Chapter 12: The Apology
Whatever Qiong Xing had said to him earlier must have hit him harder than expected.
"As expected of Qiong Xing."
If the person himself heard that, he would probably ask what it meant, but ever since meeting Qiong Xing, he had changed.
No, he was trying to change.
At first, it had only been an apology for his superior’s mistake.
For a long time, that god had often slipped away from work and traveled around the world under the excuse of "inspection."
He had been scolded many times for it.
Among all the places, the one he liked the most was China, where Qiong Xing had lived.
In order not to reveal his true identity, he would take the form of a cat and go visit him.
After coming back from those trips, he would be in a good mood and actually do his work properly, so Solinus could not be too strict with him.
But then came that day.
When Solinus thought he had gone to see Qiong Xing as usual, he instead returned in tears, which shocked him.
"What should I do?! It’s my fault, my fault! Because of me, Qiong Xing! What do I do? What should I do?! Solinus, help me!"
Lunios was so confused that it was hard to understand what he was trying to say and the way he clung to him while begging for help only made things more chaotic.
After telling him to calm down and asking what had happened, Solinus learned that Qiong Xing had been hit by a truck while trying to save him when he was in his cat form.
"..."
This was his own mistake.
Allowing it just because work went more smoothly had come back to bite him.
He immediately checked on Qiong Xing’s condition and as expected, the injuries had been too severe and combined with his advanced age, Qiong Xing had passed away.
"...It is impossible to bring someone back once they have already died."
"But! But it’s my fault!"
"Yes, it is your responsibility. And it is also my responsibility for not stopping you. ...So let’s do this instead."
A life that had been lost could not be restored.
What was gone could not be brought back.
But something new could still be given.
"Let’s apologize together. I don’t know if he will forgive us, but if he does, we will arrange for him to live a new life. You can do that, can’t you?"
"!!!!"
No one knew how Qiong Xing would react.
But if he wished, he could be reborn in a new world as Qiong Xing once again.
Of course, he could also be reborn as someone entirely different...
"...Do you think he’ll forgive me?"
"I don’t know. I don’t know that person well enough to say for sure. But if he was willing to jump out and protect you, then he must have cared for you deeply. Even so, he might feel anger over what he suddenly lost, and he might resent you. Whether he forgives you or not comes later. First, what matters most is offering a sincere apology from the heart."