The group learned a lot of new things about magical plants and how they change after having been subjected to an unusual amount of magic. Everyone also decided on side projects to design their very own biome inside Sophia’s domain in the future.

“So, what now?” After they finished eating dinner, everyone returned to the cottage's living room and got comfortable there when Sophia addressed everyone.

"A bath! Then, right to bed to get up early tomorrow for more traveling! Let's go!" Steph couldn't wait to get going again.

“I like two of these three things.” The blonde was not a fan of getting up early. “The third thing is not going to happen. House rules.”

“I highly support those rules!” Anna wasn’t good with mornings, either. “By the way, what will we do for bathing time? I was so preoccupied with Steph's shameless occupation of my room that I didn't even check the bathroom situation here."

“Hey!” The dog-girl raised her voice. “My room!”

“Shut up, idiots.” Maya didn’t want to deal with it. “Anyway, if I haven't missed one, there are three bathrooms in the cottage. They're not overly big, but the tubs in them are a good fit for two people.”

“Mhmm…” Steph looked a little disappointed. “So… No group events like the hot springs we visited so often during winter?”

“Stop being so horny.” Chloe rolled her eyes while she looked at her.

“You had just as much fun as I did when we were able to get a good look at everyone!”

“N-Not as much, okay?!”

“Not a strong defense.” Ari lightly shook her head. “ALSO, if anyone makes a comment about me now, they’ll regret it!”

“Because it would expose you?” The cat-girl wasn’t scared of her.

“S-Shush!”

“I do like Anna’s idea a lot, though!” Maya was a fan. “We should definitely have our own hot springs!”

“Why am I not surprised you like that plan?” Sophia lightly rolled her eyes. “I don’t dislike the suggestion, though. Okay, construction will start soon!”

“Yay!” Steph and Maya got excited.

“That’s not what I meant, though.” The blonde returned to her topic from a moment ago. “I mean, it’s obviously bath and then bed later, but I wanted to make some more plans for our traveling in the regular world.”

“Oh, do you have any suggestions?” Chloe looked at her.

“Nope, you?”

“Ahh, I see.” The pink’s expression turned into a smile. “Your plan is for others to make plans for you, huh?”

“Exactly!”

“Mhmm… I mean, we’re still rather close to the capital, so it might take a while for something interesting or new to happen.”

“Fair point.” Sophia agreed with her evaluation. “Even I, who loathes the cold, left the city every single day for my daily running sessions. Cold or not, I’ll go crazy if I can’t run, after all. I’m pretty sure Fennyfenny and I already went much further than this when we were really antsy for a good run.” She looked at the male wolf for confirmation.

“Much further.” He nodded.

“I guess we just have to keep going then, huh?” She wasn’t bothered by it. “Maya, are there any of Menzor’s cities along the way of our current direction?”

“On the list of places where one of your portals would be beneficial?” She tilted her head.

“Yup!”

“That’s a little hard to tell…” The cat-girl awkwardly scratched her cheek.

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“How so?”

“My hometown is on the list, funnily enough, but I have no idea where any of the other places are… I have heard of a couple of them, but I don't know where they are, geographically speaking."

“Makes sense.” Sophia nodded and then looked at her fellow tiger. “My dear princess, where are those places?”

"Let's see," Anna glanced at the list Maya was holding. "I see. The third one from the top is right on the path we’re currently headed. It takes about two weeks to reach with a horse-drawn carriage. No idea how that translates to our group, though. Especially because we tend to get sidetracked quite often.” She simply gestured all around her during the end. “Not that I’m complaining about that. Far from it.” The tiger was a big fan of their usual distractions.

“Two weeks by carriage, huh?" Fen tilted his head. "That is somewhere between three days and three months with this group. Judging by how long it took us to reach the capital.”

"Why would you even want to travel if not for getting sidetracked?!" Sophia raised her voice.

“To reach your destination, idiot.” Fey sounded a little harsh.

“The journey is the destination!” She got even louder.

“Exactly!” Steph, Chloe, and Anna had the same opinion.

“I’d like to agree with them, as well." The times she had to babysit the others aside, Maya also liked exploring a whole lot.

“It depends a little on the situation, but I, too, am not against that way of thinking.” Even Ari could see the fun in it.

