Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 25 - Chapter 4.2

2

After work, the plan was to head by The Sledgehammer and The Great Southern Tree, then return to the settlement at the forest’s edge.

Nail and Naudis both celebrated my return, each in their own ways. They didn’t get as hysterical as Milano Mas or Dora, but their feelings about what had happened came through loud and clear.

“Even while you were away, the quality of the meals that were delivered to us didn’t decrease at all. It was quite reassuring,” Naudis, the most businesslike of the inn owners, told me with a brilliant smile.

I also wanted to stop by The Westerly Wind, but there tended to be dangerous people skulking around that area after the sun hit its peak, so I was warned that it would be too risky to go there without guards. I had no choice but to give up on visiting them today, instead deciding I would see them eventually when I delivered giba meat in the morning.

Instead, we went to Tanto’s Blessing. We had no business ties with the place, but the chef Yang came here almost every day to prepare food. He had handed off the running of his stalls to someone else and was now focusing on his work in the kitchen.

“Ah, Sir Asuta. So you are back at work today? I’m so glad to see you looking well,” Yang said with a calm smile, appearing from the kitchen. I had met with his employer, Polarth, just two days ago, so he must have already heard that I would be returning soon. “I happened to encounter Sir Varkas’s apprentices the other day in the castle town market. As you were still doing poorly at the time, they were quite worried.”

“Varkas’s apprentices? Were Shilly Rou or Bozl there?”

“It was Lady Shilly Rou and Sir Tatumai. Sir Tatumai is in charge of procuring vegetables, after all.”

Tatumai was an older gentleman with mixed blood from Sym. I felt like I hadn’t seen either him or Varkas in quite some time.

“Sir Varkas is currently dedicating his efforts toward experimenting with an ingredient from Sym known as shaska, and I am quite eager to see what sort of dish he will unveil.”

“It’s supposed to be similar to the pasta and soba I’ve made, right? Yeah, I’m looking forward to it too.” Still, as I wasn’t even a resident of the castle town, it was pretty rare for me to get a chance to try Varkas’s cooking. I figured I was going to have to wait until another opportunity for us to work a kitchen together came around for that to happen. “If you happen to run across them again, could you tell them that I’m sorry for worrying them? I have no way of getting in contact with them myself.”

“Understood. Ah, and regarding Lady Arishuna, you have no need to worry, as Sheila has been passing the news along to her daily.” As we currently couldn’t purchase poitan and were unable to sell pasta at the stalls as a result, we were instead selling giba curry on a daily basis, with a serving being delivered to Arishuna each day by way of Yang. “Lady Arishuna has been terribly worried about you, so I am sure it shall soothe her greatly to hear that you have resumed work. We have all been keeping you in our thoughts, Sir Asuta.”

“Yeah, and I’m incredibly grateful. I doubt something like this will happen again, so I look forward to continuing to work alongside you.”

With that, I said farewell to Yang, and we finally set off back toward the forest’s edge.

Fafa’s and Ruuruu’s wagons had gone on ahead, so we only had one wagon with us now. And just like this morning, Yun Sudra was in charge of driving.

“From what I hear, Rimee Ruu’s still going to the Sauti settlement on a daily basis, right? There’s no consistency in how much of each ingredient is getting delivered each day, so she has to teach the Sauti women how to deal with that,” Yun Sudra remarked.

“Yeah,” I replied. This first day back at work was a trial of sorts, and if I continued to not have any issues, I intended to start going to the Sauti settlement again myself. “Rimee Ruu really is something else. I thought I had a good grasp on her skills as a chef, but I had no clue she had become this adaptable.”

“Yes, and then you have Toor Deen too. I’m confident in my skills as a chef now thanks to your help, Asuta, but I’m still far from being on their level.”

“Ah, but...”

“Yes, I know it’s more that they’re simply too amazing than anything else, so rather than feeling inferior, I want to keep trying even harder using them as an example.”

Incidentally, Toor Deen was currently next to me, cradling her knees. Her face was bright red as she shrank into herself even more.

