Capítulo 1249: Consolidating Power
With the birth of Sophia, Vahn was only waiting for Circe and Luvia to give birth before the number of pregnant women in the castle was reduced to zero. Though he quite enjoyed spending time with his children, he could only look back on his past self with a wry smile. His life had become even busier now so, remembering he had thought about impregnating 'everyone', Vahn realized he still had a long way to go before maturing to the level he desired.
In spite of his busy schedule, Vahn had no real complaints since even Scáthach had let up on him a bit. During one of their recent training sessions, she told him to take an extended break as despite the effort he was putting in, he had reached a bottleneck of sorts. His power was growing without end but, as one of the primary goals of their training was to help him regain a Divinity, it was clear something else was required. With this in mind, she wanted him to focus on his family life and the management of the Empire while using his newfound free time to take care of his children.
As a result of his Shishou's concerns, Vahn currently found himself watching Mordred, Sakura, Mash, and now Zoë, conduct training drills at the behest of Galahad. This took on the form of one person holding a weighted club-like sword as they used it to strike against the heavy shield of their training partner. Since Galahad had taken over, he had been educating the girls in the use of swords, spears, lances, javelins, shields, maces, flails, and bows. He wanted them to have comprehensive training in many of the most common armaments so they would properly understand how to use, and counter, them.
Mordred seemed somewhat bored to be on the defensive but, with him sitting at the side, Vahn saw that she was at least pretending to put in an effort. She dutifully held her shield at chest level, using its slightly curved surface to skillfully deflect the strikes of Sakura. Despite having a strong distaste of shields, Mordred was extremely proficient in the usage of almost every type of armament. She also had incredible kinetic vision and the [Instinct] Skill to cover for any gaps in her knowledge.
To her credit, Sakura's blows were heavy enough to make small dents in the shield, causing Mordred to have to focus at least a little to avoid straining herself. At this point, the adorable little brunette had the strength of ten grown men while, due to her monstrous reserves of Od, she would channel a bit into each of her attacks almost instinctually. Every now and then, what appeared to be a thin blue mist would radiate out from where she struck, causing Mordred to tense up slightly to avoid being pushed back.
Vahn was genuinely proud of Sakura's growth and, since he started watching their training, he made sure she knew it. She seemed embarrassed by this at first but, after a while, Sakura had learned to accept his praise with a bashful smile rather than awkward dismissal. Mordred had helped her a lot in this regard as, whenever he praised her, she would always accept his words with a toothy smile and, more often than not, a hug. She also had a bad habit of climbing on him, which was becoming more awkward as she continued to grow, but Vahn didn't mind letting his tomboyish little monkey get away with mischief, at least for the time being.
It wasn't just Sakura who benefitted from Mordred's unabashed willingness to accept praise either as, with Mash and Zoë both working hard, Vahn complimented their efforts as well. They acted a lot like Sakura at first, especially Mash, but now Vahn could easily pat the girls' heads whenever they completed hard training. This seemed to motivate them quite a bit as, with their treatment being similar to his children, it left a deep impact on the parentless girls.
Now, Vahn watched as Zoë used her own superhuman strength to bash against Mash's shield as she shouted, "Ei! Ei! Ei!" in a cheerful tone. A stark contrast to the pale-haired girl's playfulness, Mash had a determined and focused gaze as she bent her knees slightly and leaned into each strike. She was also deflecting the blows to the side but, rather than accept the blows outright, Mash had learned to intercept the path of the blow and disperse the force. This not only significantly reduced the power behind the blow but it also opened up the opportunity for a counterattack by slamming the shield into the attacker's body.
Fortunately for Zoë, Mash couldn't use her 'shield bash' against her in this particular training as she was required to remain purely on the defense. This allowed Zoë the opportunity to freely flail away at Mash's shield, a testament to the fact that she was lacking proper discipline. Since she had only been at this for five days, however, even Galahad remained silent and only corrected her when she made serious mistakes. He knew the past of the Designer Babies at this point so, despite lacking any facial expressions, Galahad had a lot of empathy and tolerance towards the playful girl's antics.
