Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1: Gilulu the Totos

1

Those two women visited the Fa house on the 20th day of the blue month, four days after Tei Suun’s death brought that whole chain of incidents to a close.

“Are Asuta or Ai Fa in? It’s us, Ama Min Rutim and Rimee Ruu.”

I had just returned from work in the post town, and had been going to get my vegetable knife to prepare for tomorrow. Today Li Sudra headed straight home and the women from around the neighborhood hadn’t showed up for cooking lessons, so I was all alone in the house.

“Ah, yes, hold on just a moment.”

I placed my knife and the aria back atop the cutting board, then stood to my feet in a hurry.

Ama Min Rutim and Rimee Ruu made for a bit of an unusual pairing, but I couldn’t see any reason to feel concerned in the least. And so I nonchalantly opened the door... and shouted, “Gyah!” before falling back on my butt.

“Are you okay, Asuta?” Ama Min Rutim asked, sounding concerned.

“Ahaha! So lame!” Rimee Ruu laughed away.

Between the two of them stood a massive figure: A giant totos bird, of the sort I was used to seeing around the post town.

“W-W-W-What’s going on? What is a totos doing here at the forest’s edge?”

“Yes, well, it would take a while to explain everything, but the Sauti men captured it out in the forest,” Ama Min Rutim replied with an apologetic bow down at me. “We should have mentioned it right away. I didn’t expect you to be so surprised, though... My deepest apologies.”

“N-No, I’m sorry for being such a wimp there.”

That’s what I said, but I’d imagine anyone would be thrown for a loop to suddenly find something like that waiting outside their doorway.

Totos were massive birds that stood at around three meters tall, making them a few sizes bigger than even an ostrich. They were shaped just like ostriches, too, but their whole bodies were covered in dark brown plumage. And they had elliptical bodies, long necks like Nessie, two beefy legs, and talons that dug firmly into the earth.

This beast was significantly larger than an ostrich, making it a seriously imposing presence. It had to have weighed over 200 kilos, at least.

I was used to seeing totos around the post town on a daily basis, but it was still stunning to see one up close like this. If it kicked a person with one of those burly legs, it could easily take them down with a single blow.

And yet, Ama Min Rutim was just standing there perfectly calm next to the huge bird. There was a leather bridle around the totos’s beak and neck, and the woman’s graceful fingers held onto the end of it.

“Isn’t this amazing?! It’s a totos! A totos! This is my first time getting to touch one!” Rimee Ruu excitedly stated as she hugged the bird tightly around its right thigh. Then, she rubbed her cheek up against its dark brown plumage, only for me to yell in a panic, “Ah, that’s dangerous, Rimee Ruu!”

“It’s alright. Apparently totos are rather docile animals, so they won’t run wild as long as you don’t try to do them harm,” Ama Min Rutim chimed in with her usual relaxed smile.

It had been around ten days now since I had last seen her, but she remained just as gentle, trim, and pretty as always. She wore her dark brown hair in a bold short style that was rare to see at the forest’s edge, and her slender body was clad in a single-piece outfit, proof that she was wed. She was the young wife of my precious friend Gazraan Rutim, after all.

Then there was Rimee Ruu, who was every bit as full of energy as always. She wore an utterly carefree smile on her face, and her reddish hair looked even fluffier than the totos’s feathers. And she wore a single shoulder dress made for children, which covered her tiny little body that looked like it had less total mass than a single one of the large bird’s legs.

“So, what’s going on here, anyway...? I mean, you two came here to the Fa house along with a totos discovered by the Sauti clan. I don’t have much of an imagination, so I really can’t even begin to guess at what brought things to this point.”

“Yes, well, we’re assuming that this totos is a survivor of the ones those townsfolk let loose in the forest’s edge five days ago. The Sauti men captured it while hunting, but they had no idea what to do with it, so they brought it to the Rutim settlement.”

I see. That fake merchant caravan of Kamyua Yoshu’s had brought along around ten totos, but they only brought two back out with them. That would explain why this totos found wandering about the forest had come with a bridle already attached.

However, there was still more that I didn’t understand. To start with, just why did the Sauti go to the Rutim for help?

