A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 51: Like a Family

Let’s pray that Cari’s neck survives.

"Is it going to take much longer?"

They had walked quite a bit, so Qiong Xing asked if they still weren’t there yet.

Joa then pointed ahead.

"Hm? Is there something there... wow, that’s amazing."

Qiong Xing couldn’t tear his eyes away when he saw the scenery that was spreading out before him.

...

Cari had been asked by Fei and Ato to come search for wild raspberries, but while that was fine, the moment he took his eyes from Qiong Xing, he start to picking up only dangerous things, leaving Joa completely exasperated.

Although the way he confidently presented them to him was incredibly cute... amusing, but also incredibly worrying.

"I thought it might be tasty..."

Joa couldn’t fathom how Qiong Xing thought anything there looked edible.

What he picked out looked nothing short of poisonous, yet he reached for it with such delight.

Joa couldn’t take his eyes off him.

"By the way, Cari has really grown attached to you hasn’t he, Joa."

Qiong Xing looked genuinely happy as the two walked holding each other.

At first, Cari had been afraid of Joa, but now he was being held in his arms without any hesitation and Qiong Xing’s face naturally softened.

Even though he had said the child wasn’t blood related, it was clear how much Cari trusted and adored him.

The existence of a child he could never have of his own made his expression relax.

He had held other children of his friends before, but there was something different about this feeling, something uniquely stirring.

Trying to manage his emotions, Joa guided them toward the place where the raspberries grew.

Before him lay a colorful flower field.

"How beautiful...’’

Qiong Xing murmured softly as he took a step forward and..

Thud!

He fell perfectly in the face first.

"...How many times are you going to betray my expectations?"

Clearly, he hadn’t been watching his footing as he admired the field.

Qiong Xing had crashed headfirst into the flower patch, but fortunately, the flowers cushioned him enough that he wasn’t seriously hurt.

It’s just scraped his nose.

"Your nose is a little red. Well, it’ll heal quickly."

Joa helped Qiong Xing to his feet and gently rubbed his slightly reddened nose.

"I’m sorry. I got distracted by the flowers. This place is really beautiful, isn’t it?"

"Uh! Y-yeah? Well, the women often come here a lot, I guess."

Seeing Qiong Xing smile at the beauty of the flowers made Joa’s heart skip a beat.

Even though he was just checking for his injuries, standing close and seeing that smile made his chest flutter for no reason.

Realizing it was dangerous to linger, he quickly stepped back and set Cari who had been watching with concern next to Qiong Xing.

"Mommy, does it hurt?"

"I’m fine. It’s just a little scrape. It’ll heal quickly. Didn’t Joa say so?"

The two looked at him expectantly and he nodded while hiding his racing heart.

Feeling relieved Cari smiled and Qiong Xing who is now seated on the ground put the child on his lap.

After that, he began picking a few flowers.

Curious, Joa approached and peered at what he was doing.

Qiong Xing was carefully weaving the stems together and making sure not to crush the flowers.

"You’re so skillful."

As he admired the deftness of Qiong Xing hands.

Joa suddenly heard, "It’s finished!" and the then saw something placed on Cari’s head.

"It’s a flower crown. Cute, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, it really suits him."

The colorful flowers stood out beautifully against Cari’s white hair highlighting the child’s cuteness.

Cari who is unable to see it properly on his own head looked puzzled, but when he was told it looked good, the child’s eyes lit up with delight and insisted on making one too.

So the three of them tried making crowns together, with Qiong Xing guiding them.

Due to his large hands and size, Joa struggled to weave the flowers neatly, but Cari’s small hands proved surprisingly skillful and working carefully to weave the stems together.

Qiong Xing who saw their efforts eventually gave up on making his own and simply watched the two of them.

"I made it! This is for Mom," Cari said proudly, placing the finished crown on Qiong Xing’s head.

Qiong Xing smiled and hugging Cari warmly in return.

Even without a blood connection, the three of them looked more like a family than anyone else could.

"Then this is for Joa. Matching crowns!"

Joa laughed, saying it didn’t suit him and reached to remove it, but the word matching made him pause.

Although others might not understand the gesture, to Joa, it felt like a true family moment and he lowered his hand.

Afterwards, Qiong Xing picked a few flowers as souvenirs, and Cari quickly gathered the nearby wild raspberries into the basket they had brought.

"Do you think this will be enough?"

"It should be fine. If it’s not, we can always come back for more."

They didn’t take everything, leaving some for the other creatures of the forest, and carefully placed what they had gathered into the basket.

"Do you live in town? What about a house? If you want, you can stay here a while longer."

Joa realized he had said it aloud.

"...."

The silence was heavy.

"W-well, if you don’t want to, that’s fine too. The bed’s hard, and the food in town is probably better anyway."

"Really? We can stay?"

Joa was taken aback by the eager tone, but the excitement shining in Qiong Xing’s eyes was undeniable.

"That’s great! I was wondering how to ask. Living in town has conveniences, but it would be hard for Cari and the others. And besides, I really like this place myself."

Hearing that he liked the place so much made Joa feel that all the effort he had put into remodeling it had been worthwhile.

It might indeed be nice for Qiong Xing, but for Leander, Elias, and Cari, living in the town would probably be difficult.