In Ray's main house, in Kamadu hut, Rau-Ray was listening to his sisters' humble voices, whirling around the contents of an iron pot that could be simmered in a groove.

"Ray and Lilyn's wedding feast is finally in seven days!

"Yeah, yeah. Such a big feast is a hiccup. Looking forward to it."

"But it's a wedding feast, so there's no comparison of the power of a man. I'm sorry that's all."

Rau-Ray has as many as three sisters. They were sisters with no appearance or temperament at all, but they had only one thing in common. It is in that it is an unparalleled chatter lover.

"If it was a power comparison, you would have done it at the Lou house the other day. That's why Lilyn's parents were allowed to be Lew's family."

"Yeah, yeah. It's amazing how you beat four parents. That just didn't seem like a good idea for Lew and Rutim's parents. Come on."

"You bet! Because Donda-Lu and Dan-Lutim are the bravest of Luu's blood! Oh, I wanted to go see it too."

My sisters have been interested in chatting ever since I pulled Lau-Ray into Kamadu's cabin. Rau-Ray finally got to complain to you at the limit.

"Can't you guys be quiet for a little while?"

My sisters, who have only been quiet for a moment, strike back as soon as possible.

"You don't slap a lot of great mouths. My youngest, shut up and work!

"That's right. Ooh. I'm not supposed to tell my elderly family about you, am I?

"Don't you think it's a good idea because you're just a little bit tall? You're not even an apprentice hunter yet!

"Oh, that's really weird already," Lau-Ray said, taking a sigh of relief.

Rau-Ray was twelve at the time, already taller than his oldest sister, but he is still being treated like his youngest child.

My eldest sister is eighteen years old, has reddish brown hair, and she looks like my strong face. Sleek physique, although quite eye-catching, feminine prudence has no fine dust.

My next sister was sixteen years old, had yellowbrown hair, and had the plumpest physique of the sisters. Character is extremely warm.

My youngest sister is fourteen years old, has black brown hair, and she pulls it into a cucumber. She wasn't very tall, but she was a bloody daughter who loved to move her body, making noise when she did it in comparison to the power of a man, etc.

Forestside people often inherit hair and eye colors from their grandfathers and grandmothers, so they all have different shades, including Lau-Ray. Yet they all looked alike, so they were rarely seen to be sisters and brothers at first sight.

"... Could it be that I missed you because I couldn't just put Lau in the chat?

And that's how my next sister has stated it with a smile.

"Is there a reason for that," Rau-Ray said, letting him hang his eyebrows.

"For the most part, there are three of you, so you won't need my help or anything? Damn, I'm pushing for a troublesome job..."

"It's natural for us all to help each other with the work of the house! Don't complain!

"That's right. If you keep your spare time, you'll soon be bullying the weak."

"I'm not a weak bully. It's training to be a hunter."

"That's bullying the weak! There's no one left for you, a man younger than 12."

My oldest sister, who was cutting aria with a crumb, stares at Lauray-Ray with a tight eye.

"If you want to train, ask your parents and branch hunters to do the archery. You'd rather be made to cry than to cry."

"Aren't the hunters free of hand if it's not also a period of rest? Otherwise, I'm asking for it from the beginning."

Saying on the top of the Buddha, Rau-Ray violently spilled the contents of the iron pan.

Then my next sister peeks in from the side with a somewhat worrying face.

"Sounds like Lau's been in a bad mood lately. It's almost a feast, aren't you looking forward to it?

"Hmm! Only grown-ups and floating women who can drink can enjoy a wedding feast, etc."

When Rau-Ray returned his tongue-in-cheek voice, his oldest sister said more tongue-in-cheek than that: "Here!" He raised his voice.

"This feast is an important one to welcome Lilyn to your family, isn't it? Besides, it's the Ul-Ray of the branch who gives you the wedding, but what if you, the eldest brother of the main house, say that!

"... don't treat me like an elder brother only when it's convenient"

Rau-Ray feels so bad.

Rau-Ray was grumpy precisely because of the approaching feast of that wedding.

Most of all, I'm not against this wedding. Ul-Ray, the divided family, is an important blood family, and a man named Gillan-Lillin, who welcomes it to his daughter-in-law, was an extraordinarily fine hunter.

I'm sure Donda-Lou and his fathers' decision to welcome Lilyn's house to their families is right, and most importantly, Ul-Ray is eager to marry Gillan-Lilyn. Rau-Ray sincerely wanted the happiness of his nearby blood clan, Uru-Ray.

So there's no reason to be grumpy.

It was more self-righteous and tiny, then it was more important to Rau-Ray than anything else.

"That, Sati-Ray. Have you finished smoothing your fur yet?

