Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After Hestia calmed down, she sat behind Vahn and watched as he used [Yggrasil's Favor] to emulate the ability to read status in conjunction with his system. He dripped a bit of blood on Haruhime's back and, even though she expected it, Hestia was surprised to see her own crest activate for someone else. She noticed that, unlike her own ability to read status, Vahn's had some extra intricacy that she hadn't seen before. Though she had trouble understanding it, Hestia knew that Vahn was able to see extra information from his skill just as he had claimed. She even began to wonder if she should have him inspect the other girls...much later in the future.Haruhime had a small frown on her face as she closed her eyes, not from pain, but because of how flustered she was feeling. Even though she had a powerful androphobia, Haruhime felt no aversion against Vahn's touch at all. Instead, she actually felt pleasant and giddy feelings welling up inside of her as the tingling feeling from her back persisted for around five minutes before Vahn said plainly, "Thanks Haruhime, you can fix your clothes now." Releasing a short sight, Haruhime pulled up her red kimono and fixed her obi before looking back to see what Vahn had discerned from her Status Board.As he expected, there was much more to Haruhime's Status than the values that Hestia had written down previously. In fact, she was far more overbearing than Vahn had expected and he couldn't help but pity the lack of foresight on behalf of Ishtar. She obviously just wanted Haruhime for her magical ability, but the actual value of Haruhime's potential far exceeded her understanding. Vahn also began to understand the significance of the characters that were involved in the original plot and wondered if he should inspect Ais's Status Board in the future...-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------[[STATUS]]Name: Sanjouno HaruhimeRace: RenardLV. 1POW: I11END: I28DEX: I12AGI: I30MAG: F367Skill: [Inari:Innate(sealed)] (A/N: BTW, Vahn wouldn't record these down so don't worry about Hestia seeing them)Magic: [Uchide no Kozuchi:B],[Kokonoe:D]Development Skill: [Moon Priestess:Innate(sealed)] (A/N: BTW, Vahn wouldn't record these down so don't worry about Hestia seeing them)[Uchide no Kozuchi]Rank: BLevel Boost Magic that can only be used on a single target, after which an interval occurs before it can be cast again. It cannot be used on the caster. Enhances all parameters on the target by 30% of their hidden status total.Chant: Grow. That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes. Until the bell tolls, bring forth glory and illusion. -Grow. Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above. Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon you. -Grow[Kokonoe]Rank: DA special enchant magic that creates a maximum of nine tails on the user depending on their limit. The user adds the effects of a second magic they chant connect to each of the tails to multiply its effects. (Current Tails: 4)Chant: Kokonoe. Beloved snow. Beloved crimson. Beloved white light. Please let me be beside you - this love I have found at the end of two thousand nights. My name is Magic Fox. Former destroyer. My name is Ancient Song. Former dreamer. For you who beat your wings like a bird, I shall allow the nine spirits to dwell in me. Echo, song of gold, sacred poem of Tamamo. White face, golden fur, king of nine tails. Oh, tails of the auspicious beast, consume all, grant all wishes (Affected Magic Chant) - Dance!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Unlike Lili, who seemed intent on remaining a Supporter in the manga, Haruhime had two Innate abilities instead of one. Based on their names alone, Vahn assumed they related to magical prowess and support. Since Haruhime's magic stat was significantly higher than the rest of her parameters even without every fighting monsters, Vahn assumed her development was already being influenced by the Innate skills. He had learned that a person's Innates always existed in their bodies, they just had to have something to trigger their awakening.Vahn hadn't overlooked Haruhime's magic just because her Innates though, and he was actually shocked when he understood their capabilities. Since his stats were very high for his Level, if Haruhime used her magic on him he would be nearing the Status of a Level 4 without even using his Innate abilities to enhance his fighting potential. With the inclusion of his own abilities, Vahn could theoretically even fight against a Level 6 with his current equipment...After explaining Haruhime's skills to the two girls, Hestia was in abject shock as she read over the information. Though she could see the use of a magic, she couldn't identify the chant or identify the efficacy as Vahn could. She even suspected, based on his earlier reaction, that there was even more that he was able to discern from reading Haruhime's status than he made known. Considering that it was something Haruhime didn't need to hear, she decided to ask him about it later when they were alone.Though she knew about Kokonoe, Haruhime was surprised to learn about the existence of her level-boosting magic. Because of Aisha, she knew she had a unique magic, but Haruhime had never learned about what made the magic special. When she originally got her crest of Ishtar, Haruhime had been left in the dark about her own Status before beginning her life as 'prostitute in training'. Now that she learned about her magic, she felt a fire stirring within her heart because she thought she would be able to help Vahn in the future. Even if she wasn't that strong herself, she could specialize in support and buff the entire