Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: Dinner Party in the Castle Town

1

At last, the day had come.

It was the thirtieth of the white month, the date when the goodwill dinner party with the nobles of Genos would be held.

Our group of chefs and guards entered the Turan manor while the sun was high in the sky. Or, in the phrasing of the castle town, the later second hour. The dinner party would be in the early afternoon, just four and a half hours later.

We passed through the castle gates in the totos carriage prepared for us by the ducal guards, just as I had done half a month ago. For a number of people in our group it was their first time visiting the castle town, and so they were unable to hide their awe at the unfamiliar sights they could glimpse through the window.

“Ooh, amazing! The city of stone really is made out of stone!”

“It really is something... I had never thought in even my wildest dreams that I would someday set foot in the castle town.”

Unsurprisingly the hunters guarding us wore tense expressions, but even then the look in their eyes seemed a lot calmer compared to the other day.

Then when we actually arrived at the manor, I ended up shouting in excitement all on my own. The reason was, when the ducal guards led us inside with our luggage of leather bags filled with giba meat and poitan flour and the like, we were greeted by a gorgeous woman with purple eyes and curly hair the color of honey.

“Welcome, visitors from the forest’s edge... We have been awaiting you...”

“Chiffon Chel! So you stayed here in this manor?”

“Yes... It would prove rather difficult to move someone such as myself elsewhere. Citizens of Mahyudra are only present in the land of Genos here at the Turan manor, after all...” Chiffon Chel replied, smiling down at me with her five centimeters of additional height. “At present, I have been helping Lady Lefreya take care of herself. I truly am glad to find you doing well, Sir Asuta...”

“Yeah, right back at you.”

During those days of confinement, it was Diel and Chiffon Chel who brought me at least a little relief from my anguish... And I suppose I got fairly close to Roy as we spent more and more time together too.

And the only one of them whose fate I had a real reason to worry about was Chiffon Chel, due to her position. Because of that, it brought me even more joy and relief than I had expected seeing her safe and sound again.

“Well then, allow me to guide you. This way please...”

“Huh? You don’t need to take our blades?” Ludo Ruu asked while carefully observing Chiffon Chel’s graceful form.

But it was a member of the ducal guard who answered, “That is correct, since you cannot carry out your duty as guards without any blades. However, we ask that you only set foot where we guide you.”

“Got it,” Darmu Ruu replied. He was the second son of the main Ruu house, which apparently made him the head of the guard unit. The group consisted of Ai Fa, Darmu and Ludo Ruu, and Rau Lea. Though there were only four of them, it was hard to imagine a more reassuring lineup.

“Well then, this way...”

With that, we were guided down the brick hallway by Chiffon Chel and two of the soldiers. This time, though, we were led into the right wing rather than the left. In other words, the part of the building where I was once confined.

Just where exactly were Cyclaeus and Lefreya shut away? And though I hadn’t heard anyone mention them, just where had Diel and her father gone?

As I pondered such thoughts, we managed to make it to our first stop: A familiar door, the sight of which caused me to freeze in place.

“U-Um, Chiffon Chel, is this perhaps the bath hall?”

“Yes... You need to cleanse yourselves before entering the kitchen, after all...”

“So even though the owner of the manor has changed, you’re still following that custom?”

“Correct... Or at least, I was informed as such...”

When Chiffon Chel looked to one of the ducal guards, he gave a nod.

“Such steps are necessary when presenting food to such noble individuals. We members of the ducal guards will be guarding all possible entrances, so please be at ease.”

“Is that so...?”

Well, I was forced to go through this same custom every day while I was confined, so I wasn’t all that upset about it. But would everyone else be all right?

“Well then, shall I lead the ladies inside first...?”

At that, Chiffon Chel led Rimee, Reina, and Sheera Ruu through the door, with question marks floating above the girls’ heads.

It was then that Ludo Ruu called out, “Hold on a moment. What you’re saying is, that’s a place for bathing, right? Then take Ai Fa along with you too. If we take our eyes off of everyone, we’re not exactly being guards, now are we?”

“Right.”

And so, our group of men ended up just standing around aimlessly.

Actually, I was the only one standing aimlessly, as the hunters all seemed to be constantly keeping an eye on our surroundings, never letting their guards down.

Then just fifteen minutes or so later, the door swung open again... And the women all came back out, their hair damp and their cheeks lightly flushed.