“The Rutim already had an agreement to teach the Sauti how to bloodlet and dissect giba. That had been put off due to all the commotion after the clan head meeting, but Dari Sauti had already personally come to visit our settlement today.”

“Ah, so he’s already recovered, then?”

“Yes. He needed to talk to Donda Ruu about the upcoming discussion with the nobles of Genos, and so he asked if he could stay at the Rutim settlement for the time being to fulfill that promise as well.”

The Sauti clan had been carefully maintaining a neutral stance when it came to the matter of doing business in the post town, but they seemed quite interested in the idea of delicious food. And so, they must have requested to start by learning bloodletting and dissection as soon as possible. I wasn’t quite sure if they had chosen the Rutim instead of the Ruu because they didn’t want to impose on another of the leading clans, or because Dari Sauti and Gazraan Rutim had hit it off, though.

At any rate, both of those clans lived far away from the Sauti settlement. Since they were at the southernmost extreme of the forest’s edge, it would take them around two hours walking. That was why Gazraan Rutim had made the suggestion for clans that were so far apart to trade their men temporarily. Then there wouldn’t be any change in the number of hunters on hand for each clan, and they could efficiently learn bloodletting and dissection techniques.

“And it was decided it would be best to hear Donda Ruu’s opinion on what to do with this totos, too, so I headed to the Ruu settlement in place of the men, who still had hunting work to take care of, but—”

“Papa Donda got all mad and said ‘What do I care?’ Isn’t that just awful? It’s not like Ama Min Rutim did anything wrong.”

Donda Ruu must have been on edge around now, too. After all, he would be meeting with influential folks from the Genos castle in just a few days.

Originally, the discussion was set to be held on the 23rd day of the blue month. However, yesterday that was revised to the 30th. And it wouldn’t be just the three leading clan heads and Cyclaeus any more, as the ducal guard captain Melfried and the bodyguard Kamyua Yoshu would also be joining in. I had made that proposal to that aloof acquaintance of mine, and sure enough he ended up seeing it through.

Cyclaeus had overlooked the misdeeds of the Suun clan, and was suspected to have lent a hand to their wrongdoings. Kamyua Yoshu had told us that in order to prove that, Melfried had deceived the people of the forest’s edge and set a trap for Zattsu Suun.

However, if that was true, then there was no reason for hostility between the people of the forest’s edge and Melfried. It would make far more sense for them to join together from here on out in order to deal with the treacherous Cyclaeus. Or at least, that was what I had proposed to Melfried’s accomplice, Kamyua Yoshu.

In turn, that led to Kamyua Yoshu talking to the three leading clan heads. Of course, I had already conveyed what he had told me the other day to them. And so, they were aware that it wasn’t the lord of Genos who was their enemy, but his proxy, Cyclaeus.

With that, the leading clan heads’ anger towards Melfried and Kamyua Yoshu for deceiving them subsided, at least for the time being. However, the situation wasn’t going to improve until Cyclaeus was taken down. After all, he still hadn’t retracted his statement that all members of the Suun clan should be handed over to the castle.

The criminals Zattsu and Tei Suun had already passed away. So why was Cyclaeus so insistent about getting ahold of the members of the Suun in spite of that? I honestly didn’t know, but there was no way we could ever go along with it. The former clan head Zuuro Suun was awaiting judgment at the forest’s edge, and Diga and Doddo were being treated more or less like prisoners after their escape, but the rest of the former members of the clan were all striving their hardest to live proper lives, day after day.

First off is seeing if Melfried’s side’s excuses are valid, and if they are, we’ll have to give our all to expose Cyclaeus’s old crimes. As long as that doesn’t happen, though, Genos and the forest’s edge will never truly see eye to eye.

In other words, Donda Ruu and the others were facing the upcoming meeting with Cyclaeus, with the weight of the forest’s edge’s future on their shoulders. And so, it was no surprise that any of them might be feeling on edge. After all, they didn’t exactly have the time to figure out what to do with a lost totos right now, anyway.

Thanks to all that, I was able to understand how things had played out, at least 80% of the way. There was just one question I had left.

“So... Why did you bring this totos here to the Fa house?” I tried asking Rimee Ruu.

However, the girl just replied, “Dunno,” with a shake of her head.

“‘Dunno’...? Then what are you doing here, Rimee Ruu?”

