Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.3

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Ultimately, the forest’s edge ended up taking in all four totos.

It really wasn’t such a big deal. Ai Fa just got furious at having four totos pushed onto her and headed to the Ruu settlement, personally demonstrated how useful the big birds were, and then earned Dari Sauti’s enthusiastic approval.

“This would certainly make it easier to come and go all the way to the north! And it would make it simple to go shopping in the post town no matter where you live!”

From what I heard, apparently folks living to the north and south of the forest’s edge didn’t go into the post town unless they were holding a big banquet. When I asked why that was, I got the simple answer back that it was too far.

The settlement at the forest’s edge was long, stretching from the south to the north. For clans near the center like the Ruu and Fa, it took about an hour to reach the post town. But for the Zaza at the far north and the Sauti way in the south, the trip apparently took around four hours.

And so normally, they tended to buy their aria and poitan directly from closer farm villages, and when they needed rock salt or fruit wine, they would pay those folks to go make the purchase for them.

The ability to head from one end of the forest’s edge to the other in just 90 minutes had to hold some serious appeal, too. Up till now, clan heads who lived far apart only got to see each other once a year, at the clan head meeting. And even without needing Kamyua to tell me, I could easily tell just how important it was for the leading clan heads to be able to meet frequently in order to decide the future of the forest’s edge.

“I’m embarrassed at our lack of insight, to not have noticed the usefulness of the totos even though we found them. They are something we absolutely need. And I’m sure the Zaza clan head must agree with that statement, too.”

I only heard it secondhand through Ai Fa, but apparently Dari Sauti had been seriously impressed with the totos. My clan head even added that though he acted calm and composed, his eyes had been sparkling just as much as Rimee Ruu’s.

“However, it definitely frustrates me to owe that Kamyua Yoshu man a debt... Please tell him that I would like to offer appropriate payment for the totos,” I was told, entrusting me with that message. Of course, Kamyua Yoshu politely refused when I conveyed it to him, though.

“The forest’s edge and Genos will be having a discussion soon, right? If that ends peacefully, I’d like for you to discard any notions of debt and the like and just accept the totos. However, if things go poorly, then you can either thrust payment at us or return the totos then.”

It was a rather crude proposal, but it apparently had earned the approval of the people of the forest’s edge.

And so, Dari Sauti ended up personally riding a totos to the north to deliver the news and get Gulaf Zaza’s approval, after which it was officially decided that the people of the forest’s edge would take in the four birds.

All of that only ended up taking a mere four days in total. It was decided with an unbelievable amount of speed for the insular people of the forest’s edge. Even Donda Ruu ended up saying he had no objections if the other two leading clan heads were in agreement. I didn’t know if Rimee Ruu’s tears had a secret role in that or not, though.

As for where the totos ended up, they were being taken in by the three leading clans and the Fa. We would have been capable of purchasing our own totos, so we said that all of them should go to the leading clans instead. But since we were the ones to show them how convenient totos were, it was decided that we should keep the very first of the birds that was found.

“Tomorrow, I’ll look into where we can get a hold of a cart,” I reported to Ai Fa.

It was now nighttime on the 23rd day of the blue month, the day where Kamyua made that proposal and the totos were officially recognized as belonging to the forest’s edge.

This was after we had finished dinner without incident. I was busy preparing for tomorrow, while Ai Fa was seated a bit away, right next to the front door.

And beside Ai Fa was the totos, its huge legs folded and its long neck loosely stretched out. Carnivorous beasts like mundt and giiz prowled around at night, so it was important to bring it inside the house.

As Ai Fa looked down upon the sleeping bird’s face, she whispered, “I see...”

“I mean, we didn’t have anything to spend coins on anyway, so it works out pretty much perfectly. And it’ll be a small price to pay to be freed of all that daily labor.”

It was now the 26th day since I had started working in the post town. By this point, the Fa clan’s fortune exceeded 3000 red coins. That’d be just three silver coins, though. Still, at any rate, it was an utterly unthinkable amount for the people of the forest’s edge.

“Do as you please... Just make sure not to push yourself until you’ve had enough training, alright?”

