Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 28 - Chapter 2.3

3

It was currently twilight, just before the sun set, and the Fou and Sudra wedding was kicking off at last under a violet sky.

There was a large crowd of people in the plaza. Between the Fou, the Sudra, the Ran, and the guests invited from the other clans, there were around fifty participants altogether. Compared to the joint festival of the hunt that we had held between six clans, it was a more modest crowd, but it still felt every bit as lively.

Everyone was crowded around the ritual flame in the center. Baadu Fou and Raielfam Sudra were standing over toward the western edge of the plaza, where there were places to sit set up for the happy couple.

“Well then, let us begin this wedding between the Fou and Sudra clans! Let the two who are about to be wed step forward!” the tall and lean Baadu Fou loudly declared, and with that, the woman waiting in front of the main house opened the door.

Two figures stepped out from inside and were met with cheers: Cheem Sudra and Ia Fou.

Cheem Sudra was wearing a massive giba cloak that seemed to reach all the way down to his ankles, with the giba’s face hanging down in front of his chest. Gazraan Rutim had worn a similar cloak at his wedding, so apparently the custom was to wear hunting cloaks with the heads still attached during weddings. The blade at his waist was also sheathed in a more decorative scabbard than his usual one.

As for Ia Fou, the outfit she had on was similar to the one Ama Min Rutim had once worn. Her entire body was clad in a transparent veil, and she seemed to be wearing a number of accessories underneath it as well, but the shimmering fabric was playing the biggest role in making her look absolutely gorgeous.

On top of that, the two of them had crowns of woven greenery sitting on top of their heads, and they were accompanied on either side by a pair of young children, both looking to be around the age of ten. The boy was wearing a hunter’s cloak and had what looked like an ornamental dagger by his hip, while the girl had banquet attire on that was no less dazzling than that worn by any of the women around her.

Compared to the accessories that members of the Ruu clan had, those worn by people from smaller clans were simpler in their construction. Rather than using precious metals, many of them were made from flowers or berries. Even after they had gained so much more wealth than they’d had in the past, they obviously didn’t want to spend their hard-earned money on that sort of thing just yet.

Even so, the groom didn’t look any less gallant, nor the bride any less beautiful as a result. And the joy and happiness everyone felt was the same as well.

The four figures steadily approached the ritual flame, surrounded by passionate cheering every step of the way.

Part of the crowd moved aside in order to make a space where the four could line up in front of the clan heads. The children held out the woven baskets they were carrying, and the two clan heads each tossed a giba horn and tusk into them.

The bride and groom bowed their heads and then started walking to their right. They steadily passed in front of each member of the crowd, all of whom gave the couple their blessings along with one giba tusk or horn after another.

Just like with the Ruu clan, it was the Fou’s custom for every member of their clans to gift the new couple a horn or tusk. The women and young children who weren’t hunters handed over one of the three hanging around their necks instead. The next morning, they would receive a replacement from the men.

I had received a tusk from Ai Fa in advance for this. The ones hanging around my neck were my greatest treasures—gifts the members of the main Ruu house had given to me. I couldn’t give those away, so we had made sure to solve that problem in advance.

We patiently waited for the couple to reach us, which didn’t take long. Cheem Sudra was so nervous that he almost looked angry, while Ia Fou was smiling gently behind her transparent veil.

Cheem Sudra was a pretty small guy, short enough that Ia Fou might have actually been taller than him. But even so, the hunter looked quite manly, and clearly possessed the will to protect his wife for as long as he lived.

I offered the tusk as my blessing to the two of them, and at the same time, Ai Fa tossed a fine-looking horn into one of the baskets.

Ia Fou locked eyes with me, but Cheem Sudra was so worked up that he didn’t seem to even notice who we were. The Sudra hunter was normally quite calm and composed, but it was no surprise that he’d have trouble maintaining his composure during an event like this. Personally, I found it quite charming.

After completing a trip around the plaza, the pair returned to the clan heads.

Baadu Fou and Raielfam Sudra stepped off to the side, giving everyone a clear view of the place prepared for the stars of the night. It was the same stage where the victors of the contests of strength had sat during the combined festival of the hunt. Though, rather than being a proper stage like the one the Ruu had, it was more like a wide pedestal about a meter tall made of planks and logs, with pelts spread out over it, and decorated with berries and flowers here and there. The pair took their seats on top of it, with the baskets full of gifted horns and tusks next to them.

“Tonight, Cheem Sudra and Ia Fou shall be joined together as husband and wife. As the Fou clan head, allow me to offer you my most sincere blessing,” Baadu Fou said, and the crowd instantly went silent. “This ceremony will also bring the Fou a new subordinate clan—the Sudra. Ever since the festival of the hunt we held in the gold month, we have worked to strengthen the ties between our clans, so there’s no point in prattling on about this now. But for the Fou clan—we who have lost all of our subordinates other than the Ran and who didn’t seem to have a future ahead of us—there is truly no occasion that deserves to be celebrated more than this one.” With that, his gaze turned toward his fellow clan head. “The Sudra clan head Raielfam Sudra would also like to offer a few words.”

