"Oh, Sadida...I’ve never eaten anything so delicious or felt so full in my entire life..." groaned Amalia, sporting a visibly bulging belly as she lay on the grass with both hands cradling her stomach.
"Let’s just hope it wasn’t poisoned..." sighed Eva, closing her eyes and visibly deflating. She had initially taken a small bite of the inordinately succulent steak to ensure it was safe for Amalia to consu. Soon after, she found herself biting into it with her bare hands, rashly devouring it as if she had been starving for months.
"It should be safe for you to consu, but if you experience indigestion, let know," humd Vahn, producing a tube of flavored antacids as he stated, "These will help."
"..."
Seeing the relaxed, ostensibly friendly smile on Vahn’s face and feeling nothing but pleasantness exuding from him, Eva began feeling guilty and a little embarrassed. If he were truly the God of Dragons, she had been behaving very rudely. Her job required her to be vigilant to keep Amalia safe, but if Vahn truly wanted to harm them, she doubted he would need poison to do so.
"Be at ease," said Vahn, his expression softening as he remarked, "I don’t take slights personally unless they’re purposely intended to offend. You’re just looking after your friend and ward. That is sothing to be respected, not condemned."
"Haaaaaaaa...I really appreciate you saying that, Your Godliness, but it honestly just makes feel even worse about my behavior..." revealed Eva, her pointed, Elf-like ears drooping as she closed her knees around her clasped hands.
"Just Vahn will suffice..." stated Vahn, adopting a smile that caused Eva’s slightly flushed, sparsely freckled cheeks to turn a deeper shade of red as he affird, "I don’t conceal my identity when prompted, but I’m not fond of formalities. There is a ti and place for them, but this doesn’t look like any godly or royal courts I’ve visited in the past."
"There is a Princess present, though," stated Amalia, her actions belying her status as she lightly drumd her belly, closed her eyes, and sighed, "Gosh...I feel like a Pandawan..."
"You’re starting to look like one as well..." quipped Eva, adopting a faint smile as she combed back the golden bangs that had fallen over her face, tucking them behind her right ear. Now that she no longer viewed him as a threat, she couldn’t deny Amalia’s assertion that Vahn was a handso man. And she didn’t know if it was because he was a Dragon or a God, but her pulse increased, and she felt uncharacteristically timid when he gazed directly at her with his slightly narrowed, blue-green eyes.
"If it’s not too much trouble, do you mind if I ask the two of you about this world and its structure?" asked Vahn, revealing, "The place I co from is a planar dinsion called Termina. If there are laws and customs I should be mindful of, I can think of no one better to hear them from than a pair of world-class beauties like yourselves."
"Oh? So you think we’re beautiful?" asked Amalia, her stomach magically deflating and becoming flat as she sat up, rose to her feet, and promptly made herself comfortable on the sa log as Vahn, scooting close to him as she asserted, "I also think you’re rather handso, Vahn. If it’s not too far, you should show around your ho. Then I can take you on a tour of the Sadida Kingdom and introduce you to my father. If the other Kings and Queens hear the God of Dragons has descended, I’m sure they would gather in an instant to welco you."
"Princess Amalia..." sighed Eva, looking more than a little exasperated as she hugged herself and held her left arm with her right hand. She wanted to assert that asking to visit a God’s realm was beyond reckless, but she didn’t want to offend Vahn more than she already had.
"It’s not impossible..." conceded Vahn, causing Amalia’s face to light up before he appended, "But we should consider that after you’ve t those your prophecy foretold you to et. As I ntioned previously, it couldn’t have been . I’m not certain how influential this Sadida God is, but I can say with certitude he lacks the power and Authority to peer into my future and foresee my actions."
"Does that an you’re on a higher level than the Twelve...?" asked Eva, her brows rising considerably as she recalled Vahn ntioning he had no knowledge of their world, compelling her to explain, "The Twelve are the Gods who preside over this world. In no particular order, they are the Cra, Eniripsa, Feca, Pandawa, and Sacrier Goddesses. Their male counterparts are Ecaflip, Enutrof, Iop, Osamodas, Sadida, Sram, and Xelor. There are other, minor Gods, but those are the Twelve by which our world is nad after."
"Thank you," expressed Vahn, nodding approvingly before revealing, "To answer your question, I am quite a bit higher than the Gods of this world in terms of Authority. But as this is not my domain, I might be weaker in a direct battle. Battles between Gods are seldom contests of raw, physical or magical might."
"Really? I had no idea..." muttered Amalia, leaning into Vahn’s left arm in a manner that assured her right breast bumped against him.
"You’re a friendly one~" humd Vahn, slipping his hand behind Amalia’s back before raising it to caress her head, causing a slight pout to mar her face before she realized how comfortable his caress was.
"Your hand feels really nice..." remarked Amalia, closing her eyes with a contented look on her face. She hadn’t even allowed her father to caress her head in the past couple of years, but she found Vahn’s hand as warm and comforting as the sun’s rays after a long storm.
"Is there anything else you could tell or think I should know...?" asked Vahn, directing the question at Eva. At the sa ti, entirely by habit, he slid his hand down to Amalia’s waist, causing her lightly flushed cheeks to tint a much darker shade of red.