“I didn’t have any work, so I just followed along with Ama Min Rutim. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Ai Fa, after all! Hey, why did Papa Donda say to bring the totos here?” Rimee Ruu asked, her bright blue eyes now staring at Ama Min Rutim.

“Um...” the young woman hesitated, which was rare for her. “You see... He said that the Fa clan chef would probably be overjoyed to pluck its feathers and prepare its meat... That was what I was told.”

“Huh? He said to eat this totos?” I questioned, staring up at the massive bird in question.

From far up above, the totos was tilting its head and shooting me back a blank look.

Its face was pretty small compared to its huge body, but it was still about the same size as a human’s. Its curved beak was slanted down a bit and looked massive and intimidating, but the bird had a surprisingly goofy face overall. Its big black eyes had long eyelashes that gave it a sort of sleepy look like a camel or a giraffe.

“I mean, I’ve prepared small birds before, but it’d probably be difficult to handle one this big... It’s even larger than a giba, isn’t it?” I mumbled, then looked down to find Rimee Ruu clinging to the totos’s leg again.

Those big blue eyes that had just been staring at Ama Min Rutim were now looking my way and full of tears.

“You’re going to eat this totos...?”

“Huh?”

“Asuta, you’re going to eat it?”

She was clearly right on the verge of breaking down sobbing.

At a loss for words, I turned around to face Ama Min Rutim, but she also looked troubled as she asked, “What should we do...?”

I mean, this was precisely the time for some dietary education. And yet, I just wasn’t strong enough to say something like, “It makes no sense to eat giba but feel bad for a totos!”

“Umm, if this totos originally belonged to people from the castle, it’d probably be bad to just go and eat it. I can get in contact with Kamyua Yoshu once I’m in town, so how about handing it over to him?”

“I see. That certainly sounds like the proper course of action,” Ama Min Rutim said with a sigh of relief.

However, Rimee Ruu still looked like she was about to break down in tears.

“You’re giving the totos back to town...?”

“Huh? I mean, we can’t exactly keep it here at the forest’s edge, right? Considering how big it is, the cost of food alone would end up being enormous.”

“Yes, and we can’t exactly go letting it live here without permission from the leading clan heads.”

With those words from me and Ama Min Rutim, the dam finally burst and Rimee Ruu’s tears came gushing forth.

All that was left to do at that point was for me and the young wife to share a glance and each give a deep sigh.

◇

It was now the following day, the 21st of the blue month.

“Oh? A totos at the forest’s edge? That’s certainly an interesting story!” Kamyua Yoshu had come to visit the stalls before the sun hit its peak, and so I had launched right into discussing the matter from yesterday with him. “Well, it’s not like they would starve out in the forest, and they can run faster than a giba on level ground, so I guess it’s not so strange for a totos or two from back then to have survived... So, what sort of dishes are you planning on making with it?”

“Ah, no, that thing’s way too big for me to handle. Besides, the people of the forest’s edge don’t seem to have any interest in totos meat, anyway. But the plan is to have someone bring it to town tomorrow morning, so could you take it?”

“Hmm... I’d love to help you all out if you’re finding yourselves in a bind. But there are no totos at the forest’s edge, huh...? Doesn’t it seem too boring to just give it back to town?” Kamyua Yoshu said with a big grin. This man was always smiling, but when it intensified like this, it seriously put me on edge.

“It’s not like we particularly need to make things interesting. And it’d be a huge problem if the totos started chowing down on the fruits of the forest, so I figured it was best to return it as soon as possible.”

“Totos only eat the leaves from high up on trees. Apparently they’ll eat pretty much any leaves as long as they’re soft enough, and they never eat fruit or bugs or the like. So they should be able to coexist alongside the giba just fine, right?”

“But there’s no point to them coexisting, is there?”

“Let me put that another way... Totos and the people of the forest’s edge should be able to live alongside one another just fine.”

I had no idea what he was getting at. And so I looked back at his skinny face with some serious distrust, but he just grinned even deeper.

