Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Syr had been staring at the group standing around in a circle sniffing each other with a mildly humorous expression on her face. After she had helped Milan and Tina settle into their room and explained the situation to Mama Mia, she had doubled back and peeked through one of the windows to see if Vahn and the rest were still around. Seeing them act in such a strange and awkward manner made her laugh silently to herself before she tapped on the window a bit.Vahn was already naturally perceptive, but he had lost himself a bit after getting caught up in the atmosphere of the girls. He heard the slight tapping sound and could sense the presence of someone just outside his line of sight. Turning his head, he could see Syr staring at them through a window with a bemused expression on her face as she waved at him. He suddenly felt a lot more awkward as he returned her wave by raising his hand slightly.His action had caused three of the girls to notice something was strange and they all turned their heads to see Syr looking at them. Now that she had most of their attention, Syr's smile grew and they could see her cover her mouth through the window as though she was laughing at their antics. Naaza immediately pulled away from Vahn's back and averted her rosy face while Tiona began laughing along with Syr. Ais didn't pull away quickly, but she sniffed Vahn's body one last time before standing off to the side. The only one that seemed to be unaware of the situation had been Lili who continued nuzzling her face against Vahn's diaphragm.Though he still felt a little awkward, Vahn began to laugh alongside Tiona as he ruffled Lili's hair heavily before pulling her away gently by her shoulder. She had a somewhat flushed expression and Vahn could see the tear stains on her face from earlier had dried up for the most part. Lili looked up at Vahn with upturned eyes and said in a low and apologetic tone, "I'm sorry for getting carried away...I blame Naaza."Vahn found Lili's actions and upturned expression to be very adorable and he nearly burst out laughing when he heard her words. Naaza's expression grew even redder as she hung her head low and covered her face with both hands. Tiona seemed to enjoy her reaction as she leaned sideways and tried to stare into Naaza's face while asking, "Why are you so embarrassed~?"After messing around in the much lighter atmosphere for a few minutes, the group finally left the alleyway and headed towards the Babel Plaza. Along the way, Lili held onto Vahn's left hand while Tiona clung to his right arm. Ais seemed to be somewhat dissatisfied by the arrangement but kept her silence as she walked next to Naaza who had recovered her composure by a fair amount. Though she still had a light blush on her face, her expression had returned to normal as she tried to make polite conversation with the relatively unresponsive Ais.When the group arrived at Babel Plaza, Tiona and Ais ended up parting ways since the Twilight Manor was on the opposite end of the City. Though they wanted to follow Vahn, both girls had spent the day with him and wanted to give others the opportunity to be around him without their influence. Loki had told them before allowing them to follow Vahn to ensure that they didn't pressure him too much and to return to the Manor once they reached the Plaza.Vahn embraced the two thoughtful girls for a relatively long period of time before parting after a short kiss. Since they were being overly aware of Naaza and Lili, they only locked lips for a few seconds at the very end of the embrace. They promised to stop by periodically during the week, but Vahn asked them to wait for his arrival at the Twilight Manor. His schedule was usually very busy, and he didn't want the girls to go out of their way just because they were concerned for him.He did promise to meet up with them on the weekend and even told them about the planned birthday celebration that Hephaestus had proposed. Hearing that Vahn had actually turned fifteen without their notice, all four girls present had varying degrees of shock on their faces and began pressing him for answers up until they finally parted ways for the evening several minutes later.Now that Tiona and Ais had left, Naaza had grown bolder and taken Vahn's right hand as the trio made their way towards Tsubaki's Manor and Vahn's residence. Along the way, Vahn had started a conversation about what the two had been up to while he had been training and living alongside the Anubis Familia. He found out that Naaza was on the verge of a breakthrough in her mixing, but she also wanted to begin developing her strength once again. Lili had continued her training at a much greater intensity than before and had even developed her foundation to the point where she was almost ready to reach Level 2.Vahn, hearing that the two wanted to get stronger, told them about his skill, [Prometheus] and promised to help them both increase their potential. When they heard about the skill and the fact that it drew on their emotions and feelings to increase their power, both girls suddenly turned very happy and even Naaza began acting uncommonly affectionate while ignoring