Chapter 106 – Catching up

The couple decided not to return to the capital together with the king for the time being. Instead, they wanted to explore the city of Talaga some more and experiment with a new magic Sophia had thought of. While searching for a place to eat some food, the tiger-girl found a shrine dedicated to Canir instead, though. This discovery resulted in a change of plans, and the two went there instead.  As Sophia can meet with him again by interacting with the statue in the shrine-like the last time she did, she decided to do that first.

"It actually is here..." Sophia didn't fully believe it until they entered the shrine area. "Also, why does his statue look so smug?" The facial expression of Canir annoyed her a little.

"Isn't that how all sculptures of important people are?"

"Now that you mention it... Anyway, whatever, want to come with me?"

"E-Eh?"

"If we do something like holding hands when I pour my magic into the statue, we might be able to go together."

"Me meeting a god of sorts...? N-No, thanks..." Maya didn't seem to overly like the idea. "That's too much of a hurdle for me..."

"He really isn't someone you have to treat as special."

"Easy for you to say! No, I'll have to decline this time. Ah, but please thank him for bringing you here for me."

"Aww... Okay, will do!" She was touched. "Alright, I guess I'll see you later."

"Make sure to come back."

"Nothing could ever stop me from that." Promising her return, Sophia then touched the statue. The whole shrine was immediately bathed in a blindingly white light. Once the cat-girl could see again, she was alone in the place.

"So surreal..." A feeling she already had countless times since meeting her. "Maybe I'll get something to eat while waiting..." It didn't bother her much anymore.

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In the meanwhile, Sophia found herself in the all too familiar pure white room once more. Canir, in his younger version, just like how she first met him, was also present, but the two just stared at each other for some reason while keeping their distance.

"..."

"..." The mood was a little awkward.

"I'm back, I guess?"

"Yeah, welcome..."

"Why are you so far away?" Sophia had gotten suspicious about his behavior.

"The last time we met, you sent me flying with a punch out of nowhere! I'm just cautious!"

"It really wasn't out of nowhere. Guess I left a trauma, huh? Not bad, me." She looked pretty proud of herself. "Don't worry. I've come in peace today~. I don't actually have that much to complain about."

"That's good to know..." Canir relaxed a bit and went a little closer to the girl but then went silent again. "..."

"What is it this time?"

"You know..." He took a really good look at her. "I mean, I already saw your new look, but… Last time, I did say that a cat's fine, too, but that's not what I had in mind." During their previous meeting, Sophia complained about the useless humans, and Canir replied with how she got a friend in Maya instead, a cat.

"Shut up. It was an accident, okay?!"

"Changing races on accident is quite the talent."

"I know, thank you very much!" Sophia had accepted her talent.

"Want me to change you back into a human without any side effects?"

"You can do that?"

"Not a problem for me."

"If you do that, I'll punch you so hard that you'll need to reincarnate yourself."

"O-Okay…" He retreated a few steps again. "Enjoying your new self, huh?"

"Yep~."

"Well, it suits you. It's pretty cute."

"Thanks~. Yeah, I really like it, too. Although, all those feline instincts and changes to my senses were... or are kinda extreme. Not to mention how these new ears are something else entirely, or how that tail was a major pain to get used to..." She let her ears twitch and wiggled her striped blonde and black tail around while thinking about how she had to relearn how to walk.

"Well, of course! You messed with your body more than I ever did when I brought you to the new world. The actual amazing thing is how fast you adapted!" Canir couldn't believe the easygoing girl.

"Maya helped, though she had a little too much fun when my new instincts got the better of me. S-So embarrassing..."

"It sounds like complaining, but you're smiling broadly."

"A-Am I?" She touched her cheeks to confirm. "It's hard to be mad at her." Her smile got even brighter.

"Are you happy with your new life?" Canir felt like asking after seeing her expression.

"As a tiger-girl? Yeah, I like the new looks, and I feel closer to Maya. Okay, that the beastfolk royalty got interested in me was unexpected, though... Well, it's great to be a member of said beastfolk. Even thinking about being compared to that world's humans stings really bad!"

"Your ability to get involved with even the most impossible things is absolutely unparalleled. It's amazing. The other part is very understandable."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"But, no, I was generally asking." He corrected himself.

"Since coming to the world? I'm sooo happy it scares me! Again, I may get involved in a little too many things, but it's an absolute blast!"

"Great."

"Again, thank you for giving me this second chance." Sophia was incredibly grateful. "Ah, Maya told me to thank you in her stead, as well, for bringing me to her world."

"That Maya's the one, huh?"

"Y-Yes... Yes, she is." She got a little bashful.

"You two already were pretty close the last time we met, but even I was a little surprised it happened that fast. Your cat really knows what she wants and wasted no time."

"Were you spying on us?"

"Not for that, I promise. It's just impossible to catch you two not flirting for a change."

"I'm sorry..." The girl apologized on instinct.

"Don't worry."

"Wait, why am I apologizing to you in the first place, you creep?!" Sophia noticed how wrong this whole situation was.

"Like I mentioned the other time, I only watch when you're doing something I find interesting. What you do with your girlfriend, be it at night, behind closed doors, out in the open, or whatever... None of my business, and I also don't care besides being glad to know there is someone."

"T-Thanks... Still creepy, though."

"Well, what can I do~. I cannot not watch you. It's too interesting. Consider me taking a peek at your adventures a payment for your stay."

