The carriage rumbled through the heavy iron gates of the inner wall, winding through the Imperial Castle.
And just like that, the world changed.
As they emerged on the other side, the sounds of the shouting merchants and the chaotic blend of people and street food vanished instantly.
It was as if they had crossed an invisible barrier into a different century.
The air here was crisp and cool, carrying the scent of pine and old incense.
Peko, who had been quietly suffering against the assault of the market smells, finally relaxed her hand and took a deep breath.
"Better?" Nico asked.
Peko gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Much."
Nico turned back to the window, almost instantly lost in the stunning beauty of Old Shinkotsu
If the South was a chaotic explosion of the future, Old Shinkotsu was a preserved painting of the past.
They had entered a wide, impeccably paved road that stretched out like a scene from an Edo period drama.
The towering, mismatched buildings of the New City were gone, replaced by rows of traditional two-story timber buildings with dark, sloping tiled roofs, while soft, warm light spilled from mana stone lanterns lining the path.
"It's so… quiet," Nom-Nom whispered as she stared out with wide, unblinking eyes.
The people here moved with a measured, unhurried grace.
Gone were the adventurers in leather armor and the rushing merchants. The pedestrians were almost exclusively Beast-folk, dressed in high-quality kimonos and flowing hakama.
Nico spotted a few humans and elves here and there, maybe one for every ten beast-folk, but even they walked with a respectful air around them, blending into the quiet rhythm of the district.
The old-fashioned marketplace that the carriage rolled past wasn't loud or crowded like the one outside.
Instead, elderly shopkeepers sat on wooden porches, smoking long pipes while laughing children in small yukatas ran around.
Nom-Nom's nose twitched again, but this time, it wasn't the smell of roasted meat.
"Master," she whispered, pressing her finger against the glass. "Look... That old wolf-man is spinning something into the shape of a bird."
Nico looked and smiled at the traditional candy shop that seemed to have been there for a few hundred years.
"It's a type of… sweet stuff. We'll get some later," Nico promised.
As the carriage continued deeper into the district, the shops slowly gave way to high white-plastered walls and massive wooden gates.
The residential district.
If New Shinkotsu was where the wealth was made, this was clearly where it lived.
Each estate was a fortress unto itself, occupying massive plots of land.
Through some open gates, Nico caught glimpses of sprawling mansions, meticulously raked gravel gardens, and ancient pine trees that had been pruned to perfection.
But what caught his eye weren't the houses themselves, but the people guarding them.
Standing outside the gates of the larger estates were guards clad in lacquered samurai-style armor.
They stood there like statues, with spears in their hands, matching Nom-Nom's unblinking gaze as the carriage passed by.
[These guys aren't afraid of Nom-Nom's presence…] Nico thought as he noticed the crests on the armors changed from house to house.
One estate was guarded by warriors wearing breastplates with a roaring tiger on them. While the next estate, a block down, had guards bearing the crest of a coiled serpent.
"Clan crests," Dove said, noticing Nico's gaze. "The nobility of Fugen is old. Many of these families have held these lands since before the borders opened. They value their lineage above all else."
Nico nodded slowly. It was a stark reminder that, despite the bustling diversity and the trade of the New Shinkotsu, the true power of this nation likely still resided behind these quiet, high walls.
Finally, the carriage took a turn away from the main road, winding toward a secluded area nestled against a backdrop of a dense bamboo forest.
The road here narrowed with pristine white gravel replacing the cobblestones that crunched under the wheels and hooves.
As the carriage slowed to a halt, Nico looked out the window and raised an eyebrow.
It wasn't a fortress like the other compounds they had passed. But a modest, breathtakingly elegant double-story mansion that seemed to grow naturally out of the landscape.
The main house sat in the center of the clearing, framed by the towering bamboo far behind it.
To the left of the stone walkway lay a meticulous Zen garden, where white sand had been raked into perfect ripples.
To the right, the scenery softened into a lush, vibrant explosion of color. A small wooden bridge arched over to a gazebo in the centre of a crystal-clear pond with banks lined with cherry blossoms that draped their pink branches toward the water's surface.
"We have arrived," Dove announced as she clicked the carriage open, "I hope the estate we've prepared for you is to your liking."
"It's beautiful," Nico replied as he stepped out before stretching his back and taking a deep breath of the air that he couldn't get enough of.
Nom-Nom hopped out behind him, and her eyes instantly widened as they locked onto the right side of the yard.
"Look!" she gasped, before bolting towards the pond.
Crouching by the water's edge, where bright orange koi fish were lazily swimming.
Her nose hovered inches from the surface as her violet eyes tracked the fish's movements with fascination.
"They're so pretty…" she whispered.
"Yeah… just don't eat them," Nico called out with a chuckle.
Peko stepped beside him as her eyes scanned the estate with an unreadable expression.
"Come," Dove said with a voice having turned slightly more formal as she gestured toward the main sliding front doors of the mansion. "Let us not keep him waiting."
[Okay… guess it's time to meet the big man…] Nico thought as his heart began racing.
"Come on, Nom," Nico called out as he followed Dove up the wooden steps to the expansive porch with Peko and Nom-Nom following closely behind.
The Commander didn't knock; she simply knelt with the heavy thud of her knight's armor before unbuckling the sword from her waist and placing it before her with the hilt facing her off hand.
Giving Nico a final look that said, 'Get ready,' she slid the wooden door open with a practiced motion and bowed her head low.
The interior she revealed was spacious, with sofas lining one side and shelves holding various potted plants on the other.
And there, at the far end of the main hall, sitting behind a large wooden table, sat a figure that commanded a crushing gravitas.
Clad in a dark military haori draped over broad shoulders, the ends of which his steel grey hair hung.
The wolf-eared General sat with his eyes closed, holding a steaming cup of tea in a hand that was entirely covered in calluses and a missing finger.
Nico froze mid-step, almost choking in the dense mana pressure that surrounded the General.
"General..." Dove breathed out, her head still bowed low to the floor.
The General slowly opened his amber eyes, but he didn't look at her.
His gaze bored straight into Nico, pressing straight onto his soul in a single glance.
Placing the teacup down with a soft clack that echoed like a gunshot in Nico's ears, he simply spoke-
"Sit."