Rita began to lose her sense of ti more and more often. Every ti she woke from a sigh, she had to ask B80 and Calico what day and ti it was.
Fortunately, that hazy state only lasted a few seconds. The strange substances stored within her soul fire from Brilliance would surge with brilliant light, and then everything heavy, warm, joyful, and painful would sink deep into mory and soul, reduced to the lowest possible influence.
She sat down at the desk again.
After Waste Guide was unsealed, her efficiency in recording civilizations improved significantly.
She raised her pen and wrote down the World Sigh she had just experienced.
Mountain Isles.
Calico, who had been hovering nearby every ti she saw Rita writing, finally could not hold back and asked, "Why do you keep skipping Snowfield?"
Ti was tight. Although BS Rita had written about many worlds, each one was only a tiny fragnt, not even a tenth of a percent. It was clear she wanted to cover as many different worlds as possible, to see whether that would lead to sothing different.
Anyone who had chased achievents in gas for years understood this. Sotis variety mattered more than volu. That trick had been taught to Calico by B80.
But after writing so many worlds, why skip Snowfield, a world they had passed long ago?
Rita paused her pen.
Snowfield.
"Probably because..."
She lifted the pen and drew a line through Mountain Isles. Once the typo vanished automatically, she wrote Snowfield instead.
Grinding her back teeth, she said, "Because Snowfield is way too hard to write."
It had nothing to do with knowing Mistblade, or how special or beautiful Snowfield was.
The real reason was simple.
There were just too many Moonfox clans.
Back when she stole books from the Moonfox City library, Apache had given her a Moonfox guidebook. It listed seventy two clans.
At the ti, she already thought seventy two was absurd.
But before Snowfield shattered, that number had multiplied by ten.
She seriously suspected that if you looked down on Snowfield from above, it would not have been pure white at all, but colorful. There were just too many fur variations. Snowfield’s full na might as well have been Warm and Cozy Snowfield.
The worst part was that back then, every clan had its own customs, taboos, and color rules.
It felt like a collection of cursed rules.
Rita had always been like this. She saved the hardest problems and the most troubleso howork for last.
...
When Moonfox children start school and learn to read, there is a course called Clans. By the ti we finish morizing all seven hundred sixty six clans, our literacy level is basically graduation ready.
I have always believed that many Moonfox are not born reclusive. They just get headaches from this class, score poorly, and worry that if they visit another clan they might accidentally offend soone and force their own clan to pay a diplomatic ransom to get them back. So they choose not to go out at all.
If you never leave ho, this class can never defeat you.
Those who actually travel freely between clans are all elites and scholars among Moonfox.
I just happened to be one of those scholars.
Yes, yes, I know I barely passed the final exam for that class, but trust , that still counts as scholarly.
My dream was to travel through every clan’s territory.
Each clan has its own rules, and once you enter their land, you must follow their customs. Usually, your life is not in danger.
While visiting the Smoketail Clan, a Smoketail friend once told a very interesting story.
The neighboring Flatail Clan had a strange rule. You must never look elders directly in the eyes, as that is considered disrespectful.
Once, a Moonfox from the Flowertail Clan wandered into Flatail territory during her travels. She looked around at everything, and was promptly arrested.
Luckily, since everyone involved was Moonfox, and the issue was not severe, the usual practice was to notify the offender’s clan and have them pay to redeem the fox.
After locking up the Flowertail Moonfox, Flatail Clan sent a notice to Flowertail Clan.
But Flatail Clan was terrible at explaining things. The letter only said that a young Moonfox had committed an offense, without specifying what offense it was.
As a result, the semi illiterate envoy sent by Flowertail Clan was arrested within the first minute of stepping into Flatail territory, for the exact sa cri.
After that, Flowertail Clan sent one envoy after another, and each one was arrested in turn.
Flatail Clan held an ergency eting. They suspected this was a malicious plot by Flowertail Clan. Send Moonfox in first, then launch a coordinated attack from inside and out. Flatail was dood.
In response, the clever Flatail Clan split their forces into three groups. One transferred the Flowertail prisoners, one continued sending letters to Flowertail Clan, and the third went to seek help from the friendly Windtail Clan.
This single incident dragged on for nearly half a year.
It was indeed amusing, at least it made laugh.
After laughing, I stood up and asked my Smoketail friend where the restroom was. She pointed out the direction, and out of politeness, I invited her to go with .
In our clan, inviting a sa sex close friend to go to the restroom together is a sign of friendship. Ordinary friends are not allowed to do that.
And that was how I got thrown out of Smoketail territory.
As she shoved across the boundary, my Smoketail friend shouted, "I am not!"
It was only the following year that I accidentally filled in this missing piece of knowledge. In Smoketail slang, inviting a Smoketail Moonfox to go to the restroom together also implies asking them out on a date. Cleanliness equals purity equals love.
I did not understand it.
What I understood even less was the letter I received from that Smoketail friend not long after.
I am now.
...
After that, I broke the habit of inviting any Moonfox to go to the restroom together.
A few years later, I befriended a Misttail Moonfox who also loved traveling and adventure. While sharing stories, I omitted nas and retold the incident with the Smoketail friend in a disguised form.
She laughed for a long ti. Seeing her in such a good mood, I seized the chance to ask a question that had troubled for ages.
"Your Misttail hair color matches your tail, both black at the tips. I understand the tail, but what about your hair? How do you trim it?"
"We cut it however we want. Even if the black tips are cut off, the white tips will turn black again within a week. All Moonfox with multicolored fur are like that."
"So that is how it works. Then if I visit Misttail Clan soday, is there anything I should be careful about?"
"Nothing in particular. Misttail does not have that many rules."
I was really stupid. Truly stupid. She said that, and I actually believed her.
As a result, on the very first day I entered Misttail territory, I was arrested.
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