Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.3

3

At last, night rolled around.

Before dinner, first the clan members were to present Lala Ruu with flowers.

Normally she was seated down from everyone else along with Rimee Ruu, but now she was sitting sullenly between the clan head and the elder.

“To think, you’re now 13... You’re pretty average in terms of height, but you’re still just a little brat inside, aren’t you?” Donda Ruu harshly commented, wearing just as sour a look on his face as his daughter.

The star of the night snapped, “Oh shut it!” with raised eyebrows. “Geez, I’m starving here, so could we hurry up and get this over with already?”

“Stuff like that is why you’re still just a brat,” Donda Ruu stated, frowning further as he reached over with his long arm without even getting up, and placed a large blue flower in his daughter’s hair. “I grant my third daughter this blessing for having passed this year safe and sound, and wish her the same in the coming year as well.”

As some wrinkles formed around her nose, Lala Ruu muttered back, “Yeah, yeah, thanks.” What a heartwarming exchange between the father and daughter pair.

Then, Lala Ruu turned the other way, towards Granny Jiba. The 85-year-old elder’s withered fingers reached out and put a small red flower in her great granddaughter’s hair.

“Happy birthday... I hope you’ll stay just as lively as always, Lala.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Granny Jiba,” Lala Ruu replied, suddenly breaking out in a completely earnest smile. Hearing her joyful voice, her father gave a little, “Tch!” from behind her.

Next up, Jiza Ruu approached holding two flowers, red and blue, then took a knee in front of his sister.

“Third daughter Lala, I offer this blessing in celebration of your 13th birthday. I hope that you continue living as a fine young woman who brings no shame to the Ruu name... And this flower is from Darmu.”

Lala Ruu replied, “Thanks,” a humble expression on her face. The second son Darmu Ruu was at the Suun settlement teaching the members of the branch families how to hunt, so he was absent from the event.

From there, the remaining members of her family each approached Lala Ruu in order.

“Congrats... But if you don’t put some more meat on you, the men won’t want anything to do with you, y’know?”

“Shut it, you dummy!”

“Happy birthday. You’ve got a perfectly fine personality, so you just need to do something about that mouth of yours.”

“Ugh...”

“Congratulations. Keep on living properly like you have been.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Granny Tito Min.”

“You’ve grown so pretty. And I love you just as you are too, Lala. Congratulations on turning 13.”

“Gaa!”

“Thanks, Sati Lea and Kota.”

“Happy birthday. I can’t believe you’re already 13, Lala...”

“Wow, what a big flower! Thanks!”

“Congratulations. May you have another happy and healthy year ahead of you.”

“Right. Thank you.”

“Congrats! Here’s a mizora flower!”

“Thanks. Man... the scent of flowers is drowning out the smell of the food,” Lala Ruu grumbled, looking rather embarrassed as she did so. Her hair and top were now full of flowers, and she seemed so earnestly happy that I felt myself wanting to smile, too.

“Congratulations, Lala Ruu. We’re not members of your clan, but will you accept flowers from us too?” I asked as Ai Fa and I finally approached the birthday girl.

“Yeah,” Lala Ruu said with a nod, so Ai Fa placed a blue flower by her hip, while I somehow managed to squeeze in a red one above her ear.

It was no surprise that everyone had picked the same colors to compliment the girl’s splendid red hair and eyes as blue as the ocean.

13, huh...? Well, I guess she looks about right for that... I thought to myself.

Her height was pretty average and she was slender, plus although she had a really nice face, the expressions she wore were generally childish. That sort of imbalance seemed fitting for the age of 13, somehow.

She had a mouth on her and was a bit androgynous, but four years from now she would surely be as much of a beauty as Reina Ruu, and by the time she was Vina Ruu’s age, she was sure to be positively stunning. Well, those thoughts were probably a bit rude, but at any rate, she was a cute, charming girl.

“Well then, let’s get this dinner started. Asuta helped us to prepare it today, too,” Mia Lea Ruu stated, standing to portion out the soup.

“Ah, so that really was it,” Lala Ruu said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I definitely noticed you trying to be all sneaky with Reina. I’m certainly grateful, but you’re not going to make me eat something weird, are you?”

“Well, let’s just say I hope it’s to your tastes, I guess.”

With that I approached the stove meant for keeping food warm and took the lid off a pot.

Instantly, the aroma of tarapa filled the room.

