Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 27 - Chapter 4.3

3

A short while later, Ai Fa exited the kitchen. However, Sheera Ruu had left sometime before her. It seemed like she had spoken to Darmu Ruu about something outside, but I had been unable to hear what they’d been discussing.

Then, a few minutes after my clan head had departed, Sheera Ruu returned and told me, “Ai Fa won.” She looked quite calm, but also a little sad at the same time. “She really is an unbelievably strong hunter. I imagine she’ll make it into the final eight this time as well.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see how it goes.”

I had some seriously conflicted feelings about that. Darmu Ruu had now lost twice, so he was out of the contest of strength. It was a competition where men fought in order to show themselves to be proud hunters, so a chef like me had no business commenting on how they chose to go about it. But even so, I was sure he must have been left with some major regrets.

Well, I probably wouldn’t be thinking that if I didn’t know how Sheera Ruu felt.

Looking back, the festival of the hunt before last had been when I had first picked up on Sheera Ruu’s feelings for him. It had been just the two of us cooking alone at the time, and I had noticed her face go unusually red when the topic of Darmu Ruu came up.

At the time, Darmu Ruu was still fixated on Ai Fa. He challenged her and lost, and that was how he got knocked out of the contest of strength that time too.

Remembering how Sheera Ruu had squatted down behind the stove in a desperate attempt to hide her beet-red face, I couldn’t help but smile. Ever since then, I had observed Sheera and Darmu Ruu interacting many times, gradually becoming closer and closer to each other. There was one time at the Sauti settlement, then another at a Ruu clan banquet, and it happened again at the castle town. Each time I saw them, it felt like the distance between them closed a bit further.

But maybe I only think that because that’s how I want things to be.

Sheera and Darmu Ruu were related. Their fathers were brothers, making them cousins. That meant they had been close from a young age, and from what I had seen, Darmu Ruu was kind to those close to him. At the very least, his younger sisters Rimee and Lala Ruu were quite fond of him, and I had no reason to think that he had been mean to his cousin growing up. Perhaps the friendly attitude he took with Sheera Ruu was simply the way he naturally acted around family, but personally, I hoped there was a bit more to it than that.

Darmu Ruu’s already nineteen. If he’s given up on his feelings for Ai Fa, it would make sense for him to get married soon. I wonder what he’s planning on doing.

While I was thinking about that, Ai Fa returned to the kitchen. She looked a little worried, but Sheera Ruu just shot her a kind smile and got back to work.

Not long after, Vina Ruu announced, “All done.”

“Ah, good work. Next, let’s head over to the house where Bartha and Jeeda are staying, then,” I said, before stepping out of the kitchen of Shin Ruu’s house with Ai Fa and Vina Ruu.

As we walked along, Vina Ruu asked me, “Hey Asuta, weren’t we going to use the stone ovens?”

“Not yet. Sunset is still a good way off, so we’ll light them up later. We need to get all the prep work done before that.”

All of the houses in the Ruu settlement were equipped with stone ovens now, but since they had a limited capacity, I needed to go to several different houses and do prep work at each of them for what I had planned.

The plaza was buzzing with excitement, as expected. There were dozens of Ruu clan hunters gathered there, pairs of them brawling one after another. I had no way of knowing which of them were racking up wins, but I could at least tell how worked up everyone was from the cheers.

“Hey, Asuta. There you are,” Ludo Ruu called out to us as we were walking to Bartha and Jeeda’s house. I turned to greet him, but before I could say anything, I suddenly broke out laughing when my eyes fell on him.

“Hey there, Ludo Ruu. Looks like you’re having a good time.”

“Not even remotely. These runts keep running around everywhere, and I’m worried they’re going to get themselves trampled.”

Rimee Ruu had a firm grip on Ludo Ruu’s right arm, while Tara was holding his left. Both young girls had huge grins on their faces.

“I’ve won twice now, by the way,” he told me. “Still, that’s to be expected, since none of the really strong guys are challenging me.”

“I’ve heard that Shin Ruu can’t challenge you, since he made it into the top eight last time.”

“Yeah, Shin Ruu’s gotten pretty darn strong. So long as someone else doesn’t beat him to it, I’m sure he’ll make it to the top eight again.” Ludo Ruu’s gaze shifted over to Ai Fa. “You know, if you keep dawdling, you’ll get passed over too. You can challenge anyone you please since you didn’t make it into the top eight last time, so why not hurry up and just do it?”

