Chapter 53 – The real backstory

One thing led to another, and Sophia had another audience with Canir, the overseer that brought her to this world. This caused Maya to have all sorts of strange misunderstandings. Because of that, she decided that it was finally the time to tell the cat-girl who, or what she really is.

"Uhh, I have no idea where to start..." Before she even began, Sophia was already at a loss. "Fen, I'm kind of scared..." She faced the wolf first with an uneasy expression.

"Well, it's too late now." Unfortunately, he had no calming words for her.

"Urgh..." It was what she wanted to hear. Taking a deep breath, she eventually looked at Maya. "Okay, first of all, I'm not the daughter of that Canir idiot." She wanted to clear up the thing that bugged her the most first.

"Really? So... then, you are the princess of the current demon king, after all?"

"Seriously, how did that story even come to be?"

"Well, your powers, lack of common sense, wisdom of all kinds of odd things… Access to as much literature as you desire, your ruthlessness in fights. You talking with Fen about not wanting to be the next demon lord. Me calling you a princess and you not reacting, your flawless looks, which has to be of royal origins! Well, all that and many more things..." Maya didn't plan on saying the last thing and got embarrassed.

"A-Ah, t-thank you very much..." The mood turned awkward for a couple of seconds. "W-While there are many things I would like to address here, I may understand your assumption a little now..."

"T-Then?"

"Nope, no royal background whatsoever."

"Is that so...?" The cat-girl was both relieved and a bit disappointed. On the one hand, Sophia didn't seem to be out of reach anymore, but on the other hand, it was a sweet story, her being a princess.

"To be perfectly honest with you-" Sophia took another deep breath before continuing. "I'm-, I'm not a demon in the first place."

"W-Wha-?!" Maya's eyes opened wide in response.

"This was a misunderstanding Chiyo made when we met because of my power and looks. As I wanted to keep my true identity a secret, I didn't correct her back then. It was a convenient cover story. I'm sorry for hiding the truth."

"W-What... Who are you then? I refuse to believe you're human! That just can't be! Powers aside, it's impossible for them to have even a shred of kindness in them, and you're overflowing with it! As long as you're not angry..." Maya had no idea what she was supposed to believe anymore now.

"T-Thank you... Erm, well, strictly speaking, I am human, but I'm also not. Please don't lump me together with the humans of this world." The last thing Sophia wanted was to be put in the same group as them.

"Of this world...?"

"That Canir, he's known as the god of life and overseer of this world, right?"

"Y-Yes...?"

"That idiot's actually the overseer of many worlds."

"W-What-, What does that mean...?" Maya could barely follow.

"I'm not from this world."

"E-Eh…?" She only shook her head.

"I kinda, uhh, died in my old world." Sophia only made it worse.

"W-What?!" The cat-girl lost track completely. It was too much for her.

"Right before it was game over for me, Canir summoned me to his place and offered me to continue my life in this world. He's also the one who gave me those boosts as a gift for this world, but you know about them already."

"You're from a different world, died there... a god saved you and brought you here...?"

"That's roughly it..." Sophia added some more details afterward before she got the urge to lift the mood a little. "Ahaha, now you understand why my common sense is a little odd, huh?"

"Is that-, Is this really true...?" Maya didn't feel like laughing, though. "Is this really what happened." She was having a hard time believing it.

"Yes."

"I-I see..." She was utterly overwhelmed and no other reaction ready.

"I'm sure it's hard to accept... I think I wouldn't believe it, but that's actually what happened to me. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer everything."

"..." The cat-girl went silent for a whole minute. "I'm sorry, I need some time to think about all that. I can't- My head..." Afterward, Maya left the shrine without saying another word.

"A-Ah-" Sophia just stood there, rooted in place while she watched her leave. "Did I-, Was that a mistake...?" She looked at Fen, hoping for an answer.

"You did the right thing. It's just not an easy story to accept. Especially after she-, after the two of you are traveling together for a while already." The wolf wanted to say something else, but he opted against it because it was a private matter of Maya, the love talk the two had not too long ago. "Give her some time."

"Okay... Yes, you're right. I just hope she comes b-back..." Sophia looked devastated just saying it out loud.

"Want to eat something?" The wolf tried to divert her attention.

"Not really, but let's do that..." She wasn't feeling hungry for some reason.

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While Fen was trying to cheer Sophia up, Maya had covered some ground. She arrived at a massive boulder near a couple of trees and leaned against it while trying to wrap her head around the story she just heard.

