Chapter 2313: Improv

After doting on Merry a little more than he probably should have, Vahn carried her like a princess as she directed him to ascend the Great Water Tree.

While most of the Draco Greif Alliance was situated in the underground city and its surroundings, the members of Two-Wings, consisting almost entirely of Hippogriffs and other flight-capable Eudemons, had made their home in the Great Water Tree’s branches. This was also where the Leader of the Draco Greif Alliance, Draco Greif himself, had his nest.

Though many magical creatures did their best to emulate humans, Griffins were nearly as famous as Dragons when it came to pride. Draco Greif was no exception to this, so, despite possessing the ability to transform into a human, he preferred to remain in his Griffin form and live in a large, 300m wide nest near the peak of the Great Water Tree.

Seeing Vahn, Sis, and Fenrir touch down with Merry in tow, Draco raised his head, resembling a bald eagle’s, from his fierce-looking, four-taloned forelimbs and said, “I was wondering when you would appear. This Draco Greif welcomes the Sage Dragon Emperor and his companions. Welcome to Overwood.”

Rising to his feet, Draco Greif emitted an ear-piercing eagle’s cry that caused a veritable swarm of Hippogriffs, Harpies, Cockatrices, Winged Cats, and several other Eudemons to emerge from the canopies below. Then, in a voice that presumably echoed through both Underwood and Overwood, he loudly announced, “The Sage Dragon Emperor has graced us with his presence! Prepare a feast and start the festivities…!”

As the distant sound of cheering reached all the way to Draco Greif’s nest, a wry smile developed across Vahn’s face as he remarked, “You certainly know how to welcome guests…”

Adopting a strangely human smile, Draco Greif replied, “You are my life’s benefactor. Were it not for the Panacea you provided, Nidhogg’s vicious poison would have taken me months ago. This is the absolute least I can do to express my gratitude.”

Catching Vahn by surprise, Draco Greif made his way over and lowered his head. In less intelligent Griffins, this was a sign of respect that implied it was okay to ride them. In Draco Greif’s case, he was essentially giving Vahn permission to caress the crown of his head.

As the closest thing to a God of Petting in the Transcendental Path to Heaven, Vahn immediately understood Draco Greif’s intentions. He also had zero qualms about caressing the heads of men, especially when they were in an animal form, so he set Merry down and cheerfully stroked the grateful Griffin’s head with a smile.

“Oh, wow…your feathers are a lot softer than I expected…”

After permitting Vahn to pet him for several seconds, Draco Greif raised his head to reveal an expression of pride as he puffed out the feathers of his chest and replied, “Of course! We groom ourselves meticulously…!”

“Hahaha…”

“Father…!”

Interrupting the cordial atmosphere between Vahn’s group and Draco Greif, a Hippogriff possessing the front legs, wings, and head of a giant golden eagle, descended into the nest. It also possessed the backside and tail of an equine, the only features besides its size that distinguished it from a Griffin.

Furrowing his brows in a very human manner, Draco Greif’s voice lowered into a borderline growl as he said, “Griffith…what are you doing here? I do not recall permitting you to leave your nest…”

As he had recently put his Griffith on ‘nest arrest’ for picking fights and trying to assert Two-Wings’ dominance over the other five Communities, Draco Greif wasn’t at all happy to see his youngest son.

Adopting a glower of his own, albeit directed at Vahn and his companions, Griffith replied, “Father, we’re supposed to be making preparations for our annual Harvest Festival. Preparing an Alliance-wide feast and celebration to welcome someone from another district is a waste of resources…”

Before Vahn could offer to ‘foot the bill’ for all expenses, Draco Greif left him momentarily stunned as he abruptly charged at Griffith, reared back, and scratched him across the chest. Griffith had risen onto his hind legs to meet his father’s charge, but there was an unbridgeable gap between their size, strength, and speed.

As Griffith bled profusely from some rather severe wounds on his chest, Draco Greif bellowed, “Begone, foolish child! Away with you…!”

Though he didn’t forget to send another glare at Vahn, Griffith kept his body low as he crawled to the edge of the nest and dove off. When he was gone, Draco Greif exhaled a tired sigh as he said, “I must apologize. We have shown you a distasteful display…”

Shaking his head, Vahn replied, “I know you have your reasons. I can also tell you held back quite a bit, so let’s leave the matter here.”

Nodding his head in approval, a grateful expression developed across Draco Greif’s face as he made his way over to where he had initially been lying. He didn’t want to trouble his benefactor with his family’s matters, so he appreciated Vahn’s tact.

After plopping down in his original position, Draco Greif stated, “We would ask that you go and enjoy the festivities while we assemble and meet with the Leaders of Three-Tails, Four-Footed, Five-Claws, and Six-Scars. Since you seem rather…well acquainted, I will permit the Leader of One-Horn to escort you…”

As Merry was currently clinging to Vahn’s left arm with a happy smile on her face, Draco Greif elected to let her skip out on the meeting. One-Horn and Five-Claws were jointly responsible for the security of Underwood, so their duties didn’t really change during a festival.

While Merry smiled radiantly enough that her eyes appeared closed, Vahn took the liberty to state, “While I appreciate your hospitality, please allow the Aldrnari Empire to remunerate the Draco Greif Alliance for the costs of this impromptu celebration. It was never my intention to place a burden on you or your people.”

