Chapter 71 – Shopping plans

Sophia had gotten relatively used to her new tail during the baor hunt the couple did. Her balance issues became much more subtle, and she was able to run reasonably well again. The girl still wasn't as fast as Maya yet, but she wasn't considerably holding back the group anymore.

"Let's have some lunch!" After having run around for half a day, Sophia decided it was time for a break because she was getting hungry.

"Good idea. I've spotted a couple of vegetables as well. I'll get it ready in a flash." Maya also was ready to eat something.

"Thanks~."

"There's also some meat running around." Fen was a little peculiar as always.

While the wolf was collecting some meat, the couple went and gathered a couple of vegetables for them. Afterward, the tiger-girl watched Maya prepare their lunch while the tiger got the campfire going.

The cat-girl made some sort of vegetable skewers by roughly cutting them with wind magic before putting them on a stick. She also used a somewhat flat stone as a makeshift pan to stir-fry the rest next to the fire.

"Hmm..." Though Sophia was impressed by her skills to improvise, she remembered the discussion from the other day. "We could really use some cooking utensils after all, huh?"

"As I said, that would be great, but carrying them around would be a major pain. They're heavy and bulky. I don't think they're worth the hassle because we're traveling so much."

"Yeah, you're right." Sophia had to agree.

"Anyway, let's eat."

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Even so, Sophia couldn't let go of the idea during their meal and kept thinking about ways to solve the problem.

"Is there space-type magic in this world?"

"Space...? Like teleporting from one place to another?" The cat-girl had misunderstood her a little.

"You're not going to attempt that!" For some reason, Fen really didn't like the idea.

"I-I wasn't planning to...? Okay, I thought about that before, but given my, uhh, track record, this really doesn't sound like a good idea. I'm way too scared to mess up!"

"M-My Sophia's growing up!" Maya was deeply moved.

"Hey!"

"Good. Don't ever try that, okay?" The wolf was really insistent on it.

"Don't worry...?" The tiger-girl was a little confused by his reaction, but not enough to care for the time being. "Anyway, no, that's not what I meant. More like dimensional space...? Uhh, for example, creating a space outside of this reality where you can freely store things inside."

"Never heard of such a thing."

"Me neither. Can't say I understand what you mean in the first place."

"Too bad..."

"Where did you get that idea from? It sounds like a fascinating concept." Fen got curious.

"It's a popular thing in the fantasy books I read in my old world. It's basically a limitless storage where you can just throw in whatever you want and take it out again once you need it. It would be super handy for us because we could get all sorts of convenient things while still traveling hands-free."

"That sounds awesome!" Maya was an instant fan.

"I wonder if I can do it?" She tried to recall how this concept worked in her fantasy books. "Let's see, they created some type of portal... gate thingy that connects to an empty room? In there, you can store all sorts of stuff. How would that work...?" Sophia was having a hard time imagining it.

"How about you simplify it?" The cat-girl tried to help her. "Instead of this dimensional... space stuff, uhh, in a separate reality thing? Well, how about you think of a huge warehouse instead? The portal or gate, whatever, is like the door that opens it, or something like that?"

"That's genius! You're awesome, Maya!"

"Ehehe~, feel free to praise me more."

"Soo, a warehouse, huh? I should be able to work with that image!" Sophia closed her eyes to concentrate. "Warehouse... huge, empty hall. Lots of space to store things... Alright, that's not too hard to imagine. How to actually access it, though? A real door popping out in the middle of nowhere would be too weird. Maybe some sort of invisible portal thingy floating around mid-air? There, I could stick in my hand and grab whatever I want?"

"How-, How's that any less weird...?" The other two looked at each other while being slightly confused.

"Ahaha. Whatever, should I give it a try?" The tiger-girl grabbed a fist-sized stone and closed her eyes again. "Hrmn..." Concentrating for a while, she suddenly thrust out her arm in the air beside her.

"H-Huh?! Sophia?!" Noticing that everything up to the girl's elbow had disappeared, Maya got confused and slightly scared. Looking from a different angle, she saw that around her elbow, a couple of purple distortions appeared in the air. It formed a circle that looked like a portal that had swallowed the tiger's arm.

"E-Eh?! It-, it actually worked?!" Sophia actually was the most surprised out of the group while she looked at her missing arm. "Don't worry, it's still there." A short moment later, she retracted her arm, and it was in full view again. Only the stone was gone.

"T-That's good." She was visibly relieved. "So, where's the stone now?"

"Well, I put it in that warehouse space thingy."

"Really? That's so cool!" The initial shock was replaced by curiosity.

"Yep. Let me take it out again-" The tiger-girl stretched out her arm once more, letting it disappear in the extra space. It seemed like she was rummaging around for a while, and Sophia slowly but surely turned pale. "H-Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Maya and Fen tilted their heads.

"It's gone...?"

"Eh?"

"The stone, I can't find it..."

"Huh? Where did it go, then?"

"Thaaat's an excellent question." Sophia had no idea, either. "Hrmn... Let me try again!" This time, she grabbed a twig from the ground and let it disappear in the extra space, as well.

"And now?" Maya tried to understand what she's doing.

"Well," After she placed the twig inside, she closed the space again before driving her arm inside once, trying to get it out. "E-Eh, why?! I can't find that one, either! What's going on? Why isn't it working? Where did that stuff go in the first place?! Is it one way only, or what?" She couldn't understand what's wrong.

