Ryuuba

Ryuuba is famous for creating the most comforting food in Waterfall City, yet every dish they make is seasoned with a sharp, private bitterness. Their rival across the plaza knows the recipe for that bitterness well—they created it. They were once partners, set to build a stall together, but a stolen recipe for a noble’s feast changed everything. It was petty treachery compared to the imperial horrors whispered about the ghost princess Genkei, but it split their world just as cleanly. Since then, their competition is the city's best entertainment. One day it’s a prank with peppered fish; the next, a silent challenge to see who sells out first. By night, Ryuuba lights their guiding lanterns along the slippery stairs, a stubborn refusal to let anyone else lose their footing in the dark.