Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 23 - Chapter 1.2

2

The next day, the eighteenth of the silver month, had arrived.

I rose at the break of dawn, and after washing the dishes and gathering firewood, I returned home, where I discovered that we had a visitor—Lem Dom, looking the same as always.

“I’ve been waiting, Ai Fa. But should we save our showdown till after our morning work is done?”

“Indeed. Asuta will be leaving the house at the fifth hour. That shouldn’t be too late of a starting time.”

“Yeah. If we start before the sun hits its peak and go till sunset, it should give us a full half day.”

It had become part of Lem Dom’s daily routine to help with prep work for our business in the morning. But that was work she did to earn her dinner, and since she was set to return to the northern settlement after the contest of strength today, I had no right to ask for her help.

Still, as she herself said, there would still be plenty of time left afterward. Even if they took breaks, there was no way they’d be able to keep fighting almost continuously from morning until evening, so even going from the upper fifth hour till sunset would surely be more than enough for them to settle the matter.

“All right, let’s get started. Asuta, this is the last time I’ll be working with you, but I’m still looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, me too.”

With her usual bold grin firmly in place, it didn’t seem like Lem Dom was feeling overly anxious this morning. She was probably around 180 centimeters in height, taller than Ai Fa, and even me. Though she had a surprisingly womanly profile, her arms and shoulders were quite muscular, and her abs were clearly visible. She had a robust build that was bulkier than not just Ai Fa’s, but also some of the smaller male hunters like Ludo and Shin Ruu as well.

Over the course of these past few months, she had honed her physique more and more. Nobody from town would have doubted it if they were told that she was a female hunter. She had big, sharp eyes, a high-bridged nose, and plump lips. Her black hair was tied up high on her head, and her slightly dark skin was amazingly smooth. She had more than enough womanly beauty about her, and yet the expression on her pretty face was tense and severe. She looked so fierce that it was hard to believe she was only fifteen years old.

During her training, Lem Dom had gradually developed a calm and composed demeanor. The change had probably started around the time she began helping Jeeda and Bartha hunt wild birds. They hunted early in the morning, so there was no danger of them running into dangerous giba. However, catching birds out in the woods still required a lot of concentration and the ability to hide your presence. Frankly, in my eyes, she was already a perfectly fine female hunter.

Of course, she was still unpolished compared to Ai Fa, but when I compared her to a thirteen-year-old hunter in training like Deem Rutim, I couldn’t imagine her coming up short. Not that the opinion of a nonhunter like me was worth much, but that was how I felt about her growth.

At any rate, it just goes to show how serious Lem Dom has been about her training, I thought as I set about handling the prep work.

The other women had already started gathering. Around this time of day, Toor Deen, Yun Sudra, and the other three women who would be working alongside me in the post town all came over to help out. Today, Fei Beim and the Dagora and Gaaz women were on duty.

Lem Dom went ahead and got to work alongside Fei Beim, cooking a large number of poitan. She was actually the one who had taught the Beim woman the process for preparing them in the first place. She hadn’t branched out all that much, but Lem Dom was now skilled enough at making baked poitan to act as an instructor.

I guess we’re gonna be saying goodbye to her today.

Though we only saw one another during this part of the day, we had been acquainted for quite some time now. She had first come to the Ruu settlement in the last third of the black month, so it had been around three months by this point.

She had come to stay at the Fa house shortly after that, and when Deek Dom had abandoned her, she had moved into a nearby vacant house. Following Donda Ruu’s advice, she had then temporarily returned to the Dom house to discuss things with her brother before returning here. It really had been a turbulent three months.

At first, Lem Dom had seemed like an out-of-control ruffian, but I soon started to recognize her charm. There was the way she got along with Toor Deen, and her complex relationship with Sufira Zaza, which I thought was really heartwarming. Also, no matter how much the people around her tried to talk her down, Lem Dom never wavered when it came to her dream of becoming a hunter. I couldn’t help but see something of Ai Fa in her.

Lem Dom wants to live the way she desires, even if it means casting aside all norms... Well, I guess it’s all down to the whims of the forest, huh? I thought while taking care not to sigh, and completing one bit of prep work after another. The women assisting me had grown quite skilled as well, so it felt like things were going nice and easy now compared to the revival festival. We were able to finish up after around two hours, and loaded the prepared ingredients into the wagon, just in time for Sufira Zaza to show up.

“Oh, you came all this way to observe, Sufira Zaza?” Lem Dom asked.

“Of course. That’s why I was staying in the Ruu settlement to begin with.”

Sufira Zaza shot a worried glare at Lem Dom, who was grinning fearlessly. They had grown up in the northern settlement together, so she was deeply concerned about Lem Dom’s fate. I could still clearly remember the way that she had sobbed like a child when they had finally reunited at the Ruu settlement.