"O-On the bright side, it's good for getting rid of trash." The cat-girl tried to cheer her up.

"And bodies." Fen had his very own way of cheering her up.

"Sure..." She wasn't happy. "I want to get this to work!" The tiger-girl had no plans to give up yet. "Seriously, what's going on?" Not understanding the problem, she faced it head-on. Literally. Instead of her arm, she stuck her entire head inside the extra space to find out what's in there.

"S-Sophia?!" Maya naturally didn't like this view.

"She sure is reckless, that girl."

"Haa,- haa..." A couple of moments later, the girl's head appeared again while panting for air. "O-Okay... That was scary! As it appears, there's no oxygen, or air, or literally anything in there... Just pitch-black nothingness..."

"Sophia, you idiot!" The cat-girl got angry.

"W-Why?!"

"Y-You can't just stick your head in that! Inside a hole where everything disappears into!

"A-Ah!" She only now noticed the issue. "I'm sorry, I just really wanted to find out what's going on."

"Think before you act!"

"Yes..." Sophia looked genuinely apologetic.

"Alright, good." This was all Maya wanted. "So, any findings?"

"Hmm... Well, I found nothing. That's the problem, I guess? It was nothing like the warehouse I wanted. Seems like I didn't imagine it properly. Okay, warehouse-, warehouse... big place, properly lighted and full of usable air!" She made a couple of tweaks after her experience. "Another try!"

"Are you sure it works now? No more sticking body parts into holes you aren't certain they're good!"

"Err..." The ambiguity of the cat-girl was killing her.

"...Idiot." It took her a moment to notice.

"Y-Yeah, I think it's a good hole now." Sophia just had to do it.

"S-Stop it already!" Her face turned red.

"Hehe." After a short chuckle, the tiger-girl grabbed another stone and let it disappear in the different space just like before. A moment later, she stretched out her hand into the portal again and rummaged around. "Stone... Stone, where are you, stoney~? Oh? I think there's someth- Ah!" Her expression changed, and she pulled out her arm again, holding the stone from before. "There it is!"

"It worked?!" Fen was surprised.

"Wow."

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For the next half-hour, Sophia continued to throw all sorts of stuff in the extra space and took it out again, getting used to it. Losing anything useful would be pretty bad, after all.

"Alright! I don't want to put anything too valuable in it yet, but in the next city, we're going shopping, Maya!"

"Yay!" She was looking forward to it.

"I wonder where the next city is. Let's adjust my detection magic to regular beastfolk power and take a look~."

"Not any lower than that, okay? We don't want to end up in front of a human city!"

"What he said!" Maya heartily agreed to Fen's urging to be cautious.

"Girls, if I were to search at human power levels, my entire vision would turn red by the reactions. Do you have any idea just how many bugs or insects are out in the nature?"

"Good point."

"Anyway, hmm..." She concentrated on her magic and looked for a grouping of beastpeople. "Around 30 kilometers west from here seems like it fits the bill. Oh, that's totally our direction, isn't it?"

"Yeah, we're heading that way... I'm surprised you identified the right direction." The cat-girl had to take a jab at her sense of direction.

"H-Hey! I may be stupid, but I'm capable of learning! Also, it's the same direction we were walking the entire day!"

"Ehehe, anyway, 30 kilometers, huh? With Sophia's speed, though increasing rapidly again, and her getting distracted by literally anything, all of tomorrow and maybe some extra, I guess?"

"Yeah, I think so, too." Fen agreed.

"Uuh... Fen and I used to cover that much in like an hour... half, if we were going for it."

"That's just you two being way too abnormal!"

"I-, I won't deny that. Still, I at least want to match Maya again! Alright, let's keep going until it gets dark. The more I run around, the sooner I'll get better at it again!"

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The other two agreed to her suggestion, and the group covered some more ground for the next couple of hours. Once the sun had set, they ate their usual dinner in front of their campfire while talking about their upcoming plans.

"Is there anything specific you want to buy, Sophia?" Maya looked at her.

"Hmm, I definitely want all the things related to cooking. Dishware, pots, pans, all that stuff."

"Sounds good. I would really like that. Oh, we could also get spices and other non-perishable food."

"That's a great idea! We'll definitely get them!" Sophia always wanted more and better food.

"How about some extra clothes?"

"Absolutely! I want some long pants already!" She wasn't a fan of the shorts she got when coming to this world and wasn't able to buy a different style because she couldn't find anything besides skirts and more shorts yet.

"No." The cat-girl instantly shot her down.

"Ehh, why?"

"Nice view, lap pillow, bare thighs." She didn't even bother to form a complete sentence.

"So selfish! How about some extra clothes just for sleeping instead? That would be way more comfortable, anyway."

"I-, I'll allow that."

"My, how generous." Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Oh, what about a swimsuit? You wanted to go swimming a couple of times already."

"That's true... Hmm, only if you get one as well, Maya."

"Oho, why do you want me to get one, too~?" She started to grin.

"The-, The same reason you… actually want me to buy one."

"A-Ah..." Her grin vanished. "Y-Yes, let's buy some together."

"Okay."

The couple kept chatting about her shopping plans for a while. Even Fen had a couple of requests, mainly all sorts of spices to make his meat taste better. This conversation went on all the way until they decided to go to sleep.