Chapter 1: Genos Post Town

1

“Genos” referred to one of the territories in the Western Kingdom of Selva. It was at the easternmost tip of the kingdom’s vast territory and a bit to the south, a frontier town at the base of the undeveloped Mount Morga.

Still, even if it was classified as the “frontier” of Selva’s territory, it was extremely close to the friendly Southern Kingdom of Jagar and Eastern Kingdom of Sym, making it very important in terms of trade and distribution.

Furthermore, it had a warm climate and plenty of water, making it a rich and fertile land.

The so-called “city of stone” referred to the castle town at the center of the domain. It was protected by solid ramparts, and apparently you needed a pass in order to come and go there.

To the north was an orchard run by the nobles, and to the south, the plantations run by tenant farmers spread far and wide.

And splitting that Genos domain and Mount Morga in half was a stone highway, running straight across from north to south. As you walked along that road, there were plenty of residents of the domain working away on either side.

Between the castle town and the plantations, there existed a smaller, more open town where a great many travelers and merchants were free to come and go: the Genos post town.

◇

“Whoa...” was my first reaction, as I was unable to formulate a proper response to what I was seeing.

After conquering that terrifying rope bridge and walking just thirty minutes, the world suddenly opened up before me.

Considering our route here from the Fa house, we couldn’t have walked more than about an hour in total. Honestly, it didn’t even seem all that different from our trip to the Ruu house. But in spite of all that, the world had completely shifted.

“This sure is a shock... It feels like I’ve stepped foot in a whole other world...”

I had finally regained my words, but that irrelevant comment was the best I could manage. Still, the world around me had just undergone that great of a transformation.

“What are you surprised about? We people of the forest’s edge are living there in order to protect the Genos domain’s fields from giba. It only stands to reason that the Genos land spreads out nearby on our western edge, doesn’t it?” Ai Fa responded, looking more than a little displeased, but her cold hard logic simply couldn’t restrain my astonishment.

The people of the forest’s edge made a living by running about the forest in fur cloaks, hunting giba. So how was Ai Fa able to so easily accept this cultured domain existing right next to the settlement of such daring hunters?

Naturally, the buildings were still made of wood. They weren’t all single-story, though, as most of them had a second floor. Some of them used stones and mortar too, and they just looked sturdier all around.

There was white stone paving laid out at our feet, in the form of a highway. It was roughly ten meters across, and was surrounded by crowded buildings on either side, which continued straight off into the distance to the north and south.

More importantly, though, it was packed with people. There were all sorts of folks about, wearing more than just hunter’s garb.

There was a slightly chubby man in a little hat, yellow vest, and baggy, cream-white pants hurrying along with a large basket on his back. There was a sexy girl (though not quite as much as Vina Ruu) sashaying along gracefully, her chest covered, a loose shawl resting over her shoulders, and a long cloth wrapped around her all the way from her waist to her ankles. There was a large man lumbering by wearing a camel-colored cloak made from some other animal than a giba, and he had on a loincloth and leather sandals, plus a hatchet and a leather bag hanging from his waist, making for an outfit sort of like that of the people of the forest’s edge.

There were just so many different folks around that I could never describe them all one by one, even if I tried.

There was a skinny old man wearing what looked like a turban and a long, dark gray robe, kids running around in shabby looking clothes, half-naked brawny men carrying things around on their backs, and men hiding their faces under the hoods of leather cloaks.

The majority of them had tan-white skin like ivory, not so different from Japanese people, though they looked to mostly have a bit darker of a hue. Their hair color wasn’t just limited to black, though. Most of them had blackish brown or chestnut colored hair, and they all had deeply chiseled features that made them stand out from the folks back home.

Plus, there were people mixed in that had reddish white skin, as well as those who were even darker skinned than the people of the forest’s edge.

Everyone was hurrying down the road, taking care not to bump into anyone’s shoulders.

Rather than the variety of people and buildings on display, though, I was more shocked by the way they were all mingling together.

“Whoa, what’s that?!”

There was an object poking out roughly a meter above the crowd, bobbing up and down as it approached us.

“A totos bird,” Ai Fa said as if it was nothing special.

It was an absolute monster of a bird that must have been three meters long, like if someone had enlarged an ostrich even further. In fact, just like an ostrich, it had a long neck, a round body, and thick legs... but its whole body was coated in dark brown plumage. There was a leather strap around its sharp beak which connected to handles at the base of its neck. The one pulling on them was a large dark skinned man wearing just a hat with cloth around it and a loin guard. And there was luggage held in place with cloth on either side of the massive bird’s body.

“There’s nothing but inns on this block. The booths that sell food are further to the north.”

“Hey, hold on a minute, Ai Fa!”

I instinctively reached out and grabbed Ai Fa’s hand as she prepared to plunge into the crowd.

At first she turned around with a look of anger on her face, but that quickly shifted to shock and she drew close.

“What’s the matter, Asuta? Your face is completely pale. Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’m alright. I’m fine, but just... give me a minute, okay?” I responded, closing my eyes tight while feeling the warmth of her fingers.

My head felt like it was swaying back and forth, and it felt hard to breathe. I could feel my heart pounding hard, and the veins in my forehead throbbing at the same rhythm.

My logic was refusing what it was seeing. It was just way, way too different of a world.

I mean, the forest’s edge was plenty separated from how things were back home. A clan of folks who wore their prey’s pelts and hunted animals out in the forest was the sort of thing I could only imagine in fiction.

But, how should I put it...? They wielded metal weapons, built houses of wood, and prepared food in a stove, so they definitely had some plenty fine culture there. But they lived in tune with nature, and honestly it felt more to me like I had wandered into some unexplored region in the depths of the jungle rather than another world.

This post town was different, though.

The buildings were still made of wood, but the ground was paved with stone, which looked to be carefully maintained. The people didn’t have eyes that burned like those of beasts, and seemed to enjoy peaceful lives, but they still moved about in a hurry.

The sight was familiar to me. It really closely resembled the world I came from.

I’m sure there wasn’t electricity running through town, and their metalworking techniques probably weren’t all that advanced. Their culture was probably around the same level as it was in the Middle Ages. And yet, it definitely resembled my world.

And it was because of those similarities that it felt so alien.

This wasn’t the city of stone, just a rustic post town sprawled out alongside the highway... and yet, it was definitely a town. And the people living here weren’t hunters, but rather townsfolk who made their living through trade.

Seeing that similarity to my old world threw me into great confusion.

This definitely isn’t the world I came from. I was thrust into a whole other world that I don’t understand. I can’t... ever return back home.

“Asuta.” I could feel something strongly gripping my neck from behind, pulling my body in close, and bringing a mouth to my ear. “Are you alright? If you’re feeling unwell, you should lay down for a bit. You... you’re so pale it looks like you’re on the verge of dying.”

“I-I’m fine. I’m just a little dizzy...” I responded half unconsciously, then went ahead and finally opened my eyes again.

Ai Fa’s blue eyes were staring me from up so close that I was little shocked.

My nose had been paralyzed by there being so many people nearby, but now Ai Fa’s aroma was flowing into it. Perhaps because she no longer manned the stove, the smell of meat on her had grown a bit weaker. It was the sweet smell of fruit, and a strong refreshing herb aroma, and it was the most pleasant scent I could imagine. And bit by bit, it cleared away the numbness from my head.

Now that I think of it... I still don’t know where that sweet part of her smell comes from...

The aroma of lilo and the powerful scent of pico, as well as that of meat and fat, was something I smelled coming off every person and house at the forest’s edge. This sweet scent, though, didn’t seem to come from anyone else.

Just what is it? It’s a strange scent... I think it’s from some sort of fruit, but why can I only smell it on Ai Fa...?

As I felt a hand grip mine tight, that thought suddenly flew from my head and disappeared.

“Are you really alright? Don’t push yourself. Can you see me?”

“I can... I really am fine. I’m alright now.”

My whole field of view rapidly grew clearer.

Everything but Ai Fa’s eyes had been blurry, but now I could clearly make out her facial features. Her slender nose, her smooth brown cheeks, her little pink lips, and her blonde bangs dangling over her forehead were all clearly burned into my retinas, and I was starting to feel the warmth from the fingers on her right hand touching the back of my neck.

