NOVEL NEXT Chapter 363 – Questions and explanations
Steph and Chloe’s date somehow had ended up in a rather interesting place. After exploring Mira's shrine and touching one of her statues there, the duo got transported to her domain, just as Sophia visited Canir every so often. The overseer of magic had a much more magical domain, though, as it was a mythical forest type of place. While exploring, they eventually found a small cottage and ran into Mira herself soon after, as well.
“So…” Chloe wasn’t sure how to start the conversation. The trio had gone to the living room of Mira’s cottage, there was tons of wood, and it looked very cozy, and the duo was sitting on one sofa while the divine fox-girl sat on one opposite of them. “Can I know more about you and Feyfey? Why does she have her own statue in your shrine in the capital?”
“Fey and I became good friends a few hundred years ago.” Mira smiled at her. “I also like to walk on the world when I have the chance. Fey and I were seen traveling together quite often in the past, and… Well, I think you can see where this is going.”
“Ohh, I see!” The pink fox nodded a few times. “Feyfey never told me about that… She did mention you a lot, though! Wait, is that why the way she taught me magic is so different from how most learned it?”
"Yes," Mira answered her. "I’ve made a rule to myself that I won’t interfere with how people learn and understand magic and how it works. Unfortunately, people around here are quite lazy and simply went with the easiest way of using it… Anyway, Fey and the two wolves you met came pretty close to the true way of using it. When we got closer, and I was perfectly comfortable around her, I may ended up letting slip something every now and then… She doesn’t know absolutely everything about magic, but besides me, there’s no one with a deeper knowledge of the magic system of this world than her.”
“Ohhh!” Chloe liked the sound of that. “I guess that means I got twice as lucky with her, huh?” She seemed pretty happy about something. “The best mom and teacher in one person!”
“…” The white fox seemed to be struggling to find the right words. "Fey's the best. Full stop."
“YES!” She more than agreed with that. “If you know her that well… Can I ask something…?”
“If it’s something I can answer, I’ll more than gladly be of help.”
“Is Feyfey my mother…? My actual one?”
“Ah.” Mira paused for a second. “Am I really the right person to tell you?”
“B-But Feyfey always gets so evasive when I start the subject…”
“Let’s see…” The white fox scratched her cheek. “The next time you ask her about it, tell her I said she should be honest about what she is. She listens to me, and I'm sure she'll tell you the truth."
“Really?”
“Tell her I’ll get upset with her otherwise.”
“Alright!” As hearing that from a goddess sounded quite impactful, Chloe was more than happy with that. “But, that does mean you know my parents, right…? Both of them.”
"Yes. Yes, I do." She gave her a slight nod.
“I see! If Feyfey still doesn’t tell me, I will come back and bug you about it!”
“Okay.” Mira seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the pink fox.
“Good!” She was very happy about that.
“You sure got comfortable fast with her.” Steph faced Chloe after having watched their exchange. “The whole actual god, goddess, and or overseer thing is pretty alien to me, so I’m not sure how awesome this meeting is, but weren’t you a lot more nervous around Canir? Initially, at least.”
“Hmm…” She tilted her head while looking at Mira. “Why wasn’t I nervous with you?”
“…” The white fox looked back at her. “How can I answer that?”
“T-True!”
“Well, she does seem a lot friendlier, approachable, and easier to get along with compared to Canir. He is a good guy, though.” The dog-girl tried to come up with an explanation.
“Thank you~.” Mira smiled at her.
“That’s definitely true!” Chloe nodded a couple of times. “Is that all, though…?” She looked a little confused and glanced at her fellow fox again. “I do feel really at ease when talking with you! It reminds me a lot of Feyfey!”
“Is… that so?” She seemed to have some mixed feelings about that.
“Yes! I can really see why the two of you got along in the past! Feyfey has excellent taste, after all! I definitely approve! I love Feyfey, and so I like you, too!”
“…” Mira seemingly needed a moment. “It makes me very happy to hear that. I love hearing the high praise of Fey."
