“So Maikeru, you’re in transportation huh?” Hiragana said and took a sip of his tea.

  On the way over here, I told them my name was Michael, and this was as close as they could get for whatever reason. When I tried to tell them both to just call me Mike, they had problems with that as well. Maikeru ended up sounding better than the alternative to me, so we just went with that.

  I paused for a second and doubled down on my story. “Yes,” I said with a confident nod. He asked me why I needed so many carriages and such a weird setup and, well, with my past. “Specifically transporting large amounts of goods for people,” I continued.

  The three of us had moved to Hiragana’s house, which turned out to be one of the larger houses with an enormous field for his crops. He certainly didn’t seem like he had very much money with the more basic robe the man wore, but what did I know? I kept glancing over to Erana to see her reactions to all of this while me and Hiragana spoke.

  We were all seated around a square table and sat on lush soft pillows. I was across from Hiragana and Erana was to my left. Behind him was a large double door that was opened to a lavish courtyard complete with a large cherry blossom tree and a pond and fountain that sat underneath. The fact that he had some serious money was only accented when an attendant came over and refilled his tea when he held the cup up to the woman.

  Because I was too focused on figuring out my story, I ignored the attendant. Then, of course, there was Erana. She didn’t really react to anything I said and just sat there and drank her own tea. She looked like she was actually in deep thought.

  “That’s interesting. Did you bring things from Igirisu?” he asked me. “Things to sell and trade?”

  “Uhhh,” my mind raced. If my truck turned into the ox and carriages, I wonder what happened to all the turkeys I was carrying? I shook my head at him. “No, sorry. I’m here trying to start.”

  “Ahh, I see, I see,” Hiragana said with a grin and a nod of his head. “Well, good for you. I was just a poor farm hand too. Now look at me,” he said and waved his hands around.

  Erana narrowed her eyes at the older man, but she looked around and centered on me. “So, you’re looking to do some transporting, then?”

  I nodded my head. “Yeah, that’s right,” I say easily. When thinking it over, it really makes sense. I can get the lay of the land in this new world I’m in and I’ll be doing something I already know. Granted, there might be a little learning curve since I’ll be dealing with an ox and a carriage instead of a truck.

  “Alright then, I have a job for you,” she exclaimed and slapped the table.

  “You know,” Hiragana stroked his chin and called over to the attendant. Once the young man came over, Hiragana whispered something in his ear and then the attendant ran off. “I might have something for you, too. Depending on where Erana’s job is headed and how much she has to transport.”

  My eyes opened wide, and I watched the attendant leave. The man's clothes were far nicer than his boss's. His robe, were they kimonos? I wasn’t sure if there was a difference between kimonos and robes. Anyway, his cotton robe was a deep black, and I noticed he actually wore something underneath it when they spoke. Unlike his boss, who just showed his massive hairy chest.

  I looked over at Erana and wanted to gulp, but held it back. I figured that it’d probably giveaway that I was making this all up as I went.

  “What’s wrong? That’s what you want to do, isn’t it?” She asked me and narrowed her eyes on me.

  I nodded my head. “Of course. What is it and where’s it going?”

  She was explaining it was just some alchemical products her master was trying to figure out how to get to the port to ship overseas for sale. She also said it wasn’t much, probably only one of my little carts full.

  “And I think I can fill the other cart of yours,” Hiragana said and looked up from the papers his attendant brought him. He had brought them while Erana was explaining what she needed and he had looked over whatever papers he was looking at.

  “Just some tea leaves. Using you will free up my man to stay here and do other things,” Hiragana said and smiled.

  I nodded my head and gave the pair of them a nervous chuckle. “Great,” I said and nodded my head, though my voice was strained a little. I had left my tea untouched until now, as I’m not a fan, but now I needed something to distract them from my obvious unease.

  I took a deep breath in and smelled a deep rich malty scent. I took a small sip and was met with something unlike any other tea I had ever tasted. This had a deep earthiness to it, with a bit of a spiciness to go along with the malty smell. It was heavier than I had expected, but quite good. After the initial sip, I pulled the cup back and looked at it wide eyed.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Hiragana chuckled a little. “Yes, yes, I know. You’re used to the lighter teas. Something light and maybe minty would be good since the heat, but eh, I like a good deep brew,” he explained.

  I nodded as Erana jumped up from the pillow she sat on and bowed towards Hiragana and then to me. “Alright then, you guys figure out stuff here and I’ll go speak with my master about getting the stuff we need together.”

  I watched her leave with a small chuckle and Hiragana brought me from my daze with a chuckle once she was through the double door and out into the courtyard.

  “She’s focused on her work, my friend. I don’t know if she’s the right person for you to chase after or fall for,” he said and lifted his cup of tea before he drained it.

