Hey Diary,

  Tonight we’re in the city of Ooloopop. It’s not a particularly big city, but it’s bigger than the tiny towns we’ve been passing through.

  Maeve and Maki talked to the Guildmaster here, and he agrees we should keep doing what we’re doing. So tomorrow we’ll get a bunch of mail and head out for all the towns along the road to Nineport.

  Which means, in two or three days, I’ll get to see the ocean! I've lived on a river my whole life, so water in itself isn't exciting, but the ocean has salt water. I wonder what it tastes like, if you can actually taste the salt. And they say the waves get huge, like as big as a person sometimes! I can't even imagine that, it must be so cool. And then I heard that it goes on so far, and is so big, that if there aren't clouds or anything you can actually see the curve of the planet. That must be wild.

  I wonder if I’ll be able to talk a whale into taking me for a swim. That would be pretty fun.

  I wonder how ocean animals feel about earthquakes. I mean, their world is kinda always moving, so extra movement might not be all that noticeable.

  Oh, while we’re in the city, I have to wear long sleeves and pants. Maeve said it’s not likely that anyone is just walking around checking everyone’s stats, but it’s possible. Especially in the guild entry hall, or if we need to talk to the rulers for some reason. I have to be aware of if anyone touches me in a way that would let them see my stats.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Echo said brushing against my tail won't do it, since it’s too fluffy. They’d have to grab it for the skill to activate. So I don't need to worry about that, at least.

  I mean, if anyone grabs my tail, them seeing my stats is kinda the least of my problems. And me having high charm magic will be the least of theirs. Especially if my cousins are around.

  Anyways, Maeve is sad we won't be going into Raddish. The guild here has a list of how long it should take to get from one place to another, and it says that, in a wagon, it’s only a day and a half from here to the border. Maeve says we should just run over real quick, if only to say we’ve been there.

  Maki and Luke say we have a mission to inform everyone in Owonyan about what to do when the big earthquakes hit, so we shouldn't waste time. They promised that after it’s all over, we’ll make our way back and go visit Raddish. And Broccoli. And it’s not like we ever have to stop, so we could spend like five years just making a big circle around the whole continent!

  A part of me feels like that would be super, amazingly epic. But another part… just misses my mom. If I wanted, I know I could be home in like a week. If I want to run home, I can. It wouldn't take too too long. But if we just went west for like a year, at some point that option is cut off. I might be so homesick I'm crying, but it wouldn't be reasonable to turn around.

  So yeah. Before we leave Owonyan, I have to at least see Mom and Dad one more time.

  But we’re not leaving yet.

  So it’s not time to go home.

  Signing off,