“No, I think it would be best for me to yield that right to your hunters. As I’ve had to tell multiple people already, this is a Ruu clan event.”

“Hmm, well, there are plenty of folks out there who’ll want to challenge you, so I guess it doesn’t matter. I’ll be praying that I’ll get to fight you myself, though,” Ludo Ruu remarked before heading back into the crowd.

Now that he mentioned it, he hadn’t really ever fought with my clan head before. Ji Maam and Darmu Ruu were both opponents she had already faced in the contest of strength before last, and aside from them, she had only faced Dan Rutim, Rau Lea, and another Lea clan member whose name I didn’t know.

With the way this is going, is she going to make it into the top eight again?

I stole a glance over at Ai Fa, and found that her face was completely expressionless. Though she had seemed disappointed about not being able to participate in the last event due to her injuries, now that she was taking part, it seemed like she was more inclined to avoid standing out.

Regardless, I had my own work I needed to complete. When we made it to the next kitchen, I found Myme and a number of other women there stewing meat and baking poitan.

“Hey there, Asuta! How did things go in the post town?” Myme said with a smile.

“Well, we got the same number of customers as always, and we sold everything we prepared.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear it.” The young girl was stirring a pot full of something or other, and I immediately became interested in finding out what it was.

“Is this one of your recipes, Myme?”

“Yeah! Reina Ruu told me that she wanted me to cook something!”

“That’s some kind of soup instead of your usual karon milk stew, right? I’m looking forward to trying it.”

“Heh heh, if the Ruu clan didn’t already sell soup at their stalls, I probably would have tried to sell this instead. Well, assuming I could prepare that much of it, of course.”

It sounded like Myme was very confident in the dish, and that made me all the more excited for the start of the banquet.

“Well then, mind if I use this workstation? I’ll need to ask to use the stone oven as well, but not until later.”

“Of course! I’m pretty sure we’ll be done baking poitan soon!”

With that sorted out, Vina Ruu and I got to work on the second thing we were making. But as we did, the eldest Ruu daughter once again sighed.

“Myme’s so little, but she’s skilled enough as a chef to make Reina jealous. I really can’t stand how inept I am.”

“You aren’t inept. Reina Ruu, Myme, and Sheera Ruu are just exceptionally skilled. You shouldn’t worry so much about that.”

“But I can’t even measure up to Rimee. And then there’s Uru Lea Ririn too.”

That was a name I hadn’t heard in a while. She was the wife of Giran Ririn, the Ririn clan head.

“Oh, right, you’ve been spending a lot of time at the Ririn house, haven’t you? Is Uru Lea Ririn’s cooking that good?”

“Yeah. She’s a member of the Ririn clan, so I guess you haven’t interacted with her much, but I’d say she’s about as skilled as Rimee.” If that was accurate, then she really was pretty good. Rimee Ruu’s greatest specialty was making desserts, but her general cooking skills were only a little behind Reina Ruu’s and Sheera Ruu’s. “On top of that, she doesn’t get worked up no matter what happens, and she’s one of the most considerate people I know. I doubt there are many women as wonderful as her to be found here at the forest’s edge.”

“Oh, really think so? I thought she was kinda hard to get a read on when I met her.”

“Yes. And she’s really pretty too. She’s not fat like I am,” Vina Ruu remarked, looking very much like a sulking child. Even if it wasn’t as bad as it sometimes had been in the past, she seemed rather emotionally unstable at the moment.

“You aren’t fat, Vina Ruu. I’d say it’s more like Uru Lea Ririn is overly slender by the standards of the forest’s edge.”

“Yeah. You may be right. But still...”

In Sym, people considered slenderness to be beautiful, a fact that seemed to still be weighing on her.

Vina Ruu raised her head. “I know I shouldn’t be so weak-spirited all the time, but Uru Lea Ririn really is such a wonderful person, and I can’t help but see her as the ideal woman.”

“You think so? I’ve only talked to her briefly, so I can’t say I know her very well.”

“Well, I suppose I just have to aim to become a fine woman in my own right,” Vina Ruu replied, and then she looked straight at me. “Hey, Asuta...there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for quite some time now.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“I’ve asked you something similar in the past, but, well...do you think I’ll ever become a better chef?”

That was kind of a difficult question. However, there was only one answer I could possibly give her.

“Your skills will improve as you gain more experience. And that applies to life in general, not just to cooking. You’ve already become a much better chef than you used to be over the last few months, haven’t you?”

