Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 1.5

Intermission: A Night at the Fa House

“It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?” I called out.

“Indeed,” Ai Fa said with a nod while voraciously eating the giba meat I had prepared for dinner.

It was currently night on the fifth day of the silver month, after I had finished my work in the castle town and returned home. On the way back, we had stopped by the Ruu settlement, which was where I had heard about the requests Melfried had charged the leading clan heads with.

“I never expected the Gamley Troupe’s request to be accepted so easily. No matter how strong their connections with the nobles are, it seemed like the sort of thing that would have been flatly refused,” I noted.

That was the first matter. The Gamley Troupe’s request to capture a live giba for their show had now been officially approved in the name of Duke Marstein Genos. Apparently, Neeya the minstrel had used his sweet voice to entice a noblewoman from a viscount’s house with ties to the house of Genos, which had allowed their request to successfully make it all the way to the duke himself.

However, that was something that had always been within the realm of possibility. The surprising part was how swiftly it had been approved. Why were they being allowed to go ahead with it so easily? When I asked, the answer I got back was that this had resulted from Marstein’s conservative and proactive sides getting all tangled up in a web together.

“The forest at the foot of Mount Morga is incredibly vast and the hunting grounds we people of the forest’s edge use only occupy a small portion... Therefore, there is no law that prevents people from setting foot in the forest of Morga, aside from the areas where we hunt,” Gazraan Rutim had explained to me in his usual gentle tone, having accompanied the leading clan heads. “However, setting foot on Mount Morga itself is absolutely forbidden. If the varb wolves, giant madarama snakes, and red savages that guard the mountain are angered, it could lead to the destruction of Genos. Thus, the mountain where those beasts live is the only place that people are truly forbidden to enter. In the end, technically anyone can hunt giba at the mountain’s base.”

“I can see why. It’s no problem for Genos if the number of giba around decreases, so I guess they have no reason to go out of their way to forbid that.”

“Right. Of course, entering our hunting grounds without permission is forbidden by the laws of Genos too. That much is also only natural, as someone setting foot there carelessly could easily lose their life to the traps we have set. Although, thinking back, since Ai Fa first encountered you while you were caught in one of her traps, Asuta, I suppose you were breaking the laws of Genos right from the start.”

I rustled my own hair with an “Ah ha ha,” and Gazraan Rutim smiled, but then our expressions grew serious again.

“Returning to the matter at hand... Mount Morga is surrounded on all sides by forest. We only hunt in the forest to the west, in the area between the mountain and the town of Genos. As it is not safe to spend the night out in the forest, our hunting grounds are limited to a range where we can return home before sunset. But in other words, if you go more than half a day away from our settlement, anyone can enter the forest of Morga. It’s just that no townsfolk would have ever wanted to enter the forest where dangerous giba wander about anyway, so there was no point in making a law to forbid it.”

But then, the eminently eccentric Gamley Troupe had shown up. And so, even if the nobles or the leading clan heads did try to forbid them from entering the settlement at the forest’s edge or the hunting grounds, they would still have been able to hunt a giba in a different part of the forest.

“However, it would be difficult for any townsfolk who enter the forest to recognize the boundary where the mountain begins. If they do come here without anyone knowing and set foot on the mountain by mistake, they could easily end up angering the varb, madarama, and savages.” Which meant it would ultimately be far less dangerous to allow them to enter with hunters from the forest’s edge supervising them. That was the basic summary. “Apparently, the nobles are now looking into whether a new law forbidding entry into the forest of Morga should be written. However, any law they do try to make would matter little. Keeping watch over the entire vast expanse of the forest at all times would be impossible.”

“I see. So the taboo against setting foot on Mount Morga is that strong, huh? Still, I get the feeling that if anyone actually did anger those varb wolves or whatever, they’d be the only ones to pay for it...”

“I cannot say. The taboo existed long before our ancestors moved here to the Morga forest’s edge. Perhaps when the people of Genos first established their town, they tried to clear the forest and mountain and were met with some kind of calamity as a result.”