Everyone looked quite comfortable somehow, and so I breathed a sigh of relief. However, Ai Fa alone seemed to have an even redder face...

As that thought ran through my head, Rimee Ruu excitedly leapt at my clan head’s chest and exclaimed, “That felt really nice, didn’t it?! I never knew you were so ticklish though, Ai Fa...”

“That simply isn’t true! I’m just not fond of others fumbling all about my body like that!”

“Huh? That’s what I thought, so I tried to help you out, but I wasn’t good either?”

“A-Ai Fa, you cleansed yourself too?” I interjected without thinking, only to earn me an indiscriminate glare.

“Rimee Ruu kept insisting, so I simply accompanied everyone else. So you had to go through this ritual every single day while being held at this manor...?”

“W-Well... Yeah, I did.”

“That certainly sounds like an ordeal...” she muttered, suddenly looking away in a huff. That movement caused a sweet aroma to waft into my nose. Apparently that steam that used something similar to mugwort wasn’t enough to wipe away the giba summoning fruit scent. In fact, the heat and dampness only seemed to cause it to overwhelm my sense of smell even more.

“Well then, Sir Asuta, it is your turn...”

“Ah, r-right...”

As I wondered what would be done in terms of guarding me now, I looked around, and my eyes met with Ludo Ruu’s.

“It’s a pain, but I’ll go with you. Darmu, you take care of that runt Rimee and everybody.”

“Right.”

As everybody else saw us off, Ludo Ruu and I walked up to the door. Chiffon Chel then moved to step through first, but in a fluster I called out, “Um...! I haven’t forgotten how to bathe myself here, so I don’t need your assistance.”

“Ah, yes... My apologies...” Chiffon Chel giggled.

On the day I was kidnapped and taken here to the Turan manor, I was cleaned head to toe by Chiffon Chel regardless of my protests. From the second day onward I adamantly refused, but the image of her graceful nude form amidst the steam still clung to the back of my mind.

And so as I secretly prayed she wouldn’t go saying anything unfortunate while I was away, I slipped through the antechamber along with Ludo Ruu and entered the steam-filled bath hall.

“Whoa, what’s going on?! It’s all white!”

“Yeah, I was really surprised at first too.”

At any rate, I wanted to be done with it as soon as possible, so I swiftly took off my clothes and placed them into a woven basket.

And then, I scrubbed every last bit of my body with something like a bamboo spatula. And it really did take some scrubbing to get clean, as unfortunately there weren’t any bathtubs here in this hall. And just as I started thinking how it’d be nice to really take my time soaking in a tub, Ludo Ruu chimed in, his clothing clinging to his chest with sweat.

“This sure is seeming like a real anticlimax, isn’t it? Looks like this lord of Genos doesn’t have any secret plots or anything. He really does just want to form ties with us people of the forest’s edge.”

“Yeah, but that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is, but still... I mean, he just kept on feigning ignorance this whole time, only to pull this once Cyclaeus and Ciluel’s crimes got exposed. It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

That was probably down to how Marstein’s actions felt like a lizard sacrificing its own tail.

Ever since Cyclaeus’s downfall, Marstein had fully admitted the fault from his side and seemed to be striving as hard as he could to fix the situation. But the one who set the stage for all this was, of course, Kamyua Yoshu.

If that aloof bodyguard hadn’t located Bartha to act as a witness and pulled the ducal house of Banarm into the proceedings, who knows how things would’ve ended up. The people of the forest’s edge surely wouldn’t have been able to expose those crimes on their own... And that would have led to them turning their backs on Genos.

Just how exactly would Marstein have reacted to such a situation? Maybe he would have even cast aside the people of the forest’s edge instead. Such concerns were likely exactly why the leading clan heads couldn’t bring themselves to completely trust the duke.

He may always be wearing a big innocent smile, but I don’t think he’s someone quite so easy to figure out... I thought to myself as I scooped up some water from the bucket further in and used it to rinse off my freshly cleaned body. The water was a bit more tepid than skin temperature, but it felt quite pleasant on my body after all this time cooking away in the steam.

After that, I wiped myself dry with a large soft cloth like a bath towel, then put my clothing back on. And when we exited the bath hall, we found our comrades from the forest’s edge waiting there for us, looking just the same as before. Since I wasn’t receiving any especially chilly glares, I figured that meant Chiffon Chel hadn’t done any unfortunate reminiscing.