  I looked around a little and gave him a small smile before I offered a small shrug in response.

  Hiragana laughed a little more. This was a softer, more conspiratorial laugh than the full belly ones the jovial man usually gave.

  “Do you even know the village name that you’re in right now? Or the capital where we want our goods to go?” he asked me.

  I noted the man didn’t sound angry or annoyed by this. He sounded like he found this idea very entertaining.

  I just looked at him before I looked around a little. “Um, I might need a map,” I said simply. This drove Hiragana into the full belly laugh I was now used to hearing from him. While he laughed, though, he motioned to his attendant, who dashed off and was back just a few minutes later with a large scroll.

  Hiragana took the scroll and thanked him, and that’s when I learned the attendant’s name was Noritame. When Hiragana rolled the scroll out, I saw it was a map of a large continent that almost resembled the shape of China. Curious about how everything was so Japanese-esque, but the country looked like China, sort of.

  The continent was sectioned off into twelve districts, and Hiragana pointed to one of the smaller districts in the map's northeast that was a little under and to the east of the largest district.

  “You are in the region of Showa and in the village of Sunjin.” he pointed to a little dot. “You’re going to go to our capital city and the port city of Meguro,” he said as he pointed to a little star.

  Looking over the map, I recognized the districts as what would be like states if it were a map of the US. The stars must be the capitals and then the dots, just various towns. The map even had little roadways drawn out, or highways. I smiled to myself. This wouldn’t be so hard, it was just liking trucking before GPS. I just couldn’t follow the little blue line like I was used to doing. I’d have to do some actual trip planning.

  “It should be easy enough of a journey for you. The city is only a few days' ride away by horse. You might take a little longer since you have an ox and you have that weird carriage setup. You just go along the Royal Road,” he explained as he traced his finger along the broadest highway line.

  This line, I realized as he traced it, was a road that connected not only each of the districts, but it also connected each of the capitals in that district. I smiled as I looked it over. This was amazing. This Empire was way more organized than I would have thought. I looked up once Hiragana rolled up the map.

  “So, are you going to tell me some truth now?” he asked me. All humor was gone from his face and a serious expression stared at me that made me feel beyond uncomfortable. I had dealt with some intimidating people driving trucks, but this was something on a whole other level.

  I just stared at him, unsure of what to say.

  “You don’t seem like you’re stupid like Erana suggested, but you don’t know where you are? Or how did you get here? That accident on the road came out of nowhere.” he frowned at me.

  “Um,” I paused and thought about how to tell this minor story of mine. Or really, if I should tell this man the story.

  He crossed his arms against his chest and continued to stare me down while he waited for an answer.

  “I just, you know, I was in an accident. Bumped my head, stuff is a little fuzzy right now,” I explained and rubbed my head to emphasize the point.

  He narrowed his eyes at me and frowned. We stared at each other for several long moments and I once more felt like giving a loud, audible gulp. I refrained, of course, but I almost broke down from the stare down. I couldn’t tell this man the truth though, right? He was giving me work and was trusting me with tea leaves. He’d think I was crazy if I told him what really happened.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he let out a long, disappointed sigh and shook his head. “Well, whatever. I guess it isn’t my business. As long as you get my goods to where they’re supposed to go, your story doesn’t matter to me,” he said finally as he finally smiled once more.

  “Still though, I can be a good friend to have you know? I know I don’t look like it but my tea company is pretty big. We ship all over and even the Emperor loves our teas,” he explained to me.

  I nodded my head in understanding him. “I appreciate it, thank you. I hope we can become friends as well. Just like I said, my head, you know?”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said and sounded like anything other than he believed me. “Anyway, come on. I told some of my guys to get your carts out of the ditch for you. Let’s get you loaded up and check on Erana, make sure her and master got stuff for you.”

  I watched him push himself up to his feet, using the table as some leverage. I did the same thing, thankful to not be sitting criss-cross applesauce anymore.

  He looked at me and put his hand on my shoulder as we headed out towards the pond and tree. He looked beyond curious now, with his left eyebrow reaching into his hairline. “I just have one more question for you, if you don’t mind?”

  I nod my head and tell him to go ahead.

  “What sort of clothes are you wearing? I’ve never seen such things,” he asked as he opened the gate so they could leave his house.

  I stopped walking and looked down at my clothes with a blink. I was still wearing my cargo pants and button-up shirt. I had even re-tucked the shirt in while we walked over to his house. “Uh…”

  As of this posting there's 21 chapters and bonus stuff on the

  Hiroshi, Tale of a Sumotori

  There's also a to help me get Hiroshi self-published and we've hit most of my stretch goals already. :D