Chapter 293 Peace and Quiet?

After the first night 'alone', Vahn felt a bit of incongruity in his own body because he had a phantom sensation that something was 'missing' when he first went to sleep. He woke up several times through the night and realized that his fears that Hestia was adapting his body to her presence became cemented in his mind. Vahn knew she had no malicious intent, but it was still a bit awkward to realize how his own body had changed to have a strange expectation. He had even, for the first time, awoke to find his own penis standing proudly without his consent.

Hestia wasn't much better since Vahn saw a pair of bags under her eyes during breakfast and then carried her back to her own bed because she was lazing about later. He gave her a short massage and noticed she was having the reaction of a 'mature' woman, so he hoped it would help her calm down a bit and give her the opportunity to get some sleep. As for the other things going on in the house, Aki had very quickly become the 'go to' for any matters and concerns had by the other girls. Though they had a fierce 'respect' for Ryuu, most of the girls couldn't mesh with her well since she was relatively taciturn and serious.

It was also through Aki's management of things that Vahn actually had a wealth of time to himself to tend to his own matters. He was surprised that even Haruhime deferred to Aki, even though she still almost always sat next to him during meals. She had adapted her characteristic elegance and Vahn thought she was actually more 'naturally' than she had been when trying to approach him. If not for the fact her aura was usually gravitating toward him, Vahn would have had the suspicion that her mentality had changed and she was beginning to focus more on her own life and development.

The most notable change was how Preasia had begun to open up to the other girls more and had actually become very close with Haruhime and Mikoto alongside Fenrir. Since Fenrir liked having her own bush tail brushed, she got along really well with Haruhime as they both groomed each other with brushes. Vahn noticed that Fenrir was getting much better at controlling her own urges because she used to not be able to go three days without venturing into the dungeon to 'vent'. Though it wasn't likely to ever be the case, Vahn wanted Fenrir to be able to live a life without being controlled by her 'hunger'.

After a few peaceful days had passed, Vahn began to realize that a lot of the things that had stressed him out previously were due to his own oversights. Now that there was 'order' and regulations within the Manor, things had suddenly become a lot easier for him. Other than when he approached people, Vahn spent a great deal of his time working and having time to himself. It was a very big shift, since Vahn hadn't realized how important it was to have quality time alone. He learned a bit about management from Aki on occasion, and also shared some intimate moments whenever he was feeling affectionate.

It was during some of his 'intimate' moments that Vahn was able to check the Status Boards of Ryuu and Aki, since he hadn't found the time to do so previously. Ryuu had been happy about the changes in the Manor because there were actually more opportunities for her to spend time alone with Vahn. She wasn't fond of public affection and did a lot to constrain herself so it wouldn't cause disorder within the group. On one of the days she had stayed a bit later, Vahn and Ryuu had cuddled a bit in the library while talking about the progress of the girls. They didn't do anything too forward, but Vahn did get to experience a bit of the bashful side of Ryuu when he nibbled on her long ears a bit.

(A/N: Level 4's have a ton of skills~!)

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[[STATUS]]

Name: Ryuu Lion

Race: Elf

LV. 4

POW: F385

END: F311

DEX: B798

AGI: A804

MAG: C645

Skill: [Aeolus:Innate(sealed)], [Fairy Serenade:C], [Mind Load:C], [Aero Mana:A], [Concurrent Chanting:A]

Magic: [Sovereign of the Wind:Innate(sealed)], [Luminous Wind:B], [Noah Heal:D]

Development Skill: [Hunter:B], [Abnormal Resistance:B], [Magic Resistance:C]

[Fairy Serenade]

Rank:C

Use: Increases the efficacy of magic at night.

[Mind Load]

Rank:C

Use: Increases power in proportion to the amount of mana imbued into attacks.

[Aero Mana]

Rank:A

Use: Greatly increases attack power based on how fast the user is running.

[Concurrent Chanting]

Rank:A

Use: Allows the user to chant while moving about even under intense strain. Provides enhanced control over magical energy and prevents backlash from chant disruption.

[Luminous Wind]

Rank:B

Use: Attack Magic that summons green stardust to attack the enemy

Chant: In the sky of a now distant forest. Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky. Respond to my foolish voice, give me now divine protection of starfire. Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you. Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler. Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else. Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy

[Noah Heal]

Rank:D

Use: Healing magic that is capable of healing wounds and restoring the target's stamina

Chant: The song of a now distant forest. The nostalgic song of life. Please bring the mercy of healing to those that seek you

[Hunter]

Rank:B

Use: Improves abilities against monsters that the user has fought before and gained exilia from

[Abnormal Resistance]

Rank:B

Use: Nullifies abnormal status effects such as poison under the given rank.