While I was reminiscing about that, Sufira Zaza’s tough gaze turned my way too. “Asuta, thank you for all your help so far. I will be sure to fully inform the leading clan heads about how you and Ai Fa have conducted yourselves.”

“I appreciate that. The assistance we’ve been getting has been a big help with our work in the post town and with the restaurant.”

We would be saying farewell to Sufira Zaza today as well. She had maintained her harsh attitude toward us all the way to the end, but I had seen the surprising ups and downs of her emotions, as well as the fact that she had a major sweet tooth. In the end, I had come to like her as another one of our important comrades here at the forest’s edge.

“Well then, we’ll be heading out for the post town...” I started to declare, but then I spotted someone else coming our way. Sufira Zaza had arrived on foot, but this time we were seeing a totos-drawn cart. The vehicle had no roof, and it had appeared from the north.

The totos had blackish plumage, and its reins were held by a hunter from the northern settlement wearing a pelt with the skin of the animal’s head still attached. The driver was a younger hunter, not the leading clan head Gulaf Zaza, and riding in the cart was Deek Dom, who wore a giba skull on his head.

“Ah, so the contest of strength hasn’t started yet? Looks like driving the totos hard to make sure we arrived quickly was worth it,” the man whose name I didn’t know remarked with a hearty laugh as he stepped down to the ground.

Deek Dom also silently descended. Even though this was his first encounter with his sister in a very long time, neither of them was doing anything except silently staring at one another. But while they were having that poignant reunion, Sufira Zaza was glaring at the other man.

“Geol... Why are you here?”

“Why? Well, this is incredibly important for us too. After all, the marriage of the next leading clan head is at stake!”

For a hunter of the northern settlement, he came across as being strangely brash. Thanks to the headed giba pelt he wore, around half of his face was hidden from view, but his black eyes had a blazing light in them, and he was grinning viciously. He still looked rather young, though, due to a lack of any facial hair. He also had a large scar above his right eye. He seemed to be a bit smaller than Deek Dom overall, but he still had to be around 180 centimeters in height and was really muscular all over. I guessed that he was about as burly as Jiza Ruu and Gazraan Rutim.

“What are you talking about? I don’t remember ever pledging myself to you, Geol Zaza,” Lem Dom said, her gaze shifting away from her elder brother. Then she turned toward me and Ai fa with a derisive grin. “This little clod is Geol Zaza, the youngest son of the main Zaza house. He looks pretty imposing, doesn’t he? But he’s actually Sufira Zaza’s younger brother.”

“Hmph! There’s no older or younger when it comes to those born on the same day! And even if I am the youngest son, I’m still set to be the next leading clan head!”

Shockingly, it seemed he was Sufira Zaza’s twin brother. That meant he must have also been sixteen, and yet he had just as much presence about him as Deek Dom. Apparently, he was the heir because his eldest and second brothers’ souls had already returned to the forest, leaving him the oldest surviving son of the main house.

“As if any man besides me could ever handle a violent woman like you. Just hurry up and bring this farce to an end, then prepare yourself to be my bride!”

“I don’t need you to tell us to begin. But this match might not be settled until sunset... Asuta, you don’t need to pay this any mind. Just go handle your own work.”

Geol Zaza’s black eyes shot me a doubtful look. “I see. So you’re the outsider living at the Fa house, eh? You’re just as pale as the rumors said.”

Since he was officially the next clan head, he must have had to remain at the northern settlement whenever Gulaf Zaza was away from home on business. That was why Ai Fa and I were only meeting him for the very first time now.

“And you’re the female clan head of the Fa, aren’t you? Hmm... Seems you really aren’t just a hunter in name alone. It’s such a shame, though, seeing how beautiful you are.”

With her eyes half closed, Ai Fa glared back at Geol Zaza. My clan head was especially averse to rude folks who made pointless comments about her appearance.

“Ah, and you’re the Deen clan’s chef. The food you prepared for that banquet before was amazing! I’m looking forward to having you put those skills to use when I get married too!”

Toor Deen bowed, looking a bit uneasy. Recently, she had taken a single day off work in the post town to handle some sort of celebratory banquet in the northern settlement.

“All right, we’ll be leaving now. It really is time for us to be heading to the Ruu settlement.” I decided to speak to Geol Zaza politely, since that’s what I did with Sufira Zaza and I had a hard time seeing him as younger than me.

However, Geol Zaza then shouted out, “Ah, hold on! I’ve got a message for the Ruu clan head. Let him know we’ve decided that I’m going to take part in that tournament or whatever that’s being held by the castle town.”