Familia in the future.With a confident expression on her face, Haruhime pumped her tiny fists and said, "I know what I want to do now! I want to become a support specialist and learn magic for healing and buffing our allies~!" Vahn was already thinking of the future possibilities of Haruhime's skills, so he was pleasantly surprised by her outburst. Hestia also couldn't fault Haruhime at the moment since she also realized the incredible potential of her skills. If they were able to nurture Haruhime, she would become one of, if not the most important members of their Familia in the future.Vahn reached out his hand and began to pat Haruhime's head, something which she found very pleasing, while Hestia stared at the action for several seconds before sighing. She wanted to protect Vahn and the children that joined their Familia in the future so there was no way she would be able to push away Haruhime. She would have to compromise with the fox girl and do her best to get along in the future even if she had slight inhibitions about the presence of another woman around Vahn. After sorting her thoughts, Hestia released a sigh before fixing her expression and saying, "You have an incredible magical skill Haruhime, I'm glad to have you in the Familia. I might have acted inappropriately earlier, so I'm sorry...I also want to apologize to you as well Vahn. I don't know why, but I just feel so jealous at times..."Haruhime's smile grew even wider as she bowed slightly toward Hestia and said, "I also want to apologize for barging into your lives like this Hestia-sama. I know you care about Vahn deeply and I don't mean to take away his time from others...I'd like it if we worked together and got along better in the future." As usual, Haruhime was very polite and showed proper courtesies even when someone was in the middle of apologizing to her. Vahn nodded his head slightly because he thought her behavior and bearing were commendable traits. Turning to Hestia, Vahn showed an earnest smile and said, "As long as everyone can be happy, I have no complaints at all. I worry more that you'll overburden yourself instead of worrying about your general behavior.Hestia released an exasperated sigh as she gave Vahn a sidelong glance and said, "I think you're the least qualified person in the world to comment about other people overburdening themselves~! I wouldn't be nearly as frustrated if you didn't treat me so well..." Towards the latter half of her words, Hestia trailed off a bit and Vahn wasn't able to hear her well. Haruhime, however, heard everything she said and stepped forward with an elegant smile on her face as she leaned over and whispered into Hestia's ear, "I can help you if you want Hestia-sama...I may not have much experience, but I've received a bit of education on various...matters..."Hestia's eyes widened a bit before she looked at Haruhime with a somewhat fiery look in her eyes before dragging the young Renard toward her own bedroom. To prevent the confused Vahn from asking questions, Hestia shouted over her shoulder, "Go spend some time with Fenrir and the others~! There will probably be a lot of people coming around later so spend some time with them!"As they stepped out the door, Haruhime gave a backward glance at Vahn and he could almost swear he saw a glimmer in her eyes that unnerved him a bit.Following Hestia's 'advice', Vahn went downstairs and followed the corridor until he came to the room where the other girls were located. One of the best things about being able to sense presences was that he didn't have to search through rooms just to find the people he was looking for. When he entered the room, Fenrir had already been expecting him as she had her sights turned toward his location before he even touched the doorknob. Vahn saw that Fenrir was sitting next to Preasia on cushions that they had set on the ground while reading picture books meant for children. Seeing the twins so seriously staring at the images and trying to memorize the words made Vahn inadvertently smile.After they noticed his presence, Maemi put down the picture book as she and Emiru stood up together and bowed politely while saying in concert, "May we be of assistance Master?" Vahn habitually rolled his shoulders as he explained, "You don't have to call me Master, just Vahn will do. Seeing girls call me Master might make me feel excited, but it also feels wrong...if anything, just call me Captain?" Before responding, the two girls looked at each other before nodding their head in sequence and saying, "Vahn-sama."Seeing the glimmer in their eyes, Vahn gave a wry smile before walking over and picking up the picture book from the low table. He realized that he wasn't able to easily rebuke the twins when they performed synchronized actions since he took more than double the impact at how adorable the sight was. Holding up the picture book, Vahn saw that it was a story about a hero that saves a princess from a dragon. Curiously, there were small markings on the hero that obstructed his original hair color to appear similar to his own.Fenrir got excited and asked, "Vahn read for us!?" Before he even responded, Fenrir patted Preasia who stood up with her characteristic blank expression. Vahn felt a little worried about their interaction as he moved over to the large sofa nearby and placed cushions around as he sat down and prepared to read. Since he placed four cushions on the ground, Vahn was going to read to the girls from memory since he had stored the information within his head previously.Against his expectations, Preasia sat on the area right in front of him without sitting on the cushion at all. Before he could make sense of her actions, Preasia reached her hands forward and