“I don’t really know what to say at a time like this, but as the Sudra clan head, I’m very proud to be forming blood ties with the Fou and Ran. I look forward to walking the same path together in the future as relatives,” Raielfam Sudra said in the same blunt tone he usually used.

Baadu Fou gave a single nod before turning back toward the crowd. “Every single member of the Fou, Sudra, and Ran have gathered here in this place. If anyone has any objections to Cheem Sudra and Ia Fou being married, or to the Fou and Sudra being bound together, speak them now.”

The plaza remained completely silent.

After waiting about five seconds, Baadu Fou gave a hearty nod. “Well then, we shall move on to the wedding vows. Cheem Sudra and Ia Fou, step in front of the ritual flame.”

The pair stood up on top of the pedestal. This time, Cheem Sudra awkwardly reached out a hand to help Ia Fou down.

Now on the ground once more, the two of them knelt. Then Baadu Fou’s wife threw herbs into the blazing ritual flame, and a strange smell—kind of sweet and kind of sour—drifted through the air. Next, the older woman politely removed the couple’s grass crowns and briefly passed them through the smoke from the herbs, before placing Cheem Sudra’s crown atop Ia Fou’s head and vice versa.

The pair rose and turned their backs to the ritual flame as Baadu Fou stepped in front of them.

“As of tonight, Ia Fou of the Fou clan has become Cheem Sudra’s wife and has been granted the name Ia Fou Sudra. May the bonds between the Sudra and Fou deepen, bringing strength and prosperity to the forest’s edge.”

“I, Cheem Sudra, accept Ia Fou Sudra from the forest.”

“I, Ia Fou Sudra, accept Cheem Sudra from the forest.”

And with that, the quiet plaza erupted in cheers.

Cheem Sudra took the hand of the woman who was now his wife, and together they once again stepped up onto the pedestal.

After waiting for them to be seated, Baadu Fou accepted a wine bottle his wife was holding out for him. “They have exchanged their marriage vows before our mother forest! Now, let us enjoy a grand banquet and bless them with good fortune for their new future together!”

There was another round of cheering in response, but at the same time, I was suddenly yanked to the side by someone grabbing my collar.

“How wonderful! We may not be related, but as friends of the Fou and Sudra, we’ll have to really enjoy ourselves!” It was the Liddo clan head, Radd Liddo. He was a really boisterous guy—pretty much just another Dan Rutim, except slimmer and with more hair. I felt like I could hear my neck creaking because of the headlock he had me in.

“Clan head of the Liddo, Asuta is not a hunter, so I ask that you not treat him so roughly,” Ai Fa immediately said, only for Radd Liddo to turn her way and laugh.

“This much of a hold wouldn’t be enough to take down even a woman or a young child! Now, let’s fill our stomachs with banquet food!”

“Before we eat, I’d like you to release Asuta.”

There was an intensely demanding light shining in Ai Fa’s eyes, but Radd Liddo was one of the top hunters among the six local clans, so he simply laughed her off.

“Even looking as beautiful as you do now, you’re still just as much like a man as always, Ai Fa! Rather than letting the Fou and Sudra run ahead of you, I’d love to see you hurry up and get married too!”

“Clan head of the Liddo, I don’t want to cause a commotion during such a happy occasion.”

As she spoke those threatening words, Ai Fa’s face went ever so slightly red. The whole kerfuffle with Yun Sudra and Jou Ran had become common knowledge among the Deen and Liddo as well, so everyone also knew what Ai Fa had said when she had turned down Jou Ran’s marriage proposal.

“Never mind that! Let’s focus on the food! I’ve been real curious about what sort of meal they were able to prepare without the help of the Fa or Deen!”

At that point, Radd Liddo finally removed his arm from my neck, but he didn’t step away. He must have been wanting to tour the stoves together with us. I had no objection to the idea, but Ai Fa still looked rather displeased.

“The Liddo brought several people to this banquet, didn’t they? Where are they now?” she asked.

“No clue. I figure they’re probably strengthening their bonds with folks from other clans. Why don’t you two take advantage of the situation and split up too?”

“We have our own way of doing things. I ask that you refrain from making impertinent remarks.”

There was definitely a storm brewing around her, but the boisterous Radd Liddo didn’t seem deterred in the least.

“Well then, why don’t we head around to the stoves?! There’s a real tasty smell coming from that pot there!” Radd Liddo said, and then he started walking away in high spirits. His hand was on my back, pushing me along, so Ai Fa had no choice but to follow.