After a thousand timed strikes from Sakura, and three-hundred from Zoë, Galahad, in a calm voice, plainly stated, "Five-minute break, then switch."
With the set completed, Mordred began rolling her left shoulder with a cheeky smile on her face as she remarked, "You're becoming pretty strong, Sakura-chan. At this rate, my left arm is going to be useless in the future! Shishishishishi~"
Sakura rolled her eyes in response to Mordred's words before walking over and placing her palm against the latter's shoulder. Mordred didn't try to evade this and, after a few seconds, a pale green light illuminated the area as Sakura used a very rudimentary form of healing magic to remove any muscle strain. Since he had started training her personally, Vahn had been teaching her [Hands of Nirvana] and sense the structure of a person's body using her monstrous magical power in a non-destructive way.
After a few seconds, Mordred's arm had started to tingle a bit but the aching feeling had completely vanished. This caused her to smile even wider before showering Sakura in praise as they walked over to the side where their Chichue was smiling at them. Halfway to their destination, Mordred leaped the remaining ten meters, headbutting Vahn's chest as she threw her arms around him and giggled mischievously.
Vahn chuckled lightly in response to Mordred's mischief as he gently stroked her golden hair and mused, "You did well, Mordred. Make sure to keep focused during training or-" Before he was able to continue any further, Mordred looked up at him and added, "Or I'll become complacent in a real battle, right~? Shishishishi~"
With a smile on his face, Vahn shook his head in mock exasperation before pinching Mordred's nose and taking a seat. She sat on his left thigh as if it were natural while Sakura, after walking over like a normal person, sat down to his right. Vahn also stroked her hair, earning a smile from the mature girl as she sat like a proper lady. She took her etiquette training very seriously and, despite aspiring to be a Knight, Sakura knew she would be representing the Empire as the Second Imperial Princess in the future.
Since they only had a five-minute break, Vahn used his [Hands of Nirvana] to revitalize the girls so that their training would be more productive. This included Mash and Zoë, albeit with the former going red in the face when he stroked her lavender-hair. When he first saw her behaving like this, Vahn had been a little confused since he thought she had a crush on Galahad. She called him Senpai and asked him lots of questions about becoming a proper Shieldbearer so this made the most sense. However, once he started showing up to observe their training, Mash would usually flock to his side with the other girls, despite rarely having anything to say.
Vahn tried to comfort himself by acknowledging the very real possibility that he had become a father figure to Mash but, given how she reacted to Mordred's and Zoë's teasing, this didn't seem to be the case. She also referred to him as Master and, despite their few interactions in the past, had a Loyalty value of 6,417. With all of this, Vahn knew Mash had likely started to crush on him now but, as she was a sensible and loyal girl, he didn't think anything would come of it. He really wanted her to find happiness with someone else so, after handling the Barthomeloi family, Vahn wondered if it wouldn't be prudent of him to allow the girls to become exchange students at the Clock Tower so they could properly socialize with people their own age.
Though the curriculum of the Clock Tower left a lot to be desired, that didn't mean he had to enroll them in the standard courses. Since he would be negotiating conditions with Solon, Vahn could have a special course created specifically for his children and a select few capable students. He could then prove to the Magus community at large that his methods were better suited to rearing young Magi than any of the existing methods. Though this class would largely focus on battling within the Spirit Tomb, the results would be very apparent when the entire class suddenly started showing greater prowess than the majority of teachers.
Vahn was intending to use the Barthomeloi Monarchal Family to set a harsh example for the entire Magus community but that didn't mean he wanted to arbitrarily cause a world war. The method he had discussed with Artoria, Merlin, Luvia, and Rin had him establishing himself as creating a strong deterrent before cementing his status and building his prestige by strengthening the foundation of the very same organization he had harmed. After all, if he just destroyed the Barthomeloi family and pretended like it was no big deal, a number of people would begin to fear and conspire against him, even amongst the common Magi.
