Boosted Continuation – A new world (GL)

The girls finally arrived at the ocean in the regular world, but they had gotten a little off track. Instead of arriving at the port connected to a road leading to the trade city they started off in, the group found themselves at a cliff towering over the ocean. From there, they decided to search for the place while Sophia also got Kel out to play and collect some decorations for the ocean in her domain.

"Oh, looks like we're getting closer to the shore, huh?" As they walked on top of the cliff, which also doubled as the edge of the beastfolk continent, Anna noticed they had been walking on a slope for a while and how the water was slowly getting closer and closer to them.

"About time!" Chloe nodded a few times. "We've been walking for hours!"

"Come on, it's good for you." Steph smiled at her.

"We'll turn you into a walking enthusiast soon enough!" Sophia had the same expression as her sister.

"Please don't." The fox liked being lazy. "I miss Feyfey, Aura, and Fenfen…"

"You miss having a ride, you mean?" Maya saw through her in an instant.

"…"

"That being said, still no city in sight, how?" The cat-girl ignored Chloe's awkward expression and looked forward instead. Straining her eyes a little, she tried to make any signs of civilization alongside the coastline, but all she could see was untouched nature.

"I have good news on that front." Sophia gave her a thumbs-up. "Actually, ever since we exited the last portal, I've started picking up signs of life. We aren't that far away from them anymore, either. I just didn't feel like saying anything~."

"Let's go!" That was all Steph needed to hear to get motivated.

"Anything odd or strong on your detection magic?" Ari didn't feel like getting surprised at the moment.

"Not really." The blonde shook her head. "Feels like a regular beastfolk city to me."

"Great!" She looked relieved after hearing that.

"Well, except our big guy, of course." She gestured at the ocean beside them, where Kel was swimming around in the far distance. "He's showing up as odd and strong on my detection scan." Sophia let out a small chuckle.

"I'm okay with that." The jaguar shrugged. "As long as we're out of the area before the rumors of him spread, that is."

"An excellent point!" Maya nodded a few times. "People will all over this sea-monster once they spot him, which obviously will happen in no time." She pointed at the massive dragon in the distance, who wasn't even trying to be inconspicuous.

"Does it really matter, though?" Anna tilted her head. "I mean, we're quite the flashy group and coincidentally arrived at the same time as a gigantic serpent was seen in the ocean, who also disappeared again once that group left, as well." She paused for a moment. "There's a chance the port city will also get a portal to the capital, so father will know about the dragon sooner or later, and he probably doesn't have to think twice whether or not Kel was related to us."

"I don't care about the king asking too many questions, I'm used to that." Ari shook her head a couple of times. "I don't like being questioned by strangers, though."

"Fair enough, I guess." The princess couldn't blame her for that.

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Now that the girls knew they were on the right track and heading toward the city they were looking for, the six continued walking along the coast for about an hour when the scenery eventually began to change.

"Ohh!" After they found an actual path and followed it for a bit, Steph energetically clapped her hands after spotting an actual city not too far away, right in front of them. Just as expected, it was indeed a port city with many piers extending out on the ocean, as well as many buildings on land with a big marketplace in between.

"I'm getting hungry already!" Sophia focused on the various food stalls on the marketplace, selling all sorts of fish-based dishes from what she could tell.

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"Same!" Maya nodded a few times.

"After we ate something, can we try to get an audience with the mayor to see if they remember Nathan and his group having been here?" Anna's priorities also lay in the food, but she hadn't forgotten about his brother, either.

"I don't think we have to try to get an audience with the mayor when we have two tigers in our group." Ari just shrugged. "We'll be in the middle of an audience before we know it."

"Yeah, you could be right about that." The princess hadn't thought that far.

"Let's go!" Steph wanted to get there already as she excitedly wagged her tail in anticipation of seeing a new place.

"Yes~." Everyone smiled at her before picking up their pace.

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"Phew, that was quite the ordeal." Ari let out a sigh as the girls eventually made their way into the city and managed to get something to eat at the food stalls in the marketplace. While getting there, they had attracted a lot of curious folks, asking a ton of questions to and about the two tigers in their group. "It's amazing how much attention our group gets outside the capital."