“Ehehe~.”
“Alrighty, can I also ask some questions?” Once it seemed like the duo was done, for the time being, Steph got excited again.
“I’ll happily answer everything I can.” The white fox changed her attention to the dog-girl.
“The wolves mentioned it, and I saw it in the shrine, too! You can transform into a full fox, right?!"
“I can.” She smiled at her. “In fact, that’s my true or natural form. My hybrid form just is more approachable or relatable for most, so I use that from time to time, as well. Not to mention that a humanoid body has its very own merits. Especially the female one.”
“Hehe.” Steph liked that answer a lot. “Anyway, I want to do that, too!”
"Do what now?"
“Turn into a full animal! A big dog, in my case!" She sounded extremely excited about it.
“Eh?!” Chloe had some rather mixed feelings about the idea, though. “You want to become a full…?”
“Not forever or anything.” She shook her head. “But it sounds really fun, and I’d love to experience it at least once! Being fluffy all over and running around on a field on all fours!"
“Hmm…” The pink fox still wasn't sure how she thought about it.
“Well, it is possible, but I’m not sure if I can recommend it.” Mira tilted her head a little while giving her reply.
“Why not?”
“It’s extremely complex and complicated to use this sort of magic. How does your tail feel, by the way?"
“Itchy!” Steph’s answer was instantaneous. “It’s gotten much better, though.”
"See? What do you think will happen if you change your entire body to something else?"
“A-Ah.”
“If you mess up, all of those, let’s call them features of your new animal self, will be permanently added to your brain and nervous system. Just like your tail and some of the instincts you gained before. At best, you can’t change back again. At worst, let’s not go there…”
“O-Okay…” Steph didn’t like the sound of that.
“It is possible if you’re able to create some… extra space to put your second, uhh… persona. Sorry, it’s a little hard to explain… Basically, when you switch between animal and hybrid, everything related to it also switches.”
“Two in one, basically…?” The dog-girl tilted her head.
“More or less.” Mira nodded once. “You have to exist twice in yourself where only your personality, thoughts, memories, and things like that are shared between both.”
“That sounds super complicated!”
“That’s putting it way too lightly.” The white fox looked a little awkward. “I’m the overseer and ruler of magic, and even I almost deemed it impossible."
“Too bad!” She didn’t like that reply. “I was really looking forward to that!”
“Well, despite the warning, it’s not impossible. You have basically no control of the magic I’ve given you right now, but if you train a lot and move towards it little by little, you might be able to succeed eventually.”
“Ohhh!” Her mood improved again. “Speaking of, why did you give me so much of your magic? I heard that what Canir did for Sophia was already way too overpowered, but I got even more from you!”
“Exactly because of that~.” Mira’s expression became a little cheeky. “We can’t be outdone by them, can we?”
“Oh my gosh, I love you even more now!” Steph liked her reasoning a lot. “I am planning to share some of my magic, though… I might end up below Sophia again.”
“That’s totally fine! I gave you way more than you can use at once, anyway. Besides, because it's my authority, it recovers even faster than Canir’s in this world. It literally recovers faster than you can reasonably spend it. I govern the magic of this world, after all.”
“Oh, that’s just like Feyfey’s and my authority!” Chloe joined their conversation. “It also recovers super fast! Mine’s even faster than hers, actually! Did you give some of yours to her, too?"
“That’s perfect!” The dog-girl looked at her. “I want to share it with you, after all, and it sounds like our magic is compatible!”
“Y-You really don’t have to!”
“I want to, though!” Steph had no intention of letting her be humble. “I can do that, right?” She faced Mira again.
“Yes.” The white fox nodded. “That’s the privilege of overseer magic. It can be shared. The total amount of your magic will also keep growing much faster than everyone else. Another overseer benefit.”
“Perfect! Wait…?” She heard something odd in her reply. “Did I become a goddess and or overseer without even noticing…?”
“E-Eh?!” Chloe sounded even more surprised than the girl in question.
