"To become mates, both sides have to agree. But unlike beastmen, humans don't cling strongly to their partners, even if they call them companions. Between beastmen, it might work, but between a beastman and a human, a beastman's love is too heavy for humans. And to humans, beastmen are tools… slaves. Being together is nothing more than a dream."
Elias lowered his head.
Qiong Xing gently reached out, touched his cheek and lifted his face. Elias's eyebrows were drawn together in pain.
He was probably afraid to hear the answer.
The bold attitude he had shown while fighting with Leander was gone.
He looked like a lost puppy.
"By the way, what kind of beastman are you, Elias?"
"...Isn't that a bit late to ask? I'm a wolf."
Then he was a dog type.
That song was correct after all… probably.
When Qiong Xing asked Leander, he proudly answered, "I'm a Lion!"
"What about you, Cari?"
"..."
"Cari?"
Cari did not answer and kept his head down.
Thinking he might have fallen asleep, Qiong Xing leaned closer to look at his face.
Instead, he saw an expression that looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.
"Cari!? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Your stomach? Your eyes? Did you get injured somewhere..."
"…I… I…"
"Huh?"
"I'm… a demon… race…"
A demon… race?
Now what was a demon race?
This was too difficult for an old man like him to understand.
...
Solinos he had been watching, ahem, quietly keeping an eye on Qiong Xing, but it seemed Qiong Xing had found companions, which was a relief.
"W-what-do-you-mean-by-a-relief?"
"...Ugh, the noisy one showed up."
When he turned around without hiding his annoyed attitude, there stood Lunios with a deep frown between his brows.
"You were thinking something rude just now, weren't you?"
"Of course I was."
"Of course!? That's where you're supposed to say you weren't!"
He's just as troublesome as ever.
Forget about it, what he needs to think about now is Qiong Xing situations.
However, suddenly a hand firmly grabbed his shoulder.
"Why did things turn out like this!? It's fine that he found companions, but I never heard anything about two of them becoming mates!"
Well, of course not. He never said that.
More importantly, he didn't understand why Lunios was so angry.
Though it was probably another stupid reason.
"But he's my... My Qiong Xing! Who even made beastmen anyway!?"
You did… it was you.
You were the one who happily said, "It'd be more fun if there were lots of races," and created them without thinking ahead.
"...Hey, do you know that I can read minds, and you're doing this on purpose by thinking instead of talking?"
When he nodded, Lunios collapsed to his knees in shock.
Good, it got through to him.
Ever since meeting Qiong Xing, the two of them had changed.
Lunios had started doing his job seriously, and Solinos had become a little less seri—hmm, more like he had learned to rely on others.
The work that had mostly been left to Solinos had returned to normal and only now did Lunios truly realize how much he had depended on him.
As for Solinos himself, he was happy that his workload had decreased. He was grateful to Qiong Xing for giving him this opportunity and at the same time, watching his benefactor had become his greatest source of entertainment.
"What are you so angry about? It wasn't what we expected, but isn't it a good thing that Qiong Xing gained more ways to protect himself?"
"That's true, it is, but still… I am the one who found Qiong Xing first..."
So basically, he felt like a mother whose child had been taken by someone else.
What a brat...
"I can hear that."
"I know."
"...…."
It wasn't that he felt nothing about Qiong Xing being loved by so many people, but in the end, as long as Qiong Xing was happy, that was enough.
He had selfishly sent him to that world, but for now, he seemed to be enjoying himself and that was what mattered most.
"Putting that aside, it seems Qiong Xing didn't even listen to half of our explanations. It's good that he noticed the magic bag, but the way he uses it is wrong from the start."
"Well, yeah. Watching him say 'please give me...' every single time before taking something out is cute to watch, but if he ever realizes it, it's going to be extremely embarrassing."
They were sure they had explained his belongings and how to use them to some extent, yet Qiong Xing had not mastered any of it at all.
So that he would never struggle to eat, they had given him a huge amount of food and money, spare clothes, weapons, armor, potions, and other recovery items.
Normally, it should have been enough for someone to live in comfort for the rest of their life without working.
He seemed to have noticed the water flask is never ran out, but he had not noticed the food and instead he ate nuts he picked up along the road.
He had noticed the money, but he barely used it on himself and spent it almost entirely on the beastmen instead.
On top of that, he could not even view his own status, so he did not know his abilities, the blessings given to him, or what items he carried.
The two of them had given him everything they could possibly think of, yet the very person who was supposed to use it all, Qiong Xing himself, did not understand any of it.
Without noticing their worries at all, he dove headfirst into danger, became a snake's parent, was adored by a pervert (Leander), met his destined mate (Elias), and somehow ended up becoming a parent to a child (Cari) while still a teenager.
Who could have ever imagined that? No one.
If anyone could have, they would not be struggling this much now.
"We should have thought of a way to contact him in case something happens. At this rate, he might not have listened when we told him he could meet us if he came to the church… he might have forgotten."