Summoned and Unwanted

*sigh* Vincent sighed with his eyes closed. “I am tired after barely sleeping half an hour.” He opened his eyes and continued, “Because a certain ungrateful someone is complaining that I touched their body. How can I help without using my limbs to touch?”

Vincent lifted Plow with one hand and grabbed the bedsheet with the other. He pulled the bedsheet and uncovered Awa.

“I have become tired of this conversation. Let’s go to eat.” Vincent said with a frown. He was becoming frustrated with the valuable time Awa was wasting this morning.

*Pho ?* “Plow is hungry. Plow wants to eat snackies.”

“By snack, you mean a piece of warm, freshly cooked meat. Right?” Vincent asked before smirking at Plow.

*Pho ?* Plow barked joyfully while wagging her tails.

*Grumble* The stomach of a person made a loud sound after food was mentioned.

Vincent, Kazumi, and Plow looked in the direction of the sound. The culprit was Awa’s stomach. Furthermore, it became obvious after noticing Awa flustering from the embarrassment.

.....

[The stomach never lies, hehe.] Kazumi joked.

“Can you stand? Or do you want me to carry you downstairs?” Vincent offered.

“Humph! A Dullahan can live in a starved state for a long time.”

“Hehe.” Vincent chuckled. He placed Plow on the bed and continued, “That means you are starving right now. Great. I can give you nutritious food and hope you can gain some fat.”

“Fat?...”

“Yeah. Your body is too skinny. I fear even the wind can snap your bones.”

Awa frowned and crossed her arms. “Dullahans are as tough as iron. Our bones will not break that easily.”

[I do not think it is true. I think it would show in the trait section of the status window.]

“Sure they are...” *Sigh* “Stop spouting prideful lies. Let me carry you like a Dullahan princess.” Vincent extended his arms while approaching Awa.

“Don’t you dare... Ahh!”

Vincent swiftly placed one hand under her knees and the other hand behind her back. “I dare.” He said before moving his arms to lift Awa.

Awa complained, yet Vincent remained looking at her. He acted as if there was a sound barrier blocking any sound reaching his hearing.

“Done? Let me help you fill your stomach and get fat. Those iron bones of yours might melt and become ordinary bones if you keep staving.”

Awa opened her mouth again to complain, but Vincent lifted Awa to hold her better, almost causing Awa to bite her tongue.

“Ohh! Sorry about that. But I suggest opening your mouth to eat for now.” Vincent suggested.

Awa sensed a pair of hands attached to the pair of muscular arms carrying her. Awa soon recalled Vincent, who she called a slave trader, was very strong. As strong as the pair of muscular arms carrying her.

‘This warrior slave trader is bad news. I must resist his sweet words and shady generosity, or he will bring disaster to my people and my family.’

Awa moved her gaze onto Vincent, and when their eyes met, she averted her eyes. She felt terrible about losing the gazing contest and felt shame for losing to a human.

‘Why is my heart acting strange? It can’t be fear. I am not afraid of this warrior slave trader because I have accepted death. Have I?’

Awa gently shook her head to clear her thoughts while Vincent descended the stair with Awa carried like a princess.

‘Keep your mind strong, proud Dullahan, with powerful warrior blood flowing in your body. I can not submit to him and be forced to lead him to my home. I do not know how many of our mighty people will die before killing him.’

Awa shivered while continuing to think, ‘My family and I will also become branded as traitors and forced to leave in the cold. Going home means death to my family and me.’

“Are you feeling cold? I can raise you higher to my chest while going down. You should be able to feel a little warmer.” Vincent offered.

“N-no.” Awa nervously stuttered in defeat.

[Does Awa like being carried like this? Hehe.]

-Nah. I do not think she has good thoughts in her mind right now. –

[What do you guess then?]

-She might be seeing me as a pervert who wants to warm her with my body.-

[Don’t mind what she calls you. I watched all your actions, and I can safely say you acted more like a person who wanted to save a life than ogle at her thin and not attractive body.]

-Thanks.- Vincent responded. He felt less uneasy about his actions now.

