Sophia had successfully learned some kind of storage magic and directly wanted to put it to good use. Finding the next city to visit, she was looking forward to going on a shopping spree. Now that the group was able to carry things, they could buy everything they dream of.

The day after she learned the magic, they kept going for most of the time. Thanks to that, the tiger-girl got a lot more used to running around, and the group made relatively good progress.

"Haa~" During lunchtime of the following day, Sophia let out a familiar sigh. "I'm hungry~!"

"Yeah, I could eat, too... Ah, but isn't the city really near now?"

"Yeah, with my speed being somewhat okay again, we should reach it in around an hour or two?"

"How about we wait until then?" Maya had other plans. "We could eat at a restaurant there."

"That's a brilliant idea!" She liked the idea. "What about you, Fen?"

"I would eat the same either way, so I don't particularly care." One way or another, it would be a big chunk of meat.

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

They kept going for a while, and the city finally came into view. It was far bigger than the previous village and had roughly the size of Raumont, the place where they picked up their cat-girl. It even looked similar as everything was orderly build and easy to navigate thanks to the linear streets.

"Uuh, I'm getting a little nervous..." Sophia was looking at the city from a distance and noticed all the beastpeople running around.

"Why?" Maya tilted her head.

"Won't they notice I'm a fake?"

"Fake? Oh, you mean about being a tiger-girl now?"

"Yeah..."

"Don't worry about that. You've turned yourself into a proper member of the beastfolk. In the first place, you're more feline than I am, and I'm born as a cat-girl."

"That's good, well, debatable..." She had complicated feelings about being more of a cat than Maya.

"Ehehe, you'll be fine."

"Okay..." Even so, she naturally was still concerned.

The group walked towards the entrance, and Fen had turned his size to a reasonable one along the way. Arriving there, they stopped in front of two middle-aged guards. One looked a bit like a monkey, while the other seemed like a humanoid version of Fen, wolf-like fur, tail, and ears, but a human body.

"Welcome to Val- Hmm?" The monkey-guard greeted them but stumbled over his words once he noticed Sophia.

"I-Is-, Is there a... problem?" The girl in question instinctively hid behind Maya in response.

"A... tiger?" He tilted his head.

"Y-Yes?"

"Wow, to think I would ever see one up so close in this remote area!"

"E-Eh...?" Sophia was confused.

"Ah, n-no... Anyway, welcome to Valona. E-Enjoy your stay!"

After this slightly weird greeting, the group entered the city and was currently walking around the main road, but something was still amiss. Wherever they went, Sophia could always feel multiple stares directed at her. Almost every person they walked past turned around to take a second glance at the tiger-girl.

"M-Maya...?" She was already confused by how the guard had acted, but she was getting increasingly more uncomfortable by the minute. "W-What is going on here...?"

"That's-, That's a good question." The cat-girl had obviously noticed that everyone was staring at her girlfriend. "Give me a minute, and I'll tell everyone just how I feel about that!" She also was far from happy about this fact, but for very different reasons.

"Anyway, let's find a place to eat." Fen, as always, had his own priorities.

Doing as told, the group entered the next best restaurant. Having ordered some food, they finally had their late lunch. Unfortunately, Sophia was unable to enjoy it. Just like on the streets before, she continued to be the center of attention inside the restaurant. Everyone was looking at her while whispering around.

"A tiger... here?"

"An actual tiger-girl?

"What is she doing here?"

"Her followers seem to be special as well. Is she the real deal?"

"I've never seen one looking like her, though."

"Yeah, I would definitely have remembered her. First time seeing a blonde."

"Absolutely, even for the already beautiful tiger-family, she's in a league of her own. It's way better than the usual dark orange!"

"I'm sensing something juicy~."

"Maybe she's been hidden from the public?"

"Why would you hide someone like her, though?"

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Good point."

"Maybe her hair? They're usually way more orangy, after all."

"The blonde is a definitive step up, though."

"True."

"Should we approach her?"

"I would really want to, but she's a tiger... way above us. Also, that white cat-girl beside her looks really scary for some reason..."

"Y-Yeah... Is she her bodyguard?"

"Hmm... I don't think so? First, it seems the tiger-girl is much stronger, and... the two give off a different feel."

"Ohh~, good for them. They look nice together. It really is something else if both are so beautiful, huh?"

"Absolutely, as expected of the tiger-family."

The beastpeople around the group had gotten really chatty for some reason while they kept glancing at Sophia. Especially the female guests in the restaurants seemed really interested in, and excited about, her.

"M-M-Maya...?" The tiger-girl in question was naturally aware of all the whispers. "S-Seriously now! What-, What is going on here?!"

"I honestly have no idea..."

"I-It seems there's something wrong about me being a tiger?"

"They're not doubting you are one, though. So, you're good on that part."

"Y-Yes, but something's... definitely odd here! Are tigers perhaps anything special... and I made a big mistake? Maya, didn't you say you saw tiger-people before?"

"I did. Well, it was only once, and it was over ten years ago, but I definitely did see them! I mean, I don't remember much about it, but it happened. Maybe they're just that rare, and people are interested in you because of that?"

"Hmm..." She wasn't convinced. "Fen?"

"Well, I've met a bunch of them the last time I was in the beastfolk capital. Granted, that was a very long time ago. The capital was way smaller than this city back then."

"Isn't the capital supposed to be gigantic? Seriously, just how old is this fella already..." Maya only stared at him with big eyes.

"That doesn't seem to be it, then..." Sophia was still confused.

"Excuse me~," Because the cat-girl had no issues starting a conversation with random people, she leaned over to the table next to them and addressed the couple there. It was a male half-dog and a female fox-girl with an extremely bushy tail and big ears.

