Summoned and Unwanted

619 The calm before the storm

Anna moved forward at a snail’s pace, yet every millimeter was a wonderful experience for her.

The crisp sound of the slightly frozen grass from the melted snow, breaking when the wooden wheels crushed them, was shooting to the ears.

Anna had never noticed such sounds while being carried. People ignore the sounds of their footsteps, but not those who can’t walk or move by themselves. Each sound made Anna cheerful.

“I can move forward without being helped. This is the best day of my life.” Anna said with a pleasant yet wavering voice. Anna was trying her hardest not to cry tears of joy and ruin the moment she felt it was a lucid dream.

“Vincent, can we take the wheelchair with us? I want to prove to his majesty that the moving chair is safe on flat surfaces.” Lucas requested.

Sakura was the first to become flustered out of everyone else. She took a step back, and her back touched one of the many beams of the wooden gazebo.

“B-but it’s not that good... wheelchair needed a couple more touches. ” Sakura mumbled.

Sakura believed the wheelchair wasn’t up to her high standards because she gave Mera the wheelchair all of a sudden. The wheelchair needed more than half a day or more for Sakura to consider it to be up to her standards.

[We can lend them the wheelchair, yet two problems will arise.]

.....

-What kind of problems?- Vincent questioned after the word problems made him feel nervous.

[Mera will not have the ability to move on flat surfaces. Additionally, the king and other important people will see Sakura as the creator. They could start to look into who she is.]

Vincent believed the second problem Kazumi mentioned could lead to unwanted situations. He looked at Lucas with a frown and questioned, “What will happen if they find out Sakura Lionheart made the wheelchair?”

Apart from Bilka, Maid Xu, Clara, Beth, Leah carrying Plow, and Yula carrying Shana, everyone looked at Lucas and perked their ears to hear his response.

Lucas chuckled and joked, “I like it when a lot of beauties look at me, hehe. It makes me feel young again.”

Lucas noticed most of them were eager to know if Sakura, as

Lucas sighed and reassured, “Fear not. The maker of this wheelchair will not be in danger. No matter her race, she is a noble of the Lionheart family. It means they would be starting a noble family fight by targeting her.

“Furthermore, I am one of the few people who protect the royal family of Lusterfall Kingdom. It means I am both strong and influential. If I say Sakura Lionheart isn’t dangerous, then she isn’t.”

Even though Lucas could not help hide Sakura’s identity, Lucas reassured that he would make the others know Royal Guard Duke Lucas Hawkins is protecting the Oni of the demon kind married in the Lionheart family.

“With that out of the way, I feel bad about taking the moving chair the mermaid is using to move around for nothing. Thus, I will offer one of the freshwater slime cores with mana from my collection as a gift.” Lucas offered with a grin.

[Why do I have the impression Lucas knows he is offering us something we will surely accept?]

-I have that feeling too.-

Lilith opened her eyes wide and asked, “May I ask if Duke Hawkins is sure about providing one costly freshwater-purifying slime? Their prices should be higher in the cold because of their anti-water freeze aura effect.”

“How many portions of meat are we talking about?” Lupa asked while her tail wagged uncontrolled.

*Sigh* “More than you are imagining, you hungry wolf.” Ester answered.

After spending a long time with Lilith, Ester knew Lilith would not open her eyes wide and say something costs a lot without costing a fortune. This was the reason Ester had a vague idea; it was an amount more than Lupa could imagine.

Lupa giggled while her lips drooled. “Hehe. Two mountains of meat, hehe.”

Vincent and Ester facepalmed. Iris chuckled while Sakura left less anxious than before.

Lilith was nervous to hear Lucas’s response. Her hands were slightly shaking from the estimation of the gift’s cost.

After Lilith heard Lupa calculate a slime with the lowest starting point of fifty silver coins, two mountains of meat almost made her chuckle.

“Yes, haha.” Lucas laughed while watching Lupa act over the moon. “You can have two mountains of meat if you want the mermaid to stay in a pond that freezes every time the season of frost returns.”

Lucas looked at Vincent a winked at him. “I hope the mermaid will have a pond to live in and raise fish. I would like to visit and fish sometimes to pass the time.”