“What, you used tarapa? That’s the same as always, isn’t it?” Ludo Ruu complained.

Vina and Lala Ruu brought back the excess tarapa sauce from the stalls, so it must have been a part of their meals each and every day.

“Sorry about that. It’s just that tarapa sauce went best with the dish for the day. But I really did prepare it special.”

Rather than just using the leftovers from the stall as is, I carefully taste tested it while adding the secret flavors of Jagar-made tau oil and Sym-produced chitt seeds. By the way, chitt seeds were a powerful spice like red chili peppers, so I really did just add a bit to serve as a hidden flavor.

And inside that specially-prepared tarapa sauce was sautéed sirloin, cooked to a golden brown. As I scooped the chunks of meat out one by one, I also accepted my secret weapon from Ai Fa. The only ones who knew of the ingredient were my clan head, who had personally tasted it in the Fa house, and Vina Ruu, who had accompanied me to The Sledgehammer. The Sym-produced good was just too expensive, so I didn’t even use it in my cooking for the inn.

“What’s that?” Ludo Ruu asked, his eyes opening wide. The women all seemed super interested, too.

It was a white, semicircular object that was around 15 centimeters in diameter and five centimeters thick. Originally it had been fully circular, but well, we had already used quite a bit in our dinners at the Fa house. Though the surface was white, it was a pale yellow where it had been cut.

For the full original ingredient, it had cost 20 whole red coins. It was a luxury item that the owner of The Sledgehammer had purchased for his own use rather than to sell, which he fortunately was willing to sell to us in turn.

“Is it poitan? No, that’s not it... Is it food?”

“It is. The folks of the Eastern Kingdom of Sym make it from the milk of an animal called a gyama that lives there, and they refer to it as dried milk. Back where I come from we called it cheese, though.”

Using my kitchen knife, I cut that gyama cheese into slices around 7-8 millimeters thick.

I placed a piece atop each of the tarapa sauce-coated sautés, and as the cheese started to get nice and gooey, an indescribable aroma spread throughout the room.

“Whoa, what is that...? What a strange smell...”

“Right? It’s not an ingredient you see at all in the post town, but it’s supposedly full of nutrition and will help make you nice and strong. It may seem a little tricky to eat at first, but folks who like it generally really like it.”

My clan head, for example. For Ai Fa, hamburger steaks with sweet fruit wine sauce and this added on top had become her favorite dish. I had just said that tarapa went best with it before because I knew the Ruu clan head wasn’t all that fond of sweet sauces.

“Well then, let’s get this celebration started,” Donda Ruu stated in a serious tone, then began the pre-meal ritual. And once he finished reciting that, the banquet finally kicked off.

In a pleasant surprise, the first one to speak up was the birthday girl herself.

“Whoa, what is this?! It’s really good!”

“Yeah, it’s yummy!” Rimee Ruu agreed.

With that, I breathed a sigh of relief and bit into my own sauté.

The gyama cheese had a flavor reminiscent of Camembert. There was a definite richness to it, but it wasn’t too quirky of a flavor. And yeah, with the whitish color and creamy texture, it really did remind me a lot of Camembert.

It certainly wouldn’t be necessary to explain how well tomatoes and cheese went together. The tomato-esque tarapa blended with the creamy taste of the gyama cheese, and elevated the clear flavor of the loin meat.

I still felt it probably went best with the hamburgers, but this sirloin sauté didn’t exactly lose out to that, either. I even unwittingly broke out in a smile from how tasty it was.

“Hey, this cheese stuff is definitely tasty, but...” Ludo Ruu quietly started. Concerned that he didn’t like the dish, I turned his way. “What’s with this tarapa sauce? It tastes different than normal, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I did a little extra on that end, too. I added tau oil and chitt seeds, and also fine-tuned the ratio of diced aria and fruit wine, too... Is it better normally, then?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. It’s crazy tasty. In fact, it’s almost too tasty, and that’s what caught me off-guard.” Ludo Ruu ripped off a chunk of baked poitan, dipped it in the sauce, and then tossed it in his mouth. “Yup, that’s good. Now that I think about it... it’s been a really long time since I’ve had your cooking.”

“Really? But you did some snacking when you were on guard duty, and you taste tested the cubed giba meat stew, didn’t you?”

“That’s not what I mean. I was talking about when you seriously give it your all to make dinner. And so, y’know...” Ludo Ruu said, hesitating and looking over his family.