And my youngest sister gave such a voice to the lid.

From behind Rau-Ray, a clear voice echoes "yes".

"It wasn't a very big fur, so I was able to clean it up right away. If you like, I can help you here."

"Thanks! Unlike someone else, Sati-Ray feels good! Did your mother go back to the house?

"No, he said he was going to see how the toddler was doing at the division. We just got more new babies."

Rau-Ray looked back slowly.

Sati-Ray, a family member in the main house, has a gentle grin and is stuck there.

Sati-Ray is sixteen, the same age as his next sister. She is a woman with bright brown hair and deep shades of blue eyes, with a slender body.

That said, there are no other distinguishing features. Compared to the three sisters of Rau-Ray, she was a very interrogatory bunch of women who seemed a lot more grown-up.

However, on that side, there is always an age-appropriate and deposited look on my face. A gentle, fluffy look that envelops the beholder. That was tailoring her to a special presence even in the forestside settlements.

Or maybe that's the style brought about by her unfortunate life.

She lost her family at an early age, so she became a family in the main house.

It's not a rare story that hunters get younger and decay into the woods. But it wasn't a common story at least in the Ray family that either his father or brother would lose it one way or another, besides falling ill to his mother.

"Lau was there, too. Would you like me to take my place?

Sati-Ray smiled with a grin.

It is the usual, slight smile.

Rau-Ray tied his lips together and silently handed him a stick to stir the iron pan.

"You're using Talapa today. It smells so good."

Sati-Ray peeks into the contents of the iron pan from next to Rau-Ray.

Her height, too, Rau-Ray had overtaken her within the last year.

Long brown hair sparkles in the sun at dusk.

Then he turned away his eyes, and Rau-Ray returned the blemishes.

"Bye. I'm gonna do some training."

Without waiting for a reply, I headed to the exit of Kamado's cabin and I said, "Uh, I got away!" My youngest sister's voice follows me.

With what expression would Sati-Ray be dropping off Lau-Ray?

Do you look remorseful to me?

With that in mind, Lauray-Ray jumped out into the sun-drenched outdoors.

Rau-Ray had fallen in love with his age separated family, Sati-Ray, for the first time in his life.

◇

Rau-Ray and Sati-Ray met about six years ago.

Of course he was from the same Ray family, so I guess he's faced it before. But I don't remember playing with him because he's a lot older, and I think he remembered his name. Anyway, it was about six years ago that Lau Ray recognized Sati Ray as Sati Ray.

Rau-Ray was six at the time, and Sati-Ray was ten.

In that year, Sati-Ray lost all his family and was to be invited as the family of the main house.

As for blood muscles, your grandfather was supposed to be a brother.

One distant blood muscle is your mother's sister, Ul-Ray, etc.

Still, Sati-Ray was to be picked up by the main house. It was because his mother at the time felt pity for Sati-Ray and insisted that it was together that he would raise four or five.

That's how my life with Sati-Ray began.

At first, I only thought it was another woman's family, the three sisters seemed to have a lot of fun, but Rau-Ray didn't even think it was a pleasure to stick around. It's just that it's pathetic to lose a whole family, until I thought to myself,

That only made it special to Rau-Ray.

Sati-Ray never made a scene like his sisters. It was always quiet, calm, and I kept my parents' words right. But with the tender temper to always be caring about others, both my sisters and Rau-Ray were able to break it with her immediately.

With the exception of my next sister, all the kids in the main house were very temperamental. Rau-Ray had troubled his sisters, but even Rau-Ray should have thought they were troubled. But Sati-Ray did not bond with all of them in due course, for a time and so much so that Sati-Ray's engagement arose among his sisters and brothers.

Such a noise calmed down after a few years or so, and now everyone is friendly with Sati-Ray without any problems.

In the meantime, Rau-Ray had a new feeling.

I've always cared about Sati-Ray. As important as my original family is. It's just emotions that no other family can have - that is, love has sprouted.

At first, I didn't know what that meant. When I look at Sati-Ray, why does my chest bother me? How can you feel weird and inadequate when you live so much by your side? What the hell makes Sati-Ray different from the rest of the family? The young Rau-Ray could hardly tell.

But Lau-Ray, too, is now twelve years old.

Though I'm still old enough to work as a hunter, I never misjudged how I felt to get here.

He is calm, gentle, good at putting on the feelings of others, very hiccups, yet has a stronger core inside than anyone else. Rau-Ray had fallen in love with Sati-Ray as one woman.

But also, it will take about three more years for Rau-Ray to be able to welcome his partner.

On the other hand, Sati-Ray is already sixteen.

