A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 89: Lost and Found

That alone would have been one thing, but the eyes that looked this way were sharply slanted, and the front teeth peeking from their mouths were so sharp it seemed obvious they were made for biting into something.

...He would refrain from saying what exactly.

"Monsters aren’t supposed to be cute. Here, it’s dangerous, so stay back."

As instructed, Qiong Xing stepped back, and within a matter of minutes the rabbits were completely wiped out.

"That’s amazing. As expected of Leander."

"Heh, right?"

When Qiong Xing praised Leander for defeating them all so splendidly, Leander looked extremely pleased.

Even if it was for self-defense, he was glad he had let him carry a weapon.

"By the way, was it really okay to defeat these little guys?"

It occurred to him only now, although they had seemed about to attack, Leander had defeated them so easily, but what if they were protected animals? Wouldn’t that be a problem?

He didn’t know whether there was anything like an animal welfare group here, though.

"They’re monsters, so it’s fine. Actually, you have no choice but to defeat them."

"What exactly are monsters?"

"......."

That was a fundamental problem.

Leander had been calling them monsters this whole time, but were they different from animals somehow?

"A monster is... like, something that looks evil... no, dark and ominous... ah, what is it? Basically, anything that tries to attack us is a monster."

"...I see?"

He didn’t really understand.

But considering their clearly un-cute appearance and the fact they had been ready to attack, they certainly weren’t the kind of animals Qiong Xing thought of.

"What should they do with these?"

He had heard that rabbit meat was delicious, but he wasn’t sure if that applied to these.

Qiong Xing couldn’t butcher them and he felt reluctant to just leave them as they were.

"You could take them back to the hideout... but why not bring them to the guild? If there’s a request out for them, you could accept it."

Surprisingly, Leander showed good judgment.

"That’s true. If it doesn’t work out, we can just bring them back. Well then, we’ve gathered the herbs too, so let’s go to the guild... Cari?"

Cari who should have been beside him just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Qiong Xing quickly looked around, but couldn’t find Cari anywhere, leaving him bewildered.

...

"Where’s Mama?"

Cari realized that no one was around just before Qiong Xing and the others encountered the monsters.

From a distance, Cari had spotted the herb he was looking for, and wanting Mama to praise him, he ran to pick it.

While searching for other herbs nearby, he ended up wandering quite far away from Qiong Xing and the others.

No matter how much he searched, he couldn’t see Mama anywhere.

Even when he called out, there was no reply, no sound at all, which only heightened Cari’s anxiety.

"Mama, Mama! Mama—whoa!"

Unable to bear being alone, he started running, but tripped over a stone at his feet and fell.

"Uu... it hurts... it hurts... Mama, Mama, waaah..."

Looking down, he saw blood coming from his knee and for a child like Cari, it was more than he could endure.

He burst into loud tears, calling "Mama, Mama," over and over as he sat down right there.

"No... don’t leave Cari behind. Cari wants Mama. Mama..."

As he kept crying, not knowing what to do, he suddenly felt something touch his hand.

"Mama! Ma—huh?... Mayo!"

Mayo was licking his fingers and Cari hurriedly hugged him.

"Mayo, Mama’s gone. What should Cari do?"

Clinging tightly to Mayo, Mayo didn’t resist and instead nuzzled against Cari’s cheek.

"You know, Cari wanted to give Mama a leaf.

Mama always says ’Cari did a great job.’ That’s why Cari looked really hard."

When he showed the herb he had been holding, Mayo nodded as if in agreement, then, seemingly thinking of something, dragged over the bag he had been in earlier.

"? Cari isn’t getting in, you know?"

"Mayo~ Mayo~"

After bringing it right in front of him, Mayo tapped the bag with his tail, then tapped Cari’s right hand that was holding the herb.

"...Okay, Cari will put it in. I’ll give it to Mama later."

Apparently understanding Mayo’s intention, Cari looked back and forth between the bag and his hand, then carefully put the herb inside.

"Mayo, you get in too. Let’s go find Mama together."

"Mayo~"

Thanks to Mayo, Cari regained a little energy.

He then slung the bag with the herbs and Mayo inside over his shoulder and started walking.

"Mama! Mama!"

Calling out for Mama while looking around for him, he searched for any sign of him.

Because he was a child, his steps were slow, but as he moved forward little by little, he arrived somewhere unfamiliar.

It seemed to be someone’s house.

He felt scared, but as he timidly approached, he saw a field right in front of it, with several vegetables that he recognized.

"Grrr~~"

Perhaps from moving around so much, his stomach let out a loud growl, and he held his belly.

"I’m hungry."

But the lunch was in Mama’s bag.

Since the weather was nice, they had brought a lunchbox so they could eat outside.

"I want to eat Mama’s food."

Cari had been really looking forward to lunch, because he believed that nothing Mama fed him could ever taste bad.

But now that he had become separated from her, he didn’t know what to do.

Ever since being taken in by Qiong Xing, he had been able to eat three proper meals every day.

Having grown used to that, not being able to eat now felt especially hard.

"Mama! Mama!"

"Oh my, what an adorable little visitor."

"!?"

Startled by the sudden voice from behind, he jumped in surprise.

He then rurning around nervously and saw an unfamiliar old woman.

"...Mama."

"Oh dear, are you lost?"

"Mama’s not here."

After saying just that, he slowly backed away.

Cari had noticed that the old woman didn’t have beast ears.