[Magic Resistance]

Rank:C

Use: Increases resistance against all magical attacks.

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[[STATUS]]

Name: Anakitty Autumn

Race: Cat Person

LV. 4

POW: E441

END: F320

DEX: C605

AGI: C663

MAG: G206

Skill: [Imprint:Innate(sealed)], [Command Howl:D], [Featherfoot:D]

Magic: [Swift Tempo:C]

Development Skill: [Hunter:B], [Abnormal Resistance:C], [Swordsman:B]

[Swordsman]

Rank:B

Use: Increases comprehension of sword skills and techniques. Provides a moderate increase to the kinetic vision and spatial awareness of the user.

[Command Howl]

Rank:D

Use: Increases transmission functions of users voice when tensions increase. Allows for commands to be heard clearly across great distances.

[Featherfoot]

Rank:D

Use: Increases comprehension of movement abilities and footwork. Provides a moderate increase to stealth related abilities.

[Swift Tempo]

Rank:C

Use: Increases agility of the target.

Chant: Errant gale, become a swift tempo~!

[Hunter]

Rank:B

Use: Improves abilities against monsters that the user has fought before and gained exilia from

[Abnormal Resistance]

Rank:C

Use: Nullifies abnormal status effects such as poison under the given rank.

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As expected, Vahn noticed that both Ryuu and Aki had Innate abilities so he was able to intuit that a person would have, at the very least, one Innate skill. For characters that had more impact to the main story, they seemed to have stronger Innates, or in the case of Haruhime and Ryuu, more than one Innate ability in their repertoire. Vahn began to compile all of the Innate skills he had seen into a journal and wanted to keep track of their influence on a person's growth as well as their activation, assuming he was able to help any of the girls unseal their abilities. He knew it required a great amount of strain, as well as mental development for an Innate ability to awaken but, even if they were exposed to a real life-and-death situation, they may not awaken at all...

By the time the weekend had come, a lot of things had changed in the Manor and things had calmed down a great deal. When Milan and Tina visited, they were received by all of the current residents of the Manor in high spirits and Vahn got to spend some quality time with the Mother-Daughter duo. Tina had calmed down a lot compared to her past self, and she was actively talking with the other girls to improve their relationships. She got along best with Preasia and Fenrir, but she also played with the twins a bit. Haruhime wanted to grow closer to the tiny cat girl, but Milan and Mikoto had stepped in because they were afraid she might be a bad influence on Tina.

However, the calmer and more peaceful things became, the more unnerved Vahn was feeling about everything that was happening. He felt like he needed to be taking proactive action instead of spending his time cooped up in the Manor and 'relaxing'. Though he liked having time to work on the clothing and equipment designs, Vahn felt a bit anxious about how smoothly things were developing. The Denatus was only two weeks away, and Vahn felt like the coming two weeks would be full of challenges and developments that he may not be prepared for. On his immediate list of things that needed to be taken care of, there was the matter of Loki's pregnancy, trying to spend time with some of the girls outside of the Manor, as well as taking counter-action against the movements of the Ishtar Familia.

Though he still spent some intimate moments with Hestia, Vahn felt a strange 'itch' within his heart when he thought about the other girls like Loki and Hephaestus. He also began to have fantasies about his potential relationships with other girls and Vahn realized he might be developing the 'deviant' tendencies that he had been cautioned about previously. Since he had so much 'free time', Vahn spent a fair amount thinking about possible date ideas, how he should interact with the girls, and potentially how they would spend their first time together. As he hadn't been able to visit the Hostess of Fertility recently, Vahn had begun to miss Chloe, and to a lesser extent, the other girls like Syr, Arnya, and Lunoire. He also wanted to check up on Mona and Shizune, since he hadn't seen the two ever since he helped save them from the clutches of the slave trader.

Of course, the more Vahn thought about that type of thing, the more he wanted to associate with other guys since he still knew he was missing a few things to function properly. Though he knew a few people that had several wives, Vahn noticed there weren't many, if any, guys that were surrounded by as many women as he was. Since he had seen Welf's reaction in the past, Vahn knew his situation was somewhat precarious and was afraid things would devolve to a point where he couldn't manage everything. Vahn was hoping that Eina would be able to help him manage things when she moved in after their marriage. Though he had an interest in several women, Vahn knew it wouldn't be possible for him to show every girl the same amount of attention and he was very worried about the future.