"Oh, um...nothing that I can think of off the top of my head..." responded Eva, the cogs in her brain briefly grinding to a halt as she observed Vahn’s actions. She couldn’t really berate him since Amalia was laying it on pretty thick that she found him attractive, but with how unbothered he had been up until that point, she didn’t expect him to place his hand on her hip as if it were perfectly natural.
Realizing what he had done, Vahn internally lanted his actions as he outwardly smiled and said, "Then, for the ti being, you two should rest. I want to get a better grasp of the forest’s layout. If there is anything you need for, you need only to call out my na. I will be able to hear you no matter the distance."
"Ah—must you leave so quickly? I still wish to talk and get to know you a bit more..." remarked Amalia, leaning forward and grabbing Vahn’s yukata with her left hand as he rose to his feet.
"Anything specific...?" asked Vahn, staring down at the clingy Princess and exhaling from his nose with a faint smile.
"Lots of things...!" responded Amalia, her large brown eyes sparkling as she excitedly asked, "For one, what’s a Rainbow Galala Gator? After that, I want to know what kind of plants you have back where you co from. Are there any trees? And what kinds of girls do you like?"
"That’s quite a lot..." remarked Vahn, his expression softening as he sat back down, much to Amalia’s glee as she purposefully guided his hand back to her waist. Then, over the course of twenty or so minutes, she eagerly inundated him with questions, her eyes twinkling like a fan girl in the presence of her idol as he naturally supplented his answers and explanations with holographic projections...
...
..
.
"Hmm? Is sothing the matter...?" questioned Amalia, noticing Vahn go silent and stare over her as if he were gazing at sothing in the distance despite dense forests blocking his view.
Staring in the sa direction Vahn was looking, Eva’s eyes glowed as she attempted to see what he was seeing. By infusing a type of energy known as Wakfu into her eyes, a benefit of her status as a Cra, representatives of the Goddess of the Hunt, she could see across vast distances and tracks otherwise imperceptible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, other than a few traces of Wakfu and so animal tracks, she couldn’t see what Vahn was presumably staring at.
"There are a bunch of tiny, shadow-ford creatures with leaves, shells, and bark helts attacking a group of three: an elderly man with a beard, a young swordsman with fiery orange hair, and a young-looking boy with an odd hat and remarkable power..." revealed Vahn, rising to his feet and practically pulling Amalia to hers with how close she was adhering to him.
"Are you planning to help them?" asked Amalia, feeling a strange sense of loss the mont she was separated from Vahn—like a plant pulled from a spacious pot of nutritious soil.
"I was kind of expecting you two to lend a hand," stated Vahn, surprising the two girls as he smiled and explained, "As I ntioned before, this isn’t my domain. Unless I’m directly entreated and a sufficient price paid, I can only offer aid in the form of defense and healing. That changes in cases of self-defense, but since you were sent here by your God, we can assu it was to et those three."
"Oh...right..." muttered Amalia, her cheeks tinting red as the truth was that she hadn’t received a prophecy. That was sothing she had made up to fly from her Kingdom and blow off so steam in the wake of a fight with her elder brother. Now, seeing how serious Vahn was about her made-up prophecy, she felt it was too late and much too embarrassing to admit the truth...
Understanding Amalia well, Eva shook her head, exhaled an exasperated sigh, and remarked, "We’re wasting ti. If we’re going to help, we should go quickly. If not, we should leave this forest before we’re targeted by the sa group of monsters."
"Gnuuuuuu...fine, then! Let’s go...!" exclaid Amalia, hurrying over and mounting what Vahn had learned was called a Drago Turkey. She really didn’t want to get herself involved in other people’s business, but since she didn’t want to ruin Vahn’s impression of her, she had no choice but to show him what a Princess of the Sadida Kingdom could do.
Directing her gaze to Vahn, Amalia was going to ask if he wanted to ride with her, but stopped when she noticed him floating a few centiters off the ground like a Xelor. Eva took note of this as well, but since Xelors had white hair, glowing blue eyes, and were typically equipped with self-made machines, Vahn wasn’t like any she had seen.
"R-Right! Let us away...!" shouted Amalia, flicking the reins of her Drago Turkey, prompting it to squawk and charge forward with Eva’s following in hot pursuit. In their wake, Vahn took a mont to clear away their camp with a sweep of his hand, ensuring embers from the fire wouldn’t spread to the nearby trees or shrubs before following after the duo, effortlessly keeping pace with them above the tree line...
’Hmmm...these two don’t seem weak, but they’re not particularly fast...’ noted Vahn, feeling as though he was moving at a snail’s pace. The most probable candidates for beings that were stronger than him in the setting were the so-called Twelve, but he highly doubted things were that clear-cut. The Mortalizing Dragon’s Gate was supposed to place him near those suitable to beco Ascendees, and since such candidates were typically Protagonists, he could assu Eva and Amalia had trendous potential. Though, compared to the young boy they were headed toward, they, very likely, played a support role...
...
..
.
Reviews
All reviews (0)