Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos-Novel

Chapter 424 - Gift

Waking up sandwiched by two goddesses was something Vahn had experienced several times, but each time seemed like a completely new experience. Even though they had very differently sized b.r.e.a.s.ts, Vahn felt comfortable with both Hephaestus and Loki snuggled up and laying against his chest. Chloe was hugging Loki from behind and seemed to be ’chewing’ on her ponytail while Arnya was laying in a very ’dangerous’ situation with her head on his thighs as she drooled against his leg in a somewhat awkward fashion. Vahn was amazed at how ’dedicated’ she was when it came to putting on her act, even though the majority of people had seen through it long ago. Loki had even tried to get her to ’confess’ the previous night, but her reaction was to bite Loki’s butt after she could no longer deal with the ’teasing’ of the mischevious goddess.

Since it was Saturday, there was no need to wake up early, at least in normal circ.u.mstances. Vahn, however, had several things he wanted to work on and he knew that Eina would be arriving relatively early as well. He hadn’t explained the reason, but he had asked both she and Hephaestus to visit his workshop early in the morning. Hephaestus had stayed the night, but she was busier than ever lately as she had been preparing for the wedding, taking on new contracts, and also dealing with matters relating to the Alliance and the ongoing construction. Loki and Hestia were helping her out a lot, but Hephaestus had the largest responsibility as the ’Chairman’ of the Alliance. Since she was also the chief financial guarantor, there was a great deal of paperwork she had been tending to in the last few weeks.

Knowing this, Vahn had spent the vast majority of the previous night simply pampering her after they had engaged in a few ’bouts’. He knew that, even when they were married, Hephaestus would often be busy until things had stabilized. Even though she would be moving into the Manor after the wedding, she would still have to take care of her other responsibilities until the ’migration’ of personnel had been completed. The only complaint she had about the situation was something that made Vahn very fl.u.s.tered, as it was primarily related to his ’activities’ during the daytime. Because he hadn’t been limiting his intimacy with the girls to the evening hours, Hephaestus sometimes had to ’deal’ with phantom sensations in her body that would sometimes continue for hours since Vahn’s stamina was abnormal.

Fortunately, the [Promise] he had given her in the past seemed to help deal with the urges by a great deal and she had also been growing accustomed to the sensations on her own. As a goddess, her adaptability was quite high but she still asked Vahn to show a bit of restraint or to at least give her a warning beforehand. She had apparently been in a meeting with contractors before having to call it to a quick end when Vahn had been ’playing’ around with Tiona previously. Since Tiona was the first girl that he had spent time with during the ’lunch’ block of his schedule, Hephaestus had been caught completely off guard and had to ’retire’ to her workshop after dismissing the contractors.

Knowing that Hephaestus was working so hard for their futures, yet he was constantly inconveniencing her, made Vahn feel very guilty. However, Hephaestus didn’t seem to mind at all and simply encouraged him to do as he pleased, as his happiness was her happiness as well. Once the matters regarding the migrations and construction were completed, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore so Hephaestus told him not to worry about it. Vahn nodded his head in affirmation, even though it was clearly written on his face that he was still going to worry about it. He had already started thinking of several ways to make things easier for Hephaestus, or else he would have to restrict his ’activities’ more in the future.

Because of his guilt, Vahn pampered Hephaestus after waking everyone up and, after they had all taken a bath, he helped her get dressed and also brushed her hair. Loki had left soon after breakfast while both Chloe and Arnya left to take care of a few things before heading out to the Hostess of Fertility. The weekends were usually far busier than the rest of the week so the Hostess of Fertility opening at 8 AM instead of 10 AM. Since it was a short distance, Vahn escorted them over while also making rounds outside of the perimeter of the Manor before returning to the interior. Though there were patrols investigating the area, Vahn’s perception was far higher than theirs and he was able to ’scan’ the surroundings far more efficiently.

While he was making the rounds, Vahn detected Eina’s arrival and used [Shundo] to intercept her soon after she walked through the gate. She was startled by his sudden appearance and dropped the box she had been holding in her arms. Vahn swooped forward to catch the package while also supported Eina’s body after she lost her balance trying to hurriedly catch it. Eina gave him an accusatory look with a blush on her face as she said, "Thank you, Vahn, but please don’t startle me like that. You’re going to give me a heart attack..."

