Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 26 - Chapter 4.3

3

“All of the sweets prepared today were simply outstanding. Once again, allow me to express my gratitude for making our time together so wonderful,” Eulifia declared to start things off.

The majority of the noblewomen happily nodded along. Of course, though it was probably repetitive to mention this, I still couldn’t tell what Arishuna, Lefreya, and Odifia were thinking.

“Allow me to stress once more that you should not concern yourselves too much with the results of our taste testing. Not a single one of us was at all dissatisfied with anything you made. Just like with sword fights between gentlemen, there is glory in winning, but that does not mean there is any shame in losing. Shilly Rou, Toor Deen, and Rimee Ruu, you are all chefs that do Genos justice. In fact, there are likely few who could measure up to you when it comes to making sweets.”

I felt like the preamble was longer this time compared to the previous tea party. Perhaps Eulifia had a hunch about how the results would be received. That was what I had to think, based on how she was talking.

“Well then, Sheila, please go ahead and make the announcement. Who won today’s excellent tasting competition?”

“Right away... The seven noblewomen present were each given three points to award as they pleased. The dish that received the most points shall be the winner of this competition.”

We weren’t too familiar with such events, so the explanation must have been for our sake. Since there were seven noblewomen present and they each got three points, that meant there were twenty-one points in total, and that was what the chefs were competing over.

“Now then, allow me to proceed with the announcement. First place for today’s taste test...goes to Lady Toor Deen, who received thirteen points.”

Somebody breathed a deep sigh. Toor Deen was fidgeting a lot, and was obviously trying very hard to suppress her desire to hide behind me.

A moment later, I was surprised to feel Shilly Rou bump into my shoulder on my other side. I turned my head to look at her, and the chef muttered, “My apologies...” as she straightened up. Though the look on her face remained the same, she had gone very pale.

“As for the breakdown, Lady Odifia gave her dish three points, Ladies Eulifia, Lefreya, Merrim, and Arishuna gave it two points, and Ladies Littia and Diel gave it one point.”

That was an even more overwhelming victory than I had anticipated. Toor Deen had earned thirteen points out of the twenty-one available, which was more than half. On top of that, all seven participants had awarded her points.

“So that really was Toor Deen’s work. I thought that might be the case, from the way the look in Odifia’s eyes changed... Ah, but just so there are no misunderstandings, let me say that Odifia was not told in advance which dessert Toor Deen made,” Eulifia said.

Odifia—who, much like Lefreya, bore a striking resemblance to a French doll—had her expressionless gray eyes firmly fixed on Toor Deen.

Meanwhile, as it was their first time participating, Littia and Merrim were looking at the young chef with admiration.

“I can understand why Lady Odifia adores her so. That sweet was truly fantastic,” Littia said.

“Indeed. When Yang hears about this, he will likely be even more disappointed that he was not invited today,” Merrim agreed.

Turning bright red, Toor Deen bowed and replied, “Thank you very much.”

After watching their exchange, Sheila returned her gaze to the parchment she was holding. “Sharing second place are Ladies Shilly Rou and Rimee Ruu, who each earned four points.”

“My, is that so? How did that break down, exactly?” Eulifia asked.

“Lady Shilly Rou earned two points from Lady Littia and one point each from Ladies Eulifia and Merrim. Lady Rimee Ruu earned two points from Lady Diel and one point each from Ladies Lefreya and Arishuna.”

Not only had they earned the same number of points, the points had been given to them in the same pattern.

“Thank you so much!” Rimee Ruu energetically called out, while Shilly Rou silently bowed her head.

“We shall have to be fair in dividing up the reward money as well, in that case. As the first place winner, Toor Deen shall be given the promised amount of fifty white coins, while Shilly Rou and Rimee Ruu will be given thirty-five white coins each.”

Since they had summoned the people of the forest’s edge for this, and we were very busy, they had made the prizes especially large. Since Toor Deen had won twice now, she had been awarded fifty white coins twice as well. The little chef’s eyes were shut tight as the joy of her win washed over her.