“Huh? Why are you all staring at me? Can’t this old man enjoy fishing with some company?” Lucas asked after his words shocked those who heard him.

Lucas’s words meant if the Lionheart Emerald Mansion property had a pond for Mera to live in and raise fish, a powerful Royal Guard would visit them from time to time.

Lucas’s presence would provide a lot of protection. Furthermore, if an opposing noble family sends people to observe the Lionheart family branch, they would have hard-to-swallow news to deliver.

[This is an offer we can not miss!] Kazumi proposed post haste.

Vincent agreed with Kazumi. He nodded at Lucas and said, “I accept the offer.”

*Clap* “Great. I will send someone to bring a freshwater slime core with at least one year of mana left in it. After throwing the core into fresh water, its gelatinous form should take an hour or two to take shape. Then the mermaid can form a familiar bond with it and take care of the pond from me to fish in, haha.”

Vincent peeked at Lilith. He could see Lilith was still nervous about the price of the slime. It got him thinking how much Lucas was trying to help them just because they knew Feng Mengli and were secret allies of the Princess of Lusterfall.

‘A slime that can survive for one year might cost more than I can imagine. But I think I am looking at it from a different perspective.’ Vincent thought.

“Sakura, it appears your creation has been valued more than you can imagine. What do you think about it?” Vincent asked. He wanted to help Sakura realize this situation could not be possible without her asking for the blueprint and making a wheelchair.

Sakura turned her head and looked at Anna. The wheelchair moved forward at a snail’s pace while giving the impression an achievement was completed every time the two large and two small wooden wheels moved in one full rotation.

‘My heart is beating faster... is it because I feel proud my product is used to make someone very happy?’ Sakura pondered with a grin on her face.

Sakura felt happy, both as the creator of the wheelchair Anna was enjoying and as the person who helped make someone smile so cheerfully.

Sakura walked down the steps of the wooden gazebo. She passed by Bilka and kept walking forward while ignoring those who looked at her.

Bilka frowned upon seeing Sakura keep walking to approach Anna. Bilka prepared to follow Sakura, but she stopped upon seeing Sakura’s tail gently sway as if she was happy.

“I am happy your highness is enjoying something I made out of curiosity. ” Sakura said before stopping in front of Anna. “Keep the wheelchair. Even though it is not fit for royalty, I can vouch for its durability to take a lot of beating before breaking.”

Anna stopped and looked at Sakura. She revealed a beaming smile before saying, “I like you, Sakura. I am interested to see more of the stuff you make, hehe.”

Sakura was stunned, while Bilka became shocked. Lucas chuckled as if he knew Anna would speak in a similar manner. Vincent and the rest congratulated Sakura in their thoughts while smiling.

The mood was cheerful, and many of them were having a great time. It was like the calm before the storm in the form of the judgment by combat.

A bat appeared flying in the sky. The bat circled around the wooden gazebo upon noticing the presence of people gathering. Soon the tiny nose on its head twitched, and the pair of eyes locked on one specific person inside the wooden gazebo.

The bat could see everyone in a happy mood, and a frown appeared on the bat’s face. The presence of people didn’t deter the bat from rushing toward Vincent.

[Hmm? Vincent, do you hear the faint high-pitched sound coming from above?]

Kazumi looked around and soon saw a bat flying at them. Kazumi also noticed that Lupa and Plow had their ears raised, and they were looking in the bat’s direction.

[Lupa and Plow are not saying it is an enemy. Could the bat be Mimi? If so, why is she coming here as a bat? Lucas and Bilka might think of her as an enemy at this rate.]

-Mimi told us she could take some time to visit us again. Could she be hungry? She didn’t drink a drop of my blood this morning.-

[Yeah. That is the only explanation I can think of right now.]

Lucas frowned. He stood up and looked at the bat approach them.

“Bilka, protect her highness right now. ” Lucas ordered with a serious tone. He acted like a different person now.

Bilka quickly rushed to Anna’s side as ordered. She pushed Sakura out of the way and lifted the wheelchair with Anna on it post haste.