Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 3.4

4

“Both sides are carrying unsharpened swords and wearing armor made specifically for such contests. There will most certainly not be any danger to either of their lives, so please do not worry,” Marstein explained.

Sure enough, both of them were clad from head to toe in silvery armor. It was even bulkier than the armor worn by Melfried and the ducal guards when on duty, and was coated in countless bits of ornamentation, appearing to be quite the fine goods. It was the sort of thing you’d expect to see decorating western-style manors or the like in manga.

If the armor were metal all the way through, they wouldn’t have been able to move properly, so it must have had pieces of leather under the copper or steel plates. But at any rate, they both looked amazingly gallant, clad in gleaming metal all the way down to the tips of their fingers and toes.

The helmets they wore were beautifully crafted as well, with large red tassels hanging down from their crowns. Their elaborate faceplates were currently raised, so I could make out the fierce blaze burning brightly in Shin Ruu’s eyes even from this distance.

The pair also bore compact shields on their left arms and had long blades dangling from their hips. The shields seemed to be affixed to their bracers rather than being held in their hands, stretching from the back of their hands to their elbows, and were elliptical in shape with a width of about twenty centimeters.

“Hmm. Sir Geimalos’s name is well known even as far away as Banarm. He is reputed to be one of the three greatest swordsmen in all of Genos,” the plump member of the envoy group stated casually.

“That’s right,” Leeheim replied. “And furthermore, he happens to be my uncle. He is the younger brother of the head of our house and also leads the knights of Saturas.”

Geimalos was a large, muscular man, easily over 180 centimeters tall. He had at least half a head on Shin Ruu, and his build was roughly equivalent to that of Jiza Ruu and Gazraan Rutim. In terms of breadth, he surely surpassed them, and with that thick armor on, he looked even bigger.

The face I could spy under the helmet had large glaring eyes and a splendid mustache under his nose. He was probably just a bit shy of forty. Though I certainly wouldn’t call him young for a swordsman, the strongest hunters at the forest’s edge like Donda Ruu and Dan Rutim were even older. At the very least, he certainly looked the part of a distinguished knight of Genos.

“The hunters of the forest’s edge seemingly possess unparalleled strength. We can expect that even one so young will possess a shocking level of skill. I’m terribly looking forward to seeing how long he’ll be able to hold out against my uncle Geimalos.”

Perhaps because he was speaking to the guests, Leeheim was maintaining a polite tone, yet his voice was clearly dripping with ridicule, and with the young noblewomen calling out coquettishly at the same time, naturally Lala Ruu was directing a searing glare at all of them without them noticing.

“Do not worry. Someone from town could never get the better of Shin Ruu,” Jiza Ruu quietly whispered from behind Lala Ruu.

“Yeah.” She nodded back at him, her gaze still firmly fixed on the outdoor stage. Beside her, Shin Ruu’s elder sister, Sheera Ruu, was also watching intently.

“Well then, let the swordsmanship competition commence!” one of the pages who had led them to the stage solemnly proclaimed. “If either side drops their blade, admits defeat, or lets their back touch the ground, the match shall be decided! In the name of the western god Selva, let this be a fair and just contest!”

Geimalos gave a hearty bow and drew the sword from his hip. The blade itself was straight, eighty centimeters long, and made of steel. Even if it didn’t have a cutting edge, it would still work well enough as a blunt weapon. You wouldn’t be able to just shrug it off if you got hit with something like that without armor.

Geimalos stretched out his arm and extended his sword forward. Shin Ruu similarly drew his blade and brought its tip up to lightly meet his opponent’s. They must have talked about how they would greet each other onstage in advance, but it still looked really impressive. The princely act earned even more shrill shrieks from the noblewomen.

Still, something felt strange to me, somehow. Shin Ruu’s movements seemed a bit overly stiff.

Now that I thought about it, Shin Ruu had been walking rather rigidly when he’d stepped up onto the stage as well. Perhaps he was having a hard time moving with the armor on, since he wasn’t used to wearing it.

A hunter’s strength should be more than enough to deal with the weight of leather armor, but I guess it’s still giving him a significant handicap in terms of how smoothly he can move.

Shin Ruu’s greatest strength was his swiftness. He had even managed to defeat Ji Maam, so if he were in a situation where he could show off his full skill, a simple difference in builds wouldn’t be any real issue at all...but with things as they were, I couldn’t help getting a sense of foreboding.

