If asked where the center of the world was, most would answer Jiaguo. The city, not the empire. The empire had been short-lived, but Jiaguo remained an important location to the institutions that came after. A coalition of nations, independent but joined together, with no central authority to oversee everything. At the center of this coalition, was Jiaguo—where leaders from all four of the world’s great nations would gather, including the fiends of the southern isles, to determine the future of their countries.
The world was pretty small, it turned out. Yoshika hadn’t had anything to compare it to before, but once she did, she realized just how tiny it actually was. The continent was the only major land mass, and the oceans to the east and west of the continent were the same ocean.
There were no undiscovered lands, no lost continents. It was just...a small world. Other planets were much bigger, on average.
In any case, at the center of that small world was Jiaguo—originally a small city, but it had grown rather massive over the last decade and a half. It was, in fact, the largest city in the world. The center of Jiaguo, then, had nothing at all to do with its status as the political capital of the world. The city square was unavoidable for any resident or visitor. It was the hub of travel, commerce, and culture within Jiaguo, and from there, the rest of the world.
In a place like that, any enterprising merchant would pay whatever it took to secure a location. It was so popular that food vendors and street stalls had to be tightly regulated to prevent the entire square from jamming up. Fierce battles had been fought, figuratively and literally, over property leases in the area. And none more fierce than that of the Three Heavenly Saints Teahouse.
Really, it was more of a tavern or cafe, but calling it a teahouse made it sound more upscale. It was far from the best restaurant in the city, nor the classiest, and certainly not the cheapest, but it was in the center. Everyone needed to eat, everyone liked to drink, and everyone visited the square at some point. It was a perfect place to rest after a long day of shopping, or to meet someone who lived on the other side of town, or to drink in the company of friends. In short, Three Saints was the most popular establishment in the city. And also the largest.
Many of the locals and regulars simply called it the ‘Saintess,’ both because it was in vogue to pay homage to the Goddess, and because the teahouse had a saintess of its own. An attraction almost as tempting as the good food, strong drinks, and oh-so-devilishly convenient location. A beauty to soothe the heart and balm the soul of even the surliest drunk—for whom the proprietor thanked the Goddess every day and night.
A place as large as the Saintess had a small army of waiting staff, cooks, hosts, and hostesses to cater to their many, many clientele, but one of them stood above the rest. Filling whatever role she needed to and almost single-handedly keeping the busy establishment running smoothly.
“Xiao Li, I have orders for tables 205, 207, and 209 ready! Miss Shan also reports broken porcelain and spilled wine at table 301—possibly some kind of altercation, but she didn’t want to get involved.”
“On it!”
The young woman reached behind Zhao Haneul for a fresh jar of wine—not the cheapest, but definitely one of the more cost-effective for its quality—and added it to the stacks of trays laid out across the bar. With a grunt of effort, she lifted the small mountain of food and drink, neatly balancing the stacks without so much as a clatter of dishware before zipping off at a speed that would have made him panic if anyone else on his staff tried running like that with even a single tray.
The owner and proprietor of the Saintess barely had time to give the first floor a quick scan from his place behind the bar before she’d returned.
“No altercation! Just a drunk body cultivator trying to show off his strength and forgetting that the wine jar wasn’t empty. Nobody was hurt, and I replaced the jar. I told them it was on the house, but I don’t think anyone will argue if you add a bit of gratuity to their bill—I also used a talisman to clean their robes without staining.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Xiao Li! We’ve got a lull that should last us another few minutes before the lunch rush, could I trouble you to help the kitchen with prep?”
She gave him a quick salute and ran off into the kitchen, where he knew for a fact that she’d do in ten minutes what took his three best line cooks an hour and get back in time to check on the tables she was waiting.
Li Meili—affectionately called Xiao Li by staff and patrons—was the entire reason he could keep this restaurant running. It had been a huge risk. Restaurants, even in prime locations like the city square, were notoriously prone to failure, and he’d spent everything to start the Three Heavenly Saints. He was young—part of the first generation born and raised in Jiaguo—and he’d been prepared for it to fail, but instead it paid off in ways he could hardly have imagined. As much as he’d have liked to take credit, he owed much of his success to Meili.
She worked as hard as a hundred employees, and refused to accept more than a regular wage. She could do almost literally any task as well or better than the best specialists he could hire. Most of all, though, people loved her. Meili was friendly, sociable, infectiously bubbly, and incredibly attractive. Sure, a few people might comment that she was a little lacking in curves, but anyone stupid enough to say that in the Saintess was in for the clubbing of a lifetime.
Not from her—she’d just laugh it off—but the regulars got quite protective of their Saintess Xiao Li.
