Chapter 116 – Thinking with portals

Once Sophia finished her conversation with a human she found, she noticed that Fen and Aura were closing in on them. After the group was reunited, the wolves told the two that there was no reason to stay any longer in the capital without them around. They had no way of knowing that the couple was planning to return soon. While they were at it, Sophia also told the wolves about her new magic. The two were naturally surprised that the outrageous tiger-girl actually invented a way to fast travel between places.

Having had breakfast in the city, the group then returned to the empty plain from the day before again. There, Sophia created the two portals to enter her storage dimension.

"Well then, hop in there, Fenny~." She wanted to waste no time.

"Hmm..." He got closer to one of the purple portals and mustered it. "And this really works?"

"Almost 70% fairly sure that it might possibly could work."

"..." He didn't like the sound of that.

"This is seriously impressive." Aura was looking at the other portal.

"Ehehe~."

"So, how does it work?" She seemed really curious about it. "Do you enter one portal and immediately exit the other?"

"Not quite. They're both connected to my storage space, and you have to walk through it like a hallway."

"I see..." The female wolf tilled her head. "Oh, does that mean you could use even more portals? Creating like a hub that connects many places with each other?"

"That sounds awesome!" Sophia liked the idea.

"You two... We aren't even sure it works at all yet." Maya tried to not let them get too excited.

"R-Right..." The two hung their heads.

"Okay! Let's change that!" Aura walked back a few steps to get a running start and simply leaped into the portal without warning.

"Wow, she's fearless!" The tiger-girl was impressed.

"Eh?!" Fen saw her disappearing and lost his cool. Immediately after, he jumped into the portal next to him without thinking, as well.

"Uhh..." The couple couldn't keep up with the events.

"What just happened?"

"Hmm..." Maya thought about the situation. "He probably panicked when Aura suddenly disappeared."

"What do you- Ohh!" She stopped mid-sentence. "Because he had already lost her once before?"

"That's my interpretation, yes."

"Fen's adorable!" Sophia loved his reaction.

"Yes, he scored a lot of points with that. I bet Aura's really happy, as well."

"Oh, yeah, how is it going between them, anyway?" Yesterday, Sophia was busy with the male wolf, so she didn't hear about the other two's conversation.

"They want to get to know each other again first."

"Yeah, makes sense. A lot happened, after all."

"Though their feelings are obviously stronger than that."

"Obviously."

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"..." Around ten minutes passed, and the couple didn't know what to do.

"So... What now?" Sophia looked at the portals.

"That's an excellent question."

"I also don't want to take a look inside. I feel like that could end up being very awkward and or embarrassing."

"True."

Unsure how to continue, the two waited around half an hour for anything to happen. Sophia was about to take a peek because they took too long, but she luckily didn't need to. Both portals suddenly showed some movement, and the two wolves reappeared.

"A-Ah... Welcome back, I guess?" The tiger almost bumped into Fen because she was so close.

"Yes, we, uhh, safely returned."

"Your magic's amazing, Sophia." Neither of them addressed what happened.

"Thanks. Were there any problems? With getting in and out, I mean?"

"No, there weren't any issues with that at all." He sounded a little awkward.

"That's awesome!" She had no plans to press the other issue, either. "Alright, let's go in together next, Maya."

"E-Eh?!" The cat-girl hadn't heard about this before.

"Should I go alone?"

"No!" She gave an immediate reply. "Nothing good ever happens when you're alone!"

"Well then," She pointed at the portal. "Let's a go!"

"Uhh... Aura, is it really safe?"

"It's a little bright inside, but other than that, it was really smooth."

"F-Fine... Let's do it, Sophia!" In the end, she also was curious about it.

"Yay!" The two lined up next to each other, and the tiger-girl counted to three before they went through the portal. That at least was the plan. Maya was the only one who entered because Sophia stopped at the last moment and turned around for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Fen looked confused.

"I didn't want to worry Maya, but... I'm a little concerned about what could happen if I go completely inside my own portals. What if they vanish if I'm not on this side anymore?"

"That's..."

"My storage dimension seems similar to the place I meet Canir from time to time. He has a shrine in the city… If the portals do vanish, try to contact him there. You know each other, so he might answer and has an idea how to get us out..."

"S-Sure."

"I don't think it's needed, but just in case..." Saying so, she turned around again and followed Maya through the portal.

"Phew..." Fen exhaled when he saw that that the purple gales were still here when the tiger-girl disappeared.

"I think she's the most easygoing and serious person I've ever met." Aura had a hard time categorizing her personality.

"No kidding."

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Sophia arrived at the other side of the portal and was immediately greeted by an angry-looking cat-girl whose tail was impatiently swishing all over the place.

"You're late!"

"Thank god it worked!" She instantly turned around to see whether the portal was still there.

"What took you so long?!"

"Ahh... Sorry about that. I had to tell Fen something."

"Couldn't you have done that before I went in?"

"No, because you never would've allowed me to try it, then."

"Huh?"

"I didn't believe anything would happen, but I was wondering whether anything could go wrong if I fully pass through my own portal... There was a slight chance I could be trapped in here..."

"What did I tell you about dangerous experiments?!" She was seriously angry.

"I'm very sorry... I just really wanted to try it out. I also gave Fen instructions on what to do. I tried to minimize the risks as much as possible."

