Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1269 - Interlude: Troubling Affairs

Following the summoning of Okita, Vahn decided to bring the summoning event to a close. Six summons seemed to be his current limit and, due to his prior agreement with Akasha, he was the only person capable of activating the system.

Even Da Vinci's best efforts had been unable to crack the structure of the formation as the majority of her instruments simply didn't work properly. Though she would eventually make a breakthrough, something Vahn was absolutely certain of, it was currently beyond the means of both Da Vinci and Sherlock. The latter had the ability to analyze and deduce the 'truth' behind all things but, while he was inside the Welsh Dragon's chamber, Sherlock noted that his ability didn't work at all, despite his A++ Rank [Natural Insight] and A+ Rank [Hypothetical Reasoning]...

After the summoning event concluded, the entire group moved into the Projection to celebrate the arrival of so many new residents. It was here that Vahn explained his true identity and, for the benefit of people like Jeanne and Okita, who both had a connection to the Counter Force, he also revealed the existence of Alaya. This was one of the Empire's most important secrets but, in the near future, it wouldn't matter if everyone in the world knew that he had the adorable blue creature on his side.

With Maxwell's assistance, the Empire had already broken through the final threshold. Though it was only a matter of time until Karma pit something truly monstrous against them, there was nothing in the present world that could stop their momentum. Soon, they would activate CHALDEAS and, with the contributions of peerless individuals such as Da Vinci and Sherlock, it wouldn't be long before they had the means to monitor the entire planet.

Da Vinci would constantly be upgrading their systems and implementing failsafes to prevent things from going south while Sherlock, using the data obtained by Ark and CHALDEAS, would be able to intuit and crack the schemes of virtually all of their enemies. His Parameters weren't that high but his intelligence and capabilities were almost on par with Da Vinci, albeit with a few more restrictions.

The most terrifying thing about Sherlock, at least in Vahn's opinion, was that he had A++ Good Luck and an Innate to amplify it further. He also had EX-Rank [Territory Creation], allowing him to create a mental library within his mind that allowed him to store an infinite amount of information. He could use the knowledge stored within his 'Great Library' to aid in his deductions but the most powerful function was his ability to filter out incorrect information.

According to Sherlock, the more knowledge he obtained, the closer he got to the 'ultimate truth'. He could even store Da Vinci's research and manuscripts within his mind, serving as a filter to bring her closer to the truth she sought. This made them a truly monstrous pair as, even without having to run a bunch of simulations and test her hypothesis, Da Vinci could just have Sherlock review the data to determine how close she was toward her goal.

Da Vinci wasn't the only one to benefit from Sherlock's assistance, however, as Vahn had become rather fond of the quirky Detective. He spent most of his time in silent contemplation but, as soon as he became 'certain' of something, Sherlock would immediately become active. At the same time, he was one of the most composed people Vahn had ever met, even when facing down people infinitely stronger than himself.

While these traits were commendable, Vahn had been deeply impressed by Sherlock's 'Great Library' when the latter began compiling cultivation and meditation techniques. He was able to eliminate the parts of the techniques that were flawed and, though he lacked the requisite knowledge to correct the mistakes at first, it didn't take long for him to make amendments. The only requirement was that he was given even more scrolls and manuscripts, allowing him to refine low-grade techniques into far more powerful versions.

With Sherlock's help, Vahn had been able to compile a bunch of B and A-Rank techniques into a series of powerful S-Rank techniques. This effectively saved him hundreds of millions of OP, making Sherlock into one of the core personnel within the Empire in a very short period of time. Vahn had even made the man into one of his central Advisors, alongside Merlin, Artoria, Scáthach, and Luvia.

---

The only problematic additions to the Empire ended up being, as could be expected, Semiramis. She wasn't the only new stress factor, however, as Okita and Jeanne ended up becoming unique issues all their own.

