CHAPTER 353: CONCESSIONS

With six months remaining until their scheduled return, Vahn once again found himself in Venelana’s room, encircled by the executive members of the Pavilion in their color-coded lingerie.

"As of our most recent census data, there have been 37,443 children born to the residents of Termina, including 449 Angels, 1,319 Devils, 192 Youkai, 1,708 Fallen, and 3,212 of miscellaneous or hybrid species," detailed Sona, providing the statistics as proof of the Pavilion’s need to get ahead of the rapidly approaching tide of school-age children under their purview.

"I know I’m one to talk, but our citizens have been impressively prolific..." noted Vahn, genuinely surprised by the values despite noticing a drastic increase in the number of children playing in parks or accompanying their parents on walks. Next to him, a pregnant Masane, wearing a white bikini, couldn’t help but blush, still unaccustomed to acting intimately in front of other people. It didn’t help that Vahn had his left hand inside of her bikini, affectionately caressing her soft and fleshy ass directly.

"Well, the primary reason they migrated to Termina was to increase their respective populations, so this is just the start," contended Rias, making the argument, "As the current generations continue to produce offspring and their children grow to produce offspring of their own, the population of Termina is going to increase exponentially."

"Which, mind you, isn’t a bad thing," appended Ravel, staring at a crystal tablet displaying various graphs and data as she pointed out, "Based on our current production and low-balled growth estimates, we should have no trouble sustaining as many as three million people comfortably. More than fifty percent of our produce, meat, fish, cereal, and dairy go directly to our food stores, and thirteen-point-seven percent of our gross product is exported to other worlds. On average, the citizens of Termina consume only 27.6% of what we currently generate, with the remaining 8.7% being consumed by the Pavilion itself."

"We do have a lot of mouths to feed..." affirmed Vahn, primarily referring to the Sisters. Individually, they didn’t eat much. However, with more than sixteen thousand of them, they and the Maid Battalion represented 8.59% of the Pavilion’s food consumption.

"But not so many that we can’t sustain our current levels of growth for a while longer," appended Venelana. "The most important thing is ensuring there are skilled workers prepared to contribute to the continued growth of Termina’s socioeconomic and cultural spheres. With the White Rabbits and the Vegapunks’ innovations, we shouldn’t require too many people to become farmers or laborers, allowing future generations to focus more on their personal growth and advanced career paths."

"But becoming too dependent on technology is a double-edged sword," argued Misla, closing her eyes as she stated, "Enduring civilizations are built atop the foundations laid by farmers, tradespeople, and those who have suffered hardships together. Innovation isn’t a bad thing, but when a preponderance of people depend on a small minority to continue driving society forward, systemic issues begin to appear as those with the means to innovate and dictate distribution gain power over those who only know how to consume."

"Do we really have to worry about that...?" asked Rias, crossing her arms under her bountiful, 105cm breasts as she asserted, "As long as we’re at the helm, we can thoroughly crush any groups that attempt such a thing."

"While that’s not untrue, I believe there is a certain profundity to Misla’s position," chimed Vahn, drawing everyone’s gaze as he gave Masane’s ass a firm, moan-inducing squeeze and argued, "I may be completely off base here, but I can’t help but feel that the concept of an advanced education, which would presumably prioritize those with special skills and talents is a recipe for malcontescence and elitism."

Meeting Venelana’s gaze, Vahn reasoned, "Talented people, by virtue of being talented, will rise so long as they’re provided opportunities and not actively suppressed. I believe that, given the nature of the Pavilion being a transdimensional organization linking many worlds, we should consider standardizing the knowledge and skills an Isekai protagonist might need to start a civilization from scratch. Elevating geniuses or prodigies for the singular sake of progress leads to isolation and moves the goalpost for all who follow after them..."

"Mmn...it appears my way of thinking has become antiquated..." hummed Venelana, closing her eyes and smiling. She typically wasn’t fond of being chided, but Vahn’s position was very well-reasoned, and with unrestricted access to the talent and technologies of infinite worlds, forcing children to compete and functionally isolating those who showed promise wasn’t just unnecessary, it bordered on cruel.

"I also feel that I may have been getting ahead of myself..." stated Sona, exhaling faintly from her nose and smiling as she revealed, "I was hoping to recreate the traditional pre-kindergarten-to-college pipeline of an elite educational institution. I still believe we should have institutions for those who seek to acquire specialized knowledge and skills, but my team and I will go back to the drawing board to conceive of a curriculum that focuses on the skills to foster rather than function within a society."

"That’s why we meet like this so frequently..." hummed Vahn, adopting his almost characteristic smolder as he reiterated, "Even I’m not certain if my take is the correct one, and I can only imagine the logistical nightmare I’m creating by throwing out my two cents. That’s why I keep the company of such exceptional women..."

"Well said...!" exclaimed Medaka, rising to her feet in her dark blue lace lingerie and flexing her arms as she added, "It’s decided! I will work with Sona-dono to create a curriculum applicable—not just to the residents of Termina—but to all people across Invirtua! And we shall call it the Path to Ascension...!"

"Mmn...a curriculum that prepares residents of Termina and children from our affiliate worlds for entering the Tower...that may be precisely what we need..." mused Venelana, nodding approvingly.

