Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 24 - Chapter 1.2

2

After business was done for the day, we once again headed to the Dai settlement.

We eventually arrived a little past the lower third hour. It would take forty minutes to return to the Fa house from here, so I only had about an hour allotted for cooking lessons. However, I had already been teaching the women here for six days, so I had more or less covered the techniques I wanted to. Baking poitan, how to properly cut meat and vegetables, how to heat the stove in order to grill meat and cook soup, the most effective way to flavor with salt, pico leaves, and myamuu... And one day when the hunters had returned early with their prey, I had also explained how to prepare offal. That was good enough for their initial training. I figured they’d had enough of a culture shock already, considering they had just been boiling raw poitan with giba meat that hadn’t been bloodlet until now.

“We are so grateful to you for everything you’ve done, Asuta of the Fa clan. Now we can finally share in the surprise our clan heads felt at that meeting all those months ago.”

The Dai and Ren had supported the Fa clan’s actions from the start, so they had been very kind to me whenever we spoke during my visits.

“There don’t seem to be any issues with your bloodletting and carving skills, so I believe we should be able to purchase meat from the Dai and Ren in the future. I hope I can count on you for that.”

“Yes, of course.”

“When that time comes, you’ll need to be able to handle a totos and wagon. I’m planning on entrusting you with one of each when this break period is over.”

“Huh?”

“You’re offering a totos and wagon to the Dai clan?”

“Yeah. It would be difficult for you to deliver meat to the Fa house otherwise, right? Plus, a wagon would help you cut down on the time you need for shopping, so I’d like to have you use that time on something meaningful instead.”

A round trip to the post town would have taken them around three hours on foot. If they used a wagon, that could be brought down to around an hour, and it would even let them transport a great deal more cargo with just one or two people to boot. The cooking techniques I had taught them required more time and firewood than the ones they had used before, so if they couldn’t free up some labor, it would be difficult for them to keep using these new methods. Besides, their situation was similar to that of the clans that lived near us, like the Gaaz and Ratsu, so it only felt natural for me to offer them the use of a wagon too.

“Thank you... We’ll never forget our debt to you, Asuta of the Fa clan.” the Dai clan head’s wife said with teary eyes.

“That concludes our cooking lessons, but if you have time in the future, you can feel free to stop by the Fa house if you want to. If you do, I can teach you all sorts of other things.”

“Yes, thank you. We most certainly will.”

With that, we said farewell to the Dai and Ren clan members, hopping back in our wagon. Since the Ruu clan were using Jidura to visit the post town today, we only had Gilulu’s wagon available to us at the moment, but that was enough to get me and five of my comrades home.

“That finally wraps up the lessons for the Dai clan. Yun Sudra and Toor Deen seemed to be on top of things, but I feel like the rest of us were being instructed as well,” Fei Beim said as we went. She was on rotation today, along with the Dagora and Ratsu women.

“That’s true. The bits about how to cut vegetables and manage a flame were very informative,” the Dagora woman chimed in.

“I’ll be able to make even more delicious food for my family now,” the Ratsu woman added.

They had been working since this morning, but they didn’t appear tired in the least. We still had preparations for tomorrow awaiting us back at the Fa house, though.

“Asuta, you said we will be taking tomorrow off from the lessons, didn’t you?” the Ratsu woman asked.

As I manipulated Gilulu’s reins, I replied, “Yeah. I’ve been having you all working hard during what should be your break period, so I figured I’d pick a good day for some actual rest. The men are going to take time off tomorrow as well.”

“I see. It is important to have time to deepen our bonds with our families too. The Ratsu clan isn’t in a break period, though, so it won’t quite be the same for us.”

We would also be carrying on with our work in the post town, so Toor Deen and Yun Sudra were only going to get around two to three hours of free time. But even a couple hours was precious time they could spend with their families, so I had suggested that we let the men who were working so hard rest a bit too.

“Then the day after tomorrow, we’ll be visiting the Ravitz clan. They don’t approve of the Fa clan’s actions, so there’s no telling what kind of welcome you’ll get from them, Asuta.”

“Who can say. They at least agreed to be instructed on bloodletting and carving, so I figure it should be fine as long as I don’t ask them to sell us meat.”

