Once Maya finished her killing spree inside the forest the group was walking through, leaving behind many corpses, they took a break for lunch. Sophia decided to skip it because the wolf and cat had decided to barbecue one of the baers she killed. As the at was supposedly very strong tasting, she wasn't overly interested. After slling the at while it was being grilled, Sophia was sure she made the right decision because its odor was very pungent, to say the least. But, the two carnivores of her group enjoyed it. Fen more than Maya, though. She also found it a tiny bit too much on the strong side, after all. While of feline origins, she wasn't a pure carnivore in the end.
Afterward, the group finally left the forest for good and continued their way towards the sea.
"Hmm, I still can't see any water, but the sll of salt has gotten stronger again." While looking around, Sophia was sniffing the air again.
"Yeah, I kinda forgot how it actually was around here... Ah, but look at that!" Maya pointed at a weathered-down cobblestone road that stretched down the plain they entered after the forest. "If we follow that, we'll reach the sea in no ti. The road doesn't look like it's used very much, so we shouldn't run into anyone." She glanced at the oversized wolf while saying so.
"Is that so? Okay!" Raising her fist, Sophia energetically walked towards the road.
"Ah! Wait for !" Maya ran after her and grabbed the girl's hand before the two walked together, hand in hand next to each other. It was already starting to beco a habit.
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The group, Fen slightly behind the girls, followed the street for a while. Eventually, they ca across a roadside bulletin board at a fork on the path.
"Let's see~." Sophia looked at the ssages posted on the board with interest. "Looking for kow at... generous reward... only the most experienced hunters- That's a human bulletin-board, is it not?" Her interest instantly died down once she had read the joke of a request.
"Seems like it. Humans sure are helpless."
"Idiots." Maya, and even more so, Fen, had their very own opinions on the topic.
"There has to be sothing interesting... Sli hunting, yeah- no. Spyder extermination... hard nope! Can they even kill those things, or is it just to get rid of unwanted people? I can't imagine a human winning against walking nightmares. Spyders, I an. Oh, wanted posters, that sounds fun." Sophia looked at them, various murderers, theft, rape, and many other heinous cris in an abundant amount. "Humans are sothing else..." She didn't add 'in this world' for various reasons. Hiding that bit of information from Maya was just one of them. "Hmm?" The girl's attention fell on a relatively new and fresh-looking poster that had no portrait on it. "Wanted for multiple attempts of murder and disturbing the peace in the beautiful tropolis of Benilava- What, or where the heck's Benilava?" She never heard that na before.
"That's a human city a little east of my ho place, Raumont. You know, where we t."
"Hmm... Then, isn't that the place we tried to enter, Fen?"
"Most likely."
"That sure was no tropolis." She rembered the sorry excuse of a city. "What a scary place. Good thing didn't visit it, huh? Let's see what happened there exact- A-Ah!" Sophia continued to read the wanted poster but suddenly froze up. "F-Fen, this sounds strangely familiar... Unknown female person... blonde hair, normal-to-slightly-short height. About 14 to 16 years... accompanied by a lowly wolf-beast- According to several witnesses, they attacked two city guards for no reason, almost killing them, and severely handicapped them for the rest of their lives." She looked at the wolf and then back at the poster a couple of tis. "T-That's us, isn't it?"
"Lowly beast, huh? They really never learn." Fen seed slightly angry.
"Wanted... dead or alive." Maya glanced at it, as well. "Handso reward, exact sum yet to be determined. Not bad." She looked slightly impressed. "You went all out there."
"Ahaha... I'm wanted now? Well, that's, uhh, sothing." She wasn't sure how to react. "Sure, whatever, let them try their luck." Thanks to her previous experiences, and Fen's propaganda, Sophia wasn't the least bit scared.
"You sure took this revelation lightly. Not that I can bla you, it's not really a threat." The cat-girl had a similar opinion on the matter.
