Chapter 203: Journey to the Land of Dragon
"But if you’re not here, won’t everyone have trouble?"
"It’ll be fine for a few days. Besides, they need to get used to things being okay even without me."
If they were going to build a new home for the future, then that was even more important.
Even Joa didn’t know how long he would live.
So little by little, everyone had to learn how to manage things even if he was gone someday.
"I see. Then let’s have Joa come with us too. What about Leander and Elias? I’d prefer if they stayed behind..."
If all three Joa, Leander, and Elias who were their main strength left at once, that would definitely be a problem.
"...H-hey, what about me? Am I staying behind too?"
Albe clearly looked like he wanted to go, but since only Albe and Qiong Xing had a way to communicate, Qiong Xing decided it would be better for him to stay.
Then, thinking about safety, Qiong Xing also asked Cari if he could stay behind, but just as expected, Cari refused.
"No! Cari is going with mama too!"
"We’ll be back soon. That place is full of buildings that could collapse at any moment. If you get hurt, I would be very sad."
"Ugh... no, no..."
Normally, there were times when they didn’t see each other for a few hours, but being apart for several days was different.
It made sense that Cari would hesitate.
But since there was real danger, Qiong Xing couldn’t take him along.
"Just take him with you."
"Fei?"
Fei who just happened to pass by said that Cari should go along with them too.
"Sorry for listening in, but why don’t all of you just go together? Even Leander and Elias don’t seem that useful without Qiong Xing around."
That was true.
But still...
"You heard it too, right? It’s dangerous. If Cari gets hurt..."
"The house those brothers have is safe, right? Then just leave him there when you go out."
"And what about the work here—"
"It’ll be fine for a few days. It’s more of a problem if you leave behind people who can’t do anything."
"...... "
The way he said it was harsh, but it was probably because he was thinking about Joa and the others.
"Alright. Three days. We’ll be back in three days, so hold things together until then."
"That’s how it should be. Honestly, do people lose their judgment as they get older?"
For now, Joa gave him a punch.
Where did he even get that bad mouth from?
After that, they split up to prepare and once everything was ready, they climbed onto Iseul’s back and headed toward the land of dragons.
"Honestly, what a troublesome leader."
Watching their figures grow smaller in the distance, Fei laughed and called them hopeless, while Ato the ho had come to see them off as well laughed beside him.
"We’ve been relying on them all this time. Maybe now they’ll start relying on us a bit too."
"Yeah. If that guy doesn’t rest, then we don’t get to rest either."
"Hahaha, well, that’s just how smart he is. And Qiong Xing’s idea is full of good things, isn’t it?"
That’s right, the idea of building a new home was something Qiong Xing had thought of for the future of everyone living here.
The reason behind it might have been different, but he was trying to connect that to the future of the beastmen.
"Our leader really found an amazing mate. I’m jealous."
"Yeah. I want a wife like Qiong Xing too. He’s beautiful, cute, and most of all, he’s great at cooking!"
Even though he was human, he treated the beastmen as individuals.
Even though he wasn’t strong, he still thought about how to help everyone and took action.
And he even managed to save Joa’s heart, something no one else had been able to do, no matter how hard they tried.
On top of that, he had given them a future.
It was the first time both Fei and Ato had seen a man as someone’s mate, but watching Joa and the others laugh happily, it didn’t feel strange at all.
A beloved mate and a family that smiled and said they were happy, it was something to envy.
"Haha, then why don’t you ask Qiong Xing? Tell him to make you his mate too."
"No way. The boss would kill me, so please spare me."
Fei couldn’t stop laughing at how seriously Ato refused.
...
"So, this proves that humans can do things if they really try."
"Why are you so quick to accept things like that..."
Joa looked at him with a mix of disbelief and resignation, like he had already given up trying to argue.
Qiong Xing just smiled and brushed it off.
To be honest, even he hadn’t thought it would work.
As they being carried by Iseul and Raon, they arrived once again at the land of dragons.
Just like before, the place was deserted and the buildings looked like they could collapse at any moment.
Qiong Xing had Cari and Mayo, and just in case, Elias as well, wait at Iseul and Raon’s home.
The place so large it could be called a mansion rather than just a house. Then Qiong Xing went around the area with Joa and the others to take a look.
"As expected, this can’t be repaired. The only option is to clear everything down to the ground and rebuild from scratch."
"Yeah... this really is bad. If it were just a little damaged, we might have been able to fix it, but this? No way."
...Wait, what?
Qiong Xing felt like he had just heard something he couldn’t ignore.
"You can repair it?"
"Hm? Yeah, to some extent. But even that depends on materials and magic, and I’m not that good at repair—ah."
That’s right.
Even if Albe couldn’t do it well, Qiong Xing was here.
As long as they understood the method, they could do it as many times as needed.