"With Medaka-san’s assistance, I’m certain we’ll be able to come up with something comprehensive," affirmed Sona, placing her crystal tablet on her lap and offering a slight bow as she expressed, "I thank everyone for their time and attention to this matter. I will be sure to get back to you in the coming days with a preliminary outline of the curriculum and an initial estimation of the personnel and resources we’ll require to implement it at scale."

"That’s going to continue being our biggest concern...personnel..." noted Rias, closing her eyes and exhaling an exasperated sigh. The Pavilion had an abundance of material resources and functionally limitless wealth, but it was severely lacking in non-combat personnel.

"The solution to personnel shortages has been the same across human history," stated Venelana, smiling slyly and making a ring shape with her right index finger and thumb as she asserted, "We simply throw money at the problem until it goes away. The interviews will no doubt take time, but as long as we offer a salary and benefits too enticing to refuse, we’ll have an abundance of professional personnel in no time."

Nodding approvingly, Vahn contributed to the discussion by proposing, "I can have the Administrator compile dossiers on people that might suit our needs. Once Sona and Medaka have completed their assessment, we can start interviewing people the same day."

"On the subject of personnel, I would like to discuss the next item on our docket," submitted Ravel, pulling up a new set of data, this time showing the silhouette of a very buxom woman with horns as she explained, "With our recent population boom, we’re severely short on childrens’ caregivers and healthcare providers. In particular, the Mino and Holstaurus we hired are feeling overburdened by the relatively fixed supply and ever-growing demand for breast milk..."

"I can imagine..." muttered Vahn, recalling his trip to the Holstaurus farm shortly after it had been established. Holstaurus were the female versions of Minotaurs from a world with a diverse population of humanoid, mostly female monsters. With an average height of 220cm and bountiful breasts that constantly produced milk, they needed to be milked multiple times a day to avoid their Q-sized breasts from engorging and becoming painfully tender. Thus, when Vahn arrived at the farm, what awaited him was a line of nearly a hundred exceptionally tall, buxom, and dark-skinned beauties in nothing but bikini-like bottoms, casually chatting as specialized pumps milked their breasts...

Prompted by Ravel’s segue, the remaining topics of discussion revolved around a comprehensive overhaul of the Pavilion’s ability to provide the necessary personnel and resources to sustain their population boom into the future. Recruiting more Holstaurus wasn’t particularly difficult, but as Vahn wasn’t pleased with the notion of a subset of their society existing to, quite literally, be milked for resources, he proposed finding a solution to their rampant milk production so the buxom cow women could pursue alternative

career paths...

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"I’ve always thought this, but the Pavilion is really amazing..." remarked Masane, feeling a little overwhelmed following the casual-seeming but serious-feeling discussion between Vahn and the executive members of the Dragon’s Pavilion. When Grayfia originally approached her to be his accompaniment for the discussion, she thought they would just sit around and chat casually for a few hours, especially when she was told to wear a bikini. Instead, while the atmosphere was casual, the topics made her feel like she was completely out of her depth as a member of Vahn’s harem...

"You’re one of the many things that make it so..." affirmed Vahn, standing behind Masane, gently swaying with his hands on her pregnant belly and his bulge nestled within her deep intergluteal cleft. He could tell she was feeling overwhelmed just looking at her, so instead of transitioning to sex as he often did with those who attended him during his morning meetings, he kissed her right shoulder and cradled her tenderly.

"But compared to brilliant and beautiful women like Venelana-sama and Ravel-sama, I’m so...plain..." sighed Masane, leaving Vahn genuinely taken aback, as virtually anyone who saw her would describe her as a ten out of ten, and that was in her base form. When she transformed with the power of the Witchblade, her beauty and feral eroticism were nearly on a level of their own...

"Different people have different strengths..." contended Vahn, enveloping Masane with his arms under her breasts as he reminded, "You’re the wife of a transdimensional God and mother to one of the brightest minds in all of Invirtua. If you’re plain, I must be overlooking half the multiverse, as no matter how many worlds I peer into, I would struggle to find more than a handful of women who could compete with your beauty, your compassion for others, and your capacity as a mother..."

"You’re just saying that..." muttered Masane, her face flushed and maroon tattoos spreading from her neck to her cheeks as she feigned sulking and turned her head away from Vahn. She knew he was being sincere, but she never grew tired of hearing him tell her how amazing he thought she was.

"It may as well be gospel..." hummed Vahn, readily feeding into Masane’s ego by peppering her neck and shoulders with kisses and caressing each and every millimeter of her transforming body as he went into detail about how he cherished everything from the individual hairs on her head to the tips of her toes and the three tiny moles arranged in a perfect triangle on the inside of her left breast...

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With Masane and Kuroka birthing him two more sons, named Daiki and Kurogane, Rukia biting the bullet to produce him a daughter, Rumika, and both Orihime and Miu convincing him that they were ready to be mothers, resulting in two adorable baby girls named Ichika and Kiyomi, Vahn’s final child count leading into the Training Room’s closure was thirty-three. This was actually fewer than he had anticipated, but many of the girls from the world of Fairy Tail ultimately viewed him as a sex friend, and several of his harem members, most notably among them being Asia, wanted to wait for his current children to mature before having their own. Thus, with a mildly exasperated Tsunade sporting a twenty-six-week belly bump, Vahn’s time in the Training Room came to an end.

In Vahn’s defense, Tsunade had provoked him by admitting she was happy to have become a mother and that she wished she could have become one sooner, practically demanding that he provide her a second child...

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