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“Allow me to introduce my father, Paud, head of house Daleim; my elder brother and the first son of the house, Addis; my mother, Littia; and my wife, Merrim,” Polarth said.
The men looked worried, while the women wore reserved smiles. Polarth’s mother, Littia, was the first to step forward.
“That banquet attire suits you all so well. Is the house of Daleim’s gift to your liking?”
“You have our sincerest gratitude for preparing such fine outfits. The crests you placed on them to represent us people of the forest’s edge were especially well chosen,” Dari Sauti replied, earning a satisfied smile from the lady of the house. She appeared to be a pleasant and highly refined noblewoman, with a plump figure that seemed to put the people who interacted with her at ease. I also noticed that she and Polarth looked very much alike, while Polarth’s older brother mostly took after his father.
“I felt that we should give our guests from the forest’s edge a proper greeting, and I’m happy to see that it seems to have gone well.” The lord of the house stepped forward. He was a man with some real presence about him. Marstein and Luidross were both very fastidious men who never had so much as a hair out of place, and the head of the House of Daleim seemed just as aristocratic as them in his own way.
Now that he was right in front of me, I was surprised to find that he actually wasn’t all that tall—only two or three centimeters taller than me at the most. However, his body was impressively wide, with his broad-shouldered physique giving him a majestic bearing. His carefully kept mustache and sideburns were also pretty fitting for a noble.
The eldest son of the family, Addis, was the spitting image of his father. His eyebrows were thick, his nose was large, and his eyes gleamed intensely. If you added his father’s mustache and sideburns, it would probably be hard to tell them apart from a distance.
Then you had Polarth’s wife, Lady Merrim. Seeing her up close, she looked even smaller and cuter. She seemed to be around my age, and in terms of height, she was around 150 centimeters at most. The women were both so small that it might have been making the men appear larger than they really were.
“It’s a pleasure and an honor to meet all of you who come to us from the forest’s edge,” Merrim said, curtsying adorably. Her brown eyes were sparkling beneath her curly chestnut-colored hair. “My husband is always talking about you. You are Sir Asuta of the Fa clan, correct?”
“Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you. Polarth has helped us out a whole lot.”
“My husband would not have been able to reach his current position without your assistance as well. For that, you have my deepest thanks,” Merrim said with a smile, and everyone from the forest’s edge bowed and nodded back. She then took a moment to look us all over, stopping on my clan head. “And you are Ai Fa of the Fa clan, are you not? Our maid, Sheila, has spoken of you. You are every bit as beautiful as she said.”
“Thank you,” Ai Fa replied, expressionless. My clan head wasn’t fond of people commenting on her appearance, so she must have been trying her best to not let her displeasure show on her face.
After that, Dari Sauti went ahead and introduced everyone from our group. However, the feeling in the air wasn’t changing. The men on the nobles’ side were still on edge, while the women just kept on smiling.
“I believe this means we have finally met all of the counts. Polarth and Melfried may be the only ones who have been assigned to the role of speaking with our people, but I hope that our relationship with the rest of you will continue to develop in a good direction.” However, even when Dari Sauti said that, the head of the house and his first son were only able to nod awkwardly. It seemed the intense aura some of the hunters like Darmu Ruu and Geol Zaza had was overwhelming them. We hadn’t interacted with all that many nobles, so it was difficult to tell if that was a typical reaction or not.
It was then that someone else approached us, calling out, “Pardon me.”
When Geol Zaza glanced in that direction, the look in his eyes became turbulent. That was because the speaker was none other than a certain young nobleman of the house of Saturas.
“Ah, Sir Leiriss. My apologies for the late greeting. Have you been enjoying the cooking?” the lord of the house asked.
“Yes, they have all been truly wonderful dishes. And the musicians have given a fantastic performance as well.” After exchanging that greeting, Leiriss turned toward Geol Zaza. “It has been some time, son of the Zaza clan. Have you been in good health since our last meeting?”
“So you were invited here too, eh, knight of Saturas, or whatever your title was?”
Now that I thought about it, Melfried hadn’t been the only one to defeat Geol Zaza. This young noble had managed it as well. Still, that was nothing to be ashamed of. A huge number of swordsmen had participated in that tournament, and Leiriss had taken third while Geol Zaza ended up in fourth. Put another way, Melfried and Leiriss were the only townspeople who had managed to take down a hunter of the forest’s edge.
