While chatting about their day, Steph and Chloe eventually mentioned the part where they wanted to find out if stopping time with magic was possible. Naturally, Sophia got more than a little awkward after hearing that but eventually decided to tell them that she could do that already. The couple got quite excited about that and loved every moment of the demonstration they got afterward.

“My own sister can stop time…” Steph was still in awe.

“Whenever I think I can’t get surprised anymore, something like that happens.” Chloe wasn’t much different. “And I did lots of unbelievable things myself already…”

“You’ll get used to her being ridiculous, don’t worry.” Maya just smiled at them.

“Really?” The dog-girl tilted her head. “How long does it take to get used to all that?”

“No idea.” She shook her head. “I’m mostly trying to convince myself of it by saying it out loud…” Her smile vanished.

“Ahh… Well, I can’t wait to cause that reaction in others, as well!” If anything, it only motivated Steph even more.

“…” Maya looked like she wanted to say something, but her concerned expression suddenly changed to something more hopeful while she looked at Chloe. “Wait a moment… Earlier, when telling us about your day, you mentioned that your mom would be back soon…?"

“Yes!” She reacted with a big nod. “Mira said that Feyfey will be with us in a day or two!”

“That is very reassuring to hear.” The cat-girl sounded rather relieved for some reason.

“Ah, does that mean she finished burning down the human capital?”

“Eh?!” This part was still news for Steph, who looked shocked after hearing her sister's casual remark.

“I, uhh… guess so…” Chloe just awkwardly scratched her cheek in return.

“Hmm…” The blonde still wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Hold on a moment!” The dog-girl raised her voice. “Your mother burned down the human capital of this world?!”

“Well, that was what the wolves predicted…” The tiger tilted her head. “It seems like Fey can get quite angry when something upsets her, so they think she went for revenge.”

“It, err… definitely sounds like something Feyfey would do…” The fox-girl had nothing to add.

“What in the name of… Canir…?” Steph got confused for a moment.

“No.” Sophia immediately shook her head.

“Whatever! Just what happened for her to be that upset over something?! Even if the humans in this world are as bad as described, there’s just no way a single event would be enough to warrant the destruction of their capital, right? Right?!"

“Feyfey and I ran into a few human soldiers, and they said some very mean things to me and implied wanting to do… even meaner things to me…” Chloe paused for a moment. “Afterward, mom got upset.”

“Ah.” The dog-girl didn’t seem to like that very much, either, because her expression instantly changed. “I hope not even ash remained of the capital.” Her voice sounded completely dry and devoid of emotion.

“Why do both sisters have so crazy and over-the-top mood swings?!” Maya couldn’t believe it.

“Come on,” Sophia just looked at her. “Have you already forgotten how you reacted when I told you that some humans tried to sell me to a brothel?”

"A-Ah.” She went silent for a moment. “I had suppressed that memory…”

“Excuse me?” Steph’s expression worsened even more. “What was that just now?”

"Don't worry about it!" Sophia smiled at her sister. "Nothing happened, and they definitely got what they deserved afterward. Fen and I also got a little upset over it and cleaned up~.”

“I see.” She didn’t sound happy in the slightest, though. “Nothing happened to you, too, right?” She then looked at Chloe again.

“Nothing at all!” The fox-girl also smiled at her. “Feyfey just glared at them, and they disappeared. Afterward, she told me to stay in the fox village for a while because she’s going to visit their capital…”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I hope she taught them a lesson.” Steph had completely changed her opinion on the topic.

“Anyway!” Maya decided that it was enough about that thing. “Fey will be back soon, huh? I hope she’s at least half as serious when needed as she had been described. Some people, I won’t call names, need a bit of a kick to calm down, after all.”

“You won’t call any names, huh?” Sophia raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, it would take too long to list all of them because our group is way too insane!”

“Fair enough.”

“Don’t just agree!” The cat-girl raised her voice.

“Decide on what you want already!”

“No!”

“I wonder if the name Maya is also on Maya’s list.” Watching their bickering, Steph then leaned closer to Chloe.

“Probably the first entry if you ask me.” The fox-girl had to do it.

“Yeah, everything else would make no sense.” She nodded a few times.

“Oi!” The leader of the list of troublemakers glared at the couple once she was done with Sophia.

“I’ll take that as a confirmation.”

“Yup!” The couple wasn’t overly fazed by it, though.

“…” The cat-girl gave up and simply rubbed her temples. “Yeah, sure… Again, back to Fey! Does she even know where you are right now? She’ll be going to the fox village, right?”

"A-Ah.”

“Won’t Alex or some of the other foxes simply tell her that she went to the capital with us?” Sophia tilted her head.

“That’s true!”