The one to ultimately reply was Granny Tito Min.

“It’s not like you to try to act all considerate like that, Ludo. You can just come out and say something’s delicious, can’t you?”

“No, but...”

“It caught me off guard, too, Asuta. It seems your cooking skills have improved quite a bit.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes, definitely. Thanks to the lessons you’ve given us, we’ve grown able to make a variety of different dishes. Reina and Mia Lea in particular have gotten so skilled that I wouldn’t have expected there to be that much of a difference between their cooking and yours, and yet...”

“Oh, stop that. There’s no way that we could ever measure up to Asuta,” Mia Lea Ruu chimed in with a grin. “Still, I was surprised, too. Your cooking truly is delicious. We should be making it in mostly the same way, so how is it that it tastes so different?”

“That’s because anything and everything about it is different. There’s of course his handling of the knife and management of the flames, and then there’s also how much of which ingredient he uses, how he adjusts things after testing the taste, and other little things I don’t even know how to explain. Asuta’s methods are completely and utterly different from ours.”

Reina Ruu had been the one to say all that.

Since Lala Ruu was seated up at the head today, Reina Ruu and I were actually a bit closer to each other than usual. And so, I could see the admiration shining calmly away in her eyes even brighter than usual as she looked my way.

“I was quite surprised as well. I suppose it’s only natural that you would improve after cooking hundreds of meals day after day for work. But still... I really was taken off guard.”

“I think ‘hundreds’ is a bit of an exaggeration...”

Still, it was true that I was spending most of each day cooking. And it was my creed to give my all each and every day, but still, it was a little embarrassing to hear such direct praise.

“But putting myself aside, you’ve grown a lot too, Reina. Go ahead and try that soup to see, Asuta,” Mia Lea Ruu stated.

I nodded back and picked up my plate of soup.

The giba soup had tau oil added, and the meat in it had turned a light brown. Mia Lea and Rimee Ruu had been the ones to make it, but the one to do the final taste testing and fine tune it with tau oil and salt was Reina Ruu.

I scooped up a spoonful, took a sip, and instantly shouted out, “Wow, that’s delicious!”

Reina Ruu broke out in a joyful grin.

“Reina’s the one who thought up that seasoning. She didn’t seem to do anything too tricky, so why is it that the taste turned out so different, I wonder?”

She didn’t do anything tricky... That certainly seemed to be the case.

She had made broth from the meat, then added salt, tau oil, and pico leaves for flavor. I didn’t think just adding tau oil should have brought about such a change, though.

The vegetables in the soup were aria, chatchi, and gigo. To relate them to foods from my world, that was like onion, potato, and yam.

The choice to add in gigo cut into circular slices was a really good one. And I’d actually been using tau oil quite a bit since first purchasing it, too. Thanks to that, I could say it really was quite a bit like soy sauce, which made it a great match for the gigo.

Even with all that in mind, this still sure was seriously tasty. Since she hadn’t used any complicated tricks, that flavor was down to the balance of seasonings and ingredients, as well as how she managed the flame. And I had to say, she had handled all that perfectly.

The real clincher in the dish was probably the tau oil. Actually, I had gotten to try some soup without any in it around ten days back. And back then, the taste hadn’t had anywhere near as much of an impact on me. So by adding the tau oil, the taste had improved dramatically. Plus, by increasing the amount of seasoning being used, that meant the balance was more important than ever before.

However, that wasn’t enough to explain everything. After all, this soup tasted even better than what I made personally.

The flavor had a depth to it. Beyond the refreshing sweetness from the tau oil, I could sense a subtle fragrant flavor. And that was where the greatest difference in the overall taste was coming from.

“Did you... add grilled meat in addition to raw when making the broth?” I saw Reina Ruu’s eyes open wide in shock. “And that’s not all. This charred soy sauce flavor... Did you sauté ground meat in tau oil and add that, too?”

“That’s amazing! How did you know?”

“Ah, so I was right? That was pretty much all just guesswork... You’re the amazing one here, Reina Ruu.”

“No, it’s still you. I can’t beat you at all, Asuta!”

As she said that, though, her eyes sparkled with joy.

Just what sort of face was I making, though? This was probably the first time I had truly thought someone else’s cooking was delicious since coming to this world.

