The group in front of us grabbed the plates immediately after I said that, with great interest showing on their faces.
“Delicious!” Yumi exclaimed after taking her first bite. “This is incredibly good! I mean, giba cutlets are great to start with, but this is even better!”
“Really? I’m glad you like it.”
Just as I was wondering what the people of the forest’s edge would think of it, I heard Shin Ruu give a satisfied sigh, while his two younger brothers were smiling every bit as brightly as Yumi was.
“So giba cutlets can be made like this too? And this shaska...it seems to taste even better than it did with the curry,” Shin Ruu said.
“That’s great to hear.”
Most people of the forest’s edge enjoyed giba cutlets a lot, so I had been a bit worried about how they’d react to the giba katsudon, which used a somewhat different flavoring. Of course, it wasn’t as if I didn’t have confidence in it or anything. Ai Fa and the chefs from the nearby clans who had given it a try yesterday had all really liked it, and Shin Ruu and his brothers were clearly enjoying it too.
“Are you keeping this to one plate per person too? Ugh, I wish I could eat more! I feel like I’m even hungrier than I was before I ate it! Maybe we should bring some over to Lala Ruu and her group?” Yumi said, making a huge commotion that drew a crowd of people who now realized that our dish was complete. We could only prepare enough for a few people at a time, so the line ended up even longer than before. But despite that, Toor Deen continued to ready batch after batch of giba katsudon with skill and care, and no sign that she was getting flustered in the least.
“You completed this dish just yesterday, and yet you’re leaving it up to Toor Deen to prepare it,” Ai Fa whispered to me as I continued to make piles of shaska.
“Yeah. It takes a bit of practice to serve up shaska like this, so for today, that’s my job.”
Plus, Toor Deen had gotten lots of experience with giba egg-drop soup at the stalls, so I had no concerns about her cooking with those ingredients.
In order to conform to the tastes of the people of the forest’s edge, we hadn’t flavored the tau oil sauce all that strongly. However, the shaska was able to pick up a whole lot of the sauce, which made this dish pretty distinctive. Nothing like white rice had previously existed at the forest’s edge or in Genos generally, and with this, I had been able to convey the deliciousness of donburi dishes to them for the first time. Everybody looked really happy as they stuffed their faces with the giba katsudon.
“Ooh, you went with giba cutlets this time? That looks super tasty!” Rimee Ruu exclaimed as she and her group approached once more.
After giving Yun Sudra some instructions, I called out to the young girl. “Hey Rimee Ruu, we’re preparing some minced cutlets for Jiba Ruu, so could you deliver them to her?”
“Gotcha! Granny Jiba’ll be really happy! Thanks, Asuta!”
Because of her weak teeth, Granny Jiba couldn’t eat giba cutlets, so we always made her minced cutlets instead. And for today, that meant a special minced katsudon. Then, as I got back to serving up the shaska, Ai Fa whispered into my ear again.
“Asuta, it makes me very happy to see you work so hard for Granny Jiba.”
“Well, she’s important to me too, so putting a little extra effort in for her is only natural, I’d say.”
“Right... Still, I cannot help but wonder what that dish must taste like when prepared with minced cutlets.”
“Oh yeah, minced cutlets are one of your favorites too. I’ll prepare it for dinner soon. I bought some extra shaska to use for our dinners at home.”
“Good,” she replied. Then, a few seconds later, I suddenly felt her tousling my hair. When I glanced up in surprise, I found my clan head looking away nonchalantly. “Please allow me that,” she said.
“Hey, you don’t need to ask my permission.”
Ai Fa had touched me, which must have meant she hadn’t been able to hold back the emotions she was feeling. I quickly got back to work on making piles of shaska while trying to contain the joy I felt because of that.
The majority of the people around us came up to our stoves themselves, but there were also plenty seated on blankets who were getting food brought to them, so we ended up handing everything out without seeing Bozl and his fellow chefs again.
After that, it was time for us to eat too. We split up the remaining shaska evenly and had a taste of giba katsudon, allowing us to share in a bit of the joy everyone else had gotten from the dish. Though the giba cutlets had been prepared in advance and the shaska had cooled off a bit, that didn’t hinder our enjoyment at all.
“This stuff is so good. I’m sure the guests and the members of the Ruu clan must have been happy with it,” Toor Deen said.
“Yeah. I’m honored to have taken part in making such wonderful banquet food,” Yun Sudra added.