As I felt the firm sensation of the stone path under my unsteady legs once again, I knew that I had finally pulled myself back to reality.

“The light seems to have finally returned to your eyes. What exactly just happened, Asuta?” Ai Fa asked, removing her hand from my neck and stepping back. She kept on holding my hand though, which brought some relief to my still-exhausted heart.

“It’s a little hard to explain. The feel of this post town is kind of like where I came from... But even though it’s similar, the whole townscape and people around are completely different, so everything got all jumbled up in my head.”

Ai Fa furrowed her brows, looking like an elementary schooler who’d been presented with an especially baffling problem.

“I don’t quite get it, but you looked terrible. Please try not to worry me so.”

My eyes darted about unintentionally in response to that rather direct statement, only for Ai Fa to give a “Hmph” and gently let go of my hand.

“If you’re feeling better, then we’re heading for the street stalls. Make sure not to get separated from me.”

“Got it. If it comes down to it, I’ll just grab you from behind again.”

Seeing that I had recovered enough to joke around like that, Ai Fa gave my leg a merciless kick.

2

The townscape didn’t continue on for quite as long as I expected. After less than a ten minute walk the wooden buildings suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced by an even more jumbled flea market of sorts. The land seemed to be cleared out pretty far to the sides around the highway stretching off into the north, and there were plenty of shops aimed at travelers set up there, some being wooden stalls with roofs over them, while others were simply set up by spreading out their goods atop a cloth on the ground.

“Wow... This sure is something.”

The majority of the goods being sold were foodstuffs, with most of those being vegetables. I could see all those countless different vegetables from the Ruu pantry spread out here. The lettuce-like tino that helped me out last night, the thick ginkgo-esque pula, the bright red one that looked like a mix between a pumpkin and a tomato, the massive burdock that was bigger than me, and the creepy one that looked like a coiled snake... they were all here.

Since these shops were part of a post town alongside the highway, naturally their main clientele was travelers. They were also selling stuff like some huge chunk of grilled meat that I didn’t recognize, fur cloaks, wooden and metal bowls, pots, daggers, and bows and arrows.

I was also frequently spying those giant totos birds like the one we ran into earlier, and nobody seemed to treat them like they were anything unusual. I even saw some pulling a massive wagon, so I guess they were treated like horses and oxen from back in my old world.

My head was still feeling a bit dizzy, but rather than feeling terror, I was currently looking at everything with curiosity in my eyes.

And then, finally, I realized something: Here in this post town, Ai Fa was attracting more attention than I was.

There were all sorts of people wearing all sorts of outfits here, so I could see how I sort of blended into the crowd. But still, I would think that’d also mean Ai Fa wouldn’t be too out of place here either, with her wild outfit and everything. I mean, there were plenty of people with fur cloaks around, and it didn’t exactly seem rare to spy someone with a blade dangling from their hip. Plus there were a good number of women dressed in even more risky, revealing clothes, and I just spied a guy wearing some sort of feline pelt over his head rather than one from a giba.

But in spite of all that, there were a whole ton of gazes on Ai Fa, and most of them didn’t seem all that friendly.

One old-timer scowled at her and then looked away. A girl looked positively frightened and hid behind a stall. A man grinned and whispered into the ear of the guy next to him. Some folks even seemed to get frightened and adjusted their paths to detour around us.

Apparently, in this place Ai Fa was even more abnormal than I was. Of course since I was right by her side I got some attention too, but it was more like I was picking up her leftovers than anything.

It really is like a single wolf being loose in a flock of sheep...

Despite all of this, Ai Fa just kept silently walking on ahead. She didn’t look to be in a particularly bad mood, nor was she trying to intimidate anyone. No, she was just like a leopard out in the wild gracefully strolling along.

Naturally, when you were talking about a crowd of this size, there would be some who don’t know their manners. It was only occasionally, but I spied scoundrels drinking in the middle of the day and laughing up a storm, scarred men in leather armor who looked to be conspiring, and folks loudly complaining at merchants. But even they didn’t seem to be getting as many chilly glares as Ai Fa.

It can’t be... Do people seriously have this much contempt for “giba eaters”?

That thought made me seriously irritated. No, scratch that, I could feel some rage really boiling up inside.

I had heard that the people of the forest’s edge had come from the Southern Kingdom. So was everyone here a citizen of the Western Kingdom? But regardless, the people of the forest’s edge had dedicated their souls to the Western god for 80 years now, so didn’t that make them true and proper comrades?

As someone from another world, I just didn’t get it. I didn’t understand, but still, it definitely pissed me off.

While those thoughts were running through my head, Ai Fa stopped in front of a particular stall and said, “We’re here.”

It was a small wooden stand, with a curtain hung overhead to ward off the rain. There was a withered old person seated there, and I couldn’t quite make out if they were a man or a woman. Despite the fact that it was pretty nice out, they had on a cloak with a hood pulled over their head, and they had all sorts of decorations on their fingers and wrists, which looked like they were meant for some sort of spell. Yeah, this was seriously one unusual old person. From what I could see under their hood their face frankly looked like it had collapsed, and that creepy toad-like visage soon broke out in a grin. They seemed to be blind in one eye as it had gone white, while the other was a pale green, which was fixed on us.

“Giba horns and tusks, is it? How many?”

I still couldn’t tell their sex, even after hearing that voice.

And apparently, this place wasn’t actually a shop where goods were sold. Aside from the countless different animal pelts dangling from a pillar behind the old-timer, there didn’t look to be anything that could reasonably be for sale.

“Four giba worth,” Ai Fa replied, pulling a jangling necklace from a hidden pocket inside her cloak as she did so.

Giba each had a set of horns and tusks, so that meant with four giba worth she was handing over 16 of the things in total. However, Ai Fa had hunted five giba in this half a month alone, plus she received nine blessings from the Ruu clan, so there were surely plenty of horns and tusks left in her cloak.

The elder took the necklace from Ai Fa and carefully examined each and every tusk and horn carefully with their one good green eye, running their trembling fingers over the smooth white surfaces, before eventually breaking out in an eerie grin.

“Looks like there are some rather big ones mixed in here, aren’t there? Did you take them all down yourself?”

“That’s right.”

That must have meant that the nine blessings were still safely stowed inside her cloak. She probably was just moving through them in order of how old they were, but that news honestly made me a little happy to hear.

“That certainly is something. After all, strong hunters like you form the cornerstone of our lifestyles...” the elder said while leaning over behind the counter. There was a light jingling sound, and then the old-timer reappeared holding a small cloth bag and three little metal rods. They’d gone pretty black from oxidation, but they were probably made of copper. They were about 10 centimeters long, two wide, and they were crushed flat to a thickness of around five millimeters. There seemed to be some sort of insignia in the middle, but the elder’s fingers were in the way so I couldn’t see too well.

“This is just a little added tip from me. The rest is four whites and eight reds, which you can go ahead and count.”

Ai Fa took the bag and then dumped out the contents on the stand.

They were the same sort of rods the old-timer was holding... No, they were actually more like small planks than rods. Anyway, those little metal planks spread about with a jingle. With that I could finally see the insignia clearly, but it was just a sort of spiral symbol that didn’t mean anything to me.

Ai Fa’s graceful fingertips moved over the metal planks, checking them.

Four of them were a dull silver color, while eight were a sort of black-brown color.

“...Yes, this all seems to be in order.”

“Well then, take this too, alright?” the elder said, adding the three brown planks they were holding on top.

“Much obliged...” Ai Fa quietly muttered, and then put everything back into the bag.

“It seems to have gotten rough around these parts lately, so make sure nobody snatches that from you. Geez, those folks in the castle only seem to think about exploiting us. Don’t they know the saying that you can’t get eggs from a dead kimyuus?”

Sorry, but I don’t know it, either.

“Well then...” Ai Fa said, and turned around.

As I went to follow her, a hoarse voice called out from behind, “You’re from town, but you’re dressed like a giba eater, aren’t you? I’ve never seen anyone like that before. Did that pretty-faced hunter girl violate you or something?”

So even someone who did business with the people of the forest’s edge like this old-timer was a racist, huh?

I was pretty damn annoyed, but I let my natural sociability take over and gave a thumbs up.

“Giba are crazy delicious. Make sure you try having some if you ever get a chance, alright? Well then, excuse me...”

