The person he had longed for since childhood was finally his.
At that mont, Sarin truly believed he was the happiest man in the world.
After that, the two of them continued working as adventurers for several more years. Then, when they decided they were getting too old to continue, they retired and started a guild.
At first, it was just a small hut.
As work steadily increased, they slowly expanded the building.
Now, it had beco the largest adventurers’ guild in the town.
They both grew older.
They were no longer able to express their love honestly the way they once did.
Even so, their feelings had never changed.
No matter what Sarin said, Katarina remained the sa.
She still loved him.
Katarina had a sharp tongue and a strong, almost masculine personality.
Many people at the guild were a little afraid of her.
Sarin was happy about that because it ant strange n would not approach her.
But at the sa ti, it also made him angry that others did not truly understand how wonderful she was.
Then Qiong Xing appeared.
When everyone else fell silent, Qiong Xing looked around with a confused expression.
From his face, it was clear that his words had been sincere.
He had simply and honestly praised Katarina as wonderful.
Not only Katarina, but Sarin as well began to like him in that instant.
In fact, Sarin almost liked him too much.
He had nearly killed him by accident.
Qiong Xing looked weak, yet he had enough strength to throw a grown man.
He looked like soone who would easily go along with others, yet he surprisingly had firm opinions of his own.
Sarin could understand why that old man would take a liking to him.
However, when they more or less forced Qiong Xing into a room to talk, even more surprising information ca out one after another.
He had a child and he was married to a man.
It was like opening a surprise box that never stopped revealing sothing new.
While thinking that, Katarina watched Qiong Xing as he held his child carefully in his arms.
Her expression looked sowhat happy and at the sa ti as if she were looking at sothing bright and dazzling.
While Sarin was still unable to hide his shock, the conversation between the two continued.
By the ti he realized it, Qiong Xing had already left the room.
After finishing their talk with Katarina and the others and after completing the request, Qiong Xing and his group were discussing going ho when it happened.
The entrance door burst open in a rush and everyone inside turned to look.
"F-found you!"
If his feelings at that mont had to be put into one word, it would be this...
Oh no.
It was a single reaction filled with many emotions: he had seen soone he did not want to see and t soone he did not want to et.
"...Hello."
He did not want to say it.
But it was obvious that the other person’s eyes were fixed on him.
Their eyes t directly, so it was too late to look away now.
He had no choice but to greet him.
In his previous life, he had made it a habit, as a working adult, to smile and greet people even people he disliked.
That habit ca out unconsciously.
"H-hello."
"......"
"......."
Say sothing!
The man had clearly co looking for Qiong Xing, yet the mont Qiong Xing greeted him, he fell silent.
So Qiong Xing also said nothing.
More than that, he did not want to say anything.
If he casually started a conversation and got caught by him, it would be a real problem.
"Well then, we will be going now. Please take care of us next ti we co."
Running away was the best choice.
After greeting the staff mber at the reception desk, Qiong Xing quickly left the guild with Cari and Albe before anyone could stop them.
...
They left.
But...
"Hey, what should we do about that?"
"Hm... what should we do indeed?"
If possible, he wanted to ignore it.
But if this continued, there was a danger that their hideout would be discovered.
He had known for a while that they were being followed.
In fact, he was almost amazed that the man thought he was hiding.
Not only was he unable to hide his presence, he was not even hiding his footsteps.
On top of that, he was clearly struggling in the unfamiliar forest, making rustling and crashing sounds behind them.
There was no way Qiong Xing would not notice.
It was almost as if the man was saying, "Please notice ."
But Qiong Xing and the others very much did not want to notice.
"Mama, should we take him down?"
Even Cari had started saying such dangerous things.
While thinking about what to do, Qiong Xing could not return to the hideout like this.
He gently stroked Cari’s back and told him it was fine.
Even though he was being followed, the man did not actually try to do anything.
There was no sign that he planned to attack or cause trouble.
If that was all, then maybe it was nothing.
But that was exactly why it felt creepy and annoying.
They could try to lose him, but if he wandered around the forest carelessly while searching, it could put their companions’ lives in danger.
"...Sigh. Albe, can you keep an eye on our surroundings?"
"Should I kill him?"
No, absolutely not.
If they killed the prince of a country, who knew what would happen after that?
"I’m good at hiding things."
"What are you hiding!?"
Albe was seriously starting to worry him.
Even though he knew Albe was only concerned about him, the things he was saying were far too dangerous.
With a resigned sigh, Qiong Xing stopped walking and turned around.
"I do not think it is proper to follow soone like this."
When he called out to the person who was sticking out from behind a tree, clearly failing to hide, the man trembled in surprise before finally stepping out.
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