"Not exactly." Mira lightly shook her head. "To be considered an official overseer, you need a certain level of total authority, be able to create your own domain, and a few other specialized magics."
“Aww…” Steph sounded quite disappointed. “That sounded sooo fun, too!”
"You really are most interesting!" The white fox was becoming more and more of a fan. "You have the potential, though. If you keep growing your magic, which has the properties of overseer authority, as it’s mine, it is possible in the future.”
“Awesome!” She got even more excited. “Well, I'll first lose a good bit, but that definitely goes onto my list of goals!”
“I look forward to your accomplishments~.”
“So, how do I share my magic?” The dog-girl got back on track. “You gave me an infused peach…? Do I have to enchant a fruit or something like that…?”
"Oh, no, that was just because you got it straight from the source. Me, that is. To share yours, a little more effort is needed.”
“And that is?”
“A kiss while thinking about transferring magic should work well.”
“H-Huh?!” Chloe reacted before Steph had the chance.
“Ohhh!” Her eyes started sparkling. “How? Where? Cheek? Hand? Lips? Somewhere else entirely?!”
“Where do you think would be best to share something!”
“Ohh!” Hearing that, Steph immediately looked right into Chloe's eyes.
"S-Stop looking at me like that!" Her entire face turned red. "W-Wait! Sophia was able to share her magic just by holding Anna's hand! Here!" She held up her hand that was still connected with that of the dog-girl. "I-Isn't that enough?!"
"That's only because Canir's authority is above everything else. It isn’t bound to any rules and can be brute forced. He also simply pumped Sophia full of a blank version of it rather than adjusting it for her. Because of that, the two can share it by just thinking about it. With some training, Sophia probably could do it purely by thinking about the person she wants to boost." Mira tried to explain the differences. “My authority is bound by more rules because it is the rules. Well, on paper, at least. Let's just say that I can skip a few steps, but I added some extra safeties for Steph’s version of my powers.”
“I-I see…” Her face only turned redder.
“Alright!” Steph intensified her stare at the pink fox-girl instead.
“D-Don’t alright me!”
“You don’t want to kiss me?”
“T-That’s not the issue!”
“It’s not?!” The dog hadn’t expected that. She was obviously super excited about everything, but it was rather hard to tell whether she was serious or simply teasing right now.
“T-That’s not something you do on a whim!”
“Kissing or sharing magic?”
“Yes!”
“I-I see…”
"A k-kiss like that is too early!” Chloe specified the real issue.
“H-Huh?!” Hearing that, the slight blush that had appeared on Steph’s cheeks fully lit up.
“Someone has no defense, huh?” Mira was seemingly enjoying their exchange.
“S-Shush!” The dog-girl wasn’t and turned her face away in a huff. It also seemed like she started pouting, but it was hard to tell because of her bright red face.
“Hehe.” The white fox let out a small chuckle before facing the pink one. “Pshh, hey, Chloe." She started whispering to her.
“Y-Yes…?” She naturally also was affected by the current situation.
“Go for that instead.” Saying so, Mira started tapping her cheek with a finger while gesturing at Steph.
“W-What?!”
“You understand me.”
“B-But!”
"Trust me~." The white fox gave her a thumbs up together with a smile.
“…” Being frozen for a moment, Chloe eventually glanced over to Steph next to her, who was still looking away from them to hide her embarrassment. “R-Really…?”
“Really!”
“…” She needed another moment to prepare herself, but the pink-haired girl eventually leaned closer to Steph, and a second later, she lightly pressed her lips against the dog-girl’s cheek. It only lasted a moment and seemed rather clumsy, but she still managed to do it properly before swiftly putting in some distance between them again.
“?!!” Steph was only able to react with an incomprehensible squeal-like sound while her face managed to turn even redder as she started panicking.
“…” Chloe had turned her face in the opposite direction because she was unable to look at anyone, either.
“To be young again.” Mira, on the other hand, was doing just fine, though.
After everything that happened, the duo was out of commission, and they had to take a break to calm down.