Vahn's brows immediately shot up before he gently stopped her hands with his left hand. He could feel his body shaking a little as he said as gently as he possibly could, "You never have to do anything like that ever again...Fenrir, Emiru, Maemi..."Understanding his words, the twins guided Preasia away from Vahn before helping her sit on a cushion. Fenrir sat behind Preasia and hugged her body from behind as she gentled patted the shaggy hair of Preasia and whispered, "There, there, be happy, be happy...." The whole while she was being moved around, Preasia continued to stare at Vahn with her light-grey, lightless eyes...As Vahn hadn't been using [Will of the Emperor], he wasn't prepared for what had just happened in front of his eyes. He felt an incredible anxiety intermixed with a powerful hatred as his teeth clattered a bit. Other than when he had found Milan in the past, Vahn had never felt so much uncontainable hatred as he felt now. Since he wasn't using anything to control it, Vahn was experiencing the emotions in full and began to breathe heavily as each of the girls gave him worried expressions. Fenrir seemed especially frustrated as her eyes began glowing scarlet while she tried to distract herself by tending to Preasia.After failing to control his breathing, Vahn began to release his domain to forcibly calm his mind as he sat with his head in his hands while covering his eyes. At this moment, Vahn wanted nothing more than to know the name of the monster that had hurt Preasia. He wanted to make the scoundrel pay and bring them to justice so that she might find some closure and be able to move forward. Vahn couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of person would do something so blatantly cruel to someone that looked so innocent...While he was hanging his head in rage, Vahn heard a small sound that he had never heard before. He didn't know why, but his mind began to clear up a bit as he strained his ears to hear the sound. After several seconds passed, Vahn heard the sound again and looked up from his hands with slightly teary eyes as he stared at the small girl in front of him. The other three girls remained absolutely silent as Preasia said for the third time, "Do you...cry...for me?"(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Dual-Innates','Haruhime's corruption','Today is going to be a long day...')I am currently at $718/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images &lt;3

For several long seconds, Vahn didn't know how to respond as he stared into Preasia's still blank expression. Even after he saw her lips move, Vahn almost felt like it was his imagination until she began repeating her words for the fourth time. For a brief moment, Vahn wanted to cry out and comfort the girl but he willed himself to remain still as he muttered in a soft voice, "I wanted to help you...I want to make the man that did this to you pay dearly."As if she were responding to a different question, Preasia asked, "Will you...hurt me?" Her words made Vahn grit his teeth so hard that he felt like they were going to crack. He looked at her straight in the eyes and barely forced out the words, "I would never hurt you...I want to heal you. You shouldn't have had to go through this...it just isn't right!" If the scumbag was in front of him right now, Vahn swore he would rip out the man's guts so they could both find out the color of his insides.Preasia remained quiet for several minutes and Vahn noticed she didn't even blink a single time as she continued to look into his eyes. He didn't know what she was thinking at all and wasn't sure if there was even anything he could say to help her. Fortunately, Fenrir didn't be able to take the silence as she stated confidently, "Vahn is good. Vahn never hurt Preasia. Vahn only beat bad people, Preasia good girl." To emphasize her words, Fenrir patted Preasia's head with her paws in a comforting manner.Though her head bobbed slightly with the pats, Preasia continued to stare into Vahn's eyes for a while until she asked, "You can...heal me?" For the briefest moment, Vahn thought he saw a spark in Preasia's eyes, almost like a single glimmer of hope in an infinite darkness. Without explaining anything, Vahn drew a line into his palm and it began to bleed slightly. Demonstrating his [Hands of Nirvana], Vahn created a line of light with his index finger and completely removed the cut as if it had never been there in the first place.For the first time, Preasia turned her gaze away from Vahn's face and stared at his hand blankly for several seconds. Vahn saw that she was leaning her head forward a bit, so he slowly moved closer to her and allowed her to inspect his palm. Preasia continued to stare blankly at the now-healed hand before gingerly reaching out and touching Vahn's palm with her hand. The first thing Vahn noticed was how cold her hands were and he had to fight against the urge to help warm them up.After a while, Preasia moved her hand away and rolled up the sleeve of her sweater and revealed several of the wounded covering her arm. There were small holes that looked like she had been poked with a hot skewer and there even several derogatory names permanently carved into her flesh like 'animal' and 'slave' that made Vahn's brain buzz. In a dazed state, Preasia traced her fingers over several of her own scars, including the insulting words. Vahn couldn't help but swallow a bit of saliva because of how nervous he was feeling. He wasn't even capable of forming any excess thoughts as he continued to watch her actions in silence.Vahn watched as Preasia touched the word 'animal' for a long period of time before she muttered in a quaking voice, "I'm...not an animal...Please...make it go