Vahn smiled widely at her reaction before placing his forehead against her’s and whispering, "Eina, I’m glad you’re here...even though it’s only been a few days, I’ve missed you." Vahn was now taller than Eina by several centimeters, so she had to look up slightly at him with a somewhat bashful look on her face accompanying her gentle smile. Vahn was always surprised by how beautiful her emerald green eyes were and he felt like he could get lost staring at them as a powerful instinct to ’rest’ began to rise up inside of him.

Even though her blush had started to spread to her ears, Eina reached her arms around Vahn’s back before tilting her head up and giving him a quick peck on the lips. After pulling away, Eina hung her head low and said in a very soft voice, "I missed you too, Vahn...I brought you something, but you’ll have to wait until we get inside before you open it." Eina looked around the area before separating from Vahn and grabbing his hand as she led the way toward the entrance of the Manor. Vahn could see that her aura was flaring up with a pink hue that danced about like it was being influenced by the wind. She seemed to be very embarrassed, so he was looking forward to what Eina had brought for him. He was very tempted to ’peek’ into the package with his [Eyes of Truth], but he didn’t want to betray her just to appease his own curiosity.

When they entered into the door, Fenrir had popped up and startled Eina once again as she spread her arms and said, "Eina, welcome home!" Just like she often ’pandered’ to Hephaestus, Fenrir had shown up to greet Eina when she entered into the foyer. After raising her hands in an excited manner, she then tried to lift up the corners of her dress as if trying to perform a curtsy. There were two tiny golden knots that had been tied to strings so that she could grab it between her small paws without tearing her dress with her claws. It was an incredibly adorable display and Eina let go of Vahn’s hand as she leaned forward slightly and affectionately stroked Fenrir’s head as she said, "Thank you, Fenrir, you’re very cute this morning~."

Fenrir blinked several times as she tilted her head slightly and ’repeated’, "Eina looks very cute this morning as well." As she spoke, Vahn and Eina both caught her sending glances at Vahn so he walked forward as both he and Eina pet her ears and praised her for a few minutes. After completing her ’mission’, Fenrir ran off to return to wherever she had been before detecting Eina’s arrival with Vahn. Through his perception, Vahn could see she was going to where Hestia and several of the girls were gathered. The large study that connected to the dining room was a commonly used area by everyone in the Manor and more than half of the residents were currently gathered there.

After Fenrir had trotted away, Vahn led Eina this time as he escorted her to the East Wing and followed it through to the connecting Annex where his workshop was located. Hephaestus and Tsubaki were already there waiting and, when he saw what they were discussing, Vahn nearly fell over. Because the workshop was a ’private’ area where few people had access to, Tsubaki was currently showing off the [Midnight Passion Panties] to Hephaestus. The reason he had been so caught off guard wasn’t that Tsubaki was wearing just panties and her sarashi, but that Hephaestus had been kneeling down and ’inspecting’ the garment with a very serious expression on her face.

Eina was also caught off guard by the sight and said in a confused voice, "Ano...good morning Hephaestus, Tsubaki...I see you are in high spirits...?" Hephaestus blushed slightly and stood up as Tsubaki began laughing boisterously as she ’casually’ stripped off the panties and set them on the table before fixing her hakama. When she had removed them, the black silk garment noticeably shrunk and Hephaestus picked them up and explained, "Tsubaki was showing me an item Vahn had ’forged’...please don’t misunderstand...*cough*..." Hearing Hephaestus’ words, Vahn felt a cold sweat build up on his back as Eina sent him a look as she mused, "Ooooh? I’ve never heard of someone forging a pair of panties before...is that why I was asked to come here so early?"

Vahn laughed awkwardly before explaining, "I actually called you and Hephaestus here because I had prepared a gift for the two of you. The panties...they were just an experiment related to creating armor that looked like normal clothing for the girls. They might look like a normal pair of panties, but they can automatically adjust their size to the wearer and also have high defensive capabilities..." Eina continued to give Vahn a slightly ’worried’ look as he justified his actions and tried to explain the specifics of their ’functionality’. Fortunately, Tsubaki and Hephaestus both came to his aide and convinced Eina that he was speaking the truth. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed Vahn, it was just a relatively abnormal situation and she was just caught off guard a bit.

In order to ease some of the awkwardness, Vahn handed Tsubaki a purple tunic before having all three girls sit down on a large sofa he had set out for them. Once they were situated, Vahn released a sigh and began to amp himself up as he said, "For the last two weeks, I’ve actually been working on a special gift that I’m hoping you would both be pleased with..." Seeing how ’nervous’ Vahn was, both Hephaestus and Eina began to build their expectations as they watched him with slightly glittering eyes. Vahn usually put an exorbitant amount of effort into the things he created so, for him to be so nervous about the gift he had prepared, it must be something incredible.

