Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: Visitors to the Forest’s Edge

1

At last, the day had arrived. It was the twenty-first of the black month, when we would be welcoming Mikel and Myme to the forest’s edge as guests.

Before all that, though, we had to safely conclude our business in the post town. At any rate, I went ahead and suppressed my excitement as best I could as I carried out the day’s work.

We did happen to have a somewhat unusual customer right after we finished with the initial morning rush when we opened. Which is to say, it was the first time in a while the head chef for the house of Daleim, Yang, had visited our stalls.

“It’s been some time, Sir Asuta.”

“Yeah, long time no see, Yang. What business brings you here today?”

Yang was an older man than even Mikel, and a skinny one at that. Though he tended to act rather stiff, he had an unusual amount of passion when it came to cooking.

After giving a polite bow, Yang then gestured toward the two women standing behind him.

“I have new workers at my stalls who I wished to introduce to you, so I came to the post town a touch early.”

They were both young women with refined features fitting for residents of the castle town. One of them was a bit tall and seemed very earnest, while the other had a small build and a willful look about her. The former seemed to be around my age, while the later was probably around two or three years younger.

“This is Sheila, an attendant for Lord Polarth; and this is Nicola, who started working at the Daleim manor the other day.”

The older girl was Sheila, while the younger one was Nicola. They both bowed their heads, Sheila timidly and Nicola sulkily.

“I’m Asuta of the Fa clan, a person of the forest’s edge. Pleased to meet you both.”

That said, I didn’t know the names of anyone who had worked at Yang’s stall up till now, and I only ever stopped by when he was debuting a new dish. I couldn’t imagine us becoming particularly close from here on out either...but then Sheila spoke up and said something unexpected.

“Um, Sir Asuta...is your clan head Lady Ai Fa in good health?”

“Huh? How do you know Ai Fa’s name?”

“Well...the truth is, before Lord Polarth took Lady Ai Fa to the Turan manor to rescue you, at one point we had a chance to talk in the Daleim manor,” Sheila replied, her cheeks blushing red for some reason. “I’m certain Lady Ai Fa has no memory of my name or face...but every day, I pray to the four gods that she remains in good health.”

“Oh, really? Thank you for that.”

If she had a positive impression of Ai Fa, then that was a good thing.

At any rate though, I entrusted the stall to Yamiru Lea and then stepped over in front of Yang’s group.

“Oh, right, the thing is, today we invited Mikel and his daughter Myme to our house at the forest’s edge.”

“What’s this now? Why is Sir Mikel going to your house, Sir Asuta?”

“Um, it’d take a little too long to explain fully, but to sum it up, Myme has an interest in my cooking skills. And Mikel’s more just reluctantly accompanying her.”

“I see... So Sir Mikel is coming to your home...”

Yang was also someone who had known Mikel back when he was a chef. And there was this one occasion when the two of them had a chance meeting at my stall. Looking back on it, Yang had started opening up to me after that chance meeting.

“Sir Mikel was a truly splendid chef. He served for some time as the head chef of The Maiden in White, a small restaurant renowned for the high quality of its cooking,” Yang said with an uneasy sigh. “But then he met with such a fate just for catching Count Turan’s attention... How could anyone do something so brutal as to sever the muscles in a chef’s arm? I simply cannot fathom it.”

“I certainly agree with you there... Now that I think about it, just how long has it been since that terrible thing happened to him?”

“It was roughly five years ago now. At the time, I was confident that he was easily among the top three chefs in the castle town.”

Five years ago... Ever since then, Mikel had been driven out of the castle town and kept on living in the Turan lands making charcoal.

When I first met him at The Sledgehammer, Mikel had been dead drunk in the middle of the day. And then he shouted at me that if I wanted to live as a chef, I shouldn’t remain here in Genos. Just how had he felt, raising such a young daughter...? Someone my age could surely never even begin to imagine.

“If she happened to receive instruction from Sir Mikel, that girl must also be quite a skilled chef. Is she still young, though?”

“Yes, she’s apparently just ten years old.”

“Is that so? Perhaps Sir Mikel has started seriously attempting to raise his daughter as a chef now that the former head of the house of Turan has been judged. I certainly look forward to seeing how her future plays out.” Then with yet another pensive sigh, Yang bowed his head. “And I want to strive at my own work so that I will not fall behind. At any rate, my apologies for interrupting you during such a busy period.”

“Ah, not at all. Thanks for coming all this way.”

With that, I returned to the stall for the giba meat poitan wraps.

And as I did so, Rimee Ruu called out, “Hey, Asuta,” from the neighboring giba burger stall. “That was that chef from the castle town, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was Yang, the head chef for the house of Daleim. Apparently the girls with him are starting work at his stalls today.”

“I see. That girl kinda had a sad look on her face, didn’t she?”

“Huh? You mean the tall one?”

“No, the other smaller girl.”

Ultimately, Nicola hadn’t said so much as a single word.

I had just thought of her as being strong-willed, but it seemed that Rimee Ruu had a different impression. But, well, I was known to be a terrible judge of these things, so Rimee Ruu was probably right.

“Well, you never know what life may hold... Ah, sorry for shoving everything on you when things are so busy, Yamiru Lea.”

“I don’t especially mind. Three customers didn’t draw lots though, so could you remove that many?”

