Being exhausted and hungry after everything that happened, getting confessed to by Maya, stopping time, a lot of thinking, becoming a couple with the cat-girl, and much more, Sophia finally got something to eat and went to sleep right after. Her little power nap ended up being a full 3-hour long slumber before she managed to recover enough from being, mostly on accident, awake for almost two days.

"Fuah~" Yawning, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to identify her surroundings.

"Oh, look who's up." Maya looked down at the sleepy girl.

"Hmm? Oh, Maya... 'morning~."

"It's past noon already."

"Same difference..." Sophia was still half asleep.

"How are you feeling?

"Tired..." She turned around on Maya's lap, indicating she wanted to sleep some more.

"I can see that. What about the other stuff?"

"What... other stuff?"

"Us, for example? Are your boosts still working?"

"Hmm, I still love you. A-Ah-, that just now was e-embarrassing!" Sophia managed to say it without a problem, but once the words had left her lips, her face turned red in an instant.

"I love you, too."

"T-Thank you, I'm h-happy..." Sophia burrowed her face into Maya's legs to hide her blush. "Uuh..."

"Ahaha~, your breath, i-it tickles!"

"Shorryy..." Her voice was muffled.

"Ahahaha~." The cat-girl couldn't hold her laughter.

"Your... leghs an... shuuuper nisce..." Sophia was still talking into her lap.

"Ahaha, s-stop it!" Not being able to bear it anymore, Maya pushed the girl away from her lap. "Haa~!"

"Being tickled is no fun, huh?"

"N-No comment... haa~. But being the one tickling the other is."

"N-No comment." Sophia turned her head away.

"Ahh, I'm just happy that you haven't fully reset."

"Reset? Oh, you mean my boost thing? Y-Yes, it feels like I progressed a bit. I mean, on the inside, I'm screaming like a three-year-old whose candy got stolen right now when remembering the events, but on the outside, I'm perfectly calm~."

"I wouldn't go that far, but..." Maya wasn't sure she was this calm with her bright red face.

"Baby steps, okay?"

"Sure, let's leave it at that."

"By the way," Sophia wanted to change the topic. "We planned to go to the sea, but it feels like that was an eternity ago. Are we still going?"

"Hmm, I'm fine with whatever. I already got what I wanted to come there for."

"Huh?"

"Sorry." The cat-girl suddenly apologized. "The sea was actually a huge detour towards the capital, but I panicked and had no better idea..."

"Eh? What did I miss this time?"

"I suggested the sea shortly after I realized my feelings for you. Back then, I wanted to wait and get to know you better. But, I was scared about the thought of you meeting other people, and that's why I wanted to take more time before reaching the capital."

"Why were you scared about me meeting people?" The more she heard, the more confused she got.

"I have the sneaking suspicion that your charm got boosted as well, Sophia."

"What?" It was news to her.

"It would explain why Chiyo got curious about you so fast. She's usually so oblivious after all. I think it affected me a bit as well... After our mock fight, I really wanted to come with you to train, but I felt kind of attached to you since the beginning. I mean, I like being touchy-feely, but not with people I don't know... That was a lucky incident, though, because I got to know you that way and fell in love."

"M-My charm got boosted? W-Wait, wouldn't that just mean it isn't negative anymore?" Sophia still couldn't follow.

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"You know, I don't like it when my girlfriend sells herself short. I'm proud of her after all."

"S-Sorry, but, uhh..." She honestly believed it is the case. "Anyway, still, what does that has to do with me meeting people?"

"I didn't want more rivals by you accidentally charming every girl we come across. I wanted to be the only one... Sorry for being selfish."

"S-So cute!" Sophia had her very own opinion.

"Uuh..." Now it was her time to be embarrassed.

"Good job!"

"T-Thanks..."

"Okay, let's show the sea our gratitude as well. Let's still go visit it." She was happy about the detour or rather, the result of it.

"Sure, I don't mind." Maya was okay with the plan.

"Also, I want to eat some fish!"

"Didn't you just eat right before your nap? Quite a lot, I want to add."

"I missed several meals, after all."

"Well, truth to be told, I could also eat a little again." While not as much as Sophia's, Maya's eating routine, too, got somewhat messed up.

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

Having decided on a plan, the group got ready and going. Instead of tracing back their way on the road, they simply went in a straight line. It's not like they had anything to fear when straying from a relatively secure path. Actually, the ones coming across the group were the poor souls. Walking not too long of a distance, the sea finally came into view too the first time.

"Ohh~. It even has a beach!" Sophia was looking at the mostly untouched, almost white sand in front of the gigantic mass of blue water. "Kinda makes me want to go for a swim."

"Why don't you do it, then?"

"I don't have a... Wait, we had this exact same conversation before, hadn't we?!" She remembered the time when Maya had almost tricked her into jumping into an ice-cold lake.