Vahn pulled out the two mannequins that were covered in a white film that obstructed the contents and he began to feel giddy as he explained, "I know that its a tradition that the groom doesn’t see the wedding dress until the ceremony, but I wanted to take a more proactive role instead of sitting on the sidelines and having the two of you deal with everything. You don’t have to use them, but I’d like you to consider these dresses...I put all of my efforts into creating them, and I hope they are to your liking..." As he spoke, Vahn placed his hand on the white film and threw them into his inventory while leaving the Hephaestus and Eina shaped mannequins wearing the [Phoenix Fire Dress] and [Phoenix Night Dress].

When he had revealed the two dresses, all three girls’ eyes opened widely because, though they had speculated about what Vahn was working on, none of them had guessed it was wedding gowns. The most incredulous thing was that each dress looked like a masterpiece and both Tsubaki and Hephaestus were very aware of the amount of effort he had to put into their construction. Eina was stuck in a stupor as she looked at the beautiful blue dress that she assumed had been personally made by Vahn for her use. Her current dress was very beautiful, but staring at the blue dress Vahn had created made her heart thumb powerfully in her chest and she began to take deeper breaths as she asked, "Is that...for me...?" She pointed to the blue dress and Vahn smiled widely and before explaining, "Yes, this wedding dress is called [Phoenix Night Dress]...when I created it, I wanted it to embody the-" Before Vahn could explain the creation process, Eina had leaped up from the sofa before happily embracing him.

As if she had been awakened by Eina’s action, Hephaestus also rose from the sofa before walking over and affectionately stroking the beautiful red dress until Eina had finally freed Vahn. Taking the opportunity, Hephaestus also hugged Vahn tightly and shared a long kiss with him before saying in a tone full of affection, "Thank you, Vahn, it’s beautiful..." Vahn nodded his head with a large smile on his face as he hugged Hephaestus’ waist tightly and responded, "It had to be, or it wouldn’t be worthy of someone as beautiful as you, Hephaestus..." Vahn received another passionate kiss for his compliment and it almost seemed like Hephaestus was about to push him down on the floor before Tsubaki’s cough brought her back to reality.

Though the atmosphere was still rose-colored, everyone had calmed down a bit and Vahn explained, "The red dress is called [Phoenix Fire Dress]...it has high defensive stats and is also a magic item with four abilities infused into it, including one unique ability called ’Phoenix’s Pride’. Its other abilities are ’Fire Immunity’, ’Shock Resistance’, and ’Weatherproof’. When you wear this, it will enhance your beauty greatly and make you stand out regardless of how many other people are present..." Hephaestus listened to Vahn’s words as she looked at the dress with an enamored look on her face as she traced her fingers along the complex arrangement of magic stones that adorned the bodice.

Seeing that Hephaestus seemed very pleased, Vahn smiled before continuing for the equally enamored Eina, "The blue dress is called [Phoenix Night Dress] and has equally high defensive capabilities. Like the [Phoneix Fire Dress], it has four abilities including a unique ability called ’Phoenix’s Embrace’. As for the other abilities, they are ’Ice Immunity’, ’Shock Resistance’, and ’Weatherproof’. When you wear this dress, it will emit a calming aura to everyone that looks in your direction. I wanted to create a dress that embodied the peaceful feeling you always bring me..."

Hearing Vahn’s words, Eina turned her attention away from the dress and her expression melted into an incredibly gentle look as she smiled and said, "Vahn...thank you so much. I will always look after you from now on...because..." Eina began to blush furiously and her gentle expression turned into a fl.u.s.tered one as she continued, "Because...I love you~!" Eina’s sudden exclamation surprised, not just Vahn, but the other two girls in the room. Everyone present loved Vahn, and he loved them, so it was a ’triggering’ mechanism for someone to exclaim it so suddenly.

