Chapter 37: Fox and dinner
“Arge-san, Arge-san, please wake up.”
“Ni ~yamu”
I obediently listen to her and wake up.
Rising while still sleepy, from the hole in the ceiling I can see a starry sky. This hut, what will it do on rainy days?
“Was it still night?”
“It’s already night, you sleep well”
“E he he, that much is nothing”
“I am not praising!? Why is you voice seem pleased, but your face is serious?”
“It is a vampire’s talent.”
“Oh, I see, it’s amazing, is not it?”
While looking delicately, Kuzuha-chan seems to be convinced.
To believing such lies, just how gullible can this little girl be.
Because I felt asleep on the top of fluffy straw, my body doesn’t feel so stiff. But as my habit, I stretched like usual. Yeah, it’s refreshing.
“Arge-san, front! Your front!”
“Fu nya? Aa, I’m sorry”
It seems that the wrapped blanket slipped down. Because Kuzuha-chan pointed out, I wore it back.
I do not really mind, but it is rude to let a little girl see.
Well, but it was her fault that I don’t have any clothes anyway, and I think she already saw everything when she burn my clothes with first fire spell. (T.N: but you also see her no-pan when she use wind)
I rolled a blanket around my body and got off the straw, and two dishes were lined up on the ground.
“What is this?”
Although I know it look like a meal but I did not understand what is the thing in front of me ?
The plate itself is flat and round, the bowl is a bit deeper. I think this is a soup dish. What I do not understand is what is on it.
It is obviously hard to say soup. The color is yellowish white and it seems to be sticky. Such a thing was served as a soup dish ?
The smell is unpleasant like a sweet sour.
… … A rotten porridge?
I can only say that. It is hard to say that this is what human eat, no matter how you look at it. It is worse than dog food.
Kuzuha-chan was sitting in front of the dish, and both hands are clapped. She hold her long hair so it won’t get in the way, and she bow deeply,
“Itadakimasu ~wa” (Itadakimasu: is mean like “let eat” or “bon appetit”)
“Please wait”
With almost a reflexive movement, I pick up the dish from her front.
And I put it in the blood bag, I’m also doing the same with my portion as well.
“… Arge-san?”
Kazuha looks at me with a strange look.
Although she was trying to eat, but it was bad, I think she is better stopping it right now.
… Indeed this will break your stomach.
It is not good to eat something that can not even be called as food.
It is something that makes you feel uncomfortable even just see other eat in front of you. I think that children should eat more fresh and nutritious things.
Perhaps she eats such things on a daily basis, but I could not overlook it.
“… It was a feast.” Is this food from the lord? “
“Well, yes, I got it while Arge-san was sleeping, I am sorry that it isn’t good, but … you ate it just now, is not it?”
“Yes, vampires can eat meal from their hand”
“Is that so !?”
“Yes, I can even eat from my elbow.”
“Wow, that’s amazing … !”
Yes, she believe it seriously and it’s a little funny so I’ll leave it uncorrected. The sparkling cat eyes, no, … fox eyes are cute.
Take out some nuts and fruits from the Blood Bag and hand it to Kuzuha-chan.
You better eat this one. It is much better than eating something doubtful whether it is food or not.
“I apologized for eating it.”
“… no, it’s alright, I don’t mind”
Kuzuha-chan started to eat the fruits, she lower her smal head deeper than when she say “Itadakimasu ~wa” before. It seems that she get my intention.
I do not have to eat for a few days and I still have plenty of food.
Neguse seems to be eating the grass that is growing around that so far, so the fruits is only for Kuzuha-chan.
After waiting for Kuzuha-chan to finish eating, I’m start talking.
“Is Kuzuha-chan satisfied with the treatment now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Living apart from your mother and live here alone, and meal is like this, are not you tired?”
“… My esteemed mother is still doing her best, I can not selfish ask for anything”
“Is that so … … aren’t you lonely?”
“…Just a little. I’ve not seen her for a few months already. The lord is telling me all the time that my esteemed mother are still doing her best … But I’d like to hear it from her not just a report from the lord.”
I thought that the lord and parents were terrible, but when I heard Kuzuha-chan’s story in detail, I thought that the circumstances may be different.
… Parents, too?
If the child as well as the parent is easy to be deceived, I can understand the current state somehow.
I do not say that parents are absolutely not going to treat children bad, but it is more like that the lord is the bad one here.
I look at Kazuha-chan’s plate, look like she is already finish eating. As I collect the contents in the blood bag, I was remind of the dish that Kazuha-chan prepare. Things that were on the plate were never a decent meal, but for her it was surely the best hospitality from the lord.
“I’m sorry, Kuzuha-chan, I will go out for a while”
“Where are you going?”
“Because I’m full, I will go have a walk, and I do not mind if you fall asleep before I get back.”
Do not wait for Kuzuha-chan’s response, I stand up and head for the exit.
Push the hole boarded wooden plate no longer playing the role of the door, and go outside.
“Well, then I should go?”
I slept well and also took meals.
In a sense, I owe Kazuha-chan a favor.
Concentrate on smell and find the direction of human smell. It is probably a small village because it does not feel as much odor as Arlesha.
I put the blanket in the Blood Bag and changed my body to a bat.
… This is also one kind of gratitude.
It was never like meals to be served but it is not a problem.
It is important for me with how I feel. Her treatment earlier is sufficient for me and it is a burden.
I will meet her mother, I will verify the truth and I will bring she if possible.
I will repay that much for the favor I owe.
I flung the bat’s wing, flapping it. It will be troublesome so I choose the shortest distance, a straight line.
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