Gulaf Zaza had ordered the Deen to distribute half of that money to the clans that were related to them, while allowing them to keep the other half, but that didn’t change the fact that Toor Deen had earned a sizable boon for her family and many others.

“All of the sweets, were delicious. So much so that I would, like to eat them, every single day,” Arishuna stated in a voice that I couldn’t read any emotion from.

The star reader’s comment made Odifia’s small shoulders tremble a bit. “I want to eat Toor Deen’s creations every day too... Mother, can we really not make Toor Deen a chef at the castle?”

“No, we cannot, Odifia. The people of the forest’s edge cannot live in the castle town.”

“Even if she can’t live in the castle town, I still want her to be a chef at the castle. I wish to be able to eat Toor Deen’s sweets every single day,” Odifia replied. Her expression remained unchanging, but I could see in her eyes that she wanted this now more than she ever had before.

“One cannot be a chef in the castle without living in the castle town. How many times have we had this conversation now, Odifia?”

“But I wish to be able to eat Toor Deen’s sweets every day,” Odifia repeated, her gaze shifting to aim at Toor Deen once more. “Why won’t you become a chef at the castle, Toor Deen? Do you hate me?”

“N-No, most certainly not.”

“I really like you because of the way you make such delicious treats. I want to live in the castle together with you.” Odifia’s expression still wasn’t changing, but I noticed that she had started to kick her legs up as she remained seated in her chair. That fidgety behavior was the closest thing to acting like a normal little girl that I had ever seen from her.

“Please don’t be concerned about this, Toor Deen. Duke Genos has ordered that the people of the forest’s edge must not be given unreasonable demands, so we have no intention of pressuring you in any way,” Eulifia said with a troubled smile, patting her daughter’s head. Odifia just continued to kick her legs.

Toor Deen glanced at me, and I gave her a nod before turning back to Eulifia.

“Could I make a proposal, Eulifia?”

“Oh? Whatever might that be?”

“The leading clan heads have already given their permission for this... Toor Deen, would you mind explaining the details?”

“Oh, r-right... There’s no possible way that I could move to the castle town and become a chef at the castle...but what would you say to having someone deliver my sweets to you?”

Odifia’s legs immediately froze, and Eulifia’s eyes opened wide as she remarked, “My, are you saying you would make desserts for Odifia back at the forest’s edge?”

“Y-Yes. Asuta has cooking delivered to Arishuna in the castle town every day, after all...so I thought maybe we could send you my sweets in the same way. O-Of course, you would need to pay for them.”

“We will naturally pay you an appropriate amount for your services. You truly wouldn’t mind?”

“I-I wouldn’t. It would be difficult to do it every day, but I’m sure I could manage if it was once every three days.”

Odifia’s legs started swinging back and forth again, but now they were reminding me of a puppy wagging its tail. Her little hand was restlessly tugging on her mother’s dress as well.

“I am grateful to hear that. Would it be less effort to have the sweets delivered rather than being invited to the castle town like this, perhaps?” Eulifia asked.

“N-No, that wasn’t what I...” Toor Deen started to say, shooting me a desperate look. I nodded once, then took over the explanation.

“It’s a great honor to be invited to the castle town. However, it’s a little difficult to come out here once a month. But if we increase the amount of time between visits, I’m sure Lady Odifia’s displeasure will grow just as much, so we figured that if we could have a snack delivered for her once every three days, that would take a lot less effort on our part, and make everyone much happier.”

“I see. Would once every few months be too much of a hassle, though? There are others besides Odifia who wish to eat Toor Deen’s sweets, after all. And of course, they would want to eat them freshly made, I would imagine,” Eulifia said with a smile. Her suggestion was pretty much exactly what I expected her to say.

“Yes, I think Toor Deen should be able to handle that no problem. I’m sure the leading clan heads would have no objections either.”

“I’m quite glad to hear that. Thank you very much, Toor Deen.”