“Where in the world did you find a girl like that, anyway? It’s a bit odd for a cultivator of her level to be working as a waitress, no?”
That comment came from one such regular at the bar—a renowned day drinker named Pyo Ji, or just ‘Old Ji’ to friends and acquaintances. Zhao Haneul just sighed and shrugged. Scanning the establishment for any signs of trouble.
The first floor of the establishment was primarily just a bar and cafe. Anyone who wanted more than a light snack would be shuffled upstairs to make room for the more transient foot traffic of people meeting up for tea or drinks. Only truly committed drunks like Old Ji would come to the bar alone at such an early time of day.
“I genuinely have no idea. She’s a Goddess-blessed miracle, and I’ve never really felt the need to question it further.”
“Never? Surely you’ve wondered, eh? Who hasn’t?”
The old man’s tiger-like tail curled up behind him, and his mischievous grin revealed sharp fangs that lacked the yellowing and decay Haneul would expect from an old drunk.
“Wondered, certainly. I just haven’t asked.”
“Hrm. Academy dropout, you think? Nah—too competent for that. She’s from Qin, but a unified cultivator—some old rogue in hiding, maybe?”
“You don’t know that—she’s young. Could have been born here.”
Old Ji laughed so hard that it turned into a coughing fit, then took a long swig of his wine and shook his head, still chuckling.
“A cultivator like her? She’s probably older than both of us combined, and you’d never be able to tell. Definitely older than you, at least. Peak houtian, I bet. Maybe even xiantian.”
Haneul sighed. He’d heard it all before. Everyone loved to speculate about Li Meili, and the rumors started as tame as the runaway daughter of some political elite, then scaled all the way up to her secretly being the Goddess herself in disguise.
“I think I’d know if I had a xiantian cultivator on my staff.”
The old man snorted.
“How? You’re barely a cultivator yourself.”
“I’m a second stage unified cultivator, thank you, and that’s no small feat at my age. I’ve even got my own domain, which is really helpful for keeping an eye on things.”
“That is impressive! I take it back. Still not enough to notice a xiantian who doesn’t want to be noticed, though. Trust me, I’ve seen mages in disguise, and not even your early domain would be enough to catch them out.”
Haneul wasn’t so sure. He’d had xiantian customers before, and his domain had always been able to detect them. Then again, he supposed that he wouldn’t really know if he’d missed any, and the ones he’d met hadn’t exactly been hiding.
“What about other customers? There are xiantians who visit this place—some are even regulars. They’d know.”
“Unless she’s stronger than they are, eh? I’m just saying—you never know who might be a hidden expert.”
He was about to offer a retort when he was interrupted by none other than Li Meili herself, suddenly leaning on the counter right next to him, her chin propped up on one hand.
“Like you? Are you a hidden expert, Old Ji?”
“Who me? Feh! I wish! I’m just an old drunk of no consequence.”
Xiao Li sat up on the counter, her eyes sparkling with mischief. It was unusual for her to slack off, but socializing with clientele was part of the job too, and it was slow—for a relative value of the word. Besides, she was far from the only server working.
“Hmm, how suspicious. Sounds exactly like something a secret xiantian mage would say. You’ve got the features of a tiger—a retired member of the Kim clan, maybe?”
“Hah! You’re quite knowledgeable, Xiao Li! But not knowledgeable enough! The Kim clan are descended from the Great White Tiger.”
He waved his tail, with faded stripes of grey and orange, for emphasis.
“My ancestor is just a plain old regular tiger. Some spirit of hunting or whatever—I’ve never been too in tune with it, personally.”
Xiao Li snapped her fingers and sighed.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Aw! And here I was hoping you’d be like Jin Hu. Did you know that when this place was founded, there was an imperial prince attending the academy in disguise? One of the original founders of the previous academy no less!”
Zhao Haneul’s eyebrows shot up with interest. He’d been listening casually, affecting not to care, but that meant that Meili was older than him—or had heard the account from someone else. He’d heard a similar rumor, but even when he was a small child it was spoken of like old history. The part about the prince having founded the old academy was new, though.
“Really? The original founders should be Ienaga Yumi, Hwang Sung, and Qin Zhao, right? I heard that Qin Zhao returned to the empire after the old academy fell and never returned.”
She shook her head.
“He actually didn’t return until after Yamato was liberated from the Demon Lord. He even helped the Goddess slay Yu Meiren.”
Haneul blinked up at her. That was basic history, except for the part about Qin Zhao, but she spoke so confidently.
“Were you...there?”
She winked at him.
“A girl needs some secrets. I know people who were there, though. History’s not that hard if you can just ask the ones who lived through it. Ever been to New Kasuga?”