At any rate, the nobles of Genos had decided that rather than ignore or refuse a slippery group like the Gamley Troupe, it was best to cooperate and keep an eye on them instead.

“For better or worse, the Ruu settlement happens to have just finished their break period, and there are still not that many giba about yet. It’s going to take a little longer for the bounty of the forest to completely recover and for the giba to return in large numbers, so those townsfolk should be able to enter our hunting grounds without being at too much risk.”

The Gamley Troupe wanted to capture a giba alive, so as long as they could safely return with one that got caught in a trap, that should settle the matter.

“Of course, no matter when they come here, there is always a certain degree of danger associated with entering the forest. But no matter what may happen to them, the hunters of the forest’s edge will not be held responsible. Furthermore, if we end up giving them a giba that was caught in one of our traps, they will pay us the equivalent amount of coins that we would have earned from its horns, tusks, pelt, and meat. Additionally, the Gamley Troupe will have to pay us ten white coins per day in exchange for us accompanying them on their endeavor, according to Melfried.”

Melfried himself apparently hadn’t cared much about this whole ridiculous matter one way or the other. Actually, he tended to not care much about anything so long as the laws of Genos were upheld.

“Well, just keeping an eye on some townsfolk won’t be too significant of a burden for us. And we’re only talking about bringing them along while we’re going around checking on our traps, not actively hunting giba with them in tow,” Gazraan Rutim said. “I’d say it’s the other request that’s going to be a real headache.”

“That Black Flight Feathers merchant group from Sym, huh? Yeah, that’s definitely a bigger deal than the whole thing with the Gamley Troupe.”

They were a merchant group that had been dealing with Cyclaeus for seven years. They had been the ones who had brought those live gyama to Genos as part of their most recent delivery, along with countless other ingredients, and their leader, Kukuluel, had made a proposal even crazier than the Gamley Troupe’s. In short, he had told the nobles that he wanted a highway to Sym to be constructed, passing through the forest of Morga.

Kukuluel’s pitch had gone something like this: “In order to travel from Sym to Genos, we must pass through the free territory to the south in order to detour around Mount Morga. However, the people of Jagar are presently constructing a settlement along that path. It is a barren land, and watering holes are scarce, but citizens of Jagar driven from their homes by war have been moving there. They are using a watering hole to cultivate the land and making bricks out of crushed rock, with several hundred people living there already. At this rate, in a few years they may well have constructed a sturdy fort.” If that fort was built, it would become difficult for easterners to pass through the area at all. “In such a situation, our only remaining path to Selva would be to the north of Mount Morga. That would surely reduce the number of merchants visiting Genos greatly. After all, if you arrive from that direction, it’s far easier to visit other towns.” However, there were a great many dangerous bandits in that area, so the merchants very much wished to avoid having to make that switch. “But if a path from the east to the west of Mount Morga could be carved through the forest, we could use that to create a new route. This would amount to the establishment of a third route connecting Sym and Selva. From what I have been told, such a thing has been attempted twice now...”

That had been a reference to the path that Leito’s father and Milano Mas’s brother-in-law had once tried to establish. However, their plan had been completely ruined by Zattsu Suun and his ilk.

The second attempt would have been when none other than Melfried himself had been collaborating with Kamyua Yoshu, pretending to be a merchant group in order to catch the Suun clan in a trap. The fact that it had all been a deception was hardly a secret, but it wasn’t really discussed publicly.

“Putting aside Melfried and Kamyua Yoshu’s plot, the initial attempt was indeed a plan to find a safer way to travel to Sym. If they had succeeded, it would have led to easier trade between Sym and Genos than the current route allows. It seems this Kukuluel fellow wishes to see their ambition made into a reality.”

Leito’s father’s plan had remained a matter of discussion for over ten years. The thought that it might finally happen was a heartwarming one for me. However, this was going to be a difficult request for the people of the forest’s edge to accommodate.

“So, they’re talking about carving out a path through the forest of Morga that anyone can use, without needing to be escorted by the people of the forest’s edge every time. But I’m guessing the issue is whether that’s actually possible to do,” I said.

