2
Dora’s house seemed to be built a bit different from the ones in the post town. They were similar in how they had a wooden structure built atop a stone foundation, but whether it was due to the way the logs and planks came together, the straw thatched roof, or the overall shape and distribution of the pillars, everything felt different. I had heard most of the buildings in the post town were made in the style of Jagar, so perhaps this was more the standard style in the western kingdom.
At any rate, there was no real difference when it came to the stone-built stove. The four women and I placed the pot we had prepared in advance over the flame, then sliced up a big pile of vegetables.
The dish we were making was giba soup prepared with tau oil. It was easy to make lots of soup in a short period of time, and townsfolk normally couldn’t have giba soup without heading to the inns. Since Dora and Tara didn’t have many chances to visit the inns despite being regulars at the stalls, I thought it would be nice to let them try this staple dish from the forest’s edge.
However, this wasn’t quite the same as the soups offered at the inns. First off, we had used spare ribs for the meat, after boiling them slowly over the course of an hour in the morning.
You could make a richer stock by using meat on the bone. Proper giba bone soup was actually still a dish I needed to work on more, but using rib meat on the bone in this soup made a really striking difference all on its own. Plus, we had someone obsessed with ribs along with us, which made it even more fitting.
For the vegetables, I went with just aria, chatchi, and nenon, then since I felt it needed some carbohydrates, I also added a paste made from a blend of fuwano and poitan. I was aiming for something similar to flour dumplings in soup. Since I used more fuwano than with the pasta, it ended up nice and doughy.
To season the soup, I just used salt, pico leaves, and tau oil, not touching any of the ingredients I had procured from the castle town. Since folks in the Daleim lands lived even more modestly than the residents of the post town from what I had heard, I had wanted to use ingredients that were as ordinary as possible for the snack.
“Aah, what a lovely smell. I started using tau oil too based on your suggestion, and I found that adding some to a bunch of different dishes makes them a whole lot better.”
“That’s true. It really is a wonderful thing, being able to get ahold of tau oil easily.”
Thinking back, even tau oil used to be a rare ingredient that you needed connections with merchants from Jagar to obtain. But now, you could get all sorts of stuff from other nations as long as you had the coins. Thanks to that, there was definitely a good bit of upheaval in the post town at present. Would those waves eventually reach here to the peaceful Daleim lands?
“Well then, it’s just about ready. Have your family and the workers made it back yet?”
“Yeah. They’re waiting out front with empty bellies. Though I’d imagine the majority of them are worrying about just what exactly you’re going to feed them,” Dora said with a mischievous smile. Aside from those who went to the post town for business like him, the folks in the Daleim lands hadn’t eaten giba meat. Dora had proposed we do this in order to introduce them to just how delicious giba really was.
“Well, not that we’re forcing them or anything. I just spread it around that anyone interested should gather up, and it seems around eighty percent of them came,” Dora said, leading us outside as we carried the pot.
By my estimate, there had to be nearly forty people gathered there. They included Dora’s family and the members of the houses that helped manage the fields as his partners, as well as the workers they hired. All these people, and Dora was their boss.
“Well then, thanks for waiting. Our guests from the forest’s edge prepared a meal for us, made with the giba meat that’s been gaining a really good reputation in the post town. Go ahead and see for yourselves just how delicious it is.”
At that, the crowd started lining up in front of the pot while holding the wooden plates they had brought along. Though they wore doubtful expressions, a few months back they never would have even considered eating giba meat in the first place. After all, the people of this land would be the ones who feared giba most as living disasters.
Looking around, there didn’t seem to be any people who were all that old in the group, which was no surprise, as the older crowd would be even more afraid of giba and the people of the forest’s edge. I mean, when we first met Granny Mishil in the post town, she was openly hostile to us.
“Long time no see, Asuta,” a young man with a homely face called out from the line with a smile. He was Dora’s oldest son, whom I had met a number of times in the post town.
“Yeah, it’s been a while. I thought for sure you had gone to the post town today.”
“No, my younger brother went instead. That’s the advantage of being an older brother, you know.”
The young man was the only familiar face in the crowd. Though Dora’s wife must have been there too, I wasn’t able to pick her out.
