LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 155: Restructuring
[September 5th DxD/April 25th DBT]
"So, with your permission, we would like to make the first three floors of the palace accessible, with the first being dedicated to entertainment and shopping, the second to material processing and production, and the third to training and spa facilities," explained Rias, seated naked atop a chair as Akeno, equally nude, relaxedly brushed her hair.
"As long as the top three floors are only accessible to me and my women, I trust you and Sona to handle things..." responded Vahn, lying stomach down atop his bed with a contented smile as Grayfia, having become a permanent resident of the palace after it was determined that Millicas's future would be better served focusing on the Tower and networking with people from other worlds, massaged his back and shoulders.
"But, of course..." hummed Rias, the smile on her face broadening as she added, "I also like having a place where I can relax, wear sexy cosplay, or walk around completely naked if I feel so inclined. But, since we're on the subject, we should prevent unvetted guests from being able to access the seventh through ninth floors."
"Mmn...Sona said something similar last night...she mentioned the two of you had discussed issuing bronze keys to all Ascendees, with silver, gold, platinum, and personalized keys representing those with higher or special privileges..." droned Vahn, a relaxed, deep-throated groan emanating from his throat as Grayfia leaned forward, cupped his neck, and applied varying degrees of pressure to the base of his skull using her thumbs.
"Oh? Well, what did you think of the idea...?" asked Rias, rising from her chair and magically donning a stylish outfit resembling the clothes worn by a Shrine Maiden. Instead of a white top with bright red hakama pants, however, her top was pale blue with blue-and-white-striped sleeves, and her bottoms were a darker shade of blue with gold embroidery and a pair of crests resembling seven wings around a large, empty circle. The seven wings were meant to denote Vahn's original seven harem members, while the seemingly empty space in the center denoted him or, more accurately, the endless possibilities he appeared to represent.
"I feel it will lead to unnecessary comparisons and competition, but once we have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people frequenting the palace, it will likely be necessary..." recognized Vahn. Just the other day, Fubuki had brought over one of her subordinates, a fourteen-year-old girl named Lily, and while she looked markedly older, Vahn felt the ambiance of the upper floors wasn't suited to girls below a certain age...
"There's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition..." reasoned Rias, her gaze briefly meeting Grayfia's, causing the silver-haired Devil to return a faint, playful smile. Then, as she and the other members of the Dragon's Pavilion had fairly busy schedules, meeting and making deals with people from both their world and others, she produced her personalized key and inserted it into empty air, causing a doorway to materialize.
"Alright, then, we're off," said Rias, opening and allowing Akeno to step through the door before glancing in Vahn's direction and reminding, "And don't forget that you have a meeting with Ravel of House Phoenix at 4:15 PM our time. She's pretty desperate to hop onto the bandwagon before it gets up to speed, so don't be surprised if you arrive to find her tied up or wearing nothing but a ribbon."
"Sounds like fun..." hummed Vahn, holding Rias's gaze with a playful smile before she turned to depart. He truthfully felt guilty about leaving her and Sona to manage things in his stead, but since nearly all of their duties and responsibilities were self-assigned, he prioritized empowering them to do as they pleased. He certainly did...
Demonstrating that she could still read him like an open book, Grayfia, less than ten seconds after Rias's and Akeno's departure, sat up straight atop Vahn's lower back and proposed, "Shall I massage your front next? Or should we retrieve Lady Venelana first...?" in a sultry tone.
"I feel you've earned some individual attention..." responded Vahn, rolling over and eliciting a throaty, indescribably sensual 'ara ara~' as he pushed Grayfia onto her back and positioned himself over her. Then, with only ten seconds passing outside, he spent seven hours making love to the silver-haired beauty before they met up with Venelana for her daily insemination and to continue their expansion project in the Black Tower...
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[Nami requests a telepathic link]
'Hmmm...?'
Seeing the notification and feeling a sudden sense of urgency, Vahn, who was relaxing atop Aileen's stomach with his hands behind his head, the two of them sunbasking at the back of the Administrator Area, adopted a slight frown and accepted the link without delay.
Preempting Vahn asking what was wrong, Nami, very clearly panicked, telepathically cried [It's an emergency, Vahn! I promise to pay you back, so please, come as quickly as possible! If you don't, one of our friends is going to be sold as a slave!]
[I'm coming] responded Vahn, the world around him effectively freezing as he severed the telepathic link, accompanied by Sis dutifully confirming (It's as you suspect. She's referring to the mermaid they met earlier this morning, Camie.)
'I was worried this would happen...' Vahn sighed internally, recalling that Nami had mentioned encountering the mermaid/starfish duo of Camie and Pappag on their approach to Sabaody Archipelago that morning. From his viewpoint, that was nearly nine days ago, but the memory of him warning them of the dangers of taking a mermaid inland and cautioning them to be extra careful was still fresh in his mind.
'It looks like I won't be able to avoid derailing the plot...' thought Vahn, forming a telepathic link with Grayfia and Venelana through his contract with both. Before that, both women were moving in extraordinarily slow motion as they carried on a conversation, but since both possessed the capacity to think and react at faster-than-light speeds, they immediately attuned to his frequency, allowing him to explain the situation and form a plan without stressing about the passage of time...
