Sophia finally managed to enter a city after arriving in her new world. It wasn't the one she had planned, as it was a beastfolk one, but that was for the better in the end. Naturally, she was excited about all the new sights and fascinating people. Still, before she could even begin exploring, she noticed the major problem at hand.

"Ah, I have no money!" Being needlessly dramatic, she sank to her knees.

"What are you even talking about…?" Chiyo looked at her with a questioning expression.

"Well, I have absolutely no currency of this wo… err, continent."

"That won't be a problem." The lizardmen of the group, Rashk, chided in. "You see, we didn't hunt… try to hunt that rock golem just for fun. A local jeweler made a request for it."

"A jeweler?" Sophia didn't see the connection.

"Did you notice the red eyes of the golems? Those are actual jewels, expensive ones at that."

"Ahh… Sorry, I didn't pay attention to that at all."

"Don't worry, Masi and I collected the eyes while you were busy talking with Chiyo. As you and Fen were the ones who killed them, they're obviously all yours. Though, if possible, I would like to ask for one of the eyes to cover the expenses our group had..."

"Eh? Of course, keep two if you want. We wouldn't have known about the eyes in the first place."

"Nonono, we can't do that! One is already on the greedy side because we contributed to nothing." Rashk vehemently denied her offer.

"Okay, if you say so." Sophia had no reason to turn him down. "Speaking of which, what are these jewels worth anyway?"

"Hmm… let's see, with five of them, you'll probably be able to live with ease in this city for a couple of… months."

"M-Months?! Just by beating some small fries?!"

"Sophia," Chiyo sighed. "Please don't apply your common sense here. Rock golems are exceptionally powerful monsters for most of us."

"A-Ahh…" She noticed how Fen had already warped her knowledge of this world to an irreparable degree.

That being taken care of, the group went to the jeweler who had asked for the golem's eyes. Once he had recovered from the shock of being offered six eyes, he happily paid them and even gave a little extra. While walking along the city's main road, Sophia looked at the bag full of golden coins she had received.

"100 Gold coins per eye, huh? Is that much? Too little? Fair?" She had no idea about this world's currency system.

"It's quite generous. He was happy being able to get his hands on so many at once, and overpaid a little." Masi gave her a short explanation.

"Ah, I see."

"By the way, depending on how extravagant you want to live, you need about 50 to 100 Gold coins per month.

"Wow." She looked at her bag again.

"How long do you and Fen intend to stay here, Sophia?" Chiyo asked her about their plans.

"Hmm, good question. I wasn't sure whether or not I could enter the city in the first place, so… Fen, what do you think?"

"I don't particularly care. You're the one who wanted to travel. I merely decided to tag along."

"Right… Well, we're not going to stay long enough to spend all the money. Maybe a week, I guess?" She wasn't sure about it yet.

"O-Okay…" Chiyo didn't look overly happy with the answer for some reason.

"Anyway, I know it's still a bit early, but let's go and hit the bar regardless!" Rashk announced so, and the odd group of a lizardmen, a cat-girl, a guy with panda ears, a wolf, and an alleged demon-girl went to the bar the beastpeople party frequented.

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"Oh~." Sophia entered the place and was instantly a fan of the atmosphere. The bar had a rustic feel, with lots of wood for the interior and slightly darker lighting. Even though it was only afternoon, the place was already filled with all sorts of people. She was fascinated by the diversity of the beastfolk. The girl spotted a group that looked like bears, many hybrids like Chiyo, some leaning more towards their beast side, and others could be mistaken as humans at first glance. She even found some people that had bird-like features like feathers or even wings. A lot of them took a peek at Sophia as well because she seemed to be human. Still, as most of them could sense magic powers to at least some degree, they noticed that she definitely wasn't one. They also understood that messing with that overly excited-looking girl would be a terrible idea. Though, some seemed like they would like to test her strength regardless.

"Oh, Chiyo and the gang!" A red-haired girl with floppy dog ears and a fluffy tail in a waitress-like uniform approached the group. "You're early today! Hmm? Who's that new girl and the wolf?"

"Ahh… some stuff happened… Well, they're new friends, I guess."

"Eh? Are you okay, Chiyo?!" Knowing the expression stuff happened never meant anything good, the waitress sounded concerned.

"I'm perfectly fine now!"

"Phew, that's good then." Seeming visibly relieved about the cat-girl's well-being, she guided the group to a fitting table afterward. She showed them to one with enough room for Fen to have a place as well, by being able to sit beside the table.

"What do you want to drink, Sophia?" Chiyo addressed her. "Fen, too?"

