Me and Betsy rolled through the countryside as I inspected the shamisen. I could feel something, some sort of power, coming from the instrument. It was black polished wood, and I couldn’t quite tell what the strings were made of. They definitely did not feel like the guitar strings back home.

  There were the three tuning knobs and then there was a small device that raised and lowered the top string. When I lowered it, that fuzzy twang sound you heard in old Japanese music was more prevalent where if I raised it, the string moved away so the sound was less pronounced. The instrument was a beautiful piece. Black polished wood with a long, powerful looking dragon painted in the colors of the lightning that brought me here.

  I wondered if there was some sort of correlation between that lightning and this dragon painting. There couldn’t be, right? It had to just be a coincidence. I tried to remember back to what the skeleton god told me, and it was all so fuzzy. Something about his brother? Was his brother a lightning god? Ugh, I should have asked Hisai or Soga about more of the kami. I really needed to take a more active interest in my going ons and learning about this new world I found myself in.

  The bachi, which was a kind of like a large triangular fan, was made of something that felt like a tortoise shell. It had various runes inscribed into it along the area that you picked the strings of the shamisen with. I didn’t know what the runes meant, of course, yet something else in this world I don’t know anything about.

  I had the manual sitting next to me on the bench and was using the bachi to play the strings. Betsy just bellowed as I played awfully. The discords sung out through the air. Maybe I’d have to wait until I can really focus on trying to learn it instead of while we’re riding through the countryside.

  There was nothing special when I played the instrument. Nothing that really happened despite the power I felt from it or the runes that were inscribed on the bachi. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but there had to be something to it. Betsy wailed and bellowed angrily as I played and I eventually sighed and set the instrument behind me into my little bunk area.

  _______________

  Off in the woods, not far from the Royal Road, there was a small pack of gray wolves. They had recently grown sentient and grew their cores. The animals all had wood spirits, which made the most sense since they lived there in the forest. They had been terrorizing people who passed by on the road. The wailing of someone playing an instrument drew their attention, and they were getting ready to attack.

  There was something that had not only stopped them, but eventually sent them running. A form kept appearing and dissipating in the woodland in front of them. The shape made of pure purple mana from the world. A shape that was long and flew jarringly through the air as the music from the rider rang through the world.

  The alpha looked out and saw the man being pulled in a wagon by a large ox. Another reason the wolves didn’t want to attack. That ox was powerful, and so was the man. The alpha crouched low and growled as it thought about sending the pack to attack, when the thing appeared once more.

  The pack leader gave one long howl and then ran with his pack on his heels. They didn’t want any part of a man who tamed a spirit beast and conjured dragons to defend him.

  _______________

  I looked up when I heard a howl in the woods, and Betsy stopped walking for a moment. We both looked off into the woods to our left. Betsy gave a snort, and I narrowed my eyes, trying to make anything out in the thick forest.

  “I don’t see anything coming for us girl, I think we’re probably alright. Besides, if they attack, you can just stomp on ‘em,” I said confidently.

  Betsy gave a bellow and a nod, but we waited another few minutes before she finally started to walk along once more. Once we were sure nothing was coming our way. I even used my spirit and searched out like Hisai had taught me to feel around in the woods in front of us. It was difficult and probably clumsy. I got the feeling of an incomplete painting in my clumsy attempt. Like I felt some things, but I knew I wasn’t feeling everything. I don’t know; it was kind of weird, but I was sure that I didn’t feel any life forms that would cause us harm.

  Once Betsy started rolling again, I looked behind me, and true to his word, Hisai loaded us up with provisions. It was a good thing we were just heading straight to Sunjin with no sort of cargo with us. The back of my extended length wagon was jam-packed full of hay, grain, kegs of water, and rations for myself. I’d have to figure out where to store all this stuff before I could take another job.

  Maybe Nakayasu could rent me a stable or something? I mused.

  I smiled and then wondered if Niku knew somewhere I could store the stuff. That really brought a smile to my face as I thought about her and what she had been up to. It had been a few since I had heard from her or sent her a message and figured I’d make the time tonight before I went to bed.

  “They took pretty good care of you huh, Betsy?” I called up to the ox.

  Betsy just gave a happy sounding bellow and a nod of her gigantic head. When I picked her and the wagon up, I saw they had washed her, took care of her hooves. They may have even waxed her horns. That was nice, though. She did still have a bit of blood on them from where she gored that bandit. It gave her a kind of badass look, but eh, that wasn’t quite the impression I wanted to give off for my upcoming wagoneer business.

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  As we rode along down the Royal Road, I idly thought about stopping at random towns and villages along the way. I could do a whole Over the Top thing where I sumo wrestle people in the local clubs to try to make some extra money. I learned some good tricks from Jonii and the people in the sect’s sumo club. Maybe I could henka my way all the way to Grand sumo, or whatever they might call it here.

  After Betsy’s pampering session, she was fully ready to pull through the day and night. I couldn’t be really sure, but it seemed like she was going faster than usual, too.

  “What else did they feed you?” I called up to her as the sun started to set.

  She just bellowed and snorted in response.