I have no idea what Leeheim and Marstein were thinking. It’s fine if he loses, but I hope he at least doesn’t get hurt... I thought to myself, right before the pages silently stepped back. In their place, an old man clad in a long white cloak moved forward. Though he seemed to be quite elderly, he looked hale and hearty, and was standing up straight. It was almost like looking at the Rutim elder, Raa Rutim, back during the contest of strength held at the Ruu clan’s festival of the hunt.

“In the name of Selva... Begin!”

Geimalos lowered his visor and stepped back. Meanwhile, Shin Ruu just stayed in position, standing completely upright. He lowered his right arm, which was holding his blade, and the weapon’s tip clattered against the stone of the stage.

Geimalos lowered his hips and slowly began circling around to Shin Ruu’s right. However, the young hunter didn’t move. He just stood there as stiff as a board, not even turning to keep Geimalos in front of him.

Lala Ruu was lacing her fingers together in front of her chest, and even the nobles were holding their breath as they watched the stage.

Then, Geimalos charged right at Shin Ruu from the side, and still the Ruu hunter did not move. Even his head remained pointed straight forward, leaving me to wonder if he could possibly respond to Geimalos’s attack. I felt so worried that I almost wanted to shout out.

Perhaps Geimalos found it strange too, as he protected his chest with his left arm while holding out his blade with his right, and stopped in place for a moment.

With that, a silence that seemed to crawl up my spine filled the air.

Finally, Geimalos stepped forward. As he did so, he lunged forward with his sword as if he were fencing. He was aiming for Shin Ruu’s defenseless flank, and from an incredibly short distance.

I almost screamed, imagining Geimalos’s blade carving into the young hunter’s side. It just looked like such an impossible strike to escape. The noblewomen were openly crying out at this point.

However, the premonition I had seen was shattered in the next moment. As nimbly as a wild beast, Shin Ruu sent his right arm flying upward. Geimalos’s blade was deflected, and the momentum behind Shin Ruu’s blade kept it going until it struck his opponent’s shield, which deflected it upward, right into the knight’s visor.

With a weighty clang that resounded through the air, Geimalos’s huge frame was sent flying.

His blade had snapped right in the center. His crushed helmet arced through the air, and his body went right along with it. Then, after flying roughly two meters, Geimalos came crashing down atop the stone floor with a serious clatter, after which he didn’t move.

A frightening silence fell over the space.

Geimalos had collapsed facedown on the ground, where a red pool of blood was forming.

His left arm—the one with the shield—was twisted in a strange direction. If he hadn’t broken a bone, then he had at least dislocated a joint. His shoulder and elbow were definitely bent in a way they weren’t supposed to be.

A moment later, a heavy clattering noise sounded out. Shin Ruu had dropped his blade and fallen to his knees.

“Shin Ruu!” Lala Ruu shouted, leaping through the window. After a few seconds of hesitating, I went ahead and followed after her. Ai Fa must have sensed something was wrong, as she came along rather than trying to stop me. “Shin Ruu, are you all right?! What in the world happened?!” Lala Ruu questioned, clinging to him without paying any attention at all to the old referee standing there dumbfounded. Shin Ruu kept on hanging his head, but he did shift his gaze to look at her.

“There’s not really much to explain. This armor is just quite heavy.”

“The armor is heavy?! That’s all?! The way you were moving was completely bizarre!”

“I couldn’t fight like I normally would wearing something like this. Because of that, I wasn’t able to hold back in the least. Is my opponent all right?”

“Who cares about him?!” Lala Ruu shot back pitilessly, hugging Shin Ruu, even with his armor still on.

Behind her stood a rather large figure: Jiza Ruu, who had followed along at some point.

“Shin Ruu, may I remove your headpiece?” he stated in the same tone as always, reaching down toward Shin Ruu’s throat. After swiftly undoing the leather strap, he slowly lifted the silver-colored helmet off the young hunter’s head. And as soon as it was off, Lala Ruu rubbed her cheek up against Shin Ruu’s.

“Hmm. It certainly is quite heavy,” Jiza Ruu noted after scrutinizing the helmet for a moment. Then he picked up Geimalos’s helmet from the ground.