“Haa…” The full fox hung her head. “Well, yes, it’s not necessarily wrong, but… What good will happen if we enable Sophia?”

“…” The jaguar and cat-girl went silent. “True.”

“Hey!” The blonde didn’t like that. "I have good news, Fennyfenny!"

“Hmm?” He tilted his head.

“We’ll be running all day tomorrow! Those two need to get their sass out of the system.” She glanced at Maya and Ari. “They might be a little too excited about finally being on the move again and need to be powered out to calm down.”

“Sure." Fen had no intention of making any deeper comment here.

“Sounds fun!” Steph, the overly active dog-girl, was an instant fan.

"A-Ah.” This time, Ari really looked concerned. She was far from lazy, but keeping up with Sophia was impossible.

“Why am I getting punished now, too?!” Anna raised her voice. “Short sprints are fine, and I'm good at them, but I can't run fast for a long time! My stamina is super bad!”

“Perfect chance to get more training into you!” Sophia wasn’t going to give her an easy way out. “Time to get you in shape!”

"A-Ah.” She had the same reaction as her girlfriend.

“Good thing I’ve been training the last months!” Maya sounded a lot more confident than Ari did. “I mean, I’m nowhere near as fast as my tiger, so there will still be suffering for me, but I’m far from the slowest in the group now~.”

“Uhh…” Chloe seemed quite concerned. “I’m not a fan of this development!” She was fairly sure to lose the race. “Feyfey, I’m counting on you to return to your original size and give me a ride! Thank you very much in advance! I’m counting on you~.”

“Mhmm," The full paused momentarily while she looked at her daughter. “I don’t think so.”

“H-Huh?!”

“I’m not a fan of enabling Sophia," Fey glanced briefly at the blonde before continuing. "But when she has a good idea, she has a good idea.”

"What's that supposed to mean…?" The pink fox didn't like this.

"I'll gladly carry you when you're actually tired or when we're traveling through an area you’re unable to deal with, like a desert, but don’t you think you should get some power into those legs of yours?”

"A-Ah.” Chloe had nothing to say in her defense and just hung her head in defeat. She knew full well that she wasn’t physically strong or anything like that.

“Your endurance should’ve improved significantly ever since Steph shared her magic with you, though.” Mira looked at her. “After all, high magical powers tremendously affect one’s physical abilities.”

“That is definitely the case!” The pink fox nodded a few times. “I can absolutely feel it!”

“What’s the problem, then?” The overseer seemed a little confused.

“She wasn’t used to walking a lot because she’s lazy.” Fey looked at her daughter while slowly shaking her head. “And now, she’s still lazy.”

“…” It didn’t seem like Chloe wanted to say anything in her defense.

“Ah, I see.”

“Alright!” Sophia suddenly clapped her hands. “It’s decided! With this many slackers in our group, tomorrow will be marathon day!”

“Sounds great!” Steph and Fen liked the plan.

“It does not!” Some others disagreed with them.

“Okay, I’m heading to bed!” Anna sounded defeated. “I need every second of sleep I can get to survive this!”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Ari agreed. “I’d like a bath or at least a shower first, though.”

“True!” The princess felt the same. “Wait! Are we still doing these weird sleeping arrangements Sophia came up with?! I want to sleep with Ari!”

“Well, you can also give up on the room you were fighting over with Steph.” The blonde smiled at her.

“NEVER!”

“Well, then you are going to sleep with Steph tonight~.”

“Urgh…” She hung her head. “I will be the one taking a bath with Ari, though!”

“Sure, this and that are completely unrelated.”

“Good!”

“Are Ari and I still going to share a room today, too?” Maya faced her tiger.

“Yup~.” She nodded. “I mean, your sass levels are back to normal already, and I don’t really care about it any longer, either, but... Lessons need to be learned! I don’t exactly remember what lessons, but that doesn’t matter! Also, it sounds like it could be fun!”

“Well, sure, I guess? Let’s have some fun tonight, Ari~.”

“Okay!” The jaguar didn’t mind.

“NOT TOO MUCH FUN!” Anna did, though.

“I wasn’t talking about that kind of fun, pervert.”

“Good!” The pervert in question didn’t mind being called like that because that wasn’t important to her at the moment.

Afterward, once the rules for their sleeping arrangements were set, everyone started getting ready to end the day.