Toor Deen bowed, but was fidgeting with her apron as she did. Seeing that, Eulifia turned to her daughter and said, “Odifia, Toor Deen and the people of the forest’s edge are going well out of their way to do this kindness for you. You mustn’t take that for granted. If you forget to show proper gratitude, your father and grandfather are sure to revoke this agreement immediately.”

I had to wonder if a six year old would really be able to understand something like that, but Odifia hopped down from her chair without any assistance. She slowly approached Toor Deen, and grasped the other girl’s hand. The little noble girl only came up to around the young chef’s stomach.

“Thank you, Toor Deen.”

“O-Of course. As long as it makes you happy, I’m glad,” Toor Deen said with an awkward smile. “Also, um...I made a little extra of my sweet, so if you would like, you could bring it back with you to have after dinner.”

Though she showed no reaction on her face, Odifia’s small body bent backward. It seemed like she was just winding up, though, as the next thing she did was shove her face into Toor Deen’s stomach. Her hand let go of Toor Deen’s to grip the older girl’s skirt instead.

“U-Um, my apron is probably a little dirty...”

“I love you, Toor Deen,” Odifia declared, cutting Toor Deen off as she rubbed her face against the chef’s apron. Then, a moment later, she stepped back from the young chef, and sure enough, she was just as expressionless as before. She was so stoic that you would think she was trying to mimic an easterner or something.

“I shall do everything I can to ensure that this does not cause trouble for you people of the forest’s edge,” Eulifia casually stated. “I will spread the story that this was simply a case of giving in to the demands of an unreasonable child. Otherwise, many more nobles may ask to have cooking delivered from the people of the forest’s edge.”

“I appreciate that, but won’t that damage Lady Odifia’s reputation?” I worriedly asked, only for Eulifia to respond with a chuckle.

“Well, it is the truth, so there is no helping that. We need to make it clear that such selfishness will not be tolerated from anyone other than young children.”

Diel had been silently watching us talk for a while, but hearing that made her shoot a teasing look at Arishuna. “Only you and Lady Odifia are allowed to be so selfish. Should I take that to mean that you’re as unreasonable as a six-year-old girl?”

“Do you think so? Asuta is the one, who told me, that he would deliver, me food,” Arishuna replied, tilting her head like an elegant Siamese cat. “Besides, I do not mind, if I am, thought of as, unreasonable. If Asuta’s cooking, is delivered, to the castle town, that is enough, for me.”

“Hmph,” Diel muttered. She was still smiling, but she had a little twitch in her cheek. If she hadn’t been at a gathering of noblewomen, she probably would have exploded with anger at that point.

At any rate, our role seemed to be approaching its end. Odifia returned to her seat, and Eulifia said, “Now then, this has been a truly wonderful tea party. The prize money will be delivered to the other parlor shortly, so would you mind waiting to get changed until after you receive it?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

“Well then, please lead the chefs to the—”

Eulifia had been just about to direct that we be ushered out when a piercing sound filled the air. The teacup Lefreya had been holding had fallen onto the table and shattered into pieces.

The ceramic shards scattered, and since the cup had still been about half full, the tea inside splashed all over the front of her dress, the dark yellow liquid producing a huge stain on the white fabric.

“My, how awful. Are you all right, Lefreya?”

“Yes. I carelessly allowed it to slip from my hand. But the tea was cool, so I am fine,” Lefreya replied with a composed expression, so I breathed a sigh of relief. The other noblewomen’s faces all shifted from shock to relief as well.

“Your outfit was ruined, though. Take care not to let the shards injure you.”

“Of course. I shall have my maid come clean it. Are you there, Chiffon Chel?”

That caught me off guard.

A tall, graceful figure then emerged from behind the curtain that Ludo Ruu had said was hiding a large number of soldiers. She was a woman from Mahyudra even taller than me, with curled honey-colored hair and purple eyes: Chiffon Chel.

“My apologies, but could you clean this up? And as my dress is now wet, she will require something to wipe it off with.”