"Well, at least no one found out about Kel yet, huh?" Maya reacted with a slight chuckle.

"That's very true!" The jaguar nodded a couple of times.

"I like that everyone is curious about us." Anna smiled at Ari. "It means the tiger family is in high regard everywhere we went so far, which is lovely to know!" She was genuinely happy that the royal family was so well-liked.

"Yeah, it's great!" Sophia felt the same.

"You just like the attention." The jaguar rolled her eyes before looking at the princess again. "Yes, you're right about that."

"…" The blonde didn't like being called out like that.

"Okay, now that we have had some food, does anyone mind if we head for the mayor's mansion?" Anna lightly clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Someone told me where it is earlier, and I really want to find out if they remember Nathan having been here!"

"Sure!" Everyone was okay with her suggestion, and the girls left the marketplace to possibly find out more about Anna's brother.

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"This certainly was not what I expected to see today." The group went to the mayor's place, where they met up with a quite surprised-looking black-haired cat-woman, somewhere in her early forties. "My name's Lia, and I'm the mayor of this lovely little town. How do I come to the honor of meeting two esteemed members of the tiger family?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Anna, daughter of King Menzor and princess of this nation."

"We're traveling right now, ended up wandering around, and arrived here, so we decided to say hi." The blonde tiger smiled at her. "I'm Sophia, your friendly neighborhood tiger." The others decided to stay out of the conversation.

"That's quite an odd title." Lia looked at the short tiger while tilting her head.

"I'm not a fan of formalities." She just shrugged.

"Fair enough." The cat-woman couldn't blame her there. "So, what can I do for the princess and her friendly neighborhood tiger? Or was it just a courtesy visit because, well, you're here already?"

"A bit of that, but we're also trying to track down my brother, first prince Nathan." Anna looked at her. "Some time ago, we visited the trade city Barak, and the mayor there told us that Nathan departed towards the ocean, so we were wondering if her passed through here."

"The first prince, huh?" Lia tilted her head again. "He was here, yes. It was around a year ago, though, so you're quite a bit behind."

"That doesn't matter!" Anna excitedly clapped her hands. "That means we're on the right track!"

"Wait, you two are not going to follow every step of mine for the coming month, right? Right?" The cat-woman's eyes suddenly turned big as her tail stopped moving while she looked at the tigers.

"No, we're good." Sophia and Anna lightly shook their heads.

"Good." She looked visibly relieved. "I mean, I applaud the craving for knowledge our beloved prince has, but…"

"It's alright~." The princess nodded. "I perfectly understand what you're trying to say."

"That being said, I don't mind showing you around or teaching you a thing or two if you want, of course. It's commendable that the tiger family wants to learn things by first-hand experience. It's just that a whole month is quite taxing."

"Again, don't worry." Anna smiled at her. "Nathan decided to travel to learn how our country works. We're traveling to see our country."

"Ahh, fair enough."

"That being said, do you know where Nathan headed to after he and his group were done here? We're trying to catch up with them after we noticed that our paths crossed."

"From what I recall, the prince headed west to explore more of the coastal region. It has been a year since they left, though. I'm not sure how you'd be able to catch up with them."

"Well, if he spends a month in every big city to learn things while spending a night at best to do some sightseeing and eat some local food, it shouldn't take too long." Anna just shrugged.

"Oh, you're right about that." Lia nodded a few times. "Anyway, if you keep heading west along the ocean, you'll come across a number of smaller ports and trade villages. We're one of the bigger ones, so I doubt the prince is going to stay a whole month at every single one of them, but you should be able to make up some ground."

"That sounds perfect!" Anna seemed genuinely happy about that.

"There's Agola, around three weeks travel away from here. That's the major port and trading city in the region. There's a good chance the prince spent a good amount of time there, making it further possible for you all to catch up." She gave them some more info on the travel route Nathan might've taken.

Afterward, the group, mainly the tigers, kept chatting a bit more while Lia told them some tidbits about her city and living right next to the ocean. However, when she mentioned some odd sightings on the horizon that had occurred shortly before they arrived, Ari suddenly got nervous for some reason. Not wanting to bother the mayor any longer, and because there were no plans to put a portal, the girls eventually got going again.