The couple played tag together because Maya wanted to test whether she could use air magic to run faster. It worked but even then, she couldn't match Sophia's raw speed. Fortunately, because her feline instincts are more honed than those of the new tiger-girl, she managed to outmaneuver and catch her in the end. Taking tight corners and having Sophia make a mistake by the pressure she was applying on her brought her the victory.

While they were relaxing after their workout, Sophia played around with the sensibility of her detection magic and found something that didn't belong to the area, a human.

"Why did you detect that human only now?" While the two were walking towards it, Maya tried to start a conversation. "Don't you have a huge range on it, and it runs constantly?"

"Yes, but I only let it show stronger targets because it's too much otherwise."

"I see... yeah, a human wouldn't show up, then."

"Absolutely. It was more of an accident for me to find them."

"So... what are you going to do?" The cat-girl wasn't sure if she even wanted to know.

" That entirely depends on that human. If they're hostile, so will I be. If not, I might even try to start a conversation."

"Really...?" She was surprised. "I honestly expected something else."

"Well... I want to learn to control my anger better. What's better than a human for that?"

"Literally everything." Maya stared at her with a disapproving expression. "Like, for real. Anything that exists in this world would be better."

"..." Sophia had no comeback. "Err... Canir also told me a couple of things about the human race that made me rather curious."

"Did he? Wait... is it really okay for a higher being such as him to meddle so much with the world...?"

"He's just bored."

"What a thing to say..." Maya rolled her eyes.

"His words, not mine."

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

The couple eventually entered a little forest next to the plain they were playing on before. There, they quickly found the human Sophia had detected, but the situation was a little different from what she imagined.

"Well, that's unexpected." Maya voiced the thought both of them had. "Yeah, that leg's definitely broken... and that's definitely not an easy fracture… yikes." There was indeed a human, but he was in bad shape. It was a male human in his mid-to-late twenties wearing the same military uniform as the humans Sophia fought a couple of days ago. He had brown hair, and his features were remarkably unremarkable. Though, the state of his health was far from that. He was leaning with his back against a tree and was either sleeping or unconscious. Judging by his body, the latter seemed much more likely. Not only did he look highly dehydrated, but his cut-up pants also revealed a swollen, black and blue leg, which was bent in a way legs definitely aren't supposed to.

"Hmm..." Sophia stared at him for a while.

"Are you going to help him?"

"Wasn't planning to, no." She didn't care much about his injuries. Instead, she picked up a nearby stone and lightly flicked it at the human. "A-Ah..." Unfortunately, her aim was a little off and perfectly hit his broken leg.

"Gaahh!" The intense pain forced him to regain consciousness and made him loudly scream in response.

"..." Maya felt a little sorry for him. Not overly much, though.

"Well, whatever. He's awake now." Sophia didn't feel sorry at all about her mistake.

"It hurts! It hurts sooo freaking much!" Out of reflex, he grabbed his leg, the cause of his pain, but that naturally made it only worse. "Gaaah!"

"Wow, he's an idiot... How unexpected." The tiger-girl had no sympathy whatsoever. "Don't be such a crybaby."

"E-Eh...?" The human was so focused on his leg that he only now noticed that he wasn't alone. "H-Huh?! You are-! Nooo, the m-monster! Please don't come near me! I-I won't try to do anything! Please!" Seeing Sophia, he instantly began to panic and screamed while covering his face with his arms.

"How rude!"

"I kinda get his point, though..." Maya could see where he was coming from.

"It's still not nice." While not denying it, she still pouted a little before focusing on the human again, and the tone of her voice changed once more. "Why are you still here?"

"W-Why...? Look at my leg... t-there's no way I can walk!"

"Oh, such a puny little injury is enough to put a superior human out of commission, huh?"

"..." He didn't answer.

"Well, we all know that your race is by no means superior to literally anything, so I don't need a reply, anyway." While saying so, Sophia walked over to a tree a little away from him and sat down there while leaning her back against it. Maya did the same right next to her.

"T-That's-!"

"Just don't even try to say anything. You know what I'm capable of."

"Urgh."

"So, again, why are you here? You guys had a full army... carrying an injured person shouldn't be a problem."