“Oh, I can see the Ruu settlement. We’re just stopping by there for a moment today, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a little business with Reina Ruu and the others. I wanted opinions on the dishes we’ll be serving starting tomorrow.”

This was a matter I would have taken care of sooner, had I not collapsed from illness. During the rainy season, we couldn’t use tarapa, tino, or pula, which would have a big impact on the giba burgers and myamuu giba sold by the Ruu clan.

It was quiet today at the Ruu settlement. During the rainy season, you had to do virtually all of your work inside the house. That said, I found it pretty amusing to imagine young children running around excitedly as the women tanned hides and split firewood in the entrance or main hall of their house.

We stopped by the main house first to inform them of the purpose behind our visit, then circled around back to the kitchen. Waiting for us there were Reina, Sheera, Mia Lea, and Lala Ruu.

“The Ruu clan welcomes you. Sorry for having you come all this way. Are you feeling okay now?”

“Yes, I haven’t had any trouble at all yet... Ah, that sure is a nice smell wafting through the air.”

“Reina and Sheera Ruu have been putting a lot of thought into this new dish, and they came up with something really interesting. I don’t think there are any issues with it, but they won’t feel at ease till they hear it from you,” Lala Ruu told me.

The two chefs in question were standing beside the stove, looking nervous.

“Well then, could we ask you to give it a taste test? We call it a new dish, but it’s ultimately just changing up the flavoring of a giba burger,” Reina Ruu said.

“Yes. Giba burgers are still quite popular, so we tried to think of a way we could keep selling them during the rainy season,” Sheera Ruu added.

With that, Reina Ruu removed the lid from the pot, and the fragrant aroma filling the kitchen intensified. Looking inside, I saw a boiling orange sauce. It looked thick enough that you could almost call it a stew.

“Ah, that’s a great smell. Does that color come from nenon?”

“Yes. Since we cannot use tarapa, we wanted to see if nenon would work.”

Nenon was a vegetable akin to a carrot. The flavor wasn’t as strong as a carrot’s, but it was somewhat sweeter. Though it tended to not stand out very much in terms of taste, it was useful for adding some color to all sorts of dishes.

“I see, nenon... Now that I think about it, the kimyuus manju sold by other stalls use a lot of nenon too.”

“Yes. We tried all kinds of things to add our own touches to it, but still...we’d like to hear your honest opinion,” Sheera Ruu said, bringing over some fuwano bread. They prepared the same size of giba burger as was sold at the stalls, then split it into four equal parts. A good amount of that orange nenon sauce had been poured over the giba patty, and slices of aria and nenon were sandwiched in with it.

“Ooh, so you used raw nenon too, huh?”

“Yes. The taste was too sharp when we only used aria. We sliced them as thinly as possible, so I don’t think they should be a problem.”

Lili Ravitz and the Matua girl had headed home already, leaving just myself, Toor Deen, and Yun Sudra there as visitors. The last fourth of the dish ended up in Lala Ruu’s hands.

“Well then, thanks for the food!”

When it had been whole, the burger had already been smaller than the ones we used to make, so a quarter of it only amounted to a single mouthful. Also, the sauce would almost certainly spill out if we bit into it carelessly, so even Toor Deen—the smallest of us—made an effort to get the whole thing into her mouth all at once.

The taste was superb. The flavor of the nenon was weak, so it primarily asserted itself through its color. It was mainly the natural sweetness of the vegetable that reached our tongues.

I was sure that they had used minced aria and fruit wine, just like how we made our tarapa sauce. They didn’t seem to have added any sort of herbs to the sauce, but the pico leaves provided some good seasoning on their own. The various other seasonings in the dish also seemed to be well balanced. It was a wonderful flavor with some real depth to it, fully on par with tarapa sauce. And it also seemed to go perfectly with the giba meat patty, which was dripping with meat juices.

Furthermore, the aria and nenon slices added a pleasant texture and refreshing crispness to the dish. Their flavors weren’t as potent as the onions and carrots I was familiar with, so even when they were added to the sandwich raw, they didn’t wreck the taste.

“Yup, this seems pretty tasty to me. Did you use any seasonings aside from salt, pico leaves, and fruit wine?” I asked.

