This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

As Rita traveled through each of the main cities' teleportation arrays, she left behind a pre-prepared little spider corpse at each stop. This way, she could monitor how many Moonfox soldiers had been dispatched from each city, viewing everything through the spiders' eyes.

After making a full circle, Rita returned to Moonfox City. She changed her clothes—burned them—transformed into a goblin, and sprayed herself with a third bottle of perfume.

She couldn't afford to be careless and didn't want to bring any of this mess back to Earth if possible. Ideally, she wanted to pin this whole situation on Lania Kaia, making the Mistblade Moon Emperor think that the Lania Kaia residents had stolen the books.

From the moment she had seen the extensive perfume section, Rita had realized that the Moonfox race's research into scents was far from simple. It didn't matter if they couldn't track her physical body—the lingering scent would be a clue. The worst part? She had briefly interacted with the Mistblade Moon Emperor.

Rita's **Disguise!** skill could certainly change her scent, but perfume, being an intangible thing, leaves traces behind. Had her **Disguise!** been affected by lingering scents that hadn't yet completely dissipated? Where did that scent finally disappear? Could it become another method for the Moonfoxes to track her?

It was like an endless series of traps within traps...

Knowing how deeply the Moonfoxes had delved into scent research, Rita refused to underestimate them. She'd rather overthink the situation, battling shadows in her mind, than make a careless mistake.

Rita drenched herself in over a dozen potions with strong, overpowering odors. Then, she plunged into the densest crowds, making her scent as complicated as possible. The more people she encountered along her path, the safer she'd be.

At one point, Rita even found time to visit an auction house and list the potion that the Mistblade had given her. She priced it at 288 gold coins. There was no way she was keeping that thing; who knew if the potion had any hidden traps? It wasn't exactly rare, and Apache could probably brew something similar. Better to sell it!

As soon as she listed it, someone bought it outright for the full price before she even had time to close the auction interface.

"288 gold! Jackpot!"

With her earnings secured, Rita continued to dart around for another hour. But then she noticed something troubling: the number of Moonfoxes on the streets was increasing!

The team leaders had gone from being five-tailed Moonfoxes to six-tailed ones... She even spotted a seven-tailed Moonfox among them.

Back at the alchemy shop in Undercity, Apache silently watched as another line of Moonfoxes marched past her window. The incense they carried had clearly been upgraded... The potency of the scent? Easily at a master-level equivalent in alchemical terms.

"This is definitely the work of the Mistblade... What did you do to offend her?!"

For the next three hours, Rita continuously changed her form and switched between carriages. At each stop, she doused herself in more potions, leaving a little spider at every location as a watchful eye. She zigzagged her way through nearly half of Lania Kaia's major cities, before finally transforming into an elderly goblin with white ear hairs and returning to Undercity.

There, she found a quiet spot across from the alchemy shop and sat down.

She was exhausted!

She needed to sit down, have a meal, and observe the nearby Moonfox patrols. Several Moonfoxes were gathered around an incense stick, muttering things like, "It's lost effectiveness," and "This doesn't make sense."

Just as Rita pulled out her beloved crab stew, preparing to take a bite, a three-tailed Moonfox approached her. The Moonfox crouched a short distance away and unfolded a portrait, gently asking, "Goblin, have you seen this six-tailed Moonfox?"

Rita opened her mouth, exposing a few missing teeth, and mumbled, "Dibby dibby~?"

The three-tailed Moonfox gave her a sympathetic look, put away the portrait, and left behind a handful of silver coins. "Sorry for bothering you." Poor old goblin, must have been hurt by some magic.

From the window of the nearby alchemy shop, Apache silently observed.

Kayden, holding a bowl of food: "..."

Rita scooped up the silver coins, grabbed her crab stew, and slowly shuffled over to the alchemy shop. Standing outside the window, she handed the silver coins to Kayden and pointed her trembling finger at the glass in front of her, where a cup of brown liquid was bubbling away. It was the iced cola she had bought for Kayden earlier. "Chug chug?"

The patrolling Moonfoxes glanced over. Ah! The great Apache Master!

Before Kayden could respond, Apache swiftly snatched up the iced cola and handed it to Rita, closing the window tightly behind her.

—"Click."

And locked it, too.

Wow, Apache! So heartless!

By the time Rita finished her meal, Undercity was on full lockdown. The Moonfox and Undead were patrolling the streets together, searching everywhere.

Rita wasn't keen on wandering the streets any longer. After packing up her dish, she approached the alchemy shop and knocked eight times, in a pattern of four and four with a two-second pause between the groups.

The door opened quickly, and a frowning Apache appeared. "No more 'chug chug.'"

Rita giggled as she slipped inside.

Once the door closed, Apache whispered, "Where are the books?"

Rita asked, "Is it safe to take them out here? They're covered in all sorts of Moonfox scents."

Having studied the Moonfox race extensively, Apache had already prepared for this. She led Rita to a small room where a half-person-high cauldron filled with light brown liquid sat in the center.

"Put your hands in," Apache instructed. "Take the books out directly in the potion. Let them soak for three seconds, and don't worry, Lania Kaia's books aren't like the comic books you gave Kayden. They're waterproof."

Rita was curious. "Does this only work on objects?"

"If it worked on living beings, I would've given it to you long ago," Apache explained. "It doesn't work on skin, since scents absorbed through pores aren't easily removed. This only works on inanimate objects."

Without further delay, Rita plunged her hands into the potion, though the cold liquid sent a shiver up her spine.

A few seconds passed…

"Is it done?" Apache asked eagerly.

"Almost, almost," Rita replied.

A few more seconds passed.

"Is it done now?" Apache pressed, clearly growing impatient. She wanted to see the books!

Unable to resist, Apache leaned closer and peeked inside the cauldron. She saw that Rita was carefully emptying a bag full of books into the potion, making sure not to let her hands touch the ones that hadn't soaked yet. Each title was either about combat techniques, magic, or training manuals...Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Apache's excitement deflated instantly. "Did you go on a shopping spree?"

Rita replied matter-of-factly, "Yep! What else should I have done? Sat by the window and drunk all day like you?"

Apache: "..."

Rita soaked seven or eight books at a time, quickly cleaning all the ones she had taken. She even secretly washed the item she had stolen from the Mistblade.

It was hard to say if her luck was good or bad. She had only stolen once, yet she had managed to take something—something she never expected to find.

As she washed, she discreetly examined the item, keeping her back to Apache.

It was a plain, rectangular block, about two knuckles long and slightly wider than two fingers. On the surface were two words in the Lania Kaia script, which translated to: *Six of Bamboos*?

It was written in a font from the Oak Fox race, easily identifiable since the outlines of their letters always resembled an acorn from the *Ice Age* movie—slightly wider at the top, with rounded, cute shapes.

Your journey continues with empire

The rectangle was mostly white, except for the back and the words, which were a deep navy blue.

Rita didn't know how to play the game, but she recognized this immediately. Whether by size or by the information on it, this item was eerily similar to Earth's version of a mahjong tile…