“Ooh, delicious! Giba’s real tasty in soup too!” Tara eagerly announced as she sat along the wall with Rimee Ruu and Toor Deen. That seemed to give folks the courage to start trying the soup, one after another.
“Yeah, it’s definitely good. And it feels kinda trendy, eating soup outside.” Dora looked completely satisfied too. Everyone’s expressions were full of joy and surprise.
“Yes, this is tasty! So ribs go well with soup too, huh?! I’ll have to pass that along to the Rutim women as soon as we get back!”
Naturally, Dan Rutim was wearing a wide jolly grin. Though the folks of the Daleim lands had seemed rather intimidated by the presence of the hunters from the forest’s edge, that smile would likely help a lot to alleviate their fear.
It might be bad to put it this way, but Dan Rutim couldn’t have picked a better time to get injured...
Normally, it would have been really difficult to have him join us as a guard unless he was on a break period. And yet, he was able to take the job yesterday in the castle town, today in the Daleim lands, and ten days from now for our trip to Dabagg.
Though he was a large man over 180 centimeters tall and looked frightening at a glance, he was exceptionally earnest and honorable, and while he was certainly a unique fellow, he amply embodied the idiosyncrasies of the hunters of the forest’s edge as well. I felt he was actually pretty perfect for showing folks what hunters were really like.
“This dish really is delicious. Why is your cooking so much better despite using the same ingredients, Asuta?” Yun Sudra questioned, her eyes narrowing ecstatically.
I tried to maintain a formal expression on my face as I turned her way. “You say that, but everyone made this dish together, right? So I wouldn’t exactly call it my own personal achievement.”
“But this taste is still completely different. I never could have made such a dish on my own.”
“You think? Well, Reina and Sheera Ruu have gotten incredibly good at making soup. If you keep working on it, I’m sure you’ll manage to make dishes you can feel satisfied with.”
“Really? But I...” Yun Sudra started to say, only for someone else to approach and interrupt us. It was Sheera Ruu, who was just as skilled as a chef as Reina Ruu.
“Yun Sudra, you’re still a bit awkward when it comes to cutting vegetables, aren’t you? How you cut meat and vegetables impacts the taste.”
“Is that it? You’re probably right. You cut your vegetables so quickly and cleanly, Sheera Ruu. I’m really jealous of that,” Yun Sudra replied with a smile.
As I was thinking it was unusual for Sheera Ruu to call out to Yun Sudra like that, the girl from the Ruu branch houses glanced over my way, and then turned her gaze somewhere else entirely. Following her eyes, I found that Reina Ruu had once again stepped away from the group and was standing all by herself.
“I’m sure Asuta has already taught you this, but meat and vegetables have fibers running through them. Just the choice of cutting along them or across them can give a dish quite a different feel,” Sheera Ruu said, turning back toward Yun Sudra and giving the girl cooking advice. Watching them out of the corner of my eye, I went ahead and stepped away.
“What’s the matter? Do you have something on your mind again, Reina Ruu?”
“Ah, Asuta... Yes, I was a bit absorbed in my own thoughts.”
It wasn’t as if she looked depressed or anything. Actually, it felt more like she was wearing a nice, clear expression. Those blue eyes of hers were watching the folks happily slurping giba soup.
“Asuta, you said before that if we could prepare food for the townsfolk as if we were making it for family, that would bring even greater satisfaction, and also cause us to grow skilled quicker as chefs.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Even if you’re doing business, having feelings like that is important.”
“I feel like I understand that a bit now...”
Naturally, I felt glad at the sight of those smiling folks from the Daleim lands too.
Ultimately, this was just forty or so of the hundreds or even thousands of people living in these lands. But still, not so long ago they wanted nothing to do with giba or the people of the forest’s edge, and now they were eating giba cooking we had prepared with satisfied smiles. I was sure Reina Ruu and the others sensed the significance of that even more keenly than an outsider like me.
“You definitely can’t say the people of the forest’s edge and the townsfolk have reached a point of understanding one another yet. In truth, folks like that Dora man who have opened up to us are still rare.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“But they’re eating the same food and tasting the same delicious flavor. I’m sure we share that feeling now, at least,” Reina Ruu said as she turned my way. For the first time in a while, she was showing me an innocent smile that really suited her. “And Asuta, you said the Ruu clan should sell our own style of cooking. I feel like I’m starting to get some kind of idea about what sort of cooking that should be.”