By destroying one of the Three Monarchal Families, he would have proven that the Empire wasn't just a third-party faction without any power. Then, by extending an olive branch and helping the Association strengthen its foundation, he would have a lot of leeway for bringing about the changes he wanted to see. Since his methods would produce elites in a very short period of time, most of the younger Magi would begin to flock to him while his prestige continued to grow. The lingering threat of Angra Mainyu had made most people hungry for greater power so it was the best time to build his own faction and establish a lasting alliance with the Association.
From the moment his methods began to bear fruit, Vahn would have the leverage to end many of the foolish, despotic, and objectively cruel methods of the Mage's Association. Since they would no longer serve any purpose, as there was an incalculable number of ways to discredit them, he would be able to slowly change the curriculum to his preferences. This would eventually affect the entirety of the Magus community as young Magi, who had been victimized by the current system, would be able to directly contend against the so-called Elites and Nobles.
There was a good chance conflict would arise as a result of his efforts but, as he would have already used the Barthomeloi family as an 'example', Vahn would be able to take action against almost any family with impunity. After all, by winning over the majority and unifying them against a common enemy, one they have always resented, his actions would always be considered 'just' in their eyes. It was high time for a change so, while it was a more than a little tyrannical, Vahn was willing to take the necessary measures to strengthen the Empire and change the policies of the Association.
One of his biggest concerns wasn't the Association itself, but the happiness and mental wellness of his children. Vahn felt like they were becoming detached from reality by staying inside the Projection so, while he was fine with them staying inside to increase their strength, he also wanted them to be happy and functioning members of society. They needed to be able to build their own social circles and interact with peers that shared similar mentalities to them. If they only ever interacted with the people inside of the castle, their perspective of the world would become increasingly skewed as they would be aging and developing several times faster than their peers.
By having some of his children attend the Clock Tower as exchange students, he also opened the door for the reverse. The Empire was going to go public before the year's end and, as he intended for Avalon to essentially serve as a massive Academy, he would obviously need students. He had even started to work on four different curriculums alongside Da Vinci, including the Standard, Mage, Knight, and Hero courses. The Standard course served as a filter that provided a proper foundation to all students before they fell into one of the other three courses.
Once students had a clear goal and had chosen their path, they would enter into one of the other three courses based on their capabilities. It would be possible to freely transfer between them, but this was predicated on the fact that the student had put in the requisite amount of effort. As could be expected, the Mage course would focus on teaching children actual Magic according to Eva's methods and Da Vinci's Unified Thaumaturgical Theory.
The Knight's course would be, quite literally, a curriculum designed to teach children the necessary knowledge to become a Knight. This training would primarily focus on strengthening the body and increasing magic resistance. Since Od was used to power both spells and strengthen the body, the biggest difference between students of the Mage and Knight course, other than mentality, was the lengths they went to in order to strengthen their physical foundation.
After building a proper foundation for themselves, students would then be able to enter the more advanced Hero course which, as the name suggested, had them training under Heroic Spirits and applying what they had learned in actual combat scenarios. Vahn was intending to create his own Dungeon in the future and had already discussed the matter with the Dwarves and Vulcanae below. They were capable of reshaping the land freely and, though it would take some time, creating a Dungeon wasn't even that difficult for them.
The deeper you went into the earth, the closer you got to the Reverse Side of the World. By making a Dungeon that neared the membrane separating the Surface and Reverse Side, known as the Land of Faeries, the Dungeon would naturally begin to change and evolve. It would begin to produce a variety of different monsters of progressively higher strength the closer you got to the Reverse Side and, by seeding various plants and minerals, it would even be possible to harvest high-quality herbs and magical metals like Mithril and Adamantine in the future.
Regardless of what he decided to do, Vahn knew his presence in the world brought the Surface and Reverse Side closer together. Unless he proactively tried to seal the other away, which was possible due to Artoria's presence, it was only a matter of time until the boundary between the two textures ceased to exist. Before that happened, he needed to make sure the world was ready for the jarring changes it would experience so it was necessary for him to seize control or, at the very least, come to a compromise with the various world powers.
