Chapter 175: Fruition
[September 27th DxD/May 21st DBT]
'It's amazing what people can accomplish when they work together...' thought Vahn, standing on the balcony of his comparably modest palace in the Black Tower. Once the effectiveness of Family Jewel Sprouts had been confirmed, dedicated farmers from each of the Three Great Factions had settled in the Black Tower to help expand and work on his farm. And with Venelana forming deals with the 99th Floor's natives, particularly the Minotaur Tribe, his farmland had expanded to approximately 25,000 acres in less than a month.
[If you're finished working, hurry and come over] said Aileen, her voice sounding in Vahn's head alongside a message window appearing to his left.
"I will shortly. Be patient..." responded Vahn, trying to follow Venelana's advice by not immediately capitulating to Aileen's demands. The young Black Dragon had a habit of getting carried away, but since her mother had returned to where the rest of her family was a few weeks prior, Vahn was pretty sure she just hated being alone.
[Oh, are you chatting with someone or checking in on another world...?] asked Aileen.
"That's right," responded Vahn, having multiple displays in his periphery, three of which followed Riko, Nami, and Ace, as the latter seemed to have a genuine death wish. After returning with the Whitebeard Pirates, he only waited three days before setting out to track down Blackbeard anew, and during the very first night he was at sea, the man nearly drowned after his ship capsized in a storm. Vahn suspected this was the influence of fate, which had already written off Ace and the ailing Whitebeard as dead, but it was definitely the former deciding to ignore the advice of his family and friends to pursue an opponent that would most assuredly end him without intervention.
Fortunately for the timeline, Rayleigh had convinced the Straw Hats to lie low and focus on increasing their strength before setting sail for Fishman Island and the second half of the Grand Line. After that, it was just about getting them where they were supposed to be, excluding Zoro, Sanji, and Robin. The former had no cause to swallow his pride to request Mihawk to train him, and the latter could become stronger without being trapped on an island full of Okama. As for Robin, she was learning how to be a proper Devil from Grayfia. Thus, Zoro and Sanji remained with Luffy and Rayleigh on the island of Rusukaina, learning Haki and swordsmanship from one of the former best. At the same time, Robin studied Devil Magic and resided at the palace, where she was employed as a First Grade Maid.
[Well, once you're finished, hurry over] said Aileen, insinuating [I have a surprise for you.]
Though he was tempted to open a fourth display to see what Aileen was referring to, Vahn concluded he shouldn't spoil the surprise. Instead, after scanning the horizon one final time, he teleported over to her, finding the spacious and cluttered room where they commonly binge-watched anime and cuddled conspicuously devoid of a giant Dragoness.
"Great Dragon Tackle!" exclaimed a familiar voice, followed by something heavy impacting Vahn from behind. It was small but extremely dense and heavy, causing him to feel like a car had hit him but ultimately leaving him uninjured.
After somehow ending up on his back, Vahn met the blue-eyed gaze of the remarkably heavy person straddling him, a petite but notably well-endowed girl with long black hair, bangs that framed her face, four black horns, and a very thick tail protruding from beneath a frilly, Gothic style Maid outfit.