compared to when I first met you.”

“I don’t know about all that. But well, I guess it would be strange not to have grown at all after what I’ve been through,” I replied while staring back into Kamyua Yoshu’s unusually colored eyes. “From the very first moment we met you, you were a key person in our lives, Kamyua Yoshu.”

“Eh? What’s this now? That’s way too much praise for an undependable wanderer like me, isn’t it?”

“Even so, if we had formed a closer relationship with you, then maybe things wouldn’t have turned out so badly. I had tried to maintain the proper distance, but if I had trusted you from the bottom of my heart... And if you had trusted me just as much, then maybe there wouldn’t have been so much bloodshed.”

“I already trusted you as much as I possibly could, though.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth about that merchant caravan? Why didn’t you mention the tragedy that happened to Milano Mas and Leito’s relatives? If you had revealed that much, then at the very least, the Sudra men wouldn’t have needed to shed blood pointlessly, right?”

Unusually enough, my words seemed to cause Kamyua Yoshu to hesitate with a, “Hmm...”

“You had no choice, though. Plus I didn’t reveal much of anything about the circumstances with the Suun clan to you, so we’re in the same boat there. However...”

However, if we had trusted each other a bit more and pooled our resources, maybe we could’ve found a way to just take down Zattsu Suun. That was the one point that I seriously regretted.

“Were Tei Suun’s remains allowed to be buried at the forest’s edge...?” Kamyua Yoshu finally asked. His slightly droopy eyes narrowed a bit and looked incredibly clear.

“Yeah. His former family buried him at the outskirts of the forest. Why do you ask...?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just figured it would be a lot better that way than having him buried by the city of stone as a criminal.”

“Kamyua, if we’re going to have a more trusting relationship from here on out, then you really should speak your mind rather than treating silence as golden... So let me just come out and say, I really have trouble handling it when your eyes make it look like you see through everything like that.”

Kamyua shrugged his shoulders under his long cloak, the same look still in his eyes.

“That’s an awful thing to say. It’s not like I’m clairvoyant or anything, you know.”

“At any rate, the folks from the Genos castle and the forest’s edge need to have a frank, open conversation. Would it be possible to drag Melfried along to that meeting?”

“Well, I certainly can’t say it’ll be easy. Still, I’ll give it everything I’ve got, in my own way. It’s for the sake of friendship between Genos and the forest’s edge, after all,” Kamyua Yoshu responded with a big grin.

As that was going on, Ai Fa tugged away at my sleeve. It was like her eyes were screaming at me, “Is dinner still not ready yet?!”

While pondering about the path forward for Genos and the forest’s edge, still fraught with trouble, I set about preparing dinner for my beloved clan head and the aloof guy who may just end up a very close friend of mine.