NOVEL NEXT Chapter 381 – Mother and daughter
Chloe, Fey, and Mira reunited with the others after having had some alone time, and the full fox told Sophia and the group what happened in the human capital that she visited to clean up. As it turned out, rather than completely burning it to the ground, she started a revolt. Their castle still burned down, though. She had taken the army Sophia broke during the war some time ago and made them the new leaders, as they’re painfully aware of what would happen if they won’t change their attitude.
“Alright, enough about that topic.” Fey didn’t want to talk about the humans anymore and faced the wolves. “I’m still interested in why you two are here. Also, Aura, why is your magic maxed out? It didn't use to be like that as far as I can remember."
“I met Sophia during spring, and we stayed together because she was and is quite interesting. During our travels, our group kept growing on the way to the beastfolk capital she wanted to see. From there, Aura and I went a bit on an exploration and ran into this village. That’s pretty much it.”
“About my magic…” The female wolf got a little awkward. “I had the glorious idea of trying to teleport myself and…”
“Are you an idiot?!” Fey got loud.
“Yup.” She simply nodded. “I had no idea it was basically impossible, okay? Thankfully, according to Canir, I somehow got saved by magic because I got extra power to not die from it. Well, I almost died, but I made it.”
“You’re welcome~.” Mira smiled at her.
“Eh…?” Aura faced her. “Did you…?”
“Yes." She kept smiling. "I noticed what was about to happen, increased the ambient magic around you, and ordered it to guide you through it. We didn’t want you to die now, did we?”
“T-Thank you..." The female wolf sounded incredibly touched.
“H-Hey!” Fey and Fen didn’t like the tone in her voice.
“Ahaha,” Mira smiled at the slightly jealous-sounding duo before looking at Aura again. “I wasn’t expecting for the authority to stick to you, though. You weren’t supposed to end up with the demons, either.”
“I see. Thank you!”
“Are you alright with telling them about the authority part?” The full fox sounded a little concerned.
“It’s alright. Canir already told them about that.”
“Wait...” Sophia joined their conversation. “Speaking of Canir, if I remember right, when he told us about Aura’s accident, he never mentioned that part. In fact, he also sounded rather confused about the details.”
“That’s because I don’t think I’ve ever told him?” Mira tried to recall it.
“Isn’t he the main overseer?” Maya tilted her head. “Wouldn’t that mean he oversees and knows everything...?”
“Not even close, my dear~.” Mira smiled at her. “While he has a general understanding of everything, and his magic is the most potent around as it’s compatible with every system, when it comes to the fine details of this world specifically, his knowledge about magic covers maybe one-third. At best. That’s why us local and or specialized overseers exist.”
“Oh, I see!” The cat-girl nodded a few times.
"TELL ME EVERYTHING!" Sophia's eyes instantly started to sparkle. "I want to learn more about magic!"
“No can do~.” She replied with a rather cheeky expression. “There are a few exceptions I do every now and then,” The teal fox took a quick glance at Fey. “But I usually don’t meddle with the magic development. You have to discover it yourself.”
“Aww...”
“I do give some tips every now and then, though. To guide you in the right direction if you’re onto something. Also, if you've discovered something, I will honestly confirm or deny it without being wishy-washy about it."
“Ohh!” The tiger liked the sound of that much more. “I hope you’re prepared to hear one ridiculous idea after another from me!”
“From me, as well!” The sisters were on the same page.
“S-Same!” So was Chloe.
“More than prepared, I’m looking forward to it~.” Mira gave all of them a thumbs-up. “As the overseer of magic, it fills me with great joy hearing the wildest theories about my system.”
“Hmm...” It seemed like Fen wanted to say something while he faced the teal fox. “If you helped Aura survive her experiment... Why didn’t you bring her back to the place she started out?”
“Ahh…” The expression of the overseer turned a little awkward. “I didn’t actually know where she ended up for quite a while. Thanks to her change in authority, I lost her. I mean, especially with her magical powers having reached the limit, she has quite the aura, sorry about the bad pun, but there are a number of individuals on the demon continent who got close enough to the limit, as well. Combined with me overseeing the demon continent quite irregularly because they’re doing a fantastic job on their own, it took me a while to notice what was going on."
“That sounds understandable.” The male wolf had nothing else to say.
“Once I found her, and saw how much fun she was having with the dragons, I infused the strongest of them with a sort of healing-based magic that helped you regain your memories once he bonked you.”
"DRAGONS?!" Steph and Chloe got loud.
“Thank you for helping me, but…” Aura ignored the excited-sounding duo. “Why in such a roundabout way…?”
“Why not?” Mira had an easy explanation for it. "I thought this would be the most, uhh… natural way. Again, I usually don’t interfere to this degree, unless I confirm or deny some sort of milestones in magic discoveries, but I do like you quite a lot, as you’re part of the group that enjoys magic the most in this world. That’s why I helped you out more without making it too obvious.”
“T-Thank you…” Aura’s voice changed again.
“H-Hey!” Once more, Fen and Fey didn’t like that.
“Are those the sorts of misunderstandings Ari and I create every now and then…?” Sophia noticed a slight similarity between her and the somewhat ambiguous duo in front of them.
“Yes.” The cat-girl simply nodded.