“Well, it shouldn’t be entirely impossible. The path is supposedly going to run through a rocky region, roughly half a day to a full day away from the areas where giba typically appear.”

Now that I thought about it, Kamyua Yoshu had mentioned something similar—that they would only need hunters to guide them on the first day, and after that, they could use the rocky region to exit the forest.

“And if they cut down the trees that grow the fruits the giba eat in the vicinity, that should keep the beasts away from their cleared path, just like how the giba don’t go near the paths connecting Genos to the settlement. That should make the route safe for anyone to travel.”

“But it’s not as if there wouldn’t be any issues, right?”

Even someone like me who knew very little about this sort of thing could think of one or two serious concerns.

First, if they carved out such a long path, it would reduce the area where giba could be active. If they began to starve, they would become a greater threat than ever to the fields in the Daleim lands. Nobody would want to see that happen.

The second issue was the question of who would take on such a huge construction job. The people of the forest’s edge would never be able to make enough time for that, no matter how much money they were offered, and the townsfolk wouldn’t want to work in the forest, which was overflowing with giba.

“The nobles of Genos don’t seem to be especially concerned in regard to the fields. The Daleim lands haven’t been attacked for months now, so they even increased the reward money they gave us by half of the previous amount.” They were also planning to build a fence along the border between the Daleim lands and the forest. That was the best news the people living there could possibly have gotten. “As for who will actually make the path...the nobles intend to use the slaves who work the Turan lands.”

“Huh?! You mean the ones from Mahyudra?!”

“Yes. They aren’t able to grow fuwano in the rainy season, so the nobles think this would be a perfect way to keep them busy until it’s over. The wall around the Turan lands was built during the rainy season too.”

So those brawny northerners were going to be forced to clear a path through the forest of Morga? I honestly had no idea how to take that news.

“Isn’t it going to be dangerous for them to work in the forest of Morga without any hunters around for protection?”

“Yes. But it’s been proposed that we people of the forest’s edge could teach everyone involved anything they need to know in order to do their work in the safest way possible. There will also be soldiers from town keeping watch as the northerners work. They seem to be the ones the nobles are most concerned about protecting,” Gazraan Rutim said, and then he smiled at me as if to soothe my concerns. “But since the workers are going to be using axes and hatchets to clear the path, the giba will be unlikely to approach. They dislike being around humans and hate loud noises, after all.”

“Do you support this idea, Gazraan Rutim?”

“I’d say it’s more that I’m not opposed. If completed, the path would pass fairly close to the Sauti settlement, so Dari Sauti seemed pretty troubled, but this is another way we can lower the boundaries between us and the townsfolk, correct?”

I had no way of knowing. But it was a fact that the forest’s edge was a part of the Genos domain, so in the end the power to make this decision belonged to Marstein alone.

“However, we have no intention of ignoring the will of our people, so our discussions on what we should do about the Gamley Troupe and the road construction will continue until everyone is satisfied. Gulaf Zaza and Dari Sauti are conferring with the clans underneath them now, and they should be coming to visit the Ruu settlement again tomorrow.”

It had been two hours now since that discussion, and as I watched Ai Fa eating heartily out of the corner of my eye, I sighed heavily.

“That was the kind of conversation that can really make you forget anything else that might be going on. Even though the matter of reconciling with the house of Saturas and the increase in reward money are pretty big deals all on their own.”

In regard to our issues with the house of Saturas, it had been decided that a peace banquet would be held. The people of the forest’s edge were being invited as “noble visitors,” but it had been mentioned during the meeting that we could still prepare a dish or two to show them what we were capable of.

“The stuff with the Gamley Troupe is one thing, but using northerners to clear a path through the forest’s edge... It just doesn’t feel real to me.”

“There is no point in us worrying over such things. Let the leading clan heads deal with those hassles,” Ai Fa stated as she thrust her now empty plate at me.

“Ah, right,” I replied as I scooped out some fresh soup that was being kept warm in the pot onto the plate. Today, we were having karon milk soup with lots of different ingredients in it.

“Besides, it is the Ruu who will have to deal with those traveling performers, and the Sauti who will be forced to handle the matter of clearing that path. If there were townsfolk coming and going freely in front of this house, though, I suppose I could worry myself over it a little.”