It seemed the armor piece, which had nearly been split in two, really was only metal on the outside. Considering that it had been broken by the same slash that had also repelled the man’s sword and shield, Shin Ruu’s attack must have had some incredible strength behind it.

Around then, a large crowd finally started rushing over to Geimalos. But rather than nobles, they were pages and men clad in white. Most likely, the latter were some sort of doctors.

“Lala, that’s enough. Shin Ruu, can you stand?”

“Yes,” Shin Ruu replied, slowly rising. He was moving even more stiffly, almost like a robot, calling to mind the knight king Rolo from the Gamley Troupe.

“I see... So that’s why,” Ai Fa stated.

Jiza Ruu nodded. “Indeed.” Then, he turned back toward the building. “I wish to ask a question of Duke Marstein Genos! Is there some reason that the two of them seem to be wearing completely different armor?”

“What do you mean, different armor?” one of the figures standing in the window calmly asked.

Jiza Ruu continued in a clear tone, “This Geimalos man wears armor made of steel over leather, while Shin Ruu’s armor is steel all the way through. It would not be possible for him to move properly, clad in such a thing, which I believe is why he put all of his strength into that one strike.”

“Someone confirm what Jiza Ruu just said...” Marstein ordered in turn, and an elderly man—one of the people wearing the white cloaks—approached us unsteadily. The solemn dignity he had been showing up until just a moment ago had entirely vanished at this point. He reached out toward the armor Shin Ruu wore and gave it a tap with the back of his hand, then his face went completely pale as he turned back toward the building.

“This...seems to be the sort of steel plate armor worn by cavalry. How did such a thing end up here in a swordsmanship contest?”

“I see. Jiza Ruu, could I ask you to come over here with Shin Ruu?”

After entrusting the helmet to Ai Fa, Jiza Ruu lent Shin Ruu a shoulder and half lifted him up before returning to the duke with him as requested. I went ahead and followed after them, accompanied by a sniffling Lala Ruu.

Marstein was standing there with his hands on the windowsill, just as we had been doing a little while ago. After accepting the helmet from Ai Fa, he gave us a “Hmm,” with a nod and a grave look. “This is indeed a helmet meant for cavalry... As they fight on totosback and have no need to walk on the ground, their armor is made entirely of steel. Such equipment has little use in a land as peaceful as Genos, but we still have a number of suits meant for special occasions such as wedding ceremonies.”

“So it isn’t supposed to be worn in contests of swordsmanship?”

“Of course not. The armor Geimalos has on is the standard for such events. After all, it takes a person’s full strength to even be able to walk with full steel plate armor on.” Marstein then casually turned back to face the room. “Today’s contest was organized entirely by the house of Saturas. That includes the equipment. So, what is your explanation for this?”

Everyone’s gazes were fixed squarely on Leeheim, who was standing in the middle of the room and looking around in a fluster. “I-I cannot say... That is a task for pages and servants, so even if you ask me...”

“Then you claim you were unaware?”

“O-Of course!”

“This is quite a serious matter,” Marstein stated with a thin smile, then he turned toward Melfried, who stood at his side. “In that case, we shall need to thoroughly investigate to discover who was behind this plot. Melfried, the honor of the ducal guards is on the line, so find the fool responsible.”

“Understood,” Melfried replied, a chilly shine in his gray eyes.

Leeheim had broken out in a cold sweat and was biting his thumbnail. Was it really possible that he’d had nothing to do with it, considering the circumstances? He was the one who had suggested a hunter from the forest’s edge for the contest, and he’d also chosen his own uncle as the opponent. Jiza Ruu’s eyes had narrowed even further by this point, and were fixed on Leeheim’s ghostly pale face.

“At any rate, this is an act that tramples upon the very spirit of the western god. In the name of Duke Genos, I swear to do all I can to clean up after this shameful crime. Can you trust my words on this matter, Jiza Ruu?”

“I would like to believe them. And my father, the leading clan head Donda Ruu, would surely reply in much the same way.”

“Then all that remains is for us to live up to that trust. Someone, help Shin Ruu to change!”

One of the pages that were gathered around Geimalos came running. After watching him hurry over, Jiza Ruu once again turned toward Marstein.

“I was thinking of having one of the guards waiting outside the doors accompany him. Would you permit that?”