The five chefs who had assisted me all said stuff like that too. And with that, our work for the night was done for the time being.
“All that’s left is the cleanup. Let’s wash the pots, then distribute the clean plates to the other stoves,” I said.
“We’ll take care of that. You and Ai Fa should go enjoy the banquet, Asuta,” Yun Sudra suggested.
At times like these, Toor Deen would usually ask to accompany us, but apparently she was going to be sticking with the Liddo woman instead today. This would be the Liddo woman’s first time meeting most of the people here, so Toor Deen was going to show her around. It was the same for the Fou and Ran women too, so Yun Sudra was going to be their guide. I kind of felt like a mama bird watching her babies leave the nest.
“Okay, then I’ll leave all of that to you. You all enjoy the banquet too, okay?” I said, and with that, Ai Fa and I stepped away from the stoves together. “Hey Ai Fa, I wanted to check in on Tia before we enjoy the banquet. What do you think?”
“I don’t mind. I’ve certainly seen enough of her, but I know the two of you have been separated for some time now.”
And so, the two of us headed toward the branch house where Tia was staying. As we walked, and in between responding to the greetings that were coming from all around us, I said to Ai Fa, “You know, I didn’t see you outside until the sun was almost fully set. Were you listening to Tia and Granny Jiba chat about Mount Morga that whole time?”
“Indeed. It seems Granny Jiba is quite interested in the red people. Still, I suppose that’s not so strange, considering how spirited she has always been when she’s spoken with townsfolk in the past.”
Sure enough, Granny Jiba had talked quite a bit when she had gone to Dora’s house in the Daleim lands too. I wondered if she had a general interest in how people from other places lived.
Currently, the Ruu elder was seated on a cloth laid out between the main house and the ritual flame, surrounded by a ton of people. I spotted a number of folks from the leading clans such as Donda Ruu around there, and Lefreya as well, so it sort of looked like they were having a summit meeting or something.
I watched them out of the corner of my eye until we arrived in front of the branch house, and I heard Jirube bark from the other side of the door. The dogs and all the young children from the Ruu clan were gathered there.
“We are Ai Fa and Asuta of the Fa clan. May we step inside for a bit?”
“Go ahead,” a voice replied, so we opened the door and Jirube came running right up to us. Ai Fa’s eyes narrowed affectionately as she stroked his large head. Meanwhile, Brave and the two Ruu hunting dogs remained sitting in place, while Sati Lea Ruu and Granny Tito Min watched over the kids in the main hall.
“So you two are on duty here?” I asked the women
“Yes. Since we have people to spare, we’ve been keeping our shifts as short as possible.”
Only the kids from the Ruu settlement under the age of five were in the house, but it was a huge clan with around forty or so members, so there were a fair number of young children, and they all looked rather worked up from the excitement of the banquet. I was left tilting my head, however, as I didn’t see Tia anywhere.
But then, a familiar voice called out from above us, “Asuta, Ai Fa, why are you here? The banquet’s only just begun, hasn’t it?”
When I looked up in surprise, I saw Tia’s face peering down from the beams that supported the ceiling. Though houses at the forest’s edge were all one story, since they didn’t have separate ceilings, the interior spaces went right up to the roof, which made them fairly tall. Tia had to be easily three meters up on top of that beam as she smiled down at me.
“H-Hey, that’s dangerous. What are you doing in a place like that?”
“It’s not dangerous at all. Those young children have been trying to swarm me, so I’m taking a break up here.”
“You have a broken bone in your right leg, do you not? How in the world did you climb up so high?” Ai Fa asked with a furrowed brow, only for Tia to tilt her head in confusion.
“What do you mean, ‘how’? Given how skilled you are at climbing trees, Ai Fa, getting up this high should be no trouble at all for you.”
I could see Ai Fa managing that with her capabilities, but I couldn’t even hazard a guess as to how Tia had pulled off such a feat with a broken right leg.
“Never mind. Just come down from there. We can’t converse properly like this.”
“Okay. Catch me, Ai Fa.”
Before Ai Fa could even finish telling her to wait, Tia dropped down from the beam. My clan head reached out in a fluster and managed to catch her perfectly.
Then Tia shot me a smile as Ai Fa held her in a bridal carry. “I don’t know why you’re here, but it makes me really happy to see the two of you. Nothing bad happened to you, right, Asuta?”
✦ ✦ ✦
