[October 10th DxD/June 3rd DBT]
While granting most of his attention to Kushina, Mikoto, and Tsunade—post celebrating Naruto's birthday—Vahn quietly contemplated what he should do following Tristain's investigation. He had determined that the simplest way to give Ainz the room he needed to expand Nazarick's influence was to venture elsewhere for a few months. But if he were to suddenly depart for lands and experiences unknown, the twins currently borrowing his lap as a pillow and Lupusregina would doubtlessly be upset.
Staring down at the peacefully sleeping faces of Aura and Mare, Vahn's expression softened into a faint, fatherly smile. He viewed them as proof that Nazarick wasn't entirely devoid of innocence. And though both had a less-than-abiding view of humans, he had since come to learn that many human nations viewed Elves, Dark Elves, and other humanoid, non-human species as 'sub-human.' Re-Estize had recently banned slavery, but those who were slaves before that policy was implemented retained that status or were traded to neighboring countries, where the practice was still very much alive and well.
'Perhaps that's what I should do...travel to countries where slavery is still a practice and abolish it...' Vahn considered, his expression hardening as he imagined the injustice and suffering being imposed upon those forced into servitude at that very moment. The practice had long been abolished in the northern Argland Council State—a democratic coalition overseen by five Dragon Lords. But if he were to travel in any other direction, he would find slaves in virtually all other nations, human or otherwise...
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[October 11th DxD/June 4th DBT]
With Tristain requesting to speak with him, Vahn emerged from his and Lupusregina's tent to find the young Baron and his men waiting patiently outside at a respectful distance.
"You all are up bright and early," Vahn remarked, adopting a faint smile as he met Tristain's gaze and asked, "I'm guessing you received orders from your father or the Kingdom?"
"Indeed I have..." Tristain affirmed with a nod, his expression grim as he explained, "I received a message not long ago ordering my men and me to secure this region in preparation for the building of a garrison town. If Lord Vahn is willing, we would like to extend your contract until the end of the next harvest system. In exchange, you will be granted three-fifths of a claim to any land you're able to help cultivate—along with a ten-year tax exemption..."
Raising his right brow, Vahn asked, "You're asking that I help develop this land and become the established village's Chief...?"
"There have been many attempts to pioneer The Great Forest, but we are inevitably forced out by the powerful monsters that dwell here..." Tristain explained, his eyes filled with a hint of desperation as he asserted, "With the backing of Lord Vahn and Lady Lupusregina, I believe the garrison we construct here could grow into a full-blown fortress city—with Lord Vahn as its ruler...."
Shaking his head, Vahn calmly rebutted, "I'm currently on a pilgrimage. I have no intention of being tied down or tied to another country. And while I empathize with your situation, I have no obligation to stay here—just as you have no obligation to throw your lives away at the behest of someone who clearly wants you and your men dead..."
"It's not that simple. If we do not obey for fear of losing our lives, it will be those we wish to protect who suffer and die in our stead..." Tristain sighed, his expression sinking along with the countenances of every man in his escort.
'First Gazef, and now these men...someone within the Re-Estize Kingdom is acting in the interest of the Empire or the Theocracy...' Vahn concluded, scanning the solemn faces of the men before him. He genuinely felt sorry for them, but if they weren't willing to fight to defend themselves and the people they cared about, they couldn't expect others to fight or champion for them. There were great risks to rebelling, but if you feared death more than hardship and a life of being exploited, you were implicitly choosing to be oppressed...
Catching Tristain and his men off guard, Vahn asked him plainly, "If you had to lay the blame on someone, who would you say is responsible for sending you and your men here? I have no obligation to remain here and protect you, but if the opportunity presents, I will hold to account those who orchestrated this betrayal..."
Looking between Vahn and his men, Tristain deliberated his response before meeting the former's gaze and decisively stating, "As an honorable Noble and a Knight, it would be inappropriate of me to cast aspersions on my fellow countrymen. But I can say with conviction that if it were not for the division between the Royalist and Noble Factions, Re-Estize would not be so easily influenced by external powers..."
"And would you say your King is a good King...?" Vahn questioned, causing the air to become tense and weighty with unease.
Closing his eyes, Tristain measuredly responded, "I believe King Ramposa has done his best within the scope of his power..."
'Who could have guessed that it's the faction representing the interests of the Nobility that's causing problems...' Vahn mused, his expression utterly devoid of shock or humor.
"Then, once Lupusregina and I depart from this place, I hope that you and your men can take some small solace in the knowledge that our next destination will be your Royal Capital..." Vahn proferred, holding Tristain's gaze as he offered the man a slow, conciliatory nod. He would not go out of his way to change the man's mind about remaining in the forest, but he could pull on the thread that had been laid before him until he reached its end. Who or what he would find there was a mystery to him. But he could say with certainty what he represented to that being: consequence...
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[October 14th DxD/June 7th DBT]
Following a brief exchange with Tristain, Vahn and Lupusregina departed the investigation squad's encampment with a Writ of Completion—a letter that detailed their achievements and the amount they were owed for their services, sealed with crimson wax.
'This letter feels heavy...' Vahn noted, walking ahead of Lupusregina as they made their way eastward rather than in the direction of E-Rantel, located approximately fifty kilometers to the south. He had no real need for money, but his intuition told him that he wouldn't be able to cash the antiquated cheque. He would need its guarantor, Tristain, to confirm its authenticity. And by the time the bureaucratic process of circumventing that requirement was completed, the young Knight would almost certainly be dead.