“We used tau oil, red mamaria vinegar, and just a pinch of sugar.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that increasing the saltiness, sweetness, and sourness would improve the overall taste...but it all came together really well...”

Reina and Sheera Ruu were watching me attentively, their gazes deadly serious.

Looking at her sister and cousin out of the corner of her eye, Lala Ruu licked the sauce off of her fingers. “He said it was delicious, so that should be enough for you, right? Honestly, it should have been enough that the two of you thought it was tasty.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I can’t think of anything to add, so I’d say that you should have more confidence in your own sense of taste,” I agreed.

Reina and Sheera Ruu silently grasped one another’s hands and breathed a sigh of relief.

Watching the two of them as happy smiles steadily spread across their faces, Yun Sudra gave a satisfied nod. “I think it’s really tasty too. I’d say it’s at least as good as the giba burgers I’ve eaten before.”

“Yes, I feel the same way. But...” Toor Deen started to say, only to trail off.

Reina Ruu’s expression shifted as she asked back, “But what?”

That caused Toor Deen to flinch and hide behind my back with the swiftness of a little bunny. “W-Well, it’s just...I thought the two of you would use more seasonings, so I was a bit surprised.”

“Does it feel like it needs seasonings to you, Toor Deen?” Reina Ruu asked insistently.

“N-No, of course not! I just found it a bit unusual!” the young girl said, her tiny fingers digging into my back.

Reina Ruu brought a hand to her chest to calm herself, then somehow managed a smile. “My apologies. I thought that a chef of your skill level might have noticed something we overlooked...so I may have lost control a bit there.”

“N-No, don’t worry about it.”

“We didn’t use seasonings because our other new dish uses so many. And Asuta is selling curry on a daily basis now as well. If we rely too heavily on them, it might displease our southern customers,” Sheera Ruu said as she opened a leather bag. Instantly, the overwhelming scent of herbs displaced all other smells in the room.

“Oh, is this that grilled herb and meat dish you two are so good at making?”

“Yes. We were thinking of selling this dish to take the place of myamuu giba.”

Myamuu giba also used shredded tino, which meant that we could no longer make it as we had been either. But just throwing some other vegetable into the recipe would harm the flavor, so they decided to rework the flavoring entirely instead.

“We added boiled nanaar to the dish too. Please, give it a try.”

Using a metal pot, they sautéed some rib meat that had been marinated in fruit wine and finely chopped herbs. Then they put some of it on a flat piece of fuwano bread and added boiled nanaar on top, before folding the whole thing up like a crepe.

I had already known for some time now how delicious their grilled herb and meat dish was. Nanaar was a vegetable akin to spinach, but in the face of such powerful seasoning, its only contribution to the dish was a bit of texture.

What caught my attention more was actually the fuwano wrapped around the fillings, which was giving off a sweet and mellow aroma. It seemed they had added karon skim milk into the fuwano dough, though the herbs were kind of overpowering its scent.

“We used nanaar for the color and to provide nutrition. And as for the karon milk in the fuwano...that was to add some harmony to the aroma of the herbs, if only a little.”

“Yeah, I think that really helped to make it even tastier than your normal recipe. This is really good,” I said, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Lala Ruu also looked overjoyed as she bit into the grilled herb and meat dish. “I love this dish! I’d definitely say I prefer ordinary meat to hamburger steak.”

“Yes, it’s very good. I think it’s even better than the version I had before,” Yun Sudra agreed.

“The sweetness of the fruit wine goes really well with the flavor of the herbs,” Toor Deen added. Naturally, those two had no complaints either.

While we had been offering our opinions, Reina and Sheera Ruu had just kept on staring at me with serious looks on their faces.

“So you think there would be no issues with serving these dishes at the stalls, Asuta?” Reina Ruu asked.