“Oh? Just what sort of dish do you have in mind?”
“That’s a secret. I need to consult with Sheera Ruu, after all,” Reina Ruu replied with an even more cheerful grin. She had always had such a charming smile.
With a real sense of satisfaction, I nodded back. “I see.”
Not long after that, we left the Daleim lands.
Dora and his people still had plenty of work left to handle after that snack was over. He and Tara saw us off with smiles, and we headed back down the path toward the forest’s edge.
The normally reserved Toor Deen spoke up from right behind the driver’s seat. “What an odd experience. It’s hard to believe it only lasted a couple hours.”
“Yesterday was the castle town, and today it was the Daleim lands. I’m sure you must be feeling a bit tired out, right?”
“No. I think that both yesterday and today were really rewarding...though it may be too much for someone like me to say so...”
“That’s not true at all. You’re one of the foremost chefs at the forest’s edge, Toor Deen.” Since we were on an unfamiliar path, I couldn’t turn around, but I could easily sense the young girl’s face going red even so. “What have you been thinking about lately? You were real surprised by Varkas’s cooking, right?”
“Yes... But yesterday I clearly felt that I don’t want to make dishes like his.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yeah. It’s true that he makes incredibly mysterious dishes, and I got worked up eating them...but I don’t think they would make my family at the forest’s edge happy.”
It really was just as she said. That main fish course alone was unquestionably delicious, but like Ai Fa and Dan Rutim had said, it wasn’t something that the people of the forest’s edge would grow attached to. Still, just what would the result be if Varkas were to use giba meat? Just thinking about it was enough to get me excited.
“Personally...that girl is weighing a lot more on my mind.”
“That girl?”
“Myme of Turan.”
“Ah... I see.”
It was true that Myme was certainly someone we couldn’t overlook. Especially not Toor Deen, as unlike the difficult-to-understand Varkas, Myme was someone close to her age, and who had actually handled giba meat.
How people impacted each other really varied. Varkas had left an incredibly deep impression on Reina Ruu, while it was Myme who had done so instead for Toor Deen. For me personally, both of them weighed heavily on my mind.
“Ten days from now, we’ll be heading to that Dabagg town with her, right? I really don’t know how to say how grateful I am to you for granting someone like me this chance...”
“It’s fine. It was your skill that made me want to bring you along.”
Now that I thought about it, the only one in this wagon who wouldn’t be going to Dabagg was Yun Sudra. I hadn’t included her in my initial count of people to bring, and later when she passionately pleaded to come along, her clan head Raielfam Sudra swiftly turned her down.
“I cannot let you take two days off from your work at the house without any pressing reason. And if the Ruu and Rutim women are going, they should have no need for your help,” the Sudra clan head had declared. And I had no objection to his statement.
It’s only natural for Reina Ruu to be suspicious. I mean, just what sort of feelings were driving Yun Sudra’s passion there? It’s not like I’d change my stance based on her skill as a chef or lack thereof, I thought to myself as the wagon arrived at the Ruu settlement. We were around two hours earlier than we would have been on a business day. Just like always, we were now going to prepare for tomorrow and have a study session.
“Oh, you guys are back early.”
We found two girls waiting for us there as we pulled the wagon around to the rear of the house: Lala Ruu and Morun Rutim.
“Yeah, since it wouldn’t be fair to the people in the Daleim lands if we overstayed our welcome. Did you come to help with the prep work, Morun Rutim?”
“No, I was waiting for my father, Dan. Dad, soon after everyone left, we received word from the northern settlement.”
“What? Are they finally ready to welcome you all?”
The answer was apparently yes.
The northern settlement was set to welcome women from the Ruu and Rutim clans who would provide cooking lessons. In preparation for that, they had needed to take steps to ward away giba. Since their break period had ended five days ago and they didn’t have time to spare, they left the remaining work to their women. Apparently, the job had finally been finished yesterday.
“So could you see us to the northern settlement in the Ruu clan’s wagon? And then it would be good if you could bring the women from up north back here when you return.”
“Yes, that’s no problem! Totos love to run with someone riding them, but they seem to enjoy pulling wagons too!”