"Uhh... what was that just now?! Did she really tell me what I think she did?!" The cat-girl was freaking out. "T-That can't be true! Sophia... she came from another w-world? M-Moreover, she's here now because she-, she died there?! How's this even possible? That makes no sense!" It was too much for her.

"B-But why-, why does it feel like she's telling the truth? She also seems to be an acquaintance of Canir. The highest god there is for most. Though, she seems to be on bad terms with him. If he's really the one who gave Sophia her boosts... Could it be? Could it really be?" She was trying to convince herself. "He's known as the god of life...That means it should be possible for him to save one, right? Still, a different world?! Do those exist in the first place?! I never heard of anything even remotely like that!" Maya couldn't wrap her head around the existence of multiple worlds.

"She said that Canir is indeed the overseer of multiple worlds, but... do they actually exist, like seriously, for real?! I mean, Sophia as a whole suddenly makes perfect sense when you say that she's not from this world... The concept itself just doesn't! Urgh, Just why is this girl so freaking complicated!" She was starting to get a headache over Sophia. Her tail was hectically swishing in all kinds of directions, clearly showing how confused, distressed, and irritated she was right now. She even started running in circles while she was arguing with herself.

"L-Let's assume I believe her... which I don't do yet. What would that even mean? Is it okay for her to be here? Well, of course, it is... the god brought her here. Still, won't Sophia face a ton of problems if anyone finds out? Probably not? Eh? I don't think anyone could harm her. Most wouldn't believe her in the first place, anyway. Actually, she could just keep pretending to be a demon girl, and absolutely no one would bat an eye." There were surprisingly few problems when thinking about it.

"She definitely needs to learn more about this world's common sense, though! It's not even funny anymore how ridiculous she is. Okay, it is a bit." Maya had to correct herself. "Still, she has to learn it. At the very least to prevent her from doing stupid stuff like learning healing magic without a care, which normally only people with a connection to a deity or a... god can- Ah." She stopped in the middle. "Seems like it was okay for her to learn it, huh? Canir definitely counts for that part. I'm sorry I said anything, Sophia! My point stands nonetheless, though! It's for her own good to learn some common sense... and my sanity." The cat-girl was the one suffering the most from her over-the-topness after all.

"But... What about me? I only just became aware of my... feelings, and now that. Falling for another race is one thing. I was okay with that. But no, I went for an alien. A sexy alien, but still... Wait, is she an alien? Well, that or otherworldler, I would call it? It's the same difference, really! I feel like just wanting to run away right now!" The scale was so big that details like the proper terminology had long since stopped mattering. All of it made her head hurt, and she instinctively wanted to flee. "Can I really love a person from another world? No... do I want to?"

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Maya was having a tough time coming to terms with everything she found out today. While she was trying to find answers to her many questions and concerns, the other two of her group didn't stay still, either. They finished dinner, though Sophia hadn't much of an appetite, and made camp in a relatively visible place near the shrine in the case the cat-girl comes looking for them.

"I think I have to apologize as well, Sophia." The two were sitting in front of their usual fire when Fen suddenly addressed her.

"Huh, what's that about?"

"I know Canir. We met a couple of times in the past. I knew who he was the moment you told me what happened back when we met."

"You know that idiot?"

"Yes. I somehow missed the right time to tell you. And honestly, after the dungeon incident, I was a bit afraid to tell you that I'm acquaintanced with Canir."

"Absolutely, that could've gone wrong..." Sophia had a feeling that she would've punched him at least once.

"Yeah, but I should've told you."

"Did you know that I can contact him through his statues?"

"No, that was a first for me. He used to visit me down here from time to time."

"I see, then don't worry about it. It wouldn't have changed anything." Sophia didn't care.

"Thank you." He was relieved. "By the way, is Canir still alive? After you-, you know?"

"That guy's crazy durable! I couldn't scratch him! Or, more like, his healing was fast enough to not leave any lasting damage. Visual ones, at least. I think I left some mental scars, though. He was pretty on edge during our talk afterward."

"I can imagine. Even the overseer would be scared after you going all out on him."

"I didn't go all out... I felt too sorry for him before I had the chance to."

"That's scary in itself."

"Ahaha."

Fen went silent for a moment after their conversation was finished. He didn't want to, not after he managed to divert her attention, but he had to bring it up again. "About the cat-"

"A-Ah." Sophia clearly didn't want to talk about it right now. "Don't, okay...? Just like you said, all I can do right now is wait and hope for the best."

With that, the topic was over before it even began. Afterward, the mood turned a little awkward in the camp, and the two spent the rest of the evening in silence.

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Maya didn't return that day. Not even when the night arrived, and the other two, one of them very reluctantly, finally decided to go to sleep.