Summoned and Unwanted

“What are you playing at Tula? Its Abigail. Did the few days in the forest make you forget about me? Hehe.” Abigail asked with a chuckle.

Abigail thought Tula was playing an interesting game. It was a thing Tula never did to her knowledge in the three years of friendship but thought Tula learned something new with the people she was with.

“I’m sorry to say this, but Tula lost her memories. She only remembers the memories until being ten years. Who were you to Tula? ” Vincent asked. He didn’t know if Abigail was telling the truth or had some kind of plan. Watching many salves made Vincent stay on his guard. Delivering Tula home was a commitment he made with Koss and Kass.

“No way... Tula... you don’t remember me? We have been friends for three years. I... I don’t believe this. This joke has gone too far!” Abigail didn’t know what to do. Thinking that this was a joke was the only answer she could think of.

However, Tula immediately hid behind Ester and said, “I-I don’t know you, pretty lady.”

[I think this Abigail is telling the truth. Her actions and expressions seem genuine. I can feel the mana waves surrounding her, moving frantically. It means not only she has a lot of mana, but she can’t control it to hide her emotions.]

.....

Vincent had a similar thought when Kazumi pointed out the complex expression on Abigail’s face. It was one of disbelief, worry, and confusion.

“This is not a joke. We saved Tula, but her father and uncle passed away. She hit her head and lost her memories instead of her life. I can tell you the long story if you want.” Vincent explained.

Abigail wanted to doubt Vincent’s words and ask who they were, but Tula’s strange acting produced doubt in her reasoning. She decided to hear the story and made a nod while saying, “Yes. Please tell me what happened to my best friend. I want to know if this is a bad joke.”

A while later, the story was told, and a few tears trickled from her eyes. Abigail was about to cry from what her best friend Tula passed through. She understood that it wasn’t a joke as the interrogation part was too real to call being fake.

Furthermore, Abigail saw Ben with a smile on his face while entering the guildhall. He was depressed in these last few days. The missing Koss, Kass, and Tula were like family to him.

“Can I still be your friend? You were the only one that made me feel welcomed in this city. Being a half-elf draws a lot of attention everywhere we go, and elves also dislike half-breeds like my mother, cousins, and me. You were the only one after our family came here to treated me like a normal person.” Abigail wanted to remain close with Tula even if she didn’t remember her. She simply hopes to talk with the Tula she always knew.

Vincent was curious if she was an elf as she was the first one of her kind to enter his sight. However, Abigail said she is a half-elf, but because she is a mix between humans and elves, it seems she and her family are hated.

“Okey, pretty lady. ” Tula poked her head from behind Ester and lightly nodded.

Abigail noticed a familiar young man not too far from them. It was her twin brother, but he took his human father’s side and was born a human. However, there was a problem. He had a deep one-sided crush on Tula, but she doesn’t remember him now.

Not only was her brother devastated and sad about Tula’s unknown whereabouts, but now, Tula didn’t remember him. Abigail knows her emotionally fragile brother would cause a scene in the lower district city square.

‘It would be embarrassing if he started crying.’ Abigail thought with a frown.

“Then... I will visit your home another time, my best friend, Tula. My twin brother is looking for me, and he is almost here. I can’t let Bartholomew see you in his state.”

Abigail looked at Tula with a conflicted expression. But she still decided to continue by saying, “He has... a big crush on you, but now it will be over for good. I will let him know and tell him it’s time to stop. ”

Abigail quickly waved at Tula with a bright smile and ran towards her brother. She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from them moments later. Vincent, Ester, Lupa, Kazumi, and Tula stared as the twins disappeared from their sight.

“Big brother Vincent. Didn’t I gain an adult body? How did I know that pretty lady for three years? Why is everyone saying I knew them and lost my memories? ” Tula was confused. She remembered waking up in a bloody forest and then was told how her body and memories would return to normal one day, but as she heard her condition was different multiple times, she started to doubt Vincent’s words.

Vincent placed his hand on Tula’s head and warmly said, “Don’t worry. Your mother will explain everything. Mother knows best. It’s the phrase the mother of my best friend Kevin liked to say.”

Tula nodded and stopped thinking about it. It is scary to lose your memories, and then people suddenly start telling you that they know you.

The thought of the old memories returning at the cost of the present ones disappearing, similar to getting overwritten, is frightening. Tula was afraid of this possibility happening to her, but Vincent’s caring words eased her thoughts.

