Considering the size of the village, the inn Nakayasu put us in was pretty nice. It wasn’t the nicest place I’ve ever stayed, don’t get me wrong, but it was decent. You could tell the owners took pride in their establishment and wanted to make sure that their guests were comfortable. The bed was probably my favorite part. The overstuffed beds felt as soft as clouds. I think it was the first bed I had slept in since I had come here.

  In the morning, I woke up early and took a hot bath. The hot water felt great, and I really needed some soap. I had been washing in rivers and streams up to this point, but wasn’t really doing the best since I didn’t have any soap or shampoo. There were a couple of times I had even used hot sand to clean myself, and that just sucked.

  I admit, there was another reason I woke up early. My goal was to get out of here before Amber woke up. I wanted to sneak out and avoid the awkward continuation of the conversation we had the night before. Before my bath, I looked up and down the hallways to make sure no one was awake and I heard nothing. After the bath, I still thought I was in the clear until I walked downstairs.

  “We need to talk.”

  Was what greeted me once I stepped into the restaurant part of the inn before I really had the chance to process that she was sitting there. She didn’t try to hide the fact that she was waiting for me. She was sitting at a table right at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes stared at me hard, and she had her arms crossed in front of her chest. The way the morning light filtered in from a high window on the opposite wall made her look like a villain waiting to confront someone in their lair.

  I sighed and once more rubbed the bridge of my nose with my eyes closed. All I could do was nod my head. “Alright.”

  “What do you mean, we’re dead?” she asked me.

  I stared at her. “Well, lightning struck us, or at least I was. How did you get here?” I asked with a raised brow.

  She frowned and nodded her head. “I think I was struck with lightning, too. I don’t know. I can’t really remember. It happened so quickly. One second I was sleeping in bed with weird noises in my living room and the next, here I am.”

  I walked over and sat at the table across from her. “Let me ask you, did you meet a skeleton god guy when you came?”

  Incredulous wouldn’t even describe the face she gave me. “If you’re not going to actually have a conversation with me, then you might as well leave.”

  I shook my head and put my hands up. “No, no, I’m just asking. I think it happened to me? It was one of my first nights here and me and Betsy stopped at a rest area. It was a tavern and inn place called The Lying Lily. Outside there was a skeleton guy and I’m pretty sure he said he was a god.”

  I still wasn’t sure about the details of this. Everything seemed hazy about that night, like it might have been a dream? I don’t know.

  She gave me a blank look.

  “I don’t know, I don’t like it. It was weird,” I stumbled as I tried to explain myself with a shrug.

  “Well, no, a skeleton god did not visit me,” she said. Her patience strained.

  I put my finger and thumb to my chin in thought, and I nodded. “Alright, well look, I’m sorry, but yeah, I’m pretty sure we died.”

  Amber once more got that faraway look in her eye, that same look from last night. She didn’t seem to have the same mental breakdown like she did before, so at least that was a step in the right direction. She just sat there solemnly and nodded her head. “Okay, so we died.”

  “Right, no big deal. We’re still here,” I replied.

  “What about our families? Everyone we loved and knew?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. I’ve never been very good at keeping contact with people. It’s a serious character flaw of mine and I always felt bad about it, but I don’t know. The phone worked both ways, you know? No matter how much I loved or cared for someone, I just was never good at it.

  I didn’t say any of this to Amber. I just sat there dumbly, and she eventually put her head down in her arms on the table. “How do you… How do you stay so passive about all of this?” She asked, defeat very much in her voice.

  “I don’t know. Like I said, it is what it is, unfortunately. Us kicking and screaming and battling the Heavens isn’t going to change anything. All you can do is keep on keeping on, like they say. Maybe one day we can for sure find one of these gods and see if they can help us, but until then…” I trailed off and shrugged.

  Now her head fell back on the table in her arms.

  I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood and left the inn and leaned up back against the doorway after I closed it. I wanted to pat her back and console her, but I didn’t know her. Although I wanted to help, ultimately she had to accept everything on her own terms. One last sigh and I shook my head again before I scanned the village square.

  Trying to remember where the alchemist’s shop was, I pushed away from the inn and looked around. I remembered it being in the square’s corner towards the end. Unable to recall the name of it, I just walked around and looked in the buildings that might have been shops. I finally picked one in about the place I thought it was and listened to a little bell chime that hung on the door.

  “Oh good. You’re here,” Nanbu Moritoshi, Niku’s master, greeted me when I walked in.

  I grinned and looked at the small rat-faced man behind the counter and gave him my most award winningest smile. “Hey how are you doing?” I asked pleasantly.

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  “Niku isn’t here. She’s busy, and she’s not going on your little vacation. I need her here,” he said without preamble.

  I frowned. “It’s not vacation, it’s my job. I’m doing very important work for the Sasuke Sumo Association. Besides, she can go exploring. She might find some rare valuable ingredients that are powerful beyond imagination for your potions and pills,” I said, trying to defend myself.

  He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes before he walked away from the counter and into a back room. “Like I said, she can’t go. She’s too busy with her studies.”

  I watched him leave, still frowning. “She said she was going, and that she wanted to go. She thought it’d be more exciting to see more of the continent.”

  “Oh yes, I know. All she does is talk about this great trip she wants to go on with you. See the world, explore. Bleh,” he spat.

  I could see him lower his head and curse as soon as he realized what he said.

  I grinned. “So, she does want to go.”

  “Well, of course she wants to go. Who wouldn’t want to go see more of the world? What kind of cultivator wouldn’t want to see more?”

