In all fairness, he told me to show him what Betsy could really do, so she did. Looking back, we might have gone a little overboard. Instead of just running fast to the mud pits, we took a detour around the village and through the fields, and Betsy could go a lot faster than I thought she could. I’m pretty sure I even saw little sparks of electricity around her hooves while she ran. Honestly, I had a great time.
Now, since we stopped in front of a building that amounted to not much more than a shack, the man was throwing up over the side. I cringed a little and asked if he was going to be alright before I put a hand on his back. I was trying to make sure he was alright, but he just raised a hand with a single digit and in between up chucks he said to just give him a few minutes. Even tossing his cookies, the guy was calm and collected.
I nodded and climbed down from the bench to walk over and praise and check on Betsy. When I walked in front of her, I wasn’t sure it was possible, but she was pale. When she saw me, she gave a low bellow, and I got the mental image of her falling on her knees. That’s when I realized I felt a little strained as well, and I wasn’t sure what it was.
“What’s going on, girl?” I asked as I tried to wrap my arms around her neck in an embrace. I didn’t know what to do, so I just held onto her.
Another low, strained bellow was my only response and I could feel more of her weight press upon me.
“She strained her core. Give her these,” a savior said from my left.
I completely missed the sounds of someone running up to us and when I turned my head, I couldn’t help but grin. It was Niku. “Hey!” I greeted, as I pulled away from Betsy.
She waved that away and thrust out two soft, glowing pills at me. The pink wasn’t bright. In fact, it looked kinda dull aside from the slight glowing and plasticy and gave off a faint strawberry scent. “They’ll help her.”
I had barely taken them in my hand when Betsy took my entire hand in her mouth. My lip turned up a little as I felt the wetness of her tongue running along my wrist to the palm of my hand to take the pills from me. When she let go of my hand, I just kind of stared at the drool covered digits with a grimace before I looked at Betsy. “You know, I was about to just give them to you.”
I shook my head and looked at Niku while I tried to dry the drool off my hand by waving it around. It wasn’t really working. Apparently, oxen had really thick drool. “I thought you were busy doing stuff for your master?”
She just got a little mischievous grin and winked at me. “I made him see the benefit of me going on the trip. There are good contacts down there and he’s been wanting to go, anyway. As long as I can talk to some people while I’m down there, everything should be good.”
I grinned back at her and nodded. “Well, this should be fun, then. I don’t see a problem with taking some time, so you can do some business. Gotta make it worth it to the boss.”
She just nodded, and I looked over at Betsy to check on her. She rolled her eyes in response. I frowned. “Hey come on, don’t be like that,” I said and patted her head. “Are you okay?”
A huff.
I frowned. “I had to say hi to her,” I defended myself, and Niku just gave a soft laugh.
Another roll of the eyes, but then Betsy nodded, and I felt like she was going to be alright.
“She’ll be alright. They were mana regeneration pills. Weaker ones, which was why I said to give her two. Her core should be perfectly fine in no time, she just has to take it easy for a bit,” Erena told us.
“Thank you,” I told her solemnly.
“Mrr,” Said Betsy.
“Leave it to an alchemist to always have what you need,” I said with a grin.
Niku grinned and took a small embellished bow at the attention. “What were you guys doing, anyway?”
That’s when we heard someone clear their throat back by the wagon. Norimoro walked over and eyes were a little wet from throwing up. He seemed irritated. I had almost forgotten about him. He looked a little annoyed, so I just gave him another grin. “You’re alright then?”
“If you’re done showing off, then yes, I’m alright,” he said gruffly.
“So, we’re definitely getting the job, then?”
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The man glared at me, but nodded his head. “Yes, you’re getting the job. Let’s get your cart loaded up and we’ll work out the pay. I’ll go let them know we’re here.”
I watched him walk away and looked over at Niku, excited about this trip. It was obviously going to be a big step, and we didn’t really know each other outside of the few messages we had sent while I was on the road. Being a trucker sucked… or well, a wagoneer.
It only took Norimoro a minute before he came back with a young boy named Matoi. “He shall take the cart through the wall and to the mud pits. They don’t really let people back there in case someone is injured,” Norimoro explained and gestured to the kid.
He was a round-faced boy, around thirteen or so, with hair that went below his ears that kept getting in his eyes. He wore a simple worn tunic and pants and just smiled at me with big brown eyes.
