Chapter 257 – They were definitely bigger

After Maya had successfully grown a tree way over 200 meters tall using her raw magic, Sophia also tried her luck. As one would expect, she didn’t settle for anything under 500 meters, but the wolves effortlessly topped her. Those two decided to go with gigantic trees that reached over a whole kilometer in height, sticking out like sore thumbs from the forest. They could be seen with bare eyes from multiple tens of kilometers away, but the village right next to it where the fox-beastfolk lives hadn't noticed it yet because the place was encircled by other tall trees that prevented looking anywhere else other than straight up.

“Hey!” Around an hour had passed since the group had entered the bar to get something to eat when the entrance door suddenly flung wide open. Alex, seemingly out of breath, then located Sophia and her friends and directly walked up to them.

“Welcome back~.” Chloe happily greeted him with a smile on her lips. “You seem exhausted. Sit down and drink some water!”

“T-There’s no time for that!” The fox-man only got louder. “You all were outside the village all day as well, right?! Did any of you see anything out of the ordinary?!”

"Just some trees." Fen shook his head. "It's a forest, after all." Technically, he was telling the truth. “Why are you asking?”

“W-Well, that’s the case, but… BUT!” Alex wasn’t sure how to continue. “I mentioned earlier that I went to survey the nearby clearing for building materials, right?!”

“You did mention something along those lines, yes.” The wolf nodded a few times. “Was there anything out of the ordinary there?”

“Trees! Gigantic trees!”

“Well, we are in a forest…” Aura joined the conversation. “Those are usually filled with trees.”

“Don’t get smart on me now!” He got even louder. “I know what a forest is!”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

“The size of those trees!” Alex stared right at the wolves. “Two of them were higher than I could even look up! It seemed like they were just under a kilometer high!”

"Just under a kilometer…?” Fen looked back at him. “Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely!”

“Really?” Aura did the same. “Sounds like you’re still drunk from last night to me.”

“I AM NOT!”

“I think so too, though.” Fen sided with her. “There’s no way that could be the case.

“I know what I saw!”

“Are you sure you didn't just think you saw it…?” Aura’s expression turned slightly sympathetic.

"S-Stop messing with me!" Alex started to slightly doubt himself. "Let's go there, and I’ll show you!”

“Can that wait until tomorrow…?” Fen let out a small sigh. “We were out all day, without seeing anything other than trees, and just want to relax and have some drinks soon.”

“Why are you guys so lazy?!” Saying so, Alex gave up, turned around with a huff, and went to the counter to tell Mark what he saw while yelling through the entire bar.

“You two are really good at lying!” Chloe faced the wolves after he was gone. “It sounded so natural! I wouldn’t be able to stay serious like that…”

“Where did we lie?” Aura tilted her head. “The trees Fen and I created were clearly over a kilometer tall!”

“Exactly!” Fen nodded. “There were no trees slightly below a kilometer in height!"

“Clever!” Sophia sounded proud of them. “I like that a lot!”

“Of course, you do…” Maya rolled her eyes. “Talking yourself around or out of things without actually lying is your specialty, after all.”

“Hey!” She raised her voice. “While true, it still doesn’t sound nice!” It was far from the first time the blonde had used such excuses.

“Hmm…” Chloe seemed like she wanted to ask some questions, but she decided to let it be for the time being and focused on something else. “While Fenfen and Aura were technically right, Alex wasn’t wrong, either… What will you do if he drags us out to the plain tomorrow?"

“Are we heading back to the capital later once we had a few drinks?” Fen looked at the tiger.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Sophia liked the idea.

“Hey!” The fox-girl apparently didn’t. “Don’t leave me to deal with this alone!”

“Who’s the one who said that we should just have fun and don’t care about consequences?” Aura sounded a little smug. “Whose idea was it to leave the trees standing?”

"A-Ah.” Chloe froze up for a moment. “Unfair!”

“Do you want to come with us?” The tiger didn't want her to deal with everything on her own. Taking her with them for everyone to ditch their responsibilities seemed to be the much better option.

"Can I? That would be great!” She started smiling again. “Not exactly because I want to ditch Alex, but I wanted to visit the capital soon, anyway!”

“Sure~.” Maya just smirked at her.

