During the first debriefing after the war, Sophia got somewhat talkative and told everyone why she tends to get so angry when humans are involved in any way. Sharing her previous experience with them, everyone present understood her motivation and felt less intimidated by the girl, too. Once the king decided on ending the briefing for the day, Sophia immediately decided to run away. However, Menzor was fast enough to invite her for the continuation on the next day.

"Well, that was something..." Maya stretched herself on the bed of the room that was prepared for the two. As the mansion of the mayor was big enough to accommodate everyone of importance, they didn't have to look for a place to stay in the city. "What made you tell them so much?" She faced Sophia, who had gotten comfortable on a nearby armchair.

"Good question." She tilted her head. "I started talking and... kinda just felt like it? Though, I think that much was needed for them to understand my standpoint."

"Yeah, they don't seem to be as scared anymore."

"But, on the other hand, I maybe could've skipped tomorrow's meeting if they were still afraid of me."

"Just give it up already."

"Yeah..." Sophia sighed in response. "I'll have to deal with it."

"Good girl." Maya got up from the bed and gently patted the tiger-girl's head, caressing her hair a little while lightly brushing against her ears.

"Mhmmm~." A deep and almost purr-like sound escaped her lips. "I-I still can't get over how sensitive my ears are, and by extent my whole head. It feels really nice when you do it, though~."

"Ehehe~." She smiled because there are few more intimate things for the feline beastfolk, and it's a sign of absolute trust. "Don't let anyone else ever touch your ears! It's a privilege only lovers have, after all."

"It would be the last thing they ever do." Sophia instinctively knew that she would hate it with every fiber of her being.

"Great!" She gave her another ruffle before removing her hand. "How about we have our bath and then call it a day?"

"Absolutely! I want to relax a little and then sleep for about 20 hours. So, no touchy in the bath or bed today!"

"I would ne-... Okay, fine." Maya stopped in the middle and recalled how a lot of their bathing session, among other things, often went. "You also have to hold yourself back then, though. It's not like I'm the only one."

"I promise nothing. NOTHING!"

"Hey! Unfair! Wait, why am I complaining…?"

Once the couple finished with their way of flirting, they went to the adjacent bath and took a relaxing dip in the water. After they most definitely didn't spend twice as long as one usually would in the tub, the two finally went to bed. There, Sophia fell asleep instantly, though. It was a long day for her, after all.

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

Unfortunately, she didn't get her 20 hours of sleep. The second after-war debriefing was scheduled for the following day, and the king made clear that the blonde tiger-girl had to be present. Once Maya finally managed to wake her up, they rushed to get ready and met up with everyone else after somehow managing to have a quick breakfast because the blonde demanded to have that.

"So sleepy~..." Even though she was present, Sophia had yet to reach the point where her brain's working.

"Welcome, everyone." The king ignored her slight sloppiness and greeted everyone. "Yesterday, we talked about Sophia and learned about her motivation about why she did us such a huge favor. Again, on behalf of everyone, thank you very much!"

"Haa~… As I said, it's fine~."

"Today, we'll have to talk about the possible consequences of the war, though. Sophia announced that she was doing everything on her own accord to the humans. Still, they most likely won't believe her because she is of the tiger-family, after all. Also, I, the king of the beastfolk, stand 100% behind her words. Her feelings on the matter are my feelings, our feelings. There's no doubt they'll blame the royal family and the entire folk regardless."

"Err... maybe it's because I'm still half asleep... but what blame...? What kind of right do they think they have to put any blame on us?"

"They obviously have none. They started the war. They lost it." One of the commanders understood Sophia's confusion. "The problem is, they're humans. They're neither reasonable nor particularly intelligent with these kinds of things. Do they strike you as the type to stay quiet after this?"

"Well, if you put it that way..." Sophia couldn't disagree. "But! I think I made myself pretty clear that I won't tolerate any of that. I'm also sure I mentioned going after them if they don't stop." The sleepiness in her voice was gone by now. "As a matter of fact, I most definitely will."

"Yes, you did make your standpoint clear." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"To add, none of these human soldiers will ever fight again. I made sure to completely break their mind and spirits with my darkness magic. They shouldn't have many problems with a normal life, but ever standing on a battlefield again, or going near the beastfolk should be next to impossible for them."

"Yes, we stayed behind until they regained consciousness to make sure they retreated and noticed their mental state. Those who hadn't yet, immediately soiled themselves the moment we came near with a terrified expression. We tried to interrogate their commanders, but it was of no use. They weren't able to converse in an understandable way. Because of that, we only took care of supervising their retreat."

"I've seen people die on the battlefield, and they didn't look nearly as mortified as some of the humans when we came near them." One of the commanders also shared his experience. "That darkness magic of yours is something else entirely."

"I'm still a little confused..." Sophia tilted her head while trying to understand the problem.

"Imagine you're one of these self-centered and conceited humans." The king tried to explain it to her.

"I would rather not." She didn't like the idea one bit.

"Just play along for a minute."

"Alright..."

"Even better, you're the king of such an arrogant race. The army you sent out to defeat some lowly beastfolk comes back to you after getting completely beaten into submission. The soldiers are useless now, and your best commanders are begging you to never touch these beasts again. Do you listen to these failures, or do you get angry and try something even more stupid? Remember who you are in this situation."

