Chapter 1: A Hunter's Pride

1

The day after the friendship banquet was held at the Ruu settlement, the Gamley Troupe departed from Genos, and we returned to our everyday lives.

Half a month had passed since the sun god's revival festival at this point, and though the post town had mostly quieted down long ago, there had been some lingering energy still hanging in the air for a while longer. The biggest reasons were probably the friendship banquet that we had been looking forward to so much, and the fact that the Gamley Troupe had been staying at the settlement at the forest's edge.

The Gamley Troupe in particular was a real embodiment of the festival atmosphere, in my mind. It kind of felt like they had brought the lively atmosphere of the revival festival with them when they arrived in Genos.

"We enjoyed ourselves very much too. If at all possible, I'd like to stop by Genos again for the next revival festival." Those were Pino's last words before she departed from Genos with the rest of her company. Though I hadn't had much of a chance to talk to the other troupe members, as I watched their seven wagons leave the settlement at the forest's edge, I was struck by a strange sense of loneliness.

Even so, I couldn't keep letting my emotions overwhelm me. We would be taking the day after the banquet off so we would be well rested and ready for whatever life threw at us when we returned to our normal work. After the opening of the outdoor restaurant, we had started selling eight hundred meals a day, and we were doing everything we could to make sure we stayed at or above that level.

Along the way, Ama Min Rutim had yielded her spot to her sister-in-law, Morun Rutim, after having helped out with the Ruu clan's stalls all this time. She had finally announced her pregnancy to everyone, and was now taking a break from working in the post town.

Even when heavy with child, women of the forest's edge helped out with work around the house as much as possible. But riding in a wagon that rocked as much and as roughly as ours did and then working around such a large crowd could easily lead to complications, so she stepped down at an early stage just as Li Sudra had done.

Ama Min Rutim and Li Sudra actually had a lot in common, being calm, gentle, and rather unshakable. Having both of them bow out of their work in the post town definitely hit hard, but everyone who remained was doing a good job, and I didn't have any concerns about Morun Rutim or Yun Sudra, who had been swapped in. The rest of us simply had to offer our congratulations to the two departing women for being blessed with children, and keep on working harder than ever.

Dan Rutim had apparently shed some manly tears when this all came out. The second son of the main Rutim house already had a child, but Gazraan Rutim was his eldest and had gotten married rather late by the standards of the forest's edge, which probably made Dan Rutim even happier to hear this news than he otherwise would have been. And really, just hearing about his reaction through the grapevine was enough to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

At any rate, the friendship banquet had passed, and it was now the seventeenth of the silver month.

After finishing up in the post town, I set to work on preparations for the next day with a number of women from near the Fa house. Actually, Toor Deen, Yun Sudra, and I were handling most of the tasks, while the other women were just producing curry base and dried pasta. Giba curry and carbonara remained part of the regular menu even after the revival festival, so their assistance was absolutely indispensable.

Once that was done, I was planning to use dinner at the Fa house to give several of our helpers a cooking lesson. The revival festival had been terribly hectic for the Gaaz, the Ratsu, and their subordinate clans, but things had finally settled down for them, so now they had the leeway to engage in this kind of activity again.

The study sessions at the Ruu settlement and doing business in the post town were both incredibly important duties, but the same went for teaching the small clans just how wonderful delicious food could be. Therefore, I had decided to alternate between study sessions at the Ruu settlement and cooking lessons at the Fa house every other day.

In addition to the five who had helped me out with business in the post town today, there were six women from clans like the Fou, Ran, and Liddo in attendance, all working on their own tasks. There were now four new stone stoves installed behind the Fa house, with a leather canopy three times the size of the previous one, creating an outdoor kitchen with a setup similar to our outdoor restaurant.

An unexpected cheer rose from the area of the outdoor kitchen, just as the prep work was about to wrap up. Ai Fa, who had resumed her work as a hunter only yesterday, had returned carrying a massive giba.

