Summoned and Unwanted

Their foot took a step forward. They were planning to go in between the female Cefeye and Vincent and protect their leader. Right before their next step, they saw green light appear in both of Vincent’s hands.

The three male Cefeye didn’t feel any malice coming from Vincent, yet the light in his hands could mean an attack. As the urgent emergency heightened their senses, their noses twitched after catching an unusual scent.

The female Cefeye squeaked a couple of sounds, and the three male Cefeys suddenly became less hostile toward Vincent. Vincent guessed the refreshing feeling the balm has when applied to a wound caused the female Cefeye to understand he was trying to help.

Their nose twitched a couple of times from behind the animal skull. After hearing the female Cefeye possibly telling them it was safe, the scent of herbs caught their attention.

The three Cefeyes couldn’t help but curiously approach and keenly watch Vincent applying a herbal balm on the female Cefeye’s hand.

“Do not fret, little guys. This is to heal her wound better and quicker.” Vincent said with a friendly smile.

Vincent hoped they would understand he had no ill intent. Vincent also hoped that if he met with another Cefeye, he could avoid offering his clothes after hearing how there was a friendly human nearby.

Vincent stored the balm. He wrapped the clean piece of fabric to cover the wound.

.....

Vincent stood up after finishing. He gave all four Cefeye a gentle head pat and said, “All good to go.”

Surprisingly, the four Cefeys accepted the head pat.

The three Cefeys went to grab a couple of burning sticks from the campfire while the female Cefeye went to grab the snow tiger’s head.

The four of them glanced at Vincent one last time before leaving the area for Vincent to stay in. As if Vincent won the right to stay.

[The fight situation is over, and the Cefeye situation is now over.]

[Vincent, now is the best time to continue with the rescue because Awa’s eyes are closed. She is not dead, though. I can still feel the presence of mana around her neck.]

“She fainted?” Vincent said while turning his head at Awa. He could feel her presence was gradually fading. He needed to hurry with the treatment and provide a warm environment.

“Vincent Vincent. Were the tiger and bad wolf strong?” *Pho?* Plow asked after noticing Vincent was acting differently than before.

“Yes and no. I lost seventy percent of my previous power, but I gained new power that can help me become almost as strong as before. ” Vincent answered.

“But now I do not have time to talk about how the fight went.” He pointed at Awa with his head and continued, “Awa’s condition is bad. I will store some trees and make space for the cabin.”

Plow tapped on her chest with her tiny paws. “Plow will keep Awa Awa warm.” *Pho* She said before hastily going to sit on Awa and use her eight soft and warm emerald tails to cover Awa’s body.

[I can’t let little Plow beat my usefulness.] Kazumi exited Vincent’s body and floated above his head. [I will scout the area until you summon the Pocket Cabin.]

Vincent moved his gaze at Zero next. “Can I count on you to watch over us?”

“Master. Safe. With. Zero.” The now four feet tall Zero said.

‘Good thing I didn’t travel alone. The Critical Time skill takes more out of me than I expected.’ Vincent thought while going in front of the first tree.

Vincent touched the tree trunk and began focusing on storing the first tree. A frown shortly appeared.

‘Concentrating on the tree is a little bit more difficult than before. It appears I need a little more time to adjust to my current state. No wonder Lupa acts as if she is addicted to mastering Primal Insight. It makes you feel unhappy to lose the heightened senses.’ Vincent thought while feeling it was currently more challenging to control his intent at the moment.

Later, Vincent summoned the Pocket Cabin in the empty space he cleared.

Soon after, Kazumi returned with the good news of no living being in their vicinities. The Cefeyes had also left the range of Kazumi’s traveling limitations.

Kazumi found traces of blood and the footprints of both magic beasts beside them. It meant the large snow tiger and the large snow wolf ate a snack before approaching to hunt the Cefeyes and Awa’s headless bodies.

Vincent could now understand the reason Kazumi told him there was no living being nearby. Small animals would surely make two large magic beasts unsatisfied.