the surrounding gazes. Since Vahn rarely saw her wagging her tail happily, he also began to feel better about the future and thought he should have given them both a flame seed earlier.After nearly an hour, the three arrived outside Tsubaki's Manor and paused in silence for several seconds before Lili asked, "Do you want us to stay with you tonight? If you're feeling lonely, I can make a good hug pillow..." Vahn could see Lili was beginning to get in high tensions so he pat her on the head as he considered her offer. He didn't particularly mind sleeping together since they had done so very often in the dungeon without any problems. Even though he had 'awakened' towards women, he still considered Lili as someone that he needed to protect, very similar to Tina. They were even similar in size and considered each other rivals, even though Lili was nearly three full years older.While Vahn was thinking about his response, Naaza pressed her hands to her chest and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'll come as well...I am worried about you." Vahn's brows raised while Lili gave a subtle thumbs up to Naaza outside of Vahn's line of sight. She was also very worried about Vahn's current state of mind since everyone was afraid he might blame himself for what had happened. Even though he was acting relatively normally, most of the girls had noticed his expression break periodically into one of melancholy. However, if someone were to ask, she wouldn't deny that she also just wanted to spend time with him after not seeing each much since he awoke from the coma. She had been distracting herself with her training to prevent herself from feeling sad at being separated from each other.Since both girls were showing concern for him, Vahn gave up and accepted their offer as he led them toward his own residence. As they hadn't entered it before, Vahn had to register them through the formations or it would trigger and potentially harm the two girls. When they stepped inside the courtyard, Vahn could see that Lili was in high tensions while Naaza seemed to be somewhat nervous.The moment they entered the foyer, all three of them stopped as they saw all seven members of the Anubis Familia waiting while sitting on their knees. Nanu was the first to speak as she bowed her head and said, "Welcome home, Master." Her actions prompted the other children to repeat the greeting while Lili and Naaza gave Vahn strange looks as they asked, "Is it always like this?"Though it was kind of late, the entire group enjoyed a late dinner after the two groups took turns bathing. Lili and Naaza had both intended to take a bath with Vahn, as even Naaza had done so several times in the past, but Nanu prevented them from doing so after lecturing them in a manner similar to Tina. Lili seemed to take a serious impact as she swore to lecture Tina the next time they met on about what is and isn't necessary.Before bed, Vahn informed the children that they would have the next day off and encouraged them all to take a nice rest. Since there were likely matters to attend to in the following few days, Vahn didn't want to pressure anyone until things settled down. When Nanu learned that Lili and Naaza were going to sleep with Vahn, she wanted to refute but was unable to since Vahn had given them permission. Since Lili was even smaller than she was and they were similar in age, Nanu felt highly competitive against the pallum invader. If not for the fact Lili had a pre-existing relationship with Vahn, she wouldn't have allowed the matter easily.Vahn had seen the strange atmosphere between Lili and Nanu and ruffled both girls hair like they were misbehaving children. Both girls realized that Vahn was looking down on them, but neither was willing to pull away from his hand either. They just continued to glare at each other and Vahn could almost see sparks flying between them with his enhanced vision.After sending Nanu off to her own room, Naaza, Lili, and Vahn entered his room and prepared for bed. Vahn noticed that Naaza immediately began smelling around the room, but he didn't say anything as he began to change clothes. Though he pretended to not notice, he could feel the auras of both girls fluctuate and take on a pinkish hue as they gazed at his back. It wasn't until he turned around after changing into his sleepwear that they both quickly averted their eyes.Recalling something from the past, Lili found a bit of confidence as she stood in front of Vahn and spread out her arms as she asked in a bashful manner, "Help me change...?" Though he thought she looked especially adorable and it even brought a smile to his face, Vahn lifted his right hand before flicking Lili gently on the forehead and saying, "Don't get carried away Lili. We're just here to sleep, remember that."Lili held the spot where Vahn had 'gently' flicked her with his near Level 4 parameters. It felt like a hammer had hit her head, but she didn't begrudge him too much since it was a pain caused by her own carelessness. Vahn had noticed the genuine tears in her eyes and used [Hands of Nirvana] to rub the spot on her forehead before stroking her hair a bit and crawling into bed once she started undressing.Since he had grown