“But don’t you feel bad for the Ruu and the Sauti?”

“I do, but these are not the sort of matters where we have any ability to offer assistance,” Ai Fa said as her white teeth tore into some baked poitan. She seemed to be more focused on the food than what I was saying.

Still, it was true that us discussing matters here would do nothing to lighten the load on the leading clan heads, so I switched gears and resumed eating my meal, having stopped partway through.

“It looks like you were really hungry, Ai Fa. I suppose we are having dinner later than usual, though.”

“Indeed. And I just started training to regain my strength three days ago, so I’ve been exceptionally hungry.”

It was true that she hadn’t had many opportunities to exert herself lately, so she had experienced a decline in appetite. Still, considering that she was just starting to get back into things, the way she was eating tonight was quite a performance.

“How’s the taste of the new myamuu giba using keru root? I think it turned out pretty well for how impromptu it was.”

“Yes, it’s tasty.”

“This is the sort of flavor I was aiming for with the myamuu giba to begin with, so I’m gonna talk to Reina and Sheera Ruu about them using it too.”

“I see,” Ai Fa nodded, thrusting her empty plate at me again.

“Huh? Didn’t I just give you seconds? You’ve got a serious appetite.”

“That’s because you made such delicious food.”

Even so, there was only a little bit of that delicious food left. This would be the last serving of the karon milk soup.

I had been so engrossed in our conversation that I was only halfway finished eating. Ai Fa, on the other hand, was able to finish off her final helping in less than a minute, and then she started staring straight at me.

“Er, do you want me to share my portion with you too?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll ruin your health if you don’t eat properly,” Ai Fa said, but her gaze didn’t budge from my face. Her eyes were clearly begging me for more.

“I see. Okay then, in that case, I’ll make some more.”

“That can wait until after you’re done eating.”

“I can’t calm down with you staring at me like that! Go add some extra firewood to the stove.”

I moved the now-empty pot to the floor, then placed another one up against the wall on top of the stove. As it was heating up, I swiftly started slicing some rib meat and tino.

“We’ve got extra Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise, so I guess I’ll make some okonomiyaki. And I’ll add a fried kimyuus egg too.”

“Very well.”

“Still, it’s not like you were eating that much less during your recovery... I was already worried about you putting on weight due to lack of exercise, so isn’t it a little dangerous to eat this much?”

“Don’t be foolish. It’s only been three days since I started training, and I’ve already shed most of my excess fat.”

Then, as I was mincing up the tino atop a cutting board on the floor, Ai Fa came toward me while still kneeling down. She was shoving her perfectly lean abdomen directly into my line of vision. Her midsection was extremely well defined, and her abs would definitely become visible if she tensed them even a little. Her brown skin was incredibly smooth, and even the shape of her belly button was beautiful.

“I can sense my strength returning, day by day. And I have the food you have been making for me to thank for it, Asuta.”

“It makes me incredibly happy to hear that.”

“If I continue to recover at this rate, I will be able to head out into the forest in less than a month. And fulfilling my agreement with Lem Dom is not far off either.”

“That’s really good to hear... But my dear clan head, when you come that close to me, you make this poor fellow feel awfully embarrassed...”

At that, Ai Fa silently moved back, still kneeling.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I set my knife down beside the meat, which I had just finished cutting.

Instantly, a slap struck my head.

“Ow! What did you do that for?!”

“Because you went and ran your mouth like that! Just be grateful I waited for you to set down your knife!” Ai Fa shot back, her face bright red.

“Hey, if you start acting all bashful, it’ll only make me feel even more embarrassed.”

That comment earned me several more slaps to the head.

Was this a consequence of how open we were with each other? Well, whether it was or not, the blows she was raining down on me to hide her embarrassment had enough force behind them that they were threatening to give me a concussion.

“H-Hey, cut it out! If you keep hitting me, I’m gonna have trouble working tomorrow!”

“Quiet, you! Just hurry up and cook the food already!”

And so, another night at the Fa house wrapped up peacefully.