Chapter 102 – The bakery owner

Sophia had ended the war against the humans with a total victory and decided to do something way more important, getting something to eat in the nearby city together with Maya. They found a lovely bakery and somehow forgot about time while chatting with the owner, an older horse-lady.

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong?" Maya noticed that Sophia was staring out of the window of the bakery while overlooking the street.

"You'll see in 3- 2- 1-"

"Haa… Hello, granny, I've come... eh?!" A familiar, orange-haired tiger-girl, Princess Anna, flew into the bakery and energetically greeted the owner while catching her breath before spotting the couple.

"Eh...?" The cat-girl was as surprised.

"There goes the quiet time... How long did it last?" Sophia looked at an imaginary watch on her wrist while asking.

"There you are! I've been looking all over the place to find the two of you! Father asked me to find you after you simply disappeared once everything was over... Do you have any idea how hard this was?!" The events of the war apparently had blown away the awkwardness between Anna and the couple for the time being.

"Sorry." Maya had nothing to say in her defense.

"And now I run into you by chance because I needed a break because I'm no good at running for long and wanted to visit granny here!"

"You know each other?" Sophia ignored all the fuss as she faced the owner.

"I've lived in the capital for a long time and met her once in a while, yes."

"Why are you downplaying it? Granny here worked in the castle before she decided to have a quiet life here! She was one of the most powerful magic instructors we had."

"Oh?" This piqued the blonde's interest.

"Princess, there was no need to tell them that. Wait, how did you even know the princess was arriving with such precision, Sophia?"

"I can sense the magic power of everyone around me and noticed a familiar one zooming around through the city before coming here."

"So, you knew I was running all over the place?!" Anna got upset.

"Wait a moment!" The owner got loud, as well. "Most of us can sense how strong an individual is if they're in front of us, but how can you sense it from all over the city?!"

"Some original magic a friend came up with. It lets me visualize the magic power of everyone in a radius around me. It doesn't work that well on humans, though, because they have the same power levels as insects."

"Is this girl serious...?" The granny looked at the princess for help.

"I always am!"

"That's not even the tip of the iceberg... trust me..." Her eyes looked dead for some reason as Anna ignored Sophia's protest.

"W-Wow."

"Wait a moment..." Sophia wasn't overly hurt. "Anna said you were a magic instructor at the castle? I don't want to be rude... but it doesn't seem like you're exceptional powerful. Your magic seems perfectly average. Not that that's a bad thing."

"That's on purpose. I'm masking my true magic power because being average makes for an easier, less eventful life."

"That's possible?!" Sophia almost jumped off her chair. "I've gotten involved in tons of stuff because people sensed my magic… Something like this would be very handy!"

"We're mainly only here together because I got curious about your magic, though..." Maya got a little grumpy.

"T-That's true... but it might prevent some other people from getting interested in me in the future."

"Please teach her, granny!" From time to time, the cat-girl was extremely easy to please.

"Listen here, this is my masterpiece. It took me years to create!"

"Don't worry, I'm a fast learner."

"Haa..." The horse-lady seemed like getting a headache.

"Well, you don't have to if it's a secret. I just thought it would be helpful to know."

"It's great to be curious and wanting to learn new things, but..." She struggled to decide. "Actually, I'm not even sure you want to learn it."

"Why?"

"In a way, it's the opposite of magic. Let's say, if you want to mask all your magic power, it makes you unable to use magic."

"Oh..." The enthusiasm in Sophia's voice was gone. "I'm using magic literally the entire time. Even when sleeping, I'm passively using it... Seems like this isn't the way for me."

"Huh... hold on! Did you just say you're constantly using magic? Even with the power I can feel from you, shouldn't you run out of it eventually? Especially something grand like sensing the magic of everyone around you should be very taxing."

"People keep saying that, but aside from the one time I did it on purpose, my magic regenerates faster than I could possibly spend it reasonably. It's a complete nonissue for me."

"Seriously?!" Both the princess, as well as the bakery owner were shocked by her nonchalant answer.

"Yeah, it's quite convenient."

"You don't say!" Now even Maya joined the two.

"Hehe. But, well, now I know it's at least possible to hide your magic power. It's not a priority, but I might find a way without sacrificing your magic."

"I wish you the best of luck. I sadly couldn't figure it out."

"I have two friends who are very good at making original magic. Maybe they have an idea."

"Really, just who are you...?" The granny was at a loss. "As the princess said, I was a magic instructor at the royal castle... I'm able to use 3 different elemental types, all on an activation words basis. With the wind-type, I even had some success in chantless. I never cared much, but people called me a miracle among prodigies. Most experts are even doubting that original magic or magic not grouped into elements even exists... and here you are, talking about it like it's nothing. Total magic capacity aside, just how big is the gap between us?"

"Yeah... Well, my teacher never taught me chants or activation words, so all I know is chantless magic. Also, magic isn't limited, so I naturally know all of it, every element-type, including nature, light and dark, as well as things that can't be categorized."

"W-Wow... the gap's even big-! Wait, what do you mean with magic isn't limited?! Of course, it is! It's a fact that people can only use a limited amount."

"No, it's not." Maya and Anna denied her claim.