Vincent approached the chair beside the table. After asking Plow to pull the chair, Vincent gently sat Awa on the chair. He pushed the chair forward and summoned a cup of water.

Awa averted her gaze as if she didn’t want to look at Vincent. In her view was a little fox skillfully using her eight tails to pull a chair.

Awa wasn’t surprised at first since Plow had pulled her chair. However, what Awa saw next caught her by surprise. She saw the little fox, jump on the seat and use her tails to sit on them.

‘The vicious fox is more intelligent than I thought. It can sit on the table like a person. I wonder if this little fox has learned how to be a slave trader as well.’ Awa pondered while looking at the harmless little fox.

*Sniff* Awa was too focused on her thoughts about the innocent Plow that she overlooked seeing a green light materializing something in front of her.

*GRUMBLE* Awa’s stomach soon made a sound similar to a large beast. Her lips became covered in saliva before her gaze moved in front of her.

“Please eat the food while it is warm. Ohh! And you do not need to worry about injuring your organs after not eating for a long time. The potions should have solved that problem, and if you have a complication, I could use a very precious healing spell on you.” Vincent said warmly. He wanted the proud Dullahan to stop complaining for once.

*GRUMBLE* “...” Awa could not utter a word from the shame she felt at the moment.

Awa was starving, yet accepting the food meant she lost the battle of wills. A proud Dullahan losing because a trick was shameful, or so Awa believed.

Vincent went over to Plow. He summoned a plate with warm meat placed on it. The scent proved a challenge to Awa, not to mention watching Plow joyfully eat the meat as if she was eating the tastiest food in the world.

“Slow down, Plow. It is not like Lupa is here to steal your food.” Vincent said while taking a seat. He glanced at Awa and noticed she was still weary of his kindness.

[Looks like even food is not enough to break her will. I wonder how many times we will hear her stomach grumble and her lips wet from saliva.]

*Sigh* “Please eat, Awa.” Vincent looked at Plow and continued, “Or the hungry Plow near you might jump on the table and eat your food.”

Plow stopped eating. She looked at Vincent with googly eyes and cutely asked, “Can Plow eat Awa Awa tasty food?” *Pho?*

Vincent looked at Awa and said while slyly smirking, “Who knows? But I am certain of one thing. Food must not be wasted.”

‘Awa Awa has a lot of tasty food. Plow wants to eat more. Plow wants to grow big and help Vincent Vincent again.’ Plow thought while using Vincent as an excuse to accept eating more delicious food.

“Don’t tempt me!” Awa exclaimed. She wiped her mouth as she could feel her lips becoming wet.

Awa look at the food on the plate. She was shocked at the amount of food Vincent was trying to bribe her with. Additionally, she felt more shocked at how much meat Vincent placed on the plate in front of Plow.

‘This human is definitely a slave trader. No one in their right mind would try to offer a bribe with a three-person large meal. He also is trying to break my will by giving the fox with a bottomless stomach a four-person large meal.’ Awa pondered while showing a shocked expression.

“Tempt you? I have much more food where that came from.”

“...” Awa stared at Vincent in a daze from shock. Apparently, what was a classy meal for one person, was a meal for three Dullahans.

*Sigh* “Let’s set things straight and hope you can start eating.”

“I found your head and felt guilty about tossing you aside. I didn’t want to sleep with a guilty conscious.”

“Who am I, and why am I here, you might be questioning. Let me tell you loud and clear before the food becomes cold.”

“I am Vincent Lionheart, a noble among the many humans living in the city about a day far from this location.”

“I have sustained an injury, and I am currently about twenty-five percent as strong as I was before. That is why I couldn’t easily kill the two magic beasts in an instant.”

Awa stared at Vincent in disbelief. She considered him a powerful fighter, but now he revealed Awa only saw twenty-five percent of his previous power. Awa wanted to doubt his words, yet she could not detect an expression on his face to signify a lie.

“I can see you have become surprised at how weak I have become. ” Vincent said while gently nodding with his eyes closed.