[Usual Vincent, hehe.]

-Her mother’s words will help Tula come to terms with the current situation far easier. It’s not like I love to place problems on others.-

“Looks like you have more friends to play with. Abigail seemed to care about you. Maybe she will be another kind big sister.” Vincent continued after dumping all the important job to her mother. He was getting tired of repeating the same story over and over again like a broken record.

“Familiars! Young familiars for sale! Come and take a look at these pair of blue foxes for sale! These are the last ones available in the whole kingdom!” A street merchant shouted.

“Do they even sell here?” Vincent asked while noticing a small area where a couple of stands promoted their merchandise.

“Yes, silly big brother, hehe. ” Tula giggled in a happy mood and continued, “Adults can only sell things in that corner if they don’t have a shop. I love it when an ice cream stand appears. Ahh, I miss the Ice Princess.”

Tula grabbed Vincent’s hand and pulled him towards the familiar merchant stand, “Big brother, let’s look at the puppies!”

Vincent was pulled while Ester and Lupa followed, looking quite interested. Both wanted to know how a familiar and a blue fox looked like.

“Look how cute and adorable they are!” Tula exclaimed. She seemed to have a soft spot for cute and fluffy things. She liked to touch Lupa’s ears after Lupa decided to allow her to do so.

“These small female cubs look small and weak, unlike how I was, humph!” Lupa acted prideful of her upbringing.

The rare pure breed white wolf race likes to display their noble origins when meeting another animal race. But Lupa mostly acted like this because Vincent smiled at another female animal. ‘Am I not his mate?’ She thought.

“They look cute. I wonder if you looked cute too, Lupa.” Ester added with a teasing smirk.

“You bet! I was the cutest white wolf in this world!” Lupa then stole a gaze at Vincent and saw him looking at her while holding a laugh.

“Customers. If you aren’t interested in my merchandise, then please flirt somewhere else.” The familiar merchant looked displeased, yet he had to speak carefully. An injured man surrounded by many women might make him a wealthy person, the merchant believed. A customer is always a customer.

“Did I hear right? Do you have a female blue fox?” A woman dressed elegantly with two imposing guards standing right behind her asked.

“Yes, Baroness. I will also give a discount for your ladyship’s continuous patronage.” The familiar merchant spoke respectfully to the noble before him. It was a customer that bought a few familiars from him.

“Ohh my. A smooth talker as always. How much for the female foxes?” The Baroness asked while hiding her mouth with a well-decorated paper fan.

The merchant placed two small cages on the table stand. One was frantically trying to get out while the other didn’t move.

“Blue foxes are quite rare, as your ladyship knows. The lively one is ten gold coins but five for your ladyship. The other one is crippled and is only good for breeding. It was born with a missing leg and tail...” The merchant was about to say the price when the Baroness interrupted.

“No need for defective things that breeds defective products! I will take the lively one.” The Baroness snapped her fingers. One of her guards placed a small bag with five gold coins inside. The other guard took the cage of the small lively blue fox fighting to escape.

Later, the Baroness left. Then merchant stared at Vincent once again. He could see that the busty woman with them seemed interested as she tried to get a response from the disabled fox.

“Customer. Would you be interested in this familiar? It’s the only one remaining of the lot. My supplier gave me this badly bred blue fox, but no one wants to buy it, even for breeding.” The merchant tried to entice Vincent once more.

The small blue fox was in a cage for a whole month. No one wanted to buy and gift a useless familiar since familiars are mainly bought for combat.

“This is a rare purebred blue fox. It was born with a fire core, and blue foxes might learn fox fire if trained properly. I could lower the price since the pretty lady seems interested in it.” The sun was slowly setting, and the last of the blue foxes had to be sold. The merchant didn’t want to pay for the stand location fee anymore since this blue fox wouldn’t give him a worthwhile profit.

Vincent gave a good look and noticed the blue fox was missing its front left leg, leaving only a stump. However, it had no tail, not even a stump. Vincent decided to use Inspection and check the actual condition of the blue fox.

[Name] Enter name

[Core] Tameable Fire Core

[Condition] Injured, Starving, Malnutrition

“Poor little fox. Will big brother buy it?” Tula said while looking at the blue fox. It didn’t respond when Tula gently nudged the cage from time to time.