“Yeah. The path to the post town is pretty narrow and has a lot of slopes. So I’ll stick to practicing on flat trails for the time being.”

“Right,” Ai Fa bluntly responded.

“Umm... You’re not mad or anything, are you?” I asked, feeling a bit concerned.

“Why should I be mad?” Ai Fa questioned with a tilt of her head. “As long as the leading clan heads have no objections, then everything is fine. Since the beginning, I’ve just been concerned about our relationship with Genos taking a turn for the worse.”

So Ai Fa really had enjoyed riding on the totos, huh? Well, she had looked so satisfied when she made it run, and now she was gently watching over it as it slept.

Plus, I sort of got the feeling that totos and the people of the forest’s edge had a strong affinity to begin with. Otherwise I couldn’t imagine them accepting something from another culture so quickly. And besides, it had just looked natural to see Ai Fa riding atop a totos, like something out of a portrait.

Even the people of the forest’s edge themselves didn’t seem all that clear on the matter, but perhaps before their ancestors came to live in the forest, they had ridden totos about the plains. Ai Fa and the totos just seemed to fit together so well that I couldn’t help but imagine such things. And so, I felt really satisfied too when I saw Ai Fa gently watch over the sleeping bird.

“So, what should we do about naming it?”

“Naming? A totos is just a totos.”

“But there are four totos at the forest’s edge now. If we don’t give it a name, calling out to it could get complicated.”

“So you’re saying we should give a beast a name like a human?” Ai Fa questioned, shooting me a shocked look.

As I taste-tested the tarapa sauce, I asked, “Is it really that surprising?” with a tilt of my head. “We’ll be living with it, so it’s pretty much a member of our house. Giving it a name helps you feel more attached, and understand one another deep down in your hearts, right?”

“Hearts...?” Ai Fa pondered, looking back down at the totos. “Do beasts really have such things? It’s true that it responds more earnestly than any human, though, just by me pulling on the reins or giving it a kick on the side.”

“Yeah. I guess they wouldn’t be called man’s best friend otherwise.”

“This totos may be easier for me to deal with than any human.”

“That’s a bit of a worrying statement.”

“In fact, it may make me want to try putting a bridle on you, too.”

“I’m a human being, so please just tell me what you want instead!”

“Totos certainly are mysterious creatures...”

After that string of concerning comments, Ai Fa sank unusually deep into thought.

I placed a lid atop the pot of completed sauce, put out the flame in the stove, washed my hands, and then walked over next to her.

“So, what should we do about the name? I don’t know what sort of names would be alright, so I’d really prefer it if you decided.”

After a bit of silent thinking, Ai Fa quietly whispered, “Gilua.”

“Gilua, huh? That’s a great name,” I replied, feeling just a bit taken aback. After all, the name of Ai Fa’s father who passed away two years ago was Gil Fa. “Are you naming it after your father, then...?”

“Yes. I thought in the past that if I had a child and it was a boy, that was the name that I would use,” she said, as I silently sat down right next to her. “However, I decided to live my life as a hunter. There’s no longer any chance of me being a mother and having a child. And so I thought why not give him the name in that case? What do you think?”

I closed my eyes, and started seriously pondering on a proper response. And though I felt rather flustered, one came to me surprisingly easily.

“In that case, why not go with a different name? Nothing’s ever really absolute, so there’s always a chance that someday you’ll want to have a child after all, right?”

I braced myself for a blow to come raining down on me.

However, Ai Fa just muttered, “I see...” with a calm expression on her face. “Then let’s go with Gilulu. Gilulu Fa doesn’t sound too elegant to me, but we wouldn’t be granting him a family name anyway, so it should be fine.”

I was at a loss for words.

“Do you not like that either?” Ai Fa questioned, slowly turning my way.

As I stared back into her incredibly clear blue eyes, I replied, “No... That sounds like a great name to me, too. It’s charming and seems to fit him just right.”

“Right...” Ai Fa muttered, then shot me a bright, gleaming smile.

And so, the Fa house gained a new member by the name of Gilulu.