That fact was heavier than anything for Rau-Ray today.

◇

"Oh, you're finally home. Where have you been walking?

After about half an hour and plenty of sundown, Rau-Ray returned to his house.

The hall is full of sour aromas of tarapa. The juicy dishes handed over from Lau Ray to Sati Ray also seem to have been successfully completed.

"Look, just sit down. I was just about ready for dinner."

It's the mother who's raising her voice. Sati-Ray had the juice dish on a wooden plate, and his sisters lined it up on the rug.

"... Has my father gone yet?

Careful not to look at Sati-Ray as much as possible, Rau-Ray lowered his back to his seat.

The mother laughs, "Of course you do," she said.

"It's a long way from Ray to Lew. We got off to work early today, and we should have gone from the bright side."

Seven days later, the wedding of Ul-Ray and Gillan-Lillin is given. Today is the first day of the celebration, so Rau-Ray's father, the head of Ray's main family, was also on his way to the Rau family.

Without a father, all the women are left in Ray's main house. My grandmother, my mother, my three sisters, and my family, Sati-Ray. With the exception of Rau-Ray, everything is the women. Recently, the Rays were often chilled that they were a family of females, etc.

"Well, shall I have it? You're the four of you, aren't you?

"No, I was helping Lau out, too. Just a little bit of ho!

The remarks of her youngest sister also led to the incorporation of Lau-Ray's name in the pre-meal wording.

This evening's supper was served with Poitan juice from Tarapa and Aria and baked Pra, Aria and Nennon. Of course, there is plenty of Giva foot meat in both.

"It's kind of a luxury today. It's like a little feast."

When my grandmother said so, my eldest sister responded "Well."

"Even my father would be having a fine dinner at the Lou's, so I thought I'd fight him over this one. My celebration of Uru-Ray."

"Haha. I'm not feeding Ur-Ray, so we're not celebrating much, but hey."

While stating so, my next sister is happily cheeky with Gibba's foot meat.

Sure, well, it's not just Aria and Poitan, they use as many as three other vegetables, so I'd say it's a luxury. Such luxury was also possible thanks to the fact that the hunters of Ray were hunting a sufficient number of Gibbas.

"Still, I can't believe Ul-Ray's dowry into Lilyn's house. He's a hunter as old as his father, isn't he?

"Yeah. I hear your previous partner was supposed to give you your soul back because of the disease. Lilyn was a small family member, so I guess there wasn't even a copper coin to buy medicine in town."

"But Lilyn's parents are fine hunters! Oh, my God, you beat my father by comparison of power!

To demonstrate his strength, Gillan-Lillin was to test his strength with the heads of the six families of Lew's blood. It was Donda-Lou and Dan-Lutim who were unable to soil there.

"Wouldn't it be nice if Ul-Ray was already eighteen? Just the right age to give you a wedding."

"Hehe. If I told you that, you'd be the same age, right?

"I'm fine! As Ray's eldest sister in the main house, I choose my son-in-law very carefully."

Saying so, my eldest sister has laid eyes on Rau-Ray.

"I can't rely on Lau alone to pick up the main house. I need to welcome as good a man as possible to my son-in-law for times of need."

"Parents are still fine, so you'd be quick to worry about that.... and Lau, 'cause the next year he's gonna be a fine hunter. Come on."

"I don't know! You look like a bunch of women when you grow taller!

Rau-Ray sipped a sip of loose poitan broth before letting him throw a clean spoon in his oldest sister's face.

I grabbed it where it was at stake, and my oldest sister said, "What the hell!" and give her a golden cut.

"Ugh! You have nothing to do with the hunter's power!

"Hang on! If I let you just peek up from your neck, aren't you a whole bunch of women? Minus the bad eye, though."

"I know it's that way that I don't see it! You're the one who could be mistaken by a man if he lowered the knife!

"What are you fussing about? Damn, that's a bunch of fuckin 'kids."

My mother is smiling.

He has given birth to as many as four children, but he has a slender physique, and his face is young. That's also because he has golden brown hair, and some of the children were told that Lau-Ray was the most like his mother.

"In the meantime, don't throw a spoon in the middle of dinner. You want your parents to slap you in the head again?

"Hmm! I just bought a sold fight!

"Damn, nobody and he are bloody... don't be an apprentice to Satie"

Sati-Ray, who was rinsing the broth, lowers the wood plate and smiles softly.

"But the two of you are not bothered from the bottom of your heart, so I can safely watch. Being able to say whatever you think is a sign of good friends."

"I hope so. I'm just a little worried because I won't be able to get rid of my kids forever."

My next sister, who was eating with a smile on her face, laughs "haha" there.