“Asuta, why are you just going along with him?” Ai Fa quickly whispered into my ear, and I stared vacantly back at her.

“Well, I can’t see any reason to refuse. I’m not sure how this looks to you, Ai Fa, but I’m happy to see him act so friendly.”

“Even if it means letting him treat you as roughly as he is?”

“Well, I guess I’m just used to it after dealing with Dan Rutim and Rau Lea.” Ai Fa shot me a serious frown from an angle where Radd Liddo couldn’t see. “Don’t sulk. It’s a banquet, so we should enjoy it.”

“Are you saying I’m in the wrong for getting upset over something like this?”

“I’m not saying that at all. I simply want to enjoy the festivities with you.”

As we whispered back and forth like that, we arrived at the first stove, where a good-sized crowd was gathered. We shoved our way through and found a white soup boiling there in the pot.

“Oh, Asuta, Ai Fa, it’s good to finally see you!” Yun Sudra said, as she was the one portioning out the dish. She had let her usual side ponytail down today and was clad in banquet attire. It looked like she wanted to say something more, but then her eyes opened wide. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “So that’s what you look like in banquet attire, Ai Fa! You were always pretty, but now you’re downright stunning!”

It seemed that no matter who we encountered tonight, our conversations were destined to start off like that.

My clan head sighed as she stared back at Yun Sudra. “Why is everyone making such a fuss about it? You’re dressed in banquet attire yourself, are you not?”

“I mean, there aren’t many women out there as pretty as you, and, well...you’re really gallant like a man, so it’s more surprising to see you dressed like that than it would be with other women,” Yun Sudra explained with an earnest smile. “To be honest, I’ve seen lots of women sneak glances at you from time to time. As a hunter, you have your own unique sort of charm, Ai Fa.”

“Never mind all that. I’m not fond of people making a fuss over me.”

It was pretty rare to hear Ai Fa openly complain like that. It was a sign of how much she had opened up to Yun Sudra.

“Everyone’s excited about the wedding, so there’s nothing to worry about. Now, would you like some of this dish?”

“Yeah! This is the giba bone soup we had at the festival of the hunt, isn’t it?!” Radd Liddo loudly chimed in from beside us. And he was correct, it was definitely giba bone soup—a cloudy soup dish made by slowly boiling giba bones over the course of half a day.

“This takes some real effort to prepare, so we don’t get many opportunities to make it. Please, go ahead and have some,” Yun Sudra said, skillfully pouring some soup into a wooden bowl.

There were plenty of solid ingredients too, with hints of vermilion nenon and green nanaar peeking through the liquid. On top of that, they had also used cabbage-like tino and bean-sprout-like onda, and the soup was full of thick slices of char siu.

“It certainly is delicious! I’ve been wondering about this since the festival of the hunt, but why does this taste so different from the stuff my clan makes? The meat and vegetables we use should be exactly the same,” Radd Liddo inquired.

“I suspect it’s because we use an ingredient known as seaweed. It’s rather expensive, so we only ever buy it for banquets.”

The way they had paired giba bone stock with broth from dried seaweed had added even more depth to the dish. They had also employed a variety of seasonings, including salt, sugar, pico leaves, tau oil, myamuu, and nyatta spirits, so it made sense that the flavor would change greatly depending on who prepared it.

“What do you think, Asuta?” Yun Sudra asked.

“It’s delicious. I think it’s at least as good as the soup that was served at the festival of the hunt.”

Yun Sudra broke into a relieved smile. However, there was one thing about it that felt a bit lacking to me.

“You didn’t make it a soup and pasta dish, though. That’s the one part that I can’t help but find a little disappointing.”

“Ah, yes. We weren’t able to prepare enough pasta to be able to use it for this. We made a different kind of pasta instead.”

“A different kind?”

“Yes, the kind that you used in that gratin dish, Asuta.”

That was a sort of dumpling-shaped chatchi pasta in the style of gnocchi. I checked my bowl, and discovered that there really was some in there close to the bottom. Scooping up a few pieces with some soup, I gave them a try and said, “Ooh. This type of pasta seems to pair really well with giba bone soup too. That’s a pretty big discovery.”

When I had been creating my version of giba bone soup with pasta, I had been aiming to make something similar to tsukemen, so I had never thought about using anything other than ramen noodles in it. The chewy gnocchi pasta was already tasty on its own, but the thick white broth of the giba soup paired with it incredibly well, amplifying its delicious flavor.

“It was just something I wanted to try out. It didn’t turn out half bad, huh? If you add ordinary poitan to soup, it dissolves and gets all gooey, so I thought that pasta, which contains fuwano as well, would work better in soups.”

“Yeah, this is good. It’s exactly the kind of work I’ve come to expect from you, Yun Sudra.”

