Chapter 241 – Cat-friendly exploration

While the trio was chatting about Sophia's adventures so far, Chloe got really interested in the dungeons she visited. As the tiger had erased the first one from existence, she could only talk about the one the wolves were building below the capital. As she naturally didn't want to reveal that part to the fox-girl, the blonde first needed to think of a way to get her there without her noticing what was going on. While she was at it already, Sophia also tried to connect this event with Anna because she wanted to see the dungeon, as well.

“Alight!” Sophia raised her voice again. “Enough of what I’ve seen so far!" She wanted to change her attention to Chloe. "You mentioned that you're traveling a lot, too. So, what interesting places have you seen? I want to explore all of this continent, so having someone with experience would be amazing!" She got excited. "Once it gets warmer again, of course." Her inner cat was stronger than her inner adventurer right now.

“Hmm….” The fox-girl thought about the question for a while. “Wow, I visited so many places that it’s hard to find a start…”

“Ohh!” She liked the answer.

“What are your preferences? I could start with them, then. What’s your favorite thing to explore?”

“Yes.”

“Everything, huh?” Chloe scratched her cheek. “Not that helpful.”

“Hehe.” The tiger let out a chuckle. “I’d like to see some different nature. Everything around here is just plains with some forests here and there. The monster country was pretty barren, as well.”

“Oh, I can work with that.”

“Yay!”

“There was this really cool icy tundra we-“

“Anything else?” Sophia stopped her mid-sentence.

“Grow a thicker fur, cat.” She rolled her eyes.

“Hmm…” The blonde paused and tilted her head. "Nah." Whatever had just gone through her head, she decided to not do that. “Maybe in the summer when I want to cool down in a cold place, but for now, I’d like to hear about some more cat-friendly alternatives, please. Also, a tundra is just as barren. It's simply cold on top because it’s near the arctic area, among other places, where it’s permafrozen!”

“Ah, tundra, I see…” Maya suddenly joined their conversation. “Kinda heard something else earlier… Maybe there really is something wrong with my ears? Yeah, not a fan of that, either.”

“Well, it’s definitely not my fault because Chloe said it first this time!"

“Yeah…”

“I’ll give them a good cleaning later, don’t worry~.” Sophia sounded really cheerful while replying.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” She also started smiling.

“The two of you really like to flirt, huh?”

“S-Sorry…” The couple immediately hung their heads.

“No, as I said before, it’s fine!” Chloe shook her head. "It's adorable, and I enjoy listening to it because my life was really boring when it came to that topic.”

“Okay…” They only nodded.

“Anyway, a place that a cold-hating cat wants to visit, huh?”

“Please!”

"Hmm… There were a few savanna-like areas, mostly near the monster country, but those places weren't that exciting… Way too hot, too!"

“Well, that place in itself was close to a savanna already.”

“That’s true…” Chloe thought about some other place. “There was an actual desert I crossed with Feyfey. Needless to say, I hated every second of it. No, let me correct myself. I absolutely loathed it!”

“Ahh…” The tiger wasn’t sure what to reply. "A desert sounds like fun, though… And no, it isn't because I'm a cat, and deserts are huge areas filled with sand!"

“I would never imply such a rude thing!” Chloe rapidly shook her head.

“Good.”

“What has sand to do with cats…?” Maya somehow couldn’t follow their conversation.

"Anyway!" Sophia was just happy she didn't know, and she had no plans to explain it, either. "I kinda want to see it!"

“Well, I can tell you where it is, but I won’t be coming with you…” The fox-girl’s expression turned sour. “I only survived that place because Feyfey carried me on her back while I was using magic to create blocks of ice to cool myself down…"

“That sounds rough.”

“Very!” She got loud.

“Okay, let’s make that plan B for now… Any other interesting areas or places you explored?”

“I visited a lot of actual forests, not like the small one this village here is in.”

“I think it’s pretty big, though? This forest, I mean?”

“Not at all.” Chloe shook her head. “Some of those I visited were truly massive. Imagine everything between here and the capital, if not more, to be a forest."

“Wow… That is big.”

“Yep. I especially loved the needle wood forests. Gigantic pine trees as far as you could look, and the smell was the best! And not just the puny pines like around here... Massive ones.”

“Is there your inner fox leaking out?” Sophia tilted her head while smiling at her. “Arctic or not aside, they love those areas, don’t they?”

"A-Ah…” She scratched her cheek. “That might’ve added a little to my enjoyment.”

“Hehe. Well, I wouldn’t mind exploring a good forest. I bet there are some secrets to be found deep inside!"

"I know there have to be some treasures or the likes in the middle of such a forest!" Her eyes started sparkling. "I haven't found any so far, though…"

“What secrets…?” Maya looked at the two.

“No idea.” They just shook their heads.

"Really...?"

"Oh!" Chloe suddenly clapped her hands together while ignoring the cat-girl. "I might have something that could tickle your inner tiger!”

"Hmm?" Said tiger tilted her head in response.

"Feyfey and I had spent some time in a real jungle. It was really warm and humid, but everything was so interesting there that I somehow managed to tough it out. Magic to cool myself down helped a lot, too.”

"A jungle?!” Sophia’s eyes started sparkling. “I want to go there! I want to go there right now!”

“Yep, you definitely tickled her inner tiger…” The cat-girl rolled her eyes again. "A jungle does sound interesting, though. I’ve never seen one before, either.”

“Alright, Maya’s in, as well!” She raised her voice even more. “Let’s head out!” The blonde energetically raised her fist in anticipation.

“Now?!” The other two weren’t nearly as enthusiastic.

“Of course! It’s a jungle! A jungle!”

