Cooking with Wild Game: Volume 5

2

"Asuta, long time no see," Reina Ruu called out.

The expression on her face was almost shockingly calm.

"Yeah, right back at you. I guess it's been around ten days now, right?"

Ten days since we had that unpleasant parting of ways at the Rutim banquet. When she asked me to leave the Fa clan for the Ruu, but I wasn't able to grant her wish.

And yet, she declared that she wouldn't give up and then left, leaving me to worry over how to deal with her. Ultimately, I decided I needed to remain firm.

But now, Reina Ruu was standing before me with a calm, gentle smile on her face.

In fact, she was so relaxed right now that it was as if the previous childlike innocence she used to give off had been locked away.

"Vina, here's what you asked for."

"Ah, thanks. It was probably heavy, right...?"

"No, not at all," Reina Ruu replied, lowering something on her back to the ground next to the stall.

It was a large bag meant for carrying vegetables. It seemed like there must have been something solid in there, as it settled down into a sort of angular shape.

"What's that? It looks like firewood..."

"It is. I gathered it up over the last three days..."

I still didn't get what was going on.

"We finished way ahead of schedule the last three days, right...? So Mia Lea said I should spend that extra time finding more work to do for you. And the only thing I could think of that I could do was gather firewood..."

"Oh, so that's it?! Man, thanks for that. We'll be using more firewood than ever starting tomorrow, after all."

"But you and I always have our hands full as it is, so I asked Mia Lea if it could be brought when someone comes to do shopping. And my mom replied with a smile, saying that was a cheap price to repay the leftover tarapa you've been giving us every day..."

Then, she shot me a bitter glance.

"I was thinking the whole time about how I'd surprise you, but then you went and said such a mean thing..."

"S-Sorry. That really was just a joke. And I'm really glad, thank you," I hurriedly apologized, half covering up the sound of bags being roughly plopped down. That was from Darmu Ruu dropping the bags he had been shouldering.

He had been holding three bags of firewood. Three times as much as Reina Ruu. It was possible to get to the post town in less than an hour from the Ruu settlement, but it would definitely still be difficult for me or one of the women to carry that much.

"Thanks to you too, Darmu... But is it alright for you not to be resting...?" Vina Ruu asked.

Darmu Ruu didn't reply.

I couldn't see his expression, as he had what looked like grey bandages wrapped all around his head and face.

But as always, those blue eyes he inherited from his father were lit up like those of a wild wolf, which made it clearer to me than anything else that this really was Darmu Ruu.

"You see, Darmu got a head injury while protecting a hunter from a branch family... It was a very serious injury, enough that he had a hard time walking around on his own until three days ago..."

"You don't need to tell him that," Darmu Ruu muttered in a low voice.

I hadn't even seen Darmu Ruu on the night of the banquet, so this reunion had taken even longer than my one with Reina Ruu.

On top of that, he hadn't been doing any talking around me, so this may have actually been my first time hearing his voice since that argument he had with Ai Fa, a month ago.

I had heard he got hurt, but that was already seven days ago. It was that serious of a wound...?

He had let his emotions get the better of him and run his mouth on that night a month ago, but he didn't show any signs of trying to make a move on Ai Fa since then, so I didn't see any reason for me to hold a grudge.

And so, I said, "Thank you very much," and earnestly bowed my head.

Of course, what I got back was a disapproving glare and some unfriendly words.

"I did this work to repay you for the tarapa you've been sending to the Ruu house. There's no reason for you to be thanking me."

"Geez, you sure are stubborn... Are you perhaps like dad in that way...?" Vina Ruu said with a giggle.

Darmu Ruu shot the same sort of glare her way, but that wasn't enough to quiet his daring older sister.

"Still, I'm glad to see you're feeling well enough to carry all that... You'll be able to head back out into the forest again soon, but don't push yourself, alright?"

"...I haven't fallen so low that I need someone like you worrying about me."

"Oh, my, what a horrible thing to say to your big sister... See, isn't he adorable?" Vina Ruu stealthily whispered to me.

I suppose it was the sort of adorableness that only relatives could see. In fact, if any of the folks from the Suun clan could give off that sort of pressure, I would feel at least 50% more in danger.

"...Asuta, I have a message from our mom and dad. Could you listen to it?" Reina Ruu quietly interjected. "If you need more help from tomorrow on, then they'll loan you Lala Ruu from the main house, and Sheera Ruu from one of the branch families."

"Ah, so it's Lala and Sheera Ruu?"

"Yes. I told them that I would absolutely like the opportunity to work with you, but that request wasn't granted," Reina Ruu said, and then she smiled.

Was she always the type of girl to make that sort of face under such circumstances?

What was it...? For some reason, I couldn't read her feelings at all.

"This is your new dish, isn't it?" Reina Ruu asked, her eyes falling on the plate of samples.

"Y-Yeah. If you'd like, you could try a sample. They've cooled down though, so I'll heat it back up for you."

"No. These are meant for the people of the post town to eat, aren't they? If I ate one, then there would be less left to feed them. And I don't want to do anything that would interfere with your work."

Reina Ruu cast her eyes downward and smiled.

When she saw that, Vina Ruu gave a listless sigh.

"Hey, Asuta... It's alright for me to have a taste test, right? If it's alright, could I do that now...?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah. Of course I don't mind."

More or less sensing Vina Ruu's intentions, I threw some fresh firewood into the now half-empty brazier and set it back in the stall.

Then, while the pot was heating up, Darmu Ruu called out "Hey," to Vina Ruu. "No one from the Suun clan has shown up today, have they?"

"That's right. In fact, it's not just the Suun clan... We haven't seen any people of the forest's edge in general, right...?"

"That's true. I mean, even if they were coming here for shopping they wouldn't come all the way over here to the outskirts, so it's possible none of them have even realized we're here yet."

"I see," Darmu Ruu said with his gaze fixed on Vina Ruu, and then he gave a small nod. "What about that Kamyua Yoshu man, then?"

"He just bought some of Asuta's cooking and left... Though with him, I suppose it's still possible he's hiding in the shadows of the trees somewhere and watching..."

"...I see," Darmu Ruu replied, shooting an even fiercer glance at the grove behind our stall.

That guy really could be hiding out somewhere right now, eavesdropping on our conversation... It was a truly unpleasant thought. He'd expressed an affection for the people of the forest's edge, but we didn't exactly have a mutual understanding in the least, so it was always hard to tell whether he was really an ally or an enemy.

"Alright, I'll go ahead and whip it up."

I dropped some aria into the freshly heated pot, then the meat, and next I went ahead and prepared a single serving of myamuu giba.

As Vina Ruu accepted it, she said, "It really does look delicious..." with a joyous smile on her face, and took a bite. "Yeah, it's tasty... But it's a really sweet flavor. I feel like our dad may hate it..."

"That's true. I used plenty of fruit wine, after all."

"But still, it's incredibly delicious... I think I like it just as much as the giba burgers..."

Vina Ruu took one more bite, and then she held it out towards Reina Ruu.

"Reina... This is my portion, so there's no need to hold back. Won't you at least try a bite...?"

"Huh, but...?"

"If you won't have any, though, then I'll eat all of it..."

As she said that, Vina Ruu took another bite.

A childish, anxious look flashed across Reina Ruu's face. Yes, now she looked like the girl that I knew from before.

"Well then, just one bite..." she said, timidly reaching out.

Then, her little mouth bit down on the myamuu giba... and her face erupted in a smile that made it look like she simply couldn't contain her joy.

"It's... delicious. It's a really powerful taste, isn't it...?"

"Yeah. I thought that this strong of a spice might better meet the tastes of...