“But I’ve never been especially fond of cooking, and it’s never been my specialty. In fact, I still think I’m the most useless woman in my family.”

“It only seems that way because everyone in the main house is so skilled. Reina, Rimee, and Mia Lea Ruu are some of the best chefs in all of the forest’s edge. But you and Lala Ruu are still at least as good as any of our other chefs, I’d say.” That was how I truly felt. They had the advantage of having learned under me for a long time now, so they had definitely picked up more knowledge than the women from the other clans had. “And if you have the motivation to keep improving, I’m sure you’ll see results. The main reason Reina and Sheera Ruu became as good as they are is that they were passionate about becoming better chefs.”

“Passion... I guess that would be the reason, huh?” Vina Ruu placed her hands on the workstation and leaned toward me. “Helping you out like this is an important source of experience for me, right?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Got it. I’ll try my hardest to learn from Reina’s example. I’m sure this is exactly the sort of thing she did to improve so much.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I never would’ve expected to hear Vina Ruu say such a thing.

“There’s one more key advantage you have, Vina Ruu. The most important thing to have as a chef is the desire to feed someone delicious food. Reina and Sheera Ruu, as well as Rimee Ruu and Toor Deen... They all have that desire in them, more than most people do.”

“You’re not making fun of me, are you?”

“Of course not,” I replied. Honestly, I figured the personal desire to work hard at improving would be all the motivation she needed, and with that desire motivating me as well, I got back to work along with Vina Ruu.

It was already approaching the lower fourth hour, which meant we had two and a half hours left. Since we were going to need to use the last hour for baking, I felt like we needed to pick up the pace a bit. After all, we were going to have to head over to a third house once we were done here.

“Oh, right. Myme, where are the containers I left here yesterday?”

“Ah, they’re in the pantry. I was worried we might ruin them if we tried to take them out.”

I had bought several containers that could handle a stove oven’s high temperatures. Fortunately, it hadn’t been too difficult to purchase them from the castle town, thanks to Yang serving as a go-between for us.

“Guess we should bring them out now. Ai Fa, would you mind helping me?”

“Not at all.”

Ai Fa and I headed over to the pantry. There were two huge boxes stacked on top of one another sitting in there, each of them heavy enough that lifting one on my own would require quite a bit of effort. When she saw them, Ai Fa’s eyes opened wide.

“These are all containers?”

“Yeah. We need this many if we’re going to feed over a hundred people. There are six large plates in them, packed in a sort of straw so that they wouldn’t break in transit. That’s why the boxes are so big.”

“Hmm. So despite their size, each box only contains three plates?” Ai Fa asked, picking up one of the boxes. “I see. They’re awkward to carry, but not especially heavy.”

“Um, Ai Fa, I was hoping to have the two of us carry them together. If I tried to carry one on my own, I’d probably drop it along the way.”

“Then I’ll just make two trips.”

“Okay. I guess that’s how we’ll do it, then.”

And so, I exited the pantry empty-handed, feeling a touch pathetic, only for a huge figure to silently step in front of me. Ai Fa was following behind me with one of the boxes, but she was the first to speak. “Hmm? So it’s you this time, Jiza Ruu? What are you doing in a place like this?”

“I came here to speak with you, Ai Fa.”

Jiza Ruu looked down at us with his usual smile. He was far more difficult to read than Darmu Ruu. His eyes always seemed to be smiling, which made it hard to tell what he was really feeling.

“Darmu Ruu challenged me before, but you were in the top eight in the last contest of strength, so you cannot do the same.”

“Yes, you are correct. That’s why I want to ask you to challenge me. Would you please grant that request?”

Ai Fa silently placed the box down at her feet, staring at Jiza Ruu with a sharper look in her eyes than before.

“Why? I don’t see any reason for you to be in such a rush to face me, Jiza Ruu.”

“I have several reasons. But to put it simply...I wish to face you while you still have strength to spare.” Jiza Ruu’s placid demeanor hid a forceful nature that sometimes took my breath away...but he wasn’t giving me that kind of feeling now. No, he remained perfectly calm as he spoke. “You’re skilled enough to fight on close to an equal level with Dan Rutim. There’s no guarantee that even I could defeat you. That is why I’d like to compare my strength to yours while both of us are still in peak condition.”

“So you only wish to compare our skills?” Ai Fa asked, causing Jiza Ruu to tilt his head a bit.

“If you want to know whether I’m thinking solely about my own honor, then I would have to say that I am not. I’m thinking about the pride of the Ruu clan too.”