“Of course. I figure you could even keep selling them once the rainy season’s over. The grilled herb and meat dish in particular is something you’ve been working on for a while, and it shows,” I said, and then a thought came to me. “In fact, why don’t we move sales of the myamuu giba back to my side? We’ve gained access to an interesting new ingredient—keru root—so I’ve been wanting to try using that to improve the taste of the dish anyway.” Originally, myamuu giba was a dish I had come up with while trying to emulate pork fried with ginger, but myamuu was an herb more like garlic, so I’d had to change the target I’d been aiming for. Reina and Sheera Ruu were already employing keru root in the myamuu giba at my suggestion, but it would take some more experimentation to perfect the ginger pork deliciousness I wished to capture. “If you do that, all of your products will be things you came up with, aside from the giba burger patties. Your stew and offal hot pot are already quite popular, so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“That does sound like something worth thinking about. Of course, it’s thanks to Asuta’s lessons that you’re able to make such amazing dishes now. But as chefs, you’re the pride and joy of the Ruu clan, Reina, Sheera Ruu,” Lala Ruu said. Reina Ruu gave an embarrassed smile, while Sheera Ruu cast her gaze downward. “In a few days, the rainy season vegetables will go on sale. You might be able to use those to make these dishes even better.”

“Right, they’re finally going on sale, huh? But they’re supposed to be difficult to work with, so who can say how that’ll turn out,” Reina Ruu said.

It went without saying, but the people of the forest’s edge had been eating those rainy season vegetables each year too. The poorer clans could only afford to buy aria and poitan, but a clan like the Ruu would have been able to purchase whichever ingredients they pleased.

“Once we’re able to buy them, would you come back here to the Ruu settlement again, Asuta?” she then asked.

“Yeah, of course. I was thinking we should invite Mikel and Myme too and hold a grand study session.”

“That sounds wonderful. It’s been...hmm, a month and a half now since the last time you did one here, hasn’t it? Everyone’s been eagerly awaiting the day when you will teach us again.”

It made me incredibly happy to hear that.

“Well then, let’s call things here for today. Thank you for the delicious samples.”

“Of course. Once you’re done with your prep work, please be sure to take it easy.”

“I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow, Asuta.”

“Be careful on the way back. And Toor Deen and Yun Sudra, see you tomorrow too!”

We went ahead and exited the kitchen, the members of the Ruu clan seeing us off. But as we moved toward the wagon, I suddenly froze in place. There was a woman in rain gear standing under the tree Gilulu was tethered to.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Asuta... Could I have just a bit of your time before you leave?” It was Vina Ruu. She was standing there like a ghost in the drizzling rain, the hood of her rain gear hiding her expression.

“O-Of course I don’t mind. We could talk in the wagon, if you’d like.”

“I’m sorry... I don’t want anyone else to overhear, so would you mind coming over this way instead?” With that, Vina Ruu smoothly turned around and started walking into the cluster of trees.

Yun Sudra blinked in surprise, then turned toward me. “What’s going on? Something seems off, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I wonder if something happened with Shumiral. Sorry, but would you guys mind waiting for me?”

Leaving Yun Sudra and Toor Deen behind, I went ahead and followed Vina Ruu. She had stopped at the line where the greenery started to become a bit denser. The leaves and branches above us were catching most of the rain, and hardly any of it reached the ground.

“What’s up, Vina Ruu? It looks like something’s worrying you,” I called out, but Vina Ruu said nothing. Her face wasn’t red today, and though I could see the lower half of her face under her hood, I couldn’t make out any clear expression on it.

After a few more moments of silence, she finally spoke. “Asuta, are you angry?”

“Huh?” I replied, only for her to hurriedly shake her head. Then she removed her hood, as it was getting in the way, and stared straight at me.

“Why did I have to put it like that? No, that isn’t what matters. Whether you’re angry or not, I wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize? For what? I don’t have the slightest clue what you’re talking about.”

“I knew it. Of course you’re not the kind of person to get angry over something like that. I’ve just been worrying myself about it for no reason.” Vina Ruu’s pale eyes then turned incredibly serious, and she continued, “The reason I want to apologize...is because I didn’t come visit you when you were suffering from your illness.”

“Huh? But you did visit the Fa house, didn’t you?”

Ludo Ruu had visited us one morning along with all four of his sisters. How many days after I regained consciousness had that been?

“But that was after you recovered, wasn’t it? I’m talking about while you were still suffering.”

