“So Maikeru, you’re in transportation huh?” Nakayasu 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 such a large carriage.

  “Specifically transporting large amounts of goods for people,” I continued.

  The three of us had moved to Nakayasu’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 Niku to see her reactions to all of this while me and Nakayasu spoke.

  We were all seated around a square table and sat on lush soft pillows. I was across from Nakayasu and Niku 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 Niku. 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 The Islands?” 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,” Nakayasu 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.

  Niku 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,” Nakayasu stroked his chin and called over to a different attendant. Once the young man came over, Nakayasu whispered something in his ear and then the attendant ran off. “I might have something for you, too. Depending on where Niku’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 Niku 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 a small section of the wagon.

  “And I think I can fill the rest of the wagon,” Nakayasu said and looked up from the papers his attendant brought him. He had brought them while Niku was explaining what she needed and he had looked over whatever papers the attendant brought.

  “Just some tea leaves going to the army. The officers spring for the more expensive stuff and I guess they’re sending some troops to the border of the Song Region. Using you will free up my man to stay here and do other things,” Nakayasu explained 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.

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  Nakayasu 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 Niku jumped up from the pillow she sat on and bowed towards Nakayasu 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 Nakayasu 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 shrug in response.

  Nakayasu 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 Nakayasu 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.

  Nakayasu took the scroll and thanked him, and that’s when I learned the attendant’s name was Noritame. When Nakayasu 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 Nakayasu pointed to one of the smaller districts in the map’s northwest 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 like 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 extra long heavy wagon. 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 Nakayasu 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 Niku 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 his product. 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 smiled once more.

  “Still, though, I can be a good friend to have. 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. Hopefully, 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 wagon out of the ditch for you. Let’s get you loaded up and check on Niku, make sure her and her 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 lifted. “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 and stared at my clothes, blinking in the sudden realization of how dirty they had become. My trusty cargo pants, with their reassuring many pockets, and my comfortable button-up shirt were still on me. I smoothed my shirt and tucked it in again as we walked to his house, feeling self-conscious. “Uh…”

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