Chapter 365: The Child Who Took Human Form
He handed him water and used wind magic to cool him down so he wouldn’t become dehydrated.
"Waaah, that’s so refreshing~"
"You’re not feeling dizzy or anything, are you?"
"I’m fiii... ah! Hey, Lingxiao, stop that~"
Judging from Iseul’s expression and tone, he wasn’t in serious condition, but Lingxiao had apparently decided to smack his face repeatedly while he lay there.
Feeling sorry for him, Qiong Xing quickly intervened.
"Hopefully Lingxiao will be able to run around with everyone soon."
The tiny dragon waddling around on unsteady legs was adorable, but Qiong Xing looked forward to the day they could all talk together in human form.
"Give him a little more time," Raon replied.
After collecting everything they wanted and deciding it was best not to push Iseul any further, the family returned home.
...
"Mama, we’re hungry~"
"We’re hungry~"
"...Already?"
Qiong Xing had underestimated the appetite of growing children.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he had underestimated beastkin appetites.
Watching the amount they ate increase day by day, he finally understood why he could never keep up with the rest of the family.
They had eaten lunch only a short while ago, yet less than an hour later the twins were already demanding more food.
It wasn’t as though they had skipped lunch.
Nor had they eaten small portions.
In fact, they had consumed nearly as much as Qiong Xing himself.
Since Qiong Xing was still digesting his own meal, he found the situation impossible to comprehend.
The sheer amount they ate worried him enough that he eventually asked Joa about it.
"That’s normal. Honestly, those two eat less than most kids their age."
...Normal?
...Less?
...This?
"But you and the others don’t eat this often between meals."
Leander occasionally asked for snacks when he got hungry, but certainly not every few hours like the twins.
"That’s because we’ve already finished growing. Once your body’s fully developed, you can regulate yourself better. Kids their age can’t do that yet."
Apparently, because they were still growing, their bodies burned through energy constantly and needed much more food.
"I’m glad they’re growing well, but... I guess they’re really not going to take after me."
"You still haven’t given up on that?"
Looking at the steadily growing twins, Qiong Xing was forced to accept that while they might resemble him in appearance, they would never resemble him in build.
Perhaps Lingxiao would be the one to inherit that instead.
"Snack time isn’t for a little while yet... can you hold out until then?"
"No!"
"We can’t!"
With how firmly they answered, it seemed cruel to ask them to wait.
When Qiong Xing asked what they wanted to eat, the answer he received was simply:
"Something yummy!"
After some thought, he gave up trying to resist and started preparing a snack.
"Huh? What? What’s going on?"
Spotting Albe at the perfect moment, Qiong Xing promptly recruited him.
The moment he heard it was for the twins’ snack, Albe agreed without hesitation.
"I eat a lot too, but beastkin really are amazing."
"Right? I’m still digesting lunch."
At times like this, Qiong Xing genuinely wondered if he was the physically weakest member of the entire family.
Unlike back in his previous life, there was no fixed schedule of going to work every day, chatting with coworkers, and earning a salary in this world.
That did not mean people could simply spend every day relaxing, either.
There were no household appliances.
Cleaning, laundry, and countless other chores all had to be done by hand.
Even meals required effort.
Qiong Xing had it easier thanks to the magic bag he had been given, but vegetables had to be grown, and fish and meat had to be caught personally.
Living a self-sufficient lifestyle came with its own hardships.
Because of that, Qiong Xing spent his mornings cleaning, doing laundry, and preparing meals.
In the afternoon, he worked in the fields, maintained the flower beds, and, with such a large family, finished a second load of laundry before finally taking a break.
"The person who invented washing machines was a genius."
When he had lived alone, he had not used one particularly often.
Now, even running one twice a day probably would not be enough.
He knew it was impossible, but he sincerely wished the inventor of the washing machine could have been summoned into this world as well.
"I should probably make something for Yue and Rui soo..."
As he let out a breath and stood up, his vision suddenly warped.
The sensation disappeared almost immediately, but the brief dizziness made him sit back down.
Was it anemia? Heat exhaustion?
His appetite had been poor lately, so perhaps that was the cause.
"Maybe I’ve been outside too much today. I hope it’s not summer fatigue..."
"...Mamya."
?
The voice was small, but it sounded as though someone had called him.
Qiong Xing looked around.
"Mya... mamya."
"...? Where is that coming fr... eh... Lingxiao?"
His eyes widened in shock.
When Qiong Xing turned around, he froze in shock.
A familiar figure stood there.
The sight of his child wobbling toward him on unsteady legs, clearly still unused to walking in that form, nearly brought tears to his eyes.
"...It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that form, hasn’t it?"
The appearance he had seen in his dream had belonged to a slightly older version, but there was no mistaking it.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
It was adorable.
He had no idea what had triggered the change, but seeing that beloved form made him instinctively reach out.
"It’s inconvenient, isn’t it? You can’t fly in a human body. But you’re very cute like this too."
A dragon that normally soared through the skies would surely find a human body limiting.
Yet seeing him like this made Qiong Xing realize all over again that this was truly his child.
He praised him for working so hard and rewarded him with a small amount of magic power.
Lingxiao immediately brightened.