“Huh? Wasn’t Shin Ruu supposed to do that?”

“The nobles said something about having one more of us join in, and it ended up being me! After all, it could bring shame on us hunters if we only sent a single man from a Ruu branch house!”

This guy seemed to be a lot less dignified than Deek Dom. But it occurred to me just then that if he was sixteen years old, that meant he was the same age as Shin Ruu. I couldn’t help but secretly wonder which of the two was stronger.

“I’ll pass the message along. And I’ll see you all later,” I replied. Then I glanced over at Ai Fa and Lem Dom, who both had sour looks on their faces. “We’re leaving now. You take care too, Lem Dom.”

“My, that’s a quick farewell,” Lem Dom said. “You’ll be back before the sun sets, won’t you? I’ll be waiting here for you when you return, whether we’ve managed to settle this before then or not.”

“Really? In that case, I’ll come straight back here instead of stopping by the Ruu settlement.”

“Of course I’ll wait. I’ve been in your debt for so long, I’d like to at least say a proper goodbye at the end,” she remarked, showing me the whites of her teeth. “That goes for you too, Toor Deen and Yun Sudra. I hope you’re looking forward to seeing just how much strength I can bring to bear against Ai Fa.”

And so, we set about our work in the post town for the day.

Things were completely back to normal in town, but there was still an awful lot of traffic passing by. Even bringing eight hundred servings, we were able to sell the whole lot of them without issue, so it seemed we had no need to bring those numbers down yet.

“I see... So Lem Dom will finally be returning to the northern settlement as well,” Yamiru Lea whispered while setting a fresh steaming basket in place, having been put in charge of giba manju and myamuu giba. “Well, she’s been doing as she pleases for three months now, so I’m sure she won’t have any regrets. She’ll simply have to go back to doing her proper work in her own house tomorrow.”

“Ah, so you also think it’ll be difficult for Lem Dom to win, Yamiru Lea?”

“Not just difficult. Impossible. No matter what the challenge may be, there’s no chance of her beating someone who made it into the top eight in a Ruu clan contest of strength like Ai Fa.”

I kind of felt the same way, but it sounded a lot more convincing coming from Yamiru Lea’s mouth.

“It sounded like that Geol Zaza man has asked Lem Dom to marry him too. What sort of person is he?”

“I can’t say. Heirs don’t attend clan head meetings, and the Suun clan avoided inviting their subordinates over as much as possible, so for the most part, I only know their names.”

“I see. Apparently, he and Sufira Zaza are twins.”

Yamiru Lea’s eyebrows shifted a bit when I said that. “Ah, Geol Zaza is that rude boy? I see. He’s been a ruffian since he was young. I believe Diga and Doddo tried to avoid him as much as possible at banquets.”

I could certainly see how Diga and Doddo would have been completely unable to stand up to someone that intense. And he didn’t seem like the sort to respect members of his parent clan either.

“By the way, Diga and Doddo are staying at the Dom settlement now, aren’t they? I know they’re having a tough time, but I’m glad that they’re working hard as hunters in training.”

Yamiru Lea offered no reply aside from a shrug. Occasionally, I heard reports from Toor Deen after her visits to the northern settlement about how Diga, Doddo, and the folks at the Suun settlement were doing. Though Gulaf Zaza’s original position had been that there was no need for anyone to think about people with whom their blood ties had been severed, Toor Deen had persisted in her efforts to stay connected to her old clanmates and had been permitted to share how things were going for each of them. Was knowing how their former relatives were doing important for their own efforts to live a proper life? I couldn’t help but feel that it was, especially when I saw Yamiru Lea and Tsuvai interacting with each other, and it seemed Gulaf Zaza had eventually accepted that.

Toor Deen really is amazing, especially for someone so little.

I turned to my other side where the young girl in question was boiling pasta, sweat forming on her brow.

“Why don’t we switch once that’s done, Toor Deen?”

“Okay, understood.”

Toor Deen had already mastered making carbonara, so I sometimes had her rotate in on the daily specials. And when the special was a simpler dish, I would instead teach Yamiru Lea how to prepare it while having Fei Beim or one of the other women handle the giba manju stall. We had more time to spare now that the revival festival was over, so I wanted to focus on improving everyone’s skills when it came to our business in the post town.

And so, several minutes later Toor Deen and I swapped positions. Also, just as we were doing that, a familiar face happened to show up. It was Sheila, a maid employed by the house of Daleim who was serving as Yang’s assistant.

“It’s been some time, Sir Asuta. I have a message for you from Sir Polarth. May I convey it?”

“Of course, but I can’t step away from my cooking right now, so you’ll have to tell it to me while I work. If you don’t mind, could you come over to this side of the stall?”

