Promises and Priorities

Waking to the sound of a soft knocking on his door, Vahn instinctually accelerated his thought processes in order to afford himself more time to think. When he detected who was on the other side of the door, a feeling of confusion washed over him before he noticed the murky yellow and subtle purples in the person's aura.

"Master...?"

"Vahn...?"

Since the barrier on the door only allowed sound to go one way, Vahn didn't bother to shush the two girls flanking his sides. Instead, he caressed both of their heads, saying, "It seems someone has had a nightmare. I'm going to send you back to your rooms, okay?"

Though Black Rabbit seemed somewhat reluctant, the other beauty at Vahn's side, Shirayukihime, immediately nodded her head, answering, "Understood. Would you like me to prepare some warm milk...?"

Shaking his head, Vahn drew Hime closer so that he could plant a kiss between the two patterns on her forehead before saying, "Don't worry about it. This isn't my first rodeo."

Nodding her head in affirmation, Hime allowed herself to be teleported away without a fuss. As for Black Rabbit, she was feeling marginally more uncertain, asking, "Isn't it time they learned about our relationship? I can help..."

Meeting the concerned rabbit's gaze, Vahn could see the eagerness and sincerity in Black Rabbit's ruby-red eyes. Her maternal instincts had been steadily developing ever since they crossed the line several days prior. Thus, even if she knew it might cause problems, she felt compelled to, at the very least, offer her assistance.

Returning a smile, Vahn hooked his hand around Black Rabbit's head, drawing her closer to plant a kiss on her forehead. Instead of sending her away, however, he maintained his smile as he teasingly mused, "You'll need to put on some clothes..."

Blushing in response to Vahn's teasing, Black Rabbit half-heartedly pushed him away so she could search for her discarded panties and pajamas. Vahn could have made things easier by reminding her about the [REquip] system linked around her wrist. Instead, he let her fumble around in a panic as he rose to his feet and approached the door. He had taken the initiative to manipulate the flow of time within the room, so, despite hearing the knock more than a minute prior, less than a second had passed since then.

With Black Rabbit finally recalling the existence of the extremely convenient accessory on her wrist, Vahn used a wide-range cleaning spell to remove the signs and smell of sex from the room before opening the door to reveal an anxious-looking Nono wearing a modest, vanilla-colored nightgown.

"Vahn...can I sleep with you...?"

Returning a smile, Vahn gently caressed the young auburnette's head, asking, "Did you have a bad dream...?" in a soft tone of voice.

Nodding her head, Nono was about to explain further when she noticed a flash of pink near Vahn's bed. Peeking around his body, she found Black Rabbit smiling back at her with a kind yet slightly flustered look on her face. This caused countless questions to appear within the young girl's mind, but, before she could voice her thoughts, Vahn gently guided her into the room, saying, "Come on. You can tell us all about it..."

Though she had the distinct impression she had walked in on something she shouldn't have, Nono was too afraid to be alone right now. Vahn was synonymous with comfort and security in her heart, so, even if she was intruding on something she shouldn't, she still crawled into his bed without any discernible hesitation. What she didn't expect was for Black Rabbit to suddenly embrace her, a kind and loving smile on her face as she said, "It's going to be okay..." in a motherly tone...

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Unsurprisingly, Nono had been dreaming about her parents and the treatment she had received during her stay with the Silver Adonis Community. This caused Vahn to feel more than a little guilty as Shiroyasha's persistence had caused him to seriously consider summoning Seraphina and Usalia.

While there was nothing inherently wrong with wanting to summon the two demonesses, the crux of the matter was that Vahn hadn't even considered summoning Nono's parents. He had the power to make her the happiest girl in all of creation; yet, in spite of this, he had been prioritizing his own wants and needs over his promise...

Waiting until the next morning, Vahn split off a second body to pay a visit to the Thousand Eyes Community. There, he found Shiroyasha waiting for him with her characteristically mischievous smile. She kept a close watch over everything he did, so, even without the ability to read his mind, she could easily intuit what he was thinking.

"Are you sure about this? I'm not going to tell you how to manage your Community but that girl's parents died even before she received an invitation to the Little Garden. Have you ever stopped to consider what role they will play in the future? What benefits-"

Though he knew Shiroyasha was eerily similar to Loki, Vahn couldn't help interrupting when she mentioned 'benefits', stating, "I made a promise. The only thing I want for that girl is for her to be happy. Even if she never does anything for me in return, I couldn't care less. Some things are more important than an exchange of benefits..."

Spreading her hands and shrugging in a lackadaisical gesture of helplessness, Shiroyasha mused, "If you say so." before manifesting two envelopes and explaining, "You'll find blank invitation letters in these envelopes. The Laws of the Little Garden prohibit new arrivals from summoning others before they have accrued merits but you should be able to get around that with Shirayukihime's assistance. Just make sure you make the invitation compelling. If you're trying to summon her parents during a time when they were still alive, that means they'll have a Nono of their own to look after. Good luck convincing a pair of loving parents to abandon their child~."

Accepting the letters with a frown, Vahn asked, "Can't I just summon them around the time of their death?"