  “Fair enough, pull on! Oh, if you see that rest area again, The Lying Lily, let’s pull in. I think I need to see that place again,” I told her.

  Another bellow and nod of her head.

  I figured since I’d never really be able to figure out the instrument unless I was shown, I’d just try to cultivate while we rode. Eyes closed, I breathed in deeply, like Hisai taught me. Since I apparently didn’t have an element, I suppose it was more like meditation. There was something different now, a distinct feeling than before. There was something going on that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. A feeling that something inside of me was expanding.

  Looking inside myself, I couldn’t quite tell what was happening. I could feel myself connecting with the aether, with the universe. I Felt myself pulling the aura of the aether into my body, but I wasn’t turning it into anything like Hisai said. It took me a while, but I figured out it wasn’t any element that I was drawing into myself. It was the movement, the moving through the world, that seemed to do something for me.

  I blinked and opened my eyes. Eyebrows furrowed as I tried to take in this new information. Maybe that’s why Hisai was looking at me so weird? I crossed my arms and frowned before I called up to Betsy. “You are lightning elemented, right?”

  A bellow in response before her horns sparked.

  I blinked and nodded my head. “Yeah,” I muttered.

  I looked up to the sky as the sun set and the pink evening sky was setting in. There was one thing about this world, the sunsets were always beautiful. The colors always looked so amazing. I leaned back on my driver’s bench and spread my arms and legs out and just watched the sky.

  I closed my eyes and gave a loud yawn, lamenting the heat of this world’s summer. It was going to be rough sleeping. Even with the airflow from Betsy pulling the cart along at such speeds. It was still just hot air. When I finally opened my eyes from the yawn, there was a little pink glittery butterfly.

  I grinned when I realized what the glittery flying bug was. Speak of the devil. I think about sending her a message and she sends me one first. I gave an actual smile when I reached out and poked at the butterfly, watching it explode in a shower of glittery aura.

  Maikeru, do you know when you’ll be back in town? We need a rather large delivery of clay down to the southeastern part of the Empire before the next sumo tournament. They use a special kind of clay from our region to make the ring. Let me know. I hope everything is still going well. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to write. I think my master is keeping me extra busy so I can’t send anything to you.

  Anyway, your large wagon will be perfect. They usually need quite a bit of clay for the big rings they use for the sumo tournament, and I told them you and Betsy would be perfect. If you can haul all the clay they’ll need, they might save some money and it’ll garner you some favor with the SSA, and they’re backed directly by the empire, so it’ll be good money for you.

  Hurry back, we’d have to leave in the next few days to make sure the clay can be built in time since they have a whole process and ceremony and blessing they do and also I’d like to see you before you go on this new job. - Niku

  I grinned and read the letter that hung in the air in front of me in the pink aura. She missed me?! I called up to Betsy. “She misses me Betsy. This is amazing.”

  Betsy just gave another huff, and I could see her shrug in my mind.

  “Yeah, yeah, well, if we can hurry back to Sunjin, we have another job lined up hauling clay for a sumo tournament,” I told her. This seemed to perk her up a little, and she looked back at me for a moment before she quickened her pace.

  I perked when I said that and my mind caught up to everything else Niku said. The clay used to make the dohyo will be delivered by me? I nod my head and the idea runs around in my head. I asked what Betsy thought of the job and told her it might be pretty heavy, but she just let out a happy groan and nodded her head some more.

  I smiled, watching and listening to her before the small firework-like explosion as the words dissipated. I had to close and cover my eyes since it went off so close to my face. Once I could tell the light faded, I opened my eyes again and stared up at the quickly darkening sky. Shifting around so I could make my map sit next to me and inspect it.

  “Betsy, how would you feel about leaving the Royal Road?” I called.

  A bellow that seemed to end shortly, a questioning one. She wasn’t sure about the idea.

  “Yeah, I know it isn’t ideal, but the Royal Road is curvy. If we could cut right through, we’d get back to Sunjin quicker and make sure we get there for this next gig. Not only that, but if it doesn’t have to leave for a couple of days, it means I might be able to hang out with Niku a little,” I explained.

  I could sense Betsy once more rolling her eyes at me in my head. I frowned and then explained my thought process. “The job needs us there as quickly as we can, right? Even at your speed, we’re what… like a day out?”

  A grunt and a shake of her head.

  “What about those wolves, though? Or what if something else lives in the woods? Something bigger?”

  She gave a snort and I could tell I was pissing her off a little. She didn’t seem like she feared anything around here.

  “You think it’ll be alright and we’ll make it?”

  A snort and another nod of her gigantic head.

  If it was possible, Betsy picked up even more speed, and I had to hang on to the bench. With the bugs that kept flying into my face, I eventually had to retreat behind my driver’s bench into my little bunk area to hide.

  “Alright Betsy! You win! Let’s roll!” I yelled and peaked under the bench to see her. Betsy had her head down and she was charging down the road. It was a miracle she didn’t hit any of the other carts or wagons as we rolled through the countryside. As I watched, I even saw lightning kick up from the ground around her hooves.

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