And I wasn’t feeling that way towards a dish that used unknown foods from the south or east, but rather one made from the exact same ingredients I used. To put it bluntly, I felt incredibly moved.

“Hey, kid,” Donda Ruu suddenly called out. I was still half in a state of shock, but I managed to turn his way. “Two days from now, there’s going to be a bit of a banquet to celebrate all the giba we’ve hunted. Could you help man the stove for it?”

“Huh...?”

Donda Ruu had once again finished eating before everyone else, and was currently gulping down a container of fruit wine.

Lala Ruu’s head swiveled to stare intently at her father’s perpetually displeased-looking face from the side.

No, it actually wasn’t just her. Pretty much everyone’s eyes were opened wide in shock as they gazed at the clan head.

“I-I can really help out with the preparations for the banquet?”

“I’m the one asking you, y’know.” Donda Ruu’s always-fierce blue eyes were glaring right at me. “On that day the men under the Ruu will gather, and we’ll hold a contest of strength. I’d like to have you grill up the giba meat that’ll be given to the winner. What do you say...?”

“If you’ll have me, then I’ll gladly accept,” I replied despite not really having time to get it through my head.

Donda Ruu just quietly muttered back, “I see.”

◇

“Thanks so much for today! Your cooking was seriously tasty, Asuta!”

After the dinner ended with a friendly atmosphere and we talked for just a bit, the time came for us to leave the Ruu settlement.

Lala Ruu had been the one to escort us out of the house. Her red hair was adorned with red and blue flowers, and she had a seriously joyful smile on her face.

“That cheese stuff was such an unusual food, but I really loved it! If my dad gives his permission, could you ask for some for the Ruu clan, too?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty hard to get ahold of, but I can at least ask the owner of The Sledgehammer.”

“Thanks! You’ve really made this a day that I’ll never forget.”

When she was truly happy, Lala Ruu let it show every bit as clearly as Rimee Ruu. And just seeing this smile was enough to completely wipe away my exhaustion from today’s work.

“Still, I never imagined my dad would go and ask you to man the stove, Asuta! I was so surprised that I almost choked on some meat!”

“Yeah, it caught me off guard, too. But it also made me happy... I’m sorry for going and accepting all on my own, though, Ai Fa.”

“Don’t worry about that. Instead, you should feel glad to have one of the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge acknowledge your cooking skills like that,” Ai Fa bluntly replied while holding onto Gilulu’s reins.

Her expression looked kind of displeased somehow, but before I could bring that up, Lala Ruu cheerfully chimed in, “That’s right! And it’s the contest of strength, too! The one to win that’s always either my dad or Dan Rutim! So that means he asked you to man the stove because he wants to eat something tasty, right? That’s amazing!”

“A contest of strength, huh? Doesn’t it seem like Mida would have a real chance, then?”

“There’s no way! Even Mida couldn’t possibly compete with dad or Dan Rutim. Dan Rutim even went and lifted the eldest son of the Maam, who’s bigger than him, right over his head!”

“Ah, so is the contest of strength a grappling competition, then?”

If that was the case, I could certainly see Mida failing to get the better of Donda Ruu or Dan Rutim.

At any rate, all I had to do was put all my skill into preparing a dish for the winner.

“Well then, I guess it’s about time for us to head out. I’ll be counting on you again tomorrow at work, Lala Ruu.”

With that, we finally went to leave.

However, the smiling Lala Ruu went, “Huh?” with a tilt of her head, looking past us. “What are Shin Ruu and Mida doing out so late at night?”

When I turned and looked, sure enough I found the pair approaching from the other side of the plaza. Mida was the one holding a candlestick, and seeing his face illuminated from below was seriously like something out of a horror movie.

“Hey, Mida. We were planning on heading over your way next, but you came to us, huh?”

“Yeah... And Ai Fa’s here too...”

“That’s right. I’m glad to see you looking well, Mida of the Ruu clan,” Ai Fa stiffly replied, her gaze narrowing a bit. “Still, did you lose a bit of weight? Though you’re still quite unusually large.”

“Huh, what are you talking about?! He’s just as soft and flabby as always!” Lala Ruu excitedly chimed in, despite the fact that she was saying something rather rude. It seemed that girls her age were quite frightening in this world, too.

“Asuta, Ai Fa... I’m sorry...”

“Huh?”

“For what? I don’t remember anything happening that you would need to apologize for.”

