Boosted Restart – A new chance in a different world

Chapter 95 – Getting ready to depart

During the meeting with the king and his military commanders, Sophia found out that the humans plan to attack a beastfolk city. To make matters worse, she was also informed that humans regularly try to kidnap children to enslave them. As she had spent most of her day with Ellie, a little child, anger had taken over the blonde tiger-girl once more after hearing this story.

"Sophia!" After having left the meeting, Maya ran after her to talk about what had just happened.

"Ahaha..." She stopped walking and faced the cat-girl. "I messed that one up, huh?"

"Well... you made a room full of military commanders wet their pants, so... I think I even saw a stain on the king's-"

"Where were you looking?!"

"Ah, that's better." Maya sounded relieved. "I was just kidding. Well, I didn't look, I mean."

"O-Oh... thank you. " She noticed that it calmed her down.

"Though, this time, it's reasonable to get angry. I had heard about these attempted kidnappings before, but I had no idea it wasn't an incredibly rare occurrence..."

"When I heard about that... kidnapping little children, especially right after my nap with Ellie, I kinda lost it..."

"Okay, I'm not going to imply anything here now, alright...? If you'd taken a nap with your own c-child right before hearing about it, what would've happened then?" The cat-girl wanted to find out about her priorities.

"..." She went silent, and an eerie sensation filled the hallway the two were standing in. At the same time, a pitch-black darkness began to fill the floor around the tiger-girl while her eyes turned lifeless.

"S-Sophia...?!" Only a few moments passed, but she already felt really uncomfortable and started to panic.

"S-Sorry..." The tiger quickly returned back to normal. "I was just thinking how time-consuming it would be to erase the human race from this world. Just out of interest, where's their capital?"

"I-I feel like I shouldn't tell you."

"Might be a good decision."

"You having a c-child might be too dangerous for the world right now."

"Sentences I never thought I'd hear..." Sophia wasn't sure how to react to something like that. "Though, yes... there's some truth to it. Overprotectiveness plus my boosted anger, which I have no control over right now... bad combination. It's a good thing I'm not r-ready for that yet."

"A-Ahaha..." She let out an awkward laugh. "So, this time, you got angry for Ellie's sake, big enough to start a war. Harm to your own kid would result in genocide... What would you do if I were kidnapped?"

"Aside from the part where I would be confused about you being kidnapped by humans or even the possibility of such a thing?"

"Fair... Hypothetically speaking, then."

"Didn't I almost start one or two genocides for you already? The slime thing in Canir's joke dungeon, for example. That was even before we got together."

"Is it just me, or are you quite the brutal one?"

"You just noticed?" Sophia tilted her head. "I finally have people dear to me and the power to protect them. I will let no one steal them away from me or let them get harmed. And from the currently living ones, you're the most important one. I'm too scared to even imagine what I would do if something were to happen to you."

"I'm glad to hear that... in a way. I'll have to make sure to stay safe, though. For the sake of the world."

"By the way, the kidnappings and thinking about Ellie made me very upset. Something happening to my future child or you, I might actually get angry instead~."

"O-Oh..."

"I wonder if Canir himself could stop me..." She'd gone off the deep end.

"A-Alright... back to the problem at hand." While touched, Maya was too scared to continue the topic. "What are you going to do about this impending human attack? You made it pretty clear earlier that it's going to be a short excursion."

"That's a good question. I don't want to kill any humans because... well, you know why..." Sophia used to be one herself in the past, after all. "But at the same time, I have no lingering attachment whatsoever anymore... For obvious reasons, that is, when taking these humans into account. I'm a tiger-girl in both body and mind now. I also love the beastfolk, so if I was forced to make a choice between saving the folk, I love and identify myself with now or... ending the lives of humans threatening them, there's only one choice."

"What do you want to hear from me...?

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Do you think you need to kill them? Even if you hold back considerably, you could easily scare them away without killing anyone. If you're not comfortable with it, you don't have to."

"Probably... But would simply scaring the humans away bring any results? I want them to stop their idiocy. Quite honestly, it's soooo bothersome, and I just want to talk myself into humans simply not existing for all I care, but... The enslavement or kidnapping attempts, at least, have to end. "

"That's... I don't think even killing their whole army would lead to such a result." Maya didn't think the humans would ever stop, no matter what happened. "I mean, the beastfolk usually might not go on the offensive, but they don't show mercy, either. Even if they killed a bunch of them, it never changed anything."

"Why are they such idiots...?"

"Only the gods know that." She had no idea.

"They don't, actually... I asked Canir about them when I met him the last time. He had no idea how they developed into that. Actually, he went as far as admitting he has given up on humans."

"S-Seriously?!"

"Y-Yeah... Means it's up to me if I want to change anything."

"Again, how?"

"That, I still don't know..." Sophia was at a loss. "Something... with a lasting impact, I suppose?"

"Well, you're good with lasting impacts, that's for sure... If anyone's able to change the humans, it's you."

"What a pain!" She gave up. "Thinking about it will get me nowhere! Alright, whatever, I'll go to bed!"

"What a transition..." Maya rolled her eyes at the tiger-girl's slight mood swings. "Are you... going back to Ellie?"

"Hmm... No, I won't. I'm not in the mood to cuddle with the little one anymore..."

"Ah, is that so?" She didn't sound unhappy. "Might I offer my services then?"

"To cuddle?"

"And to sleep together."

"A very enticing offer. I might actually take you up on that."

"Great!" With a smile on her lips, Maya grabbed her hand, and the two went back to their room.