"Wow. That's quite a catch, Ai Fa," Saris Ran Fou called out, her beloved child clinging to her leg.

Ai Fa replied with a somewhat strained "Indeed." It was no surprise that she was struggling a bit. The giba looked like it weighed around a hundred kilos. There were fibaha vines tied around the beast's rear legs, and Ai Fa was coated in sweat all over as she carried it on her back.

"If you took down such a ridiculously massive giba, you should have called for our men to come get it. You're always giving us those pelts, so feel free to ask for our help every now and again," an older Ran woman chimed in.

Ai Fa breathed a sigh as she lowered the massive giba to the ground by the base of a tree, then turned to speak to the woman "But there's no guarantee that giiz or mundt wouldn't come creeping over while I was away trying to summon people. I wasn't all that far from here when I killed it, so I decided to carry it myself."

"That's really something. To think that you can catch such a massive beast all on your own..."

The other women were also staring at Ai Fa with looks of admiration. She had been seriously injured taking down the lord of the forest, and yet she had managed to bring back a sizable kill right after returning to her hunting work. On top of that, Ai Fa was a woman, and she hunted all on her own, so it was impossible to not be impressed with her.

The only person who looked worried was Toor Deen, who stepped forward in front of Ai Fa and said, "Um... Does this mean that you have your full strength as a hunter back? So then..."

"Yes, it's finally time to fulfill my promise to Lem Dom," Ai Fa said calmly while wiping the sweat from her brow. As soon as Ai Fa was back to one hundred percent, she was to have a contest of strength with Lem Dom in order to determine the latter's fate. It had been nearly a month now since that promise had been made. Would Lem Dom be permitted to live as a female hunter like Ai Fa? That question was finally about to be answered.

"I see..." Toor Deen said, staring at the ground with a worried look. But then her aunt, Jas Deen, stepped forward beside her.

"Well then, we'll run a totos up to the northern settlement once we finish assisting Asuta. Would you be able to do the contest of strength with Lem Dom tomorrow?"

"Yes. Lem and Deek Dom have waited quite a while for this day to arrive, after all."

Toor Deen and I were the only people in our group who looked concerned about what was to come. The other women, even the members of the Deen and the Liddo who had ties to the Dom clan, all seemed to think that whatever the outcome was, it would simply be the will of the forest. And that went even more so for those without blood ties, like the Fou and Ran.

"I'll personally inform Sufira Zaza over at the Ruu settlement. But first, I need to take care of this giba..." Ai Fa said, hanging her hunter's cloak on another tree branch and pulling out a knife that she was carrying on her waist. She didn't usually go without her cloak like this-outside and with visitors around-but perhaps she was feeling particularly satisfied at having fulfilled her duty as a hunter for the first time in a while. At any rate, she silently skinned the beast, and then pulled out and stacked up the innards.

"Regardless of how it turns out, Lem Dom's going to return to the northern settlement, isn't she?" Toor Deen whispered while burying some slices of meat in pico leaves that were held in a wooden box.

Next to her, Yun Sudra replied, "That's right. Lem Dom has helped the Sudra clan with our work many times, and the house where she's been living is nearby, so I'll be sad to see her go... I'm sure that's even more true for a blood relative like you, Toor Deen."

"Yes," Toor Deen answered with a little sigh. They only tended to see each other during morning prep work, but the young girl got along with Lem Dom better than anyone. Maybe she just had a talent for charming obstinate and strong-willed women, as Yamiru Lea and Sufira Zaza had also taken a shine to her.

"Still, who do you think is going to win? It's hard to imagine Ai Fa losing, but something's been different about Lem Dom recently. And Lem Dom's got an amazing body, which makes it even harder to judge," Yun Sudra said, and I felt similarly.

In any event, everything would be decided tomorrow. No matter how much of a fuss we onlookers made, it wouldn't do a thing to change Lem Dom's fate. All we could do...