"So, anything else?" As the topic was done, the girl looked for other things on the bulletin board. "Oho, directions! Exactly what I was looking for! Hmm, Sea, 4.5 Kiloters on the right path. It really isn't far anymore. Oh, what's that? Shrine of Canir? 1.7 kiloters on the left path. Canir...?" She paused for a mont. "Where have I heard that na before? Ah, wasn't that the bored idiot who build that joke of a dungeon we explored a while back?! Why does he have a shrine dedicated to himself?!"
"Aaaahhh~" Maya suddenly exclaid in a cheery voice, seemingly having rembered sothing. "That's why I thought the na sounded familiar back then. Canir is the highest god for most races on this continent! I kinda forgot because I'm not, well, very invested in religious things. Or politics, while we're at it."
"The idiot who created that dungeon... a god? The highest one, even...? Is this place alright? Like, seriously?" She began to doubt the sanity of this world if they worship such a god. "Okay, I have to see this." With an unhealthy mix of disgust and curiosity, the girl entered the left path, leading to the shrine.
"Uh-oh..." Fen had a terrible feeling about the situation and what's going to happen soon.
"What's wrong?" Maya was walking next to the wolf while the two followed Sophia.
"A storm is coming up..." He'd gotten very cryptic all of a sudden. "A big one."
"Eh? The weather seems fine to , though?" The cat-girl looked at the perfectly blue and cloudless sky, not understanding what Fen was talking about.
"I don't know how to explain. All I do know is that I'm about to develop a massive headache." He was not looking forward to Sophia reaching the shrine.
"Okay?" She naturally was confused about his reaction.
"Aaand there we are~." A little while later, the group with Sophia in front had reached the entrance to the shrine. The only thing she could see right now was a massive wooden gate with brick-stairs behind, though. It led up a hill, and a small but fancy sign stood next to the entrance.
Shrine dedicated to the
High god of life, Canir
Overseer of the world, giver of many blessings
May the benevolent Canir watch over us supre ones forever
"Supre ones… human shrine, huh?" Sophia had a similar reaction to earlier. "That sure is a fancy description for a bored piece of tra- WAIT!" She suddenly froze in place when she reread a specific part of the sign.
"Oh no." Fen knew what was going to happen now.
"Overseer... of the world..." Sophia's eyes had lost all of their shine, looking dead. "Canir is... that guy?! That can't be right, can it?" Without waiting for the other two, she sped up the stairs leading to the actual shrine.
There, she spotted a couple of older-looking buildings and a huge statue of the god Canir. The person was male and seed to be in his late twenties. He had very sophisticated features, styled hair, and wore sothing resembling a high-quality suit while overlooking the place with a serious expression.
"..." She had seen that person before. It was the very sa guy the slob of a god had turned into for a mont when he was talking with Sophia before she ca to this world. Forgetting even to breathe, the girl only stared at the statue, her expression slowly turning dark.
"S-Sophia...?" The bad feeling the wolf was having for a while already, had finally reached Maya. She didn't know what was going on, but she could tell that the girl was angry about sothing.
"Ahaha!" She snapped. "So that's how it is. Now that I think of it, the sign in the dungeon kinda gave off his feeling. That guy actually was that… idiot, huh?!" She wanted to use a different word. "Giver of many blessings, huh?!" She rembered the description on the sign. "Sure, that's one way to put it. Blessing's really a very broad term. May he watch over us forever, it said... Yeah, that creep had such a hobby! Benevolent, my ass!" She snapped.
Losing her temper altogether, Sophia ford a fist and punched the statue with all her might to get the rising anger out of her system. The figure exploded into thousands of pieces on making contact, and the entire shrine area was suddenly bathed in a blindingly white light.
"Eh?! U-Uhh...? W-What is going on?!" Holding her arms in front of her face to protect her eyes, Maya couldn't comprehend what was happening.
"Okay, that's a turn of events I did not see coming." Even the wolf was surprised about the turn of events.
"H-Huh?!" A few monts passed before the light disappeared. Once the cat-girl could open her eyes again to look around, she realized a huge issue. "W-Where's Sophia?!" Fen and Maya were the only ones left at the shrine. Any signs of the other girl were gone, almost as if she had never been there in the first place.
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