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The next day arrived before long, and the castle seemed really busy. The word about the attack had obviously gotten around, and everyone was preparing for the king's departure. Sophia and Maya didn't take part in any of that, though. The two were ready to go whenever, after all. Instead, they met up with the wolves to tell them what was going on.

"Haa... these fools..." Fen sighed when he heard the story.

"They really became even bigger idiots, huh?" Aura, too, was astonished.

"Are you going to fight them, Sophia?" The male wolf looked at her.

"I want to teach them a lesson. The beastfolk are my friends. If anyone tries to harm them, they'll get to know me."

"These poor souls..." Fen actually pitied them a bit. "Is it known how many humans are attacking?"

"They're guessing around 10- to 20,000."

"Oh, good, so you won't need us then, huh?" He had no doubts she could easily deal with them on her own.

"There are also 3,000 soldiers on our side. It won't be a problem. Why? Do you already have plans?"

"Aura and I went out drinking last night and met a couple of fun people in a bar. We originally planned to meet up again today."

"What?! That sounds so much better than my plans!" Sophia was a little jealous. "No, you two go do that. I still have Maya, not to mention the other soldiers. Also, I can always stop time in case of something dangerous happens."

"If you struggle against those humans, I'll personally train you without holding back, and Fen's in trouble, as well."

"Why me again?!" He glared at Aura, who just threatened him, too.

"Because you obviously didn't teach her right, then."

"P-Please don't struggle, Sophia!"

"Hmm~." She playfully put a finger on her chin while tilting her head.

"Hey!"

"Ahaha, don't worry, I don't plan to." She had to tease him a little. "Ah, but could the two of you do me a favor while we're gone?"

"Of course?"

"I don't think they're that intelligent, but in case this attack is just a decoy to lure the king and some of his personnel away from the capital to attack here, please watch out for this place. Especially Kira and Ellie. I don't know what I would do if something happened to the little one."

"Yeah, they aren't that intelligent, but of course, we'll be on the lookout and protect if necessary."

"My detection magic reaches way beyond the city walls. I'll keep scanning for approaching humans." Aura also agreed to help in case anything happens.

"Thanks, you two." She was happy. "Well, I guess it's time to head over to where the king is."

"Maya," Fen stopped the cat-girl before she also left. "I know Sophia's going to be a little... extreme, but please watch out that she doesn't do anything she may regret later on once she returns back to normal." He was worried.

"I think it's too late for that. It seems like she made up her mind that the beastfolk are obviously more important to her..."

"I see..."

"I'll try to keep the damage low."

"Yeah..." Fen settled for that, and Maya quickly followed after her tiger-girl.

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While the two were walking through the halls of the castle, naturally not knowing where to go, the couple eventually ran into Princess Anna.

"Oh... Good morning, you two. "

"'Morning. Hmm? You look tired, princess." Sophia noticed some dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Y-Yeah, I haven't slept well. I'm a bit nervous..."

"Why?"

"Because we're heading to a battlefield, idiot." The wielder of common sense, Maya, explained the situation to her. "Well, I haven't slept much, either…"

"Ahh..." Sophia nodded in understanding. "Wait, are you nervous, too?" She looked at the cat-girl.

"For a different reason... Nervous about you overdoing it. I know we are going to be safe, after all. Not to mention that you kept me up for most of the night."

"Ahh..." Sophia repeated herself. "Me overdoing is something that could actually happen."

"You don't have to be concerned, princess. There's little danger for us with Sophia around. "

"T-That's reassuring?"

"Besides, Queen Kira also asked me to look out for you, so you'll definitely be fine." Maya tried to make her feel better.

"Thank you... Wait! You're only doing it because mother asked you?!"

"N-No... I would've done so regardless." While she clearly wasn't a fan of her, deep down, Maya didn't hate the princess.

"Ehehe." Anna's mood improved.

"Oho, looks who's started to become friends." Sophia seemed happy about it, as well.

"Oh, shut up!"

"J-Just friends, okay?" Anna somehow felt the need to make this detail very clear.

"Isn't that great~?"

"Urgh..." The two girls had the same reaction after seeing Sophia's smile.

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After they were done with their chat and the couple had gotten themselves a guide for the castle, the princess and the group went to the previously mentioned meeting point together.

"Ah, there they are." Kira noticed the arrival of the girls.

"Wow, sure is busy here." Sophia looked around and was amazed by the mass of people. Not only the king and around half of the commanders from last night's meeting were present, but also a dozen maids. Furthermore, there were also 60 to 70 soldiers on site. Interestingly enough, a good number of them were jaguar beastpeople, probably indicating they were relatively high-ranking members.

"Well, the king heads out for a potential battlefield. This much is the absolute bare minimum. More soldiers are waiting outside, too." The queen explained the situation.

"Sounds reasonable." She agreed. "By the way, where's Ellie?" Sophia noticed the distinct lack of her favorite girl in the castle.

"She's too young to learn what's going on, so I just told her that daddy's going on a trip and sent her to play with the maids."

"I-I see..." She was visibly disappointed and sad about not being able to see the little one before leaving.

"Alright, my men!" Before she could complain anymore, the king suddenly and loudly spoke up. "I'm well aware that this is on short notice, but we have no time to lose! Once again, these foolish humans have challenged us, and we'll show them that it was yet another mistake!"

"Yeah!" The morale appeared to be high.

"We'll regroup with the main unit near Talaga. Until then, I'll put my trust in you guys to protect me and my daughter, Princess Anna, who'll accompany us today!"

"Yeah!"

"I like the sound of that! Let's depart!"