“Right, got it.”

Since there were the same number of losing sticks as total meals prepared, whenever customers didn’t draw a lot we had to remove that many. And currently, there seemed to be around half left of the special item, the giba cutlet sandwich, or about fifteen.

“Ah, it’s Tara! Yay, welcome!”

“Oh, Rimee Ruu! Long time no see!”

That exchange marked the arrival of Dora and his beloved daughter Tara.

Perhaps it went without saying, but when Rimee Ruu was granted permission to help with business in the post town, Tara was just as ecstatic as the girl herself. And so, she now stood between the stalls with a big grin on her face.

“I brought a basket since we’re buying a whole lot today! Um, we’ll take five poitan wraps, two each of the giba burgers and giba manju, and one myamuu giba!”

“Whoa, that really is a lot!”

“Yeah! On top of buying for me and dad, the cloth and pot sellers asked us to get them some since they were busy, and so did Granny Mishil and someone from one of the inns! And dad and the pot seller eat two poitan wraps each.”

“I see. Well, thanks a ton. And what should we do about the giba cutlet sandwich lots?”

“We’ll pull for all of them! I’m sure dad and the pot seller wanted two poitan wraps so they could draw twice.”

Even so, the odds of drawing a winner were roughly one in thirteen. And so, it was up to Tara’s luck to determine how many she could draw when pulling for ten meals.

“I hope you get a winner!” Rimee Ruu said with a smile as she held out the wooden sticks.

“For dad! For the pot seller!” Tara excitedly proclaimed as she pulled the lots one by one. It really was adorable how the corners of her eyes drooped whenever she took a look.

Still, she just didn’t seem to be pulling a winner. But at long last, Lady Luck finally smiled on Tara right at the end.

“For Granny Mishil!” she shouted as she pulled the tenth stick, which finally had a red mark on it. After staring dumbfounded, she leapt up in the air with a “Hooray!”

“That’s good. But it’s bad luck for you, isn’t it, Tara?”

“No! Granny Mishil likes the giba manju more than the oily giba cutlet sandwiches, so she said I could have it if she won!”

“Really?! Then I’m happy for you!” Rimee Ruu replied, now bouncing along.

It was just so adorable that I couldn’t help but break out in a smile.

“Well then, I’ll change out one of the poitan wraps for a giba cutlet sandwich. The price is now three red coins, so is that all right?”

“Yes, please!”

With that, I went ahead and made the four poitan wraps I was in charge of preparing. And as the other stalls finished up one dish after another, the woven basket Tara had prepared continued to fill up.

“Oh, right! Don’t you have to let Tara know about that thing, Asuta?” Rimee Ruu questioned, jogging my memory.

Tara then looked at me and Rimee Ruu in confusion. “You have something to tell me?”

“Yeah, the thing is, we actually have two acquaintances from Turan coming today to visit the settlement at the forest’s edge.”

“Ooh, really?! I’d sure love to go too...”

“You said something like that before, didn’t you? That’s why I wanted to make sure to let you know.” Tara just tilted her head, looking like she didn’t quite get it. “I mean, tensions were still high with the nobles back then, so we couldn’t invite you because it was too dangerous. But that was a month or so ago and circumstances have changed... Do you still want to come play at the forest’s edge, Tara?”

“Yeah! But mom and everyone said I can’t...”

“I see. Well, it’s no longer especially dangerous, but I suppose since there are still giba and mundt around, it’s not exactly the sort of place you can visit casually just to play,” I said, then I bent down and looked straight into Tara’s eyes. “But there’s no danger coming and going there in a wagon, and giba and mundt don’t show up around the Fa or Ruu houses during the day, so it really isn’t scary at all. That just leaves the question of whether your mom would be okay with sending you off, I’d say.”

“Yeah...”

“So I figured, why not try chipping away at her reluctance about whether you and Dora can come visit the settlement at the forest’s edge together at some point. I get the feeling the people of the forest’s edge and the townsfolk have started getting a lot friendlier with one another over this past month and change, so if we can all come to understand each other just a bit more, I’m sure you’ll be able to come play.”

“Right,” Tara nodded. There was an even firmer look of understanding shining in her eyes now than I had expected.

Up until just a few months ago, Tara had been one of those townsfolk who was terrified of the people of the forest’s edge. So it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand how the people close to her could be so concerned.

“Today’s visitors to the forest’s edge are actually a girl just a bit older than you and her father. Why not try telling your mom and dad about how folks like that are now able to visit the forest’s edge? That story’s sure to help them feel more at ease.”

“Yup, I will. Thanks for doing so much for me, Asuta.”

“Nah, it’s just that Rimee Ruu and I really want to invite you to the forest’s edge too. Right, Rimee Ruu?”

“Yeah! And I’d love to come play at your house too!”

A joyful smile spread on Tara’s face. “It really would be nice if that could happen.”

“It sure would.”

“Yup.”

“Uh-huh.”

The girls from the forest’s edge and post town were staring at one another, their eyes sparkling brightly.

Maybe what us grownups needed was to face one another head-on like that.

Kamyua Yoshu once said that it wasn’t particularly as if he wanted to see the hunters of the forest’s edge and the townsfolk coming together and joining hands...but I did. As someone who held folks from both of those groups close to my heart, I couldn’t imagine a better result.