Vahn was starting with the Mage's Association, as it was the most obvious target, but it wouldn't be long before he set his sights on the Holy Church as well. He doubted they would listen to reason if he pointed out that Alaya was the God they worshipped but, after recruiting a number of Saints to his cause, it wouldn't take much effort to destabilize the Church. All he really had to do was perform various miracles, such as healing the sick and bringing stability to war-torn regions for most normal humans to venerate him. Since this was the information era, they would be hard-pressed to paint the Empire as some kind of evil organization if the only thing they ever did was save people, rather than asking for money and offering false salvation.
War was inevitable between the Empire and the Holy Church but, with Alaya at his side, they had already lost the battle before it even began. This was doubly so with CHALDEAS as, with the ability to peer into the past, present, and future of the entire planet, he would know what they were scheming before it could even be implemented. Alaya could also move freely within the Holy Church, unlike the Mage's Association, because the people within literally prayed to her for guidance. She provided an absolute advantage against the Holy Church and, if he wanted, Vahn could even enter their most sacred grounds freely.
At this point, it felt like there was very little that could stand in his way from seizing power as, given enough time, he had an infinite number of ways to do so. By the year's end, he would even have an additional twenty Heroic Spirits serving to strengthen the foundation of the Empire. Since this would include some of history's most powerful figures, including literal Gods and Goddesses, there wasn't much anyone could do against them. By the time Angra Mainyu appeared, he could have built a small army of nearly two-hundred Heroic Spirits, each stronger than a standard army on their own merits.
This was, however, a consideration for the not-so-distant future so, for the time being, Vahn was just happy to be able to spend time with his children. The Empire and ruling the world would always be of secondary importance to him as, if he couldn't even make his children happy, he didn't deserve to spew platitudes about making others happy. With this in mind, Vahn hugged Mordred and Sakura in his arms before sending them off to resume their training with a few encouraging words. He then gave Mash and Zoë a head pat before sending them off to do the same, earning a bashful smile from the former and a cheerful laugh from the latter...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Mash has been corrupted...!?','RIP Barthomeloi...at least they would have the achievement of unifying the Magus community?','So, Vahn+Da Vinci+Alaya=Batman')
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Capítulo 1250: Mischief
By the time two weeks had passed in the real world, a total of fourteen came to pass within the Projection. In this span of time, Vahn had been spending a lot of time with his family while making the final preparations for the showdown against the Barthomeloi Family. More important than this, however, was the fact he had helped bring two more children into this world, courtesy of Luvia and Circe.
Luvia had, surprisingly, gone into labor before Circe, despite having gotten pregnant several days later, at least from the perspective of those within the Projection. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl with the same golden locks that the Edelfelt family was known for. This most important thing, though Vahn didn't particularly care about it, was that his new daughter, Ullagelita, had inherited her mother's [Golden Rule:EX] without issue. Her Guardian even took on the form of a Golden Dragon of Prosperity, a forty-centimeter long western dragon whelp with tiny wings, golden scales, and vibrant, ruby-red eyes.
On the day of Ulla's birth, Vahn had invited over Luvia's family to celebrate alongside her before helping them get settled into their Manor. The Dwarves had managed to construct a lavish Manor in less than a week, with the exterior grounds and basic structure having been completed within the span of two days. They were incredibly skilled builders and, though it wasn't as sturdy as the Ivory Castle, anything less than B-Rank, tactical-class Magecraft, would struggle to deal any substantial damage to the core structure.
It was during the same seven-day cycle, when everyone was still celebrating the birth of Ulla, that Circe went into labor. Vahn had been in the middle of a discussion with the three generations of Edelfelt's when Alaya informed him of the situation. He had to quickly excuse himself as, with Circe's nature, she wouldn't take kindly to being left waiting. It was fortunate that Medusa has been with her at the time or Vahn imagined she might hold a grudge at being left alone, regardless of whether or not he had a good reason.
In hindsight, Vahn should have known Circe would be giving birth during this particular evening as, high in the sky, a full moon was present. Though she had renounced her faith and heritage, Circe was still descendant of Hecate, meaning her daughter would almost certainly be born on the night of a full moon. He could feel an incredible amount of Yin Elemental energy flowing into her body during the delivery, chilling her core temperature to dangerous levels.
