“Oh, by the hells, the Okami woman just went and told them the food was almost ready,” Mei yelled at her husband through the opening in the wagon. She was frustrated. They didn’t have everything ready yet and were still in the middle of setting up the tables, let alone putting the food out.

  Jin nodded his head and raised a palm at her placatingly while he tossed the food in his wok. “It’ll be alright dear, no worries at all. I just about have everything ready.” he gave a firm nod and took a second to look around inside the rather cramped wagon. Everything was ready and just had to be placed. Jin was the yang to Mei. While she ran around and hurried and worried, Jin stayed calm and knew as long as they did what they were supposed to do, it’d all work out.

  The wagon was a food wagon, one of the few ones in the Empire and beyond, as far as Jin knew, and he and his wife rolled around the Sasuke Empire feeding people. Thanks to Mei being a cultivator and having some powerful friends, they could get the wagon enchanted so that it was actually much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside.

  Jin poured the strips of pork in the spicy, salty sauce onto a large platter and took one last look around the wagon. It had everything he needed. A wok station, a place to keep the cold food cold, and cabinets. There was even a small sink to wash his dishes when he was done with them. The back of the wagon contained a small area for a few tables and chairs.

  The cook looked out at his wife and smiled. Mei was short and had a thick sturdiness about her that Jin absolutely loved. She was wearing her normal cultivator robes with black inner and a deep purple outer robe. She always made sure to not wear anything that might mistake her for a cultivator from a sect. That sort of thing could always cause problems.

  Her hair was worn in a ponytail that didn’t show the length of her hair. He could never understand why she just didn’t keep it short, but when she let her down, it reached past her bottom. Instead, she took her hair and folded it about itself to make a ponytail that reached about her ear lobe.

  While she wore robes that wouldn’t associate her with any sects, he wore the same clothes he always did. She often chastised him for it. ‘You’re a cultivator now. You should look like one,’ she’d tell him. He’d just shrug and explain that he had always worn this and it was a sort of uniform for him.

  It was a simple white shirt with black trim that reached about his backside. It wrapped around him a little like a short kimono would and he could keep it loose so he would never get too hot while he cooked. The pants he wore were black with little specks of white in them. The color imbalance helped to hide any stains he might get in his line of work. Finally, some comfortable clogs that protected his feet from injury.

  “Here’s the last tray of pork. Let me clean up and I’ll be able to help bring stuff out,” he said.

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  She took the platter and grumbled as she walked away. “If these people weren’t paying us so well, I would have turned down the job. These sumo wrestlers are going to eat our entire stock of anything.”

  Jin nodded his head and whistled. It was true. He had cooked almost all the rice they had, used up all the pre-made dough for dumplings and wontons, and their meat cooler was entirely empty. He wasn’t even sure if he was going to feed themselves tonight for dinner unless they could sneak away a couple of plates the sumotori didn’t eat.

  No matter, the money they made from the job might mean they could eat at a rest area for once and he wouldn’t have to cook. He’d be able to relax for some sake and have someone else’s cooking.

  After finishing cleaning out his pan and tidying up inside the carriage a little, he stepped out the backdoor and looked over the vast yard the beya had. There was a large rock area with a single old crooked bonsai tree. In front of that was a statue depicting Kentaro readying himself for battle. There was grass, and even a small stream of water that flowed out past the water’s property that had a bridge connecting the rock part to the grassy parts.

  Four long tables sat in the grass, already occupied by some older sumotori. None of them had started in on the food yet, though without their masters present.

  “Sir, what would you like me to bring out?”

  Jin put his hands on his hips and looked at the teenager. The boy wore similar clothing, except his shirt was yellow and his pants were solid black. Jin knew the uniform of the yobidashi when he saw it. They were the helpers for the stable. Not really a servant, they held a higher position than that, but helpers. They did the extra work the stable needed, both in and out of the ring. He idly wondered if the gyoji from either stable would be there.

  Probably not, though. They had their own things going on. They also took on much more of a priestly role and had much to study and learn.

  Jin blinked and looked at the small tables they had set up for readying dishes, and pointed at it. “I’d bring out the rice first. Make sure each end of each table has one,” Jin instructed.

  The boy bowed his head and then did as he was told. Jin did likewise and the large bowl of ramen broth he had made and took it to a smaller serving table near the ones where people were going to sit and eat. He had the idea of doing a ‘make your own ramen’ station. There was the bowl of broth, a large bowl of the noodles and then plates with all the usual toppings. He didn’t really do protein on the station, though. There was enough pork and beef platters for that, he figured.

  Mei ran around directing the traffic of the sumotori who came out from the washrooms. She had the different stables sit with people from their own stable, unless they requested otherwise. She wasn’t sure how much rivalry there might be and the last thing she wanted to deal with was a fight between sumotori. Even she, a decently powerful cultivator, might have problems dealing with the blowout if yokozunas came to blow over hurt pride or something.

  Once everyone was sitting, Jin walked up beside her, and she leaned into him with a smile. She looked up at him, her chubby, rotund husband. The man who was content being a simple mortal until they met. He fought and bled and worked at cultivation in order to be with her. She knew they were going to be partners, and they’d walk along their path together.

  Thanks for joining me along this road, this ROYAL road.

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