“Well then, allow me to lead you to the kitchen...”

From here on out, I already had a vague recollection of the path we had to take. After all, I had walked it every day until my confinement ended just twenty days ago. Of course, that was just a five-day period of extraordinary circumstances, but those bitter memories had been carved firmly into my mind. It would definitely take some time before I could look back on it and say something like, “Well, it actually wasn’t so bad, all things considered...”

“This way, please...” Chiffon Chel said, stopping before a familiar door.

And then, one of the guards spoke up again. “This door is the only entrance to this kitchen. After inspecting the room for yourselves, we invite you to keep guard alongside us outside of it.”

Darmu Ruu nodded, and then stepped inside along with Rau Lea. Then once they confirmed everything was safe, we were finally permitted to enter. And as soon as we did, Rimee Ruu let out another excited, “Ooh!”

For the first time in twenty days, I had returned to this kitchen in the Turan manor.

Even if it was just a small kitchen meant to prepare food for servants, it was truly impressive in terms of scale and how well-equipped it was. At the forest’s edge, or even in the post town, it was unthinkable to see a kitchen with such a collection of cookware, multiple workstations, and so many well-made stoves. Then there was the steel oven, the shelves packed tight, and tableware made from wood, clay, steel, and glass. Every last bit of it seemed the same as when I last laid eyes on it.

And when Reina Ruu entered the room following her little sister, the look in her eyes was that of a lovestruck young girl.

“This is amazing! This room... It’s like some sort of paradise for chefs!”

If I had been invited as a proper guest instead back then, I probably would have been just as overjoyed as they were. Still, if I could overwrite some of those bitter memories with happy ones today, I’d certainly be glad.

And then when I showed them the fully furnished pantry, Rimee Ruu exploded with an even more excited shout of, “Wowie! There’re so many vegetables I’ve never even seen! Hey, hey, what does this one taste like?”

“What is this herb? It seems to have a very bitter smell to it...”

As the two sisters carried on excitedly like children, Sheera Ruu gave an impressed sigh from beside them. The place really did seem equipped with pretty much the same abundance of ingredients as when I was forced to work here.

Cyclaeus had become a prisoner and pretty much all of his many servants were discharged, so there shouldn’t have been such a need for all this food any longer. And yet, it wasn’t possible to simply sever all the deals he had made with various merchants at the drop of a hat, so apparently there was still a heaping helping of ingredients delivered to the manor each and every day.

“On top of that, something has to be done with the restaurants under Cyclaeus’s control and the metalworkers from Jagar he had business deals with and all that, so that guardian sure has inherited a whole heap of trouble to deal with,” Kamyua Yoshu had said.

Duke Genos’s house would take over in managing the majority of that, but Cyclaeus had dipped his hands into dealings in a lot of different fields, so it would supposedly take quite a bit of time and effort to put an end to all of them.

But, well, we were leaving all that up to the nobles, while we had our own work to focus on.

“All right, shall we get started? First up is making the soup.”

After somehow managing to calm down the overly excited sisters, I issued instructions to bring out the required ingredients where we needed them.

Since we were cooking for thirteen guests plus providing for our group of chefs and guards too, we were talking quite a lot of food. We carried in aria, nenon, chatchi, gigo, tau oil, rock salt, and fuwano flour, but just as we were about to start cutting, there was a knock on the door from the outside.

“Asuta, the chefs from the castle town say they wish to greet you,” Ai Fa called out as the door swung open and a group of men in white outfits streamed into the kitchen.

When I spied a young, pale-skinned man with plenty of freckles I called out, “Ah, Roy! You’re participating in this dinner party too?”

“Yeah. Just as an assistant chef, though,” the young chef formerly from this manor replied, his expression a complex mix of anger and something else entirely. When Ai Fa and Polarth had come and rescued me, he had been there at the entrance to see me off, but it was in front of Cyclaeus and Lefreya, and there hadn’t been any time for a proper goodbye.

“He’s quite exceptionally skilled for such a young age, so I asked to have him assist me today,” a voice with a strangely nice tenor to it interjected. It had come from the oldest of the four men dressed in white, who politely bowed my way. “You are the chef from the forest’s edge, Sir Asuta of the Fa clan, correct? I am a chef from Selva’s Spear and the former assistant head chef of this manor, Timalo.”