With that I turned my back to the stall and found Ai Fa waiting for me two meters away.

“What are you doing? Don’t get separated from me. It’s like you have copper dangling around your neck, you know? No one would be foolish enough to steal horns and tusks at the forest’s edge, but this is a domain of the city of stone.”

“Yeah, there certainly do seem to be stones under our feet.”

I gave the path a kick, making a little clunk sound. Now that I thought of it, these shoes actually seemed to be getting pretty worn out...

“Next up is the aria and poitan,” Ai Fa said as she resumed walking.

It sure seemed like the traffic was slowing down for some reason. The stalls were also getting sparser, causing my field of view to open up a bit.

“Ah...”

Another unbelievable sight had come into view.

Beyond the greenery growing past the stalls on our left, a wall made of gray stone was now clearly visible. It should still be pretty far off, but even so, the gaps in the trees were completely filled with that gray color.

“That’s the stone wall around the Genos castle town,” Ai Fa said in a voice devoid of emotion, sparing little more than a glance in that direction. “The nobles control this land of Genos from inside those walls.”

“Hmm...”

It wasn’t as if I had any sort of premonition. I just had a bit of a negative feeling towards the place, knowing that the folks who lived there pushed the current social hierarchy on the people of the forest’s edge. They were forbidden from gathering the blessings of the forest or farming, and could only hunt giba. And then, they were looked down on as “giba eaters” on top of all that.

The people of the forest’s edge were tasked with protecting the Genos fields from giba, so they were undoubtedly responsible for part of the town’s prosperity. So why was it that the townsfolk looked coldly on them? But the people of the forest’s edge had no complaints and instead took great pride in that fact, but I just plain couldn’t accept that.

The nobles in the city of stone, huh...? I hope I never have to go anywhere near them, I thought to myself while walking down the highway alongside Ai Fa.

As I was no god, there was no way I could have known... I was thrust into this other world and carved out a little place for myself at the forest’s edge, but in the not too distant future, I would end up facing off against those who held the greatest power in the Genos domain, inside those very stone walls.

3

“Ooh, a customer from the forest’s edge, huh?” the old-timer said with a tight smile as he turned to face us.

The shop was a small produce vendor near the northernmost tip of the bazaar. It was a rather plain store, consisting just of vegetables laid out atop a cloth on the ground, as well as the unstable-looking framework of a roof. However, there was also a large wagon behind that man running the shop, full of a mountain of sacks that looked full to bursting.

“This is a big help. If you folks don’t come by at least once every three days, my aria will go bad.”

The old-timer had a white cloth like mine wrapped around his head, a loincloth, and sandals on, but that was it, and he looked to be a bit past his 40s. His eyes, hair, and stubble were all a dark brown, and his skin was a yellowish brown. He had a rather large physique but looked pretty well in shape, and seemed like he was probably pretty damn strong. Faced with Ai Fa, though, the look in the man’s eyes was downright cute, like that of a pomeranian.

“So, you want aria and poitan today, too? The price is the same as always, so how much do you want?”

“Two whites worth of poitan, and two whites plus four reds worth of aria.”

“Ooh, that’s quite a lot! I wonder if I can close down with that...?” he said with the sort of flattery you’d expect from a shopkeep, but his smile remained just as taut as always. It seemed that when it came to dealing with the people of the forest’s edge, his fear won out over his contempt.

“Two white and four red worth... Alright, go ahead and check it,” he said, thumping down a sack that looked like it was made of hemp on the grass next to his stall. Just when I was thinking that was a lot, he brought out another similarly sized sack. They were big enough that, well, it wouldn’t look for Santa Claus to have one slung over his shoulder.

“H-hey, Ai Fa, just how many days of food did you just buy?”

“20,” she replied while sitting down in front of the bags.

It seemed important to check the numbers here, too.

Earlier, Ai Fa had exchanged four giba’s worth of horns and tusks for currency. I had been told that one giba would allow you to get ten meals worth of food, so with two people, that meant 20 days worth would be 40 meals in total. The numbers all seemed to check out.

But still, you needed three aria and two poitan a day per person, so that would mean 60 aria and 40 poitan for 20 days, right? And then for two people, that meant it would be 120 and 80, yeah?

“Hey, hold on! Why did you buy that many? It’ll take an hour to get back home from here, right?!” I yelled out, but then I recalled that they didn’t have clocks at the forest’s edge. I wonder if there are any here in this post town? I got the feeling that they’d probably at least have a sundial.

That didn’t matter at all, though. By my estimations, each aria and poitan weighed around 200 grams. That would mean 120 aria would total up to 24 kilograms, while 80 poitan would work out to 16 kilograms. I couldn’t think of it as anything but reckless, carrying that much weight all the way from this post town back to the forest’s edge.

“Just hurry up and count. If I keep sitting here forever, then nobody else will come close, right?” Ai Fa muttered while counting the poitan. The old-timer pretended he didn’t hear that, and just went about reorganizing his display.

It was too late for me to talk about reducing the amount, both to the side who sold them and the one who did the buying.

I gave a sigh, and then took a seat next to Ai Fa.

“Alright. There’s no issues with the poitan.”

As Ai Fa stuffed the poitan back into the bag, I set to work splitting the aria into groups of ten on the grass.

However, when I hit the thirtieth one, I stopped.

“Hey, old-timer, this aria seems mushy.”

The middle-aged man shot me a dubious look, but he didn’t come any closer.

“There’s no way that’s right. I harvested those just the day before yesterday, after all. It’ll be nice and crisp for another month.”

“No, see, it’s got a weird feel to it. You can’t tell just by looking at it, but I’m certain it’s rotten on the inside.”

“P-please stop making such false accusations! You may be a person of the forest’s edge, but you’ve still got to respect this post town’s rules.”

“The post town’s rules...? Hey, Ai Fa, are you not supposed to lodge a complaint when someone tries to sell you something rotten like this?”

I made sure to check that with Ai Fa in a quiet voice just to be safe, and he was pretty far away, but apparently the old-timer still picked it up. He still didn’t come any closer to us, but now he was clearly pissed.

“Hey! I-I worked hard to grow that aria! And I made sure to eat all the poor little ones that didn’t turn out right myself! I-If you have a problem with my aria, then never come to my shop again!” the old-timer shouted, a real do-or-die look on his face.

Ai Fa took the aria from my hand while furrowing her brows.

“Hmm... It does seem a little soft, I guess.”

“No, this thing is already unusable. Hey, old-timer, I’m going to split this open now, so if it’s rotten could you replace it with another one? And if there’s nothing wrong with it, I’ll be sure to apologize.”

“D-Do what you want!” he yelled back, so having his permission I went ahead and took out the knife that was a memento from Ai Fa’s father, then gave it a clean slice down the middle. Sure enough, the bottom half had turned all purple and soggy. There was no way that I could use that part of it.

“See, it’s rotten, right? Sorry, but could you grab us a fresh one?” I said, holding it out so he could see. The old-timer had been turning red, but now his broad face went completely pale.

“M-My apologies! I was in the wrong! I’m begging you, please forgive me! I-I’ll give your money back, too! Please, just spare my life!” the old guy said, bowing down on the ground and holding out the two colors of currency.

He seemed to be in a pretty unstable state mentally, there.

“Ai Fa, what should I do in a situation like this?”

“Who knows? But I won’t accept food that I haven’t paid for.”

“Yeah, right? Um, could you stop bowing, old-timer? We don’t want the money, just the aria. My teeth aren’t exactly tough enough to chew through something like that, after all.”

While thinking to myself that Donda Ruu could probably bite through it no problem, I placed my hand on the old guy’s shoulder.

“A-are you not a person of the forest’s edge...?”

“I wasn’t born one of them, but as you can see, the forest’s edge is looking after me nowadays.”

The old-timer was looking up at me like a pomeranian staring at a pitbull.

“You’ll forgive me...?”

“Yeah, as long as you switch this aria out for a fresh one.”

His hands trembling with fear, the man grabbed an aria from the ones lined out on top of the cloth, and then offered it to me.

“Right, thanks. Um, maybe it’s none of my business, but even if you have pride in your work, you should make sure to check it properly before getting mad, right? I mean, that’s just better for business.”

I think I heard him mutter, “I do when it’s not a person of the forest’s edge...” but it was so quiet that it was hard to say for sure.