“Of course,” Chiffon Chel calmly replied as she approached. Sheila also came running over, pulling out a tea towel from somewhere as she went.

“I cannot apologize enough for breaking such a fine teacup. I am so sorry, Eulifia.”

“Pay it no mind. I just ask that you take care not to be injured.”

The shards from the cup were quickly disposed of in a jar another maid brought over. Chiffon Chel then accepted the tea towel from Sheila and did what she could to clean Lefreya’s dress.

It had been several months now since I had last seen her. Ever since she had been sent along with Lefreya to her mistress’s new residence, I hadn’t had any more opportunities to meet with her.

However, she hadn’t changed in the least in all that time. She was still calm, gentle, and incredibly elegant. However, she didn’t look in my direction at all, the side of her face turned toward me as she concentrated on cleaning Lefreya’s dress.

“My apologies for the commotion. Please, go ahead and return to the other parlor now,” Eulifia said, directing a smile at us.

However, rather than leaving, I worked up my resolve and asked, “Um... That’s Chiffon Chel, right? I actually became acquainted with her some time ago.”

“Oh? But she has been a maid of the house of Turan for several years, has she not?”

“Yes. But, well...she looked after me during my stay at the count’s manor.”

In other words, when Lefreya had abducted me. That was the only time a person of the forest’s edge had ever spent more than a few hours in the castle town.

Eulifia’s eyes opened wide as she remarked, “My... I was not aware of that. Then this must be your first time seeing one another in quite a while, yes?”

“Yeah. She did serve as our guide a number of times back when the house of Turan still owned the manor noble guests use, though.”

With that, Chiffon Chel finally turned to look at me. Her face was every bit as white as Diel’s, and she was smiling in a way that was somehow fairylike.

“I am honored that you remember one such as myself, Sir Asuta. It certainly has been some time.”

“Yeah. I’m just glad to see you looking well.”

I felt my heart rate steadily increasing. I could hear Melfried’s directive that we should not involve ourselves with northerners in my head. But even so, there was something I absolutely had to tell her, regardless of all those annoying political matters. Besides, I was sure that what I was about to say wouldn’t do anything to worsen the position the northerners or the people of the forest’s edge were in anyway.

Trusting that assumption, I went ahead and started explaining the events that had recently transpired. “Last month, there was an incident in which a large number of guards and northerners were attacked by a giba. I was actually one of the people who helped care for the wounded afterward.”

“My, is that so?” Eulifia interjected, sounding terribly interested.

“Yes,” I replied before continuing. “While I was helping out, I happened to run across Chiffon Chel’s older brother. He had injured his head and shoulder protecting the guards.”

Chiffon Chel closed her eyes and quietly said, “I see... I was only told that a few of the northerners were injured. So, my brother was one of them.”

“Yes, but he was doing just fine. A platoon commander from the guards even praised his actions.”

That was probably all she needed to know for the time being. I would have Diel secretly convey the details later.

At any rate, Chiffon Chel maintained the same exact tone as she said, “Thank you. But you need not trouble yourself on my behalf anymore, Sir Asuta.”

“I know. We’ve been warned not to involve ourselves with northerners, after all.”

I had directed those words at Eulifia. She was not just elegant, but clever as well, so she immediately smiled at me.

“Even my hard-headed husband would not find fault with a pair of northern siblings worrying about one another. You are a kind man, Asuta.”

“U-Uh, well...thank you very much.”

“You don’t have to act so polite. Perhaps I should not be saying this, but the ones you truly need to be cautious around are the observers from the capital,” Eulifia said, and then her smile grew bigger and happier. “At any rate, we should leave such troublesome matters to the gentlemen who hold the proper posts to deal with them. Thank you for your efforts today, Toor Deen, Rimee Ruu, and Shilly Rou. I am already looking forward to our next opportunity to meet.”

This time, we really did get the signal to leave, so we bowed to the noble women one more time before we left, and I noticed that Chiffon Chel was bowing to us as well.