"Y-Yes...?" Slightly bewildered, the two turned to look at them. "Is it really okay to talk to you...?"

"Of course?" Maya was confused by their reply. "No need to be formal."

"O-Okay..."

"It's a weird question, but is there something wrong about her?" The cat-girl pointed at Sophia, who awkwardly waved at them. "She's getting a lot of attention, and none of us can understand why."

"E-Eh?!" The couple looked dumbfounded.

"Sorry... We're from pretty far away, and we honestly have no idea."

"How can one travel with royalty without knowing?"

"Aren't the two of you even a couple?" The fox-girl looked at the two. "How's it possible not to notice, then?"

"H-Huh?!" It was Sophia herself who sprang up in shock.

"R-Royalty...?" The couple was more than confused.

"She is of the tiger-family, is she not?"

"I-I am, but... Eh?" Sophia couldn't follow.

"The tiger-clan founded the capital and ruled it ever since... Wait, how don't you know about that, either?" The fox girl looked at her now. "Nowadays, the only tigers are the ones of the royal family and those with the highest noble ranks."

"I, uhh, I've never... been to the capital before... I, err, spent my entire life... somewhere else completely... Never met another tiger-person, either..."

"S-Seriously?" The couple from the other table was shocked. "A fugitive royal?!"

"Ehhh...?" That was too much for Sophia.

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

The fox and dog couple also was too overwhelmed, and their conversation broke off soon enough as they couldn't get any more information out of them. The group spent the next couple of minutes in silence, trying to wrap their heads around the info they had just received.

"So that's why I met so many tigers when the capital was still small." Fen was the first to speak again.

"Ah!" Maya followed shortly after. "Looks like I wasn't that wrong, after all! In some bizarre way, that is... Instead of a demon, my Sophia ended up to be a beastfolk royal..." Her delusional misunderstanding from a while ago made an unexpected return.

"Maya?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Sophia didn't want to deal with that right now.

"Okay."

"S-Seriously... Can't I ever catch a break? Haa..." Sighing, the royal tiger-girl let her head fall down on the table. "O-Ouch!" Unfortunately, she hit it pretty hard. "W-Why does everything I do go so extremely, horribly wrong...? Every decision, a mistake-"

"Hey!" Her girlfriend felt offended.

"Present mis-, exceptions aside, of course!" She barely saved herself.

"64 Points." Maya wasn't that happy about her reply.

"S-Sorry... You're the best that ever happened to me. No decision I ever made regarding you was a mistake, and I l-love you!"

"93 Points." She liked that version much more.

"Close enough." Sophia didn't want to try and go for full marks.

"41 Points." Fen, too, had something to say.

"Give me a break already, you two!"

"Hehe." The two let out a giggle.

"Seriously, though, Fen aside, Maya, how did you not know about tigers being, well, royal?"

"W-Well... The capital's really far, and I've never been there. I also never cared about politics. Raumont's pretty much self-governed, as well, because it's a frontier city at the border to the monster country... Royalty wasn't that much of a deal there, I guess? The tiger-people I saw all those years ago probably were some officials looking how it's going then, I guess...?"

"Man, my luck's really the worst. To accidentally transform into a fake royal..."

"No, it's not." The two had different opinions about her luck.

"Haa..."

"Though, what are you going to do now, Sophia?" Maya looked at her, especially her tiger parts. "Transform into a different type of beastperson? As long as you stay feline, you shouldn't have any problems with that phantom pain thingy, right?"

"Hmm, it would be for the best, huh? It would definitely make things easier, but... well, it hasn't been long, but I immediately fell in love with being a tiger... safe for the instincts thing." She already was really fond of her transformation. "And that part wouldn't even change..."

"That's the best part!"

"Anyway," She ignored the cat-girl. "I really want to stay the way I am now. Besides, changing my body more often than... even the style of my clothes is kind of..."

"Yeah, getting a third, no, fourth girlfriend... wow, I lost track already. Well, it sounds better than it is. I want to settle for one, okay?" Maya had her own problems with the multiple versions of Sophia. "If possible, I would like for you to stay a tiger-girl now. Not that I wouldn't love any other version of you either, of course!"

"Thanks..."

"Oh, now that I think about it, it would also really help with your training if you stay that way."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Judging by the reactions here, if a wild tiger-girl runs through the capital... Yeah, you won't ever be shy or reserved again after that."

"A-Ah!" Sophia forgot that they were heading to the tiger-people central. "It might be a bad idea, after all? It could cause many problems..." She wanted to run away.

"It's not like anyone could do anything to you. If it becomes too bothersome, we can simply leave again."

"No one could stop us." Fen agreed.

"You two... Also, Maya, you took after Fen way too quick."

"Like you're one to talk."

"..." Sophia had no retort ready.

"Anyway, let's give it a try. Your boosts should be working overtime in that situation, getting you used to them in no time."

"Hmm..." She wasn't convinced.

"Well, we could always resort to plan A. Now that we're a couple, I can think of all sorts of extreme things. Either way, you will get used to your boosts before long."

"Uuh... I'm i-intrigued, but also scared... Let's try the capital thing first."

"Aww..." The cat-girl was actually disappointed. Ever since her confession, she had gotten slightly thirsty.

"Let's make that, uhh, plan B f-for now, okay...?" Though her old personality made it hard for her to talk about it, Sophia wasn't much different from Maya in that regard.

"Yay~." She was okay with her answer.

After the group finished their slightly turbulent lunch, the two girls could finally do what they came to the city for, going on an extended shopping spree.