There weren’t any problems with the rest of the aria, and the numbers checked out, so I placed them back in the bag. With that, Ai Fa pulled out a dried vine from inside of her pocket (probably that fibaha stuff) and tied the two bags firmly shut. Then she wrapped the excess vine around her hand and slung the bigger bag, the one with the aria, over her left shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

She was taking 1.5 times as much, so even a weak chef like me couldn’t exactly go complaining. And so, while sighing at the thought of just how I’d deal with the rope bridge, I played the part of an unseasonable Santa Claus.

“Well then, excuse us. We may be back in another 20 days, so we’ll be counting on you then.”

The old-timer shot a listless glance our way, but he didn’t respond. I still didn’t know if I should feel sorry for him, or indignant.

“Now then, considering the bonus the old woman from the exchange counter added, we have a good bit of excess to spend. Is there anything else you need, Asuta?” Ai Fa asked, stopping as she weaved between the stalls.

I immediately placed the bag by my feet and replied, “We need fruit wine.”

“Fruit wine can be bought for one red each, so we would still have five left even if we purchase two.”

“Hmm... I don’t have a feel for the currency rate at all. What about rock salt?”

“Rock salt costs three red pieces... Right, well, since we’re now using it for other things than drying meat, we should buy it sooner than later.”

It was a bit of a strange feeling, discussing shopping with Ai Fa in the midst of all these people. It wasn’t unpleasant in the least, of course.

“So, that leaves two red, huh? Well then, should we buy some of that tino and pula that we had at the Ruu house yesterday? I don’t know how much we could get, though.”

“I’m fine with anything. I leave it to you.”

Looks like it was left to me, then. As I tilted my head and wondered what to do, my stomach gave a cute little gurgle.

“Ah! How about a snack from a stall, Ai Fa?”

There were plenty of places around selling a variety of light snacks, not just smoked meat.

However, Ai Fa opened her eyes wide in amazement.

“If you’re hungry, then I brought along dried meat.”

“No, it’s just that this is the chance to eat something we usually can’t, because we’re here at this post town, right? Ah, or would that break one of the taboos of the forest’s edge or something?”

“We are free to use the money obtained from giba horns and tusks however we please. I can’t imagine any person of the forest’s edge ever using it in such a manner, though.”

I see. The idea of enjoying food was hardly a thing at the forest’s edge, so I suppose that much should have been obvious.

“Then I guess you’re not interested either, huh, Ai Fa? Well then, I’ll just behave myself and buy some tino, I guess.”

“I don’t especially care. I said I leave it up to you, didn’t I?”

“Hmm. But we bought all the aria and poitan with your savings, so I would feel awkward wasting it all on my own.”

“What are you saying? I’m your clan head, you know,” Ai Fa said, her eyes gently narrowing.

I felt bad not even paying one of the nine horns and tusks I had, but maybe it was all related to her dignity as head of the clan? And Ai Fa had been in a nice calm mood up till now, so I definitely didn’t want to wreck that.

“Well then, how about if I just use one of the plates for new vegetables, and then the other on a snack? To be honest, I’m really interested in the cuisine of this world.”

With that, Ai Fa’s brows unwrinkled and she said, “Do as you please.”

It was like I was playing her role of being the pampered one. Maybe that was the right sort of relationship between a clan head and the one who mans her stove, though. As a proud Japanese male, though, it hurt my pride a bit.

Still, seeing Ai Fa look satisfied sure did make me feel at ease.

4

“Well then, shall we get going? We’re short on time, so you should pick out what you want to buy as we walk.”

“Yeah. I’ll go ahead and grab whatever smells tastiest.”

We backtracked along the path that took us to the produce vendor, picking up rock salt and fruit wine along the way. The rock salt got thrown into my bag, while Ai Fa held the fruit wine from a dangling string.

When we passed another stall that sold vegetables, I stopped and gave it a careful look. It would be a bit risky to go with any ingredients that I wasn’t familiar with, so I just decided to stick with tino and pula. The girl running the place was looking everywhere except at me, but when I asked her she responded that I could get two tino or three pula for one coin. Apparently they were both significantly pricier than aria and poitan.

I looked up at Ai Fa to check if it was really alright to buy such extravagant goods, only to get back another, “Do as you please,” even though I hadn’t said anything.

And so, I decided to go with the tino. Tino had a texture like cabbage or lettuce, while pula had the bitterness of a bell pepper to it. Both of them would be great to have around, but the tino definitely seemed a lot more flexible.

Once I shoved the two tino into it, my bag ended up every bit as packed as Ai Fa’s.

“Let’s go,” Ai Fa said, turning around, and I staggered along after her.

The bags may have been similarly stuffed, but the density of their contents was totally different. But even while carrying around 24 kilos, Ai Fa’s stride didn’t break in the least, just as I’d expect.

Her core strength must have seriously been something else. That strength surely came from being a hunter, running around out in the forest where footing was bad.

Now then, last up was my long-awaited snack...

“Ah, should we go with that?” I asked, stopping beside a stall that served smoked meat. Even just walking by, the smell seriously hit me. And there was a little girl waiting for something even now, so it seemed to be doing pretty well.

Ai Fa gave me a nod and strolled up to the stand without a hint of hesitation.

“How much does this cost?”

The one manning the shop was a middle-aged woman with black-brown hair, light brown eyes, and some definite meat on her bones. Her plump face twitched a little as she looked at Ai Fa.

“A small one costs one red, while a big one costs two.”

“In that case, give me one small.”

The woman looked down at her own hands, not even bothering to respond.

I peeked into the stall over the head of the girl who was in front of us. There was some sort of light brown paste simmering inside of a fairly large pot. I still didn’t know what it was other than that it used bite sized chunks of meat and vegetables, but the smell was simply amazing even from this far away. It was a scent I hadn’t smelled at the forest’s edge, sort of like garlic.

There was also some ingredient that reminded me of baked poitan piled up beside the pot. They were lighter than poitan, though, and seemed fluffier, too. They looked to come in diameters of both 20 and 30 centimeters, but both were around five millimeters thick. The contents of the pot were then dumped onto one, and the woman squeezed the edges together on top, forming a sort of awkward pouch shape. If I had to compare it to something, well, it seemed pretty similar to a meat-filled manju.

“Here. It’s hot, so be careful.”

“Thank you!” the young girl, who looked to be about Rimee Ruu’s age, happily replied and held out both hands.

I made some space so she could easily pass by, and then the girl energetically turned around... only to stop in place when she saw Ai Fa. In the process, the manju she’d just bought slipped from her hands.

“Whoa there!” I said as I reflexively grabbed it, which was pretty lucky. I mean, if I hadn’t placed my luggage down by my feet, I wouldn’t have been able to even try. “Here. Be careful, alright?”

The girl looked pretty scared, but even so she made sure to give a bow before she took off running with her manju.

“One small, right?” the woman said without a hint of friendliness, and then she hurriedly got mine together. She certainly seemed skilled with her hands, but I couldn’t quite say the same for the way she handled customers.

After paying for it, the two of us walked over to an open space and had a seat.

“Hurry up and eat. Once you’re done, we’re leaving.”

“Right. Well then, thanks for the food!”

This was my first time encountering an unknown dish in this world since that first night with Ai Fa’s giba stew. Back then the smell was amazing, but then my expectations seriously got dashed. So this time I made sure not to let my guard down as I worked up my nerve and bit down into the manju.

This taste... Hmm...

“Is it good?” Ai Fa asked, despite not sounding especially interested.

The only response I could come up with is, “It’s okay.”

How should I put it...? It just seemed so incredibly safe. It wasn’t delicious, but it certainly wasn’t bad, either. It was just incredibly... okay.

Just as I’d figured from the smell, it was quite heavily spiced. It was like a blend of garlic and cilantro, which was a pretty strong flavor, but I didn’t exactly hate it. The meat was really white, and seemed to have the fat shaved off of it entirely. Its flavor was kind of light, like chicken tenderloin.

The red and green vegetable chunks were rather soft, like a heated aria. Actually, there may have been some aria in there, too.

The brown paste that brought everything together was probably made by boiling down vegetables. It was a little sweet but not overwhelmingly so, and none of the ingredients seemed to be clashing.