“I mean, totos are seriously convenient, you know. Their meat and eggs are pretty tasty too, but it’s no exaggeration to say that mankind’s prosperity came from the fact that we have totos around. They’re strong and fast, and they’re so obedient by nature that they rarely ever go wild. They can pull along luggage, and you can ride on them, too. And if you just tie them to a tree they’ll take care of feeding themselves, plus they even live about as long as humans. They’ve been our trusty partners since ancient times.”

“I mean, all that may well be true, but...”

“Then let me ask you a question. How long does it take you to head from the Sauti settlement at the south of the forest’s edge to the Zaza settlement in the north by foot, Asuta?”

The topic took yet another abrupt swerve.

While feeling quite cautious, I replied, “If you head out at the break of dawn, you’ll arrive there around when the sun hits its peak from what I hear.”

In other words, it took around six hours to come from the southern limit of the forest’s edge to the north.

“I see. But if you could ride a totos, then you could cut that down to a third or even a fourth of the time needed. And it’d be possible to go even faster with practice, too.”

“Huh...”

“I believe that having three leading clan heads was an excellent idea. The idea of choosing powerful clans to the north and south to keep an eye on the whole of the forest’s edge was also wonderful. However... it has to be a big hassle for the Sauti and Zaza clan heads having to spend half a day traveling just one way, right? And there’d be a lot of waiting around for everyone to arrive in a time of emergency, too.”

That was certainly true. That was exactly why Dari Sauti ended up staying with the nearby Rutim clan when he wanted to contact Donda Ruu.

It took about two hours to travel from the Ruu settlement to the Sauti one. And it was around four hours to head from the Ruu settlement to the Zaza. Even treating the Ruu as the center of the forest’s edge, it still took that long to get there from the north and south.

“This is just my own personal theory, but I believe that how fast information can be conveyed is what determines how advanced a society becomes. And so it was by befriending totos that we were able to build things up this far. Without them, it would be hard to even travel from one of the four great kingdoms to another. So if the people of the forest’s edge are seeking greater strength and prosperity, it just doesn’t make sense to avoid using this totos’s abilities.”

“But it’s not so easy to ride on one of those big birds, is it? And honestly, I find it pretty hard to imagine totos running about the forest’s edge...”

“It’s true that it takes some time and a good bit of physical ability to ride a totos. But I figure the people of the forest’s edge shouldn’t have any trouble at all. With just a few days of instruction, they’ll probably be able to move those birds about like their own limbs,” Kamyua Yoshu stated, the grin still fixed to his face. “And let me just add, there’s no proof that totos is one of the ones we brought along with us, Asuta.”

“Huh?”

“We were operating under the assumption that all the totos from back then would get wiped out by giba, so we didn’t bother to brand them. And you can’t claim ownership over a totos without a brand. Even if they have a bridle on them, they’re treated the same as wild totos. You’ve got no obligation to return it to us, so won’t you seriously reconsider keeping it?”

“Ah, no, but...”

“You just have to leave it outside during the day, and then only bring it in at night. You don’t generally need to look after it at all, so it shouldn’t be a hindrance, right? And if it does become one, then you can go ahead and cook it up. Well, townsfolk generally won’t eat them unless they can’t work anymore due to injury or age, though. That’s just how important of a source of labor they are. But if you think I’m tricking you, then why not try living with it for a bit?”

“I mean, you were the guy who kept on deceiving us for weeks...”

“And I’ve apologized for that again and again, haven’t I?!” Kamyua Yoshu replied, holding both arms out in a pose of lamentation, gripping his half-eaten giba burger all the while. It was like he was an actor, and one who was seriously chewing up the scenery at that.

“Alright, I’ll try to take a positive attitude in thinking it over. But if Ai Fa or the leading clan heads oppose it, I’ve got no intention of going against them. So please don’t go setting your expectations too high.”

“Oh, I see. But surely nobody will turn the idea down after learning how convenient totos are, right? After all, it’ll lend even further strength to the forest’s edge!”

I shot another glare right back at that aloof grin.

“Um, I would find it pretty hard to believe, but you didn’t leave the totos out in the forest with this in mind, right?”

“Huh? You’re seriously overestimating me, there! There’s no way I could have imagined the totos surviving in a harsh environment filled with giba like the forest of Morga!”

As he said that, Kamyua Yoshu’s seriously untrustworthy face broke out in a grin like a Cheshire cat.