In terms of age, he seemed to be a bit past his forties. Though he was skinny overall, his stomach alone jutted out a bit, and he had an overall gentle, calm feel about him. He had the skin color of a westerner, and his eyes and the hair spilling out from under his cylindrical hat were both a deep brown. His face was smooth with a good complexion, but for some reason he had a bit of white cloth over his mouth.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Asuta of the Fa clan. Umm... Let’s both give tonight our all.”

“Yes. We shall both dedicate all of our skill to strengthening the bonds between Genos and the forest’s edge.”

It looked like underneath that cloth, Timalo was grinning broadly.

His actions really were perfectly composed and natural...aside from the fact that his eyes didn’t especially seem like they were smiling.

“From what I’ve heard, the four of you here will be carrying out today’s work. And so, I prepared the same number of personnel in turn.”

“Huh? You matched what we were doing?”

“Yes. And though our kitchen is stocked with a great many more ingredients, I promise here and now that we shall not lay a hand on anything not also available in this place.”

“Umm... What exactly are you talking about?”

The way he spoke left me unsettled, for some reason.

But even as that thought ran through my head, Timalo just stared at my face and smiled.

“There’s no need for you to worry. I simply wish to present dishes under the exact same conditions as you, Sir Asuta of the Fa clan. It is not as if using rare and unusual ingredients is enough to improve a dish in and of itself, and so I also wish to try making the greatest dishes possible from a limited stock.”

From my point of view, stuff like reten oil and panam honey already felt plenty unusual, but apparently even more kinds of ingredients filled their stores.

Now that I thought back on it, I was pretty sure Mikel had once told me Cyclaeus’s main pantry was essentially a treasure trove. At any rate, though, it didn’t seem like I’d be alleviating the unease whirling about in my chest anytime soon.

“Umm, today’s dinner party isn’t a taste competition, but a chance for Duke Genos and the leading clan heads to enjoy themselves, right?”

“Why, yes, of course! I’m simply overjoyed to once again be able to serve food to the same table as you, considering all the praise Lady Lefreya heaped upon your cooking, Sir Asuta. Let us work our hardest today, with our pride as chefs on the line.”

“Right. I look forward to working alongside you.”

Timalo nodded, and then like an actor from some play, he elegantly turned about face.

Before he could leave, though, Roy called out from behind.

“Timalo, is it all right if I take just a little bit more time here? I’m acquainted with him from back when we worked together in the same kitchen.”

“Yes, I don’t mind. If we’re aiming for identical conditions, though, it wouldn’t do to not spend the same amount of time on our dishes. As such, we’ll wait for you to return before starting.”

“Thank you. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, Timalo and the other two assistant chefs exited the kitchen, leaving just Roy behind.

Giving a little sigh, the young chef glared my way.

“Well, you can see how it is. Timalo intends to face you with everything he has, so you better not go slipping up, all right?”

It was a sudden statement, not taking any time to savor our reunion or the like. Well, that certainly was just like Roy, though.

“I mean, I definitely intend to give this job my all too. Though, it seems that Timalo man doesn’t like me very much, huh?”

“Of course he doesn’t. No matter what you two made, his dishes never came out on top, so he’s desperate to reclaim his pride as a chef. If I were in his position, I’d probably feel exactly the same way.”

As he talked, Roy’s brow seriously furrowed. He was blunt, and his tone was crude. Yup, just like Chiffon Chel, he didn’t seem to have changed a bit.

That made me a little happy, so I started to break out in a smile, only for Roy to question, “What’re you grinning about?” and shoot me an even scarier look. “Just so you know, Timalo’s specialty is karon dishes. Back then, Lady Lefreya insisted on nothing but kimyuus cooking. If you let your guard down thinking you’re facing the same opponent as before, you’ll have the carpet pulled out from under you.”

“You say all that, but I mean, I’m not looking at this like a taste competition...”

“Even so, you’d feel frustrated if the guests only praised Timalo’s cooking, right?”

“Ah, yeah, that could definitely be frustrating.”

“And you’ve got to use giba meat of all things too. Can you really make a proper dish with an ingredient like that?”

“That certainly won’t be an issue. Though with that said, I’ve only ever had karon torso meat when taste testing your cooking...”

It didn’t seem like it would be possible to use such an ingredient at the forest’s edge or in the post town, so I had disregarded the matter entirely.

“That doesn’t exactly give me confidence...” Roy grumbled. “I know your skills better than anyone. But giba meat has a reputation of being smelly, hard, and practically inedible, doesn’t it? Are you really going to be all right?”