There would be two women from both the Ruu and Rutim clans heading out, while the same number would be coming over from the Zaza and Jeen clans. That way, the women of the northern settlement could finally learn how to prepare delicious meals as well.
“Huh? Are you not going too, Lala Ruu?” I asked.
“Of course not,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “The women from the Ruu clan are all coming from the branch houses. Or are you saying you don’t mind if I stop helping out with the stalls?”
“No, that’s obviously not what I meant, but still...are you in a bad mood today or something?”
“Not especially!” Lala Ruu shot back, turning away in a huff. “It’s just, you left Vina and me behind for the trip to the castle town yesterday and the Daleim lands today, and you’re going to do it again when you go to Dabagg in ten days. It doesn’t feel fair.”
“I mean, I felt awkward about borrowing too many of you from the Ruu main house all at once...”
“Ludo was totally sulking too, you know. He wanted to know why you’re doing all this interesting stuff now when there will be a break period in another month!”
Right, the Ruu clan had another break period approaching soon.
There were three break periods each year, though the schedule wasn’t fixed since they were based on how active the giba were, but they came roughly once every four months. It had already been nearly three months since their last one.
“I see. I was trying to make the trip as soon as possible to match up with Mikel and Myme’s schedule... So you’re interested in Dabagg too, Lala Ruu?”
“It’s more that we never have any opportunity to leave Genos unless there’s a special reason, like this one. But, well, I guess Rimee’s better at manning the stove than I am, huh?”
“Don’t sulk so much, Lala,” Rimee Ruu called out after getting down from the wagon, throwing her arms around her older sister’s chest with a smile.
“Hmph!” Lala Ruu snorted, turning the other way.
Still, Lala Ruu’s feelings would probably be soothed much more effectively by her adorable little sister’s smile than by anything I could say, so while they were doing that, I said farewell to Morun Rutim instead.
“Take care, Morun Rutim. Make sure to feed everyone up north some delicious food.”
“I will. But I really am sorry for abandoning my work in the post town.”
“We’ve got Ama Min Rutim, so no worries there. And good luck with Deek Dom too.”
“Huh?” Morun Rutim squeaked, her eyes shooting wide open and her plump face turning red. “Wh-What’s that about Deek Dom? Why are you bringing him up?”
“Huh? Because of that whole issue with Lem Dom. I’m just hoping that it can be settled as peacefully as possible.”
“A-Ah, so that’s what you meant! I’m sorry! I jumped to the wrong conclusion!”
Just what sort of conclusion had she jumped to that made her blush so deeply?
As I pondered that question, Dan Rutim went “Hmm...” with a tilt of his head. “So that Dom woman still hasn’t returned to her clan, eh? No matter how much she trains her body, it won’t give rise to a hunter’s spirit in her.”
“A woman being a hunter is just foolish,” Deem Rutim chimed in for the first time in a good long while. He seemed to be rather quiet by nature to start with, and he was really tense while on guard duty too, which led to him not opening his mouth.
When he heard the boy’s words, Dan Rutim turned to look at him. “It may well be ridiculous, but if there are women out there like Ai Fa, then they can’t be disregarded. After all, Ai Fa is just as strong of a hunter as I am, if not more so.”
“I find that rather hard to believe. After all, didn’t that female hunter lose to you in a contest of strength?”
“Back then, Ai Fa had just healed from a serious injury. It will be the other way around at the festival of the hunt next month, so I could be the one to hit the ground instead.”
“That can’t possibly be true...” Deem Rutim replied, but then he sulkily held his tongue. It seemed that as a Rutim clan member, he really admired his former clan head.
“Well then, shall we get going?! Where are the other women?”
“In the house, talking to Mia Lea Ruu. They should be ready to leave soon.”
“Then, we’ll be off! What will you do, Deem Rutim?”
“I’ll accompany you, of course. After all, the northern settlement was enemy territory not that long ago,” Deem Rutim replied, still wearing a displeased look.
“Well then, I’ll see you around, Asuta! And I’ll be looking forward to the trip ten days from now!”
“Right. You take care, Dan Rutim.”
With that, the members of the Rutim clan left, and we finally got to work.
The people of the northern settlement had been firmly opposed to the actions of the Fa clan, but now they were finally adopting delicious food into their lives. Even if they were still against us doing business in the post town, I could sense that things were moving forward, slowly but surely.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login