“My apologies for interrupting while you are busy,” Sheila said with a polite bow, and then she did as I had suggested. “It’s actually in regard to the tournament to be held seven days from now. Are you already familiar with that matter, Sir Asuta?”

“Yeah, I am. I’ve heard that a bunch of people will be running stalls around the tournament grounds, but I haven’t been told where they are yet.”

“The tournament grounds are located to the north, up the highway. They are beyond the Turan lands and take roughly half an hour to reach by totos-drawn wagon.” If they were farther north than the Turan lands, that meant they were in unfamiliar territory for us. And if it would take thirty to forty minutes to reach them, that was quite a distance. “It’s a facility that is also frequently used as a parade ground. The location can accommodate two thousand people, so it will be possible to earn more than usual by doing business there.”

“Right, and the post town will be left emptier as a result. We’ve been discussing whether or not we should set up shop there.”

“Polarth has said he would very much like to have you participate. However, there will be a great many people from outside of Genos present, and no shortage of thugs who pride themselves on their strength, so you might need a number of guards.”

“Hmm. That’s something to keep in mind as well. Asking men to go on guard duty means asking them to take time off from their work as hunters.”

The Ruu clan’s break period had already ended, and it would still be some time before the Fa and the neighboring clans entered our own. The timing would have been perfect if the tournament’s date had been set just ten days to half a month later.

“Well, the militia will be patrolling the grounds, and it isn’t as if the other stalls will be hiring bodyguards. The tournament will be finished before sunset, so I can’t imagine there would be any actual danger,” Sheila said.

“Is Polarth being especially insistent about wanting us to participate this time?” I asked, turning to face Sheila directly after adding fresh pasta to the pot and flipping over the hourglass. Unsurprisingly, her eyes seemed to be pleading with me despite her smile.

“Yes. He said it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce the delicious flavor of giba cooking to the world, and that a number of distinguished guests have requested your cooking as well...”

“By ‘distinguished guests,’ do you mean nobles? Folks like that would eat a snack from a stall?”

“Naturally, we’ll be preparing special meals, but some have asked for giba cooking instead. They likely include the star reader, Lady Arishuna, and the metalworker’s daughter, Lady Diel.”

“Oh, so Arishuna and Diel were invited too?”

Neither of them seemed like they would have much interest in the tournament, but they must have gotten dragged into it because of some castle town custom or another.

“I see. Well, I can’t make any promises, but I’ll be sure to take that into consideration. We’ll need permission from the leading clan heads, though.”

“Thank you. I shall inform Sir Polarth of your answer.” And with that, Sheila left.

Then Toor Deen, who was now working on the deep-fried giba, called out, “Um... If you’re looking for guards, the Deen and Liddo may accept. The number of giba in our area has dropped off quite a bit lately.”

“Yeah, that’s true for the Fa hunting grounds too. That’s why we’ve been planning to have a joint festival of the hunt, after all.”

“Right,” Toor Deen replied with a bashful smile. However, a pensive look soon reappeared on her tiny face. “But that Leiriss noble will be fighting in the tournament, won’t he? I’m a little worried that there might end up being a quarrel between him and that hunter from the Ruu.”

“Honestly, I’m more concerned about Geol Zaza participating.”

“Geol Zaza...? I’ve only met him a couple times. He’s much wilder than the Ruu hunters,” Toor Deen remarked with a pained sigh. A kindhearted girl like her probably wouldn’t have much taste for the kind of tournament we were discussing. And that was only natural, considering what had happened during and after the brutal battle between Shin Ruu and Geimalos.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that at its core, it’ll basically be similar to the contests of strength held at the forest’s edge. I mean, they’re ultimately just testing their skill with a sword against one another.”

Geimalos had only ended up so seriously injured because he had forced Shin Ruu into a situation where the hunter had been unable to hold back. Even if Geol Zaza did forget to restrain himself and injured his opponent, I was sure that no one on our side would be in any danger.

“Right,” Toor Deen replied as she picked up some fried giba meat with a metallic mesh scoop. The sand in the hourglass had just run out, so I took the pasta off the heat and mixed it with the other ingredients in a different pot.

“I’m pretty timid, so I don’t like watching contests of strength between hunters either,” I admitted. “I wonder how Lem Dom and Ai Fa are doing.”

“Yeah... I imagine it’s still too soon for them to have settled things.”

The sun was just about to hit its peak. Roughly two hours had passed since we had departed from the Fa house. Normally, it wouldn’t be possible for people to grapple with each other at full strength for that long, but I couldn’t imagine Lem Dom giving up on her dream of becoming a hunter so quickly.

What kind of result would we find when we returned to the Fa house? That was the question on both our minds as we carried on with the day’s work.