If not for his presence, there was a good chance that Circe would have lost her life during childbirth, one of the detrimental effects of her cursed Innate. Fortunately, his Source Energy wouldn't so easily lose out to the invasive energy and, with his [Hands of Nirvana], Circe wasn't in any real danger. She was very anxious in the beginning, as she knew the probability of her death was high, but all her fear had faded away by the time she heard the sound of their daughter crying.
Circe had given birth to a peculiar little girl with similarly pink hair and sky-blue eyes who they decided to name Penelo. She was a very beautiful infant but, what stood out more than anything else, was the fact she had pointed ears, tiny wings, and a set of three feathered tufts near her scalp. This was proof of Hecate's Blessing which, in spite of the fact it harshly punished the mother, blessed their child with their lost heritage. Vahn now understood why the Innate was called the [Blood Moon's Curse], as it essentially burdened the new child, often motherless, with carrying on the legacy of Hecate's descendants. He even suspected that, if she weren't on the Reverse Side of the World, Hecate would have tried to adopt his daughter after guilt-tripping him over Circe's death.
Even with Circe telling him not to blame Hecate, as she knew the risks the moment she gave up her Blessing, Vahn had cemented his ire for the crone-like Goddess. In fact, he was really started to hate most of the Greek and Roman Gods in the Nasuverse as their history and legends painted the vast majority in an extremely negative light. The only exceptions were those like Hestia and Demeter but even their origin wasn't entirely unblemished. If he had the chance, Vahn wanted to meet this world's version of the Gods and Goddesses he knew but, with what he knew of Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hecate, and Aphrodite he wasn't in a particular hurry.
Penelo's Guardian was a Spirit known as a Gluttonous Emperor, a type of Divine Spirit that took on the form of a pig with pearl-white skin, sky blue eyes, and runic engravings over much of its body. It had an ability similar to Fenrir, allowing it to eat virtually anything in order to increase its power. The downside to this Innate, known as [Gluttony], was that the stored energy did not provide permanant benefits. It needed to constantly eat to replenish its reserves but, at the same time, it didn't suffer the same detrimental effects of Fenrir's [Insatiable Hunger]. Since it also had the ability to share its energy with Penelo, the Guttuonous Emperor was actually a very powerful Guardian, albeit with very limited combat potential on its own.
Overall, Vahn just felt blessed to have two more beautiful daughters in his life, even if the mothers of said daughters would invite him a lot of trouble in the future. This was something he would address when the time came and, if necessary, he didn't mind going to war with the entire Greek Pantheon if it meant protecting his own children and the families of his vassals. After all, there was no way Hera would ignore Heracles so, once the boundary between the Surface and Reverse ceased to exist, she would undoubtedly try to stir up trouble...
---
With Scáthach giving him a break from training, Vahn felt happier during the last few weeks than the entirety of his time within the Nasuverse. He could always be found with a happy smile as he got to spend every day watching his children grow and spending time with the people he cared about. It was a very fulfilling way to live, even if there were a few awkward moments here and there. Though one of these resulted in him having a fresh bite mark on his shoulder, courtesy of Illya, it was still a pleasant memory that Vahn would cherish.
If anything, Vahn was more troubled by his brilliant little daughter, Sophia, as she had a propensity for causing mischief, specifically targetted toward him. The last time he went to pick her up, Vahn was shocked to find that he had stepped on a mine that had stealth capabilities. When it exploded, rainbow-colored powder enveloped his body and spread through much of the Workshop while, at the side, Sophia was seated in a blue 'mech', laughing like a mad scientist. Shortly after, Da Vinci came out from her hidden workshop and, after seeing the mess, simply smiled before activating the automated cleaning system of the workshop.
Sophia, despite being twenty days old, had her mental development stop at 16 years old. She was an incredibly brilliant infant and, if not for the limitations of her body, Vahn imagined she would already be building mechs that could rival Ina's. Her current model was produced after she connected to the neural link of the [Gradiation Air Printer], allowing her to template out a design and print it without any help whatsoever. It had the function of hovering around a meter off the ground and, to make up for her own limited mobility, it had several articulated robotic arms. What had come as the biggest surprise, though Vahn wasn't quite sure why he hadn't seen it coming, was that Sophia had a small diode transmitter on her neck that allowed her to speak through the speaker on her mech without having to say a word.