“But because of me, you aren’t able to sleep at the Ruu settlement, right...? So I’m sorry...” Mida’s fatty cheeks trembled, but his expression didn’t shift. “Once my house is done, I’ll be giving back that other one... So till then, I’m sorry...”

“Your house?” I questioned.

The always calm and composed youth by Mida’s side responded, “Mida is currently building his own home under my father Ryada’s guidance.”

“Your own house! So that’s what the lumber you were gathering earlier in the day was for?”

“Yeah... Mia Lea Ruu told me to make one. It’s really really tiring, but I’m giving it my all...”

Mida was currently sleeping in the vacant house we always borrowed. That was why we had ended up heading home instead of trying to stay at the Ruu settlement. But was Mia Lea Ruu reading too much into that and going overboard? If so, then I felt plenty bad for Mida, too.

But when I went to voice those feelings, Lala Ruu beat me to the punch and said, “You don’t need to worry about that. We would have needed a new house down the line, anyway. And my mom said it made sense to have him learn the techniques, too.”

“Ah, right. The general rule is that when anyone but the eldest son gets married, they’re supposed to move out of the house, right? And the Ruu main house alone has seven of you siblings, too.”

“That’s right. And everyone but me and Rimee have already turned fifteen, so they should hurry up and get out already.”

“And you’ll be able to get married in two years too, huh?” I quietly muttered, only to get a firm slap on the back.

Mida didn’t seem to even understand what we were talking about, and his blank gaze turned towards Ai Fa.

“Once my house is ready, will you two come to the Ruu settlement more...?”

“That’s nothing for you to worry yourself about. Besides, it’s been decided already that we’ll visit this settlement again two days from now. But at any rate, that work will surely grant you strength. So keep on striving to your fullest at it.”

“Sometimes, I don’t understand what you’re saying, Ai Fa...”

“I’m saying keep giving it your all.”

“Yeah, I will...” Mida replied, his cheeks shaking again.

If he lost a bit more weight, would I start having an easier time reading his emotions? I got the feeling that if that happened, I would more directly come to understand this mysterious being.

“By the way, what are you doing here, Shin Ruu? Do you have some sort of business with Asuta and Ai Fa?” Shin Ruu looked just a bit troubled at that question from Lala Ruu. And seeing that shift in expression, Lala Ruu raised an eyebrow. “What’s with that face? You didn’t want to ask how to perform sacrificial hunting again or something, right? Your house is earning coins now, so there shouldn’t be any need for that.”

“That was over a month back. Please just drop it already.”

With that, Lala Ruu turned away with a “Hmph!”

As he stared at her angry face from the side, Shin Ruu held out his right hand. Held in it was a truly splendid yellow flower, about as big as a human palm. Lala Ruu glanced over out of the corner of her eye, and in no time at all she was exclaiming, “Wow! That’s amazing! What a pretty flower! Is it a mizora...?”

“Yeah. It was my first time seeing a yellow mizora too, so it really caught me off guard. I happened to find it while out hunting today.”

“That’s so amazing! I never knew there were yellow mizora! I’ve never seen one before, either!” Lala Ruu exclaimed, then she brought it to her face and sniffed. “It smells nice, too!”

“Only members of the same house are supposed to grant blessings for a birthday, but... would you accept this?”

“Huh? You’re giving it to me?” Lala Ruu questioned, looking clearly puzzled.

Shin Ruu just gave a small nod, the same look on his face as always.

“You’re fond of yellow flowers, aren’t you? And since I happened to find it on the day of your birth, I wanted to give it to you. Is that a problem...?” the boy answered, his composed face looking a bit red. Perhaps that was just due to the light from the candlestick Mida was holding, though. I couldn’t tell, to be honest, but it was abundantly clear that Lala Ruu was blushing, at least.

“Did I ever tell you that I liked them, Shin Ruu...?”

“You did. I think it was back when we were even littler than Rimee Ruu, though.”

“I see,” Lala Ruu whispered quietly, moving one of the flowers adorning her head down to her chest. Then, she turned so that the now open spot was facing straight towards the youth.

Shin Ruu gently placed the yellow flower he was holding beside Lala Ruu’s temple. It was striking how vividly that primary color popped against the girl’s flame-like red hair.

“I’ll be praying from the depths of my heart that this next year is filled with happiness for you, Lala Ruu.”

“Thanks,” Lala Ruu mumbled looking back at Shin Ruu with upturned eyes.