"Tehe~."

"What's wrong with this sea?!"

"Nothing, I think? Nothing I know, at least. My goal was a different one this time."

"Eh?"

"You still don't have a swimsuit, right? So..."

"What does that- Ah!" She needed a moment to get the cat-girl's implication. "P-Pervert." Her face turned red.

"W-Wha-?! Why...? I just wanted- Okay, I get it." She had no way to defend herself.

"L-Let's focus on fishing, okay?

"Fine..." Maya looked a bit disappointed.

"Y-You..." Ignoring her, Sophia dashed towards the beach, but she made exactly one step on the sand before she completely froze up. "E-Eh?!"

"What's wrong?" The other two seemed slightly concerned.

"Err..." She got on her tiptoes and placed a hand on her forehead while trying to look into the distance of the sea. "Nope, it's too far... I can't see a thing. Hey, is there an island or something like that on the other side of the water? Around 40 kilometers away? Maybe a bit more?"

"I'm not sure about the distance, but yeah, there's actually a huge mass of land over there. As far as I remember, it's completely uninhabited, though. Why are you asking?" Maya knew a little about the geography around here.

"Oh no, it's not uninhabited. Definitely not."

"What do you mean?"

"Just when I took that step, something entered the range of my detection magic over there..."

"Just hold on a moment!" Fen interrupted her. "Y-You can detect things that far away now?!"

"Yeah... I have the magic on constantly, and its range just keeps growing..."

"Y-You have it on all the time?!"

"Yep, though I blend out everything that's not at least as strong as Maya unless I look for something because it's annoying."

"W-What about the cost of magic power?" The wolf was confused.

"Hmm? It recovers faster than I can spend it with detection magic, so I never bothered..."

"W-What a monster!" He looked shocked.

"Uhm?" Maya had a question. "If you ignore everything weaker than I am, j-just what is over there?"

"Bad news, seriously bad news! Let's never go to that place, okay?!" She seemed really nervous.

"Y-You're scared of a monster?!" The cat-girl couldn't believe it.

"Fen, how many beings are stronger than you in this world?"

"Not wanting to boast, but there are few."

"Well, over there is one of them." She pointed at the sea, or rather the island behind it.

"What!?" Both, cat and wolf, couldn't hide their surprise.

"It actually gives off a similar feeling to you, Fen? Though it's a bit foggy because it's still so far, but, uhh, I think whatever's over there, it's at least 50% stronger than you."

"5-50%?! No way!" Maya turned white.

"A-Are you sure?" Fen, too, was shocked.

"At least, yeah."

"T-This can't be... Such a being shouldn't exist." The wolf was overwhelmed by the revelation.

"What's the problem?"

"While there are ones stronger than myself, it was only by a slight margin. We were basically equally matched."

"That guy sure isn't."

"Another unknown? Interesting."

"Sorry to disappoint, Fenny, but we are not going to check." Sophia wasn't interested in engaging someone far stronger than her already overpowered wolf.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Maya strongly agreed.

"I wasn't planning to. I'm curious, but the risks with such a powerful being are too big." He wasn't stupid.

"Good."

"I suddenly don't feel like fishing anymore... What if it comes after us?" The cat-girl wanted to put more distance between them.

"There's a fair bit of water between us, you know? Also, there's no way it knows that we are here, anyway."

"Are you really, definitely, absolutely 100% sure about it?"

"Err... So, where we are heading to next?"

"To be honest, I've never been further than this place" Maya shook her head. "I know that we have to follow the coastline for a good bit and then keep going west to reach the capital, but I have no idea what's in between... Sorry."

"Oh, so we are entering unchartered territories? Very interesting. I like it!" Sophia wasn't the least bit disappointed.

"Anything goes for you as long as it's fun, huh?"

"Precisely! Well then, let's get going!" Energetically raising her fist into the air, Sophia started walking.

"..." The other two didn't follow her, though.

"W-What is it now?" It took her a while to notice that she was alone and quickly came back.

"Wrong direction."

"E-Eh?! But you said to follow the coastline?"

"Sure, but I also said that the capital is westwards. A coastline typically has two directions, right? Following the east one won't do us any good."

"And how am I supposed to know that this was east just now?"

"Common sen- ah, sorry, my bad." Maya had expected the one thing she shouldn't have from her.

"I feel deeply offended right now!" Sophia started pouting.

"Give me a reason to stop doubting your common sense, and I'll do so."

"..." She didn't answer and simply started walking again, just in the right direction this time.

"Ah! Wait for me!" The cat-girl ran after Sophia and grabbed her hand before the two continued together to the yet unexplored area.

"Hmm..." Fen cast another glance beyond the sea with a slightly troubled expression before following after the couple.