“Oh, so during those first three days? But my mind was so murky at the time that I don’t remember anything about who did or didn’t visit us.”

“I see... Reina and Ludo visited you every day, and Rimee, Lala, and Sheera Ruu came to see you once or twice. That’s only natural. It goes to show how close the ties are between you and the Ruu clan.”

I still didn’t understand what Vina Ruu was getting at. However, a thought then struck me. “But Shumiral was bedridden from his injury then, wasn’t he? He wasn’t even able to move about on his own until around when I regained consciousness, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. That was why I couldn’t bring myself to leave the Ririn house,” Vina Ruu explained, her eyes narrowing as she looked pained. “Still, his injuries were not life-threatening, whereas for you, it was a life or death matter. I couldn’t bring myself to leave his side, though. No, it was more that I felt it would be wrong to do so.”

“Wrong? What do you—”

“I asked you to marry me once...so I thought it would be wrong to value you more highly than him,” Vina Ruu said, cutting me off.

It was rare for her to interrupt someone.

“I threw away my feelings for you, knowing that you only had eyes for Ai Fa. I most certainly don’t regret falling for you, or letting those feelings go. But even so, if I were to leave his side and run to you...I think that would have been unforgivable,” Vina Ruu said, mustering all her strength to do so as she gripped her shoulders through her raincoat. “I don’t know how other people would have seen it, but I could never have forgiven myself for doing that... I felt that if I left him to go see you, I wouldn’t have any right to receive his love after that.”

“Yeah... I don’t think you’re wrong to feel that way.”

“Yes... But it was painful to do so. If your soul had been taken away, I couldn’t have forgiven myself for not coming to see you either, for as long as I lived. But if that had happened, it would have been the fate I had chosen for myself. Why was a good-for-nothing like me born here at the forest’s edge, I wonder?”

“Please, don’t say that. I know how you feel, but I—”

“You’re a splendid person of the forest’s edge, Asuta. You’re far more fit to call yourself one than I am.” Then Vina Ruu suddenly smiled at me, a droplet of something other than rain rolling down her cheek. “Still, I want to start anew as a woman of the forest’s edge. I’ll never again wish to cast aside my home. I want to live as a proper member of our people.”

“Don’t worry. You’re a splendid person of the forest’s edge yourself. And even setting that aside, you’re a wonderful, charming person in general. Otherwise, someone like Shumiral would never have asked you to marry him.”

“I’m not so sure. I’d imagine anyone would run the other way if they learned just how petty and wretched of a woman I really am.”

“That’s absolutely not the case,” I said firmly, taking a step toward Vina Ruu. “You’ve been worrying about this a lot these past few days, right? Now that I think about it, even when we’ve seen each other, you’ve hardly spoken at all. I think the fact that this has been bothering you so much is proof that you have a just heart. The more you suffer, the more obvious that truth should be.”

“I’m worth less than damp pico leaves.”

“Well, I’m sure there’re ways even damp pico leaves can be useful. Nothing in this world is truly without value.”

“You didn’t deny me being like damp pico leaves, huh?”

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean that in a bad way!”

“Thank you. I’ve always loved how kind you are, Asuta.” Vina Ruu didn’t move to wipe away the tears from her cheeks, but did smile even more brilliantly than before. “I want to take another look at myself. Am I capable of loving someone? Am I worthy of being loved? I can’t accept anyone’s feelings until I figure that out.”

“I don’t think it’s a matter of being capable of it or not. But I think I understand your meaning. I’ll be praying to the forest that you find the proper path forward for yourself.”

“You too, Asuta. I can’t help but worry when I look at you and Ai Fa,” Vina Ruu said, tilting her head back. Her chestnut-colored hair swayed, and her tears fell to the ground. “I’ve come to learn exactly what kind of person I am thanks to you and Shumiral. No matter what the future holds for me, I think it’s for the best that I know that now. I shall search for a path that lets me be myself, as a woman of the forest’s edge.”

“Right,” I replied with a nod. I sensed that Vina Ruu didn’t need me to say anything more at that point.

As she looked up at the sky that was being concealed by the forest canopy, Vina Ruu didn’t say anything else either.