“Of course,” Marstein replied, and so Giran Ririn was summoned in. Jiza Ruu then asked if Lala Ruu could go along as well, and with that request granted, those three people of the forest’s edge walked away from the stage. With that, we finally headed back inside the room.

“I say, that was an absolutely astounding match! It seems there was a slipup of sorts, but in the end all it did was make it an even better showing of the strength possessed by the hunters of the forest’s edge,” the plump envoy stated. He wore a relaxed smile as he held up a piece of karon meat on a silver skewer. “Even the famed Sir Geimalos went down in a single blow! And from what I saw, the hunter still seemed to be a youth! I greatly underestimated him.”

“Yes, many swordsmen would have exhausted their strength just making it up onto the stage. After all, he was wearing cavalry armor.” Marstein was also smiling casually to conceal what he was feeling inside. But the folks from Banarm didn’t seem to have taken the situation to be all that serious regardless. In a way, their laid-back response was a big help to us.

The noblewomen who had been shrieking earlier were still carrying on, while the chefs were feigning ignorance and simply satisfying their appetites. But the nobles of Genos, Polarth and Torst especially, looked quite tense as they whispered among themselves.

The culprit still hadn’t been determined, but someone with ties to the castle town had tried to catch the people of the forest’s edge in a trap. The wrongdoings of the house of Turan had been exposed and the relationship between us and the nobility was finally being mended, only for someone from the castle town to do something this outrageous. It certainly wasn’t a matter that could simply be overlooked.

Is Leeheim really that sloppy? Or maybe he was making light of us, figuring he wouldn’t be punished for something like this, as the heir to the house of Saturas.

Those traitors from Dabagg—Digola, the head of the trading firm, and Meilos, who was in charge of external affairs—had been amazingly shortsighted scoundrels. If they had been a bit craftier, their crimes wouldn’t have been exposed, but they had dug their own graves by underestimating the people of the forest’s edge and the nobles of Genos.

Marstein definitely doesn’t want to upset the people of the forest’s edge at this point. But what sort of punishment would be fitting for this kind of thing? I hope this doesn’t turn into a serious problem, I thought to myself.

Then I heard a voice call out, “Asuta,” from beside me. When I turned to look, I found a familiar star reader standing there.

“Oh. What is it, Arishuna?”

“Well, I wished, to greet you, so I got permission, from Duke Genos.”

Looking around, I saw that the nobles seemed to have calmed back down, at least on the surface, and were chatting away again. Arishuna was wearing a dress that was fittingly gorgeous for her role as a star reader, and she gave me a highly elegant bow. “Today’s dishes, were wonderful. I ate nothing, but your cooking.”

“Ah ha ha, I appreciate it.”

“The first dish, was especially good. I don’t know, much about shaska, but I love, your soba. Would it, be strange, to eat soba, and curry together?”

“No, folks back in my home country would eat it that way too. But in that case, a dish called udon using white fuwano may be a better fit. And the best way to have it might be to mix the curry into a stock and make it into a soup.”

“That sounds, so delicious, I can hardly imagine...” Arishuna stated, remaining perfectly expressionless all the while. And then, someone else approached.

“Hey, don’t go sneaking off to chat with him all on your own! I want to talk to Asuta too!” Diel chimed in. She had a silver accessory adorning her short hair that was lighter or darker in various places, and was wearing a blue dress. She had been maintaining a formal expression all this time, but now she was glaring out of the corner of her eyes at Arishuna, only to then suddenly break out in her usual grin. “Long time no see, Asuta! I need to get permission to even greet you here in the castle town. It’s such a pain.”

“You seem full of energy, Diel. How did you find our cooking?”

“It was delicious! I think I liked that giba meat sauté with the mamaria vinegar best. Oh, and the dish you guys made was just as tasty,” Diel said, turning toward Reina and Sheera Ruu. “Don’t worry about what that Varkas guy said! If it were me, I’d love to eat it every single day. I think I’ll be able to visit the post town once the revival festival is over, and I’ll definitely stop by then!”

“G-Good, thank you.”

Reina and Sheera Ruu both bowed their heads, seeming a bit bewildered. Diel gave them both another pleased look, but then glared at Arishuna once again.

“Now that I think about it, you’ve been having Asuta’s cooking delivered to the castle town every day, haven’t you? That’s pretty unfair, isn’t it?”