“I-It’s true!” Chloe’s cheeks turned slightly red. “I wanted to do some shopping! I need some shampoos for my hair and a few other care products that are about to run out! There’s a really nice shop in the capital I want to visit again.”

“Oh!” Aura’s ears perked up. “Thanks for reminding me! I’m about to run out of the fluff protection treatment spray! I can’t live without that anymore.”

“Absolutely!” Sophia raised her voice. “The fluff needs to be protected! Wait… What’s this spray about…?” She had no idea what the wolf was talking about.

“It’s a spray that keeps your fur full of volume even in rough conditions. No more looking sad when it rains!” Aura’s eyes were burning while she said so. “The spray even survives one bath without issues! You can have a nice long soak without suddenly looking like a third of your usual size! Your fur stays the way it's supposed to be under every condition!"

"S-Seriously?!" With her eyes wide open, Chloe sprung off her stool. "Such a lovely thing already exists?!"

“Yeah, I had the same reaction when I found it!” The wolf nodded a few times.

“Why has no one ever told me?!”

“Ohh!” Sophia looked at the fox-girl. “That’s exactly what you’ve been looking for your tail, right? For it to stay fluffy when it rains or you take a bath."

“Yes!”

"Does that mean we can try out the hot springs now once the renovations are done there?"

“YES!” Chloe was way too excited to give her a calm reply.

“I can’t wait~.” The tiger looked happy. “I’ve never been to an actual hot spring before! Let alone with friends!”

“You might be in luck with that." While the girls were getting excited, Alex appeared in front of the group again. "The renovations are progressing much faster than we had anticipated. We might be able to open it again next week or the week after already."

“Perfect!” Sophia liked the sound of that.

“It seems like you’ve calmed down, huh?” Aura noticed that the fox-man wasn’t as loud as before anymore.

“Mark and some other guys called me crazy, as well… As no one wants to believe me, we decided to go to the clearing together tomorrow! For now, let’s get some drinks! I’m not going to pay for any of you, but I’m willing to go and get the first round!”

“Sounds great!" Everyone liked the plan, and Alex went to the counter again.

“Why do I want to go back and get rid of our trees for real now?” Sophia tilted her head while watching him leave.

“Because you want to mess with him.” Maya was an expert on those feelings, so she had an easy time interpreting those words.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” The tiger had no intention of denying the claim.

“Don’t bully Alex too much, okay?” Chloe stared at the two. “He earned some of it, but he’s still a really nice guy!”

"My, aren't you the sweetest?" Just at the right moment to hear her, the fox-man showed up again while holding a tray of drinks. "I earned some of it, though, huh?"

"A-Ah!” The pink-haired girl turned her head away.

“You absolutely did.” Sophia wasn’t going to cut him any slack in that regard.

“Fair enough.” Alex wasn’t going to defend himself. “Anyway, enough of that! I still wonder where those trees came from…” While saying so, he sat down at their table and gave everyone a drink he had carried over.

“The ones you made up?” Fen smirked at him.

“Shut up!”

While mainly the wolves kept teasing the fox-man for a while longer, the group still had a good time in the bar for a couple of hours. Sophia and her friends decided to not stay too long today, though.

Leaving Alex and the bar behind, the group made their way back towards Sophia’s new treehouse while chatting a little more.

“Are you really planning to go back to the capital now?” Chloe was looking around in the darkness as it was the late evening already before focusing her shining eyes on the tiger. “I mean, my eyes work well in this condition, but it’s still not an ideal time for traveling, is it?”

“It’s also way too cold to run around! The blonde got loud. “No sun is awful this time of the year!”

“So… Does that mean you're staying for the night…?"

“Not really, no.”

“Eh…?” Naturally, the fox-girl was unable to follow her. It absolutely made no sense, after all.

“Hmm…” Sophia tilted her head while seemingly thinking about something. “I really like what you said earlier… About prioritizing fun over mulling over the reactions of others.”

“Okay?” Chloe got only more confused.

“I have a little fun trick up my sleeve to get there fast, but it would be really great if you could keep it a secret." Saying so, the tiger walked up the stairs of her treehouse and bid everyone inside.

Teanam

A big thank you to

- Virnor -

for supporting the story on Patreon to make more art possible. Even going for a yearly pledge! I hope you enjoyed all the extra illustrations~