Mourning the fallen

However, before Lupa could speak her mind like Ester, Vincent raised his hand, placing his index finger on her lips.

"I know you were worried, too, my little wolf. What Ester said made me realize something. That I tried to save the two of you without minding my own safety." Vincent said.

Vincent removed his finger from her lips. He raised his hand, caressing her head, and warmly said, "I'm sorry if I made both of you feel sad."

"You dummy." Lupa swiftly approached his face. She placed her lips on his forehead and gave a peck. Her gaze soon went over to Ester and raised a victorious smirk.

Tula kept staring at Ester and Lupa the entire time. Both of them acted differently than when Vincent was asleep. She could see Lupa energetically teasing Ester, while Ester didn't seem to be as strong-willed as she previously had shown.

'Big sister Ester might need a hug. My daddy once told me that emotions could make anyone cry. My daddy was sad that day after uncle Kass colored his hair gray.' Tula pondered if she should hug Ester.

"Ahem... can you help me stand up?" Vincent asked to try standing up for the third time. As some say, third time's the charm, and he hoped not to get knocked down again.

Ester took this opportunity to pull one of Lupa's white fluffy wolf ears gently and then extended her hand to help Vincent. A frown was on her face while her heart fluttered. The thought of the peck on his forehead haunted her heart.

Lupa turned her gaze at Ester while she licked her lips to tease the frowning Ester. Then she helped Vincent stand.

[This is some excellent progress, I might say so myself. But there is still one woman left staring at you.]

Vincent glanced to his side and noticed the third woman. He previously thought she was Kazumi and thought it was a dream before his tired eyes closed to sleep.

Soon, his eyes met with hers. The third mysterious good looking woman started running towards him.

[Heh... here we go again... was your power a chick magnet or something?]

Kazumi sighed. She was okay with watching him flirt with each girl, but she also wanted to do the same.

A familiar busty woman wearing a familiar sleeveless shirt ran in his direction. Her bound chest bounced with every step, forcing his eyes to move up and down.

Moments later, the large pair cushioned her crash against Vincent, making him feel two soft mounds pushing against him.

Vincent didn't want to fall this time, so he used his legs to steady himself.

"Big Brother Vincent! You have woken up." Tula said while wrapping her arm around his chest, causing Ester and Lupa to become envious by this embrace.

However, she didn't do this on purpose as she was about to fall forward from her heavy chest. As if the pair of airbags suddenly activated and her fall became a gentle one.

"Thank you for saving us from that baddie. Big brother is the best, hehe." Tula joyfully said as she raised her head up.

"Huh? Who are you?" Vincent asked with a puzzled frown and a pair of red cheeks.

"Tula, can you let Vincent breathe a little bit. This is his first time seeing you." Ester pulled Tula from the embrace with a frown.

[Let me explain. She is the soldier that was sent flying before we fought. Ester must have treated her injury since Tula has bits of Ester's pants wrapped around her forehead.]

[As I have seen while keeping a watchful eye and resting, Tula seems to have hit her head so hard that she has infantile amnesia.]

[Tula currently thinks she is a ten-year-old girl that was recently sleeping in her bed before waking up in this forest.]

[Ester skillfully said a lie with a poker face to stop Tula from panicking, which surprised me, to be honest.]

[Ester told her how the Demonic Beast dubbed as baddie, pushed, and injured her. That her memories and body will return to normal in time, I don't know how, but Tula stopped asking after that. She seems a bit gullible.]

[Lastly, Ester had to burn your wound to stop the bleeding. This event might have turned the shy Ester into a brave Ester. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that.]

Kazumi gave Vincent a quick rundown of what happened around him.

.

[Name] Tula

[Condition] Minor Injury, High Amnesia

.

Vincent gazed at Tula. He noticed she was attractive, yet her thought process and intelligence were reduced to that of a child. She was a bit shorter than Ester at around five foot six. Her long brown hair matching her eye color was a bit darker than Vincent's brown hair.

"Nice to meet you, little Tula. Don't worry about your memory. It will return one day." Vincent then raised his hand and gently caressed her head while asking, "Does your head hurt?"

"I don't feel a lot of owie from my head. " Tula replied.

"I promised your uncle Kass to take you home. You need to act like a big girl since your body became big. It means no hugging strangers, or they might take you away with them." Vincent said.