  I stared at him. “Well then, we agree.”

  “No, I can’t afford to lose my apprentice that long,” he spat once more from the back room.

  “You’re hindering her growth as a cultivator,” I accused and poked my finger towards the doorway.

  Before we could continue to argue, the little bell above the doorway rang once more. I looked back and saw Norimoro, the head of the SSA, enter wearing his formal clothing. As soon as he entered, he looked at me and smiled. He seemed to have been excited to find me.

  “Good morning Sir,” I greeted him and held my hand out to shake his.

  He just kind of stared at my hand and I realized this gesture wasn’t a thing here. Then my mind wandered to when Hisai shook my hand and the pain that came after. I eventually lowered my arm and just felt like an idiot.

  The SSA head smiled at me regardless and nodded. “Yes, hello. Are you ready to figure out your pay and get your wagon loaded so we can get you on the road?”

  He spoke with a slow stiffness. Every bit the reserved, prim and proper person he showed he was the night before. Even the way he held himself as he stood there told me he was someone from the upper crust of society. Still, there was an edge in his voice. Something there below the surface that told me he was eager to get me on the road as soon as I could go.

  “Alright then, let’s get going,” I said and reached out to grab the door.

  Norimoro walked through the door and before I followed him through it I looked towards the backroom and spoke loud enough so that I knew Miratoshi could hear me. “We aren’t done with this discussion.”

  Sheesh, I felt like I was haggling with a girl’s father in order to take her on a date.

  “Alright then, where’s your wagon and that ox?” He asked briskly once we were outside. I watched him look around the village square.

  I looked around and put my hands on my hips and looked around, trying to feel at the connection I had with Betsy. “Um, you know, I’m not sure.”

  He looked at me with a flat look and sniffed. “What do you mean you don’t know where your wagon is?”

  “Uh, well, Nakayasu had his attendant take care of it during dinner last night. Then I had to give my friend some bad news, so I just went to bed,” I said sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head.

  He narrowed his eyes on me. “Your friend? The girl from last night at dinner?”

  I nodded.

  “Is this going to be a problem?”

  I shrugged. “Not for me or the delivery.”

  This seemed to placate the man, and he nodded. “Well then, I’m sorry you had to give her some bad news. I hope everything is alright.”

  “Alright then, we need to get you loaded. Let’s find your ox and that cart. He probably put him in the village barn over here,” he said as he walked off past the alchemists’ shop towards the fields.

  I followed and corrected him. “It’s a her.”

  “I know your friend is a her. I met her last night.”

  “No sir, my ox. It’s a girl,” I told him.

  This stopped him in his tracks, and he stumbled a little at the sudden stop. He looked at me with a raised brow. “Your ox is a girl?” he said and stressed the word ox.

  I nodded and smiled widely. I quietly wondered why everyone was having such a hard time with the fact that Betsy was an ox. “Yeah, her name is Betsy.”

  Now he looked at me like Amber did, like I was an idiot.

  “Well, son, if you say so,” and then he patted me on the shoulder again. I couldn’t help but feel like he was being condescending. Before I could say anything, he walked off to show me the way to the barn.

  Since the village was so small, it turned out the barn was just on the other side of the square. It was nestled on the end and away from the row of buildings nestled next to an open field. It looked like every other barn I had seen in my life. The building was big and red with a double swing door and had a little window above it.

  I went over and swung open one of the doors to find Betsy standing in the large main part of the barn munching on some hay. She gave a soft bellow when I walked in and I got the impression of her smiling, happy to see me.

  I walked over and patted her on the head before I peppered her with questions. Mostly just making sure they took good care of her and fed and washed her. She nodded to each question and seemed quite content with the way they took care of her.

  “Sorry I didn’t say goodnight last night, girl. Stuff got away from me and then some other stuff happened and you were gone when I left dinner,” I explained sadly.

  Betsy just nodded again and gave a low “mrr” in understanding and I tried to wrap my arms around her neck. I got about halfway and just squeezed.

  I looked over at Norimoro and he once more was staring at me like I was an idiot. I blinked and let go of Betsy. “What? She’s a spirit beast.”

  He raised his hands and shook his head. “Nothing, nothing is wrong. It’s alright. Why don’t you bring her out and we’ll find your cart and get moving.”

  I nodded and led Betsy out. Without prompting, she led me and the representative behind the barn. We got her hooked up and clasped in relatively quickly, being used to doing it by now, but I couldn’t wait to have some sort of thing where she could do it herself with the new wagon. I didn’t notice how Norimoro stood there once more, flabbergasted.

  “It’s so long!” He exclaimed. The man even went so far as to put his hands on his greased and top knotted hair.

  I grinned, lowered my head and closed my eyes, trying to hold back the laugh. It was hard resisting the ‘that’s what she said,’ joke, but he wouldn’t have gotten it, so I kept it to myself. Instead I said, “that’s why Nakayasu recommended me for the job. He knew I’d be able to take any amount of clay that you would need transported. Not only that, but Betsy can pull it in record time.”

  I climbed up to the driver’s bench, and he came up to sit next to me. “Come on then, let’s get to wherever we’re going.”

  He nodded and explained where we were going, and then he grinned at me with a little sparkle in his eye. “Why don’t you show me what Betsy can really do?”

  I winked and nodded. “Yes sir,” I said before I called down to Betsy. “You hear that?”

  A loud bellow, and then we were off.

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  When I repost my Hiroshi story (it's currently stubbed) do I add it here since it's a prequel, or just leave it as another fic?