That white stuff that looked like baked poitan really was softer than the more familiar ingredient, just as I had guessed at a glance, but it had a denser feel like the naan you see in Indian cuisine rather than being like the outer layer of a manju.

Those ingredients came together in harmony, joined hands, and made for an incredibly well behaved flavor.

“Yeah, well, it made for a perfectly normal meal, and it was enough to satisfy my curiosity.”

It was the right size so that it wouldn’t be too much even to eat all of it, and it wasn’t the sort of food that would ever wreck your stomach either. Though if I had to say, it definitely cost too much considering you could get a container of fruit wine, two tino, or four poitan for the same price.

“Do you want a bite too, Ai Fa?” I asked, only to get an immediate, “I don’t need any,” back.

“Hmm, I just can’t accept the way that folks look down on the people of the forest’s edge as ‘giba eaters’ while being satisfied with such uninteresting food. I mean, giba meat is way tastier than this.”

“Have you forgotten the taste of that stew from your first night with me, Asuta?”

Of course I hadn’t. That was just because the people of the forest’s edge didn’t know about stuff like bloodletting, though. But the people of Genos had lived here even longer than the people of the forest’s edge, and yet they never thought to try eating giba meat?

“It’s said that before the people of the forest’s edge moved here 80 years ago, giba overflowed from the forests and attacked peoples’ fields. At the time, giba were the most terrifying symbol of calamity imaginable to the people of the Genos domain.”

They were a symbol of calamity, so they didn’t warrant eating? What a waste.

“I’m not aware of the details, but I don’t believe there was any shortage of meat. Apparently there were plenty of those giant totos birds around to eat, too.”

“Gah, people eat those? Well, it doesn’t exactly seem like it would be all that disgusting, though...”

“At any rate, the townsfolk feared giba. And now, they fear the people of the forest’s edge, who kill and eat them. And nowadays the folks around here have half forgotten how frightening giba can be, and we have become the symbol of their terror... Or at least, that’s what Granny Jiba said.”

“What the heck? So it really is just unwarranted discrimination. Why don’t the people of the forest’s edge try to do anything about it?”

“Because there’s nothing inconvenient about being feared.”

Is that so? But I didn’t think it was exactly all that great, not taking the time to clear up the misunderstanding...

I wasn’t exactly happy having reached the conclusion that the people of the forest’s edge being given the cold shoulder was at least partially their own doing. I started to offer a rebuttal of, “But...” only to notice something strange out of the corner of my eye, causing me to abruptly stop.

It was the girl from before. She was seated at the edge of the highway on the other side, biting into the same sort of manju I had. If that was all I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but when I looked her way, she turned away quickly with a speed that made me think of a squirrel. Yet, a moment later she turned her head back towards me.

Since the stone highway was 10 meters across, I couldn’t quite make out her expression in detail. She definitely seemed to be pretty interested in me, though.

“Someone with pale skin like you in the garb of the forest’s edge makes for an unusual sight,” Ai Fa said emotionlessly, having long since noticed the girl.

“I see,” I replied, observing the child out of the corner of my eye.

She looked to be around Rimee Ruu’s age, seven or eight years old at most. Her olive brown hair stretched down to her shoulders, and her skin was a yellowish brown. She wore what looked like an orange dress rather than clothing that wrapped around her, and leather sandals on her feet.

Her body and limbs were more slender than Rimee Ruu’s, and she looked seriously adorable as her cheeks filled up with manju.

I went ahead and tried looking her way once again. Taken by surprise, the girl froze in place, not even able to avert her gaze. When I went ahead and broke out in a smile, the girl seemed to get a bit of manju stuck in her throat, but then I think I saw her weakly smile back.

“Just what are you doing?”

“Ah, I was just thinking what a cute girl she was.”

“...”

“Huh? Ah, no! What’s with that look? Just what sort of person do you think I am?!”

“How annoying. Stop getting bent out of shape. Do you like children...?” she suddenly asked out of nowhere, hitting me with a real emotional shoulder throw.

“I guess if you’re asking, I’d have to say I’m fond of them, yeah. I mean, a lot of little kids used to come to my old man’s place along with their families.”

“I see...”

Huh? Did I read the flow of the conversation wrong?

I thought back on how she muttered last night that she didn’t want me disappear, looking totally unlike her usual self, causing me to get a little flustered. Maybe it’d be best if I avoided talking about my old world for a while...

Feigning that I was calm, I said in a cheery voice, “Still, I sure do feel down when I think of carrying this heavy load all the way back. Don’t you think 20 days’ worth is a bit much?”

“I always buy this much. Or are you saying...” Ai Fa started, averting her eyes, “That you don’t need food for 20 days?”

“Hey, Ai Fa...”

I fortunately stopped myself short of yelling out, “I have no idea what’s going to happen to me in the future, you know!” I couldn’t find anything else to say instead, though.

Ai Fa gently closed her eyes, as if she didn’t want me to see what she was feeling.

“Ai Fa, I...” I started, deciding that I needed to at least say something. I went and opened my mouth, still not having gotten my thoughts in order, only to get cut off by a totally unexpected bellow.

“If you’ve got some sort of problem, then come out and say it! You’re all proud citizens of the city of stone, aren’t ya?!”

It was the voice of a young man who had clearly lost control of himself. Then, there was the violent sound of something being broken.

A ton of people screamed out, including the young girl from before.

“W-what the...? What’s going on?”

I didn’t quite understand what was happening. But at the very least, there were the remains of a busted wooden box and plenty of yellow fruit I didn’t recognize scattered about the highway, with two men scuffling in the center. Everyone else seemed to be distancing themselves so as not to get wrapped up in it, but that girl was down on the ground, looking utterly terrified.

“H-hey, that’s...?!” I started to say, only for Ai Fa to slowly rise to her feet. She was glaring at the two men with an incredibly dangerous look in her eyes.

It was the middle of the day, and two men were fighting in the middle of the street... And one of them was clearly a young man from the forest’s edge.

5

I didn’t recognize the young man at all, but he was clearly a person of the forest’s edge. He had on a giba cloak, as well as a vest and loincloth with complex swirling patterns. There was a knife and blade dangling from his waist, as well as a necklace of giba horns and tusks around his neck. His loose and disheveled hair was blackish brown, he had darker skin, and his fiercely glowing eyes were blue. He wasn’t overly tall, but his body was covered in well-toned muscles, and he had a stern face like a lion dog statue.

The youth from the forest’s edge had picked up the rotund shopkeep by his collar, and was squeezing so tight that the man’s plump face was turning beet red.

“Asuta, you stay here,” Ai Fa said, then she steadily paced towards the crowd. For some reason, she still had the fruit wine dangling from her hand.

Still, I couldn’t just sit there and quietly watch. I may not have been suited for breaking up that fight, but I couldn’t just leave that poor girl to her fright, right?

Ai Fa was pushing her way forward straight through the crowd, but I went ahead and circled around and snuck my way towards the girl.

“Hey, why don’t you try saying that again? Who’s a ‘stinking giba eater,’ huh? You said it was ruining the taste of your food, didn’t you? Why don’t you say that all again clearly so I can hear, you high and mighty stone city dweller?”

It sure seemed that young man from the forest’s edge was good and drunk. He had a container with a familiar design in his hand, his face was red, and he was raising his voice, and I couldn’t imagine that was all just due to him being mad.

Guess there are folks out there who chug down wine in the middle of the day like this, huh? But what about his work hunting giba? I thought to myself as I hurriedly approached the girl.

When I was about five meters from the goal, though, fresh screams of astonishment filled the air. This was accompanied by the ominous sound of something breaking with a crash.

The man from the forest’s edge had thrown away his wine and drawn his knife. Well, I call it a knife, but it had a thicker blade like a hatchet, and looked about 20 centimeters long. It was a real dangerous tool meant for severing giba pelts and meat.

He went and drew it! That’s just way too violent, no matter what!

There wasn’t any more time for taking a relaxed detour, so I started full on running, pushing aside the onlookers.

The half-eaten manju fell from the girl’s hands, and was soon trampled to paste under the feet of the scuffling men. That was just how close they were now.

Then, there was suddenly another new sound: Ai Fa hit the man in the back of the head with the fruit wine container she was holding. It shattered to bits, filling the street with even more of the sweet smell of fruit wine.