He felt bombarded by the glares directed at him and Tula hugging him. He decided to think of Tula as a little sister that needed babysitting until taken home.

"But you're not a stranger, big brother, right?" Tula said in a sly tone.

Tula looked around and asked Vincent, "Can we wake uncle Kass and go home together? Big sister Ester said we should leave him sleeping yesterday."

"Your uncle helped us kill the baddie, but I'm sad to say this, Tula. Your uncle Kass passed away to let you and us live. Ester didn't want to make you sad, but you should know the truth." Vincent told Tula without thinking how badly a young child would take it.

Vincent knew and still remember to this day how badly he took the news of his parent's death. However, he wished for the truth at that time, more than the overwhelming sadness and guilt he was feeling.

Tula fell knees first on the ground with a shocked expression on her pale face. Tears started raining from her eyes, mourning for her loss.

Ester sent a frown directed at Vincent for not announcing the death of Kass more discreetly. She approached Tula and hugged the sad girl for comfort, offering a shoulder to cry on.

[You monster!]

[Couldn't you have minced your words a little? You acted similarly when the hospital staff told you the news of what happened after you woke up from the hospital bed, all scared and alone. Cold and uncaring.]

-I know I did wrong. But she needs to cry now rather than later when we leave. She has to know how hard Kass tried to protect her.-

"We will go to bury uncle Kass after you finish mourning. He saved us, and we need to give him a proper burial. He can go to a better place that way." Vincent tried to help calm the situation he started.

"Lupa, can you help my look for the tools to bury Kass?" Vincent asked.

Lupa quickly nodded and followed him. She was happy to spend some time with Vincent alone. Later, both of them removed everything from the cart. It also included the heavy mudcrab shell.

On the grass lay three tools. A worn, rusty axe, good to chop wood. A pitchfork with a handle broken from the mudcrab shell's weight, and a rusty shovel. It looked quite old but seemed to have enough life to bury a few corpses.

Vincent returned with a shovel in his hand while Lupa stood at his right side all the time. Soon the two of them noticed Tula calmed down and stopped crying.

"Tula says she wants to visit her uncle." Ester notified after noticing Vincent and Lupa approaching.

"Can you wait for us here while we to Kass and clean his body? I don't want you to get scared and want to give him a respectful burial. " Vincent asked as he didn't want Tula's condition to worsen than it already is. She could've been a great guide to Laurel Town if her memories were intact.

Ester looked at Vincent with a warm smile. She felt happy by how he approached the sensitive matter. To know a person passed away was different than seeing their corpse, and killed with a vicious bite at that.

"We will come to find you when you call for us. " Ester replied.

[Nicely done. You won some effection points with Ester.]

-I did it for Tula.-

[Oh, am I smelling harem member number four?]

-Lupa is enough. Not only is she a child, but I'm afraid of making her my retainer.-

-What kind of person was she before losing her memories? How would she feel to have her memories return and forced to follow us or get hunted?-

[You are right, my bad. I was excited for more members and watching Ester fluster with her chest complex.]

Vincent and Lupa arrived beside the corpse of Kass. His upper body wasn't inflated with muscles anymore. It was shriveled and skinny as if withered, but not enough to resemble a mummy. It felt as if all the fat in his body evaporated, and his skin became older. Kass almost appeared like a hundred-year-old man.

"Was his ability this dangerous? Blood loss doesn't make a person dry like this." Vincent murmured while gazing at Kass.

"Can we start cleaning? I want to eat fish." Lupa interrupted. She wanted to hurry as her stomach lightly growled for food.

"Yes, let's start. I'm also hungry." Vincent added.

Later, the corpse of Kass was presentable for Tula to see. He didn't have blood on his body anymore.

The vicious bite was covered by the white cape wrapped around his neck. His face looked serene as if he died knowing Tula would be alive. He seemed to have died feeling happy that one person he wanted to protect was going to live.

Lupa "You have become stronger."

Vincent "What do you mean?"

Lupa "Well, I always noticed the hesitation in your movements when you see blood. But now you helped me clean this dead old man from the blood without any hesitation."

[Looks like Lupa also noticed the courage this world has forced you to build up.]

"You and Kazumi are saying the same thing... Well, it might be true. I don't feel scared or disgusted. I only feel sad that I couldn't save Kass." Vincent could only frown.

"When can I meet sister Kazumi? Ester has met her twice. It's not fair!" Lupa said while puffing her cute cheeks.