A: There’s a story behind every law.
B: Is that the reason why this place has a book of rules?
A: Honestly I’m surprised they haven’t banned me yet -- Anon Guest
"Oh come on," sighed Lali. "It can't be that bad. This is a little town. There can't be that many rules just because you're in it."
The Hellkin student of Hidden Cloud Landscaping and Boarding School, known only as 'K', smirked in a very knowing way. "I've been here since I was six. There's some that date back to eleven years before I got here, but I can claim twenty that happened after turned seven."
That was... almost ten years ago. "What happened when you turned seven?"
"I started walking out of the estate on personal errands. Letters home, presents for my brother. Little treats. That sort of thing." He spread his sharp grin wide, "And one week after that, for a copy of Wolklippenstadt's laws. A month after that... I get updated copies."
"They can't ban people," protested Lali. "They haven't done that sort of thing since the Xenophobia Wars. Four hundred years ago."
"No, they can't ban people. But they can make it very inconvenient to exist under their laws." He opened up the little pouch he had added to the usual uniform of all the others who worked there. It was a small, thick book. "Take it. Read it. Last fifty-and-seven pages. I'm almost due to get another. With, of course, written permission by the Master and an acceptable escort to ensure I do fair business."
Lali flipped to the relevant page. There were rules against Hellkin entering bars with escorts. There were rules regarding how visibly drunk a Hellkin could be when entering bars at all. There were rules regarding how much alcohol by volume a Hellkin could purchase, as long as they were in a sealed container. There were rules regarding Hellkin purchasing the materials that "may be deemed necessary" for building a small distillery. There were rules regarding Hellkin "in association" with gambling.
"Yeah," said 'K'. "I'm not allowed to own nor touch dice. Or look sideways at a pack of cards. Or be within fifty feet of a gambling game in progress."
That one was on the next page.
Lali had a glare to match his slightly superior smirk. "You just memorise these?"
"I have to be my own lawyer. Master Bai does insist on a certain amount of self-reliance. I'm just lucky it's still not illegal to be a Hellkin in a public place."
"This is completely unfair," protested Lali.
"Welcome to the white noise of my entire existence."
[Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash]
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