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“Hey...”
“Yes! What is it?!”
“Don’t go yelling like that... Hand over that thing you have hidden near your chest.”
Ai Fa shot me a glare as she hung her fur cloak on the wall and propped up her large blade beneath it.
“It’s not as if some pale little man like you could do me harm even with a blade. But still, it’s the custom of the people of the forest’s edge that when you visit someone else’s home, you entrust your weapon to the master of the house.”
I was at a loss for words.
Ai Fa approached me, her eyes narrowing in an ever so slightly dangerous-looking manner. And she still had a knife dangling from her slim waist...
“Do you need me to say it again? If you intend to abide by the customs of the people of the forest’s edge, then hand over that blade.”
“Hold on a second, please! That’s gotta be meant to display your trust in each other... right?”
Ai Fa silently held out her left hand.
After three seconds of hesitation, I made up my mind.
“Alright. But this is incredibly valuable to me. And it’s more delicate than the sort of blades made for hunting, so could you please handle it as carefully as possible?”
“...Are you mocking me? None of the people of the forest’s edge would ever handle a blade improperly.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that if the edge gets chipped or anything, it’ll be really difficult to repair. As long as you understand all that, then it’s fine.”
I pulled out the knife that I had previously stashed away near my chest and offered it to Ai Fa, handle first. This time it was Ai Fa’s turn to stop in her tracks, as she stared at the ebony handle.
“...Is this blade a memento from your family?”
“Yeah, well, something like that...”
I was actually the one who went and died, but it was still true that we would never see each other again.
Ai Fa took the knife from me and held it close to her chest, then walked further into the room.
“None of the people of the forest’s edge would ever treat family improperly...” she whispered quietly, then opened the door farthest to the right and disappeared inside.
When she reappeared, Ai Fa was carrying a mountain of ingredients in place of my knife. As I watched with great interest, she approached the stove. Looking closely, the pot was actually pretty sizable, with a diameter of around 60 centimeters and a depth of 30. It was deep with a rounded bottom, looking just like someone had lopped off the top of a sphere. And the water that filled that sphere up halfway was already boiling.
“What do you want? It’ll still take some time before it’s ready, so just have a seat already.”
“It’s just that my family works in the food industry, so I can’t help but be interested in this world’s cuisine.”
Though Ai Fa shot me a seriously doubtful look, but rather than complaining any further she simply deposited the ingredients she was holding by her feet.
“Hmm... This sure is looking pretty luxurious.”
There were two different sorts of vegetables there that I had never seen before in my life. One of them was a seriously vibrant green color, but it otherwise looked just like a large onion. Just what exactly was the other one, though...? If I was forced to say what the lumpy little fist-sized sphere resembled, I’d have to say it was sort of like a potato. And yet, it was a sort of cream color, plus it utterly lacked the eyes you would expect from one of those. Maybe it didn’t grow underground...?
Overpowering all of that, though, was the lump of meat sitting there.
In all likelihood, it was from that pseudo-boar, the giba.
The leg looked like it had been used a bit already, but there was still plenty of meat around the thigh. The meat alone must have weighed at least 5 kilos... The pelt had been smoothly peeled back, revealing the red flesh underneath, which had been dusted with what looked almost like some sort of black wood shavings. Considering the powerful black pepper smell wafting through the air, it must have been some sort of spice used to preserve food.
The hunk of meat alone was placed atop a large, smooth leaf that reminded me of the ones on an Indian rubber tree. The vegetables, meanwhile, were placed right on the floor.
Looked like this dish was going to have some serious volume to it...
“Luxurious...? You really don’t know anything about how we people of the forest’s edge live, do you?” Ai Fa said without a hint of amusement on her face, as she started things off by grabbing the meat. She held it out over the steaming pot with an underhand grip, holding it just below the hoof. I worried that she may be getting ready to chuck it in as is, but she instead drew the knife that was at her hip and started slicing off pieces of giba meat. The way that she was shaving away at the surface of the meat reminded me of someone running a kabob stand. The thinly sliced cuts of meat fell down into the boiling water, then almost seemed to dance about inside the pot. Apparently she was prioritizing the spiced parts of the meat, as more and more of the red underneath was getting exposed.
No matter how I looked at it, that was clearly a hunting knife, but it actually seemed to be pretty darn sharp. It was around 20 centimeters long and about 8 millimeters thick. The back of the blade was jagged like a saw, giving the whole thing the feel of a survival knife. Just like that savage blade from before, it had leather wrapped around it to prevent slipping, but it lacked any sort of guard.
And now, that hunting knife was slicing off chunks of meat. What a wonderfully... rustic way of cooking. But I mean, I was the heir to an eatery myself. I didn’t have any interest in the hoity-toity cooking of the culinary world’s pompous elites, and I didn’t mind how something was prepared, just as long as it was sanitary.
When it comes to cooking, the only thing that matters is whether or not a dish is tasty. Heck, the only reason I care about presentation is because it makes a dish feel tastier. And keeping sanitation in mind is important because there’s just no point if your dish harms somebody, no matter how delicious it may be.
In other words, what I’m trying to say is... Watching Ai Fa heartily shaving off the meat with a practiced hand was seriously rousing my hunger.
“What are you looking so happy about...?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s just that it looks like it’ll be really tasty.”
“...When it comes to food, there is no good or bad taste.”
After uttering those harsh words once again, Ai Fa lowered the lid on the pot. Well, I say “lid,” but it was more just a square board. And then she placed a large, flat stone on top of it, probably as a weight.
Ai Fa returned the leftover red giba meat to the pantry, checked the temperature, and gave a satisfied nod. Then, she turned and looked at me.
“It will take some time for the meat to cook... Do you mind telling me your story while we wait?”