Rolling her eyes, Shiroyasha explained, "Nono's parents died after their caravan was attacked by monsters. Do you really think their priority would be reading a mysterious envelope when they're fleeing for their lives or lying on the ground and bleeding out? It's actually a lot harder than you think to pick a suitable time and place to summon select individuals. Your best bet would be to target them before they even have Nono but that would kind of defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?"

Though he didn't want to admit it, there was a considerable amount of truth contained within Shiroyasha's words. Not everyone wanted to explore other worlds. Rather, unless they were born in a modern setting or felt suffocated by normalcy, very few people would simply abandon everything in order to accept an invitation from someone they had never met. That was something only those who were confident in their strength or completely delusional could do...

Shaking his head, Vahn placed the two envelopes into his Inventory before stating, "I'll just have to leave it to fate. So long as Nono is the one to send the invitations, I believe she'll be able to accept any outcome. I'll just need to talk with her and make sure she understands there's a chance things might not work out..."

Snickering in response to Vahn's words, Shiroyasha adopted a teasingly seductive expression on her face as she mused, "And then you'll swoop in to heal her broken heart~?"

Adopting an unamused deadpan, Vahn refused to dignify Shiroyasha's remark with words with a response. Instead, he shifted the topic, asking, "When am I supposed to meet with your friend from the South? It's already been a couple of days."

Shrugging a second time, Shiroyasha explained, "I managed to reach out to them but they didn't believe me when I said you could help to solve their problems. They can be pretty obstinate so it might take a while for them to come around and accept external assistance."

Since it was a good opportunity, Vahn asked, "What, exactly, did you want me to do for them? If it's nothing major, I might be able to prepare something without needing to meet with them directly."

Pulling out her favorite fan, Shiroyasha pressed the tip to her chin, seemingly in deep thought. This only lasted for a moment, however, before a mischievous smile developed across her face. Then, in an ostensibly sly tone, she remarked, "That could work. Given that girl's prideful nature, she'll have no choice but to seek you out if you offer your assistance without asking for compensation. Not a bad plan."

Understanding that Vahn wasn't in the mood to joke around, Shiroyasha punctuated her words by creating a three-dimensional projection of a rather regal-looking Gryphon before explaining, "This is Draco Grief, the current Floor Master of the South Side. He is also the Leader of the Draco Grief Alliance, a gathering of Communities comprised almost entirely of mythological creatures and their descendants."

Nodding his head, Vahn scrutinized the image as it morphed from a Gryphon to a handsome and muscular man with sharp eyes, eagle-like wings, and a mane of golden hair. He wasn't surprised that a mythological creature in the Divine Realm would possess the ability to transform. What did surprise him was Shiroyasha stating, "Without outside intervention, Draco will most likely die within the next ten to fifteen years. He suffered a serious injury during his battle with the Tyrant Dragon of Poison, Nidhogg. The Communities comprising the Yggdrasil Faction have refused to lend their aid so it's only a matter of time before he succumbs."

Blinking in surprise, Vahn asked, "He's the Floor Master of the South Side yet he lacks the means to acquire a cure...?"

Rolling her eyes, Shiroyasha created a second projection, this one showing a winged dragon that resembled a decaying corpse as she explained, "Nidhogg isn't just any dragon. He is the beast that gnaws at the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil. His poison is potent enough to leave entire worlds in ruin. Do you really think it could be cured so easily...?"

As he actually had a fair amount of experience with Nidhogg's poison, Vahn surprised Shiroyasha by nodding his head and stating, "There are actually quite a number of cures. The simplest would be to draft a potion from the leaves of the world tree he gnaws upon. I'm guessing that's the first method they tried?"

Nodding her head in affirmation, Shiroyasha snapped open her fan before explaining, "Odin can be remarkably petty at times. Unless the Draco Grief Alliance agrees to submit to the Yggdrasil Faction, he refuses to compromise. That old codger has been trying to install his own Floor Master for quite some time. This is the best opportunity he's had in centuries so he intends to seize as many benefits as possible before the Avalon Community regains their strength."

Shaking his head, Vahn pulled out a dark-purple Gift Card before manifesting an ancient-looking potion bottle filled with glistening golden liquid.

"This is Mithridatum, a legendary cure-all developed by King Mithradates VI Eupator. I'm not sure if it will work against Nidhogg's poison, but the text on the card states it has the effect of neutralizing and providing immunity against all poisons. If this doesn't work, let me know. I also have a Panacea that is virtually guaranteed to work. It just requires me to manufacture it."

Accepting the vial with a smile, Shiroyasha slipped it into her nonexistent cleavage before musing, "This is actually one of the options we were considering. I would say I'm surprised to learn you have it in your possession, but I'd be lying~."

Shaking his head a second time, Vahn was preparing to return to his workshop when Shiroyasha suddenly grabbed his sleeve, a teasing smile on her face as she asked, "Where are you going? You just arrived a few minutes ago. Stop and stay awhile."

Looking down at the petite demoness, Vahn considered refusing before recalling that he would need Shiroyasha's help in selecting an opportune time to summon Nono's parents. He didn't even know how the summoning process worked, so, after a very brief moment of hesitation, he returned a smile of his own and said, "Sure."

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The missing lemon...','Not everyone is an Otaku...','Vahn has Gifts for days...')

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