"I don't get it..." said Lupusregina, compelling Vahn to glance back at her as she asked, "Why are you so concerned with the fate of those humans? They're the ones choosing to throw their lives away. Why trouble yourself brooding over dumb people making dumb decisions?"
Shaking his head, Vahn looked forward, raised his gaze, and somberly contended, "Even if you were to scout infinite worlds across an equally innumerable number of realities, you would find no greater miracle than the existence of life itself, Lupusregina. Just as its inception ought to be celebrated, its extinguishing should be grieved. Those who lose sight of that surrender themselves to callousness and are frequently ignorant of the privileges bestowed upon them..."
"Mmn...I don't know...I guess Gods have a broader perspective when it comes to things like this..." Lupusregina conceded, exhaling faintly from her nose. She was half tempted to pounce on Vahn and bite his ear, but even though they were close enough that she could reach out and touch him, he felt as distant as the full moon and a cloudless night.
"Perhaps so..." Vahn muttered, exhaling a sigh of his own before returning his gaze to the path ahead of him. Soon after, he and Lupusregina arrived at a small clearing, where Aura and Mare waited to Gate them to the cozy outpost that had been constructed for him to observe Cocytus's attack on the Lizardmen. The battle was scheduled to take place that afternoon, so in the time that remained, he busied himself teaching Aura and Mare how to bake their own pastries...
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"Man, this is super lame. Cocytus is just sending his forces charging in without any kind of plan whatsoever..." Aura groaned, standing behind Vahn with her forearms crossed, her elbows digging into his shoulders, and her chin resting atop his head. Ordinarily, she would be seated atop his lap, but Mare had defeated her in a best-of-five game of rock, paper, scissors.
"Are skeletons and zombies able to follow complex commands...?" asked Vahn, his expression flat and gaze lingering on the battle, broadcast via a large, oval-shaped mirror. Cocytus's force outnumbered the Lizardmen at least three to one, but they were slowly being pushed back by the scaley warriors' greater strength, terrain advantage, and teamwork.
"Not on their own. But if there are higher-ranking Undead mixed in with them, they function like a hive mind," explained Aura, swaying her head from side to side as if she were trying to drive her chin into Vahn's skull from boredom.
"Lord Ainz calls it Skelepathy..." Mare contributed, clutching his beloved wooden staff, cut and carved from a corrupted branch of the World Tree, Yggdrasil.
"Mmn...I see..." Vahn muttered, using his left hand to caress Mare's head. This increased the pressure Aura was applying to his scalp, but sprouting a pair of wolf ears was enough to preoccupy her and cause Lupusregina's golden eyes to flash nearby.
'Cocytus is going to lose...' Vahn noted, his eyes narrowing slightly as the Lizardmen, manipulating swirling masses of swamp water, defeated most of the major threats in Cocytus's army. Had the icy insectoid warrior been allowed to participate directly, he likely would have been able to best the Lizardmen entirely on his own. Instead, the army that had been supplied to him consisted entirely of low-ranking skeletons and zombies produced by random forest creatures.
Just as Vahn was beginning to feel the Lizardmen were on the cusp of victory, a series of explosive fireballs destroyed the swirling masses of swamp water. Lizardmen unlucky enough to be near them were caught in explosions, leaving tens dead in an instant.
"Sheesh...it's about time something other than canon fodder made an appearance..." Aura remarked, punctuating her words by stepping onto the back of the crimson and gold-backed chair that Vahn and Mare were sitting on. Then, pushing his head forward slightly, she plopped down on his shoulders and gently grasped his canine ears as if she were holding a pair of fluffy joysticks.
'She really doesn't like feeling ignored...' Vahn noted, exhaling from his nose and shaking his head. Fortunately for Aura, he was accustomed to such antics after his time with Faputa and those among his children with more bestial traits. His and Ghislaine's daughter, Ghana, for example, was an adorable little hellion who bit him and regularly peed on his neck and shoulders as if to mark him as her territory...
As Vahn continued to watch the battle depicted on the screen, the source of the fireballs was revealed to be an Elder Lich. The Necromancer he had captured in E-Rantel's communal cemetery had evidently been conspiring to become an Elder Lich. But while they were an existence to be feared by normal people, they were ultimately low-ranking monsters between Level 21 and 30. As long as he had the requisite materials, human corpses, Ainz could produce twenty such Undead per day.
Seeing how fiercely the Chiefs of the Lizardman struggled to defeat the singular Elder Lich, even with their combined might, Vahn once again felt the tremendous disparity between Nazarick's capabilities and OL-2138's native population. He was certain there had to be adversaries who could stand against them, but they clearly didn't exist among the Lizardmen or the Re-Estize Kingdom's proven forces.
'Ah...'
Seeing the only female among the Lizardman Chiefs get struck and set ablaze by a fireball, Vahn's skin prickled. Another, wielding an icy, three-bladed magic weapon, cried out the Lizardwoman's name, but there was little shouting could do to save her. Rather, his distraction resulted in him taking a series of light-formed magical needles to the chest and throat, turning what should have been the Lizardman's victory into an imminent defeat...
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