While the group went to the bar in the fox village, they ran into Alex, who was about to survey the clearing they had used to grow the gigantic trees. He apparently wanted to get some building materials there. Naturally, this didn't end well. The fox-man came back and started to question everyone about the unnaturally big trees. Still, no one believed him because they couldn't be seen from the village. Alex decided to show them to everyone, but Sophia and her group had other plans. Once they finished a couple of drinks in the evening, they wanted to head back to the capital.

“You have a way to get to the capital fast?" The group was still in Sophia's new treehouse in the village while Chloe was looking at the tiger with a questioning expression. “What does that mean…? Also, why did I have to go back to my place earlier to get some clothes and other stuff like bathroom products?” She was holding up a bag while asking her.

“Well… Can you promise to keep it a secret? It doesn't harm me if it gets out, but it would still be kinda bothersome…”

“Of course!” The fox-girl gave her a big nod. “Still, we don’t know each other that well yet… Is it okay to tell me whatever you want to tell me?”

“Probably~.” Sophia only showed her a smile. “I already like you a whole lot, so I trust my gut on that. Also, Anna, the princess, and her maid slash almost girlfriend, Ari, already know about it, too. As you’ll probably meet each other soon, it might actually be beneficial for you to know.”

“Okay?” Her confusion was only growing.

"Anyway, take a look at this." Saying so, the tiger raised her arm, and a moment later, one of her purple portals connecting to her extra space appeared in the middle of the room. “That’s a-.”

"Is that a portal?!" Chloe suddenly got loud before she immediately started circling around it while her eyes were sparkling. "Seriously?!"

“Err, yeah… It is.” Sophia hadn't expected her to recognize it. "I'm surprised that you know."

"Isn't it obvious?!" She pointed at the portal. "What else could it be?!" The fox-girl sounded highly excited. "Does it lead to the capital?! That's so amazing!"

“Uhh, not quite." The tiger shook her head. "It leads to a hub with portals connecting to various places.”

“That’s even better! This is sooo cool!” The fox-girl was still looking at the portal from every angle. “Can I go inside?! I want to see the other side!”

“Sure.” Sophia was impressed by her excitement. “Don’t jump into any other portals in there for the time being, though.”

“Okay!” After saying so, she immediately stepped through the portal without any hint of hesitation whatsoever.

“It’s kinda refreshing not to be called insane by someone after I show them something, well… insane. I really like Chloe's fearless, excited, and playful personality a lot!"

“Nah, you’re just both insane.” Fen bumped her shoulder with his head before also entering the portal.

“I think so, too.” Aura did the same while following after him.

“They do have a point.” Maya nodded, as well. "You two definitely are one of a kind."

“Is that an insult or a compliment?!”

“Yes.” The cat-girl just smirked at her. “Still, how did she know that this purple thing is a portal…?”

“Because it’s obvious!”

“Is it…?” She tilted her head. “No one else besides you came up with it yet, though.”

“All of you aren’t just creative enough!” Turning her head away in a huff, Sophia then also entered the portal.

“That can't be it... Hmm…” Not wanting to be left behind, Maya quickly let go of the thought she had and followed after her.

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

“Wow!” Arriving at the other side, they were immediately greeted by an excited fox-girl. “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

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“Happy to hear~.”

"Do those portals stay up forever, or do you have to keep them going with your own magic?"

"It costs a little to activate them, but once they're up, they stay."

"Amazing!" Chloe's eyes got even more sparkly. “The purple color and the sparkle look a little like raw magic. Do those portals work with compressed raw magic?! I didn't know it could do that!"

“I honestly never thought about it to that extent because I was just happy that it worked at all. When I overthink things, I tend to screw up, so that was the best for everyone.”

“I see… From the looks and properties of it, it sure seems like it, though.” She got closer to one of the portals again while studying it.

“I’m starting to think so, too, yeah.”

“Do those portals work on a smaller scale, as well?” She was still almost pressing her nose against it. “I bet it would also work as a pocket version. You can just put your hand inside and access a storage room from wherever you are! That would be sooo useful!”

“Like this?” Saying so, Sophia did just that and pulled a hat out of her storage before putting it on.

“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!” Chloe raised her voice even more.

“That’s actually how I came up with the portals in the first place.” The tiger sounded a little proud while explaining it. “I wanted to have a portable storage where we could dump all of our stuff into while we’re traveling. One thing led to another, and here we are, in the middle of my portal hub connecting various places with each other."