While Semiramis seemed to struggle with not being the ruler of everything, her biggest gripe was the fact she was not allowed within the Inner Sanctum. She was also prevented from interacting with the children without supervision and, despite her best efforts, all of the males within the Empire had easily resisted her seduction attempts. The only person she hadn't tried to seduce was Heracles but, as Semiramis wasn't a completely senseless woman, she also knew better than to even try.

After her failures, Semiramis spent most of her time brooding within her private Manor, complaining about its size and making demands of the staff that had volunteered to serve her. Her behavior left a lot to be desired but, apparently keeping his words in mind, she had never mistreated the staff sent to wait upon her needs. It didn't take long for her to realize that the Empire was abnormal so, for the time being, Semiramis was more like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum than an actual danger.

What troubled Vahn far more than the errant Queen was the sheer adulation of Jeanne and Okita. He had tried to clear things up with Jeanne by revealing the 'truth' behind the God she sacrificed her life for but, rather than any of the responses he had expected, the Saintess unhesitantly pledged herself to him. She had learned about the purpose of his Empire along with everyone else so, knowing he even commanded 'God', Jeanne had practically started worshipping him.

This wasn't entirely unexpected but, soon after Jeanne's pledge, Vahn was stunned to learn that he could actually hear Jeanne whenever she prayed to him. Her voice was like a whisper in the back of his mind but, if he focused on it, Vahn was able to clearly hear her prayers. This had been a jarring revelation until Sis explained that Jeanne was his first 'True Believer'. Rather than Loyalty and things like Fealty, the metric for Jeanne's affection was represented by the value 'Belief'. Since he was a Tier 4 entity, this Belief meant that, in more ways than one, he had become her actual God.

The power of Belief was truly terrifying as, while Loyalty already allowed him to command and order his Subordinates, the final result was fundamentally different. If Vahn ordered his Subordinates to do something against their will, it would result in a loss of Loyalty before they would ultimately carry out his orders. Belief, however, worked in a terrifying way as, regardless of the order he gave, it resulted in the other party believing in him even more. The only method to reduce the value seemed to be by proactively ignoring the prayers of his Followers entirely.

While this didn't seem like that big a deal, Vahn quickly learned that Jeanne would have a negative reaction if he began ignoring her. As her Belief began to fade away, she would begin to feel extreme duress and, regardless of what he was doing, she would seek him out, seemingly to confirm that he still existed. Vahn managed to compromise with her by restricting the time of her prayers as, before their discussion, Jeanne would spend several hours every day praying to him. Afterward, he only had to deal with her prayers before she went to bed each night, every morning she woke up, and before every meal she ate...

What was truly troubling was that Jeanne was actually a lot easier to deal with than a certain pale-haired swordswoman. Okita had functionally zero social skills and, despite his efforts to get her to try and interact with other people, she would usually just stare them down. When asked why she didn't talk, her answer was simply that she had nothing to say.

Unlike other Heroic Spirits, Okita had no past memories to draw from as, despite being the Alter Ego of the original Okita Souji, they were fundamentally different people. There were only three things she cared about, her Master, her given mission, and her katana. The only person she got along with reasonably was Nobunaga but this was largely due to the latter not having any inhibitions. Everyone else was unnerved by the mere presence of Okita but Nobunaga, fearless as always, teased the silent swordswoman almost incessantly.

When asked why she was so taken with Okita, Nobunaga admitted that the former reminded her a lot of the past Kenshin. The biggest difference was that Kenshin had a good reason to suppress her emotions while Okita simply had none from the start. Her brain itself worked in a different way than the norm as the areas governing emotion remained completely unlit unless she was ordered to do something by Vahn. The only other exception was if someone tried to touch her katana, something that would instantly send Okita into a battle-ready state, regardless of the intentions of the other party.

Fortunately, Okita seemed fundamentally unable to attack others without orders so, while she had spooked quite a number of people, they quickly learned that she wasn't actually dangerous. So long as they did not try to touch her katana, she would just stand there and stare back at them, seemingly bereft of all emotions and complex thought processes. She could even stay in her drawing stance for several hours at a time, much like a machine that waiting for its next set of commands.