accustomed to averting his eyes, Vahn didn't watch them as they changed and just turned his sight toward the ceiling as he closed his eyes and began ruminating over the events that had transpired. The day had started off strong and Vahn had been in a great mood, but things had taken a sudden and drastic turn in the afternoon. Though things were much better now, Vahn still felt a mixture of emotions after recalling everything that had happened.Vahn felt movement from both sides of the bed as he turned his vision to the right and blanked for a few moments as he saw the fiercely blushing Naaza crawling into the bed while covering her breasts with one arm. Since they hadn't entered into Tsubaki's Manor earlier, she didn't actually have any nightwear, so Naaza had stripped her casual clothing down to her underwear and mustered up enough resolve to crawl into the bed with Vahn. She had on light green, somewhat plain, underwear and it stood out against her fair skin that had taken on a light pink coloration.Feeling the movement from his left, Vahn realized something as he slowly turned his head and looked at Lili. He released a relieved sigh after seeing that she had actually worn one of Tina's nightgowns. Since she was actually shorter than Tina, the white nightgown went down to her knees and properly covered her petite body. Though Vahn didn't consider Lili in that manner right now, he knew she had affections for him and it wouldn't be easy to deal with her if she was in her underwear as well.Scanning through his system for a bit, Vahn purchased a nightgown for Naaza and handed it to her before she nearly passed out from the blood flowing to her head. She had only made it halfway to his position before her body had completely stalled. When Vahn had stared at her earlier, she followed his gaze and realized he had briefly paused on the cleavage of her chest. Though she had been seen naked by him before, it was before Vahn had any awareness of women. His previously 'innocent' look now caused Naaza to feel like her body burned everywhere his eyes wandered.Seeing the expensive looking nightgown he passed to her, she reached out for it like it was a canteen in the middle of the desert. In less time than it took to blink, Naaza had quickly pulled the nightgown over her head before diving under the covers and pulling them all the way up to her face. Vahn had been staring at the entire sequence of events and suddenly realized Naaza was much more adorable than he remembered from the past.As he was staring at Naaza with an amused expression, Vahn suddenly heard Lili ask, "Vahn, if you had to pick, what kind of girls and what race do you think is the cutest?" Vahn turned to Lili and saw her kneeling on the bed and looking at him with a 'serious' expression. Processing her question, Vahn remembered about her magic and thought she was trying to appeal to him, so he shook his head and said, "I've never concerned myself with race much. I've met girls of all kinds of various different races that I thought were cute. You should just be yourself and continue to improve-"Before he could finish, Lili tilted her head and asked, "Is there anything you've been interested in or something that you've never seen?" Seeing that she had ignored his words, Vahn frowned slightly and was about to say something when Lili chanted a silent incantation and suddenly sprouted a pair white tiger ears and a thick and long tail that was nearly the same length as her body. Vahn immediately realized she was emulating his Báihǔ form as even her hair had changed to a white color with black undertones.Lili smiled at his reaction before crawling under the covers next to him and saying, "This way, we have something in common that nobody else has~!" Since the nightgown she was wearing had long sleeves, Vahn hadn't noticed that Lili had also transformed her hands and feet as she held out her hands toward him like claws. He saw the tiny paw pads on her hand and fingers and suddenly had the urge to poke them but prevented himself from doing so.Releasing an exasperated sigh in his mind, Vahn performed the ritual he had adopted with Tina on both of the girls by kissing them on the forehead before relaxing his head against the pillow. Not too long later, he could feel both girls cuddled up to him and Naaza placed her head on his shoulder while Lilu nuzzled against his chest. Vahn immediately noticed that Lili had a much higher body temperature than Naaza, but Naaza had a strangely relaxing aroma. When that thought crossed his mind, Vahn remembered that chienthropes released pheromones from their ears that helped people calm down and he realized she was trying to help him relax.Vahn smiled as he enjoyed the pleasant feelings coming from the two girls. It wasn't long before the tiredness and mental fatigue of the day caught up to him and he was quickly drifting off towards sleep. Moments before he finally lapsed into unconsciousness, Vahn could swear that he heard the sound of Naaza sniffing his neck while he felt Lili slowly creep her padded palm onto his chest. Deciding it was a product of his imagination, Vahn let himself drift off into the land of dreams.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Syr's casual voyeurism','Undefeatable Paw Pads','Rose-colored dreams')I'll be increasing the number of chapters starting next week~https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $717/1200 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