"What does that even- Huh, princess...?!"

"I couldn't believe it either, but it's true, granny... Do you still remember how I was able to use wind and earth magic?"

"Of course, even that's rare, after all."

"Well, I have still to master it, but after training with Maya, I was able to use fire-based magic."

"R-Really...?"

"It's the same for me." The cat-girl chimed in. "Ever since I was little, I was treated as a prodigy because of my large magic power and being able to use more than one element. I'm traveling with Sophia and her teacher for only a couple of months now, and now I'm able to use every element besides nature and dark. All of them are chantless, as well."

"This can't be... Princess, does his Majesty already know about this? This is beyond huge. If it's true, it will change everything!"

"Yes, father also was shocked. He had them test it out on me, which, as I said, worked. Afterward, the thing with the humans here came up, so he hadn't had the chance to talk more about it."

"Is he coming to this city before going back to the capital?"

"Yes, he sent me beforehand to look for these two troublemakers, but he'll arrive in the evening with the rest of his commanders. Why?"

"I'd like to have an audience with his Majesty. I'm coming back to the capital."

"What about the bakery?" Sophia's interest lay in the food, as usual.

"My granddaughter's been helping me recently. She can take over. I want, no need to see what this revolutionary revelation will cause."

"I'll gladly tell father. I'm sure he'll be overjoyed because he's still lamenting over how big of a loss it was letting you resign."

"Why... Why does it feel like I'm going to have to teach a bunch of people stuff I don't even know how it works, either?"

"Because you have no situational awareness and keep destroying people's common sense on a daily basis." Maya had no sympathy for Sophia.

"Hmm... Well, I'll just force it on Fenny instead. He knows what he's doing, and he's also the one responsible for me being who I am."

"That's... actually a sound argument." The cat-girl had to give it to her.

"Anyway, enough of that!" Sophia wanted to change the topic. "More importantly, Anna, you came with an envoy, right? Well, the first princess is probably one of her own, though."

"Yes, father sent a commander and a couple of soldiers with me to inform the city beforehand."

"Great! That means the city will become lively again, right? Maya and I wanted to go shopping, but everything's closed..."

"T-That's the most important thing to you?! Even after the magic bombshell you dropped?!" The bakery granny looked at her in shock.

"Of course, for me, my magic's not that exciting because I've never done it in any other way, but a shopping date with Maya, that's very exciting."

"…" Anna needed a moment after that. Having recovered a little thanks to the events of the war or not, Sophia openly bragging about a date was still hard on her.

"Sorry to disappoint, but the stores won't open again until tomorrow." The horse-lady crushed her dreams.

"Aww..." She looked visibly disappointed.

"A-Also, father wants to speak with you the moment he arrives."

"Urgh... I think I'll pretend I never got this memo." The blonde tiger-girl had no intention to deal with any of that.

"What memo?" As usual, Maya played along.

"Exactly!"

"Do you really think you can run from father after what you did on the battlefield? There's no way that's going to happen!"

"What... did she do?" The granny sounded curious.

"Listen to this, Eluna!" Apparently, this was the name of the bakery owner. "You'll never believe this, but this girl beat the entire human army all on her own in like half an hour!"

"Did it really take half an hour?" Sophia focused on the most irrelevant part. "Well, I did mess around a lot."

"What...?" Eluna joked about it before, but she obviously never thought it actually happened like that. "You're kidding, aren't you...?"

"No, I saw it with my own eyes."

"I got a little angry at them, okay? They got on my nerves, and I needed to teach them a lesson."

"I-I see..." Eluna noticed the slight coldness in her voice and took that as a warning to not pry any further.

"Besides, it was only a couple thousand of humans... Maya wouldn't have had any problems with it, either."

"Hey, leave me out of it!" The cat-girl in question didn't want to be involved in any of this.

"Am I wrong, though?"

"I-It would definitely take me longer than half an hour!" She ultimately didn't deny it. "I would need at least four times as long."

"Two hours... what have I been doing my entire life?" It wasn't any less shocking for the granny.

"Don't be down. Everyone had the same reaction when they saw the two in action." Anna knew exactly how she felt.

"Who knew that I, with my age, would come across something like this... Even though it seems like I wasted a lot of time, this is getting me excited."

"Absolutely! I also got all jumpy when I used fire magic for the first time! I never thought it would be possible!" The princess shared her excitement.

The group talked a bit longer, but Sophia eventually seemed to be getting a little shifty for some reason.

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"A-Ah..."

"What is it now?!" The cat-girl immediately reacted. "It never means anything good if you go Ah all of a sudden!"

"W-Well... I just remembered that we have something to do. Maya, I think it's time to leave."

"Did something happen...?" Anna also looked confused.

"N-No, it's fine..."

"Hmm?" Maya stared at her. "You just sensed the king arriving in the city and want to run away, right?"

"How do you know me so well?!"

"I want to say because I love you, but it's really not hard to read you."

"Urgh..."

"Father's already here? Great! Let's go meet him immediately!" The princess didn't want to waste any time.

"I don't wanna~!"

Unfortunately, the blonde tiger-girl was in the minority and eventually gave up. She obediently came with the princess and the others to meet the king. She never stopped complaining, though.