"If you put it that way... Well, I did tell those supreme idiots they better convince their higher-ups to listen to them. I guess that's easier said than done, huh?"

"We believe this to be the case." Menzor agreed with her conclusion. "Also, there's the distance you have to keep in mind. They'll need months to reach the human capital."

"I see... It was a little naive to think this would instantly do the trick, huh...? Do they even have enough people for any kind of revenge? I took a lot of their soldiers out of commission, after all."

"Unfortunately, numbers are about the only thing humans have going on for them. This war was nothing but a scratch to their army. This is the reason we have to take them somewhat seriously. Their individual strength is nonexistent, and even small groups pose no threat to a single one of us. Still, if you pour wave after wave of humans at us, they'll eventually manage to hurt us." One of the army commanders explained the problem with humans.

"They really are just like insects..." The blonde tiger-girl was baffled. "What are our options, then? My goal still is for them to stop harassing us."

"It's a certainty that they'll seek retribution. Once we're back in the capital, I'll immediately send messengers to our intelligence units to gather intel and to watch out even more for suspicious movements."

"Together with the king's decision, we'll also order our subdivisions to increase their presence. Our borders aren't strictly defined, so we'll have to spread thinner to cover enough land to deal with any surprise attacks." The commanders were also prepared.

"Hrmmm..." It seemed like Sophia wanted to say something.

"Speak up." Menzor noticed her grumbling.

"Well... First off, I think it's a great idea to increase our defenses and protect the people, but I'm looking for a less passive method... If they really learned nothing from yesterday, I want someone to tell me the location of the human capital."

"..." The conference room fell silent once again.

"I don't plan to raid it. That would be too much. I threatened the supreme idiots with destroying the capital. Still, I don't think I could actually do that unless something really extreme happens. Until now, I managed to hold myself back on killing someone because I don't think I'm emotionally prepared for that. Yes, even after what you all saw yesterday." She added that sentence after looking at the expression of the crowd.

"Then... What is your suggestion?" The king didn't fully understand her.

"Assuming nothing will change on their side, I might feel the need to visit the human king. I'll go to their capital, and I'll walk right into the castle to have a nice chat with him. I'm good with words, so I'm sure he'll understand once I get my point across.

" ..." The silence continued.

"Take it easy, Sophia." Maya grabbed her hand.

"I do. I actually mean it when I said I want to talk with him. What kind of conversation it will be, that's completely up to them, though."

"Oh, okay."

"The human capital is quite big." A commander addressed her in a skeptical tone. "If you simply walk around there and enter their castle to speak with their king, you'll have much more than just a conversation. You won't get there without fighting. Hordes of humans, that is."

"I guess that's to be expected..." Sophia wasn't surprised. "Well, I am able to visit the human king in his office or whatever without anyone noticing, so there's always this option."

"You can?!" More than one person in the room cried out.

"It's quite easy."

"That doesn't mean anything coming from you." The cat-girl spoke out what every single soul was thinking.

"Hmm... I need to consult my aides first..." Menzor naturally couldn't decide on the spot. "We always need to think about the possible consequences. It sounds more like a plan for when every other one failed."

"I don't want to be rude, but... didn't everything up until now fail? The humans still don't know their position, do they?"

"That's... I have no words..." The king's head sunk down. "I have to admit that we treated the humans too half-heartedly."

"I know I'm more or less an outsider, but I think this has to change."

"You most definitely aren't an outsider anymore." He immediately corrected her. "You are right... Even so, I want to wait this out a little more and see the effect of yesterday. Depending on how that goes, I plan to go the diplomatic route. I'll request a formal meeting with their king to try and negotiate to end this farce. And then, if it doesn't work out, we'll form a plan around your idea."

"Fine… I'll be waiting for it to go wrong."

"Thank you." Menzor nodded. "Unfortunately, I have bad news for you, too, though."

"Eh?" Sophia didn't like the sound of that.

"As you most likely are already aware of, rumors about your person started floating around in the capital. Combined with what happened yesterday and the plans with the humans in the future, which highly involves you, we have to formally introduce this new blonde tiger-girl to the public."

"E-Eh...?" Sophia really didn't like the sound of that.

"If we don't, all sorts of conspiracy theories will pop up sooner or later." The commanders agreed with the king.

"Uuh..."

"I respect that you declined my offer of joining the family through my daughter, we don't need to talk about that anymore. I leave the sort of connection you want with us up to you. It doesn't have to be immediately, but I'd like to hear a suggestion soon enough. Of course, in the end, you don't absolutely have to. I won't force. I can't force you. Still, without you being formally introduced as some sort of member of the royal family, it'll be complicated to rely on your help in the future."

"l... understand... I'll think of what I want to do..." Sophia's voice became somber.

"Thank you." The king was grateful for her understanding. "Alright, I think we've taken care of everything for the time being. I'll have a talk with the mayor now, and I suppose we're good to head back to the capital in the afternoon. I want to go back as soon as possible because there's a lot of work to be done. Everyone, prepare what you need to and get ready."

Once the meeting was over, Sophia left without saying a word and a slightly dejected expression on her face. Knowing the last part of the king's announcement was a lot to take in, Maya immediately followed her for mental support.