A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 35: Family, Not Slaves

There were no words.

To put it bluntly, humans in this world seemed truly awful.

They continued on to the guild and handed over the medicinal herbs they had gathered as well as receiving the promised reward.

There was still time left, but since Mayo had just been born, so they decided to return to the inn early.

"Well then, Leander and Elias. This is today’s reward from the request. I divided it into three parts, so this is for you as well."

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

"Cari, let’s split yours in half with me, okay? I’ll put it in the bag we bought today, so make sure you don’t lose it."

"Yeah!"

Perhaps he was happy that the number of things that belonged to him was increasing, because Cari kept checking the contents of his bag over and over with a big smile on his face.

"No, no, no, wait, Qiong Xing."

"Giving money to slaves is strange, isn’t it?"

As the two tried to return it, saying there was no need to give money to slaves, Qiong Xing shook his head.

Certainly, in this world slaves were treated harshly and it was not uncommon for them to be forced into unpaid labor for life.

But Qiong Xing was different.

"Leander, Elias, and Cari. It’s true that the three of you are considered my slaves, but that’s only so I can protect you. I don’t think of you as slaves at all, I think of you as my precious family. This job, too, was accomplished by the four of us working together. We’ve only just started, so the amount isn’t much, but even so, I don’t dislike sharing it with everyone, and I intend to keep doing so from now on."

Originally, it would have been fine to split it four ways including Cari, but since Cari was still young, Qiong Xing felt uneasy entrusting him with that much, so they decided to divide Cari’s share in half with Qiong Xing instead.

"......"

"......."

They were probably bewildered because this was something they had never experienced before.

They stood motionless while staring at the several silver coins resting in their palms.

Qiong Xing took the hands of the two who were hesitating and gently closed his fingers around them.

"I told you, didn’t I? That I wanted you to be my mates. Not slaves, not objects, not servants, but my family... My destinied mates..."

"Thank you."

"I’m really happy."

When they pulled him tightly into an embrace, those words were spoken in voices that trembled slightly.

As they continued living together from now on, Qiong Xing did not want the three of them to give up on wanting something simply because they thought of themselves as slaves and worried about burdening him.

"Cari, Cari too! Cari wants to do it too!"

As the others embraced Qiong Xing, Cari said he wanted to join as well, so Qiong Xing picked him up, and the two clung to him along with Cari.

"All three of you are my—hya!? ...Mayo. That’s right. Mayo too, and all of you, are my precious family."

"Yeah."

"That’s right."

"Mm."

"Kyuu~"

Mayo climbed up from his foot to his shoulder and rubbed happily against his cheek as well.

"Come to think of it... I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now, but how old are the three of you? I’m sixteen."

"...Isn’t that a bit late to ask?"

"I’m probably twenty-nine. It’s been since I was picked up in the forest, so I don’t remember exactly."

Leander’s memories from before he was picked up seemed vague and counting from what he could remember, he was apparently twenty-nine.

Cari himself didn’t seem to know, but judging from his appearance, he was probably two or three years old.

"I... am thirty-six."

What was wrong?

Elias seemed a bit down.

"Ah, um, from Qiong Xing’s point of view... I’m probably just an old man."

He seemed to be bothered by the age gap.

But from Qiong Xing’s perspective, everyone else was young.

His body was certainly young at sixteen, but on the inside, he wasn’t just an old man, he was practically a grandpa.

"It’s my fault that you’re worried about your age, Elias. It might be impossible for me to tell you not to worry about it, but I truly don’t mind at all. In fact, my preference is for people much older than me, so I’m honestly very happy that you’re exactly my type."

Considering his original age, Qiong Xing felt more at ease being with someone older rather than younger.

Besides, beastmen were said to be extremely long-lived compared to humans.

By the time Qiong Xing died of old age, Elias would likely be with him still or perhaps Qiong Xing would pass on first.

He didn’t want Elias to worry about something like that.

When he told him that he liked Elias just the way he was now, Elias happily kissed him on the cheek.

"I’m happy that Qiong Xing is Qiong Xing too."

"Me too! I mean, hey, why are you casually touching Qiong Xing like that? Qiong Xing, you like me too, right? Right?"

Leander clung desperately to him, and it was adorable.

"Of course I like you too, Leander. And naturally, I like Cari and Mayo as well."

After he said that, Qiong Xing gave kisses on the cheeks of Leander and the others as well, leaving them looking satisfied.

Wasn’t this a little too simple-minded?

...

He knew it.

He really did know it, but...

"You’re really annoying."

"Waaah, nooo. I want to be family too, me too!"

Seriously, so annoying.

Ever since Qiong Xing took them as his mates, Lunios had been crying like this, shouting that he didn’t want it, over and over.

Just how long was he planning to keep crying?

If he had time to do this, he should just work instead.

"I said... I’m working!"

"I told you I know already! You’re so annoying."

"Waaah, Solin is so cold!"

There was no choice but to ignore him.