I frowned and looked over at Betsy, and then at the boy, and then over to the wall. It was an enormous stone wall and I guess behind that sat wherever or however they made the oh so important clay for the dohyo. I blinked and wondered how the hell clay was even made. What was behind that wall? I squinted.
Norimoro cleared his throat to get my attention and looked at me expectantly. I looked at Betsy and frowned once more before Niku put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“She’ll be fine. With two pills, her core is probably refilling at a rapid pace,” she said confidently.
Betsy nodded and bellowed.
I looked at Matoi and nodded. “Alright then, but just so you know, Betsy is a spirit beast. She can basically do whatever you just have to tell her where to go.”
The boy nodded his head and waved me away. Whatever happiness he had before was gone. I supposed he was used to people telling him how to drive their wagons and was annoyed by it. The kid probably drove a ton of them and knew what he was doing. In another moment, Betsy was plodding off with the boy holding the reins.
“Now, negotiations,” Norimoro said with a shrewd grin that made me feel a little uncomfortable.
I stared at him blankly, taken aback by his flip in demeanor.
“How much were you expecting to get paid for this job?”
I shrugged a little and put my thumb and finger to my chin. “I’m really not sure. It’s a rush job and you want it there safely. How much were you looking to pay?”
Niku facepalmed and grunted, and Norimoro’s grin grew wider.
“Well, all you’re doing is hauling clay,” he said with a wide grin still on his face.
I frowned. So it was going to be like that, huh? I held up a finger at him and then counted off my points. “I’m a cultivator, and Betsy is the fattest spirit beast in the Empire, and you want it there quickly.”
The representative lost his grin and scoffed. “I doubt she’s the fas-”
I forged ahead and spoke over him. “Plus, you have the backing of the entire empire, and I’m told the young emperor loves sumo. You wouldn’t want to disappoint, would you?”
“Plus, this tournament is in the Song region,” Niku added.
I looked over at her with a cocked brow, not sure what that had anything to do with anything. She said it so matter-of-factly that it must have meant something I just couldn’t guess as to what. Was it super far or something?
“You know the government wants everything to go smoothly down there to keep up good relations with the local magistrates down there,” she said.
The head of the SSA frowned and crossed his arms against his chest. “Of course everything will go fine, why wouldn’t it? They love sumo as much as everyone else.”
Niku pressed. “But how much does everyone really love sumo right now after everything that happened at the last tournament?”
I blinked and thought back to what Nenshoki told me and frowned a little. Well, I still loved it.
“Plus, there’s all the rumors of rebellion!”
My eyes went wide, and I looked over at her.
He scoffed once more and waved that away. “There have been rumors of rebellion for 200 years. Nothing has ever come of it.”
“Rebellion?” I asked as my eyebrows shot up. Maybe there wasn’t enough money for this job after all. I wasn’t trying to get involved with some kind of rebellion. Though, I couldn’t help but think of myself as a badass space pirate and Betsy as my hairy co-pilot at that moment.
Niku just stared at him with a raised brow, unconvinced.
“Besides, he’s a civilian, why would they involve him in any of that?” Norimoro questioned, trying to gain an advantage.
Yeah, you never hear about civilians as casualties. I frowned, but decided not to say anything. Niku seemed like she had this handled. In the end, though, I was just a guy taking a cart full of clay to a different part of the empire so some big strong guys could do sumo. Apparently sumo was a whole ritual here to Kentaro here, which was a kind of neat twist in my opinion.
The negotiations went on from there, back and forth, with Niku acting as my agent. In the end, they worked out a deal that they both seemed happy with. I was happy enough, too. I’d make enough money to pay off the Cove for the wagon they were making me and keep me and Betsy fed for a bit longer. Judging from the grin Morimoro held, though I had a sneaking suspicion he could have paid a lot more. The bonus was that I got promised two floor seats to whatever day of the tournament I decided to go. One might even say that I had two tickets to paradise.
“Niku, pack your bags. We’ll leave tonight,” I said with a smirk, knowing neither of them would get the joke.
She frowned and looked at me. “Don’t you need to get more provisions and make sure you have your route selected and everything?”
Morimoro nodded his head and gave a slight shiver. “Yes, and I have to make sure Kohaku is ready with that damn snake of hers. In addition to hauling clay, you’re going to have to make sure the way is clear and safe for me and her.”
Dammit, I knew I should have gotten more money.
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