When Vahn awoke early the next morning he could feel a pressure on his chest and, after moving the covers a bit, he could see that Lili had changed her position in the night and was now hugging his body like a koala. Vahn noticed that she was incredibly light so it wouldn't have been that uncomfortable if not for the wet stain on part of his tunic where her drool had soaked into the fabric.Turning his head to the right, Vahn noticed that Naaza didn't seem to have moved a single millimeter while she was asleep and continued to rest on his shoulder while holding his sleeve with her hand. Since his right arm was pinned by her body, and he didn't want to wake her, Vahn used his left hand to pull out the orb. Before he immersed himself into it, he looked at the tiny white ears on Lili's head for a few seconds before blowing into them with a puff of air. The small tiger-ears twitched and Lili turned her head to the other side and found a new spot to drool on.Vahn smiled at her reaction and then inserted his consciousness into the orb to meet Eva and calm his mind. Contrary to his expectations, Eva didn't drop onto him like all of the recent times he had visited. Instead, she was sitting off to the side in a white sundress with her hair somehow tied into a long braid that reached down to her butt. When they made eye contact, Eva asked, "With how you look, it doesn't seem like things went that well?"Releasing a sigh, Vahn sat up from the bed and rested against the headboard as Eva snuggled up next to him and waited for his explanation. Vahn recounted all of the events of the prior day from start to finish since it had been more than four years since Eva heard everything. She listened in silence all the way until the end while resting her head against his shoulder.When his story was finished, Eva asked in a quiet tone, "What do you want to do now? Will you continue to forge, or do you want to start training to become stronger?" When she got to this point, Eva repositioned herself before transforming into her adult form and hugging Vahn's head into her ample breasts. She whispered in a comforting tone, "Or do you want me to pamper you for a bit...?"Vahn allowed her to hug his head as he his body with his arms around her waist. The moment he embraced her, Eva began to stroke his hair gently and didn't say another word while comforting Vahn. After a while, Vahn asked in a slight daze, "I'm not sure what to do, Eva...I want to be stronger so things like this never happen again. But, I also want to keep the promises I've made as soon as possible."Releasing a sigh into her breasts, Vahn continued, "I want to be a hero...I want to be the light that helps people find their way out of the darkness...but I don't know what that really means. People tell me to just continue being myself, but everything I'm doing feels like it is only delaying the inevitable. The harder I try, the happier people become...but I feel like it just creates a gap in my own mentality that invites terrible things to happen. I want to be happy, but if my actions lead other people to suffer..."At this point, Vahn began to cry warm tears that trickled down Eva's cleavage as he hugged her waist tighter. She rested her cheek on his head as she continued to stroke his back and hair while Vahn continued trying to organize his thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, Vahn continued, "I don't want to be bad...I don't want to be evil...but I feel like the only way to protect the things I care about is to seek out and destroy the people that might harm them. The only way I can protect them is if everyone is too afraid to take action...but, I also don't want the people I care about to see me in that way...I don't want people to be afraid of me."Eva continued stroking Vahn's back as he turned silent for a long period of time. After a while, she spoke in a soft and gentle tone, "This is why most heroic tales end in tragedy...because there is too much darkness in the world for one person to resist. The harder you try, the more reliance people will place on you as they seek the warmth and security you provide. Since there is darkness in everyone, you'll bear their burdens and become susceptible to the plots and schemes of others..."Vahn silently listened to her words and knew that she was speaking the truth, at least as far as he could rationalize things. If he had never been involved with anyone in the 'record' of Danmachi, he wouldn't be wrapped up in all of these things...but he also wouldn't have been as happy as he had become. Lili would have continued to suffer until Bell saved her, and Naaza would have lost her arm. He didn't regret his actions, and there were so many things he wanted to protect, but Vahn still felt the strain of the burdens placed on him. If not for this secret place where he could vent, Vahn wasn't sure he'd be able to cope with the rapid changes to his life.Suddenly, Vahn felt a sense of weightlessness