A couple of hours before the couple found the injured human, King Menzor arrived back in the capital. Once he showed his face to the people, announcing they won the war, he returned to the castle.

"Welcome back, dear. You, too, Anna." Queen Kira welcomed the two in the castle's entrance hall. "I heard we were victorious. Congratulations."

"We indeed were..." Menzor didn't sound that enthusiastic, though. "Well, Sophia was..."

"She took on the entire human army by herself..." Anna, too, didn't seem so happy.

"That's... something... Wait, where is she? And Maya, too?" She noticed that the two were missing. "Also, why do you two look so depressed? Wait, did something happen to them?!"

"No, both are fine."

"Father messed up with Sophia, and she..."

"I did no-, let's have this conversation somewhere else." Menzor wanted to defend himself, but the entrance hall wasn't the best place for that.

"I had the maids prepare some tea in the garden earlier." Following Kira's suggestion, the three went there to have a bit more private conversation. "So, what did you do, dear?"

"She's just not here because she's not feeling well..." He seemed very evasive.

"Father, again, that was just an excuse... Mother, Maya mentioned Sophia has cramps... If that isn't a spur-of-the-moment reaction because she couldn't think of anything better, I don't know anymore..."

"Dear, what did you do...?" The queen repeated herself while having the same disapproving expression as her daughter.

"I-, I don't know where to start..." He finally caved in. "Kira, do you remember the meeting we had with the commanders before we left? Where Sophia got so, let's say, emotional about the attempted kidnappings?"

"Yes?"

"As it turned out, there was more than one reason for it. We thought it was, well, not alright, but... because the humans only attempted to kidnap but never were successful... No, we were wrong. Just as she mentioned, we ignored possible emotional damage that could get inflicted on you..."

"Did you meet a potential victim...?"

"Yes."

"Who was it?"

"Sophia..."

"E-Eh?!" Kira was shocked.

"She told us how they wanted to use, sell, and even kill her... She had all the rights to get angry at us. If it affected her this much... What about our normal citizens? We only heard about those attempts from reports of further away places. They also always included that nothing happened, so we never put it on a high priority... The humans never dared to go near the capital, but if it had happened around here, maybe even to people we know… Us? In retrospect, I'm amazed Sophia didn't punch me in the face when she heard about it. She had all the right for it, after all… Why didn't I care more? I've made an unforgivable mistake…"

"Uhh... Was she okay otherwise...?" The queen looked really concerned.

"It's Sophia we're talking about." Anna answered her. "The humans are the ones who weren't okay..."

"I-I see... Yes, that makes sense."

"She's also pretty resentful... She used the whole couple of thousand men strong human army as stress relief and obliterated all of them in like 30 minutes."

"Wow... She really held word, huh?" Kira remembered Sophia saying she would take care of everything on her own. "So, why didn't they come back with you? I feel like there's still something missing here."

"Well..." Menzor took over. "Rumors about Sophia, the apparently lost member of the tiger family, are already circulating all over the capital... Now, this very girl took out an entire human army division on her own... We can't keep her a secret anymore. That's why I told her about my plans to introduce her to the public."

"She really didn't like that..." Anna added the vital part.

"I can imagine." The queen nodded. "While she's definitely not good at avoiding it, Sophia doesn't seem to enjoy getting too much attention..."

"Yes... but what other choice did I have?"

"You could just lie." A male voice interrupted them. Turning around, the group noticed two wolves, Fen and Aura, appearing out of nowhere. "A ruler has to make decisions that are best for his people, not the ones they want to hear."

"That's-"

"Just say that, yes, we found a lost member of the tiger family, but we have to protect her true identity for reasons regarding her past. We aren't hiding her, she runs freely around the city, after all. Some of you even already met her. We just decided against a grand public reveal, and we implore all of you not to crowd her and ask any questions that could make her uncomfortable." Fen came up with something on the spot. "Actually, it's not really even a lie, now that I've said it out loud."

"..." Menzor went silent for a moment. "I could've... should've done that..."

"Anyway," Fen didn't care about any of that. "The two are still in the city all of you went to, right? Aura, shall we go? There's no reason for us to stay here anymore."

"Sure, I felt like moving around, anyway."

"Good, let's leave. Royal family, it was an honor, but we're going back to our comrades."

"I see... Could I ask you to put in a good word for me? I never had the intention to scare her away."

"I won't plead your case, but I'll at least tell Sophia about this conversation. Whatever her decision's going to be, I'll support it." Fen had no plans to help out the king, but neither did he want to make his life even harder.

"Understandable. I thank you nonetheless."

After that, the two wolves left the capital and headed straight towards the place the couple was, thanks to the extended range of Aura's detection magic.

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

"And that's what happened." Once their party regrouped on the field, Sophia and Maya played tag earlier in the day, Fen told the two what happened in the castle.

"Wow... What a mess." Sophia shook her head. "I just didn't go with them because I wanted to think a little longer and, more importantly, play around with magic. There was no deeper reason. What do I care about any of that?"

"..." Fen and Aura only looked at each other, thinking how it was such a Sophia-like answer.

"We actually planned to go back tomorrow..." Maya, too, didn't see a problem.

"Haa… On an unrelated, but much more important note..." Sophia didn't feel like talking about it anymore and looked at the male wolf. "Why are you looking so smooth and shiny, Fen?" She noticed that something was up with his fur and walked up to him. There, she took a closer look before she ran her hands through his fur. "So silky! It feels amazing! What did you do with it?!"

"..." He turned his head away without answering.

"You can thank me for that!" Aura chided in. "I found a store in the capital that sells grooming products for fur and hair with an attached salon. Naturally, I took Fen along for a full-course treatment." Her fur, too, was shining, even more than it already always was.