"My sister regrets that Lau has grown bigger than herself. And I'm worried that Lau's almost thirteen years old and he's going to start hunting."

"Shut up!," the eldest sister blushed and clasped her sister's shoulder.

"It hurts," my next sister says, smiling and cheeky at her new meat.

"If it's Lau, I'll be fine. He's got his parents' blood on him, and his body's getting bigger, so he's gonna be a great hunter."

That said, the mother had a slightly distant eye.

"But surely, Lau is that age, too. Even Ul-Ray will give you a wedding, and you mean we're all not children forever"

"Then you are. Except for me and Lau, it's the year I get to welcome Mi-na's partner."

My youngest sister, who was scratching the meat without my involvement, gives such a voice to the lid.

"But well, I guess the first person in the main house to marry a mate is Satie? The sisters don't have anyone."

"No, that's not..." Sati-Ray smiles troubled.

"But right? The next feast will gather all of your family, so you can deepen your bonds there. Then it's like I've already decided to marry her."

"No, but......" Sati-Ray uncommonly laid his eyes down.

To that appearance, Rau-Ray gets his chest stuck.

"Even at the little harvest festival before this, Satti should have gone to the Lou family. Then maybe I was supposed to give you a wedding before Ur-Ray did!

"Oh, sure. Lou's eldest brother looked terribly sorry that Satie hadn't come."

Even my eldest sister said so.

Rau-Ray retrieved the wooden spoon from his hand and stirred all the remaining broth in his mouth.

"There's nothing to shy away from because they're parents."

"Yes, yes. Even Satie is from Ray's house. Come on."

"Yeah. I miss Satie getting married, but we sincerely bless her, too"

Rau-Ray threw away an empty wooden dish.

Failure to tap on the floor was at least an indication of self-control.

That's how Rau-Ray stood up and his mother looked back as surprised.

"What, Lau, where are you going?

"We're done eating, so we're going out. You're on my own."

"So where are you going at this late hour? I won't go through with it."

"Let it go. The women's voices are softening and I have a headache. If it wasn't for me, you'd make as much noise as you want."

Rau-Ray jumped out of the house without even looking behind him.

This is the second time I've escaped from the front of Sati-Ray.

But to Rau-Ray, I couldn't find the right path than that.

If I stayed in that place any longer, I'm sure I'd be impatient. So I'm sure you'll throw up words that hurt or torment your family and Sati-Ray. No matter how direct Lau-Ray was, I couldn't allow myself to do that.

(Damn it! Why... why am I, like, twelve!

Rau-Ray, who jumped out of the house, beat the trunk of the great tree at the edge of the settlement, keeping its momentum.

Of course, Daiki is not scared, but the intense pain returns to his fist.

Rau-Ray relied on the moonlight to climb the great tree.

Climbing about the height of the two humans, they had affordable branches, so they settled their hips there.

If it were here, it wouldn't be in anyone's eyes.

I didn't want to talk to anyone right now, and I didn't want anyone to see me.

(Satti... I'm sure he's going to give you a wedding with the eldest brother of the Lew family)

It was a fate that everyone could foresee.

The other person is a parent, but also the eldest brother of the main family. There could be no such thing as a woman who wanted a dowry from such a fine opponent and turned it down.

The Luu bloodline is a large annual harvest festival where all humans are gathered in the Luu family settlement. That's when they were supposed to bond.

The last big harvest festival was about six months ago. The figure of Sati-Ray, who exchanges words on the spot, and the eldest brother of the Luu family - Giza Luu - had been firmly engraved in the back of Lau Ray's brain.

Ziza-Lou was a truly brilliant man. The age would be about two or three years older than Sati-Ray. He is taller than Rau-Ray, and his physique, etc. is unparalleled and disappointing. He was an impeccable hunter as a trace of Lew's home.

Rau-Ray was also the eldest brother of the head of the main family, so he was often taken to the harvest festival, where after the age of ten he had seen Giza-Lou earlier than Sati-Ray because he was indispensably taken even at the small harvest festival.

When I first saw it, I thought you seemed like a kind man.

After a while, I was starting to think you were some kind of a strange man.

Giza-Lou looked like he was smiling all the time, but as he got older, he was going to gain more and more style as a hunter.

Even compared to the power of the harvest festival, the change was evident as it were. Last time, he beat only one of the eight brave men. After that, he was defeated by another brave man, and although Giza-Lou himself did not quite get the title of brave man, it also seemed to be a matter of time.

Such a jizza-lu made me think of Satti Ray.

No, did Sati-Ray think of it better first?

Whatever it was, they had a nasty vibe at the last big harvest festival. Both Sati-Ray and Ziza-Lou looked at each other very happily, smiling at each other.