Vahn had underestimated how quickly Sophia would develop but, considering she never seemed to sleep, he really should have expected something like this to happen. Da Vinci also allowed her to do whatever she wanted while inside the Workshop, so long as Ark was monitoring her. This gave the young genius free rein to design and invent things and, due to incorporating a 'feeding system' in her mech, she didn't even have to bother her mother when she was hungry. It was a vexing situation but, as Vahn couldn't help but feel proud of his little genius, he could only smile wryly with his face covered in powder he could have easily evaded.
Fortunately, despite her advanced mental age, Sophia still enjoyed spending time with her other siblings. Most of her inventions were designed with them in mind, allowing them to play together and have fun, often at their father's expense. This was especially true whenever she teamed up with Isanna as the latter, much like Sophia, could freely float through the air now, just like her mother. In fact, appearance-wise, Isanna and Naavi were almost carbon copies of their mothers, albeit in a chibi form. They had even started to grow crowns on their head and, while Naavi had yet to manifest hers, Isanna could already form her raiment.
The first time Vahn saw Isanna's onesie turn into her raiment, his mind had blanked before he sat down with the young Vanir and explained to her why she shouldn't wear such an outfit until she was older. Though she was only around seven weeks old, she had the mental development of an eight-year-old so she wasn't incapable of understanding his words.
As for why he wanted her to wear her onesie, at least for the time being, it was because Isanna'a raiment was almost as revealing as her mother's. All she was ended up wearing was a white band embroidered in gold, a garment that was similar to intricate black panties, and a pair of mismatched leggings, one black and the other white. Since she was also adorned with various golden accessories, which just looked strange on an infant, Vahn had to be a little stern with her. Fortunately, since this discussion, Isanna had always worn her onesie properly, perhaps understanding she was causing him the 'bad' kind of stress.
Still, when Isanna and Sophia teamed up, Vahn could only do his best to be warry as they seemed to be slowly grasping his capabilities. They were getting better at pushing the boundaries and, during a game of hide and seek, Isanna had been able to completely conceal her presence. If he didn't have the ability to sense spatial fluctuations, it would have been nearly impossible to find her unless she wanted to be found. She could already teleport short distances but, as she never went more than a few meters away from Daiki, it was easy to lure her out just by moving him around.
Isanna and Naavi were both very fond of their younger brother who, as time passed, ended up being much smaller than them. After seven weeks inside the Projection, they already looked like two-year-old toddlers while Daiki was still a very small infant. Despite this incongruity, they treated him like he was an integral part of their existence, understanding he was their triplet despite his diminutive size. Naavi was extremely protective of him, to the point that she rarely left his side, while Isanna was the big sister of the trio, often getting them into trouble but never endangering them.
Because of his overprotective sisters, Daiki had become quite the crybaby over the last seven weeks and, if he didn't have at least one of them nearby, he would cry 'very' loudly. Vahn had been worried that they had some kind of special link that he couldn't sense, much like Emiru and Maemi, but even Merlin and Alaya hadn't been able to sense anything. He chalked it up to them having grown close to each other while in the womb and, much like how normal twins hated being separated, they were almost always together.
---
Of Vahn's children, the one he was least concerned about, with the obvious exceptions of Mordred and Sakura, was his eldest son, Kamiya. He was a very quiet child and, though he was developing at a relatively normal rate, it was obvious he would be quite intelligent when he grew up. Nobunaga doted on him quite a bit and, much like how Isanna and Naavi were attached to Daiki, Mordred had grown rather fond of Kamiya. She didn't go out to play as much as she used to and instead spent a lot of her free time in Nobunaga's room helping take care of her younger brother.
Though he already understood why Mordred took such great care of Kamiya, he had decided to ask her outright for verification. Her response, as expected, was that Kamiya carried the burden of being the natural-born heir to the Throne. While she would certainly do her best to earn the right to rule herself, Mordred had always been unnaturally adherent to things like social hierarchies. She always sorted people into categories based on their presumed status, showing respect to those who were higher than her and expecting respect from those lower than her.