for a brief moment before he could smell various new aromas around. Lifting his head from Eva's breasts, Vahn noticed she had teleported the entire bed into the lively garden she had been developing over the last twenty or so years. The trees that they planted long ago had already grown by a fair amount, and it looked like a small piece of paradise with the neatly arranged rock formations and the artificial creek that had been carved into the landscape.Eva rubbed the side of Vahn's face with her hand and looked at him with gentle eyes as she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Vahn's mind blanked for a brief moment and didn't have time to reciprocate the kiss before she pulled away. Seeing his reaction, Eva smiled and said, "There is a simple solution, and I'm sure it's one you have already thought of but overlooked because of your focus and drive..."Vahn listened attentively and waited for her to continue; Eva laughed at his eagerness and explained, "Aren't there plenty of people around you to help share your burdens? Instead of trying to bear everything yourself, you can find those you trust and place your reliance in them. Just like now, when you're letting me consul and guide you, I'm sure there are others that are willing to do the same. Weren't you always talking about all the things that Hephaestus woman did for you that you wanted to pay back?"Eva's words caused Vahn to think about all of the various people in his life and realized that there were actually a number of people trying to make his life easier. In fact, there were few people within Vahn's immediate recollection that weren't trying to help him as he continued trying to move forward. It was their assistance and his willingness to try and make them happy that had been driving him all this time.While he was recalling all of the people he was in a relationship with, Eva continued, "I think the biggest problem is that you are too reliant on receiving their care and then trying to repay it and live up to their expectations. If you learn to work alongside them and help each other out, you'll be able to cover for each other's weaknesses and overcome difficulties together. You don't have to face everything alone..."At this point, Eva turned back into her normal appearance and crawled into Vahn's lap with her back resting against his chest. She grabbed his hands and placed them around her as she held them with her own. Turning her head to the side and tilting her body, Eva kissed Vahn on the chin and then said, "I'm sure you realize how much I rely on the time we get to spend together, even if it is only for a brief period every few years. It is because of what you have given me and the things we have faced together that I can continue forward and stall the decay of this space. I think that, if you learn to rely on others like what you're doing in here with me, you'll have a much easier life."Vahn considered her words for a while before releasing a somewhat tired, yet relieved, sigh. Putting a bit of strength into his hands, he held Eva tightly and hugged her against his body as he traced his head around her face and kissed her on the lips. Since she had been staring at his face, Vahn didn't have to go far before they made contact and kissed for nearly a full minute. When the kiss ended, Vahn looked into Eva's icy blue eyes and whispered, "After everything you've done...I feel like I need to repay you now."Eva began to laugh mischievously as she reached her hand up and caressed the side of Vahn's face and said, "Wrong again, my idiot disciple...we should work together to make each other happy. Every bit of affection you show me, I'll 'repay' it with interest. That way, no matter what, we'll always be working toward a greater happiness...together."In response to her words, Vahn traced his palms along her stomach and felt a gentle flow of mana as her white dress disappeared under his hands. Vahn also discarded his equipment and the two spent nearly two hours affectionately caressing each other without doing anything intense as they had done in the past. They just focused on exploring each other's bodies and discovering new things about each other that made them happier...together.When Vahn left the garden where Eva had fallen asleep, he felt incredibly refreshed and revitalized. He had learned that Eva was actually weaker to gentle caresses than she was more intense stimulation and after hugging her body as she drained his blood, she actually fell asleep while he was stroking her long golden hair. It turns out, when her blood pressure increases during excitement, she actually needs to release the pent of emotions and relied on his actions to do so. Since he didn't give her an easy outlet, her emotions continued to rise until her face was nearly beet red and Vahn felt like she was beginning to let off a small amount of steam. Since it was such a different reaction than her normal mischevious behavior, Vahn had gotten a little carried away and spoiled her quite a bit.Vahn had also seen (Nameless) sleeping under a tree and noticed that his body hadn't changed much. Other than its age increasing, there was no visible difference between his former and present self. When he