Chapter 286 - A Promise of Forever
For the remainder of the three hour period where he couldn"t move, Hestia laid against Vahn"s body and had nuzzled her head into his neck where she had periodically kissed him. Even though he couldn"t put any strength into his body, Vahn could still feel the pleasant sensation of Hestia"s light body and soft b.r.e.a.s.ts pressing against him. There was even a trickle of warmth on his abdomen that made his heart itch a bit. It was a strange feeling since Vahn almost felt like he was at the mercy of others in his current state. Strangely, he didn"t feel afraid though since he placed a lot of trust in Hestia, even though she could be a little "intimidating" at times.
When the dormancy period finally ended, Hestia had still been nuzzling against him and Vahn moved his arms to embrace her back. The moment he moved, Hestia"s body twitched a bit and she raised her face to stare into Vahn"s eyes with a very excited and happy expression as she said, "Vaaaaahn, you finally woke up~!" As she spoke, Hestia rubbed her cheek against Vahn"s and began to shower his face with kisses soon after. Vahn returned her kisses a bit until she started to release hot breaths against his neck and he had to put a stop to her advances by gently pinching her fleshy, marshmallow-like, b.u.t.t.
Hestia slowed her actions a bit and had a forlorn look on her face as she asked, "Do we really have to go...? We can skip dinner and there is always time to spend with other girls later." Since her weight was almost negligible to him, Vahn sat up and guided Hestia"s body so that she was sitting on his lap. Though her genitals pressed against his, Vahn didn"t have any reaction and just loosely embraced Hestia as he said, "I can"t fathom what it was like to live for so long Hestia...so I can"t really understand what you"re going through right now. All I know is, I love you dearly...but I also have to live my life to the fullest and do my best. There will always be time for us to show our love, but we can"t avoid our responsibilities and ignore the presence of others..."
Hestia lowered her head with a sad look and muttered, "I feel like everything that is happening will just be a blip in my life...even if you live for hundreds of years, I"m afraid it won"t leave a big enough impact on my heart to last for the rest of eternity. I want to savor the time we have together since I know there won"t be as much time in the future...I don"t want to ever love anyone else, so please make me unable to forget you Vahn."
Vahn stroked one of the long twin-tails of Hestia before moving his hand to tilt her chin up so they could lock eyes. With a loving expression and a serious look in his eyes, Vahn said, "Listen to me Hestia...look into my eyes and know I"m telling you the truth. No matter what, I will never leave you to suffer an eternity alone. I don"t know how, but I promise that we"ll be together forever..." Vahn didn"t know how, but he knew it would be possible for him to return to the record if he put in enough effort. Even if he was one day forced to leave because of the strength of his own soul, Vahn would find a way to return one day or at least create a bridge between the record of Danmachi and other worlds.
Though she thought he was just trying to console her, Hestia could see the serious look in Vahn"s eyes and she heard the confidence in his voice. Since he was almost incapable of lying, she knew he was telling the truth and would try to keep his promise. Though the anxiety in her heart didn"t fade, Hestia could feel a bit of relief welling up inside of her and trying to push out the negative emotions. Everything about Vahn pushed against the walls of common-sense, and she believed he would be able to find a way and they would be able to stay together forever.
With a happy smile on her face, Hestia grabbed the sides of Vahn"s face and gave him a simple kiss that contained a lot of emotion. Their lips overlapped in a single motion and she held his face against hers for several seconds before separating. As she prepared to move off of his body, Hestia gave him a coy look and dragged herself across Vahn"s lower body before finally turning away. The petal on the bed began to gather toward her with a mysterious light and Vahn watched the entire scene with an amorous look in his eyes. Hestia was a very beautiful G.o.ddess, and she had a plump b.u.t.t even though she was rather pet.i.te.
