Chapter 350 – Technically not a lie

Chapter 350 – Technically not a lie

While exploring the elven village, Sophia and Steph ran into Alex, the fox-man being responsible for the place. He informed Sophia about the changes in the nearby forest, mainly about the gigantic trees that had appeared a while ago. The entire area around them had changed, and the place was brimming with excess magic, which seemed to have an effect on the plants around as everything had turned completely overgrown and was brimming with life. Even the air itself had such a high concentration of magic that it was visible to the bare eye of the sisters, and one could even feel it.

“So, what did you forget to tell him?” On their way back to the village, after Alex decided to stay a little longer in the forest, Steph addressed her sister. “What did you do?”

“...” The tiger didn’t answer at first. “Maya, Fen, and Aura might’ve created those gigantic trees by infusing a sapling with a considerable amount of rare magic of their own...”

“Really? Sounds fun! There were four massive trees, though?”

“I, uhh... one of them might’ve been my work...”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Ahaha...” The older sister awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“So, how do you do that? A fifth tree surely won’t make a difference, right?”

“Didn’t you see what kind of chaos we already created?!” Sophia got loud.

“That’s why a little more won’t matter, right?”

"What if you go completely ham with your magic, and it reaches the village because you have way too much of it?"

“Ah, right, that would be bad...” Steph looked a little disappointed. “But then I want to create a massive tree in the middle of a jungle or other fitting places! Just like in those fantasy movies we watched together! I want to make a world tree or what they were called! So big that those four you all created pale in comparison!”

“Ahaha, we’re sisters, alright...” She had to chuckle for a moment. “That’s already on my to-do list. Chloe wants to do it, too.”

“YAY!”

“She also knows a jungle we’re planning to visit.”

“Let’s go!”

“In spring.”

“I hate you!” The dog-girl started pouting. “Stupid cats...”

“Hey!”

“I have no intention to apologize or take anything back.” Her pouting got stronger. “If this goes on like that and you and Maya might even start hibernating at some point...”

“I did think about doing that before...”

“Cats don’t hibernate!”

“...”

"Anyway, if it goes on like that, I have to go exploring alone with Chloe for the next couple of months!"

“That doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

“...” Steph went silent.

“And the pout changed into a bright smile~.” Sophia naturally noticed her change. “You sure are a big fan of the pink one, huh?”

“Yes!” Her reply came the moment the tiger finished her sentence. “I mean... Yes, but... We just got reunited, and I want spent time with you! Exploring with Chloe sounds amazing, but I want to do it with you, too!”

"Well, I guess that's fair. More than fair.” She nodded a few times. “I feel the same, too. But... but... cold!”

“Come on, idiot... Let’s have some fun! Wait! I was able to change my entire being with magic, and you all created a massive lake and changed the whole ecosystem of this forest! I’m sure you can make yourself feel warm with magic, right? Or maybe create a warm pocket around you and your cat friends while walking around!”

“She sure is~.”

“Let’s go and ask her!” Steph raised her voice. “The hot spring with everyone sounds amazing, so I want something nice to look at for the occasion!”

“...” The tiger tilted her head. "I'm sure there will be plenty of nice things to look at, and you haven’t even met Ari and Anna yet.”

“...” She went silent for a second while her mind visibly wandered for a moment. “You win that round, sis.”

“Hehe.”

“That being said, a beautiful background would still be nice!”

“Fair enough.”

“That’s why, let’s go!” The dog-girl’s motivation soared once again.

“Sure~.” She was a big fan of her motivation. “Chloe and Maya went to the castle, though. Before going there, we must match our stories first...” Her expression turned complicated. "A year is a very long time, isn’t it? No need to get specific there and add details like mentioning it’s been a year, right?”

“You and your technically not lying...” Steph rolled her eyes before continuing. “Okay with me, though. Same with how we got separated. It’s rather complicated, painful, and we’d rather not talk about it.”

“I love you.”

“Hehe.” She liked her response. “Even better, we actually do not know where our parents are right now and how they’re doing. It’s perfect.”

“I wouldn’t call it perfect, far from it, but it certainly helps our case here."

“We’re not lying, after all.”

“Technically, yes~.”

“Maya told me that all children turn out to be a tiger when one of their parents was one, as well. Are their genes dominant or something like that?”

“That’s how I understood it, yeah. I mean, there are always exceptions for things like that, especially when I'm involved because neither I nor my magic cares about catastrophes most of the time, but...”

“Well, if it’s one parent... Don’t we have a workaround for that, too?”

“Hmm?” Sophia tilted her head again. “Right! I tend to forget about it because he's been there since my birth, and to me, he is my father, and you're 100% my full sister, but we do have different fathers at the end of the day, huh?”

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

"Again, I wouldn't call it perfect, but it certainly helps our case here once more." The tiger had to repeat herself.

“Ahaha, good counter.” The violet-haired girl let out a small chuckle. “I can’t believe how well your technically not lying tactic works.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?!”

“In many ways, yes.” Steph wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “There’s still the part of our reunion. How do you plan to weasel yourself out of that?”

“You suddenly popped up right in front of me.” The tiger smiled at her. “Exactly what happened, too.”

“I hate you...”

“Why?!”

“Because that’s too easy!”

“It’s great, isn’t it?”

“Sure.” The dog-girl rolled her eyes once again.

Once the basics of their story were taken care of, the sisters tried to come up with more details they could share on their way back to Sophia's treehouse to use the existing portal to return to the capital.