The man fell down, turning a somersault... And I fortunately somehow managed to scoop up the girl before he tumbled on top of her.

“If you like wine that much, then you can have mine too, you fool!” Ai Fa said with a voice like steel, cutting through the commotion in the air. “There’s a strong taboo against causing a disturbance in the city of stone, you know. You bring shame to the forest’s edge.”

The man was squatted down and holding the back of his head, and he tilted his neck to look up at Ai Fa. Those dull eyes were swirling with such hatred and bad will that it was hard to look at them.

“You’re that female hunter from the Fa clan, aren’t you...? D-Do you think you’ll get off lightly after treating me this way...?”

“Who exactly broke the laws of the forest’s edge, here? I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Ooh... What a cool woman...” someone muttered, but it wasn’t the man from the forest’s edge. Rather, it had come from some guy I didn’t recognize who had kneeled down beside me at some point.

“This is my first time seeing a female hunter. If that necklace is the real deal, then she sure seems to be good at it.”

“W-What the...? Who are you?” I asked the man following me as I moved away from the center of commotion, so I wouldn’t get in Ai Fa’s way.

“Who, me? I’m just a passerby. I was planning on protecting that poor girl there, but you ended up beating me to it.”

He seemed like an aloof, easy-going guy, somehow. His ivory-white skin hadn’t been tanned much at all by the sun, his hair was a golden color that was rare both here in the post town and at the forest’s edge, and his eyes had a bit of a violet color about them.

His long cloak wrapped around his body so I couldn’t quite make out his physique, but he had a seriously long face, and he seemed rather tall, too. Right now he was stooped over, though, and looking me over.

His hair on both his head and his face had grown out in a way that made me suspect it was from pure laziness, and he had drooping eyes and a prominent nose. Those unusually colored eyes of his strangely seemed to have both a mature calm to them as well as a childish look of innocence, which made it really hard to guess how old he really was.

“Ooh, it looks like those lazy officials are finally on the move, huh?” the man said while pointing a lanky finger. I looked in that direction, and saw some men carrying long spears pushing their way through the crowd, looking seriously like they were caught flat-footed and scrambling to respond.

“You all, what are you doing in the middle of the street?!”

They had on leather helms and chest plates, and had yellowish brown skin and some rather sturdy looking physiques. From their imposing equipment, they seemed to be guards or something in charge of protecting the tranquility of this post town.

I gave a sigh of relief, but then I saw the tips of those spears pointed Ai Fa’s way too, causing me to freeze in place from astonishment.

The girl started quivering in my arms.

“People of the forest’s edge, huh...? Hey! You’re supposed to be firmly forbidden from causing a disturbance here in the post town! Are you trying to trample all over your agreement with Duke Genos?!”

The guards didn’t appear to have the same sort of excessive fear of the people of the forest’s edge as everyone else. Looking at his eyes and face, though, the man sure didn’t seem calm and composed in the least.

“...I was simply dealing with a fool who broke our taboos, in order to protect that agreement,” Ai Fa emotionlessly stated while glaring at the tip of the spear thrust right up against her nose.

The guards’ gazes turned towards the man now, who was still sprawled out on the ground. And with that, the man broke out in a truly repulsive sneer.

“Guards from the city of stone... I’m Doddo Suun of the Suun clan,” he said, a voice like venom slipping through his wicked lips out onto the street. “You all are just petty officials, right? But I’m part of the Suun clan, which rules the forest’s edge... Arrest this woman.”

The guards all exchanged confused looks. Seeing that, the man calling himself Doddo Suun continued on, “This woman suddenly attacked me in the middle of the street! Can’t you tell just by looking around? I didn’t do anything wrong! This woman is the idiot who broke the taboos of the forest’s edge and the agreement with Genos!”

“The Suun family, huh...?” one of the soldiers said, pulling back his spear and leaving me even more astounded.

The weapons pointed Ai Fa’s way still hadn’t been lowered.

“Woman, come with us to the station. Then, we’ll carefully investigate your crimes. Son of the Suun clan, we have to ask that you accompany us as well. Will you comply?”

“Yeah, of course,” Dodda Suun replied while licking his lips and getting up off the ground.

I felt like I couldn’t help myself any longer from yelling out, but someone beat me to the punch: the girl I was holding in my arms.

“That’s not right! The one causing trouble at the start was that man, and the woman just stopped him!”

Silence descended over the street once again. There was an eerie feeling in the air, somehow.

“What is this about, son of the Suun clan?” one of the guards asked Doddo Suun with a grim expression on his face. Doddo Suun just sneered again in response, though.

“That’s just slander, naturally. I mean, you can go ahead and ask the folks all around us. It was such a commotion that I’m sure plenty of people saw the whole thing, right?”

And then, something unbelievable happened: The onlookers who had just been burning with curiosity all made faces like it was too much of a pain to deal with and started leaving.

“Oh, well this is no good at all,” the man in the long cloak muttered in a nonchalant voice.

When he finally stood up straight, I saw that the man really was over half a head taller than me. In terms of height alone, he must have been around Donda Ruu’s size. But he had a stooped back and sloping shoulders, plus he was pretty darn skinny after all, so he gave off more of the impression of a sort of lanky praying mantis.

All that didn’t matter at all right now, though.

“Damn, what the hell...? Ah, right, what about the old guy he was hassling?”

“That guy went and fled the moment that drunkard was sent flying, not even bothering to say thanks. It sure is a tough world, huh?”

I gritted my teeth, and then walked up towards the guards. At the same time, Doddo Suun’s dull eyes glanced my way. Then, a repulsive look of joy crossed his face.

“Guards of the city of stone... Apparently that kid there has been living at the forest’s edge, despite being a foreigner. He’s probably that fool’s comrade, so I bet he forced that girl there to say those ridiculous things about me, right?”

Now the tip of the spear that had been pointed at Doddo Suun was now facing my way.

“Hey, put that girl down.”

Instantly, the girl clung to my neck tight.

“No! My name is Tara, and this guy saved me! That man is the bad guy, so why won’t you believe me?!”

“That’s what we’re going to look into at the station. Now be a good girl and just head on home, alright?”

“I don’t want to!”

“Good grief. It’s thanks to all that red tape you throw up that you can’t earn respect from the people on the streets, right? I mean, I can’t exactly praise you all when you’re trying to avoid the hassle of chasing down the truth because it’s a pain dealing with the people of the forest’s edge.”

Naturally, that had come from the man in the long cloak butting in.

Thanks to everyone jumping in ahead of me, I actually hadn’t even had the chance to get a single word in, yet.

“And just who the heck are you? This has nothing to do with you, so you should butt out.”

“I may not have been involved, but I saw the whole thing from start to finish. And wouldn’t you say my testimony has more credibility and value precisely because I wasn’t involved?” the man started in an arrogant tone, then continued on, “A man who was selling fruit here was together with a man who appeared to be another merchant and his friend. He pointed sneakily at that man from the forest’s edge, and they laughed for one reason or another. With that, this man’s face changed color and he grabbed that merchant-looking fellow, knocking down these boxes of fruit into the road as you can see. The fruit seller fled, and this man yelled out, ‘If you’ve got some sort of problem, then come out and say it! You’re all proud citizens of the city of stone, aren’t ya?!’”

A giggle slipped out of the girl in my arms. I mean, that just went to show how little seriousness there was behind the man’s voice.

“Huh? Was my impression of him bad? Well, whatever... So then, they started going back and forth. ‘I-I didn’t say anything!’ ‘You liar!’ ‘I mean it!’ ‘I heard you! The ears of the people of the forest’s edge aren’t like your rotten ones!’ ‘S-Somebody, save me!’ ‘Hey, why don’t you try saying that again? Who’s a “stinking giba eater,” huh? You said it was ruining the taste of your food, didn’t you? Why don’t you say that all again clearly so I can hear, you high and mighty stone city dweller?’ Anyway, I guess that’s about how it went.”

Amazingly, this lanky man seemed to have memorized that entire exchange.

The guards clearly looked to be at a loss, while Doddo Suun glared at the man with eyes like those of a wild dog. And Ai Fa... Ai Fa looked more puzzled than I had ever seen her.

“Then, this man tossed aside the container of wine he had been holding and drew the knife from his hip. Over there you can smell the sweet remains of that wine, and the knife fell over there, you see?”

