Cooking with Wild Game: Volume 6

Looking at him, I'd say he was a bit taller than me, and also on the skinny side. And yet despite his looks and his young age, he felt just as impressive as the men around him.

"Well, I didn't really get any of that stuff Gazraan Rutim was saying about you doing business in the post town. But since the Suun clan are causing you trouble, I'll lend you as much help as you need."

"Right, thank you very much."

"I told you to talk normally..."

"Ah, perhaps it's because I've started doing business in the post town, but I've started finding it easier to talk that way."

"I see. Then in that case, each time you talk all polite, I'll slug you one."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"So you're really the Fa clan's chef?" Rau Lea asked, bringing his face in close. "You're the one who sharply chastised the Suun sons when they came barging into the wedding banquet, right? You look like a totally different person now, though."

"Ah, you see, I kind of lost my cool a bit back then."

"Hmm... Then you should lose it today, too. If you show any weakness to the Suun clan, they'll be sure to take advantage and do as they please."

He really seemed to look at things in the complete opposite of the way I did. After all, in my mind, it was important to make sure you stayed calm and composed in a dangerous situation.

"By the way, Asuta, Gazraan Rutim taught our Lea clan how to bloodlet and dissect a giba. That certainly does make the meat taste good, but it's still far from the food you served at the banquet. Just how exactly do you make that soft meat?"

"Ah, do you mean the hamburger? That's made by chopping up meat and then balling it back together... But it's a little hard to describe with words alone. The Ruu and Rutim women are familiar with how to make it by now, so I guess it would be best to learn from them," I said, taking care not to be too formal so as not to get hit.

"In that case, Ama Min Rutim, teach the Lea women how to make it. I want to be able to eat that in my house," Rau Lea said, looking back her way.

Ama Min Rutim was carrying a bag stuffed with vegetables on her back like everyone else as she walked along, and she politely bowed to Rau Lea in response.

"Very well. I'm not terribly skilled at making it myself, but I would certainly like to polish my skills alongside the Lea women."

"Ama Min Rutim, how old are you...?"

"Ah, I'm 17 years old, Rau Lea."

"Then don't use such polite language. Like I told Asuta, just talk normally."

"Ah, no. As one under the Ruu clan, I couldn't possibly speak impolitely to the head of the main Lea house."

Wait, this guy is the head of the main Lea house...?

"All the women started talking like that when I became the clan head. Even if you work the stove, you're still technically a man, so you better still talk normally, alright, Asuta?"

It seemed like I was steadily growing closer to this difficult-to-handle youth.

I tried looking over Ai Fa's way, but naturally my clan head was facing away and feigning ignorance.

"Ooh, what's this? So the Lea clan head is fond of hamburger? I wouldn't say that's bad, but the tastiest is the rib meat, right?" the Rutim clan head butted in.

His potbelly bobbed along as he quickly approached. I wish I could say this would be my salvation... but that didn't seem likely.

"Rib meat, huh? That's pretty darn tasty too, of course, but don't you feel the bones make it more of a pain to eat?"

"What are you saying?! Biting it off the bone makes it even more delicious! So much so that I'd prefer to eat giba legs with the bones, too!"

That sounds like it would be a pain to cook through. Still, if I polished my skill at baking in a covered pan a bit more, that probably wouldn't be impossible.

"Besides, it's mostly women and children who like hamburger. I respect that you're serving as clan head at such a young age, but it seems like you're still a bit of a kid, huh?" Dan Rutim said with a hearty chuckle, while Rau Lea looked openly annoyed.

"Are you trying to pick a fight between the Rutim and the Lea? You're being incredibly rude, treating a hunter like me as a child."

"Then just stop complaining and eat your rib meat. That's the perfect dish for a hunter."

Dan Rutim then completely ignored Rau Lea's brewing anger and turned to shoot me a goggle-eyed look.

"Asuta! I'm definitely going to get to eat rib meat tonight, right? That thin myamuu meat dish is good too, but it's not as delicious as ribs!"

I see, so Ama Min and Morun Rutim must have showed off their new skills at home right away after learning how to make myamuu giba during the study session three days back.

That was all well and good, but I couldn't help but say "Huh?" with a tilt of my head. "The Rutim clan's supposed to be providing some meat for today. And there should be ribs in with that, right?"

"No clue. Now that you mention it, I think Gazraan may have said something about that, but I was sleepy so it just went in one ear and out the other."

"I see..."

"I hate the idea of letting those Suun bastards eat such delicious food, but well, if it helps improve their rotten characters even just a bit, then I guess I can accept it! I'll give them a firm kick in the rear and tell them if they wanna eat tasty meat, then they'll do their jobs and hunt giba!"

"Ah, no, could I ask you to be as peaceful about things as possible...?"

"Hmm? What's that worried face for? Saying I'd kick them in the rear is just an expression. You don't think I'm that short tempered, do you?"

Despite his statement, I gave a stealthy sigh. I couldn't feel at ease in the least considering I had seen how angry he got with the Suun clan back at the wedding banquet.

"If they get all hotheaded and injure you, though, then even I don't know what I'll do," Dan Rutim said with a hearty guffaw, only for his jovial expression to shift into a more hunter-like one in an instant. "I don't care if we end up at war with the Suun clan, but you're the one person we can't afford to lose. Of course, you marrying into their clan is totally out of the question to start with, but more importantly than all that, you just better not die on us, alright?"

Dan Rutim apparently had no interest in our business in the post town. He didn't even seem to understand in the least what Ai Fa, Gazraan Rutim, and I were saying about bringing prosperity to the forest's edge. And yet, Gazraan Rutim said that when he informed his father that the Suun clan may be targeting me, he apparently flew into such a rage that it seemed like he was about to go storming off to the Suun settlement then and there.

When I heard that, I honestly felt embarrassed that I had pegged him as loving the taste of ribs but not caring that much about me personally.

With such thoughts in the back of my mind, I replied, "Right, thank you," only for Dan Rutim to laugh and slap me on the back.

"Well, in the kitchen the women will protect you, and we'll keep an eye on you the rest of the time! So you don't have to worry about it as you go and cook us up a delicious meal!"

I could feel a great deal of affection in his words of encouragement. That said, I think I heard my ribs creak from that slap, but at the very least nothing seemed to break.

"Hmph. The Suun clan themselves are nothing special. The ones we have to watch out for are the clans under them. A wimpy-looking guy like you could never put up a fight against them, so you better make sure not to get on their bad side even if things start going wrong."

Rau Lea may have had a sharp tongue, but he was still saying that out of concern.

It seemed the clans under the Ruu were actually a lot more friendly to me and Ai Fa than I had been thinking. None of them aside from Rau Lea had talked to me, and they all had serious looks on their faces, but none of them looked like they were annoyed at the extra work.

And on top of their basic natures, we were all thinking we wouldn't just go along with the Suun clan's plotting, making it feel like me and Ai Fa fit right in.

Maybe the incident at the Rutim banquet Rau Lea had mentioned was another big reason for that, too. When those three idiot Suun sons came barging in, all of the men present were clearly filled with rage. And those men naturally included the ones now moving together with us.

Having a common enemy strengthened the bonds within a group. Perhaps that effect reached all the way to me and Ai Fa, too.

I'd certainly feel grateful if that was the case.

There was no mistaking that.

We may not have been related in the least, but we had a shared hatred of the Suun clan, so we should all get along just fine.

As that thought ran through my head, Donda Ruu mumbled in a low voice from the front of the group, "I can see it..."

I faced back front in a hurry and held my breath just a bit. There was a rather hard-to-describe building there, hidden behind the treetops. No, "building" may be giving it too much...