“I’m starting to get impatient. With a crowd like this gathered here, shouldn’t we be clashing blades instead of dancing?” Geol Zaza commented.
“I would love to test my strength against yours again someday as well. But for now, we should enjoy the performance put on by the musicians and the delicious food,” Leiriss said with a small smile. His expression differed so greatly from the one he had worn when we had visited the Saturas manor that he seemed like a different person entirely. But then, at the time, he had been extremely riled up because of the dishonor of his father’s actions. “By the way, is Sir Shin Ruu not with you...? I heard that he was invited to attend tonight as well.”
“Ah, Sir Shin Ruu was invited as an attendant for the chefs. He was not planning to make an appearance here in the event hall,” Polarth replied.
“I see,” Leiriss replied with a frown. “How unfortunate. Would it be possible to greet him later on?”
“Of course. He will not be leaving until the dance party has concluded, so a maid or the like can show you to the kitchen later on.”
“You have my thanks,” Leiriss said, appearing so relieved that it was as if an evil spirit had left him. This was surely what he normally looked like: an elegant, refined noble.
Sheera Ruu then whispered something to Darmu Ruu, who said, “Oh? So you’re the one who fought with Shin Ruu and the youngest son of the Zaza at that tournament thing, huh? I wasn’t expecting you to be such a young and tidy-looking man.”
“My apologies, but who might you be?”
“I’m the second son of the main Ruu house, Darmu Ruu. Shin Ruu’s father, Ryada Ruu, is my father Donda’s younger brother.”
“Ah, a member of the Ruu clan? My foolish father caused your clan quite a bit of trouble.”
“That’s already been settled. There’s no need to apologize now,” Darmu Ruu said. Then he looked Leiriss over. “Still...that Melfried fellow is one thing, but to think a young guy like you beat a hunter of the forest’s edge. I’d love to see you in action myself the next time a chance comes up.”
Darmu Ruu had been rather quiet while we were dealing with Eulifia, but he was a lot more talkative now. Apparently, the story of Geol Zaza falling to someone from town had been passed around among the Ruu clan as well.
“I myself observed the tournament, and Sir Leiriss and Sir Geol Zaza both showed off truly splendid swordsmanship! If you will be participating next year as well, then I shall have even more to look forward to,” Polarth said with a smile, carrying out the role of host, as his father and brother were still all clammed up. Meanwhile, Dari Sauti silently observed them. Polarth continued, “Now then, it simply won’t do for us to just keep talking and nothing else, so why not enjoy a bit more food? Have you tried that splendid meat dish over there?”
“No, we still haven’t made it to that table yet,” Dari Sauti replied.
“Well then, allow us to guide you there. I am certain it will suit the tastes of the people of the forest’s edge.”
“We still need to greet our other guests, so please excuse us. We leave the rest to you, Polarth,” Paud said, hurriedly departing alongside his family after hardly interacting with us at all. After waiting until they were out of sight, Dari Sauti turned toward Polarth.
“Polarth, do your father and older brother harbor some sort of ill feelings toward our people?”
“Oh, most certainly not! My father and brother simply do not have the kind of fortitude Duke Genos and Count Saturas possess. It seems they still have not yet figured out how to interact with you people of the forest’s edge, famed for your hardiness.”
“There’s no need to worry about such things. The lord of the land is, of course, Duke Marstein Genos, but all nobles are above us, are they not?”
“Hmm. This may be a little difficult to explain. My father and brother value our relationship with your people, in their own way, so they are afraid of some fault on their end causing that bond to fracture.”
“Being so cautious is traditional for the house of Daleim,” a voice chimed in with a laugh. It was Merrim, the only one who had stayed by her husband’s side out of their group. “And after you yourself have spent most of your life in the background, now you’ve finally had your chance to take center stage. The lord of the house and your older brother are doing their best to not get in your way, wouldn’t you agree?”
“That’s quite a thing to say in front of guests! Still, as they are from the forest’s edge, perhaps they would appreciate such a manner of speaking,” Polarth said with a broad smile, which seemed to draw out a grin from Dari Sauti as well.
“It is true that we prefer speaking without embellishment. So, you were a social outcast, Polarth?”
“Yes, in a sense. A noble without a post has little standing.”
Polarth had said something similar when we first met. His desire to take down Cyclaeus had likely come in part from a desire to break free of his situation.