“I’ll be fine. It would be nice if I could show you how delicious giba meat is too, though,” I replied, only for Roy’s eyes to slowly narrow.

“You really are confident, aren’t you...?”

“Yeah, at least when it comes to the taste of giba.”

Mikel and Yang had already acknowledged how delicious of an ingredient it was. And so, I trusted the tastiness of giba meat would get through to even folks from the castle town.

“In that case, go ahead and make a set of meals for the chefs. Actually, I guess you don’t need to make that much... There are four of us on each side, so we can each make half of the total meals we’ll eat and then share. I’ll try to convince Timalo to play along with that too.”

“Huh? But why do you need to do that?”

“The words of the guests alone may not be enough to satisfy Timalo. If a rumor started spreading around that the people of the forest’s edge took advantage of the nobles’ kindness to have them say your food was delicious when it really wasn’t, you wouldn’t exactly be happy about it, right?”

“Is that Timalo guy the sort to go making up rumors like that...?”

“Well, at the very least I’d say he’s the sort that won’t accept a loss until he’s confirmed it with his own tongue,” Roy said with an irritated snort. “And while he’s definitely a skilled chef, I can’t exactly vouch for his personality once he steps out of the kitchen. Just earlier, you saw him making a big show of covering his mouth, right? That’s a way of expressing that he doesn’t want to breathe the same air as lowly people like you. I guess he’s been infected by the nastier side of nobles by only ever dealing with them...”

“Ah, he sounds like a pain to deal with...”

However, I had no intention of bringing personal feelings into today’s work. And so I started thinking about how to best handle things, only to feel a tug on my T-shirt’s sleeve from the side.

“Asuta, I don’t care how such an unreasonable person looks at us, but, well, I’m very much curious about what types of food chefs from the castle town make,” Reina Ruu chimed in. There was indeed a strong look of pure curiosity and ambition shining in her eyes. “You’re the only one allowed to attend the dinner party, right? But if it’s at all possible, I would certainly like the chance to see cooking from the castle town with my own two eyes and confirm what it tastes like. Is that all right...?”

“Hmm, yeah... Well, I don’t really see any issue with each side tasting the other’s cooking.”

Even if nasty rumors spread throughout the castle town, I couldn’t see it having any noticeable impact on our business in the post town. But it was true that I found the idea of someone going after the reputation of food they hadn’t even eaten extremely unpleasant.

“Ah, but isn’t it against the customs of the forest’s edge to eat food prepared at another stove?” I asked, only for Reina Ruu to duck her head with a mischievous smile. It was a gesture that would perfectly fit a sound effect like “Teehee.”

“It’s ultimately just a taste test, so I’m sure even dad won’t be able to get angry with us over it.”

As I thought to myself, She’s kept such a charming look hidden all this time? I turned to Roy with a strained smile.

“All right. Then could you ask Timalo to...” I started, only to suddenly hold my tongue. Up until now, Roy had been wearing a real irritated look, but suddenly he was standing there with his mouth hanging wide open. And his eyes, opened wide with surprise, were looking right at Reina Ruu.

“Umm, is something the matter...?” Reina Ruu asked with a slightly troubled smile.

Roy shook his head so fast it looked like the hat would be flung from his head, and then he shot me a glare.

“W-Well, I guess that covers things. But if you go and serve up shabby dishes after all that big talk, you’ll have no excuses when I ridicule you for it.”

“Right. I’ll give it my all so that doesn’t happen.”

“Hmph...!” Roy snorted for seemingly no particular reason, and then after stealing one more glance at Reina Ruu, he exited the kitchen.

Ai Fa and Ludo Ruu had just silently watched over the whole exchange, and now they once again closed the door.

“He certainly was noisy, wasn’t he?” Reina Ruu said with a smile, apparently not understanding any of what just happened.

Just like when we did business in the post town, she currently had on a thin veil and shawl, which made her look quite adorable. Though she was on the small side, her face and body were very nicely proportioned. I figured it was quite rare to find such a thoroughly charming woman.

Still, I can’t imagine Donda Ruu would be fond of his daughters all marrying men from town... The whole thing with Vina Ruu and Shumiral alone probably has him at his limits already.

And as I stowed away that unasked-for commentary in the back of my mind, I stated, “All right then, how about we get to work?”