“Ahh…”
"Err, could we return to that dragon topic for a moment?” Steph had no intention of letting that uncommented.
“EXACTLY!” Chloe liked the sound of that even more. “There are dragons?!”
“Yes.” Mira smiled at the duo. “They are native to the demon continent, and there are many of those fellows around there."
“They are great fun!” Aura joined in. "They love to fight and pack a nice punch on top!"
“I’m not sure about the fighting part, but I SOOO want to see a dragon! Let’s go!”
“What she said!” The dog and pink fox were on the exact same page.
“Don’t worry, Steph.” Sophia looked at her. “Visiting the demon continent and the dragons is already on our travel itinerary.”
“YAY!” The couple liked that a lot.
“You two sure get along great.” Fey got a little suspicious over how in sync they were.
“Ah.” They instantly got awkward.
“I know, right?” Mira’s smile got even bigger when she agreed to the full fox's observation. "It’s no wonder those two started dating, isn’t it?”
"..." The feeling around Fey instantly changed while she focused her attention on them. "What?"
"A-Ah!” They had no better reaction to it.
“Wait!” The overseer noticed her mistake. “Right! You didn’t know about that yet, didn’t you?”
“I did not.”
“Ahh~” Mira scratched her cheek. “Oopss...”
“D-Don’t oops me!” Chloe got loud. "You're the one who gave us the last push after you made me kiss her!"
“Oh, is that so?” Fey stared at the teal fox. Her voice seemed perfectly calm, but it somehow sounded very unsettling.
“Brr…” The blonde even started shivering in response.
“Was that really necessary?” Mira stole a few glances at the pink fox.
"A-After you just blurted out my relationship with Steph without me having had the chance to prepare Feyfey…? Yes. Yes, it was necessary.” Interestingly enough, Chloe’s voice had the exact same feel to it as the full fox.
"A-Ah.”
“Why exactly was Chloe unsure if Fey's her actual mother…?” Maya was confused as she definitely inherited some traits of her.
"No idea." The wolves and the tiger shook their heads.
“Sooo," Ignoring them, the full fox then focused all of her attention on Steph. “You are dating my daughter?”
“Y-Yeshn!” She bit her tongue.
“Is that how you’re supposed to reply?”
“N-No!”
“Mom!” Chloe raised her voice again. “Be nice to her! Steph did nothing wrong!”
“I don’t remember her getting my permission to date you, though.”
“She doesn’t need to get your permission!” The pink fox got even louder. "She has mine, and that's all she needs!”
“I-It would be great to have it, though.” The dog-girl tried her best to match the gaze of Fey. “I love her, and I only have the best intentions!”
“You love her?”
“Yes! I mean, I undoubtedly fell for her at first sight, and I enjoyed every second we spent with each other so far! I’d say that counts!”
“That doesn’t sound too confident...” Fey had some mixed feelings.
“W-Well, we only know each other for around a week. My feelings are strong and grow with each passing moment, but we’re also still getting to know each other.”
“You know each other for a week and already started dating my daughter?”
"A-Ah.”
“M-Mom, stop that!” Chloe glared at her mother. “It was a mutual decision! I also fell for her, and I want it to work out! Where's the problem in changing up the usual routine a little?!"
“Mrmnn...” She grumbled a little more before her tense expression eventually loosened up a little. As far as one could tell from a full, at least. The pink fox was her number one, after all, so being glared at by her made even her flinch. “So,” Even then, she wasn’t done questioning the dog just yet and looked at her again. “You only have the best intentions, is what you said. What are your intentions?”
“My number one priority is to make both of us happy!”
“Shouldn’t your number one priority be to make her happy?”
“MOM!” The pink fox glared at her again.
“The one doesn’t work without the other.” Steph just smiled at Fey. “If Chloe isn’t happy, I am not happy.”
“It’s the same the other way around!” The girl in question interrupted her.
“Ehehe~.” The dog-girl liked that. “That’s what I mean. Of course, making Chloe happy is part of my number one priority, but how can I make anyone happy without being happy myself? Being with her makes me happy, though. Thanks to that, as long as that’s the case, I can do my best to make her happy, as well. Both of us need to be happy to make each other happy!”
“…” The full fox went silent.
“She’s good.” Mira sounded impressed.
“S-Shush!” Fey didn’t appreciate her stating the obvious. “What things do you like to do? What brings you joy in life?” She continued to concentrate on Steph.
“Uhh…” She needed a moment. “I like taking care of people, I guess? My sister was a major pain, but I loved making her life just a little better!"
"T-Thanks for that…" The pain in question reacted with a wry smile.
“Anytime~.” She gave her a thumbs up before looking at Fey again. “Other than that, I absolutely adore traveling! If I can be out in nature and explore unknown places, I'm the happiest girl you've ever come along!"
“Is that so…?”
“Yup!” She gave her a big nod. "Unless it gets too hot… I might become a little sluggish and whiney, then… I'll still be interested in the place, though! Even so, I prefer colder places."
“…” The full fox went silent again.
“They’re made for each other, aren’t they?” The overseer just had to say it.
“Mrr…” The full fox snarled at the teal one. Obviously, no one knew Chloe better than her, and so she was absolutely aware of how compatible they seemed to be. Still, as an overly doting mother, she couldn’t just admit that.
As a result of that, Fey needed some time to cope with the situation.