These were all concerning behaviors but, what troubled Vahn was the fact that Okita would 'always' seek him out whenever she needed to make a decision. She wouldn't even use her telepathy as, even with his unilateral permission to do so, Okita could not be 'certain' she was allowed to interrupt him. Instead, she would seek out Gareth and just wait for him, sometimes for several hours, before asking him simple questions. This included simple things such as if she were allowed to eat specific foods or if she were allowed to venture to a location outside the castle.

Okita seemed to lack the ability to make any decisions for herself and, as the only person whose opinion mattered to her, this meant she sought him out over everything. Other people didn't even seem to enter her eyes unless she had been specifically told to interact with them. Even then, she wouldn't say anything unless Vahn was there to essentially tell her to speak. Thus, with the exception of Nobunaga and, by proxy, Kenshin, Okita had no friends within the castle.

What troubled Vahn the most about Okita's situation was that everyone had quickly adapted to her quirks and, after a little more than a week, began to treat her like an Automaton. They didn't exactly ignore her but, rather than treat her like another person, they were almost entirely indifferent to her presence when he wasn't around. Since he could understand why they would behave this way, Vahn couldn't really blame them but, as he was worried that Okita would never get better, he ended up directly requesting Fenrir's intervention.

Vahn knew that Fenrir would eventually be able to break through Okita's walls as, even more than the eternally loyal Alter Ego, Fenrir understood his wants and needs. Though this all but guaranteed that Okita would become another excessively loyal addition to his group, part of Vahn 'needed' the people around him to be more independent. He could imagine Okita literally just becoming idle and collecting dust if he suddenly vanished, something that terrified him on a fundamental level...

---

Fortunately, not every new addition to the castle brought with them new troubles. Sherlock was the best example of this but the Caster version of Scáthach and the Lily version of Medea were easy to deal with. The former was, quite literally, just another version of his Shishou so, while his training had a few new complexities, it was tolerable. As for Medea, she was an exceptionally pure young girl who was polite and kind to everyone. Though she was naive to a fault, easily getting tricked by Mordred's pranks, the latter was always quick to apologize if she made Medea upset.

The only troubling aspect of Medea's character was that, before Merlin's and Circe's intervention, she had been afflicted by an Innate called [Aphrodite's Intervention]. This made her distrustful of others, despite her apparent affability, while, at the same time, gave her a compulsion to love Jason, despite the latter not even existing. She had even tried to machinate with Circe to convince him to summon Jason into the present, despite the latter being one of the most disreputable and disgusting people Vahn had ever learned about.

Circe would not allow her niece to be burdened by the fate of being manipulated and exploited by the same man once again so she quickly brought the matter to light. Fortunately, Medea's Innate was only E-Rank so it only took Merlin planting a few false memories and Vahn giving her his own Blessing to counteract Aphrodite's. Though just the thought of Merlin tweaking with a person's mind left a bad taste in Vahn's mouth, the flowery Magus allowed him to view her memories and the changes he intended to make.

The sad truth was that Medea actually knew how events were supposed to play out but, despite this, she was still compelled by [Aphrodite's Intervention] to be infatuated with Jason. She knew that she would be s.e.x.u.a.lly exploited, beaten, treated like a slave, and even passed around to other members of Jason's entourage but, no matter how bad things got, she would give up everything for a man that would never love her. She would be forced to bear his children who, in turn, would be taught to hate her and, no matter how hard she tried to make them love her, Jason only cared about himself and his status.

Vahn obviously couldn't accept this so, while it still left a bad taste in his mouth, he observed as, over the span of two weeks, Merlin tweaked Medea's memories. He emphasized memories where she was treated well by her family and her subjects while anything related to Jason was either twisted into a new memory or 'devoured' completely. Then, when Medea reached the point where she began to feel a strange uncertainty in her heart and mind, Circe convinced her to accept Vahn's Blessing and his Familia Crest.