However, Polarth wasn’t the sort to fixate solely on his own success in life. Rather, it was more like he wanted to rejuvenate the house of Daleim, which had fallen into an inferior position because of the house of Turan. And he had definitely succeeded. The houses of Daleim and Saturas seemed to be growing in strength. Now, if the house of Turan could rebuild itself using legitimate means, the balance between the three houses would finally reach a good place.
“Your name is Merrim, correct? My apologies, but you look quite young,” Dari Sauti asked sociably.
“My,” Merrim replied with a smile. “I am honestly not that young. I turned twenty at the start of this year.”
“Twenty, you say? Once again, I apologize, but you look to be three or four years younger.”
I was in agreement on that front.
Polarth broke out in an amused smile. “Merrim comes from a branch of the house of Saturas, and we were wed three years ago. As we were seventeen and twenty-two at the time, I would say we were a fair match.”
“Hmm? Then you’re still only twenty-five, Polarth? I didn’t think that you were younger than me. I thought for certain that you were over thirty.”
“How awful! I am still a young man.” For better or worse, thanks to the overly tense members of Polarth’s family leaving, the conversation had started flowing smoothly. “Well then, let us move over to that table. I would love for all of you from the forest’s edge to taste that dish.”
With that, Polarth guided us over to the table. The groups of people scattered around the hall all seemed to be enjoying themselves, chatting to each other as they stole occasional glances at us. The reserved performance from the musicians also served to add some vibrancy to the atmosphere.
“Here it is! This one is outstanding!” It was a rather strange skewer dish. I was pretty sure he had said it contained meat, but it had been wrapped in fuwano. Had it been broiled or baked, perhaps? It was shaped like a disk that got thicker in the center, and the surface had been cooked to a golden color. “Once the surface breaks, the insides will spill out, so you should eat it in one bite. It has karon meat in it.”
As we had previously been doing, Sheera Ruu, Dari Sauti, and myself all reached out first. Like the rest of the dishes, it had been prepared so that you could easily eat it in a single bite. I honestly thought it had a really cute shape, with its little bulge in the middle.
As I popped the whole thing into my mouth, the fuwano coating easily broke apart. It was thin and crispy, like a pie crust. What was hidden inside was undoubtedly karon meat, but rather than being minced or cut into blocks, it had been sliced into thin strips which were then arranged in numerous layers. A pleasantly large amount of fat and meat juices also filled my mouth.
What followed was the rich flavor of meat and an indescribable aroma. I struggled to identify what else was in it. It had a gentle sweetness, a spiciness that faintly burned the tongue, and a robust bitterness all intertwined. And the taste kept growing deeper as I chewed, giving it countless layers of joy and surprises.
“This taste comes from herbs, doesn’t it? But it keeps on changing, so I have no idea what was used,” Sheera Ruu commented.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “It’s definitely got an unusual flavor. Did they place a bunch of different herbs and sauces between each of the thin layers of meat, so that they mix together as we chew, causing the taste to shift?”
“Ah, I see... I wouldn’t have thought you could use such a precise technique with something this small,” Sheera Ruu remarked with a sigh of admiration.
“Hmm...” Dari Sauti hummed. “This certainly is tasty. I don’t know anything about cooking, but the meat is good at any rate.”
“Yeah, and that’s what’s most important.”
Though the flavoring was a surprise, it worked well thanks to the amazingly good karon meat—so good that I could hardly put it into words. No matter how complex the extra parts might have been, they were ultimately just a trick to make the meat stand out even more.
As the cooking had been prepared in advance and left out, it had lost pretty much all of its warmth. However, the heat inside my mouth helped revive the flavor of the meat so it could really shine. And though the meat was sliced thinly, it had been layered until it was around two to three centimeters thick in total, so there were no issues in terms of chewiness. It was simply delicious.
“Well? Is it to your liking?” Polarth asked.
“Yes! I’d say the people of the forest’s edge should definitely be able to enjoy this.”
With that, Ai Fa and the others also ended up trying the same dish. When Geol Zaza begrudgingly grabbed ahold of a skewer at his sister’s urging, his eyes shot open wide in surprise for the first time. However, he obviously didn’t voice his impressions, though he did eat another two pieces while standing there.