Raising his brows, Draco Greif revealed, “The Under and Overwoods have a combined population of 37,339,804. I’ll not refuse if you’re offering, but can the Aldrnari Empire afford such an expense…?”

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Vahn replied, “Easily. Just send me an invoice, and I can reimburse you within twenty-four hours. I’m not called the God of Infinite Possibilities for no reason.”

Rising with a start, Draco Greif exclaimed, “Splendid!” before exhaling a hearty, deep-throated laugh. Most people in Vahn’s position were greedy, licentious, and irredeemably opportunistic. It was rare for someone to be so powerful and still consider the circumstances of others.

Expecting Draco Greif to keep his proposal a secret, Vahn was more than a little surprised when the former suddenly bellowed, “The Sage Dragon Emperor has generously offered to repay our hospitality in full. Make sure to express your gratitude and spare no expense for the celebration…!”

Placing Vahn squarely in the limelight, Draco Greif used his authority as Floor Master to create countless displays exhibiting the former’s smiling face. He was unaware of the incident that had occurred when Vahn first arrived at the One-Horn Community, but Draco Grief wanted to prevent something similar from happening due to people failing to recognize him. Now, no matter where Vahn ventured in the Under or Overwoods, people would immediately recognize, greet, and celebrate his presence…

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Interrupting the watch party that had Sala witnessing her sister’s journey through Ni No Kuni and Runeterra, Vahn revealed, “A massive celebration is starting in the South. You girls want to visit…?”

Without removing her head from Vahn’s chest, Sandora softly replied, “I’m fine like this…”

Observing the lovey-dovey duo from the opposite end of a comfortable, five-person sofa, Sala furrowed her brows and flatly remarked, “Oh? Am I finally free to go…?”

Rolling his eyes, Vahn replied, “You were never trapped in the first place. I only brought you over; I’m not keeping you here.”

“…”

In the absence of Sala’s response, Sandora adopted a hurt expression as she asked, “Have our actions troubled you so? I believed we were having fun…”

“…”

Unable to meet Sandora’s puppy-eyed expression, Sala closed her eyes and massaged her forehead. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t been enjoying watching her sister living an eventful life in another world. In fact, when she first heard about Vahn’s ability to access something he referred to as Actualized Worlds, she was seriously tempted to request if he would let her explore one. For those who had been trapped in the Little Garden their entire lives, the opportunity to descend to a lesser realm was nigh irresistible…

“Look…it’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you. It’s just-”

Interrupting before Sala could finish, Sandora clapped her hands together and exclaimed, “Great~! Then I’ll have Vahn set up a teleporter so we can visit each other whenever we want!”

“…”

Seeing the excited smile on her sister’s face, Sala found herself exhaling another sigh before replying, “Sure…” in a somewhat defeated tone. After several hours of dealing with her not-so-little sister, she had come to the realization Sandora wasn’t going to let her disappear a second time…

Inserting himself back into the conversation, Vahn maintained a casual smile as he asked, “So, what’ll it be? Want me to return you to the South, or do you want to spend more time with Sandora? If you want, I can give the two of you some-”

Squeezing Vahn tightly, Sandora said, “Don’t leave.” before returning her head to his chest. She got to spend plenty of time with Vahn, but it was never quite enough. Now that he was here, she wasn’t letting him leave any time soon.

Adopting a markedly affectionate smile, Vahn raised Sandora’s chin to meet his gaze as he replied, “Your wish is my command…”

Earning a disproving pout from Sala, Vahn planted a not-so-chaste kiss on Sandora’s lips. It had started reasonably tame, but Sandora had always been prone to excitement. She also really enjoyed kissing, so their simple display of affection ended up turning into a brief make-out session while Sala watched them with a developing deadpan.

Implanting in Sala a sudden urge to return to the South, Sandora abruptly cast a sidelong gaze toward her sister and winked. She wanted Sala to be happy, so even if it meant she would have marginally less time with him, Sandora intended to rope her elder sister into Vahn’s ‘clutches.’ Once Sala was able to experience the sense of contentedness Vahn was capable of bestowing, Sandora was confident she would open up more.

What Sandora, and most people, didn’t know was that Sala already had someone she liked. It was currently one-sided, but Sala had developed feelings for the Saurian Demon King, Kouryuu, ever since he helped her recover from her frenzied state and settle in the South. He already had several wives and quite a number of children, but she would have joined his Community if it wasn’t situated in the East…

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Though Merry had promptly invited him to her bedroom the moment they departed Draco Greif’s nest, Vahn politely declined as he felt an obligation to look around and interact with the members of the Alliance. Merry was a little disappointed at first, but she immediately perked up when Vahn told her to consider it a date. He even split off a version of himself to wander around with Sis and Fenrir, so it was just the two of them walking around and visiting all of her favorite locations.

As Draco Greif had planned, virtually everyone Vahn encountered greeted him with a joyous grin. The Southern Communities were nearly as famous for their fondness of celebrations as they were for their love of conflict, so everyone was more than happy to welcome the patron of their impromptu festival. Even more so when he began manifesting high-quality foods and alcohol out of thin air…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: ‘Draco Greif don’t play…’,’Sandora’s mind be like, “Vahn is love, Vahn is life…”‘,’Can anyone else imagine Merry having to keep away horny animal girls with a stick? Better that than her horn, I suppose….’)