"Hmmn...so, that's how it is..." Vahn muttered, his usually aquamarine eyes gleaming with a rainbow hue as he searched his assailants' minds via their dreams.
"What did you do to them...?" Lupusregina asked, her expression and tone curious as she approached Vahn and the vanquished assailants. Each was on their knees, and much like Vahn, their unfocused eyes glistened with a similarly prismatic sheen—slobber dripping from their slackened jaws.
"I utilized an ability that allows me to peek into and influence a target's dreams," Vahn answered curtly, allowing the men to drop like marionettes with their strings cut as he added, "More pertinently, these men belong to a criminal organization called The Eight Fingers. What I found particularly interesting is that their client appears to be at least an affiliate of the local Temple..."
"Oh, right. I did hear that the Temples put pressure on the Adventurer's Guild to regulate their members' use of healing magic. I imagine they're pretty pissed with you going around healing people for free," Lupusregina recalled.
"So it would appear..." Vahn muttered thoughtfully. Pluton had cautioned him against using his healing abilities outside of requests, but he couldn't care less about the Temple's bottom line. Any group that tried to maintain a monopoly on healing magic was prone to rot, and now that he had been targeted unprovoked, Vahn had the sudden urge to cut out the rot before it could fester...
"Shall I track down the person who hired these men and bring them to you~?" Lupusregina posed, licking her lips, which were fixed in a malicious grin.
"Since I'm not able to be meaningfully harmed, I'm generally forgiving of those who target me..." Vahn answered, shaking his head before meeting Lupusregina's gaze and attesting, "But since you were targeted as well, it is within your right to pursue those responsible and hold them to account. Just keep in mind that there is a significant difference between pursuing justice against those who wished you harm and pursuing self-gratification via their suffering..."
"Oh? Does that mean I can kill these men...?" Lupusregina questioned, brandishing her oversized crosier with an air-tearing whoosh.
"Those who live to take the lives of others must be prepared to forfeit their own in turn..." Vahn responded solemnly, his gaze focused on the unconscious forms of his would-be assassins. He was certain they had families, friends, and people awaiting their return, but they had to know there was a risk they would be killed when they took on a job to murder a pair of Orichalcum-ranked Adventurers.
SHNK
Exhibiting no hesitation whatsoever, Lupusregina began decapitating and bifurcating the bodies of the men with considerable ease. Each death left Vahn feeling empty, but it wasn't something he was unaccustomed to. He felt the same way while massacring the colony of Goblins and Orcs, as, in the grand scheme of things, there was little difference between them and humans who had set aside their humanity in search of profit...
"May you find peace and purpose wherever your souls roam next..." Vahn muttered, producing a seven-winged symbol and activating the Last Rites Skill of his Chaplain Class to ensure the assassins wouldn't transform into Undead after their death. He could have done without the Experience the Skill's activation granted him, but such was the nature of settings that ran on RPG mechanics...
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[October 31st DxD/June 24th DBT]
"Oh? That's quite the city..." Vahn remarked, his brows rising as the Royal Capital, a city that was home to some four million people, came into view. Its outermost walls were curiously shorter than E-Rantel's, but given that it was located in the Kingdom's center, any enemy that managed to reach it would have compelled their surrender well in advance.
"You think so? It all looks like a big ant hill to me," Lupusregina remarked playfully, posing next to Vahn with crossed arms.
"You should save your contempt for those who antagonize you. Looking down on people who have never done anything to offend you leaves you open to being caught off guard..." Vahn sighed.
"At this point, that would be a refreshing change of pace~" Lupusregina countered playfully.
"Mmmn...I can't say I disagree..." Vahn responded, glancing listlessly at the sparsely clouded sky above. Thanks to his seclusion training in the Corridor and his regular sparring sessions with the more warrior-oriented members of his harem, his skills weren't at risk of diminishing. But, while he was fond of exploring and communing with nature, he wasn't venturing through randomized worlds to sightsee...
'Perhaps I was sent here to teach others how to grow stronger...' Vahn mused, continuing along the well-maintained sandstone slab path that would take him and Lupusregina to the city's southern entrance. As the bearer of The Path, he technically existed outside the conventional flow of fate and causality. But since that same trait drew those with powerful fates toward him, his mere presence in the world incited major events to transpire around him. If resolving them himself became too tedious, then the best course of action might be to prepare people who could deal with them in his stead...
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Following a slight commotion at the gate, Vahn and Lupusregina were permitted entry into the Capital after a brief inspection and registration of their items. Magical items, in particular, had unique mana imprints. So the Kingdom did its best to keep track of them and their owners, just in case they were later used to perpetrate a crime.
"As expected of the Adventurer Guild's Re-Estize headquarters. It's quite a bit bigger than E-Rantel's Guild Hall," Vahn remarked, standing outside a three-story, white-bricked, blue-tiled building with pointed towers at each corner and a double-steepled facade framing large, heavy-looking double doors.
"It's too bad the quality of the Adventurers didn't increase along with the hall's size..." Lupusregina quipped, her golden eyes scanning the area and staring down anyone who let their gazes linger too long on her body.