noticed Vahn, (Nameless) rose from the ground and hobbled toward him with uneven steps and Vahn used Shundo to close the distance so it wouldn't have to struggle. Without any magical ability to speak of, (Nameless) couldn't substitute its energy by absorbing mana and it was barely able to sustain itself using some of the ingredients Vahn had left behind for Eva to cook with.Though (Nameless) was still quite ugly, Vahn treated it affectionately and scratched behind its ears as he channeled his energy into its body. (Nameless) seemed to be very pleased by Vahn's affection since, as Vahn learned later, Eva hadn't exactly been too fond of it. Though she made an effort to interact with it and even fed it so it wouldn't starve, she didn't like its ugly looks or lack of intelligence. Since they had no easy way to communicate and he couldn't understand her orders well, they had more or less lived in the same space without interacting too often.After fully replenishing its energy, Vahn made he way toward his workshop as (Nameless) trailed closely behind. Vahn allowed it to do so since it shouldn't cause any problems if he orders it to stay off to the side while he was working. Surprisingly, even without his order, (Nameless) just stood at the elevated platform where Eva's desk was and laid down on the floor as it watched Vahn work. If it had been a normal dog, its actions would have appeared cute, but Vahn couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved to see a dog with human-like arms supporting a dogs head as it stared at his actions with interest.Vahn resolved that, once the cooldown for [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] was up, he would come up with a name that would either make (Nameless) look very cool, or at least more appealing than the mangy humanoid dog that it currently appeared to be. He had already thought about naming it [Fenrir] based on the same mythos as Fafnir, but Vahn had a few misgivings about naming all of his subordinates after entities known for destruction. Fafnir already looked 'evil' and suddenly having a 'world-devouring' wolf might make people think he is some kind of evil tyrant.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Poor (Nameless)','Vahn is still just a kid','Sometimes, being intense isn't as intense as being gentle')If you'd like to support my ******* so I can continue writing the story and expanding the world even further, please follow the link below~!https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $717/1200 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

Unaware of the meeting going on between the gods and their eventual confrontation with Ouranos, Vahn continued along the way with the rest of his entourage while carrying the sleeping Tina in his arms. Everyone remained relatively silent along the way as it was already late into the evening and the atmosphere wasn't exactly conducive to conversation. Even Syr, who was often cheerful and outgoing, had a quiet and reserved demeanor as she led the way. The only person that didn't seem to be affected by the atmosphere was Arnya, who kept whispering words to Ryuu and asking various questions that caused the taciturn elf to sigh.Milan walked alongside Vahn and kept her head down for the majority of the trip as she turned her attention between Tina and Vahn respectively. Vahn could tell that her aura was still chaotic so he spread his domain to a small radius of five meters and began using the calming effect of his [Hands of Nirvana]. Everyone briefly paused when they felt the warm energy before turning toward Vahn who had looked at Milan with an expression of concern on his face.Milan had also stopped and turned her attention toward Vahn and could see the worry in his eyes. Her heart felt a bit of warmth and the energy seeping in through the atmosphere drove away the cold night air and brought her some degree of security. Seeing him cradling Tina gently while still paying attention to her mentality made the older cat woman feel almost fortunate. Were it not for the fact that she had phantom pains and the memories of the past events periodically flashing through her mind, she would have been genuinely happy by the current events.Vahn could see that, though her aura had stabilized a bit, Milan was still in a bad state of mind. Furrowing his brows slightly, Vahn spoke in a quiet, yet firm, tone, "I swear, Milan, I will never allow something like this to happen again. No matter what it takes, I will protect you and Tina from now on."In response to his statement, Milan gave him a soft smile and nodded her head before standing a little closer to him. Even though she couldn't truly believe in his words, given everything that happened, Milan knew that Vahn would do his best to keep his word. She had learned the motive behind the attack earlier and it had left a deep impact on her mind, but she didn't blame Vahn at all. It was the greedy and cruel nature of the men and their deviant goddess that had led to the incident taking place.Now Milan felt the desire to grow stronger after a long period of inactivity and wanted her daughter to also do the same. She knew that associating with Vahn and the people around him would