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"Just hold on a little longer, Camie. Help is on the way..." muttered Nami, her expression frustrated and hands balled into fists as she stood at the back of a large, dimly lit auction house with well over a thousand people in attendance. Reflected in her gaze was an attractive girl with somewhat spiky, medium-length green hair trapped within a large glass sphere filled with water atop a large stage. More notably, much to the audience's glee, her lower half was covered in hot pink scales, tapering into two wavy, pale pink fins, denoting her status as a Mermaid.
"This Vahn guy...can he really help us...?" asked a tall, exceptionally burly man with distinctive pink skin, curly white hair that formed five distinctive spikes, beady eyes, and an elongated mouth with disconcerting lips that resembled a large suction cup. It wasn't noticeable due to his oversized, incredibly thick green coat, but he also had six muscular arms, each lined with suction cups.
"Tch..."
Hearing the man, Hatchan, mention Vahn, a tall, notably lean, black-suit-wearing man with long legs, jaw-length blond hair that was combed over his left eye, notably swirly eyebrows, and a sparse goatee audibly clicked his tongue and remarked, "A man who would two-time two beautiful girls can't even be trusted to fly straight when kicked...but if Nami believes he can help, I believe her..."
"I hope that's the case..." muttered another tall, exceptionally muscular figure, his body covered in short, incredibly dense brown fur with thicker fur around his head, neck, and shoulders. A large pink hat with a white x on the front adorned his head, and though he typically had reindeer-like antlers, they were presently absent as he was transformed using a Devil Fruit called the Hito Hito no Mi(Human-Human Fruit). With near-circular eyes and a large, blue, and slightly wet nose, however, it wasn't the most convincing transformation.
"The only reason you guys are having doubts is because you haven't met Vahn..." whispered Nami, her gaze full of trust but her body trembling as a fat, exceptionally ugly man with black hair styled in a ridiculous extended top knot, large, fish-like lips, and a nearly pear-shape face caused a hush to fall over the auction hall as he bid an outrageous price of 500,000,000 Berries to secure Camie as a slave. The glass bubble around his head and distinctive, exceptionally gaudy white suit, reminiscent of another world's spacesuit with decorative medals and buttons, signified his status as one of the infamous Celestial Dragons, the de-facto rulers of the world due to founding the current global superpower known as the World Government. Thus, even though Nami and everyone else with her wanted to scream out and oppose the sale, they could only watch in frustrated silence as opposing a Celestial Dragon within the Sabaody Archipelago, located a short distance from Marine Headquarters, was the same as inviting death upon yourself in the form of a Marine Admiral...
Just as the Auctioneer was about to declare that Camie belonged to the Celestial Dragon, a calm, deep, reverberating voice that Nami immediately recognized, causing her to look around for its own, called out, "One billion Berries..."
"O-O-One billioooooooooooon...!?" exclaimed the Auctioneer, a skinny, flamboyantly dressed man with long grey hair, flowing purple robes, a bright pink tie, a tall, rounded-off yellow hat covered in red flowers, and star-shaped sunglasses.
"Huuuuuuh!? Who dares to bid against me, a great and noble Celestial Dragon!?" shouted the hideous man, infamous throughout the Sabaody Archipelago as Saint Charlos, the son of Saint Rosward and older brother of Saint Shalria, both seated next to him in the cordoned off, VIP section of the auction hall.
"I dare..." responded Vahn, drawing the gazes of everyone present as he unfurled six sets of angelic wings in the space above the crowd, sending out a powerful gust of wind that made it impossible to ignore him as he hovered in the air, veiled by a luminous golden aura with a seven-winged halo rotating behind his back like a wheel.
Though he initially wanted to pull out his golden pistol and punish Vahn for daring to oppose him, Saint Charlos promptly collapsed onto his fat and cushioned rear, thick beads of sweat cascading down his body as he teetered on the verge of a mental collapse. Unfortunately for him, with Vahn's currently golden eyes, set with glowing white Xs instead of pupils, locked upon him, he couldn't pass out or look away no matter how much he wanted to.
Rising from his seat and staring up at Vahn with a haughty glower, Saint Charlos's father, an even fatter, sunglasses-wearing man with a prominent sand-blonde beard, a black handlebar mustache that stuck out past the sides of his face, and a ludicrous hairstyle that curled upward and split at the ends, resembling a pair of testicles, questioned, "And just who are you supposed to be? Some low-born, scum-sucking pirate, no doubt..."
"Oh? That may be so, father, but now that I get a good look at him, he is quite the appealing specimen..." remarked a girl who rose to stand beside the portly, mustachioed Saint Rosward. Her dirty-blonde hair was styled similarly to her brother and father, but her spacesuit-like robes had a pale blue and purple flower motif, while her dark brown eyes and mouth were covered in a pair of pale orange lenses and a transparent purple veil. Her voice and accent were pleasant, but her expression exuded haughtiness and unabashed, notably sadistic glee as she eyed Vahn like a toy she was looking forward to breaking.
"Oh, very well..." sighed Saint Rosward, closing his eyes behind his dark shades, shaking his head, and exhaling a tired sigh before looking up at Vahn and stating, "Get down from there and bow your head at once. You will not be able to escape a whipping, but you shall have the privilege of being my daughter's slave for the remainder of your miserable life or until she grows weary of you."
Though he expected the Celestial Dragons to be unrepentantly haughty and insufferable, Vahn was briefly taken aback by Saint Rosward's words. His original intention was to psychologically scar and scare the notorious trio straight, but even with a divine aura on par with a Seraph, the middle-aged Celestial Dragon and his considerably younger daughter seemed to genuinely believe there was nothing he could do to harm them...
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