After they both got dressed, the two made their way downstairs and headed toward the dining room. It wasn"t yet time for dinner, but the majority of everyone present had gathered there. The only people missing were Tione, Tiona, Emiru, Maemi, Lefiya, and Anakitty. Vahn could detect four presences in the kitchen, so he knew they were preparing the meal for everyone present. Since the twins weren"t that great at cooking, Vahn was hoping that Lefiya and Anakitty would be a good influence on them. He had never tasted their cooking, but Vahn a.s.sumed it would be better than braised or roasted meat.
Vahn turned his attention to a nearby room and could sense to similar presences and a.s.sumed they were Tione and Tiona. He could see that Tione"s aura was unstable and her affection had hit 99(Love) so Vahn knew she had undergone a drastic change. Tiona was probably trying to help her calm down and they were likely waiting for Ais and Lefiya to finish eating before heading home. Vahn released a short sigh because he realized it was very difficult to live as an Amazon when their urges had such a powerful influence over their actions.
Everyone present was happy to see Vahn on his feet, but it was Haruhime and Fenrir that had reacted first since they had sensitive noses and ears. Fenrir ran forward and grabbed around Vahn"s waist as she rubbed the side of her face against his chest and said, "Vahn is better now, Fenrir happy." Since it was uncommon for Fenrir to act "affectionately" Vahn stroked her ears with [Hands of Nirvana] and said, "Sorry for worrying you Fenrir, I"m super okay now." Fenrir nodded her head and repeated his words in her own way, "Super duper okay~?"
At this time, Haruhime also approached and had her characteristic elegant appearance with droopy eyes. Vahn could see a bit of moisture building up in her eyes as she smiled toward him so he reached out his free hand and stroked her hair and ears as well. Seeing everyone feel concern for him, Vahn felt very warm on the inside and looked toward everyone in the room with a gratified expression on his face. After settling the two girls, Vahn sat next to Ais with Hestia still clinging to his body a bit. Ais stared at her actions with interest before leaning against Vahn as well with a small smile on her face.
Haruhime seemed to want to partic.i.p.ate as well, but she didn"t see any gaps in the atmosphere for her to exploit at all. She sat next to Mikoto with slightly drooping ears while sipping away at her tea. Throughout the entire series of events, Preasia just remained silent and continued staring at Vahn. He had noticed her look and gave her an appreciative smile which caused a brief hint of a smile to appear on her own face before she lowered her head further.
After a while, the four girls in the kitchen started bringing out the food and Lefiya nearly dropped the dishes she was carrying when she saw Vahn sitting with everyone. A blush immediately covered her face because she was calling the events during the bath. She had a slight hope that Vahn wouldn"t wake up before she left, but now she had to face him head-on before she had time to calm down. Vahn saw her actions and also had a hint of blush appear on his face as he said, "Thank you for taking care of me Lefiya..." The fierce blush covering her face turned a deep crimson as her ears began to waggle up and down in an adorable manner that Vahn had never seen before. In a very quiet voice, almost like a squeak, Lefiya said, "I"m happy to help..."
From Vahn"s left, he heard Hestia mutter in a voice that she probably didn"t intend for him to hear, "Another one falls..." Vahn pretended to ignore her words before placing out a few dishes of his own that he had kept in his inventory. The majority of the food prepared by the four girls were lighter items like stew and salad, so Vahn complimented things with a few items of his own. Looking over, Vahn made eye contact with Anakitty and said, "Sorry for everything that happened earlier. I wanted to welcome you to the Familia Anakitty." She showed a polite smile and responded, "Please, call me Aki, all my friends and companions call that. I"ll be in your care from now on Vahn, but I will also do my best to meet any expectations you might have for me."
Vahn returned her smile with one of his own and said, "Welcome to the Familia, Aki." Even though Vahn knew she had been sent by Loki, he understood it was probably for the best since he desperately needed stronger members to help look after the weaker girls. He didn"t know her capabilities yet, but Aki was a Level 4 and looked to be near twenty years old. Vahn a.s.sumed she had a wealth of experience and would be a good influence on the other girls in the future. His only concern, since she had been sent by Loki, was that she was also going to be entering his "circle" within the future. Not just because of Hestia"s influence, but Vahn felt like there were simply too many women around him and the number seemed to constantly be increasing.