be the greatest guarantee of their safety in the future. However, it was also this thought that made Milan feel unnerved. If Vahn refused to take care of them, even though Milan believed he would never do such a thing, she and her daughter would have nothing. This was why she accepted the offer to stay and work at the Hostess of Fertility. Though she wanted to trust Vahn wholeheartedly, Milan couldn't place her trust in a man right now.The group continued on their way until arriving at side entrance near the Hostess of Fertility. After exchanging a few parting words, Vahn gave Milan a gentle hug after passing Tina over to her. Though he could feel her body shake slightly, Vahn wanted to comfort her and continued using [Hands of Nirvana] to calm her body. Her shivering stopped by a large amount after a few seconds and she showed Vahn a slight smile before following Arnya inside.Syr remained in the alleyway and placed her hand on Vahn's shoulder and said in a gentle tone, "Don't worry, we'll take care of them. Make sure to stop by later and visit...everything will be okay." Finished with her words, Syr gave Vahn a short hug before following the other girls inside. The only ones left the alleyway were Tiona, Ais, Naaza, Lili, and Ryuu who had remained behind and approached Vahn.Though she usually wasn't very expressive, Ryuu had a gentle and comforting smile on her face as she placed her right hand over Vahn's chest. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and said in a quiet voice, "Your heart is stable...you will be okay. It isn't easy to walk the righteous path, but find some comfort in knowing that you saved those you care about."Vahn could see Ryuu's aura fluctuate and saw the sadness in her eyes as she was likely speaking from past experience. He knew from the manga that Ryuu had belonged to a 'righteous' Familia called the Astrea Familia which had been wiped out due to the machinations of an evil organization. In her pursuit of vengeance, she had killed a number of their members before nearly succumbing to the wounds she suffered. If not for being found by Syr, she would have met the same end as the rest of her Familia.Placing his right hand over the one she had over his heart, Vahn spoke in a solemn tone as if he were making a vow, "There are too many people that rely on me and too many things I want to obtain. I will not lose my way...I will continue to grow stronger in order to wash away any future regrets. I want to become a light that guides the way forward for others to follow."Ryuu smiled and continued staring at Vahn's hand over her own. His resolute nature and kindness resonated with her own beliefs and she wanted to help him walk the path he had set his sights on. She believed that he was a light that already shined brightly and wanted to see the future that he would create as he continued to pave the way forward for others. Even if she couldn't walk at his side, Ryuu wouldn't mind walking behind him...or even clearing away some of the darkness ahead.After separating their hands, Ryuu had a happy smile on her face and Vahn felt like he could see a soft light in her sky-blue eyes. Without saying anything else, Ryuu nodded her head slightly before turning to the other girls and repeating the action. Once she had acknowledged everyone present, Ryuu turned to look at Vahn one last time before entering through the door where the others had disappeared earlier.Taking the opportunity when nobody was near, Lili came over to Vahn before hesitating right in front of him. Vahn saw the concern on her face and remembered she had been relatively quiet ever since he came out of the safe house. With a smile on his face, Vahn reached out his hand and affectionately stroked Lili's hair for what felt like the first time in a long time. She showed a silly smile and cradled his hand with her own before stepping forward and hugging his body around the waist.Since she was only 110cm, compared to Vahns 162cm, Lili was only around 2/3rds Vahn's height after his inexplicable growth spurt. Though she used to come up to his chest, she now nuzzled slightly below his pectoral muscles, right above his diaphragm. Vahn continued to stroke her hair and could even feel a bit of moisture soaking into his tunic as he noticed she was stifling her tears as she hugged him tightly. Even though he hadn't been in any actual danger, Lili couldn't help but worry every time Vahn ran off on his own.Naaza was standing at the side and looked a bit lonely as she used the right hand that Vahn had saved to move aside the hair dangling over her face. She had also been very worried about Vahn and had even contacted the Miach Familia to request support just in case he or the other two girls got injured. Though she wanted to be pampered by Vahn and comfort him, Naaza couldn't easily show her affection around others. She knew Tiona and Ais were both in a relationship with Vahn, and the idea of embracing him in front of the two girls made Naaza uncomfortable. They were both powerful girls that could immediately rush into a dangerous situation and try to support Vahn while the only thing she could do is wait anxiously aboveground. Comparing herself to the powerful Amazon