away." Preasia held out her arm to Vahn and he nodded his head and explained, "You may feel an itch or some discomfort...it is because your wounds are regenerating..." Channeling his energy into his fingers, Vahn slowly traced his index finger over the word and began to erase it. Even though he knew it was painful, Vahn noticed the Preasia didn't flinch in the slightest and just continued to stare as the word was erased from her arm.For the first time, Preasia's expression began to waver as she hesitantly touched her ruddy pink skin that looked somewhat irritated after the treatment. Even though it still itched slightly, the hateful word was now gone. Other than the memory, nothing remained but clean and healthy skin. Vahn saw her wavering eyes moisten as a bit of light returned before Preasia began sobbing loudly. Her cries were so loud that both Hestia and Haruhime showed up to investigate and saw the scene of four people with tears in their eyes as three of them tried consoling the loudly crying girl on the ground.Vahn looked into the crystalline blue eyes of Hestia and the placid green eyes of Haruhime with a pained look and they both realized he was asking for their help. If it were up to him, Vahn would simply heal all of Preasia's wounds and hope she recovered in time. He couldn't deal with the girl who had been catatonic before but was now sobbing inconsolably on the floor. Because of his earlier rage, Vahn didn't know how to react at all and suddenly wished that Eina or Hephaestus were here to guide him.For Haruhime, this was her first time seeing Vahn look so lost and she couldn't stop herself from walking forward quickly before sitting next to him and trying to help console the small sheep girl she had met earlier. She didn't remember her name, but she could tell that things had to be serious given how Vahn was acting. Since she also didn't know how to deal with the situation, she just began whispering comforting words to the crying girl while trying to soothe her.Hestia, who had been hesitating due to her own concern, felt somewhat at a loss by Haruhime's decisive response. Even though she couldn't do anything to help the situation, Haruhime immediately moved forward to try while she, a goddess, was stuck at the sidelines watching. The only thing Hestia knew was that Vahn needed her help but she didn't know how to help him...Vahn uttered a quiet thanks to Haruhime before turning back to stare at Hestia. Even he didn't know what he wanted to ask of her, but Vahn felt like she should have a solution. In his mind, Hestia might act selfish and spoiled sometimes, but she was inherently a kind and gentle girl that empathized with others. Though he didn't know why Vahn believed Hestia would be able to help in the absence of motherly figures like Milan and reliable girls like Eina...Hestia saw the expectant look in Vahn's eyes and felt a bit of fear well up inside her from the pressure contained within his gaze. However, there was also a small flame that rose up to overtake the fear as a confident glint passed through her eyes. She didn't want to let Vahn down, so Hestia moved forward calmly and with her characteristic gentle smile as she stated clearly, "Please move away from Preasia for a moment." Though they didn't understand her intentions, every girl except Fenrir moved away from Preasia.Vahn saw Fenrir's actions and gently ushered her away from Preasia to give Hestia an opportunity to take action. Though he saw her aura fluctuate greatly earlier, Vahn noticed Hestia had stabilized a bit even though her aura still flickered like a candle. When everyone had cleared away, Preasia continued to cry on the ground as if their lack of presence had no meaning to her. Hestia kneeled down next to her and, instead of trying to console her directly, cradled Preasia's head in her hands as she gently turned her face upwards and made eye contact with the watery light-grey eyes.Though her actions seemed to lack delicacy, Hestia asked in a very gentle manner with a hopeful look on her face, "Do you want all the bad memories to go away?" Preasia continued to look into Hestia's deep blue eyes as her sobbing slowly calmed down. There was still a stream of tears pouring down her face, but she said through muted sobs, "Please...please help me..." Hestia hugged Preasia's head against her chest even though her horns got in the way slightly. She stroked the back of her hair and explained in a gentle tone, "Vahn will help you...you just have to believe in him. The people who hurt you will never come back, you can be happy as long as you continue to push forward. The reason gods are envious of people is that they have the ability to change...even when sad things happen, you just have to continue to seek happiness...as long as you never give up, there is nothing that can stop you from moving forward except yourself...don't let bad memories from the past affect how you live in the present...don't give any more power to the people that hurt you. You're better than they can ever aspire to be...you're safe now."Vahn almost felt like Hestia's soothing words were a spell that was something akin to a magical spell. She was so gentle and confident in her speech that even Vahn felt somewhat affected and hopeful for the future. He wasn't the only one affected either, as every girl, other than Fenrir, had somewhat serious expressions on their faces as if they were lost in contemplation. As the target of the words, Preasia had started to take deep breaths as her body shook. After a few seconds of silence, Preasia looked up, not at Hestia, but at Vahn and pleaded, "Please heal me...I want to forget...I don't want these scars anymore!"Though he still felt chaotic emotions