Chapter 208: Standing Up for Qiong Xing
Katarina’s calm voice echoed through the room, and at the same time, Beat grabbed Qiong Xing’s arm, making him stop.
"There’s no need for you to leave."
"That’s right! Qiong Xing hasn’t done anything wrong!"
It was true.
Qiong Xing had done nothing wrong.
But even so, there were times when you had to obey orders from someone in a higher position, even if you didn’t like it.
Even if those orders were unreasonable.
And although it might make him seem cold to say this, as long as he had his family—Albe, Cari, Leander, and the others—he had no problem leaving this country.
They had already found a place for a new home, so there was no real reason to worry.
As for their current hideout, it was unlikely to be discovered anytime soon.
He was concerned about Iseul and Raon, but that was something he could deal with by visiting them whenever he wanted.
So for Qiong Xing, it was actually a simple decision.
However, even if he was fine with it, the people around him were not willing to accept it so easily.
"W-what, brother! You must not associate with someone like him! This man will only be a bad influence on you—"
"Be quiet!"
"!?"
Brat glared at her as if he would not allow another word and the girl’s body trembled in shock.
"Who do you think you are? Just because you don’t like something, you think you can tell someone to leave the country? I’m too stunned to even respond."
"That’s right. And these kids are like family to us too. Telling them to leave when they’ve done nothing wrong... it sounds like the princess wants to pick a fight with the Adventurers’ Guild."
Only then did the girl seem to notice everyone’s eyes on her, but even as she looked around in confusion, not a single person stepped forward to help her.
"W-what is this! I only said he shouldn’t get close to my brother—"
"And why should you be the one to say that? He is with this person because he wants to be. You have no right to interfere, and no one wants to hear it. If anything, you’re just being a nuisance."
"......"
W-what should he do...? This was turning into something really serious!
Qiong Xing had been a little annoyed by the girl’s words, but to him, it was more like, "Oh, I see. Understood," something he could take lightly.
He never expected it to turn into this.
Feeling uneasy, he tightened his grip on Albe’s hand, which he had been holding the whole time—
He can kill them anytime.
Along with a firm nod, Albe whispered those dangerous words.
Qiong Xing quickly shook his head to refuse, but Albe shook his head back as if rejecting that refusal.
To anyone watching, the two of them must have looked very strange.
Sarin was smiling as he watched them, but the two were too busy shaking their heads to notice him.
Even though Sarin was smiling, no one realized that he was actually quite angry, since he hadn’t said a single word this whole time.
"Should he deal with that king...?"
No one heard the quiet words Sarin muttered.
There are people in this world you really don’t want to make your enemy.
"Qiong Xing."
"Yes?"
While the siblings were still arguing, Sarin called him in a low voice and gestured for him to come closer.
As Qiong Xing approached, he suddenly felt his arm being firmly grabbed.
Sarin usually looked happy and talked to him whenever Qiong Xing was around, but he rarely touched him, so being grabbed like this surprised him.
"This might take a while, so you two should go have some tea over there."
"Huh? No, we were actually about to go home—"
"Go."
"...Yes."
Without giving him a chance to argue, Sarin pushed him toward the room connected to the office. Though surprised, Qiong Xing quietly followed along with Albe.
"What do you think is going on with Sarin?"
"Maybe he panicked because he thought you were going to leave."
"Huh?"
What did that mean?
"Is he not allowed to leave?"
"...Seriously?"
Albe looked at him in disbelief as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Not allowed to leave... did that mean this was some kind of confinement?
"You were planning to leave and never come back again, weren’t you?"
"Yes."
The princess had just said that and Qiong Xing had agreed.
So he had nodded, thinking he would not come here again, but seeing his reaction, Albe let out a big sigh as if he was tired.
"Even if you’re fine with that, those two... no, three. Those three can’t accept it. That’s why they’re talking it out right now. And Sarin stopped you because he knew that if you left, you’d never come back again."
"I see. It seems like he has made them worry quite a lot. But I don’t think it’s something to make such a fuss about just because they are gone."
Everyone had treated him well, but Qiong Xing had only recently become an adventurer.
He didn’t think the guild would have any problems just because he left, so he tilted his head in confusion.
"They clearly liked you a lot."
He understood that and he was aware of it too.
"But they are both former adventurers, right? They must have experienced sudden farewells many times before."
If that was the case, he didn’t think there was any need to make such a big deal out of it.
"That’s true, but this is different. The reason is that girl’s unreasonable selfishness. There’s no way they can accept that. And you didn’t even argue back."
In other words, they didn’t like how Qiong Xing had simply agreed to go along with it.
"It’s enough that they are this angry for me. Besides, Katarina and the others have their own positions to consider. I don’t want them to attract unwanted attention because of us."
"...Yeah."