Even though the Empire didn't use the traditional system of inheritance, it was hard to change the minds of people like Gawain, Mordred, Galahad, and even Artoria. Despite Artoria and Mordred both being females, they still inherently supported the ideology that a male heir was necessary in order to inherit status and land. Though the decision was ultimately his to make, they would treat Kamiya as if he was the true heir to the throne until Vahn had officially announced a successor.
Fortunately, they didn't insist on raising him with that mentality and, unless Kamiya worked for it, he would just be Vahn's eldest son. Though this didn't stop Mordred from elevating him, it wouldn't be a problem since Nobunaga, Mordred's Aneue, always watched the duo like a hawk. She intended to raise Kamiya her way, as she was a very traditional woman despite her peculiarities, so it wouldn't matter what other people decided. His decisions would be his to make and, unless he was willing to put in the effort, Nobunaga would never allow him to think he had any inherent right to the throne.
Vahn always supported the decisions of his children's mothers as, with his own duties often requiring him to split focus, they were the primary caretakers of the children. So long as the seeds of internal conflict were not sewn as a result of their rearing, he didn't mind their methods. His duty was to set the example for his children to follow while also serving as an unshakeable figure that would protect them from harm. He would spoil them a fair amount but, when they made real mistakes, Vahn would not hesitate to discipline them when the situation required him to do so.
More than anything else, Vahn had to make sure his children had the chance to find happiness for themselves, preferably without infringing upon the happiness of others. They would learn to work for what they received, just like each of the future residents of the Empire. Though there would be a few situations where they received gifts, such as during birthdays, everything else would be provided to them based on needs, not wants. With the power they wielded, his children had infinite potential for causing harm if they were not taught to be responsible early on.
Fortunately, with so many amazing women at his side, Vahn didn't have to worry too much about how his children would develop. With the exception of Circe, who generally cooped herself up in the Menagerie, all of the girls worked together to look after the children. Even Da Vinci helped out in her own way as she provided protective equipment for the children and personally developed advanced Companions for each of them. She even gave Rin, Ereshkigal, and Ishtar a device that allowed her to track down Isanna if the mischievous Vanir decided to teleport away with Daiki and Naavi when they weren't looking.
Ishtar's control over Space was far more developed than Isanna's so, with the wave of her hand, she could easily teleport the trio back if they were in danger. The device just helped her locate Isanna as, despite only having a pseudo-Divinity related to the 'Sky', she was already adept at concealing her presence. Since the limited-omniscience of Gods prevented them from obtaining information about each other, she had to sense Isanna through the fluctuations in space or by using the tracker that Da Vinci had developed.
Isanna was aware of the tracking device but, as she didn't want to get in too much trouble, she had never tried to remove it. Since her mom's allowed her to play around and explore a bit, so long as she didn't do anything dangerous, she had no reason to be rebellious. Naavi also implored her to stay out of trouble but, as the golden-haired Vanir was considerably more demure, she always got dragged around at Isanna's whims. It helped that Daiki seemed to enjoy the excursions quite a bit, as there were a lot of interesting things to see and curious people to meet while exploring the halls of the castle.
Contrary to their younger brother, Isanna and Naavi weren't too fond of the Homunculi that would greet them in the halls as, more often than not, their focus would be on Daiki. Since they were quite protective of their younger brother, the two Vanir adamantly refused to let random Homunculi hold him. The only exceptions they made were the Governesses that had been assigned to them as they had been present since the time of their birth. Since their mothers all shared the same body, Isanna and Naavi knew it wasn't easy on them to take care of three children at once so, despite never truly trusting the pale-haired humanoids, they tolerated their presence for Daiki's sake...
(A/N: Phew. This about wraps up the slow-build so the next couple of chapters will involve the final preparations for the duel and other important developments. Though the children will be a mainstay in the story, you won't have to worry about them eating up too many chapters unless I'm in a bad mood and just want to write something light-hearted xD...)
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