“The pride of the Ruu clan?”

“Yes. Depending on how the pairings work out, you could end up making it all the way to the end. For example, if our clan head Donda Ruu clashes with Dan Rutim early on, it could leave both of them seriously exhausted. And if he faced you in that state, even my father might be defeated. That is my concern.”

“I see.”

“Including a hunter from an unrelated clan goes against the customs of the forest’s edge to begin with. If such a person were to win the entire contest... Even if there is supposed to be no shame in losing during a contest of strength, it would be a rather heavy blow to the pride of the Ruu clan. I was planning to leave things to the will of the mother forest, but now I’ve decided to follow my own will instead.”

“Very well. I believe I understand your thinking, Jiza Ruu. If it will put your mind at ease, then I will challenge you,” Ai Fa calmly replied.

With the same look on his face as always, Jiza Ruu offered a small nod.

“I’m very grateful to hear that. Of course, holding back in such a competition isn’t permitted, so please do not hesitate to use all of your strength.”

“Indeed. The outcome will be decided by our mother forest. But could you wait a moment until I finish carrying these boxes?”

“Of course. I only just finished my second match, so there is no need to rush. I’ll wait beside the house,” Jiza Ruu said. Then he left so silently that I could barely sense him moving.

As Ai Fa picked the box back up, I leaned closer to her and asked, “H-Hey Ai Fa, is this really okay?”

“What do you mean? Jiza Ruu was completely correct in what he said.”

“Yeah, maybe. But it’s hard to read what he’s really thinking, isn’t it?”

“Surely you aren’t thinking that Jiza Ruu would deliberately try to injure me? If he did that, he would lose. After all, it is a serious taboo to injure your opponent during a contest of strength,” Ai Fa said, shrugging with the box still in her arms. “Besides, Jiza Ruu places great value on the customs of our people. He would never intentionally break them. Doing such a thing would be unthinkable.”

“I know. It’s not like I doubt him.”

I had come to think of Jiza Ruu as an important comrade after all the time we had spent together. However, I still wasn’t confident that he felt the same way about us. The Ruu clan heir was an outstanding person of the forest’s edge, and my perception of him had only improved over time, especially after the peace banquet with the house of Saturas. I really did think that he’d do a wonderful job leading our people as Donda Ruu’s successor. But this was a totally different matter. It was abundantly clear that he absolutely wanted to prevent Ai Fa from coming out on top in this competition, and that was what made me so uneasy.

It’s exactly as Jiza Ruu laid out. Donda Ruu has never objected to Ai Fa participating, and I don’t think Dan Rutim or anyone else would either. But if she were to win the whole event, it really would damage the honor of the whole Ruu clan, wouldn’t it?

I must have been looking seriously worried, because after Ai Fa finished carrying out the second box, she gave me a light poke in the ribs with a fierce expression on her face.

“Don’t worry. It all comes down to the will of the forest.”

“Yeah... Give it your all, Ai Fa. And make sure to be careful, okay?”

“Trust in me. And in Jiza Ruu too. Focus on your own work.”

After that, Ai Fa departed once again. I somehow forced down the unease I was feeling and managed to get back to work. A short while later, Bartha stopped by the kitchen, clad in women’s clothing, and informed us of how things were going.

“Donda Ruu and Dan Rutim finally defeated three opponents, and it seems that Gazraan Rutim and Ji Maam will be fighting next.”

“So Ai Fa and Jiza Ruu still haven’t gone yet?”

“No. I saw them toward the back of the line. I have to say, I never expected Ai Fa to challenge Jiza Ruu.”

“Bartha, if you head back out to the plaza, would you mind telling me how their match goes?”

“Yeah, no worries. I mean, it’s not a match I’d want to miss!”

With that, Bartha hurriedly exited the kitchen. She had previously been a hunter in Masara and was used to rough living, so she seemed to be greatly enjoying the contest of strength. I, on the other hand, am seriously bad at dealing with violence.

As I moved the ingredients we had prepared onto the plates, Vina Ruu gave me a look of uncertainty. “Hey, what’s the matter? If you’re worried about Ai Fa, you could go check on her,” she said.

“No, we’re a bit behind on work, so I’d better not. It’ll be a real issue if the food isn’t ready on time.”

“Oh? Well, there should be very little chance of either of them getting injured, so I don’t think there’s any need to be so concerned about it.”

And yet, in Ai Fa’s first fight with Darmu Ruu, she had been forced to resort to a pretty outrageous move that could easily have injured him. Hunters were seriously robust, but they didn’t hold back at all when they fought.