Family had been something heavily emphasized within Medea's mind so, with her Aunt pushing her to accept, she ultimately allowed Vahn to place his Familia Crest on her back. As for his Blessing, this was something that Vahn himself wasn't entirely sure about but, after a ritualistic ceremony, Medea had essentially become one of his Priestesses. At the same time, her [Aphrodite's Intervention] had turned into [Sage-Emperor's Divine Favor], ultimately alleviating Medea's tragic burden.

After this series of events, Medea had become a truly affable person and, with few exceptions, every member of the castle became very fond of her. This, in turn, meant that Circe was getting along well with others as, for various reasons, she was weak to her young niece's insistence. Medea would drag her around to spend time with others, regardless of how much Circe had tried to refuse. All it took to convince Circe to go along with her were a few heartwrenching tears, dealing critical damage to just about everyone who saw them.

Since Circe had been having Medea babysit Penelo quite a bit, she couldn't really refuse her niece's request to go around and make friends with everyone. This didn't mean that Circe's jealous nature had been suppressed but, as none of the other women really flaunted their relationship with Vahn, she was able to tolerate them. Over time, this tolerance began to morph into acceptance so, overall, Medea's inclusion into the castle had been a tremendous boon.

Not only was Medea and extremely affable and caring person, but she was an exceptionally powerful Magus. Though she had the Lily classification, her true Class designation was that of a Caster. In her original timeline, she had actually been Circe's most prodigious student and, as her Magecraft was from before the modern era, her spells were nearly at the level of True Magic by default.

What was truly exceptional about Medea wasn't her offensive capabilities, however. No, it was the fact that her healing and support spells basically defied logic. Her Noble Phantasm itself was in the 'Anti-Thaumaturgy' category and, though it was only C-Rank, it had the ability to nullify all curses and injuries. It manipulated causality itself to make it so that even the most serious of wounds had simply never transpired. On the outside, this appeared to be a reversal of time but, in truth, it was the forceful conversion of an object back to its 'original' state.

The only thing Medea's Noble Phantasm couldn't undo was death as, much like how reviving the victims of the Holy Grail War would only turn them into mindless automatons, she could not tether the souls of people back to their body. Still, even if part of their body was completely destroyed, to the point that 'absolutely nothing' remained, Medea could still treat the injury without issue.

Vahn felt like the parallels between Medea and Lefiya grew by the day, despite the fact that they were irrefutably different people. She even had Lefiya's bashful nature though, rather than react to practically everything, Medea only ever seemed to get fl.u.s.tered around himself and other men. Her memories, despite the changes, gave her an acute awareness of men. It was impossible to know what she was thinking about but, based on her red her face would come whenever she was around men, Vahn was reminded of Loki's lesson about how the quiet ones were often the most dangerous.

Fortunately, despite the fact she resided inside the Menagerie, Medea was still very innocent. Her idea of intimacy was being hugged, having her head pat, or hand-holding. Circe seemed intent on keeping it this way for quite a while as, after what Medea had gone through with Jason, she did not want her young niece exposed to such things until she had properly matured. Though fourteen was not considered too young for such acts, especially in ancient Greece, Medea was simply too precious to experience such things with her current level of maturity.

The fact that Jason had taken advantage of this version of Medea made Vahn utterly gobsmacked. His hatred towards the so-called Hero rivaled the feelings he had towards people like Zeus as he couldn't even fathom how someone could mistreat someone like Medea. Since he had seen what Medea had gone through at Jason's hands, Vahn was actually tempted to summon the actual Jason into the world as an old man. He wanted to see if the elderly Hero had repented in his twilight years and, if he didn't even feel remotely guilty for what he had done, Vahn was tempted to let Ereshkigal slow burn his soul for a few thousand years...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'TFW Semiramis is the least troublesome person...','Fenrir is going to learn the [Grooming] Skill at this rate xD...','Seriously, Jason can eat all the d.i.c.ks')

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