"Has the rain eased?"
An ox cart passed along the street, its wheels rolling through a puddle and splashing muddy water everywhere. The man inside jolted, frowned, and lifted the curtain to look outside, only to discover that the rain had eased considerably since he had set out.
The driver replied, "Yes, sir. It was only heavy for a little while just now. It's much lighter now. The sky may well clear before noon."
"Good. It won't delay the Divine Shrine's grand ceremony tonight." The man was about to lower the curtain when he suddenly caught a flash of white in the distance and took another, closer look.
"I wondered what that was. It's only a civet cat."
Remembering that most residents of this neighborhood were high officials and nobles, and that nobles liked keeping cats, he felt the goosebumps that had just risen subside. With a sigh, he lowered the cloth curtain.
The ox cart hurried on. What the man failed to see was that the white shape he had spotted was now crouching at a street corner.
Little Fox, who had just crossed the street and was crouching beneath the eaves of a closed shop, watched the ox cart recede. After a brief rest, she darted off into the distance again.
"Chirp, chirp! Everyone sees me as a civet cat!"
Light rain pattered down, leaving one puddle after another on the ground. Although the streets of the Capital City were smoother than those in the prefectures and counties, not every stretch was clean. Every so often, Little Fox sprang lightly over the dirty water.
She moved so quickly that her fur had not gotten wet. Besides, as she ran, a faint layer of white light surrounded her, making the rain slide off before it could reach her.
"Chirp,