inside, Vahn nodded his head and stated firmly, "I'll heal you. I won't leave a single mark behind." Vahn stood up from the ground as Hestia helped lift Preasia's body. With shaky hands, Preasia started trying to remove her sweater and Vahn realized she wanted to be healed now. Nodding to the twins, they both moved forward to help Preasia with her clothing while Hestia and Haruhime approached Vahn to see if they could help with anything. Vahn thanked them but said, "Leave it to me, I'll take care of everything."Waving his hand, Vahn pulled out the table that he had purchased for the purpose of massaging in the past. It was a long table that could be inclined slightly and had a cushioned hole where a person could place their face and completely relax while they were laying on their stomach. Thinking for a moment, Vahn also placed a large mirror nearby so that Preasia could more easily inspect her own body before and after the fact. Vahn assumed she would want to verify things immediately and then he would send her away with the other girls to wash up while Vahn contacted a few people.Perhaps due to her exposure as a slave, but Preasia didn't have any noticeable aversion to being seen naked as her clothes were fully stripped down to just her panties. Because of the cruelty of her former owner, not even her genitals or backside were spared and the final garment was removed which caused some of the girls to begin shaking slightly at the sight. For Haruhime, this was her first time seeing something so terrible and she could do nothing but hold her mouth as she did her best to contain her sobs.Hestia's aura was very chaotic but her expression remained gentle as she walked forward and guided Preasia in front of the mirror. When Vahn had set it out earlier, she immediately understood its purpose and took the initiative to support Preasia. Seeing her own reflection, the small light that had appeared in Preasia's eyes began to fade somewhat before Hestia whispered, "This isn't you...this is what someone tried to make you. Show them you're not a slave...you're a free girl now and will never have to see this form again." As if rekindling a flame, the small light in Preasia's eyes came back with marginally more intensity as she walked over and sat on the table with the assistance of Hestia.Because she was most heavily impacted by the wounds on her front, Preasia laid face up and had a pleading look in her eyes as she gave one last look at Vahn before closing her eyes tightly. Vahn knew it would be a somewhat painful procedure and said, "I will do a massage that helps relax your body so you don't feel as much pain. You won't be able to move easily so don't panic..." Without saying anything, Preasia nodded her head slightly and kept her eyes firmly shut.Vahn took a deep breath and used [Hands of Nirvana] to force Preasia's body to relax while dealing with some of her smaller wounds. The tension in her body soon faded away and she opened her eyes and blankly stared to the side where Hestia sat holding her hand. It took nearly forty minutes, but Vahn was able to completely remove the scars from the front of Preasia's body. It was an incredibly unnerving experience when he had to remove the scars from the inside of her thighs. Preasia, who was almost completely unable to move, still tensed up her body somehow and grit her teeth while Vahn finished the procedure.After her frontside was healed, Hestia helped Preasia inspect her own body. When she saw the absence of any noticeable scars on her body, Preasia wasn't even able to cry normally. She just stared with wavering eyes at her own reflection as if she was incapable of believing what she was seeing with her own eyes. Since she didn't seem to be making any movements on her own, Hestia helped take Preasia back to the table as Emiru stepped forward and helped.Preasia's backside was actually severely more damaged than her front and it took Vahn more than an hour to heal her wounds. Though he couldn't be sure, he thought that the scars on her back were caused by a whip. There were even areas that cut more than a centimeter into the skin and looked incredibly painful even though they had scarred over. The monster behind the actions must have used a low-grade potion to force the wounds closed after the vile act. Just the fact that Preasia had almost no actual reaction from what should be an incredibly irritating healing process showed that she was almost completely numb to normal pain...By the time nearly two hours had passed, all of the wounds covering Preasia's body had been completely healed without a single scar remaining. Because she couldn't see her back, Vahn set up a triple-mirror setup that was typically used in changing rooms. Using the mirrors, Preasia was able to see her body from every angle and she even inspected the areas around her tail and ears where there used to be burn marks. After a while, Preasia looked like she had begun to hyperventilate and eventually passed out as her body was caught by the twins that had been attending to her. Hestia had left earlier when Vahn asked her to pass messages for him along the network.Vahn helped carry the unconscious Preasia to the girls' onsen and was accompanied by Haruhime, Emiru, Maemi, and Fenrir. While the girls changed out of their clothes, Vahn found a shallow pool and helped submerge Preasia's body without removing his clothes. Even though he could unequip them, Vahn felt incredibly insecure about being around Preasia's body while being naked. A few minutes after he entered, the other girls walked into the onsen completely naked without minding Vahn's presence at all. Even Haruhime followed along and just gave Vahn a comforting smile as she helped take over the duties of cleaning Preasia.Vahn offered a polite thanks to the girls and didn't stare at their bodies at all before stepping out of the pool with his soaked clothes and walking through the empty changing room before swapping into dry clothing. A fierce look appeared on his face as Vahn walked towards Hestia's room to find out if she had heard anything yet. Vahn wanted to find the man that did this and make him pay dearly...even if it brought no closure to Preasia, he wanted to vent his own frustrations on the person who he could only identify as a monster.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Glimmer of Hope','Hestia's Gentleness','Vahn's Wrath Is Invoked')I am currently at $718/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images &lt;3