Hephaestus giggled with a slight blush on her face as she said, "Ara~? Eina is so bold this morning...I don’t want to be left out, so let me also profess my love." As she had been closer to Vahn, Hephaestus moved over and embraced Vahn’s head into her b.r.e.a.s.ts tightly as she whispered in a sensuous tone, "I love you...Vahn." Vahn nodded his head and stammered, "I love you too, Hephaestus...I love Eina and Tsubaki as well.... every day I-" Before Vahn could continue, Tsubaki hugged his body from behind and gave Hephaestus a playful look as she whispered, "You talk too much, Vahn...but that is one of the things I love about you...fufufufu~"

Eina showed a pouting expression at the two ’mature’ girls’ behavior as she said, "Muuuu, you girls are being sneaky today. I can barely tolerate Vahn’s teasing, so please go easy on me..." Tsubaki and Hephaestus laughed in an amused manner before releasing Vahn and pushing him towards the bashful Half-Elf. Eina ’caught’ Vahn’s head before mimicking Hephaestus’ action of hugging his face to her chest as she squeezed him tightly and repeated, "I love you, Vahn...thank you for the dress." Vahn knew Eina was pushing herself a bit by doing something so intimate, so he felt very warm inside as he hugged her waist and rested his head against her chest as he said, "I love you too, Eina...you’re welcome."

---

After the atmosphere cleared up a bit, Eina and Hephaestus began undressing in the middle of the workshop before Vahn helped them fit into the dresses. He didn’t want to reveal the ’mechanism’ yet, so they had to squeeze into the dress from the bottom and it required a bit of assistance. Fortunately, Vahn had used fabric that had a bit of give, so they were able to get into them without any great difficulty. Since he had made the dressed to perfectly match the figure of both girls, they didn’t actually require any additional tailoring at all and Vahn just spent a few minutes questioning them about the feel and balance of the outfit.

While they were answering his questions, Tsubaki had been inspecting the mannequins that Vahn had used when creating the dresses and noticed that there were a lot of ’extra’ details. When a lully appeared in the conversation, Tsubaki asked in a teasing tone, "So, did you make these mannequins yourself, Vahn~?" Though he could hear the insinuation in her voice, Vahn answered her question with a bit of confusion on his face, "Yes? I used a material called [Memory Putty] and sculpted them to emulate Hephaestus and Eina as accurately...as possible..." As he spoke, Vahn realized why Tsubaki had a teasing look in her eyes and his expression had been noticed by both Hephaestus and Eina so they looked over as well.

They had been so distracted by the dresses earlier that neither girl had paid too much attention to the mannequins that were in their ’likeness’. Hephaestus had simply assumed it was ’similar’ to her, but now she saw the amount of ’detail’ Vahn had put into it and she couldn’t help but blush as she inspected the mannequin by walking around it slowly. Eina’s face had turned completely crimson and her ears were drooping slightly as she ’glared’ at Vahn and said, "Vaaaaaahn, we need to have a serious talk~!" Even though she was still wearing the wedding dress Vahn had made for her, Eina walked over and began lecturing him in a serious tone with a very fl.u.s.tered expression on her face.

All the while this was going on, Tsubaki was laughing loudly before deciding to tease Hephaestus a bit by grabbing the mannequins butt. She actually hadn’t expected it to be ’soft’ to the touch, so Tsubaki’s eyes opened wider and she remarked, "Wow, it’s so big and soft...I think I know why Vahn... wait a second!" Though Eina was still currently lecturing Vahn, Tsubaki interrupted her and asked, "Vahn, who else did you make a mannequin of? Did you make one for me as well!?" Knowing there might be a life-sized mannequin that showed her privates in detail made Tsubaki feel very embarrassed. She had been intending to tease Eina and Hephaestus a bit, but now she realized that if Vahn was able to make mannequins of the two, he could have very easily made one of her as well.

Tsubaki’s words had caused all three girls to stare at Vahn and he suddenly felt very embarrassed as he tried to explain, "I just wanted them to be as accurate as possible...I made a few, but I haven’t made one for you yet, Tsubaki..." Tsubaki released a sigh of relief before giving Vahn a serious look and saying, "If you ever want to make something for me, just let me know. I’d rather be here personally than have you gawking at a doll that looks like me..." Hearing Tsubaki’s words, both Hephaestus and Eina also asked Vahn to inform them if he wanted to make more clothing for them in the future. At the very least, he shouldn’t use such ’detailed’ mannequins anymore.

Even if there was a negligible chance anyone would ever see them, just knowing such things existed was a very unnerving thing. As he had felt the same way when Eva made nude statues of him, Vahn acceded to the girls’ words but still had to listen to their combined lecture for nearly an hour after the fact. The only consolation he found at the sudden series of events was that both Hephaestus and Eina looked very beautiful in the dresses he had made for them...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’A Goddess in each arm, a cat on each leg~?’,’Fenrir is a smart girl’,’Vahn’s attention to ’detail’’)

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