“I was a bit concerned about what you were going to say, Asuta,” Ai Fa whispered into my ear as we exited into the hall.

“Sorry about that. But what I said shouldn’t cause us any trouble, right?”

“If anyone finds that worth starting trouble over, then that is their problem,” Ai Fa replied, and I was finally able to relax.

Casually strolling along with his hands joined behind his head, Ludo Ruu injected himself into our conversation. “I definitely remember that woman too. She’s got the same kind of seductive charm as Vina, so it’d be hard to forget her.”

“Right, you and the other hunters who’ve done guard duty for us have all met her a number of times now.”

“If the northern women sent to the forest’s edge weren’t forced to do manual labor, would they all be as pretty as her too? It sort of feels like a waste.”

The maid and guards escorting us all pretended that they weren’t able to hear what we were saying. They likely wanted nothing to do with any talk of northerners.

I was sure I wasn’t going to have many opportunities to meet with northerners in the future either. The work at the forest’s edge would finish in half a month, and it was unlikely that I would be able to speak with Chiffon Chel again outside of events like this. I had been able to see Lefreya a couple times over the course of the last few months, but I hadn’t met with Chiffon Chel then either.

Is it possible that Lefreya spilled the tea on purpose so she could summon Chiffon Chel? I had no way of knowing for certain, and I couldn’t exactly ask her either, but Polarth had let me know that Lefreya seemed to care about Chiffon Chel a lot, and that was enough to satisfy me as to the northerner’s continued well-being.

While I was thinking about that, we arrived back at the neighboring parlor. Shilly Rou and Roy were led to a separate neighboring room from us, and so I called out to them one last time before we split up.

“Good work today, Shilly Rou. Send my regards to Varkas and the other apprentices.”

The chef stopped at the door, but did not respond.

“Huh? Is something wrong?”

Shilly Rou was glaring at us with eyes that had an intense inner glow. “I refuse to let myself lose to you all.” It felt sort of like this was the first time I had really heard her speak in a while.

Then her brown eyes suddenly dimmed, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her chef’s uniform, but her slender shoulders were visibly trembling.

“I absolutely won’t let you beat me!”

With that loud final shout, Shilly Rou disappeared through the door. I stood there dumbfounded, and Toor Deen was incredibly flustered.

“Wh-What should I do? Did I make Shilly Rou mad?”

“No, rather than mad... Yeah, I’d say she was just frustrated.”

“Shilly Rou’s dumplings were really tasty, though,” Rimee Ruu chimed in with her usual earnest smile. “Still, if it were Reina, I’m sure she would have started crying too. Reina and Shilly Rou are pretty similar, after all!”

“Huh? Hmm, maybe... Reina Ruu’s emotions can be pretty intense, but...” Toor Deen said.

“If she lost to a chef from the castle town when it came to cooking giba, Reina would definitely be so frustrated she would cry. But I don’t worry that much about winning or losing!” Rimee Ruu concluded.

Shilly Rou and Reina Ruu were highly competitive and deadly serious when it came to cooking, while Rimee Ruu only wanted to make people happy. Personally, though, I supported both stances. In my case, I felt like both of those impulses motivated me in equal measure. I hate to lose too, after all, so I’d definitely be frustrated if my cooking scored badly.

In all honesty, I probably wasn’t very well suited to participating in tasting competitions. My self-esteem wouldn’t take a hit when it came to something outside my field of expertise like desserts, but I wouldn’t want to have my cooking skills compared to someone else’s otherwise.

What makes me happiest is when Ai Fa finds something tasty, I thought, turning toward my clan head, only for her to suddenly look startled and step back. Then she leaned in to whisper in my ear with a scary look on her face.

“Asuta, I know I told you that you needn’t hide your feelings, but you shouldn’t let things show on your face so blatantly outside of the house.”

“Huh? What sort of face was I making?”

Ai Fa just silently poked my head, which was actually the first physical contact we’d had in quite a while.

At any rate, that was pretty much the end of our second tea party in the castle town. There was now around half a month left in the rainy season.