“This is delightful, isn’t it? I never imagined I could find cooking from town this good,” Mil Fei Sauti commented after staying silent all this time. Ai Fa still wasn’t saying anything, though, so I stealthily asked her thoughts.
“Well? You don’t have any complaints, right?”
“I don’t. It demonstrates remarkable skill,” Ai Fa said. However, as she did so, she also shot me a rather down look. “But I won’t be able to eat any of your cooking today. Thinking about that makes all of this feel rather empty.”
That unexpected strike left me unable to reply. After all, this was Ai Fa in a beautiful dress saying those words. Seeing her narrow her eyes sorrowfully while dressed like that was quite a blow to my heart.
“B-But the giba cooking from Reina Ruu’s group should be ready soon, so how about we just look forward to that?”
“Right...” Ai Fa replied, casting her gaze downward, which was still hitting me as hard as before.
It was then that a voice we hadn’t heard in a while called out, “Announcing the daughter of the southern metalwork seller Sir Grannar, Lady Diel, and her attendant Sir Labis.”
I recalled she had said she would be attending this dance party too. As they were led into the hall by a page boy, I saw that Diel was wearing a blue dress, while Labis had a white outfit with a standing collar. Polarth raised a hand with a smile, signaling the page boy to lead them over to our table.
“My, you certainly are late, Lady Diel. I am glad that you made it before the food was all gone.”
“My apologies for being late. Business negotiations went a bit long.”
Diel placed both of her hands over her stomach and gave a graceful bow. That was undoubtedly a Jagar-style greeting. I was rather accustomed to seeing Diel in a dress by this point, but I still thought that she looked like an entirely different person whenever she wore formal clothing. Her bangs were pulled up just a bit with a hair ornament, but that alone was enough to make her seem a lot more feminine than her usual self. The dazzling cobalt blue dress also suited her quite well.
Diel turned toward me, shooting me her normal smile. “Your banquet clothes suit you pretty well too, Asuta. When did you manage to get something like that?”
“The lady of the house provided these for us. It’s been a while, Labis.”
Labis simply nodded back silently. He was dressed similarly to Melfried, which made him look like some kind of military officer. Actually, I remembered hearing once that Melfried liked wearing Jagar-style clothes, so it was possible that his outfits came from the southern nation.
“The giba cooking should be served soon. Several of the women who usually work our stalls are over in the kitchen right now.”
“Oh, really? Hooray! In that case, I’m glad I came here in a...” Diel started to say, but then her eyes opened wide. Apparently, she had just realized who the person standing diagonally behind me was. “H-Huh? Is that...you?”
“I am indeed me,” Ai Fa answered.
“Wow! You’re like a whole other person! You’re not wearing that Sym-style outfit today, huh?” Diel had been there when Ai Fa infiltrated the Turan manor in banquet attire, claiming to be the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Sym, so her clothes had been in the style of that nation. “Hmm. If you’d just keep your mouth closed, you could easily pass for the daughter of some noble family. Your skin’s dark enough that you’d have to be a noble from Sym, though!”
Ai Fa offered no response.
“Why are you a hunter when you’re that pretty? It’s a bit of a waste, isn’t it?”
“How would you reply if I said it was a waste that you were making a living as a metalworker?”
Even in such fine clothes, the two of them were the same as always. Things between them didn’t seem quite as tense as before, but I could still see a fair number of sparks flying.
“Well, whatever. I’ve got to greet the lord of the manor and the other guests, so I’ll see you later. I’ll be excusing myself for a bit, Lord Polarth,” Diel finally said.
“Of course. Until then.”
With that, Diel and Labis hurriedly departed, and Merrim gave another amused smile. “She is always so energetic. By the way, I would like to introduce all of you from the forest’s edge to some other guests. What do you say?”
“Oh? What other guests?” Dari Sauti asked.
“Everyone with an interest in your people. We naturally have a particularly large number of such individuals here tonight.”
“True. That is precisely why such a sizable crowd has gathered here,” Polarth chimed in, his smile widening. “After all, this dance party is an event meant to deepen our friendships with the people of the forest’s edge. We invited half of the guests, but the other half made personal requests to attend, so this is like an assembly of those interested in seeing the people of the forest’s edge who have shaken things up in Genos so greatly over the course of the past half year.”
“I see. In that case, we would like to form bonds with them as well.”
“Then allow us to begin by introducing the women of your group to them. Everyone has been glancing this way looking like they wish to speak with you for a while now.”
