Chapter 101 – Talaga

Once Sophia finished dealing with the human army, she decided to leave the battlefield together with Maya to get a change of scenery. Remembering the nearby beastfolk city called Talaga they saved, the two headed there without ever regrouping with the king and his men.

"Urgh... now that I think about it, what are we going to tell the people in the city?" Sophia had no problems finding their destination thanks to her detection magic, but entering the place was an entirely different matter. "They definitely know about the war thingy, and when they see a tiger-girl coming from that very direction..."

"Next time you change races, go for something less complicated, okay?"

"I-I'll keep that in mind... Not that I'm planning to. I've gotten way too fond of this version of me."

"Mm-hmm~." Maya gave a satisfied nod. She, too, liked it. "How about we act as messengers of the king who sent us ahead of time to tell the city that the war is over?"

"You're a genius!"

"Ehehe, I have my moments." After deciding on a story, the two quickly reached the city gates of Talaga. As expected, a whole group of guards was standing there while seemingly being on high alert. They most likely added up the numbers just in case something might've happened.

"What are you girls doing out here?!" One of the guards noticed them and panicked. "Don't you know what's currently going- hmm?" He stopped talking after taking a better look at Sophia.

"Yes, we do know. To be more exact, we are coming from the battlefield." As usual, Maya was doing the more complicated talking. She's better at it, after all.

"I see... and escorting a member of the esteemed tiger family, your words are credible, but... We didn't expect a messenger so early. D-Don't tell me something happened?! Just in case, we already prepared for evacuation, so-"

"Calm down..." Sophia interrupted him. "Remember, we only faced against inse-, humans. Do you have that little faith in us?"

"O-Of course not!" The guard, a brown-haired guy of the dog-beastfolk, who seemed to be in his early twenties, winced under the tiger's cold voice and glare. "P-Please excuse my rudeness. This absolutely wasn't my intention! We're just surprised that you're here already. We calculated it would take around two to three days."

"Haaa..." Sophia took a deep breath to calm down. "No, I should apologize. I'm still a little tense from the events. I tend to lose my temper when humans are involved. It was a wise decision to prepare an evacuation plan in the off-off-off-chance something goes wrong."

"Anyway, there's no need for any of that." Maya came back to the point. "The humans are already defeated. We came to deliver the message that the war is over."

"A-Already?! Isn't that way too fast? Our survey said the human army was multiple thousand men strong."

"No matter how much you pile it up, trash remains trash." She still hadn't entirely calmed down.

"Sophia..."

"A-Ah, I mean, they weren't much of a threat, and it even was a smaller army than we had anticipated. Thanks to that, we managed to finish up quickly." She noticed her dark side was leaking out again and corrected herself.

"I see... That's amazing. I know the troops stationed near Talaga are great, but it seems his Majesty brought his elite army for it to finish this quickly."

"S-Something like that, yeah..." The cat-girl wasn't sure what to reply here. "I don't know if his Majesty himself will come, but at least a delegation of our military commanders will arrive soon and give a full briefing once they cleaned up. The battlefield got a little, uhh, messy, so it might take a bit." She had no idea whether it's true, but it made sense to her.

"I understand. They sent you beforehand to give us an update. As expected of our king, so thoughtful."

"S-Sure..." The couple awkwardly looked at each other.

"Well, I'm sure you're tired from traveling, not to mention the battle itself. As we're a trade city, there are lots of, not to mention many different kinds of food to be had here. I'm sure it'll help with fatigue, too."

"And just like that, you have my full attention." Sophia liked the sound of that very much.

"Ah, but the city shut down a good bit because of the attack, so I don't know how much you're able to experience..."

"Stupid humans."

"Anyway, thank you very much for coming to inform us that the possible danger is no more. Even more so, thank you for coming all the way from the capital to help us repel the human army. Judging from the power I can feel from the two of you, I'm sure you took an active part in it. The king's army in the capital is something else entirely."

"It wasn't much, really." Sophia wasn't trying to be humble.

Feeling a little awkward when all the guards suddenly started to salute while the girls entered the city, they tried their best to stay serious.

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"Say, what do you think about getting another member for our group?"

"Hmm?" The tiger-girl seemed confused when she looked at Maya. "Where did that come from?"

"I'm tired of being only the responsible one with common sense! Fen is wise, but he's useless when it comes to making sensible decisions. I don't know Aura well enough yet, but I don't have high hopes there, either. And you're just a walking catastrophe in every conceivable way!"

"H-Hey! Well... go on." She had no examples to build her defense on.

"I want to fool around, as well!" Her real motivation leaked out. "But with everyone else being like that, too, I have to keep it together so I can deal with complicated situations."

"I see."

"That's why, let's get a proper voice of reason, one who thoroughly enjoys being the straight man. Preferably a male candidate. No pun intended here."

"Eh... why?"

"Because of you! We have yet to meet a girl that wasn't at least a bit into you! With a boy, I can have a peace of mind in that regard, and even if he tries something, shortly before I kill him, that is, there's no chance that you'll ever cave in."

"You worry way too much."

"None of it is unfounded!"

"Sure..." Sophia had nothing in her defense. "But a boy, huh? Well, I don't particularly mind... But a girl would be so much more enjoyable to look at..."

"Not helping the case."