With the Dai and Ren out of the way, that left four clans: the Ravitz, Naham, Vin, and Suun. The Ravitz and Naham shared blood ties and were opposed to the Fa clan’s actions. The Vin, meanwhile, had given us their support, but had become a subordinate clan to the Ravitz in the last several months. Even though they agreed with us, they had no choice but to establish blood ties with the Ravitz for their clan name to live on.

“The Zaza and Beim used to have the same opinion, and they’ve accepted the value of delicious food, so it should work out somehow. We’re all fellow people of the forest’s edge, so I want us to get along.”

“Then, once we’re done with the Ravitz, it’ll finally be time for the Suun,” Toor Deen timidly interjected. After asking the leading clan heads, we had received permission to give lessons to the remaining members of the branch houses living at the Suun settlement. The leading clan heads had determined that they were no longer criminals and that there was no need to treat them any differently on this front.

“You were originally a member of the Suun clan, weren’t you, Toor Deen? Are you worried about going back there?” the Ratsu woman asked, sounding concerned.

“No,” Toor Deen replied. “I stopped by for a little while when I headed to the northern settlement recently, and I saw that everyone in the Suun clan was trying really hard to live proper lives. I’d be very happy to help them realize how wonderful delicious food is.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear that.”

As I was in the driver’s seat, I couldn’t see Toor Deen’s face, but I was certain she was smiling her usual gentle smile. I was also looking forward to heading to the Suun settlement. I hadn’t been there since the clan head meeting, after all.

According to Toor Deen, the women whose eyes used to look like they belonged to a dead fish had regained the strength to want to keep on living. It made me really happy to have a chance to offer them cooking lessons again.

“Is something the matter, Yun Sudra? You’ve been looking down for a while now,” I heard someone say.

Yun Sudra replied, “No, it’s nothing. There’s just a lot I need to think about.”

“Hmm? You could talk it through with us if you’d like. I don’t know if we’ll be any help, though.”

“Thank you. It’s enough to just hear you say that.”

The Dagora woman was the one talking with Yun Sudra. They had been working together ever since the revival festival, and their relationship had grown as deep as the one between the Fou and Ran.

I was concerned about Yun Sudra too, though. Just like with Vina Ruu, there seemed to be something worrying her. Thinking back, it seemed like she hadn’t said much since this morning.

Should I try having a bit of a talk with her later?

First, though, was our return to the Fa house. After continuing north up the long and narrow path for roughly forty minutes, we arrived at our destination, where there were already a number of Fou and Ran women handling preparations.

“Thank you. Sorry for always asking you for help,” I told the women.

“What are you saying? You’re paying us for our services, so there’s no reason for you to apologize.”

It was already the lower fifth hour at this point. Normally, everyone would be preparing dinner by now, but instead they were handling prep work for me.

“Oh, Asuta! You’re back!” a voice called out as a man’s face peaked out from behind a wall. It was the Liddo clan head, Radd Liddo—a man with a plump and goggle-eyed face. “Perfect timing! We’ve finally finished the surface work!”

“Huh?! Really?!”

I hurried around to the rear of the house, where I found a large building standing tall on the other side of our covered outdoor kitchen. It was the new kitchen hut I had been eagerly waiting for them to finish. It had been pretty close to completion yesterday, but now it was finally done.

“Of course, it’s still empty inside. We’ll set up the stoves and workstations and the like tomorrow, and then you’ll be good to use it whenever.”

“Thank you! Seriously, thank you so much!”

It was a wonderful kitchen, as fine as the one at the main Ruu house. Large enough for ten women to fit inside easily. The room was divided into three parts, with enough space for a dedicated pantry and a butchering area. It was really surprising to me that they could make such an amazing kitchen hut in just a few days.

“It was no trouble at all! Between the Deen and Liddo, we had fifteen men working on this, you know! And if you treat us to some delicious food as thanks, that would make this a pretty good deal for us!” Radd Liddo remarked with roaring laughter. As always, he was being just as frank as Dan Rutim. “Well then, we’ll go gather the stones for the stoves, and that should be it for today. See you later, Asuta!”

“Yeah. Please take care.”

With that, the men who were hanging around all walked off toward the forest. However, Toor Deen grabbed ahold of one of them as he went.