"..." He awkwardly looked away. "The supreme commanders... they ordered a swift retreat and to leave everyone behind who can't walk on their own..."

"Haa…" She needed a moment. "Seriously...?" Sophia was baffled. "You are joking, aren't you...?"

"Do... I look like it... It's common practice in the army."

"It is not. Really, why are you humans like that? Don't leave your people that went to war, no matter how pointless it was, behind to die in a field!"

"Don't any of you have any sliver of shame...?" Maya, too, was appalled.

"How... How does the army of the in... uh, the b-beastfolk handle such a situation...?

"What did you want to say?" Sophia noticed his pause and glared at him, but the cat-girl took over before she got too angry.

"Ignoring the part where we don't start a war, we know we have no chance of winning? For us, the war is only over once everyone is back home. It doesn't matter if they're unhurt, injured, or even dead. Every single one will get reunited with their family in one way or another."

"I-I see..." He hung his head.

"Mind answering a couple of questions I have about humanity?"

"Do... Does it m-matter if I mind?" He at Sophia with a terrified expression.

"No."

"I understand... What do you want to-... ack!" He suddenly and violently started to cough.

"What is it now again?"

"Cough... It rained a bit yesterday... but I haven't drunk anything much... since the war... three days ago..."

"Haa..." The tiger-girl sighed. It wasn't like she didn't understand, but something about the whole situation annoyed her to no end. "Here, have some water..." She thought for a moment about doing something akin to dropping a bucket on him, but it felt like it would waste too much time. Instead, she let a small ball of water appear in front of the human's face for him to drink.

"T-Thank you..." He marveled at the magic for a moment before quickly drinking it. "I've only heard about s-silent magic in fairy tales..."

"Silent...? Ah, chantless... Well, you actually need to have powers for that."

"..." He hung his head once more.

"While we're on the topic, why do you guys even think you have any sort of mentionable power?"

"I... I don't know what to say... From when we're little, the royalty, teachers, everyone always tells us we're the one supreme race. Naturally, you would believe it when you don't know any better, right...?"

"He actually wasn't messing with me...?" Sophia glanced at the sky, recalling how Canir told her how the humans get misled by their higher-ups. "But... It's honestly not hard to find out about the undeniable truth, is it?"

"Well... until a certain age, you're strongly advised not to leave the city. Even after that, you're given little reason to leave. We even grow all our crops directly next to our cities. Except for hunters procuring meat other than chikens and the likes we raise on our own. and the army, people have basically no contact with other races... So, when the king or the officers say, the beastfolk's... you know..."

"Come on, say it." The tiger-girl had no intention to make it easy for him.

"The beastfolk is a... f-filthy and, err... i-inferior race that should s-serve us... and do all the dirty work..." He closed his eyes and turned his head away, feeling like it was finally over for him now.

"Hmm..." Her face was a little twitchy, but she managed to keep it together. "So, what do you personally think about it now? About us."

"..." He paused. "The beastfolk's... scary. I'm terrified of them..."

"Ahh..." Maya glanced at her girlfriend as he said it.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but it works for me." She wasn't concerned about her image. "Me aside, though, you're part of the human army. You should've known by now that you're no match to any of us."

"It was my first draft... The commanders kept telling us how lucky we were to go on such an important mission..."

"You were a couple of thousand, though... That can't possibly have been all new soldiers now, can they?"

"Unlikely... we were all made to sign a contract to keep the events in the military a secret. Any sort of leaking would be severely punished. Also, once you're in the military, you're part of it forever. Deserting, too, would result in the same punishment. That's why, even if some soldiers were already aware of it, they had no other choice..."

"Why..." Sophia was massaging her temples. "Why would you ever sign something like that...? It couldn't be more any more suspicious even if they tried..."

"They are constantly looking for new people for some reason and pay well."

"Haa..." She looked tired. "Some reason, sure… Why are you guys so stupid?"

"..." Once more, he had no answer for her.

"Anyway..." Sophia gave up. "Now that this headache of mine is already throbbing, I want your opinion on something."

"Y-Yes...?"

"Our king wants an audience with yours to demand the end of the human efforts to mess with us."

