A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!

Chapter 221: Sudden Sleep

Narka usually used a greatsword of his own in battle and it wa different from the one issued by the castle.

He had always liked it for its cutting power and strength, but now when he saw something with even greater power and lightness he almost wanted to switch his sword.

"That said, it’s useless if you don’t have magic. Hey kid, you interested in joining us?"

"No, not really. To begin with, I don’t like hurting people."

Narka couldn’t make sense of that.

Then why was he able to come up with something this useful?

"As for the magic issue, couldn’t you just use magic stones? I think specialists would know better how to make them, but maybe you could have it designed so you can slot a magic stone in when using it, or make it so it channels magic directly..."

"You’re amazing!"

"W-wait—cough cough!"

"What are you doing!? If you hit him with that kind of strength, he’ll get hurt! ...Are you okay?"

"Cough... I’m fine."

Out of habit, Narka had patted him hard on the back in praise, forgetting that the person in front of him was a much smaller boy.

Seeing him coughing, those people around them grew concerned and Rohen even gently rubbed his back.

It seemed he had taken a liking to him, it’s quite rare.

"S-sorry about that."

"It’s alright. It just surprised me a little."

Seeing Qiong Xing respond with a smile without complaint or anger only made Narka feel even more apologetic.

...

"...What are you doing, Qiong Xing?"

Elias approached with a suspicious look and asked what he was up to, but Qiong Xing had no idea what he meant.

"I was thinking of going to fetch some water."

"...With that?"

"With that?"

Following Elias’s gaze.

"Huh? Why am I holding a ladle?"

"That’s what I’d like to know."

For some reason, Qiong Xing had been about to go fetch water with a ladle in hand, but he himself had no idea how it ended up like that.

More than that, he hadn’t even been aware that he was holding anything at all.

"With this, even getting a single cup would be difficult."

"I think that’s not the issue here."

What should he do?

Normally, the right answer would be to go back and get a proper bucket for fetching water, but for some reason, that idea didn’t occur to him at all.

Instead, he was seriously thinking about how to manage with what he had.

"How many trips would it take with this?"

"Why not just stop using that in the first place?"

"..."

They stared at each other for several seconds.

Then Qiong Xing beckoned to him and as Elias took stepped closer, he suddenly hugged him.

"Qiong Xing?"

Elias looked puzzled at the sudden action, but Qiong Xing said nothing and simply held him tightly.

He felt like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know what.

The more he tried to think, the more tangled his thoughts became, until he couldn’t make sense of anything.

Elias seemed to notice that something was off.

He gently held Qiong Xing in his arms and pressed their foreheads together.

"...You’re a little warm. Did you catch a cold?"

"A cold?"

A cold? Wind? He couldn’t even tell what was what anymore.

"I’m sleepy... I’m so sleepy, Elias."

Even though he knew he should go fetch water, he couldn’t resist the drowsiness that was overtaking him.

He let his head rest against Elias’s shoulder.

He didn’t remember doing anything that would make him sleep-deprived, but once he said it out loud, his eyelids grew unbearably heavy.

He wanted to sleep.

He shouldn’t sleep.

That conflict played out in his mind, but his body was honest and slowly, all strength began to leave him.

"...Joa... where... is Joa...?"

"Joa? Qiong Xing, what’s wrong?"

Elias thought he heard his name being called, but before Qiong Xing could respond, he lost consciousness just like that.

...

Qiong Xing had only muttered that he was looking for Joa before falling asleep, now breathing softly and peacefully.

It had happened so suddenly that Elias felt uneasy at first, but unlike before, Qiong Xing hadn’t collapsed from illness, he had clearly said he was sleepy.

It seemed he had simply fallen asleep, which was a relief.

"I’ll take care of the water later... but I should let Joa know, just in case."

Thinking that maybe Qiong Xing had been asked by Joa to fetch water, Elias decided to report it and headed to him.

"Fetch water? Qiong Xing? I didn’t ask him to do anything like that."

"...Huh?"

What did that mean?

Then why had Qiong Xing called out Joa’s name?

When Elias explained that Qiong Xing seemed to be searching for him, Joa tilted his head, clearly having no idea either.

"He felt a little warm, so I laid him down in his room. Iseul is watching over him for now. If you have time later, could you go check on him?"

"Yeah, got it. I was just about finished anyway. I’ll head over once I clean up."

"I’m counting on you."

If he were being honest, Elias wanted to stay by Qiong Xing’s side himself.

But Qiong Xing disliked it when others had their work interrupted because of him, so as much as it pained him, Elias left the caregiving to Iseul who had been visiting.

Since he was worried about leaving Iseul alone, he had also asked Cari and Mayo to stay with him, so it should be fine for now.

Looking back, Elias realized that he had gained quite a few people he could rely on in times like this.

Cari had grown much more dependable compared to when they first met and Mayo unexpectedly was quite caring.

Leander and Joa and even Iseul who had only recently joined them... he felt no resistance at all in relying on them.

Of course, part of him still wanted Qiong Xing to look only at him.

But just like the last time Qiong Xing collapsed, having others there to help was truly reassuring.