Setting aside the matter, for now, Vahn started the meal after asking some of the girls to take food to Tiona and Tione and keep them company. Surprisingly, Preasia volunteered to go and was accompanied by Fenrir and the twins, Maemi and Emiru. Vahn gave the girls his thanks before enjoying the meal with the remaining members present. It wasn"t very lively since Ais was quiet and Lefiya was absentmindedly picking away at her food without eating much. Hestia just stuck to his side with her eyes closed as if she were sleeping while Mikoto and Haruhime both had good manners and remained relatively silent. However, though the room was quiet, the atmosphere was warm and Vahn enjoyed the peaceful ambiance.
After dinner, Vahn escorted the girls through the courtyard before parting ways at the gate after sharing embraces. He gave Tiona and Ais a strong embrace with a short kiss before loosely embracing Tione with a wry smile on his face. She had a mildly frustrated look on her face with a glint of pa.s.sion in her eyes as she squeezed his ribs with a bit of strength. The last person had been Lefiya who stepped forward with her head down and loosely hugged Vahn without saying anything. She was nearly 20cm shorter than he was, so Vahn had to reach around her shoulders and the center of her back to hug her. After a few seconds pa.s.sed, Lefiya separated from him before taking her staff from Ais and bowing slightly and turning away with a red face.
Vahn watched their departing figures with a hint of melancholy in his eyes even though there was a satisfied smile on his face. Separating from people he cared about always made him feel a little lonely and he almost wished there was more of him to go around. However, though Vahn had thought of the idea of maybe trying to learn shadow clones, he didn"t want to rely on such a thing since it seemed very impersonal. Though they might not say anything, Vahn would feel like he wasn"t paying proper attention to the girls around him and didn"t want to have the type of mentality where he relied on his clones to take action for him. There was also the fact that the technique actually cost 25,000,000OP and he currently had less than 100K.
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(A/N: People seem to have a misunderstanding that Vahn can "buy skills" and simply learn them. This isn"t the case at all...Vahn can purchase scrolls and manuals, but he has to learn and comprehend the skills himself. You could argue that "grimoires" are an exception, but Vahn can"t actually purchase grimoires through the shop because they are unique items. There are no duplicate grimoires, and the shop would be able to create an infinite number of them if that weren"t the case. For Vahn to acquire a grimoire, at least one from Danmachi, he would have to purchase it with Valis. Keep in mind, he could probably acquire grimoires from another record, but they would probably cost a lot of OP and wouldn"t necessarily function the same way as the grimoires in Danmachi at all.)
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After seeing the girls off, Vahn returned to the Manor and was intercepted by Hestia in the foyer. Since he had already "taken a bath" earlier, she shepherded him up the stairs even though Vahn wanted to speak with Aki a bit before bed. She gave him the justification that they would be together for the next year at the very least, so there was no reason to find out everything about her on the first night. Vahn couldn"t argue with her when she was acting like this, so he eventually s.n.a.t.c.hed up her body before carrying her to their bedroom. He had already seen her blazing reddish-pink aura before he had even entered the Manor and knew she was just trying to seek his affection. After pa.s.sing his perception over the other presences in the house, Vahn threw Hestia gently onto the bed and another night of "progress" between them began. By the end of events, Hestia had been left exhausted but had a happy smile on her face because she had pa.s.sed the 18cm mark. The two then went through their strange ritual of sticking together as they both eventually fell asleep...Though it was still somewhat painful, Vahn began to feel like the current situation was "normal" and it made him feel strangely comfortable.
(A/N: Alternate t.i.tles: "Hestia is a little broken","Lefiya"s Bashful Behavior","All according to keikaku... (keikaku means plan)")
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