"I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?" Vahn asked, leading the way toward the building's entrance as he reasoned, "This far from the borders, there aren't a whole lot of monsters or dangerous, high-paying requests to take on. I imagine most Adventurers who frequent this hall were either born in the city or came here to curry favor with the nobility."
"I guess that makes sense~" Lupusregina conceded, her whimsical tone making it apparent she didn't particularly care why the Guild Hall was full of weaklings. If anything, Vahn's explanation caused her to look down on them even more.
'I may need to search for and introduce her to someone who can humble her...' thought Vahn, exhaling faintly from his nose. It was a last resort, but nothing was stopping him from granting the Pavilion's residents access to OL-2138 by way of the Corridor of Intertwining Fates. There was also the option of summoning the Devils among his harem via their contracts. But, as both options would be violating the laws prohibiting transdimensional beings and Ascendees from entering settings below their Rank—laws he himself had created—something fairly major would need to occur for him to commit to such a destructive course.
"Hmmn...?"
Noticing the Guild's interior quiet down the moment he and Lupusregina had entered, Vahn raised his right brow and looked around, taking notice of the many gazes that had shifted their way. A similar phenomenon had occurred at the city gate, where, after realizing who he and Lupusregina were, virtually everyone attempting to pass through the checkpoint tried to approach and become acquainted with them.
As it was far from the first time he had been the center of attention, Vahn ignored the many stares he was receiving and made his way to the ticket dispenser. As an Orichalcum-ranked Adventurer, he could have made his way directly to the request counter. But as he wasn't in a particular hurry, he grabbed a ticket before he and Lupusregina made their way over to the dining area to order food and drinks while they waited.
Before Vahn even had the chance to flag down one of the waitresses wearing brightly colored tavern wench garb, a burly man with a scraggy beard and a missing right eye approached his and Lupusregina's table to ask, "You're the Great Healer, Vahn Mason, yeah?"
"That is what people have been calling me," Vahn affirmed, sizing the man up and getting a feel for his condition with a single glance.
"Oh? This one has some sense..." Lupusregina hummed, reacting to the man taking a knee and bowing his head respectfully.
"My Lord, please have mercy on me. I cannot afford the Temple's fees, and with my body in its current state, even finding work as a laborer has been difficult..." expressed the man, his deep voice cracking slightly from emotion.
"And what will you give me in turn...?" asked Vahn, preempting the man's response by projecting his voice and stating, "I'm not sure what you've heard, but my services are not free. I may render them as alms to those unable to purchase them, but except for your right eye and some general wear and tear from age and your chosen profession, you're ultimately able to work and make a living."
"My Lord...all I have to my name amounts to less than two gold pieces..." expressed the man, looking up at Vahn with one empty and one pleading eye.
"Then I suppose that will have to suffice..." Vahn affirmed, exhaling from his nose. As he had told Lupusregina, he had no use for money. But if he established a precedent of providing free treatment to those who sought him out and disturbed him in public, he would never know peace.
"Thank you, my Lord..." expressed the man, presenting a coin purse that was mostly filled with copper coins. Replacing lost limbs and organs after they had healed over required at least Third-Tier Magic. At the Temple, a single use of Heavy Recover would require a minimum donation of 20 gold pieces, so it wasn't an exaggeration to say Vahn was providing the man an exceptional bargain.
"Bow your head," Vahn instructed, compelling the man to close his eyes and bow his head low. Once he had, Vahn produced a canteen and began pouring water onto the back of the man's head, stating, "As you feel this icy water flowing over you, bring to mind all the aches, pains, and regrets that have formed in your heart. It is not my place to exonerate you of your sins, but know that, no matter how deep the darkness someone has fallen into, they can still find light if they search for it..."
Though it appeared to the average onlooker that Vahn was simply pouring water onto the kneeling Adventurer's head, those with attuned senses felt an uplifting warmth permeate their bodies. The Adventurer himself felt the water go from bitingly cold to pleasantly warm. And thought it only struck the back of his head, dripping around its sides and onto the wooden floor, he felt warmth throughout his entire body.
"Alright, you're good to go," Vahn stated, returning the cap to the canteen as he added, "But, before you leave, make sure to wipe up this water and burn the cloth you used to do so."
Confused by Vahn's words, the Adventurer raised his head and looked up at him. Healing Magic, particularly that which regenerated missing body parts, was supposed to leave the recipient feeling exhausted. Instead, he felt light—as if heavy sacks of grain had been removed from his shoulders and heart alike.
"By the Gods..." muttered an onlooker, an auburn-haired waitress who appeared to be in her mid to late twenties. The Adventurer before Vahn hadn't simply had his eye restored—even the stress-formed and sun-weathered wrinkles on his face had faded, leaving him looking ten years younger.
Realizing he could see out of both of his eyes, the Adventurer began covering and uncovering his formerly missing eye while simultaneously laughing and crying. Those who knew him couldn't help wanting to get closer to confirm his condition for themselves, so, much like when he and Lupusregina were attempting to enter the city, Vahn soon found himself in the middle of a very raucous crowd...
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