"Yeah. If something really troubling happens, will he remember… maybe?"
"...No chance."
"...No way."
They gave up on having expectations.
"I wonder if Qiong Xing will come back."
There he went again, saying something stupid.
"I can hear you."
"I know."
"...…."
Solinus understood that Lunios felt lonely, but even if Qiong Xing came back, what would he do?
"I want him to pat my head again…"
"...…."
That, at least, he understood.
When he gently and softly patted their heads, it gave a strange sense of relief, like being praised or accepted.
"Right? I loved the old Qiong Xing too, but if the current Qiong Xing smiled and patted people's heads, wouldn't everyone fall for him?"
"We really put a lot of thought into it."
Up until the very last moment, the two of them had gone back and forth, arguing and discussing, as they designed Qiong Xing's new body.
They tried not to ruin Qiong Xing's original gentle face, but they could not accept leaving it plain and average either.
If he were made too beautiful, there would be a risk of him being attacked, so they could not make him flashy.
If they made him too cute, it would not match his calm and mature personality.
So they aimed for a beauty who looked fairly well balanced and ordinary at first glance, the kind of beautiful person you might see anywhere, but who became stunningly beautiful like a blooming flower when he smiled.
They matched his hair color with Solinos's, and his eye color was given by Lunios.
This was the result of both of their efforts, yet the person himself still had not truly looked at it yet.
"I hope he lives a long life. Watching Qiong Xing makes me nervous, but it's fun too. If possible, I'd be happy if he even had a child someday… wow, just imagining it is too cute, I'm squirming. Ah, wait, but wasn't Qiong Xing homosexual?"
"Yes. But it may still be too early to give up. If it's a destined mate, even a man can become pregnant."
"That's… nice, but not nice. My Qiong Xing… my beloved Qiong Xing becoming someone else's… impossible!"
So noisy.
"I told you, I can hear you!"
"I told you, I know!"
"...…"
"...…."
Solinos had stopped using his hands on him after being told off by Qiong Xing, but instead his mouth had become sharper.
As a result, Lunios no longer suffered physical pain, but his mental pain had doubled instead.
They really should have listened more carefully back then.
...
Even though Cari had tearfully confessed everything, he felt sorry for him because he had not understood what he meant at the time.
"...…"
"...…"
"You don't know what's a demon race?"
"…No, that's not it."
It was such an unfamiliar word that it took a while for it to register.
"Well… how can you not know about beastmen or demons? Just where did Qiong Xing come from?"
"...…."
I'm from China.
And there's no beastmen or demons in China.
But he could not say that.
There were young people who lived in their own mental worlds sometimes, though.
He wondered how A'Yao who like to call himself the Demon King was doing these days.
He remembered his neighbor A'Yao is a little bit unstable.
"More importantly, what exactly are demon here? Are they something like magic users?"
"No. Simply put… do you understand what a demon is?"
Perhaps reacting to the word demon, Cari's shoulders trembled.
Qiong Xing gently patted his head as if to tell him that everything was fine.
"But Cari doesn't have wings on his back, and his hair is white, you know? He isn't holding a three pronged spear either."
The image of a demon in Qiong Xing's mind was a humanoid figure with black hair and bat like wings.
"I don't know what kind of form Qiong Xing is imagining, but demons here are basically someone with black hair with red eyes. They don't have wings."
"See? That's different after all. Cari's eyes are red, yes, but his hair is white, isn't it?"
Such a cute grandchild. There was nothing but pride.
If possible, he wanted him to stay just the way he was.
"…It was black at first. But then, it turned white."
As Cari said that, his back trembled and the sight was painful to look at.
From that small back, it was clear that he must have lived a hard life until now and Qiong Xing decided that from now on, he would spoil him as much as possible.
Even without that reason, this grandpa was weak when it came to a little child.
"It's not clear whether it was because of the mental pain from being made into a slave or because of a special constitution, but apparently it suddenly turned white."
Even Elias who had been in the same cage, did not know the reason and Cari's hair had already been white when they met.
Hm?
Made into a slave?
Not became a slave, but he was made into one?
"Th-that is, Cari is…"
"Mom said Cari was 'defective.'"
It seemed he had been abandoned by his family, especially by his own mother.
"I'm the same! I don't have parents either!" Leander said proudly.
No, saying it so proudly didn't really help.
Being told they were the same, Cari looked conflicted, unsure whether he should be happy or whether it was something to be proud of to have been abandoned by one's parents.
"Let's put Leander aside. Cari, you've done very well until now. From now on, I'm your family, and I'm your grandpa."
"...…"
"...…"
"…No, grandpa is a bit much, isn't it?"
Elias was clearly the one in charge of pointing things out.
It wasn't even a joke, but still.
"Qiong Xing is the mom, and I'm the dad!"
"No, why are you the dad? I'm obviously the dad."
Why had they already decided that Qiong Xing was the mother?
If anything, he wanted the grandpa position so he could spoil his grandchild.
That was how Qiong Xing truly felt.