“The...demon village?”
Xiao Li snorted in a rather unladylike manner and shook her head.
“You should get out more. It’s not just demons. There’s also the hunter’s guild and a whole town of perfectly normal humans who live peacefully with said demons.”
“I heard it was a prison town. To keep people too dangerous to have near the city itself.”
“Uuugh, still?! They’ve really got to work on the messaging. No, the prison is a different place—and it’s mostly empty these days. Might even get converted into a regular prison at some point. Anyway, the people of New Kasuga moved here from Yamato under the protection of one of the demons that fought on our side during the war. Anybody there can tell you that Jin Hu was a general of Jiaguo’s army and also secretly an imperial prince of Qin—namely, Qin Zhao!”
Old Ji raised his cup appreciatively.
“Little Miss knows her history! It’s good to see the ‘youth’ taking an interest in the past.”
Haneul could hear the sarcastic quotations around the word ‘youth.’ Li Meili just giggled and hopped off the counter.
“If you really want to know—I was born in Qin, and I am older than you, boss—but not as old as Old Ji.”
“And your cultivation?”
She put a finger to her lips and winked.
“Now now, boss—never ask a lady her age, bust size, or cultivation level. Oop! Looks like I need to get back to work.”
That last part was inspired by an argument near the front of the store that was getting more heated by the second. Zhao Haneul had been too distracted by the conversation to notice it.
“Disrespect the Goddess again in my presence and I’ll lay you flat.”
The speaker was calm, but his voice had a hard edge to it that told him it wasn’t a bluff. He was a gruff looking man in his thirties, wearing robes in the unofficial green and gold colors of Jiaguo’s academy.
The other man was younger, and looked like he was from Yamato, except that he had his hair drawn up in a topknot and wore clothes in the style of imperial Qin. It was an outdated look that was very easy to spot, and served better than any color scheme to identify him as a member of the nationalist faction—a group that advocated for imperial hegemony, led by Jiaguo under a single leader. There was some disagreement about who that leader should be, exactly.
The younger man’s hands were raised in a conciliatory posture and his voice was apologetic, but there was something in his smile that was as sharp as the older man’s tone.
“Who’s being disrespectful? I was only saying that real unity can only be achieved under singular rule. The Goddess was empress once, and we were ruled under a God-Emperor before. We do them a disservice by allowing our nation to subject itself to the decisions of the so-called ‘coalition,’ when it should be them bowing to us.”
“Cooperation under duress is nothing short of subjugation. Tyranny! The Goddess left her seat empty when she ascended because it should never be filled.”
“But it will be. If not by her or someone representing her interests, then by one of our enemies. Just because Yoshika abandoned us—”
The swing was too fast for Haneul to see. One second the older man’s jaw was clenching hard enough to crack teeth, then suddenly his fist cut the air where the younger boy had been standing. A foot away, Meili held the startled young man by the collar and shook her head ruefully.
“Gentlemen, could you please take this altercation elsewhere? You’re disturbing the other customers.”
The young man had been ready for violence, and while it took him a moment to process, he realized that the older man had taken a swing and that he was suddenly being restrained. Haneul watched in resignation as the—probably slightly tipsy—cultivator performed the mental calculus analyzing his situation and got it hopelessly wrong.
He twisted his body, hurling Li Meili over his shoulder with a ki-infused throw that sent her tumbling towards the older man. The gruff scholar—if indeed he was an actual academy student—also misread the situation, seeing the woman who’d stopped his strike flying towards him and responding in the worst way possible.
A razor-sharp pillar of steel, like a giant sword, erupted from the ground between them, its edge poised to bisect the young woman before she could reach the man. Rather than meeting that grisly fate, she twisted in the air and barely touched the giant blade, which pinged with an almost musical note as she righted herself in midair and alighted on the older man’s shoulder, standing there as if she weighed nothing at all.
“I’m asking you once more nicely—please leave. I won’t ask a third time.”
Both men acted at once, now ironically united against a common foe. The young man produced a talisman that crackled with bluish-white energy, while the giant blade shrunk down to a normal size and pointed itself at Li Meili.
With a surprisingly muted crack, a bolt of lightning flew from the talisman at the same time that the sword stabbed towards the young woman. It was hard for Zhao Haneul to follow, but to his eyes, it seemed as though she stepped from the older man’s shoulder onto the flying blade, then caught the bolt of lightning with an amused smirk. She flipped gracefully off of the sword, catching it with the same hand that held the lightning and gently tapping the flat of the blade on the older man’s head.