and the Sword Princess, Naaza couldn't help but feel inadequate.Seemingly unconcerned with how she felt, Tiona walked over to her before bending over with her hands behind her back. Since Naaza had been keeping her head down, Tiona had bent over far enough to where she could look up at the dejected chienthrope girl. She had a knowing smile on her face as she asked, "Aren't you going to hug Vahn as well?"Ais had also been looking over and couldn't understand why Naaza was hesitating. She spoke out in a somewhat monotonous voice with her head tilted sideways, "Why do you hesitate?" As if reacting to her own words, Ais walked over to where Vahn was still consoling Lili and stared at the two for a few seconds before walking around to Vahn's back. As Vahn looked over his shoulder, Ais put her hands around his arms in a loose hug and rested her body against his back while placing her head near his shoulder in a position where she could see Naaza and Tiona.As if having verified something, she smiled slightly and said, "Pleasant..." Since Vahn had still been using [Hands of Nirvana] on his domain since earlier, the closer someone got to him the more prominent the calming effect. Tiona dragged over the hesitant Naaza with an encouraging smile before lining her up next to Ais. Though she seemed to hesitate a little, Ais removed herself from Vahn's back as he continued to stand in silence. He felt a little awkward, but he knew they were just trying to comfort him after everything that happened tonight.Naaza continued to stand without taking action even when Tiona nudged her a little and whispered encouraging words to her. It wasn't until Ais looked like she was about to hug Vahn again that she finally stepped forward slightly and grabbed the sleeve of Vahn's tunic with her left hand. Vahn had been looking toward the group and locked eyes with Naaza and gave her a gentle smile after staring at the hand that grabbed his tunic.With a slight blush on her face, Naaza lowered her head a bit and said in an almost silent voice, "Excuse me..." She then performed a similar action as Ais and drew herself close to Vahn without fully leaning against him. Naaza could feel the warmth radiating from his body as a result of his naturally high body temperature and the calming effects of his domain. She felt very comfortable and rest her head against his back for several seconds before doing something that startled everyone other than Lili who seemed lost in her own world on Vahn's stomach.As if driven by some primordial instinct, Naaza began to absentmindedly sniff Vahn's back as her bushy tail began to wag slightly. It wasn't until several seconds later that Naaza noticed something was wrong since everything had suddenly turned silent. Raising her head, she saw Vahn giving her a somewhat strange look while continuing to smile at her. She then turned to see Tiona nearly on the verge of laughing while Ais stared at her tail and asked, "Sniffing Vahn makes you happy?"Ais's question caused Naaza's blush to deepen immensely and she hid her face against Vahn's back and refused to answer or even look at anyone. She felt incredibly embarrassed because, even now, she was very tempted to sniff the back of Vahn's tunic. Since he had been exerting himself a lot, his sweat had soaked into the fabric and it was making her heart itch a bit.Curious at Naaza's behavior, Ais walked over to Vahn before finding an empty spot that was easy to approach and leaned forward with her face near the nape of his neck. She then began to sniff his body as if trying to discover what drew Naaza's interest to the point where she absentmindedly lost herself in the scent. All Ais could smell was Vahn's normal musk and didn't think it was that pleasant of an odor. However, the more she smelled it, the most pleasant it seemed to become and Ais began to believe she understood why Naaza had been engrossed in the act earlier.Tiona saw how Ais was behaving and walked to the other side of Vahn's body and began smelling the opposite side of his nape. After a few seconds, she smiled and said, "It smells like sweat and the earth. It isn't unpleasant, but I think you need to take a bath when you get home~." Tiona's words had caused Vahn to begin laughing awkwardly, especially when she began smelling his body again.At this point, Vahn was also aware that Lili had long since started inhaling the fragrance on the front of his tunic and now he was in an incredibly hard to describe situation. Though they had varying ages and degrees of beauty, it was a very strange feeling to have four different girls smelling his body at the same time in a manner where it didn't seem like he could move at all. After a few seconds of tolerating the awkward situation, Vahn couldn't resist following the momentum any longer and his nostrils began to twitch ever so slightly as he smelled the different fragrances of the four girls.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Trauma','Ais is curious','Olfactophilia')I'll be increasing the number of chapters starting next week~https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149I am currently at $717/1200 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 200: Returning Home