“I see!” The fox-girl smiled at her. “Makes sense! It’s only natural that this would lead to that!”

“Exactly!”

“Hey…” Listening to those two, Maya got closer to the wolves. “Are we the weird ones here?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fen looked back at her.

“I mean, we were super shocked when she came up with the storage thing and even more when she developed the portals as a means for transportation.”

“Absolutely.” He nodded in response.

"Yet, Chloe instantly understood what was going on. It also sounds like it's a matter of course for her, as if those things are meant to be the way Sophia made them.”

“Hmm… I see what you mean.” Aura nodded a few times. “Well, they both seem to be quite unhinged, so… Feyanis probably kept her in check, but Chloe seems to be even crazier than Sophia when let loose. I guess it’s to be expected for them to have the same kind of insane ideas if they're like this..."

“Yep.” Fen agreed with her.

“Still…” The cat-girl wasn’t sure how to feel about this reply. "There has to be more about her, though... Or maybe not her? Chloe learned everything from Feyanis, right? Does she maybe know more than she's supposed to do from somewhere and showed that to our fox...?"

“I think it's rather that oddballs like those two idiots over there are always hard to read, so who knows what’s really going on in their heads.” Fen looked at the duo. “The creative ones can be quite eccentric. If I have a good idea, I can get a little annoying, too, and I also met some very eccentric demons, as well. Those two just operate on the same wavelength when it comes to the way they think.”

“Something still feels odd to me…” Maya looked at the two again.

“I have that very feeling ever since I met Sophia, so…” Aura didn’t see an issue.

"Ah.” The cat-girl paused for a moment. “You win this round.” There was nothing she could add here.

“By the way, where do all the portals lead to?" Chloe was still looking around before facing Sophia again after a while.

“Most of them just end up in random places like a plain that looked nice or a stupidly huge lake where absolutely nothing suspicious ever happened.”

“Sounds suspicious.”

“I just said that it’s NOT suspicious!”

“Fair point, go on.” The fox-girl wasn’t planning to ask any questions.

“Remember the dungeon I mentioned before? The one that’s hard to reach…? It’s actually quite easy to reach now that you know that place…” While saying so, the tiger pointed at a few portals. “Those actually lead to different sections of that very dungeon.”

“Seriously?!” She got louder again. “Let’s go!” Chloe immediately started walking towards one of the portals.

“I’m not against showing you, and I already half-promised already, but can we do it another time? I can’t say I’m in the biggest dungeon mood right now. Sofa, snack, bath, bed, sounds much better to me right now…”

“Aww…” The pink-haired girl pouted for a moment. “Though, the alternative sounds quite nice, too. I am a bit exhausted, as well.”

“Perfect!” Sophia suddenly clapped her hands. “Let’s head home?” She pointed at the portal that leads to their mansion. “We can test out some of the other portals soon~.”

“Yay!”

“Let’s go, then.”

Afterward, with the tiger in the lead, everyone stepped through the portal. Once Chloe was done marveling over the all-black basement with the oversized portal and the hidden entrance to it, everyone went to the mansion’s living room and got comfortable. The wolves claimed the sheepskin rug, and the couple relaxed on one of the sofas while the pink-haired girl had one for her own.

“It sure is warm in here…” It didn’t take long before the arctic fox noticed the preferred heating arrangement of the wolves and the two cats.

“It’s the best, isn’t it?!” Sophia sounded very happy about it.

“W-Well…” Chloe seemed to have some mixed feelings about that. “The warm floor actually does feel nice in one way or another, but the room temperature as a whole… I can’t say I enjoy it that much. Does anyone mind if I strip?”

“Nope.” Sophia’s answer was instant.

“Hey!” So was Maya’s reaction.

“What? I don’t want her to suffer from the heat.” The tiger just looked at her. “Even if we stop the heating now, it’ll take a while before it cools down.”

“Sure…” The cat-girl didn’t believe a word she was saying. "I mean, I'm also a little curious, as I mentioned before, but don't do that! No need to admit to it so directly!"

“Uhh…” Chloe looked at them. “B-By stripping, I just meant that I would like to get rid of my thigh-highs and exchange my sweater for something lighter…”

"A-Ah…” Hearing that, the couple got a little embarrassed. Afterward, Chloe decided to change clothes after taking a bath, and the group dropped the topic to chat about other things.