"Urgh..." Maya didn't know what to say. "Wait a moment! So, you wanted to trap me, too?!"

"W-Well... When I saw what Fen did without thinking when he saw Aura disappearing earlier… Well, I have no idea what you would do... Also, I probably would've lost it and did something really stupid if I were to be stuck alone here..."

"Hrmn..." There wasn't much the cat-girl could say. To either of those claims, that is.

"I'm sorry." Sophia apologized again.

"It's fine..." She couldn't stay angry at her. "But think a little more about my feelings, though, okay?"

"I always do! I'm just not that good at picking the right course of action."

"Idiot." Maya let out a small chuckle. "So, how does all of this work?" She gestured all around her in the white corridor they were in.

"What makes you think I know?" Sophia only stared at her with a questioning expression.

"..."

"I just imagined an empty place to store our stuff and changed around a couple of things so living beings can survive in here. I'm more surprised than anyone else that it actually worked out."

"You really are something else."

"Ehehe~."

"Sure, take it as a compliment, I don't mind. Speaking of it, where is all of our stuff?"

"Let's see... err... Ah, I think it's around here." She looked around for a moment before tapping against one of the white walls. It opened up and revealed another, much bigger room.

"W-Woah..." The cat-girl peeked inside and was shocked. It was filled with all sorts of non-perishable food, many clothes, cooking and camping utensils, pillows, blankets, and tons of other miscellaneous things. "D-Did we really buy that much stuff...?" She knew that the two didn't really hold back when it came to shopping but seeing everything at once shocked her a little.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

"I think we should watch a little more what we buy."

"Nah." Sophia had no intentions to change her shopping habits. "Anyway, should we leave?" She quickly closed the storage room to not give her any more stupid ideas.

"Sure." Maya looked at the purple portal for a moment before walking through it with her eyes closed. "It worked!" She sounded relieved once she saw the plain and the two wolves again.

"Welcome back." They lightly greeted the couple.

"It works perfectly!" Sophia made a victory pose. "This is so amazing!"

"It absolutely is!" Aura shared her enthusiasm. "You'll have to teach me how to do it sometime."

"Sure. Once I understand out how I do it, I'll gladly tell you."

"..." Everyone remained silent.

"By the way, what do you want to do with this magic?" Fen was curious.

"I plan to place a portal somewhere in the capital. I want to continue traveling and see more of this world, but I also want to help out the king and the beastfolk. With the portals, I can do both. Explore interesting places wherever and be back the moment something happens."

"Oh, I see. That's quite clever."

"You have to carefully hide it, though." Maya warned her. "I have no idea how much of a commotion these portals would cause."

"True." The tiger-girl nodded. "That is a thing I have yet to figure out. That, and how I explain any of this to the king in a way it even remotely makes sense."

"Good luck." Maya didn't even try to help. "What now? Heading back to the capital?"

"While taking our time, please. I'll have to think about a solution to these problems while we go back."

"Sure. I'm in no hurry." Except for maybe Ellie, there wasn't much in the capital that makes her want to return in an instant. "A-Ah..."

"What?!" Everyone in her group hated that exclamation of hers.

"N-No... I just had another idea with my portals... I could've tried to make them see-through. It would've saved us, mainly me, a ton of work and trouble..."

"Idiot." Maya and the wolves had the same reaction.

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As the wolves never had any luggage and the couple hadn't left anything behind in their room of the inn, they didn't need to go back to the city. Sophia let the portals disappear, and the group began to roughly walk into the direction of the capital together. They kept going until the evening before deciding on a place to camp at the edge of another plain next to a small forest.

They had already eaten, and the couple also had also taken their regular bath when they all got together around the campfire. There, Sophia absentmindedly stared into the flames for a while.

"What are you thinking about?" Maya addressed her.

"Same as earlier, trying to find out what to say in the capital..."

"How do you feel about exploiting the king a little, Sophia?" Fen suggested something slightly outrageous sounding.

"I'm listening?" She wasn't against it from the get-go.

"Sometimes, I really don't like their dynamic."

"I think it's cute, in some way or another." Aura didn't share the cat-girl's opinion.

"King Menzor really wants you to come back to the capital. Let him pay for it."

"How's money going to help here?" The tiger-girl didn't see where he was going with it.

"No, let him give you a villa, mansion, house, whatever. There, just put the portal in the basement, and you're good to go."

"Would he actually give me a house...?"

"Girl, you won a war for him, not to mention without any casualties. A villa or two is the least he could... or should do."

"Hmm... What do you think, Maya?"

"Aside from wanting to make a comment about the two of you being okay with extorting the ruler of a country...? Well, then again, I don't think it's actually extortion in this case. You really should get a reward for what you've done. I don't know if it's to the extent of a villa or two because I haven't gained much experience in that regard in my life before, but still."

"Fair point." Sophia, too, never participated in something like that before.

"As for the other thing," The wolf continued. "Just don't tell them the details about your methods to travel. They saw what you're capable of. Everyone will believe it if you simply tell them that you just can travel from one place to another in an instant."

"You sure make it sound easy."

"Because it is."

"Okay, whatever, it's worth a try." Sophia wasn't sure whether it works, but she had no better idea, either. "Let's do it like that."