Afterword

You have my deepest thanks for picking up this book, the eighth volume of Cooking with Wild Game.

I mentioned as much in the afterword last time, but this volume ended up being a collection of short stories. In terms of the contents, it’s like a prequel to the direct confrontation with the nobles. However, it’s made up of main chapters rather than bonus ones, so I hope you’ll enjoy it the same as always.

Looking back on how I felt while writing it, I thought that as the stories about confronting the Suun clan and nobles advanced, the important matter of cooking took a back seat, which is why I think I went ahead with this sort of content. And since last time felt strongly like an ending to one part of the story, I believe I wanted to dig into all sorts of odds and ends before diving into the next chapter.

Perhaps all that sounds like a bit of a shaky analysis, but I originally wrote the content for this volume back around the end of 2014 and the start of 2015, so it’s already been more than a year and a half now.

It always is shocking how quickly time flies.

Well, normally when I go to novelize my work I don’t pay too much attention to when it was originally written, but this time it left a strong impression on me. As for why, that was because for my update on New Year’s Day, I squeezed in Asuta giving a toast. I guess you could say I was playing around in a way that was only possible because the web version was published in real time. That was ultimately cut in this novel version, but I hope you enjoy imagining where it originally fit in.

As for the bonus chapter, I went with a story told from Vina Ruu’s point of view. And it’s a tale I have rather strong feelings about, too. In fact, I had been thinking for quite some time that I really needed to write it someday.

To explain in a way that won’t spoil it, it’s a story from five years before Vina Ruu first met a certain someone. On top of that, it answers a question from the main story of, “Why does Vina Ruu know that person when they live so far apart?”

The women of the forest’s edge don’t have any custom of traveling several hours to visit another house, so people who live a distance from one another may never meet in their whole lives. And even if they do, it could just be as a chance encounter in the post town while out shopping.

Thanks to such thoughts, I made sure to come up with a reason she would be acquainted with Vina Ruu when introducing her in the main story, but I didn’t have a chance to reveal the details up until now.

Looking back, I wrote the part where that character was first introduced back in October of 2014, or volume five of the novels. It took nearly two years, but I’m truly glad to finally be able to reveal her past with Vina Ruu.

And so, I managed to fill up the pages this time around rather quickly. It was all behind the scenes stuff, but hopefully that’s the part of the afterword that you really enjoy.

Now then... As always, let me finish by giving thanks to my editor at Hobby Japan, my illustrator Kochimo, everyone else involved with the production of this book, and of course all of you who purchased it.

I hope to see you all again with the next volume!

August 2016,

EDA

Bonus Short Story

The Mizora Flower Accessory

It was the day after her birthday when Lala Ruu visited Jiba Ruu’s bedroom.

“Oh, what is it, Lala...?” Jiba Ruu asked with a wrinkly smile as she sat atop her bedding. As she looked into her grandmother’s clear eyes, Lala Ruu muttered, “Um... The thing is... I actually had something I wanted to ask you, Granny Jiba...”

“Hmm, what is it...? It’s rare for you to make a request of me, Lala...”

“I-It’s nothing that serious. But if it’s too much of a pain, then don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t imagine you ever asking too much... Go ahead, my dear...”

The girl sat there fidgeting for a bit regardless, but soon enough she thrust out her right hand that she had been hiding behind her back. And in her fingers she held a truly splendid mizora flower.

“Oh, what a fine mizora... I’ve never seen one with such brilliant yellow petals before...”

“Yeah, isn’t it amazing?” Lala Ruu replied with a proud grin, but then she started fidgeting again. And when she saw that, Jiba Ruu adopted an even gentler smile.

“So, your request has something to do with this lovely mizora...?”

“Yeah... You’re really good at making accessories with mizora, aren’t you? I heard you made the one that Rimee wore at the banquet...”

“Yes, that’s right... There are a number of tricky steps required to make a living flower into an accessory that can be worn for many years...”

“C-Could you teach me how to do it?”

“Of course I wouldn’t mind...” Jiba Ruu said, looking up at her granddaughter’s joyful grin. “However...” she continued on, “To do so, you have to first remove the petals and dry them out one by one... Is that alright...?”

“Huh?! You’d have to pull this flower apart?!”

“Yes, that’s right... When Rimee heard that, she was so troubled she almost cried...”

Lala Ruu bit her lip rather than tearing up.

Jiba Ruu reached out and gently touched her granddaughter’s hand that was gripping the mizora flower.

“Both flowers and humans are all fated to eventually fade away... Even if someone hadn’t picked that flower for you, it still would have eventually withered and returned to the forest... And even if you make it into an accessory, in ten or twenty years the same will be true... So I would say that no matter what path you choose, it shouldn’t change anything for that flower, right...?”

Lala Ruu was silent.

“Even so, your memories of this mizora’s beauty, and your gratitude towards the one who gave you this lovely gift will still remain... Those most precious of gifts are already there in your heart, so I would say you can go ahead and feel free to do as you please with the flower itself...”

“Yeah...”

Even so, Lala Ruu couldn’t help but stare at the flower with a troubled gaze.

As Jiba Ruu pulled back her hand, she gently smiled once again.

“Still, if you were to make that flower into an accessory and wear it at a banquet, it would make the boy who gave it to you very happy, wouldn’t you say...?”

“H-How did you know it was from a boy?!”

“You should give your granny at least that much credit...” Jiba Ruu replied with a grin as her granddaughter’s face went red.

Before the day was over, that yellow mizora flower was reborn as an accessory.