Sensing the mood, I gave my clan head’s arm a nudge with my elbow.

“Okay, well then, it really is about time for us to get going. I’ll see you again tomorrow, Lala Ruu. And Shin Ruu and Mida, you two take care.”

“Ah, r-right! You be careful on your way back, too! And thanks for everything today!”

As they saw us off, the two of us crossed through the plaza while accompanied by Gilulu.

The moonlight actually seemed to be shining down pretty brightly tonight.

“Man, that sure was a great day. Lately we’ve been heading to the Ruu settlement whenever there’s trouble, so it was nice to head there and take it easy for the first time in a while,” I earnestly stated.

“Really?” Ai Fa replied.

Huh? I thought to myself, and turned around to find her seriously frowning.

“W-What’s wrong? You’ve been looking all displeased for a while now. Are you upset about something?”

“I certainly am... Just what exactly was with that soup the second Ruu daughter came up with?”

“Huh? That was ordinary soup using tau oil, wasn’t it? The seasoning made it really delicious, though.”

“Why are you just smiling away like a fool...? Did you not feel anything at all after eating that, Asuta?”

“I wasn’t especially smiling or anything... And what exactly are you so angry about?”

Ai Fa stopped right around when we were exiting the plaza and turned to face me head on.

“Asuta! Tomorrow, make a soup that’s even tastier than that!”

“Huh? What’s this about, all of a sudden? I’d of course like to strive to do that too, but it’s not like everybody’s tastes are the same to start with anyway...”

“I don’t need your excuses! If you won’t promise me that, then I’ll drag you back rather than letting you ride on Gilulu!”

“Alright, I got it! I’ll give it my absolute best shot!”

“Don’t go forgetting those words...”

I didn’t really get it, but it seemed Ai Fa was also taken aback by Reina Ruu’s skills.

I was grateful to see her get so worked up over the matter, and it wasn’t like I just felt casually glad to see the growth displayed by the girl. Reina Ruu wasn’t just my future rival. She had already climbed her way up to that point, here and now. And there was no way that would ever fail to get me fired up.

Perhaps sensing something from my expression, Ai Fa’s frown shifted back to normal and she gave a firm nod.

“As long as you understand. Well then, shall we be heading back?”

“Yeah.”

At last, it was time for the tandem totos ride.

Thanks to the bit of practice I did last night, I had learned how thrilling riding on a totos could be. And as long as Ai Fa was wearing her leather cloak, there shouldn’t be any issue with clinging closely to her...

Or at least that was the thought running through my head, but Ai Fa suddenly started undoing the fastener to the cloak in question.

“H-Huh? Um, clan head...?”

“What is it?” Ai Fa asked as she laid out her removed cloak atop Gilulu’s back. Then, she kicked off the ground and landed atop the totos just as gallantly as always. “Now then, you get on too.”

“Y-Yeah, I will. But why did you go and remove your cloak? It should be fine to keep it on while riding Gilulu, right?”

“Hmm? I simply removed it because it can prove annoying when the wind catches it. That’s no problem at all when I’m riding alone, but with you clinging onto my torso from behind, the gusts that get caught will go right up to my shoulders rather hard.”

“I see. But it’s not like you’re going to be running Gilulu full force, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?”

“It may not be a serious issue, but it’s still annoying. Anyway, just hurry up and get on.”

Ai Fa stared my way, a clear look of displeasure shining in her eyes.

Having no choice at that point, I grabbed ahold of her outstretched hand and clambered up atop Gilulu’s back. Then, I wrapped both arms around Ai Fa’s waist... and cried out, “I really can’t do this, after all!”

However, my clan head paid my complaint no heed and just gave Gilulu a kick in the side. The totos broke out in a stride in no time at all, and I clung to Ai Fa in a panic. I was grabbing her bare midriff, which wasn’t covered by any clothing whatsoever. Had she been using giba summoning fruit in traps? Because I could smell a sweet fragrance coming from her complexly done-up blonde hair.

“The moon is bright out tonight. Should I run him a bit faster?”

Cut me a break! I screamed out in my head, just in time for Gilulu to energetically pick up speed. I clung as tight to my clan head as I could possibly manage so as not to be thrown off.

Lala Ruu had turned 13, and I had also encountered my first true rival since coming to this world. Yes, the 25th of the blue month had certainly been an eventful day.