"Hmm…" Not knowing anything about this world's beverages, she took the easy way out. "I'll leave the choice to you."

"Okay." Nodding, she looked at her party members. "The usual?"

"The usual." They gave her a slight nod.

"Hey, Dannie, a round of the usual, please!" Chiyo called out to the dog-girl waitress from earlier.

"Sure~." Happily accepting the order, she arrived only a couple of minutes later with a tray of drinks. It was a pale blue liquid in a small glass that the girl placed in front of everyone.

"Soo, what's this?" Sophia was curiously eying the drink.

"It's called Angel Sky, super delicious!"

"I see…" Not really having gotten an explanation from Chiyo, she tried her luck and took a sip from it. "Sooo sweet! Ah, but not bad."

"Yeah, it's super sweet, but we like that after a day of work. You just have to take care because while you can't taste it, this drink has a significant amount of alcohol in it."

"Hmm, is that so?" Sophia took another glance at the glass before downing the liquid in one go.

"Oho, seems like today's going to be fun." Rashk downed his drink as well, and so did the others. Even Fen took part as he picked up the glass directly with his snout and threw back his head.

Over an hour and many rounds of drinks later, the mood at their table had turned pretty festive. Sophia had eaten through half of the bar's food but was slowly becoming aware of something.

"I can't get drunk, huh?" She was in a good mood, no questioning that, but she felt that something was missing, especially after seeing in how high spirits the rest of the group was. Even Fen seemed way more loose than usual. "So that resistance got boosted as well. So, does that mean if I keep drinking until it gets overloaded… do I get super drunk in an instant then, or what? Somehow, I don't want to find out if that's the case! Yeah, let's keep it in moderation!" Even without the effect of the alcohol, she still enjoyed the evening, getting drunk on the atmosphere instead.

The party continued for a good while. Sophia had switched entirely from alcohol to the tasty food of the bar eventually, fearing about the boost turning negative eventually. Getting dead drunk in an instant didn't sound like fun to her. It didn't dampen her mood whatsoever, though, because the food was excellent.

Unfortunately, every fun time has to come to an end eventually. While the group was happily eating and drinking, the door of the bar suddenly flung wide open.

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"There you are, Masi!" A girl was standing in the doorframe while pointing at the group. She looked to be around the same age as Sophia and even gave off a similar young-but-mature-looking feel. The girl was a good bit taller than Sophia, and it also seemed like she already had her much-desired growth spurt in certain other areas. Just like Sophia, she was slightly on the slender side. Still, she definitely had more curves, especially in the chest area—much to the other's envy. The girl had long, snow-white, open hair and big, deep-blue eyes with slightly slit pupils. Upon closer inspection, Sophia then noticed that, just like Chiyo, this girl was of the cat tribe as well. She had some cat-like ears on top of her head, filled with cotton-like fluff that looked like it would feel incredible to the touch. The animal ears were a set that came together with a seemingly silky-smooth tail, which was sticking out somewhere from her back. Both had the same snow-white color as her hair, without any discoloration whatsoever. Those were the only animal features the white-haired girl had, though. The rest of her body seemed to be the same as a human's.

The cat-girl was wearing a white, short-sleeved dress shirt with red accents and a fitting white vest over it, sporting a thin red outline. This perfectly matched her ever so slightly short, pleated white skirt with a red hem accenting it, immediately followed by a pair of pure white thigh-high overknee-socks. Complimenting those, her slightly heeled boots were in a two-tone white and red color.

"G-Geh…" The guy in question, Masi, had instantly sobered up and didn't seem too pleased about the girl's arrival.

"I've been looking for you! Where were you?!"

"I… did tell you that our party went on a hunt a couple of days ago, did I not, Maya?"

"Ah, right, I forgot."

"Haa…" He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Whatever! I managed to do it! I want to test it out immediately! Fight me!" The white cat-girl seemed excited about something.

"Haa…" Another sigh. "Look, can't you see we have company? Not now, okay?"

"Company…?" Only now, she looked at the rest of the group, and her eyes eventually met Sophia's.

"…"

"…"

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and as if being in perfect sync, the two spoke up at the exact same time.

"You're cute!"

"Fight me!"

Apparently, as it turned out, they weren't in synch at all. Sophia was looking at her for a very obvious reason and accidentally blurted out the first thing that went through her head. Simultaneously, Maya had noticed the magical power of the new girl, making her excited for an entirely different reason.

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

The first meeting between Sophia and Maya was a very particular one. One they would remember even years later, whether the two wanted to or not, because it's hard to beat in terms of how much you can embarrass yourself. At least in Sophia‘s eyes.

 

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Illustration of Maya (More in the next chapter):