Since it was still early and the others had awoken, Vahn showed Haruhime around the first floor of the Manor and kept his attention split between the other presences in the house. Everything he showed Haruhime got a small rise out of her and she excitedly trotted about next to him and asked questions about everything. All of the furnishings in the house had been put there by him, so Vahn was able to answer all of her questions which brought her no small amount of happiness.Vahn noticed that Haruhime acted very elegantly most of the time, but whenever she saw something knew she immediately disregarded manners and excitedly asked about it. She was especially fond of the onsen since it reminded her of home. When she saw that Vahn had also remodeled the dining room to emulate the designs of the Far East, Haruhime was ecstatic. Even though he hadn't done it for her, she felt especially blessed that she could experience part of her own culture in the place she had decided to stay.Since he saw how she reacted, Vahn wondered if it might be a good idea to remodel part of the Manor in the future. They presently had almost no use for the east wing of the Manor, and Vahn figured it might be appropriate to model it after the Far East. When he pitched the idea to Haruhime, she seemed to be very excited and once again began muttering to herself silently for a few seconds before resuming her well-mannered behavior. Vahn wanted to explain that his decision also related to the time he stayed with Tsubaki, but he decided to keep it to himself for the time being.When he finally noticed people coming downstairs, Vahn escorted Haruhime back to the dining room so that he could introduce her to the rest of the residents. Hearing that she was going to meet the other girls, Haruhime had a gentle smile on her face but Vahn could see that her aura had flared up a bit. So that she wouldn't cause any problems, Vahn decided to explain, "There is another girl that will be present, her name is Preasia, try to remain calm so you don't unnerve her. She has experienced a terrible trauma and needs the care and concern of others..."Hearing the foreign name, Haruhime asked about the girl and Vahn explained the circumstances of how he saved six slaves and crushed a small group of slave traffickers while he was searching for her. Though she seemed concerned at first, Vahn noticed Haruhime became very happy when he talked about saving the girls even though that wasn't his original plan. Though she hadn't said anything about it yet, Haruhime added a new layer of cement atop the idea that Vahn was the hero she had been waiting for.When they arrived at the dining room, everyone was present including, Eina, Hestia, Fenrir, Emiru, Maemi, and Preasia. Other than Fenrir, everyone seemed to be surprised at Vahn's arrival as Hestia and Eina both stood up and approached him. Eina looked toward Haruhime and said in a gentle tone, "You must be Haruhime, I'm glad Vahn was able to save you without incident." Before Haruhime could ask about Eina, Hestia also said, "Welcome to the Hearth Manor! Since Vahn decided to protect you, this place will be your home until you decide to move on~!" Though she wasn't being forceful, Vahn noticed that Hestia was somewhat implying that Haruhime should leave in the future.Haruhime seemed to notice it as well since she stepped closer to Vahn and grabbed his sleeve without responding to Hestia's words. For a very brief moment, Hestia's expression changed before returning to her normal, gentle, look. Vahn took a deeper breath than normal and made the introductions, "Haruhime, this is Eina, one of my 'first wives' alongside the goddess Hephaestus." Eina bowed politely and had a simple smile on her face which caused Haruhime to return the greeting out of habit. Vahn introduced Hestia next and saw the glimmer in her eye so he said, "And this beautiful goddess is Hestia, the goddess of our Familia and the caretaker of everyone within the Hearth Manor."Though she knew he was just pandering to her, Hestia pressed out her chest proudly and said, "That's right~! This beautiful and amazingly gentle goddess is the head of the Hestia Familia that shares my name~." Before continuing her words, Hestia stepped on the opposite side of Vahn before hugging around his waist and pressing his right arm between her breasts. Continuing, Hestia said, "I'm also one of the closest people to Vahn~"As if challenged by her words, Fenrir stood up from the table and shouted, "Fenrir closest to Vahn!" Everyone looked over at the rambunctious wolf girl while Vahn turned his attention to the sheep girl next to her. Even when Fenrir shouted out, Preasia remained unphased and just continued to watch the scene play out with a blank expression on her face. After releasing a quiet sigh, Vahn used the lull created by Fenrir to introduce everyone else to Haruhime before preparing for breakfast.Since they knew Vahn had only shown up and liberated them