“Why are you the one with the simple and reasonable explanation?!” Maya instinctively retorted.

“What do you mean?” She only tilted her head even more. “As I’m the one on the very bottom of your list of troublemakers, I naturally am the voice of reason here.”

“I love how she was able to say that with a perfectly serious expression.” Chloe looked quite impressed.

“I seriously hate all of you…” Maya sounded a little tired.

“We love you, too!” Sophia was much more cheerful, though.

“Hmm… She’ll definitely find me, but I wouldn’t like her having to search for me…” The fox-girl wasn’t a fan of the idea.

“You going back, then?”

“Hmm, I guess so?” Chloe gave it some thought. “Mira said she’ll return either tomorrow or the day after. So, if I stay here till tomorrow, it’ll be only one night at best, anyway.”

"I'll come with you!" Steph was immediately on board with the idea.

“Huh? You don’t have to.”

“But I want to! We just started dating! We aren’t going to celebrate that by staying away from each other for two days!”

“I-I see!” She got a little embarrassed.

“Hmm…” Sophia seemed to be thinking about something.

"What's up?" Maya still needed to determine whether she liked her expression or not.

"When we last went there a few days ago, Alex mentioned that the hot springs would be finished in around a week. I wonder if we go and kick his lazy butt, whether we would be able to use it tomorrow already or not. It would be a great pastime while we wait for Fey, right?”

“I like the sound of that!” Steph seemed to be a fan of the idea.

"Me, too!" Maya also liked that very much. “Let’s invite Anna and Ari, as well! I can’t wait for the view!”

“Of the forest while relaxing in the water, right?” The dog-girl smiled at her while having a slightly cheeky expression.

“I’m looking forward to the same reason as you do, my dear~.” No one could out-cheek the cat-girl.

“Great! I knew I could count on you!”

“Always happy to provide!”

“By the way,” Sophia then glanced at Chloe. “The two are not talking about the forest.

“Y-Yeah… I figured that out myself already…”

“Oh, but speaking about the forest! For real, I mean!”

“Hmm?” The fox-girl tilted her head while focusing on the tiger.

“The magical forest we created on accident, the trees, plants, and all that looked like it was summer for them even though it isn’t. Do you think we could make them look like other seasons, as well?”

“Like autumn when everything gets colorful or spring when it’s blooming…?”

“Exactly!” Sophia nodded. “I had the idea when thinking about the hot springs the other day. Wouldn’t it be amazing for the forest around it to be eternally autumn? The view would be the best!”

“Or forever blooming cherry blossoms if we find some!” She was a fan of the idea. “Although, snow would be great, too! Oh! Or a bamboo forest!”

“I love all of those ideas! Maybe we could make themed hot springs if there are multiple! One winter, one spring, one summer, one autumn, and then another one like bamboo!” The tiger was getting very motivated.

“Let’s go!” So was Chloe. “How would we be able to do that, though? Controlling how they look, that is.”

“No idea!”

“Hmm…” She gave it some more thought. “Could it have to do something with the amount of ambient magic? You said that the forest in the fox village was so dense with magic that it could be seen with the naked eye, right? It was the same in Mira’s domain, too.”

“It was actually much sparklier in Mira’s place!” Steph joined the conversation.

“That would actually add to my theory! Her domain was half a jungle and way too warm! I’m sure there are few places with more ambient magic than the home of the magic overseer.”

“So… because we pumped the trees full of magic, the excess one turned the area into perpetual summer…?”

"Well, who knows if it's perpetual or dissipates eventually, but it does sound logical, doesn't it?"

“That’s for sure!” The blonde agreed with her.

“Does it…?” Maya looked confused and glanced at Steph instead.

“I don’t get it at all, but I love the sound of it!”

“So, what’s the plan?” Sophia kept her focus on the fox. “Should we try to increase or decrease the ambient magic and see what happens?”

“Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?” She had the same idea. “Trees lose their leaves to conserve energy, among other things, right? Wouldn't that mean if we reduce the ambient magic, which is supposedly keeping them green right now, maybe we can change them to autumn settings?”

“It really does sound like a plan! Maybe that's also how we can make them look like spring. We increase the magic, but not enough to make them go to summer mode?”

“Only one way to find out!” The fox-girl sounded highly motivated.

“Let’s go!” Steph still wasn't sure what was going on, but she smelled an adventure, and that was enough for her.

“It does sound like fun and totally not dangerous for a change, so I actually am excited about it, but…" Even Maya liked the plan but then looked out of the window. “Today is kinda over, you know?” The sun was already setting when they watched the earlier raindrops, but it was fully gone by now.

“Ah.” No one liked that.

Afterward, the girls made it their plan for the following day before relaxing again while chatting some more.