" ..." The human turned his head away again.

"Not going to happen, is it?"

"N-No chance..." He nodded.

"Thought as much." The tiger-girl wasn't the least bit surprised. "So, what would happen if I visit the human capital and show everyone how their view about their position in this world is slightly wrong?"

"Y-You... in the capital...?!" His eyes grew wide.

"Yep~."

"I-It would cause a mass hysteria... The capital most likely would end up in flames..."

"Really...?" Sophia hadn't thought about that. "What about me meeting your king? No arranged audience or anything. I'll just show up in front of him, and we'll have a nice chat. I'll demand things. He'll listen."

"T-That's-"

"How would that work out?"

"l... I'm just a simple soldier... I never met our king. I assume if anything could work, this would be it, though..."

"I see." she nodded. "Thank you very much. Still, are you alright with telling me all that? You're basically betraying your whole race."

"What were my options?" He hung his head for the nth time. "I fear you much more than anyone else. Your magic... that black nothingness... it broke something inside me... My motivation to be a soldier, serve the army, care for our country, people… gone. My leg's done for... even in the off-chance I survive this, I'll never walk again...What do I have to lose, anyway…?"

"Hmm... What would you do if you weren't injured?" Something in Sophia's voice changed again.

"What does it matter...?" He looked at his leg in regret. "Well... I don't know... look for a remote village and live there in peace? I don't want to be involved in any of this anymore... I want a slow and quiet life. There was also a rumor that deserters formed a new colony somewhere deep in the middle of nowhere… Sounds lovely now, doesn't it? I don't care if any of the higher-ups or the army comes after me anymore… They can all keel over dead for all I care. I think I would even be happy about that… Screw all of them!"

"Wow, that mind manipulation part of my darkness magic is scary... The hate towards your own race wasn't even intended… Anyway," She didn't sound that concerned, though. "You were way more cooperative than I thought and hoped... Do you promise that you won't ever try to harm any of the beastfolk? No… anyone at all as long they don't start it?"

"I-I won't ever go near the beastfolk again! My brain is in physical p-pain just thinking about it! They… y-you… too scary! Still, it doesn't matter…" He once more glanced at his destroyed leg.

"Alright, I think I'll help you out a little." Sophia got up and walked over to the guy. There, she held up her hand over his broken leg. A moment later, it was shrouded in a blueish-white light. Once it subsided, any sign of an injury was nowhere to be seen anymore.

"W-What did you do...?" His eyes grew wide in shock.

"I healed you."

"Something like that is possible...?"

"Looks like it, doesn't it?"

"T-Thank you very much... But why...?"

"You showed me that humans might not be a complete lost cause, after all. You are extremely stupid and too easy to influence. Still, there might be possibly a tiny shred of reason left deep inside of you."

"..." As usual, he had nothing he could reply.

"Well, use your second chance wisely. I don't want us to meet again."

"Y-Yes... Thank you..."

"Okay, that's a bye, then." Not waiting for his reply, Sophia looked at Maya and signaled that it was time to leave.

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

The couple walked for a while until they were back on the plain where they played tag before. There, the cat-girl finally addressed her.

"That was something..."

"Yeah."

"I'm impressed you stayed so calm." Maya hadn't expected that.

"I wanted to kill him about seven times."

"That sounds more like the Sophia I know."

"I tried to suppress my anger as much as possible. I want to find out how much is healthy."

"And?"

"I need more than this to be satisfied." The tiger felt like she held back too much.

"Well, if you hold back on starting wars, I think getting a little angrier than earlier might not be such a problem."

"Yes."

"How about we go back?" Maya wanted to change the topic. "I'm getting a little hungry. Let's get some food."

"Best thing I've heard in- Ah..." She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Stop that!" The cat-girl already acts on instinct when her girlfriend suddenly says Ah out of nowhere.

"My detection magic just picked something up... Fen and Aura are heading this way."

"Eh? They're supposed to be in the capital..."

"Not anymore. They'll be here in half an hour or so."

"Weird... Oh, maybe the king's back, and they noticed we're not with them?"

"That makes sense."

And so, the couple had a change of plans and waited for the wolves to reunite with them before doing anything else.