“Good work, father. If you’re going all the way to the riverside, make sure to watch out for giba, okay?”

“Of course. But there aren’t any giba to be found in the area, so you have nothing to worry about.”

He then nodded to me and departed. Each of the other men I was acquainted with also gave me a polite greeting before leaving. Even if I didn’t know their names, I had seen all of them during the contests of strength during the festival of the hunt.

“This is really something. How many stoves are they going to build inside?” the Fou woman asked.

“Four,” I replied.

“Then you’ll have eight in total if you include the ones you have now. You won’t be able to use the ones outside during the rainy season, but it seems like this hut will be quite convenient in all kinds of ways the whole year round.”

“That’s for sure. Ai Fa and I never would have been able to build a hut this nice on our own, so I’m incredibly grateful to those guys.”

“Hee hee. This is going to be an important work space for the rest of us too, so we’re just as happy as you are.”

I was glad to hear that too, and felt thankful for those words. It was starting to seem like the six clans that lived around here were gaining a sort of solidarity similar to that of the Ruu and Rutim, who were related by blood. Even clans under the Zaza like the Deen and Liddo were freely lending us aid. It looked like our bonds with them really had grown stronger thanks to the festival of the hunt.

“I feel kind of jealous. I wish I could have celebrated the festival of the hunt along with you,” the Ratsu woman chimed in. Fei Beim was wearing her usual pout, while the Dagora woman was squirming a bit. Considering their allegiance, they probably couldn’t openly agree with the Ratsu woman, but on a personal level, they might have felt the same way.

“Well then, let’s get to work. I’m counting on you all today.”

I still had more thoughts on the matter, but we had work we needed to take care of. And so, we divided the tasks up like always and got started. Fortunately, quite a few of them had already mastered the art of preparing pasta and the curry base.

While we were doing that, I whispered to Yun Sudra, “Yun Sudra, are you okay? Are you tired after working so hard with the Dai clan?”

“Of course not. I’m proud to have been entrusted with such responsibility.” At the Dai settlement, I’d had her and Toor Deen take on the role of instructors. As if to show she wasn’t lying, Yun Sudra smiled brightly...but then her eyes turned down to the ground sorrowfully. “However...I guess I really do need to talk to you about this, Asuta. You see, the idea of the Fou and Sudra forming blood ties is being discussed.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. There are only two unmarried men and two unmarried women in the Sudra clan...so naturally, I’ve been brought into those discussions as well,” Yun Sudra said with a sigh, sounding as if she couldn’t hold it back. “The clan head told me directly that I should see if I can find a good partner in order to deepen our ties with the Fou and Ran. I was hoping to have at least another year to do as I please, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to work out. I have to gather my resolve to do what needs to be done as a member of the Sudra clan.” Yun Sudra smiled as if to encourage herself. “It’s all down to the forest’s guidance. I’ll be searching for a proper path forward that I won’t regret, so please do your best too, Asuta.”

“Yeah,” I replied, but I didn’t really know what I was supposed to be doing my best at here. Fortunately... Actually, it might have been disrespectful to put it like that, but anyway, even now, after several days had passed since the festival of the hunt, we still hadn’t gotten any marriage requests at the Fa house. Well, except for an offer from Jou Ran, that is.

It seemed that the Fou, Ran, and Sudra had taken the position that they should simply watch over the Fa clan’s actions. Ai Fa was a female hunter and I was a male chef, so what sort of future awaited us? Did we have any intention of forming blood ties with other clans? It did seem like they were actually putting our feelings about those questions above all other considerations, though. That was something Ai Fa and I were incredibly grateful for. But it was also why I felt so apologetic toward Yun Sudra.

Vina Ruu has it tough in her own way too. Ai Fa and I really have been blessed. Even though I was prepared to remain single my whole life, I couldn’t help but feel that way. Ai Fa and I understood one another better than anyone, which was more than enough to satisfy me.

Still, now that I was really thinking about it, perhaps the reason we felt so at ease was that we had simply accepted that the Fa clan was fated to die out with Ai Fa’s generation.

“You seem kind of tired, Ai Fa.”