It was true that our group of eight had remained together all this time, which might have made it difficult for anyone to call out to us, so the idea was for Merrim to bring our four women to speak with some of the noblewomen.
Ai Fa had a look in her eyes like she wanted to say something, so I whispered to her, “There’s nothing to worry about, considering the group we’ve got here. Just protect the other women, okay?”
“Right,” Ai Fa replied with a begrudging nod, then she slowly followed along after Merrim. Even with that gorgeous dress on, Ai Fa was still ultimately thinking of herself as a guard. For my part, I prayed in my head that a drunken noble wouldn’t make a pass at Sufira Zaza or anything.
“Now then, why don’t we all head this way? I shall guide you,” Polarth said.
The rest of us ended up heading around the hall in the opposite direction, snatching up some food as we went.
As it was a dance party, the average age of the guests looked to be fairly young. There were some middle-aged noblemen and women in the mix, but the majority were in their twenties or thirties. And perhaps somewhat surprisingly, a number of those young noblemen had a strong interest in Geol Zaza. That included some who had watched the swordsmanship tournament, and even a few who had participated in it themselves. The participants in particular repeatedly commended him on his prowess.
At first, Geol Zaza had a sour look on his face as he took it all in, but eventually the wine started circulating through his system, and his usual uninhibited nature steadily started coming out. It seemed like they were managing to clear away the gloom he felt from having met Shin Ruu, Melfried, and Leiriss in quick succession—all people who had achieved better results than him.
“For better or worse, he’s a simple man. Still, maybe that’s to be expected, considering he’s only sixteen,” Dari Sauti remarked with a bit of an awkward chuckle.
Aside from Geol Zaza, the one who was getting approached the most was none other than myself. There were a large number of people present with an interest in giba cooking. Apparently, I had become known throughout the castle town for possessing skill nearly equal to the famed Varkas.
“There was a gathering of chefs not so long ago to learn how to work with black Banarm fuwano, correct? The head chef of my manor was summoned then,” a man who introduced himself as a viscount declared. “That wriggly black fuwano dish is truly amusing! I even quickly started serving it at my own business.”
“Ah, you manage a restaurant in the castle town?”
“Yes. That is how our head chef ended up receiving that invitation. I started it merely as a hobby, but it now has a reputation on par with that of the Silver Star!”
So he was the restaurant’s patron? From what I recalled, Cyclaeus also had a number of restaurants under his control, and they were the only places that had received rare ingredients.
It barely felt real to me, but Cyclaeus’s downfall really was having a huge effect on people throughout the castle town as well. There were some who were suffering greatly from what had happened, and others who were making a great fortune. And apparently, a few of those who were profiting had gained a fondness for and interest in the people of the forest’s edge, who had brought about Cyclaeus’s downfall.
“It is undoubtedly the house of Daleim that has profited the most. After all, poitan are selling so fast that we cannot expand our fields quickly enough to keep up. That is why my father and elder brother have such deep gratitude toward you people of the forest’s edge and Sir Asuta in particular, and also why they have been acting so timid, as they are terribly afraid of angering you,” Polarth explained as we walked to another table. “The house of Saturas in particular nearly ended up in a rather dangerous situation with the people of the forest’s edge, correct? Sir Leeheim caused an unfortunate misunderstanding due to a difference in cultures, and the incident with Sir Geimalos was simply outrageous. They fear that another such misunderstanding could put their relationship with the people of the forest’s edge in jeopardy.”
“As Lady Merrim said, they are quite cautious. But there is certainly nothing wrong with that,” Dari Sauti said.
“Yes. That is also what allows me to act as freely as I do, so it all works out in the end,” Polarth said, right before the doors of the event hall opened wide. I thought that meant a new guest had arrived, but that turned out not to be the case.
“Our apologies for the wait. We have brought the cooking made by the chefs from the forest’s edge.”
Reina Ruu and the others had apparently finished their work for the day, about two hours after we had arrived at the Daleim manor.
The pages and maids brought in a huge amount of food, causing a big stir among the guests. Their voices all seemed to be full of joy and anticipation. Of course, nobody who found giba cooking repulsive would have been invited in the first place. The guests seemed to be wondering what this giba cooking that Duke Genos himself had praised was like, as they watched the large plates being laid out atop the tables.
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