"Good job!" The tiger-girl gave her a thumbs up before burying her entire face into Fen's side. "Shoo nice!"

"I have very mixed feelings about this..." The wolf in question didn't look so happy.

"Hmm..." Maya walked up to him as well and also petted him. "You need to learn to say no to these two, Fen. You've always been way too lenient towards Sophia, and Aura doesn't seem to be any different."

"..."

"It does feel really nice, though~." The cat-girl petted him a little more.

"..." He feared for his position in the group. "Y-You seem to be in a good mood, though, Sophia." He wanted to change the topic.

"Sure am. It's been a great vacation." She had an interesting way of describing their trip. "I got to beat up a couple of thousand humans, and it was great against stress. The city has some delicious food, we did some shopping. Maya and I also... we, uhh... yeah, we had a great time." She had no better way to describe it.

"Hmm...? "Aura noticed how the couple slightly awkwardly looked away from each other after Sophia finished her sentence. "Good for you~." She instantly knew what was up.

"So, you finally faced off against an army, huh?" Fen hadn't noticed and was interested in a different topic. "I think it was one of the first things we talked about regarding your magic power, wasn't it?"

"Y-Yeah... Never imagined it would actually happen. Not to mention how I won without even putting in some effort..."

"I told you so."

"Sure did... Speaking of which, I also had an actual conversation with a human just before the two of you arrived here."

"Eh?!" This naturally surprised him. "How...?"

"l used large-scale darkness magic on the human army and broke them a little~. They'll never be able to be soldiers again."

"That's... something."

"So, earlier, I found an injured soldier who had been abandoned by his army. Because he was super terrified of me and a tiny bit mind-broken, I was able to have a chat with him." Sophia then explained to the wolves what she found out about how messed up humanity is.

"Wow..." Fen couldn't believe it. "I knew they're stupid, but this is..."

"Yeah, but it also means there's a chance to change something. If we gently convince the higher-ups of the humans, it's possible. Or shroud their entire capital in darkness. Though, I would rather not if I don't have to..." Her voice relaxed after saying it. "Seeing the effects of that on the human earlier actually made me a bit uncomfortable... It's really effective, but I might have to adjust it a bit."

"Do you still want to find humans to get along with?" The male wolf was questioning her motivation.

"Nah, I don't care about that anymore. I've found a much better alternative." She took a quick glance at Maya. "I love the beastfolk, and I want to help them. That's my motivation. Well, having some nice humans would still make me feel better, though."

"I see."

"Once his Majesty fails with his diplomatic approach, I might actually go to their capital."

"Sounds like a pain, though." Fen wasn't a fan.

"Don't worry, it won't take long. I'll just quickly go there, force their king into submission, maybe with a bit of brainwashing or a more gentle approach of convincing them, and we're good to go."

"Oh, okay then." He sounded happier now.

"Uhh... wow..." The other two just looked at them. "Your girlfriend sure is something else."

"Yeah... Your Fen's influencing her quite a bit." Maya blamed the wolf.

"I like it, though. Keeps things interesting."

"S-Sure, that's one way to look at it." She had mixed feelings about it.

"Also... he's not mine." Aura corrected the cat-girl.

"Really? What's keeping you?"

"Yes... Well, the gap year I took added some baggage... We're just getting to know each other again."

"That makes sense."

"Fen's also changed quite a bit." Aura gestured at the wolf, who had started bickering with the tiger-girl about something at some point.

"Did he?"

"Yeah... He used to be a lot stiffer. Researching magic was always his top priority, though I never minded that because I loved doing that, too."

"Really? So, what about the new, easygoing Fen?"

"I like it. Very much so."

"Isn't that great? Good luck, then. If you ever need help, just ask."

"Thank you. Well," Aura looked at Sophia. "You seem to know how to win over the odd ones."

"Ahaha..." She could only laugh.

"By the way, Fenny~." While the two girls were chatting, the tiger-girl addressed him again. "Keep yourself free tomorrow, okay?"

"I have nothing planned. What's the plan?"

"I created a new magic and need a test subject."

"Wait... did you say tomorrow? Sorry, I'm completely booked out." While he was always interested in new magic, he had a bad feeling about this specific one.

"Oh, what did you do?" The other wolf got interested instead. "I'm in!"

"Aura~!" She gave her a hug. "You're the best!"

"H-Hey!" Fen almost sounded jealous.

"Wow..." Maya pitied him a little.

"So, what's up?"

"You saw my storage magic, right?"

"Of course! I'm also terribly envious of it!"

"Ehehe~. Well, I've further improved and radically changed it!"

"How?"

"I changed the insides and made bigger portals. You can enter it now!"

"Eh...?" Aura needed a moment.

"Then, I made another portal and connected both to the same place."

"W-Wait a moment... You don't mean..." Fen seemed to have noticed where she was going.

"Yes, we can use it to fast travel from one place to another."

"Seriously?!" Both wolves were shocked.

"Yep~." Sophia was really proud of herself.

"Does it... actually work?"

"Maya and I tried it with stones and a yackalope I threw inside. It all came out the other side... eventually." She briefly remembered how she messed up her throw or how the rabbit first took a nap inside.

"Wow..." The two couldn't believe it.

"Now, I just need someone to test it who can also give me feedback."

"Why don't you try it yourself?" Fen got a little wary about the whole thing.

"I promised Maya not to do anything dangerous carelessly."

"So, it is dangerous?!"

"Probably not?" She didn't sound overly convincing. "I just can't guarantee it, meaning someone else has to try it first."

"I-I see."

"Well, it's already late." Sophia looked around and noticed that the sun was almost gone already. "Let's give it a try tomorrow."

Afterward, the group went back to the nearby city. There, they had dinner in a restaurant together before going back to the inn the couple was staying in. Fen and Aura also stayed there, and a very eventful day finally neared its end.