Time had continued onward, and now it was dinnertime. In response to my comment, Ai Fa, who had been eating silently, gave a weary nod.

“I am... This is our sixth day of going out to visit other clans, is it not? To be honest, doing this may be more tiring than my usual hunts.”

“Oh, really? Are those Ravitz folks difficult to handle?”

The hunters had split into three groups in order to carry out this task. The Ran were handling the Dai, the Sudra the Suun, and the Fa and Fou the Ravitz. The Ravitz opposed the Fa clan’s actions, so Ai Fa had declared that she wanted to go to them herself.

“It’s true that the Ravitz clan head is a rather odd one. But more than that, I’m just not well suited to such work.”

“Ah, yeah, when you went to visit the Gaaz and Ratsu clans way back when, that seemed to make you pretty tired too.”

Ai Fa had trouble spending time with unfamiliar people, and trying to teach in general. As she bit into a piece of baked poitan dipped in curry, she nodded once more. “Indeed. On top of that, the Ravitz hunters frequently let giba slip away from them. They also won’t let me or the Fou hunters lend a hand, so our attempts to teach them aren’t going anywhere. It’s incredibly vexing.”

“I see. That does sound like a troublesome job for you.”

“Still, I can’t start whining over something like this. And tomorrow we’re taking a break from work, so I should be able to recover a bit from my exhaustion.”

I found myself at a bit of a loss, since I had been planning on asking Ai Fa for something today. “Er, I’m pretty hesitant to raise this topic after everything you’ve said, but...”

“What is it? Are you planning on foisting another troublesome burden upon me?”

“Yeah. Well, it shouldn’t be that troublesome, but I do have a request I want to make.” Ai Fa was shooting me a reproachful look, making me feel even more apologetic. “I know I shouldn’t be asking you to do something on your day off, but it’s really been weighing on my mind. You see, it’s about Mikel and Myme.”

“Mikel and Myme?” Ai Fa’s eyes had been half closed, but now they were wide open. It seemed I had really caught her off guard, but this was as much of a source of concern for me as Shumiral’s late return.

“Yeah. I haven’t seen either of them at the stall in the post town since the gold month started. Before then, we never went more than five days without seeing them, but it’s been around ten days now.”

“Hmm.”

“Mikel has his charcoal-making work, while Myme could be busy with her cooking practice, but the last batch of giba meat we gave them should have run out a long time ago... Myme’s supposed to be experimenting with giba meat, so how is she supposed to keep practicing if she doesn’t have any? That’s why I’m so concerned about them.”

“So, what is it that you want me to do?”

“Well, I’d like to have you go check on the two of them. You and Ama Min Rutim know where Mikel’s house is, right? But Ama Min Rutim is in no state to travel that far, so I figured you were the only one I could ask.”

My clan head fell silent.

“But don’t worry about it if it’s really impossible for you. I can always try to ask someone else in that case, so if you could just more or less explain where they live...”

“What are you talking about? As if I could meaningfully describe that convoluted maze of a town with words alone,” Ai Fa shot back solemnly, setting the dish in her hand down on the rug. “You just want me to go to Mikel’s house and see if they’re all right, correct? It is no great request.”

“You really don’t mind? I know I’m the one who brought this up, but shouldn’t you rest on your day off?”

“Even if I do rest, you’ll still be out there working in the post town, won’t you?” Ai Fa said, suddenly frowning. Her expression had instantly changed from solemn to childish. “So, what is your plan? I doubt it’s to leave a totos at home for me to ride to the Turan lands by myself, is it?”

“N-No. Naturally, I was thinking of having you come to the post town with us so you could go check on them while we’re working.”

“That would be fine with me.”

Ai Fa’s frown swiftly vanished, and she slurped down some giba soup from her dish. It was as if her melancholy had melted away, with a much more positive mood taking its place.

The Ratsu woman’s words from before vividly came to mind. It is important to have time to deepen our bonds with our families too. It felt like my chest was filling up with warmth.

“What are you staring at my face for? If you don’t hurry up and eat, the food will get cold.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

If Ai Fa came to the post town with us, it would be the first time in a while that we had been together from morning to night. But if I were to voice that thought, I would surely earn a pinched cheek or kicked knee, so I simply ate my meal instead.