“I, uhh… I might've tickled her tiger bits a little too much…" Chloe looked at Maya with an apologetic expression.

“You might have…” She nodded in agreement. “Also, interesting wording.”

"A-Ah…” Not knowing what to reply to that, the fox faced Sophia instead. “The jungle is really, really far away from here, though.”

"That's okay. I'm super fast~."

“Err, unless you can teleport yourself, I don’t think you could ever be fast enough to reach it in a reasonable time. It’s more than twice as far as the monster country from here.”

“R-Really…?” The tiger didn’t like the sound of that.

“Yes.” She just nodded. “Also, we have to cross the icy tundra I mentioned earlier to reach it.”

“Uhhhhh…” Sophia didn’t like any of that and faced her cat. “Maya, please note that down as our spring activity, okay?” The jungle wasn’t that important to her inner tiger, after all.

“Sure.”

“Any other cat-friendly places?”

“Hmm…” Chloe gave it some more thought. “Most of them are pretty far… Feyfey and I also came from a direction that is much colder than here, so we would always have to cross that area, anyway. No matter which place I visited that you want to see... I'm sorry…”

“Ah, no, that’s fine!” The blonde didn’t want her to apologize when she did nothing wrong. “I look forward to spring already now~!”

“Ehehe.” The fox-girl cheered up in an instant again. “I’ll try to remember some fun places closer to here worth exploring!"

“Yay!” She liked the sound of that. “Okay… We’ve taken a look at an elven treehouse now… and I want one! You said that I have to ask someone called Steve if I want to have my own, right?" After getting sidetracked for about an hour, Sophia got back to their initial topic.

“Alex.” Maya corrected her.

“Why am I so catastrophically bad with names?!”

“Don’t worry, I usually can't remember names overly well, either." Chloe tried to make her feel better.

“That’s good to hear.”

“How does that makes it any better?!” The cat-girl didn’t agree with them.

“Ah.”

“I need a raise if I have to deal with two complete dorks from now on, you know?"

“Ahaha.” Sophia only reacted with a laugh. “Anyway, let’s go and visit that Alex!”

“I bet he’s currently in the bar, drinking with Fenfen.”

“Sounds fun! Let’s go!” Having remembered her initial plan, the elven treehouse, the blonde got motivated again.

“Okay!” Chloe liked the idea. “Ah, would it be alright if I visit the bathroom first? It won’t take long.”

"Sure." Sophia nodded. "Maya, let's wait outside. I want to get a better impression of the village while we're at it!"

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Saying so, the couple left the fox-girl’s place and went back to the village's streets while waiting for her.

----------------

"Wow, Chloe sure is a lot more than her fluffy outside, huh?" Sophia started a conversation while the two were looking around. "I didn't expect her to have such an adventurous side."

"The two of you are also really similar. Be it the explorer blood or how you're both dorky and easygoing idiots."

“Ehehe~.” She decided that it was a compliment. "It would be sooo much fun if she stayed with us!"

“Is that so…?”

“Absolutely!” The tiger gave her a few big nods. “I look forward to seeing all kinds of places with her! She's super cute and adorable, too! That's always a plus!"

“Hmm…” Maya’s expression turned even more complicated.

“She’s not really my type because I like myself some cooler girls with a bit of sass behind the cute exterior, but she’s a great girl!”

“Heh.”

“She reminds me a bit too much of my little sister, though… That’s also why it got a little awkward earlier. Okay, Steph was a little more playful and was more into teasing others if it fit the occasion. Still, both are caring and gentle to a fault and just make you feel all warm and fuzzy by them simply being near you… I’m not sure how I feel about that yet…"

"Is that so?"

"Not to mention that she would also get along really well with Steph, too… It almost feels weird how much of a match she is with my sister when it comes to their general personality..." Her voice got a little somber for a moment. "The all-fluffy and gently caring type of girl is no relationship material for me personally, but everyone should have a friend like her to cheer one up! I'm really happy that we met her!"

“Ehehe~.” The cat-girl suddenly started to smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just love you!” Realizing how Sophia confirmed that Chloe’s no danger without Maya even mentioning anything made her incredibly happy.

“What a dork.” The tiger let out a small chuckle. “I love you, too~.”

“Back to flirting already?”

“We never stopped~!” Noticing that Chloe had addressed them while she was walking towards them, Maya showed her a cheeky grin.

“You really know how to make someone jealous.” The fox-girl hadn’t expected such a direct reply.

“Yep!” She was in a good mood.

“Alrighty, that idiot aside,” Sophia glanced at her cat before focusing on Chloe again. “Where’s this bar where Fenfenfennyfen and this Alex are drinking right now?”

“We met right in front of the bar earlier.”

“And you expect me to find that again?”

“This village only has a couple dozens of houses and a few streets, though?” The pink-haired girl looked at her with a questioning expression. "I'm really not overly good when it comes to directions, one could even say that I'm bad, but..."

“I’m happy if I can successfully distinguish right from up! There hasn’t been a single day that I haven’t gotten lost in the capital yet!”

“Is that really a reason to sound proud about…?” Maya rolled her eyes again.

“Shut up!” It apparently was. “Let’s go!” Not wanting to be insulted anymore, Sophia simply started walking.

"Wrong direction…" The other two quickly stopped her

while pointing the exact opposite way.

"…" Sophia decided to stop talking altogether for the next couple of minutes while she followed after the duo, who guided her to the bar.

Teanam

A big thank you to

- Kulep -

for supporting the story on Patreon to make more art for the story possible. Have fun with the extra/NSFW illustrations of our girls. And some other stuff~