“Not every day. Just when, giba curry, is being sold.”

“It’s still no fair! I want to eat Asuta’s cooking too!” Diel said while puffing up her cheeks, causing me to chuckle without thinking. Even dressed up like a noblewoman, she was still her same old lovably energetic self.

“You two sure do seem to be getting along well. Did you become friends back at the tea party?”

“Why would I be friends with an easterner?! It’s just that the nobles of Genos seem to look at us as if we have a similar status, so we sometimes see one another at banquets and stuff like this.”

“I do not, hate southerners. However, I’m not, fond of noisiness.”

“Hmph! And I can’t stand folks like you with faces like dolls!”

Diel’s eyes, lively like sparkly jade, were clashing against Arishuna’s, which were as calm as a lake at night. But considering their nations were mortal enemies, this staring contest seemed almost heartwarming.

“So why exactly did the two of you come over here?” Ai Fa said, joining in on the conversation.

Turning her way, Diel said, “Oh, it’s you,” with a broad smile. “What do you mean? I just wanted to greet Asuta, since I haven’t seen him for a while.”

“I see. But the two of you were guests invited by the nobles, correct? It doesn’t seem appropriate for you to spend so much time on a casual chat with Asuta.”

“Huh? That’s why we had to wait for an opportunity to leave our seats! We don’t need you acting all strict with us too.”

“I’m not especially concerned about you...” Ai Fa retorted, her gaze then shifting from Diel to Arishuna. The star reader gave an expressionless tilt of her head in response.

“Do you, hate me?”

“Not particularly,” Ai Fa said, a complex look in her eyes. And then, I finally picked up on what she was concerned about.

“It’s all right, Ai Fa. There’s no need for you to be worried because of Arishuna.”

Ai Fa must have been concerned about the incident with Neeya from the other day, when the old fortune teller, Railanos, had realized that I was a “starless one” right away and conveyed that to Neeya, who had sung me the song of Misha the White Sage.

Arishuna had also seen through my identity some time ago, and she had let slip that starless ones didn’t come from this world. But Arishuna had apologized for speaking about it so carelessly later, and since that had happened in this very building, Ai Fa had also been there.

“I’m not fond of star reading to begin with...” Ai Fa quietly muttered.

“I see,” Arishuna replied with a little nod. “I feel, much the same. Because my grandfather, possessed the power, to read stars, he was exiled, from our homeland. But it is, all I have, to make a living.”

Ai Fa remained silent.

Arishuna continued, “However, star reading, is a business, for me. As long as, Asuta does not, wish for it, I will not, read his star. If my previous, slip of the tongue, angered you, I will apologize, as much, as it takes.” Then she started to bow her head.

“Stop that,” Ai Fa interjected. “I have no intention of condemning you for the same mistake again and again. But I do not know you all that well, so I cannot fully trust your words.”

“Yeah, easterners just aren’t trustworthy,” Diel chimed in cheerfully, despite knowing nothing of the circumstances. “And they’re all so expressionless, like they’re wearing masks. If you want other people to be able to reach an understanding with you, why not at least crack a smile every now and then?”

“It is shameful, to allow emotions, to show, on your face...”

“Hmph. Guess that makes us all shameless, huh?”

“It is no shame, if you are not, a child, of Sym... But I shall strive, to earn your trust.”

As that exchange was going on, the pages were carrying out fresh plates. At some point, we had reached the final stage of the banquet, as they had started serving up sweets to finish things off.

“Ugh, thanks to you and our little argument, I lost the chance to take my time and chat! Hey Asuta, there’s something I need to tell you real quick.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“It’s about the competition from before. I thought I heard something about cavalry armor. Is that right? If it is, then that swordsman your hunter beat, Geimalos, probably had something to do with it.”

Ai Fa and I both gasped in surprise.

“Wh-What makes you say that? Do you have some sort of proof?”

“I wouldn’t quite say that. But I happened to be strolling around the inner garden when the armor was being carried into the manor. I overheard the pages and servants chatting to each other, and they were saying that Sir Geimalos had ordered them to keep it in a locked room until the hunter from the forest’s edge arrived.”

I started glancing around the room for Leeheim. He was over in a corner, not talking to anyone and chugging down fruit wine. I kinda thought he looked a bit like a lost child. Was it possible that he was innocent and was simply worried about what would become of his uncle? If so, then the only suspect left would be Geimalos himself.