Ever since Aki cautioned him about turning the Familia into his own 'Harem', Vahn had been thinking about what steps he needed to take to prevent people from seeing him in a strange light. He decided that it would be best to defer to his wives on the matter and only proactively pursue a small number of women. Because of his interactions with Aki and Hestia, Vahn knew there were different levels of intimacy he could have with women. Even though they had 'played' around a bit, Aki's affection had never increased over 85 and usually returned to 80 after she had calmed down. Hestia, however, was always in a high-tension state and Vahn had to tend to her occasionally in fear that she might overburden herself.

Since there was no way Vahn could marry every woman around him, he knew that a lot of his relationships with girls were probably temporary. He was a bit sad about it, since he had an interest in many of the girls both physically and mentally. Vahn didn't know if it would be appropriate for him to actually take action against them if they would eventually move on. The only thing he was truly concerned about was their happiness, but it still felt a little sad to think about separating from people he cared for. He knew that, if he couldn't provide for their heart and offer them peace of mind, it was very possible the girls would grow distant from him just like Aki had been doing with Raul. The fact that he could still see Aki had affections for Raul prevented Vahn from thinking everything would always go as smoothly as they had been...

One of the big impacts Vahn had suffered was knowing that Tione and Tiona weren't able to visit him due to 'personal reasons'. Ever since he had 'defeated' her in combat, Tione had been on edge and had been struggling with her own emotions. After the matter of their duel spread on the network, Tione had been severely reprimanded and denied any opportunity to approach Vahn in the near future. Since she couldn't be 'trusted' to control herself properly, Tiona also couldn't visit the Hearth Manor for the time being so she had been venting a few her frustrations with Tione as they went into the dungeon and caused a rather large amount of devastation with Riveria and Gareth watching over them.

This led to the unique situation where Ais and Lefiya visited the Manor as a duo and lounged about in Vahn's workshop. When they had seen the 'mannequins' of themselves, Ais had a glint in her eyes and Vahn was given the opportunity to take her measurements and have her try on some of the clothing he had been designing for her. Since she was the type to get wrapped up in the momentum, especially when the matters concerned Ais, Lefiya also abashedly had her measurements taken by Vahn and had him promise to keep the information a secret.

Though he already suspected it would be the case, Vahn was in very high tensions and felt happy whenever he saw the girls in outfits of his own design. Ais even pushed things further and had Vahn help her dress whenever he was explaining matters. Since he also got to appraise their body from various angles, Vahn began humoring the idea of mastering the trade of being a tailor and dressmaker in the future. Seeing the various reactions of Ais and Lefiya was a very refreshing feeling for Vahn and he realized that he was the type that liked creating things to be used by the people he cared about.

Vahn didn't really like blacksmithing that much, and had only put in the effort because he wanted to keep his promise with Hephaestus. Ever since then, Vahn had been somewhat lax and hadn't been working on his forging much and instead focused on creating diagrams and blueprints for future projects. He figured that he would be able to focus his efforts more when he had a reason to create items versus when he was just working to make money. The final nail in the coffin had been when Vahn was asked by Ais to help design a pair of form-fitting of undergarments for her since she didn't like the constrictive feeling of most fabrics. She often wore open-backed clothing which meant she only wore tape to cover her breasts normally. Piggybacking off her words, Lefiya also muttered through stuttered sentences about wanting a pair for herself as well. When Vahn saw their reactions, his heart practically melted and he felt a powerful motivation rising up inside of him.

(A/N: It wasn't specifically stated, so this 'time skip' was between Tuesday-Monday of the following week. So roughly six days, which makes the Denatus is 14 days~! Also, for those that keep making comments about Aki's presence...she is necessary to actually 'manage' the Familia and was sent by Loki to keep an eye on both Vahn and Hestia. Vahn might be powerful, but he has few leadership qualities and no management capabilities. Ryuu might be strong and stoic, but she also lacks the qualities of a good leader and is more likely to follow order than dish them out. Aki was an active lieutenant and knows what it takes to make a Familia function and properly prepared before they enter a dungeon. She was a supporter when she was 12, and became an active adventurer when she was 14. She has a great deal of experience to draw from and is also a stable existence that isn't overly-reliant on Vahn. People compare her to Eina, but they serve two fundamentally different roles. Aki is there to make sure the Familia functions, while Eina's main purpose is to make sure Vahn functions o3o.)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Stable Living Conditions','Level 4 OP','Vahn Doesn't Simply Slice Life, He Makes A Twelve-Layer Sandwich And Is Afraid To Eat It')

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