A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 177: Muscle Talk

"How can someone build muscles?"

Without a doubt, it was the most difficult question Sarin and Katarina had ever been asked in their lives.

The two of them fell silent.

And then, for some reason, Qiong Xing repeated the same question again, just with slightly different wording.

That only made them even more surprised.

What was that?

"Since it’s important, I’ll say it twice"?

They wanted to say something, but when they saw Qiong Xing looking at them with such a serious expression, they couldn’t say a word.

This was awkward.

Very awkward.

If it had been any other adventurer asking this question, Sarin would have silently handed them a monster subjugation request or told them to go dive into a dungeon.

But the one asking the question was Qiong Xing.

Not only could Sarin not say something like that, he also had no desire to see Qiong Xing become a huge muscular man.

From what they heard, Qiong Xing had already tried several training methods on his own. But the people around him had stopped him and his own body had clearly reached its limit.

The fact that he relied on them made Sarin happy.

Very happy.

But this was not something they could actively support.

Sarin glanced to the side.

Katarina seemed to feel exactly the same way.

She looked uncomfortable and kept shifting her gaze.

The room fell silent again.

Just as Sarin was wondering what to do, Lian started crying at the perfect moment.

Sarin immediately suggested that Qiong Xing feed her milk first.

Good. That should change the topic.

Feeling relieved, Sarin calmly took a sip of tea.

Then.. .

"So, is there any good method?"

"Pffft?!"

"—Cough, cough!"

Sarin spat out his tea in shock.

Katarina choked beside him.

"What are you doing?" Qiong Xing asked calmly while wiping the wet table with a cloth.

Sarin apologized quickly, then asked carefully, "What... what method are you talking about?"

As expected, it was about muscles again.

"Well... you don’t really need to force yourself to build them, do you?" Sarin said carefully.

He tried to explain that if Qiong Xing’s body was already protesting, then he shouldn’t push himself.

But Qiong Xing immediately shook his head.

"To protect my family, muscles are necessary."

No, no, no, no

.

No. Absolutely not.

"That’s not true at all!?" Sarin shouted.

Qiong Xing’s statement had gone so far beyond normal that Sarin no longer knew how to respond.

"Well, that would only be the result," Qiong Xing said calmly. "I simply wants to become stronger."

"But you can use magic, Qiong Xing," Albe said, trying to help. "That’s already enough."

Sarin nodded quickly in agreement, but it seemed that Qiong Xing was not convinced.

"I indeed can use magic, but magic is mainly for long-distance combat, isn’t it? In close combat, muscles are still—"

"Wait, wait!" Sarin interrupted loudly. "You’re throwing grown men around like it’s nothing, so what are you even talking about!?"

"That is... more like self-defense techniques," Qiong Xing explained calmly. "But in a real fight where people grab each other, muscles are still—"

"You’re not going to get into fights like that!?" Sarin said quickly. "Actually, we won’t let you!"

"Why not?" Qiong Xing asked.

"..."

None of them even knew how to respond anymore.

From this strange conversation where it was impossible to tell whether Qiong Xing was being serious or joking one thing finally became clear.

"...You just want to build muscles, don’t you?" Sarin asked.

"Yes."

The answer came without even a moment of hesitation.

Sarin glanced at Katarina who had been quiet this entire time.

She was now holding her head in her hands.

It was a rare sight, but Sarin understood exactly how she felt.

"Um... well... why are you so focused on this?" Sarin asked, trying to gather more information so he could somehow persuade Qiong Xing.

"? Because it’s manly," Qiong Xing replied simply.

"..."

For some reason, Sarin suddenly felt a strong urge to pat Qiong Xing’s head.

So he did.

Katarina, meanwhile, dropped forward and rested her head on the table as if she had completely run out of energy.

"Well, I see," Sarin said with a gentle smile. "You’re still a boy after all."

"Huh? I have said that from the beginning," Qiong Xing replied.

Because Qiong Xing had always acted so mature, none of them had expected him to have such an age-appropriate and innocent side.

Sarin himself had once admired his older brother-in-law who had been a knight.

Thinking about that made Sarin feel warm.

He continued patting Qiong Xing’s head, but Qiong Xing soon spoke again.

"More importantly, is there a good method?" Qiong Xing asked seriously.

Sarin wondered what he should do.

Part of him wanted to grant such a cute request.

But he still absolutely did not want to see Qiong Xing turn into a huge muscular man.

"Well... if you’re just looking for manliness, then there’s no problem," Sarin said.

"Huh?" Qiong Xing tilted his head. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You’re already very manly," Sarin explained. "Your words are manly and so are your actions."

Qiong Xing often did surprising and unexpected things, but his ability to make decisions and act immediately was something very admirable.

Still, Sarin couldn’t help worrying that someone so capable might end up getting hurt one day.

"I... am manly?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sarin answered.

"That’s right," Katarina agreed.

"Exactly," Albe added.

"..."

At that moment, Katarina and Albe quickly joined in as well, taking the chance to support Sarin’s words.

When Qiong Xing suddenly fell silent, the three of them felt relieved, thinking that he had finally accepted it.

But then...

"...Then that means the only thing left is my appearance!"

"..."

The moment he said that with a bright smile, all three of them were defeated.

Once again, Sarin and the others found themselves completely at the mercy of their precious "grandchild."

"...Well, for now, maybe you should just eat more meat," Sarin said.

He had clearly given up on trying to persuade him and his words sounded half-hearted.

However, Qiong Xing looked very happy.