“This could be extremely important, Diel. If they hold a trial, would you be willing to testify as a witness?”

“Huh? Is it really that serious? Well, I guess I’d be fine with that. And I’m not the only one who heard it.”

“Oh, was someone else with you?”

“Yeah, Labis was with me. And Lefreya and her attendant from Sym.”

He wasn’t actually from Sym. She was referring to Sanjura, who had mixed blood from the east and west.

As we stood there surprised, she shot us a smile.

“Lefreya doesn’t get permission to meet with other nobles very often, but I’m just a merchant, so that Torst guy seems to be okay with me talking to her. That’s why we were going on a walk around the garden. When I overheard those servants talking, I wondered why they were being all sneaky about it in the middle of the day, but I finally get it now. I wanted to tell you before I brought it up with Melfried.”

“Thanks, Diel. I’m really grateful to hear that.”

If Leeheim had turned out to be the mastermind, it would have led to another round of troublesome quarreling with the nobles, but if the wrongdoing was Geimalos’s work alone, then we would likely be able to settle things with a lot less fuss. For now, though, we just had to leave things to Marstein.

“All right, can you go ahead and let Melfried know? And we’ll pass this along to the leading clan heads.”

“Yeah, got it. So, this is going to help you guys out, right?” Diel asked with an angelic smile. “I know this won’t be enough to erase what Lefreya and I did, but I hope it’ll make things at least a little easier for the people of the forest’s edge.”

“Huh? You’re still worrying about that, Diel?”

“Of course I am. It’s you guys who’ve been way too quick to forget it!” she replied with the smile still on her face, and then she turned to leave. “All right, see you around! Once the revival festival’s over, I’ll definitely come by your place in the post town!”

After watching her depart, Arishuna then gave us a deep bow. “I shall, be going as well. And I hope, that I can, someday atone, for my own crime.”

“Calling it a ‘crime’ is going way overboard, Arishuna.”

“You need not, be so giving. I wish, to form, a proper bond, with all of you.”

After that, Arishuna left as well, leaving just us people of the forest’s edge standing there.

“To think that they of all people would be the ones to expose the wrongdoings of a noble... Is this the result of all your efforts to forge new bonds?” Ai Fa asked.

“I’m not the only one who’s been forging them. The people of the forest’s edge as a whole have. Especially with folks like Lefreya.”

“But I get the feeling that you are the only one to have made a connection with those two girls,” she said, turning away in a huff and glaring at me out of the corner of her eye. “Since you work as a chef at the forest’s edge, I can understand why you’re always making friends with women there... But even when you’re in town, you still only ever seem to associate yourself with young women.”

“That’s not true. The innkeepers are all men, and then you have the guys from the pot and cloth shops, and the craftsmen... Hey, are you listening?!”

Ai Fa elegantly walked away toward Jiza Ruu. Without really knowing anything about what was going on, Reina Ruu then asked me, “Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing... But it sure has been an eventful day, hasn’t it? Even without that whole deal with Shin Ruu.”

“Yes. It will surely leave me with many memories.”

Since Diel and Arishuna had left, Sheera Ruu and Toor Deen approached us again. Yun Sudra was off standing by herself and observing everything with a smile, but all the other chefs wore serious expressions.

“Asuta, once the festival in town is over, will you come give cooking lessons at the Ruu settlement again?” Reina Ruu asked.

“Huh? Yeah, of course. We won’t have such an intense work schedule to worry about anymore at that point.”

“Thank you. And might we be able to accompany you when you come to examine new ingredients too?”

“Yes, I think that should be possible. From what Varkas said, it sounds like we’ll probably end up doing some sort of taste testing again.”

“Again, thank you. As terribly embarrassed as I am about how lacking my skills are, I still hope I can continue working together with you in the future.” Reina Ruu then bowed her head to me, and all the others followed suit a moment later.

Reina Ruu had always seemed to have the strongest drive to improve out of all of them, easily. Her desire to better herself almost felt like a sort of greed to me, and that made me smile when I remembered the time Ai Fa called me greedy too.

“Same to you. But the revival festival isn’t over just yet. We’ve got to make it through the next three days first.”

“Right!” some energetic voices replied.

With that, the hectic twenty-eighth day of the violet month finally came to a close.