On top of that, Jiza Ruu was the winner last time. His skills are probably second only to Donda Ruu’s and Dan Rutim’s. I couldn’t even begin to guess how strong he is compared to Ai Fa.

Looking back, I couldn’t really remember Ai Fa making any clear comments about Jiza Ruu’s strength recently. She had seemed to think she wouldn’t lose to him back when she had concluded that Melfried was roughly his equal, but she hadn’t really said anything since.

If she loses, she loses, and that would take care of this issue without any problems, I guess. Whatever happens, please just don’t get hurt, Ai Fa, I prayed in my head as I worked.

Right when we finished our second round of prep work and were about to head to the next house, though, Bartha returned to the kitchen.

“Oh, Asuta! There’s been a bit of an incident! Jiza Ruu was injured!”

“Huh?! He was injured?! Not Ai Fa?!”

“Yeah. He circled around behind Ai Fa and tried to grab her, but Ai Fa swung her arm back toward him, and her elbow hit him in the head. He looked to be bleeding pretty badly.”

I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, before shaking myself out of it and hurrying over to the plaza.

The plaza was in an uproar when I got there, with the whole crowd contributing to the commotion, until Donda Ruu bellowed loudly, “Do not be worried! The eldest son of the main house, Jiza, is not in any danger from his injuries! He cannot continue with the contest of strength, but he should be fine by the time the sun sets!”

Everyone had quieted down by this point, and all were listening closely to the clan head’s words as he continued.

“Furthermore, it has been determined that Ai Fa of the Fa clan did not injure Jiza intentionally! Therefore, she has been absolved of any guilt in this manner, though she won’t be taking part in the contest of strength any further! She will be resting until the banquet begins!”

A decent chunk of the crowd let out sighs of relief. Naturally, I was one of them. Then, as I headed toward the center of the plaza, Ai Fa appeared from within the crowd.

“Don’t let it worry you, Ai Fa.”

“This sort of stuff happens every now and then.”

“Let’s enjoy the rest of the evening together, okay?”

Several people from the Ruu or their related clans called out to Ai Fa as she passed. She nodded back to them, but never stopped walking directly toward me.

“Are you okay, Ai Fa?” I asked, jogging over to her.

With an intense look on her face, Ai Fa nodded and replied, “I’m fine. I never expected things to go that way, though. I’m ashamed of my own carelessness.”

My clan head was coated in sweat, and her blonde bangs were clinging to her forehead and cheeks. This had clearly been an unfortunate accident at the end of an intense battle.

“That’s just how it goes sometimes, right? You didn’t mean for your elbow to hit his head.”

“Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that I was careless. If I had not been so inexperienced, that never would have happened,” Ai Fa said with regret swirling in her eyes.

But then someone approached us: a boy with hair as red as flames, yellow eyes, skin that was lighter than that of the people of the forest’s edge, and a small build. It was Jeeda, who was currently a guest of the Ruu clan.

“That was a close match. I wish I could have seen it settled properly.”

Ai Fa slowly turned toward him. There was a frightening aura about her, as if she were an injured beast. “Oh, it’s you. If you wish to chastise me for being so green, then go right ahead.”

“If you’re green, then I’m nothing but a baby chick. You and Jiza Ruu are some of the strongest not just among the Ruu clan, but the whole of the forest’s edge,” Jeeda remarked while crossing his arms, staring intently up at Ai Fa. “Besides, I don’t see any reason to blame you for what happened. Or, well, I can’t say for certain if there is one or not.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“At the end of the fight, you two were pretty close to where I was standing, and it looked to me like Jiza Ruu failed to avoid that blow on purpose.”

Ai Fa furrowed her brow deeply. “You’re saying Jiza Ruu intentionally let himself be injured in order to make me lose? Such a thing would be completely unacceptable in a contest of strength with our pride on the line.”

“Whether it’s acceptable or not, that’s just how it looked to me. Still, it’s totally possible that I was seeing things wrong.”

“Hold on. I won’t allow you to sully Jiza Ruu’s honor with such an ambiguous statement.”

“Then why not ask him directly? He’s the only one who really knows the truth,” Jeeda replied, already turning away from us, and then he disappeared back into the crowd. Ai Fa’s eyes were positively blazing as she watched him leave.

At any rate, the preliminary round of the contest of strength was still ongoing, so we weren’t going to have an opportunity to speak to Jiza Ruu for quite a while.