Doddo Suun and the guards looked down by our feet, clearly taken aback. Sure enough, there was a knife without a guard lying there on the ground. And the empty leather sheath was still attached to Dodda Suun’s waist.

“That was when that woman got involved. She smacked him in the back of the head with her own container of fruit wine like bang! Then, she calmly said, ‘If you like wine that much, then you can have mine too, you fool!’”

The girl couldn’t stifle her giggles any longer. Well, I could totally understand that, from the way he was mimicking everyone’s voices.

Though Ai Fa had just looked puzzled before, she was now wearing a clear scowl.

“And then she continued on, ‘There’s a strong taboo against causing a disturbance in the city of stone, you know. You bring shame to the forest’s edge.’ Well, that should be enough, right? Does that help out with your investigation?”

The guards turned back towards Doddo Suun again, looking annoyed.

“Son of the Suun clan, that’s what this man has to say, but—”

“It’s all nonsense! This is clearly slander!” Dodda Suun yelled out in a shrill shriek, his blue eyes going red.

He was obviously out of his depth.

“Then you’ll need to offer an explanation more consistent with the facts, right? I’m sure nobody here but you would deny what I said. If you’re calling me a liar, then could you explain what the circumstances were behind this wooden box being broken, this fruit wine container shattering, and your knife lying there on the road?”

His words were biting, but his expression and tone were just as easy-going as always.

It wasn’t like with Jiza Ruu, where I couldn’t read how he was feeling. This man was simply staying calm and composed. He just said what he was thinking, not getting particularly worked up in the least.

“...Very well. We’ll look into this more thoroughly at the station. You all will need to come with us.”

“Huh? Well, that’s going to be a problem. I mean, I’ve got an appointment with Duke Genos after this,” the man said, nonchalantly throwing out an unbelievable statement. The guards’ eyes opened so wide that it looked like they were about to pop out of their heads.

“I’m already past the arranged time, so being any later would be simply inexcusable. If you need me there, could it wait until after I’ve explained the gist of the situation to Duke Genos?”

“Just who are you...? Uh, sir?”

“There’s no need to be so tense. I’m just an upstanding member of the common townsfolk. A bodyguard who protects travelers, Kamyua Yoshu.”

With that, he presented the necklace he had on from inside his long cloak. It was a stone with a complex coloration like agate dangling from a silver chain. It really did look quite chic.

“We just happened to have a bit of a relationship, so when Duke Genos needs a bodyguard for a trip to the capital, that favor falls my way. It’s not like I have nobility, much less the crown, so there’s no reason to be so afraid around me... Ah, this is a pass into the Genos castle town that Duke Marstein Genos awarded me.”

Then, he pulled out a long silver plate-looking thing that shone far more radiantly than the coins from before. It was about the size of a credit card, and had an elegant design I didn’t recognize finely carved into it, as if to prove its honored and proper lineage.

When the guards saw that plate, their faces turned ghostly pale and they froze in place.

As all sorts of different gazes fell upon his lanky body, the man named Kamyua Yoshu gave a relaxed, pleasant smile.

6

“Man, I’m just glad things got settled peacefully, right?”

For some reason, that oddball Kamyua Yoshu guy was still hanging out talking to us, even after the guards left with Doddo Suun. We were currently where we had decided to sit before, in the empty space between the stalls. Ai Fa was as deadpan as usual while I’m sure I looked seriously troubled, but of course Kamyua Yoshu was shooting us a relaxed smile.

“...Allow me to offer my thanks for saving me from that predicament,” Ai Fa reluctantly forced out, then she gave a similarly strained bow.

“Don’t be so formal,” the man responded with a chuckle. “And it’s not exactly like I saved you, there. I just reported what I happened to see. That’s the obvious course of action as a citizen serving the Western God Selva, right?”

We avoided getting dragged off to the guards’ station or whatever. Doddo Suun was the only one who got taken along, but it wasn’t exactly like he was going to be punished for his actions.

“Well, it’s all good, right? I mean, a man of the forest’s edge was acting outrageously, and a woman from the same place got him under control. It’s definitely bad that he drew a blade, but there’s no reason to make this a bigger deal than it has to be, right?”

With Kamyua Yoshu’s words, the curtain had been closed on the whole incident.

In fact, Doddo Suun was only taken away under the pretext of temporarily keeping an eye on him until he sobered up.

The guards’ eyes seemed to be firmly telling us, “At any rate, you should hurry up and go back to the forest’s edge.”

And yet we didn’t do that, and were instead still here talking to this suspicious character.

“Um... Didn’t you have some important business to take care of too?” I asked, only for Kamyua Yoshu to shake his head.

“Don’t think so,” he responded. “Oh wait, do you mean the thing about Duke Genos? That was a fib. I really do have an appointment with him, but it’s just that I was told to show up for dinner, so there’s no hurry there at all.”

He really was a crafty fellow.

As a shrewd smile broke out on his long face, Kamyua Yoshu suddenly glanced to the side.

“Still, that sure was quite a commotion. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you, little lady?”

“Nope! He saved me, so I’m fine!”

Naturally that had come from that Tara girl from before, and she was talking about me.

She smiled wide as she stuffed her cheeks further with the manju she was holding. Her first one had been trampled underfoot by Doddo Suun and that other guy, so Kamyua Yoshu had bought her this one as a replacement.

“Ah, right, there’s this, too...” he said, reaching inside of his long cloak. And then like magic, he produced a container of fruit wine.

He pulled out the stopper with his bony finger and took a swig, then placed the stopper back in and held it out towards Ai Fa.

“As you can see, it’s not poisoned. If you’d like, you can have it.”

“...I won’t accept your charity.”

“So stiff! I was moved by the way that you protected the order of this post town and the laws of the forest’s edge, not even thinking about what would happen to you! Isn’t that reason enough?”

Ai Fa was looking seriously annoyed.

Kamyua Yoshu, meanwhile, just kept on smiling wide as he gave Tara’s little head a pat.

“It’s the same for Tara here, too. I was deeply impressed by the way that she worked up the courage to try to help out her savior, so I felt like treating her to a kimyuus meat bun. Is it good, Tara?”

“Yeah! It’s really good, Mr. Kamyua!”

“Mister, huh...? Well, I guess I am almost 30, I guess.”

He still wasn’t 30? That actually shocked me a little. Still, if he just did something about that wild, unshaven face, he’d probably look pretty young... Or no, maybe he wouldn’t? I mean, that easy-going, aloof expression and way of doing things really made him feel like much more of an old-timer.

“So, how about it? Won’t you go ahead and take this fruit wine? Or are you upset because that scoundrel won’t be answering for his crimes? I just figured since he was part of the Suun clan, it was best not to let the matter get further out of hand.”

Those words seriously caught me off guard. Was this guy aware of the state of affairs at the forest’s edge, too?

“Hmm? Did I say something strange? I may not have ever been to Morga’s forest’s edge, but I’ve at least heard the name of the clan that runs the place. And I’m quite fond of this post town, so I’ve seen plenty of people of the forest’s edge... It’s just, this is my first time talking to any of you like this,” he said, the mouth under his long, slender nose breaking out into a big grin. “And that I get to do so with a beautiful female hunter like yourself brings me even more joy. I would really appreciate it if you’d accept this fruit wine, as a token of my admiration for that beauty.”

I nervously glanced over at Ai Fa to see the expression on her face. Ah, yup, there were indignant wrinkles in her brow forming above her nose.

“Huh? Did I say something to upset you? I wasn’t just praising your appearance. I was including your noble actions in that beauty I was complimenting, too.”

Ai Fa didn’t say anything.

“No good, huh? Then how about you?”

“W-What?”

“I’d like to show you my respect and admiration for the way that you saved Tara from danger quicker than me, Kamyua Yoshu, the Northern Whirlwind. Will you accept it?”

I couldn’t exactly just say, “sure” and take it, considering the circumstances. Also, what the heck was that “Northern Whirlwind” thing about?

“Ah, that’s a nickname my buddies use. I mean, this hair color is pretty rare here out west, you know? And I was born in the north.”

Ai Fa’s expression shifted a bit upon hearing that. She still had her usual stern wildcat-esque glare in her eyes, but now she looked straight at Kamyua Yoshu.