That was the look on Rau-Ray's unknown Sati-Ray's face.

Sati-Ray would never have turned such an eye on Rau-Ray.

So Rau-Ray was to suffer the pain of being torn apart.

(How could I have been born four years later than Satie... if I had been born sooner, even me...)

Rau-Ray got bored in the dark.

Then, how much time had passed - after Rau-Ray breathed out so much sigh that he couldn't count, he was to be heard from below.

"Who's there? What the hell are you doing at this late hour?

It was the voice of Rau-Ray's father.

When did it become a time limit for the fathers who were heading out to the Lew family to come back?

Rau-Ray sighed one last time before peeking into the lower realm.

Three red candlestick fires are burning. Careful not to bump into it, Lau-Ray jumped under the great tree.

"What, was it Lau? I thought you were expecting the Sung family to sneak in."

Rau-Ray's father was laughing with a brave face.

The other two are Ul-Ray and his father. The father, who had his daughter covered behind his back, was breathing in relief.

"So, what the hell were you doing? I told you not to leave the house at night.

"... I thought if it was on a tree, there wouldn't be any dangerous beasts."

When Lau-Ray answered on the top of the Buddha, his father stroked his jaw, "Hmm."

He's not that tall, but he has a successful body, and he grows reddish brown mustaches around his mouth. And the best feature was that the right eye was blocked by a large old wound.

"In the meantime, you guys should go home. Sleep tight for tomorrow."

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow"

Ul-Ray and his father go home to their own homes.

After dropping off his hindsight, his father has poked a candlestick fire at Rau-Ray.

"You look snug. I haven't been feeling well lately, but it's been a hell of a day."

"... I broke your word, and you won't hit me?

"Hmm. I don't feel like hitting the guy with that moist face"

His father sat somewhere at the root of the great tree.

"Well, sit down. If you don't want to go home, I'll stick with you for a little while."

Rau-Ray got lost, but decided to follow his father here.

The father, who has placed the candlestick on the ground, flies his gaze into the dark with his usual face.

"Lately, everyone in the Luu bloodline has floated. It was the first time in more than a decade that we were supposed to have a new family, so, of course. Besides, Lilyn's house is a small, but well-deserved family of Lew's."

........

"Don't you think it's boring to have a snug face on your own in the meantime, Lou?

"... I'm not talking about boredom. I have my situation."

"Right. I don't have any strange women right now, but still don't you feel like telling me?

Rau-Ray often groveled, then said, "I can't be".

"I just told my dad, it doesn't make my pain lighter. I don't want to waste that."

"Right. If I had been you a while ago, I would never have been able to hold such depression alone."

That's what I said, and my father laughed happily.

"Are you twelve, too? I'm relieved the contents seem to be growing a little bit, Lau."

"Hmm. I feel like I'm being extra childish"

"But there is. Twelve is a child. Until his thirteenth birthday, when he goes out into the woods as an apprentice hunter, all the men are children."

So his father finally turned to Rau-Ray.

"Raw, I'm waiting for the day when you'll be a fine hunter. I want you to take over as much as I can."

"What are you talking about now? There are no other men besides me, so I guess I'm the one who's going to succeed the parents?

"I'm not just a parent. I'm the head of the main house. Before you become a one-man hunter, if I return my soul, the seat of my parents will be taken over by the son-in-law of three sisters, or even by my brother? That's what the woods call it, but I still want you to lead Ray's clan."

Rau-Ray was set to stare back at his father's face, increasingly confused.

"If you're a man with decent powers, can you be a one-man hunter in about two years? I'll be thirteen in about six months, so two and a half years till I'm alone. It's impossible for my father to return his soul by then."

"Oh. Even I'm not going to give my soul back that early. But the longer a one-eyed hunter lives, the less sweet a giva hunting job is."

His father laughed more, under his bearded mouth.

"I'll probably be decaying into the woods before I'm old enough to put my knife down. No, as old as I am, I consider myself superior if I have three years. So before I do, I want to see you in public, Lau."

Rau-Ray didn't even know what to answer.

A father with his hand on Rau-Ray's head like that creeps his hair around.

"So you, too, don't look so snug. If you're bothered, you can go wild. Then you'll feel a little better."

"... our temper is definitely my father's blood."

"Naturally. You're my kids."

That's how he ended up poking Rau-Ray's head rough and small before his father stood up.

"Then it's time to go home. You can bet, but the whole family is waiting for you back home without sleeping. If you don't keep your head down, I'll beat you until your face changes shape."

"Okay," he replied, as did Rau-Ray.

On its chest, one determination had been consolidated.