"Hehe. Oh, how about a full beastperson like our Fenny or Aura instead? They would at least have the fluffiness going on for them, then. There's also a zero chance I would be interested in them, too. I need myself a humanoid partner. Extras like a tail, ears, maybe even wings, and the likes are okay. No, they make an individual even better, but replacing parts is too much for me. Paws or even full-body fur do nothing for me in that regard."

"Yeah, paws, while cute, could be pretty impractical for some things. Outright useless, for certain other things, even. Alright, that's fine by me." Maya apparently wasn't the biggest fan, either, but something about her expression was indicating that it's stemming from something deeper than a pure visual preference.

"Now we only have to find a person who's levelheaded enough to deal with all of us and can match our power, or at least the speed we travel at."

"A-Ah..." Maya noticed that such a person most likely doesn't exist.

"Alright, let's try to find something to eat."

"Yeah, why not..." She gave up on the idea for the time being.

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Walking around in the city, getting food was easier said than done. Just as the guard had said, because everyone was getting ready for the possibility of an evacuation, the streets were rather empty, and most restaurants closed.

"Hungry!"

"First, you almost threw up because you wrecked your stomach by the recoil on the battlefield, and now, you're starving..."

"I'll never forgive those humans, keeping me from my well-earned food!" She was needlessly dramatic again. "I have a very active metabolism, after all."

"You sure have." Having known her for a while and taking care of the cooking when traveling, Maya was very well aware of that.

"Oh, I think the bakery over there is open. Not what I was hoping for, but they might have some sweet pastries, and I never not want those. Let's go!" She seemed very motivated as she entered said place.

"Welcome!" An older half-beast lady with greyish-white hair and ears resembling those of a horse greeted the couple.

"This looks promising!" Sophia saw that there were indeed all sorts of pastries on display, causing her eyes to sparkle.

"Is it okay to be open? Everyone else's closed because of the current situation, after all."

"Why wouldn't I open my bakery? Just because some puny humans want to play war? Let them have their fun. They'll get their asses beaten immediately, anyway. There's no way they'll make it to here, and even if, I'll just beat them up on my own."

"Oh my gosh, this lady's awesome!" The blonde was an instant fan.

"Happy to hear. My, would you look at that?" The owner focussed on Sophia in front of her. "What a surprise do we have here? Not that I don't feel honored, but shouldn't you on the battlefield, miss of the tiger family?"

"It's fine. Only the cleanup's left. I couldn't be bothered with any of that and left it to the king."

"It's already over? Wow, humans aren't even good enough to get a worthwhile training out of them anymore, huh? Makes one wonder why they even keep trying."

"That's what I want to know! I still can't understand why they actually think they're superior!"

"The weakest cry the loudest." The lady had her own answer.

"All bark, no bite, huh? But to be so delusional..."

"Pitiful, isn't it?"

"What am I listening to here...?" Maya had mixed feelings about the two bonding over this topic. "I don't disagree, but..."

"Anyway, so yeah, the humans are indeed already defeated." Sophia got back on track.

"Not bad. They might just be humans, but defeating that much this quickly isn't half bad. Good job."

"Thanks, though the hardest part really was the travel from the capital. That carriage ride nearly killed my butt." Sophia patted her backside while remembering the numb feeling.

"Sassy, I like it. Still, you know..." The owner took yet another good look at her. "I can't say I saw you before, and I'm pretty sure I would've remembered a blonde tiger because that's a first. Did the king lock you away until now or what?"

"No, it's kinda complicated, but let's just say I'm new. I only met the king and the royal family a couple of days ago. He asked me to help in this operation, and I obviously agreed because I want to protect what is dear to me."

"Wow, jumping right into a war even though it had no relation to you. The devotion of the tiger family to the fellow beastfolk really is second to none."

"Well, what can you do, it just feels right?" After all, Sophia was really grateful to the beastfolk because those, Fen aside, were the first to treat her nicely. She made many friends and even found more in Maya. "It's almost like an… ah… l-like an instinct for me…"

"Commendable, it's no wonder the royal tiger family is so popular. Great to see they found another valuable member."

"T-Thanks..." She got a little embarrassed.

"Not to mention your strength, missy. From what I can feel, if you were to tell me that you defeated the human army all on your own, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised."

"A-Ahaha..." Maya couldn't stay silent on that.

"You're quite something, too, miss white cat, and I'm rather good at sensing the strength of others."

"Well, I used to be really confident about my power, at least until I met Sophia over here."

"You have all the reason to be confident. I don't think anyone in this city can hold a candle to you. Well, there's always someone better than you."

"She's absolutely right, Maya!" Sophia nodded to the owner's claim. "You're plenty strong. Also, Fenny's about as strong as I am, and Aura has quite a bit more power than me. So, yeah, there's always someone stronger."

"Seriously...? You actually know someone who has even more magic power? Have I really gotten so old that I'm this out of touch?" The bakery granny looked surprised.

"Please don't take her or the other two as a benchmark. It'll only give you a headache otherwise." Maya was speaking from experience.

"Anyway!" Sophia apparently had something important to say. "I haven't eaten anything since morning. Can we buy some of these nice-looking sweets already?" It wasn't so important, after all. "We can talk some more after that."

"By all means, go ahead."

The couple got a decent variety of pastries, and after giving them a slight discount, the owner prepared a table where the girls could eat while they continued to chat. At some point, Sophia noticed a familiar-looking power with her detection magic roaming through the city, though. Still, she remained silent about it to enjoy the current calmness because that had become a rare occurrence lately.