“You were born in the Northern Kingdom of Mahyudra, Kamyua Yoshu?”

“You can just call me Kamyua. Actually, now that I think of it, I still haven’t heard your names. Could you tell them to me? I don’t even care if you lie.”

Man, speaking like that is just going to rub Ai Fa the wrong way. As Ai Fa’s eyebrows raised, she stated, “I’m the head of the Fa clan, Ai Fa.”

“Ah, and I’m attached to the Fa clan, too. My name’s Asuta.”

“Ai Fa and Asuta, huh? Those are nice names you’ve got there. Yeah, I was born up north... My mom came from Mahyudra, while my dad was from Selva. Relationships between those two countries have been seriously strained for over a hundred years now, but I have blood from both of them running in my veins. I spent my youth up north, and then when my mom died I came to live here in the west. Well, you can’t exactly get proper work with a background like mine, so instead I live by selling my skill as a bodyguard.”

Kamyua Yoshu had a somewhat slender but rather long blade just casually lying by his side.

“Now that I think of it, your hair looks a lot like mine, Ai Fa,” he threw out there as he looked at Ai Fa, his purplish eyes lighting up and narrowing just a bit. “I’d heard that the people of the forest’s edge were descended from folks who fled from the south to the west. I can’t imagine there’d be much blood shared between the distant north and south, but is there some sort of reason behind that hair of yours?”

“Not especially so. People are occasionally born with this sort of hair color at the forest’s edge, and my mother’s was the same as mine.”

“Is that so? My mom and I shared a hair color, too,” Kamyua Yoshu responded with an easy-going grin, but Ai Fa looked away like she found that annoying.

Somehow, I caught on to the fact that she wasn’t quite her usual self.

“Well, at any rate, I’ve been interested in the people of the forest’s edge for a while now. I mean, there aren’t many folks out there who change the god they offer their souls to during the course of their lives, you know? I feel a one-sided sort of kinship as a result. That’s why I’m so glad that folks like you ended up being the first people of the forest’s edge that I talked to.”

Ai Fa remained silent.

“So, just what do you want with us, anyway?” I finally asked, since Ai Fa didn’t seem likely to say anything. “I’m incredibly grateful to you for helping us out of that tough spot, but we have work waiting for us back at the forest’s edge. If you don’t mind, we’d like to get going soon...”

“Is that so? That’s a shame. Well then, shall I cut to the chase? The truth is, I’ve currently got a job to guard a caravan of Genos merchants on their trip to the eastern kingdom. I’d like to be allowed to pass through the settlement at the forest’s edge along the way.”

I was seriously caught off guard, but Ai Fa reacted calmly, bluntly stating, “Matters such as that are all handled by the Suun clan, as the leaders of our people.”

“Yeah, I’m of course aware of that. But I don’t exactly feel like asking them after today’s unfortunate run-in with that boy from their clan. I mean, I just can’t trust them,” Kamyua Yoshu lightly threw out there, making a face like he wouldn’t even hurt so much as a fly. “You see, I’ve actually been advising Duke Genos on the matter for a while now. Whenever there’s a quarrel here in the post town, the Suun clan is always wrapped up in it. The people of the forest’s edge are supposed to be stubborn, sticklers for the rules, and closed off, but the Suun clan keeps acting openly like scoundrels, which can’t be good for the duke, either, so...”

“It was the people of the city of stone who caused the Suun clan’s depravity,” Ai Fa stated, cutting off Kamyua Yoshu. There was a blue flame burning lightly in her eyes. “The people from the capital granted the Suun clan riches. As a result, they tossed aside their pride as people of the forest’s edge and don’t even hunt giba. They revel in wine, laze about, and give themselves over to sensual pleasures. That’s all the responsibility of the people from the capital.”

“By ‘fortune,’ do you mean the reward money that’s delivered once every three months? That’s supposed to just be a trifling amount, though.”

“That’s why the Suun clan has kept it to themselves. They use it to live lives of idle amusement.”

I was probably the most shocked of anyone present.

Tara just sat there with a blank look, having finished eating her manju, while Kamyua Yoshu gave a nod that seemed to say, “That stands to reason.”

“Well, I figured it was something like that. So, even though it’s supposed to be a reward for protecting the Genos domain from the threat of the giba, none of that is making it to the folks who are working diligently, while the clan leading the people are living idly and lining their pockets, huh? I’m surprised that hasn’t led to a riot...”

“We don’t need charity from the city of stone. We hunt the giba so that we can keep on living.”

“How honest and full of integrity! But still, you really are overly rigid...” Kamyua Yoshu said with a bit of a strained smile this time around, then he rustled his unkempt blond hair. “If you perhaps want to restore order to the forest’s edge, I may be able to help you out, you know?”

Ai Fa didn’t respond.

“Of course, I’m not just talking about recklessly going after the Suun clan. After all, no matter what I may say, they’re still the ones leading the forest’s edge. And it would be a real serious issue if the people of the forest’s edge lost the ability to hunt giba after losing their leaders. The giba would come overflowing from Morga’s forest again and overrun a whole ton of fields... That’s why even if Duke Genos is vaguely aware of the Suun clan’s depravity, he hasn’t taken any drastic measures.”

My clan head still didn’t say a peep.

“And so, I’ve got a question for you. If the Suun clan were to happen to fall from power, is there another family that would be capable of taking charge of the forest’s edge?”

Naturally, the one clan who could stand up to the Suun, the Ruu, came to mind. However, Ai Fa still wasn’t so much as opening her mouth. And she was starting to get more and more of a hostile look in her eyes.

“At any rate, the only exchange between the capital and the forest’s edge has been through the Suun clan, so they naturally avoided bringing up any information that would be inconvenient for them. Besides, those folks from the castle hardly ever show their faces outside of the stone walls. Don’t you think that now that it’s come to this, me and you meeting may act as a new bridge between the capital and the forest’s edge, seeing how I’m someone down on the streets who also has Duke Genos’s favor while you also aren’t exactly close to the Suun clan.”

“What do you stand to gain from all that?” I asked, but Kamyua Yoshu just smiled back at me.

“What I gain, huh? I mean, we’re all citizens serving the Western God Selva, right? That makes us comrades. It only makes sense to help each other out when someone needs a hand, right?”

Ai Fa offered nothing.

“Well, that’s my official stance, at least. Just like I said before, I feel a sort of one-sided camaraderie with the people of the forest’s edge. Anyway, ultimately, I certainly respect honest folks like you, but I can’t say the same towards lazy slobs who drink in the middle of the day and don’t even bother trying to hunt giba.”

I didn’t get it.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was lying, but I just couldn’t tell what this man playing the fool was thinking on the inside in the least. Meanwhile, Ai Fa’s eyes were burning with clear refusal and violent emotion.

“Kamyua Yoshu, you’re a citizen of the city of stone. Therefore, if you choose to try to make a move against any people of the forest’s edge... that makes you the enemy of my people.”

“Hmm... Even if it’s the corrupt Suun clan?”

“If the Suun clan needs to be punished, then the people of the forest’s edge will do so. The shame of the forest’s edge should be purged there. And also... It is the people of the stone capital who caused the Suun to fall to such depravity,” Ai Fa stated, her words like blows. “I can’t trust... people from the city of stone.”

Her gaze burned with her pride as a hunter. But even so, Kamyua Yoshu still just shot her back a relaxed smile.

“Honest, and full of integrity... You truly are beautiful, Ai Fa.”

“...Are you mocking me?”

“Why would I be mocking you by calling you beautiful? Ah, look, now Tara’s all frightened, you see?”

I suddenly looked that way, only to see that sure enough, Tara was clinging to Kamyua Yoshu’s arm and trembling.

“There’s no helping it, I suppose. Let’s call it for today. If we’re careless, that son of the Suun clan may suddenly pop up again, after all.”

“...Today shall be the end of it. We won’t meet tomorrow or the day after, either.”

“I wonder about that... Opportunities are something you need to create, after all.”

With that, Kamyua Yoshu picked up his longsword in his right hand and took the young girl’s hand with his left, then he stood.

“Ai Fa and Asuta, I’m glad to have met you today. I’ll be leaving this fruit wine as my gratitude for this meeting, so if you have no need for it, feel free to simply return it to the earth. Well then, I’ll see you again...”