while he was trying to find Haruhime, both Emiru and Maemi were very fond of Haruhime even though they had just met. Haruhime also responding to them politely and seemed to hit it off with the twins very quickly. She was especially drawn to the maid outfits and tried to pitch the idea of becoming a maid herself, except she wanted to be Vahn's personal maid.Vahn refused her offer as politely as he could and told her she should focus on a pursuit that didn't involve serving others. Using it as an opportunity, Vahn also informed the twins that they didn't have to act as maids either, but they both refused as it was something they wanted to do themselves. Even though he didn't understand how they could 'like cleaning', Vahn noticed that their auras remained stable when they spoke so he knew they were telling the truth, or at the very least believed their own words.During breakfast, Haruhime had wanted to sit next to Vahn but had lost the opportunity to Eina and Hestia. Haruhime didn't want to compete with the two girls at all, so she just sat next to Eina with her body relatively close as she tried to reach her tail around the backside of the half-elf and reach Vahn. Because of the dexterity and length of her tail, Haruhime was able to reach him if she sat close enough to Eina. When Vahn noticed the tail touching his side, he gave her a strange look that just caused her to smile in return as she ate her food with small bites. Eina, the person between the two of them, continue to smile without making any comments as she leaned into Vahn's shoulder a bit.After breakfast, Vahn embraced Eina and saw her off after she refused his offer to carry her back home. She said she liked the early morning air and would be fine on her own, but Vahn still sent a mental note to Fafnir and had him follow along in her shadow until she arrived safely. Vahn had to inform the Alliance about the matter with Ishtar and make sure none of the weaker members involved would be exposed to her schemes. Though she likely wouldn't target a member of the Guild, there was no telling what a goddess might do when it came down to it. Just like Laverna, she could take actions without thinking of the consequences at all...While Fenrir was teaching Emiru and Maemi to read, the three of them were also taking care of Preasia. Vahn and Hestia showed Haruhime around the upper floors of the Manor as Vahn mentioned the idea of refurbishing the western and eastern wings to represent different cultures. Since most of the people in the Manor currently lived in the central area, there hadn't really been much use for the two wings and it wouldn't cause a problem if they redecorated a bit. Hestia was even excited to be able to experience multiple cultures just by walking a few minutes between the wings of the Manor.When it came time to help Haruhime pick a room, she was somewhat distraught to learn that all of the rooms around Vahn's had already been taken by other girls previously. The room to the right of Vahn's had been taken by Milan and Tina, but was also being used by Fenrir and Preasia currently. The room on the left had been taken by Ryuu since she was one of the first to move in and had gotten an early lead on everyone else. Across from Vahn's room, in one of the larger bedrooms, was the area where Hestia slept when Vahn was sleeping with others. It was also the room where Hephaestus stayed and wasn't together with Vahn and had a lot of clothes strewn about carelessly.The rooms to the left and right of Hestia's bedroom had been taken by Lili and Naaza, even though they weren't officially part of the Hestia Familia. Naaza had been intending to move in soon, but had been training alongside Lili and Tsubaki recently while trying to work on her breakthrough. Lili was completely determined to join the Hestia Familia in the future and wanted to share the same room with Vahn but ended up having to pick one nearby instead.Seeing that all of the best rooms were taken, Haruhime wanted to insist that she stay in the same room as Vahn, even if she had to sleep on a separate bed or sofa. When she found out about his hidden forge, she was even willing to stay inside there and commented about how warm it was on the inside. Hestia, even though she made an effort to not act jealously, couldn't tolerate the way Haruhime was acting and eventually shut her down in lieu of Vahn. She explained to Haruhime that Vahn needed his own room and often spent time with other girls, so there was no way she could live within the same room regardless of her reasoning. Even she, as Vahn's 'goddess', had to have her own room and sleep alone sometimes...Dejected, Haruhime picked the room closest to the stairs in the hopes of being able to track when Vahn leaves and arrives more easily. To welcome her to the Familia, Vahn actually gave her several bookshelves to decorate her room and purchased a variety of fairy tales from other worlds and some educational texts for her to read. Since reading was her favorite pastime, Haruhime was over-the-moon to receive several hundred books of her own to browse whenever she liked. Other than training, Vahn gave her completely free-reign to decide what she wanted to do with her time for the foreseeable future. Though he hardly followed the advice himself, Vahn wanted Haruhime to relax so she could focus on recovery instead of worrying about the past.After Haruhime was properly settled in, it came time for the ceremony to induct her into the Hestia Familia. She had already made the decision to join and stay in the Manor from now on, even though she kept refusing to undergo the ceremony unless Vahn was present. When he mentioned that she could stay without joining the Familia, Haruhime kept insisting