He collapsed instantly, the sword vanishing along with his consciousness. The boy, perhaps realizing how badly outmatched he was, turned to run, but Meili was already there to meet him with a resounding slap to the face that sent him sprawling next to the other man—both of them out cold.
There was a small cheer and a smattering of applause as Xiao Li rubbed the back of her neck and bowed apologetically.
“Very sorry for the disturbance everyone!”
Old Ji poured himself another cup of wine and turned to Zhao with a wry smile.
“What about a former demon? Maybe that’s why she knows so much about Kasuga.”
After a remarkably exciting day at work, Meili was enjoying a quiet night of relaxation, cuddled up next to Jiaying in bed. They were both pretty busy, but they always made time to talk about each other’s day and unwind together. Jiaying groaned when Meili told her about the fight.
“I am so sorry you had to deal with one of my dad’s idiot cronies.”
“Eh, the other guy wasn’t much better. He threw the first punch, and I felt the moment his emotions surged—it was because the kid said my name. Why is everyone so afraid to say my name?”
“For the same reason everyone called the God-Emperor ‘the God-Emperor.’ It’s considered more respectful to stick to titles. Calling you the Goddess is also a way of subtly denying any other gods—they’re all beneath you.”
Meili huffed irritably. She knew she couldn’t stop people from venerating her—it even empowered her, to a degree—but the worship made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want people committing acts of violence in her name.
“One of those ‘lesser gods’ is my daughter. Nobody thinks it’s disrespectful to me to disrespect Heian?”
“That’s just how it works, I’m afraid.”
“Ugh. I still don’t get Pan Zixin’s faction. I thought they wanted Jiaguo to return to imperial rule under Qin.”
Jiaying shrugged.
“Kinda hard to do that when there’s no imperial Qin anymore. Not even they care about Emperor what's-his-name. I think they just want someone to be in charge of everything. They don’t care who.”
That pretty much checked out with Meili’s understanding as well. Yoshika had officially stepped away from global politics, but Yue had all sorts of identities in high places, keeping an eye on things, gently nudging here and there. Meddling was like a hobby for her.
The coalition was not perfect by any means, but the world was small, and while there was plenty of infighting between different factions, they mostly kept the peace. There hadn’t been any large scale conflict in a decade and a half, and with any luck they’d keep that going into the next millennium.
But Meili kept her fingers out of all that. She had her restaurant job, and she had Jiaying. That was all she needed.
“What happened to keeping a low profile, anyway? At this rate you’re going to have to find a new job and change your name or something.”
Meili glanced up at her girlfriend and snorted.
“I don’t have to be the incognito one anymore. Any one of us can go unseen whenever and wherever we want. And I’m really not worried about anyone learning who I am. People guess all the time—it’s practically a store attraction. Lots have gotten it right, and nobody ever takes them seriously—not even themselves.”
“Why are you working at that restaurant, anyway?”
“Now you ask? It’s been years.”
Jiaying blushed and turned away, coughing awkwardly.
“I don’t know—you do weird stuff all the time. I never really thought about it.”
She smiled and hugged Jiaying tighter.
“Two reasons. One is that it’s something to do. After things finally calmed, the rest of us all found ways to settle down—and I realized that left me kind of antsy. As Yoshika, we were so used to working all the time that it felt weird to stop. That’s why Yue is still doing her thing and why I decided to work at the Three Saints.”
“The other reason?”
“It’s the center of the city at the center of the world. Literally thousands of people come and go there every single day, and they like to talk. I like to listen. To hear what people are saying when they aren’t cursing or praying. Are they happy? Are they miserable? What can I do better? What can I afford to ease my focus on? But mostly, I just kind of like it. Meeting new people and hearing their stories. It’s fun!”
Jiaying smiled and gave her a gentle squeeze.
“That’s very you. I’m glad you’re so focused on keeping people happy—just as long as you’re happy too. I know you don’t really want to be a ruler, but I think you’d make a good one anyway.”
“I kind of have to be. Whether anybody knows it or not, I have...so much influence over everybody’s lives. Whether it’s through prophecies or Yue’s meddling, or even just the legacy that I’ve left and how people react to it. I can’t ever not be a force in the world, and I can’t help but take responsibility for that.”
“I know, and I’m so proud of you for that. Just remember that you’re one of those people too, okay?”
Meili giggled and leaned up to kiss Jiaying.
“How could I ever forget when I have you here to remind me? I may be the center of this world, but you will always be the center of mine.”
Jiaying blushed, but she couldn’t suppress her smile.
“You flatterer! Can’t you just say ‘I love you’ like a normal person?”
“I love you, Jiaying.”
The two of them giggled together before settling back into a companionable silence.
“I love you too, Meili.”
!
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