Yun Sudra was often overshadowed by Toor Deen, but she had grown quite a bit as well. In particular, she had become quite skilled at revising dishes to make them better.

“Yes, it truly is fantastic! If I were to stay here, I’d want to keep eating this until the pot was empty, so it’s best that we move on sooner rather than later!” Radd Liddo remarked with a smile while putting his plate down on the surface next to the stovetop. I then followed him to the next stove, along with Ai Fa, who was still frowning quite deeply.

Everyone else also seemed to be moving around and enjoying the various dishes on offer. As I took in the sights, I casually glanced over at the pedestal with the newlyweds and noticed something. “Huh? People are delivering food to Cheem and Ia Fou Sudra?”

“Hmm? Yes, that’s right. They aren’t supposed to move around for a while, so the only way they can eat is if other people bring them food,” Radd Liddo explained.

“At the Ruu clan’s banquets, newlyweds only have to watch for a little while, and then they get to eat their own special meal.”

“Hmm, well, we don’t usually visit other clans if we don’t have blood ties with them, so our customs do vary a bit.”

Now that he mentioned it, I recalled that among the Ruu clans, they did that little ritual with the grass crowns that reminded me of wedding rings after everyone had enjoyed some food. During Gazraan and Ama Min Rutim’s wedding, Ai Fa and I had watched them doing it from outside of the crowd.

Seated atop the pedestal, Cheem and Ia Fou Sudra ate the food that was being delivered to them while speaking with their relatives. They each must’ve been absolutely overjoyed to have been able to marry the person they loved. Though I wasn’t all that close to the young couple, I still felt truly happy for them.

Just then, Radd Liddo let out a strange, “Eh?” And when I turned my gaze back to the direction we were walking in, I almost did the same. There was a familiar figure approaching us.

He seemed to be heading from stove to stove too, but in the opposite direction. It seemed he had also been looking at Cheem and Ia Fou Sudra, but then he noticed us and stopped in place.

“Oh, Ai Fa, Asuta...and the Liddo clan head too,” the man said with a faint smile, his eyebrows drooping. He was a fairly good-looking fellow, with straight hair that came down to his shoulders. It was none other than the oldest son of a Ran branch house, Jou Ran, who had recently been the cause of a lot of drama because of his feelings for Ai Fa.

“Yes, we just had the giba bone soup over that way! It really impresses me how they’re able to make such delicious food without any help from the Fa or Deen!” Radd Liddo said with a hearty laugh. He was the only one in a good mood, though.

While he was speaking, I stole a glance at Ai Fa to check on her. However, my beloved clan head was completely and utterly expressionless.

“I really appreciate being invited to this wonderful banquet! But anyway, we’ll see you later!”

“Yeah,” Jou Ran replied, his eyes fixed on Ai Fa. But eventually, he shook his head really hard, then slipped past us and continued on his way.

As he watched the young man leave, Radd Liddo stroked his chin and said, “Hmm... He looks like a pretty strong hunter, but in terms of character, he seems a bit lacking! Well, you two don’t need to worry about him!”

“I’m not worried,” Ai Fa replied.

“Hmm. I do have to admit that he’s fairly good-looking, though! I’m sure he’ll find himself a suitable wife eventually!” Radd Liddo said before walking over to the next stove.

As we followed after him I whispered to my clan head, “Hey, are you really okay, Ai Fa?”

“Why do you ask? The clan heads have already forgiven him for his crimes, so there’s no point in complaining about him any further.”

“Yeah, but you look like you’re trying really hard to keep a lid on your emotions.”

“I must need more practice, then,” Ai Fa said, bringing her hands up to her face. Like I had seen her do several times before, she started firmly rubbing her cheeks. “I’ve had ties to the Ran for a very long time. I have no intention of starting a quarrel with them over such a trivial matter.”

“Of course not. It’s the clan your friend Saris Ran Fou was born into.”

“That’s right,” Ai Fa replied, wrapping up her face massage. And then, she suddenly smiled. “Well? Do I look more relaxed now?”

“Y-Yeah. You look so happy, it kinda took me off guard.”

“Good. I suppose I’ve finally gotten used to this noisy atmosphere.”

Thinking back, this was probably the first honest smile I had seen on her face since she had put on her banquet attire.

Illuminated by the bonfires, her transparent veil, blonde hair, and rainbow hair accessory all glittered beautifully. She was so wonderfully captivating that it felt like I had taken a blow to my heart.

“I’ve never been fond of crowds, but the Fou and Sudra are very special friends for both of us. Perhaps the joy of seeing them come together has finally taken hold of me,” she said.

“Yeah, it really is a happy occasion,” I said as I smiled back at her, trying to keep my heart from pounding its way out of my chest.

Once we reached the next stove, there would be too many people around who might take notice of her expression, but until we got there, Ai Fa’s brilliant smile would remain in place.