The animals who sensed danger had already run away. Not even a bird was sighted by Kazumi.

Anything that lived was their prey. Any unlucky prey standing before their eyes and in the range of their scent and hearing was sure to be visited by the grim reaper a short while later.

Vincent carried Awa to the bedroom while Plow tried to help whenever she could, and Kazumi rewatched a lot of the memories to inform Vincent about ways to help Awa recover.

On the other hand, Zero stood outside to act as a guard. After Vincent told Zero it was cold outside, Zero said that the cold didn’t bother it.

*Day 185 – 9 December – Thursday*

The next day arrived in Yevala Forest.

The dawning sun illuminated a cabin in the forest with smoke exiting from its chimney hidden among the trees. In front of the cabin was a four and a half feet tall plant with a humanoid figure guarding it.

Instead of the chirping of birds or the crow of a rooster in the morning, a faint scream of a woman could be heard from inside the cabin.

A few minutes ago, Awa squinted open her eyes. Her mouth opened to yawn. Her arms and legs extended to stretch.

Awa’s vision returned to normal after gently rubbing her eyes. She soon noticed the ceiling was different than her home’s ceiling.

“This isn’t my house... I am feeling warm as if I am in a different world...” Awa opened her eyes wide while quickly leaning upwards. “I have been accepted to live with my ancestors in Valhalla. That must be it. The shame I have experienced didn’t affect my chances to live in the afterlife as a slain warrior.”

*Pho?* “Does Awa Awa feel ouchie in the head? Has Awa Awa become stupid?”

Plow’s voice made Awa freeze from shock. She slowly moved her head to the bed beside the one she was on. There she saw Plow with her head tilted, showing she was a little confused.

Awa realized she wasn’t dead. Instead, she was in the bed of the person she deemed a slave trader.

Because Plow woke Awa from her dream of being in Valhalla, Awa now started feeling the pain her excitement suppressed.

*Pho!* Plow noticed Awa was acting in pain. The moment Awa fell back on her bed, Plow jumped down from the bed and said, “Plow will go tell Vincent Vincent that Awa is feeling ouchies again. Vincent Vincent will come to wash and massage Awa Awa again.”

‘Wash me again?... massage me again?... what... what did that perverted slave trader do to my body when I fainted?...’

Awa couldn’t believe the situation she was in right now. Her body was aching in pain. Her strength was also meager at the moment.

The bedsheet felt heavy as if a thin piece of wood was covering her. Her muscles were twitching from overexertion, as if leaning upwards was too much for her body to handle.

“What did the slave trader do to me?...”

*Bam* The half-open bedroom door opened forcefully. Vincent appeared huffing after he was woken up after having to sleep half-hour ago and ran the stairs as quickly as possible.

“Good morning.” *Yawn* Vincent said before yawning and rubbing his eyes. He looked exhausted after spending a night treating Awa to save her life.

“What did you do to my body, you horrible human? Why didn’t you kill me as I requested?”

[Your work has made her more energetic than I thought she would be. This prideful Dullahan has a potty mouth, though. How can a person mock their savior this much? I want to slap her, but I am afraid not even her soul can handle it.]

“Hehe.” Vincent chuckled at Kazumi’s joke. He felt playful and decided to tease, “I am not a bad person. Didn’t you tell me to kill you in combat? How can I kill you and give you an honorable death if you can not stand on your two feet without help?”

“...” Awa was at a loss for words after deeming Vincent was right. This kind of death might not land her a place in Valhalla. She started to believe.

“Ahem. With that out of the way, let me tell you what I had to do to save your life. I hope I will not be a bad person in your eyes after knowing the hardship I had to suffer.”

“First of all, please do not move that much. You will feel pain all over your body after I spent a night massaging your body this morning to return your blood circulation to almost normal.”

“Huh?” Awa heard many words she didn’t like. The shame she was feeling made her see Vincent as a villain instead of a slave trader now.