that she join while continually refusing to join at the same time. Since Vahn also wanted to confirm a few things himself, he eventually caved in but required her to properly conceal herself.Hestia's impression of Haruhime wasn't the best but she also could tell that Haruhime wasn't a bad girl and just sought out Vahn like most of the other troubled girls around him. The main reason she felt threatened was due to the exotic nature of Haruhime and the fact that Vahn was rather handsy when it came to the girls with fluffy ears and tails. She knew that, even if Vahn put up a wall between him and Haruhime, he would eventually crack in time. The fact that he so easily conceded to her obstinance so early on was a red flag and she intended to bring the matter up on the network later...During the ceremony, Vahn sat at Haruhime's back even though she wanted him to sit in front of her. Vahn watched Hestia carve the crest with intrigue in his eyes as he inspected the entire process with his [Eyes of Truth]. Though he had been able to emulate the ceremony to an extent, Vahn was still curious about how the blessing was actually applied. He could see a strange energy that flowed alongside the mana in Hestia's fingers that used her 'Ichor', the blood from her fingertips, as a catalyst.When Hestia had finished carving the crest, she used a piece of paper to record Haruhime's information and was preparing to tell her to get dressed before Vahn said, "Wait, you should know that I can also read the status board and update statuses, right? I also have a technique that lets me take a peek at the latent abilities of others...I want to confirm my suspicions about a few things." Haruhime heard Vahn's words and had a happy expression as she tried to agree, but Hestia had a frown on her face and showed Vahn the recorded information of Haruhime.Holding out the paper, Hestia stated firmly, "I already recorded her parameters and skills, and I've even identified the reason why Ishtar was probably after her in the first place. What else do you expect to find that even a goddess can't see through her own crest?" Vahn took the paper and his brows raised slightly as he looked over the information. He could see that Haruhime's stats were rather low, but her Magic was much higher than normal. The most notable thing was the existence of two magic skills called [Uchide no Kozuchi] and [Kokonoe] but Vahn wasn't able to discern their use and rank until he investigated it for himself.Vahn looked into Hestia's crystalline blue eyes and explained patiently, "Hestia, you know me better than almost anyone else...do you really think I have any other thoughts other than what I stated? You should have heard from Hephaestus about my ability to update status, and I've also used it on Fenrir several times..." Vahn noticed that Hestia's eyes watered a bit as he was speaking which caused his words to trail at the end. After a few seconds, Hestia said with a small frown, "I know you're telling the truth...I really do trust you...I just don't like how quickly this girl is trying to weasel her way into your life. There are other people that are still struggling to obtain your affections!"Seeing Hestia's approaching tears made Vahn feel a little heartbroken as even Haruhime gave her a sad, somewhat apologetic look. Walking forward, Vahn paused in front of Hestia as she looked up at him with weepy eyes. Realizing that his current position made Hestia's impact even stronger, Vahn couldn't help but laugh at himself as he loosely embraced her petite body. He asked in a quiet voice, "What can I do to ease the insecurities in your heart if even you aren't ready to take the next step? Please tell me how I can help you...just like you said earlier, you're one of the most important people to me. I don't want to see you sad anymore."Hestia remained silent for a while as she placed her forehead against Vahn's chest and contemplated matters for a bit. She didn't know what had overtaken her at the moment and felt guilty about how Vahn was currently acting so gently toward her even though she had obviously overstepped her bounds. Because he had explained things from the outset, she knew what kind of life Haruhime had to live for the last three years...the fact that she somewhat resented, even envied, the unfortunate girl made Hestia hate herself a little. Just like Vahn said, even though she felt like she loved him, even though she wanted to do many things with him, she was also very afraid to take that small step forward that would change her life forever. Hestia felt like she would lose a part of herself and, even though she felt like she would gain more in the end, she was still afraid...After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Hestia looked up at Vahn's face and tried her best to smile as she asked, "Can we go out on a date, just the two of us?" Vahn's concerned expression turned into a gentle smile as he nodded his head and said, "Sure, however many you want. I need to find more time to relax anyways, so it'll be good to spend time quality time with my beautiful, somewhat spoiled, little goddess." Hestia's false smiled turned into a real one before her eyes widened a bit and she shouted, "Please don't talk about my height so casually~!"(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Welcome to the crib...','Room Assignments','Hestia's Troubled Heart')I am currently at $718/1200 of my new goal~! If I can reach this amount, I intend to start having character profiles and images of all the characters created so I can update the information to a wiki~! Though the Wiki will be accessible by anyone, only Patrons will receive the high-res versions of the images &lt;3

Chapter 258: Confirmation