"If you put it that way, there's little room for me to argue." She still didn't feel good about it, but it also was a small price to pay for what she gained. "But please continue to respect the more private parts of my life, and especially Maya's. You don't want me to visit you angry again, do you? Actually angry, not just half-hearted like the last time."

"Y-Yes." Canir took a step back again. "But Maya, huh? You've become quite popular, though. What made you choose her?"

"She's saying the same... How am I supposed to know whether I'm popular or not? That's all new to me. Then again... three girls confessed to me so far..."

"One of which is the first princess of the beastfolk kingdom, a princess who wanted to marry you on sight. If that's not popular…"

"Urgh, that's all your fault!"

"How?!" He felt like the girl was being unreasonable again.

"I wasn't popular in my old world. I especially had no random princess wanting to marry me out of the blue! It only happened after you messed me up with those boosts."

"You phrase it like that, but I hear no sign of complaining in your voice." Canir noticed that she sounded warm and happy.

"Of course! It's not perfect, but a thousand times better than no one being interested in you at all. Especially if it helped with Maya getting interested in me."

"Hmm…" He tilted his head for a moment. "Well, you've really got it bad for her, huh?"

"Absolutely, big enough to turn down a beautiful princess of a nation. My heart wants Maya. To me, she's the most beautiful girl with the best personality I could wish for. She's caring, funny, intelligent, and loves to spoil me... and prevents me from doing too stupid stuff while still being super playful~. I didn't think loving a person would be something this fulfilling."

"Now you're just bragging."

"You bet I am! Why wouldn't I be?" Sophia looked so proud that she already seemed smug about it. "It all happened kinda fast, but I don't regret anything in the slightest."

"Yep, sounds like you're having a good time."

"The best! I don't even care anymore how screwed-up this world is. The humans are a lost cause, but the beastfolk became a more than great replacement. I wasn't expecting that in the beginning, but it works out because they look much cuter, anyway." To accent her claim, she moved her ears and tail a little bit.

"Yes, the beast race developed splendidly... The humans, on the other hand, well… Speaking of which, I saw the little quarrel you had with them yesterday. It was very entertaining, thanks for that."

"You're welcome...?" Sophia had mixed feelings about that. "I can't say I had that much fun."

"It seemed like you enjoyed tormenting them, though."

"T-That was just my anger at almost full blast!"

"Almost, huh?"

"I didn't dye the valley where the war happened in a sea of red, did I?"

"Well... Maybe I did mess up your boosts?"

"..." She just stared at Canir with an exasperated expression while she cracked her knuckles.

"C-Calm down!" He put even more distance between them because he didn't like how Sophia had clenched her right fist. "Okay, I admit, the way I applied your boosts wasn't my most precise work, but-"

"What do you mean?"

"When I made the modifications to you, I added a flat multiplier to everything, so all of you was boosted equally without taking your baseline into consideration. The multiplier was also based on one of your lowest stats."

"I see... so that's how you did it. I guess my first guess back then wasn't so wrong." She thought about her boost working roughly like that before.

"This implies that you already had the ability to get seriously angry in your previous life. It didn't seem like that the first time we met, though."

"Err, well, I had no loved ones besides my family I wanted to protect, but I was constantly angry at myself for being such an idiot because I ruined my life over a stupid misunderstanding. Maybe that has something to do with it?"

"Well, duh! No wonder... Maybe I should've put more thought into these boosts."

"Well, duh!" Sophia reacted the same way he did, for obvious reasons.

"Want me to change it?"

"E-Eh...? Change what?"

"Your boosts."

"Seriously?! You can do that even now?!" She got excited. "Wait, is that an all or nothing thing? Can you just adjust my anger?"

"That takes a little longer, but it might should be doable. Do you want me to?"

"Hmm..." The girl went silent while she thought about it for a while. "You know what, leave it like it is. I really dislike it, but I want to try and get used to it. With that, I at least know what I have."

"Fine by me, keeps the entertainment high."

"..." She rolled her eyes. "Also, by your wording alone already, the chance of you messing up catastrophically is just too high of a risk. Who knows what happens if you mess with me again. I'll probably become unable to get angry at all..."

"Hey, have some faith in me!"

"If you provide me one reason to have faith in your skills, sure."

"You cheeky... Well, whatever, if you change your mind, tell me the next time we meet. In the meantime, I'll make sure it doesn't come with any unwanted side effects."

"Wow, thank you." Sophia might be able to have a little faith in him. "Why are you doing so much for me? Don't you have more important things to do?"

"Well, the world I sent you to is one of my main worlds to oversee, and I don't like how it developed itself. I feel like you'll be the key to significantly change it for the better."

"That's waaaay too much responsibility!" She didn't want to be the key to something this big.

"Don't worry, I'm not tasking you with anything. Just do whatever you think is right. You're already doing a good job." He didn't pressure her. "Also, I feel kinda bad how you got ripped out of your old life without any notice or time to prepare..."

"Ah... S-Say..." Hearing that, Sophia's voice suddenly changed. There was more than just a hint of sadness in it. "A-About that…"

"Yes?"

"Because I left so abruptly... and without a trace... I know I'm going to regret it, but-" She took a break and deeply breathed in. "My family... my mom and my sister... how are they doing after I disappeared...?" She tried to hold back a tear while asking. Sophia hadn't told anyone or ever let it show, but this was the one thing that continued to weigh on her conscience ever since she arrived in the new world.

"Your family? Well..." Canir went silent after this. So did Sophia, and nothing in the all-white rooms made a sound anymore for a good while.