Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Heir and the Healing – Episode 102

Barg crouched in the grass thicket, shadowing Lion at a distance.
He’d meant to apologize at once, but his timid nature had made him miss every opening.
And so, before he quite knew how, he’d ended up trailing along like this……

‘He really does get around more than I expected.’

In that short span of time, Lion had covered an impressive amount of ground.
First into the Kitchen, then back out to the Well, where he’d devoted himself entirely to washing those barley grains.

‘It really was quite fragrant and delicious.’

Barg watched from the grass and swallowed hard, his mouth watering.
He’d been ravenous enough that eating raw grain kernels—crunching them between his teeth—had tasted surprisingly good.
The rough husks hadn’t scraped his mouth, and there hadn’t been a single insect caught among them.
Of course, Barg possessed both the jaw strength and the digestive capacity to chew through grass and insects alike, but……

‘Still, that’s not……’

He ate to survive, not because he preferred such fare!
Yet this time had been different.
Barg had assumed it was the Commander’s thoughtfulness—
that he’d simply prepared the grain in a form that could be properly chewed and digested.
But to learn that someone else entirely had gone to the trouble, not the Commander himself……
The thought made heat flood his face all over again.

‘But what in the world was he trying to make with those grain kernels anyway?’

And for the Young Master of House Asteri to prepare it himself, no mere servant……?
Barg couldn’t fathom it.
Still, he’d taken food someone had labored over—he owed an apology……

“Oh.”

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice Lion slip back into the Kitchen.
Barg reached out from the grass thicket, but only a few green leaves tumbled from his body, drifting down.
Even as a member of the Knight Order, he couldn’t wander freely through the estate while still an apprentice—it simply wasn’t done.

“I, I suppose I’ll have to wait……”

Barg glanced sidelong toward the Knight Barracks Training Ground.
Though he’d come out intending to apologize, skipping training like this gnawed at his conscience.
The Commander had shown him goodwill by offering him admission……

‘Should I go back?’

Barg blinked slowly and stood there awkwardly in the grass, his eyes shifting back and forth between the Kitchen and the Training Ground.
Just as leaves fell from his hair to the ground……

Creak!
Rustle!

The door opened again, and Barg startled, diving back into cover.
The Young Master emerged, set more barley in a basin to soak, placed it in a shaded spot, and draped cloth over it—then wrote something on a note and set it on top.

—Owner present.

……

Reading those words, guilt pricked at his conscience.
Right—he could go apologize now!
But the moment that thought formed…
A fragment of conversation he’d overheard while doing chores came back to him.

“…Anyway, if the Young Master catches you in the wrong, you’re finished. Got it?”
“Yeah. He’s got a strict way about him—mess up once and he shows no mercy, or so I hear.”
“That’s right. They say he’s just like the head of House Asteri. That’s why in the Asteri Family, you can’t take anything without permission!”

……

He hadn’t heard the full story from the beginning, but one thing had become clear enough.
If he stayed here, he should avoid getting tangled up with either the Young Master or the family head.
Keep to himself, lie low, and just scrape by on meals.

‘But what if… he really doesn’t forgive me?’

He might not overlook a mistake.
The thought left him paralyzed. All the more so since he was in the wrong.

“Ugh…”

While Barg wrestled with his thoughts, Lion had already gone back inside.
Barg had a feeling he wouldn’t come out again today.

“Damn idiot.”

Barg cuffed himself on the head with his fist and emerged from the thicket.
At this rate, he’d manage neither training nor an apology.
Cowardice had its limits…
Trudging along despondently, he turned to head back to the barracks when—

Sniff, sniff!

A new scent caught Barg’s keen nose.

“Huh?”

Something richly browned, aromatic, savory, and deep.
The kind of aroma that made you want to sink your teeth into it right then, flood your mouth with its flavor…!

Gulp.

Barg wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and crept toward the source.
There was no need to look carefully.
Next to the basin with barley sat something new.
And it was…

‘Meat!’

A gorgeous, hefty chunk of cooked meat lay there!
The fatty parts were crispy and golden-brown, while the lean meat was so juicy it pooled in the dish.
It was just simple meat, yet cooked with remarkable skill.
Anyone looking at it would think, ‘If I don’t eat this now, I’m wasting it!’
The maker surely felt the same way.
To put such effort into crafting the perfect roasted meat, only to leave it untouched and growing cold?
Out in the open, no less?
That would be wrong…

‘Snap out of it, Barg!’

Barg’s eyes had been spinning in circles, mesmerized by the meat, when he slapped both his cheeks hard.
What am I thinking!
The first time, perhaps ignorance was an excuse—but now he knew better and did it anyway. The sin ran deeper.
And besides, wasn’t there a label right there saying “Owner: Present”?
Which meant the meat belonged to the Young Master.

“Come on. Get yourself together.”

This was precisely why he’d trained so hard in Patience Training as a pup.
Barg clamped his hand over his mouth and nose, turning his head away.

“……Ah.”

Then came a sigh.
His body’s tracking senses, now painfully attuned to food, had picked up something else with razor sharpness—a note.
Wedged beneath the dish holding the meat.

No owner.

“…….”

Barg. Think carefully.
The fact that he’d written “No owner” clearly meant the Young Master knew full well that his food kept disappearing.
So this had to be a trap.
Which meant the smart move was to pretend he’d seen nothing and just walk past it right now.

No owner.

The smell—primal, intoxicating—kept drifting over.
And it looked more delicious than anything he’d ever laid eyes on.
Not chicken. Not pheasant. Pork.
If he could just eat it, the vigour he’d lost to brutal training would come rushing back.
Barg’s reason and his wolf’s instinct waged war, both teetering on the edge.
And in the end…….

Yowwwl!

Barg clamped the massive hunk of meat between his jaws and bolted into the empty Grass Thicket once more.
When he emerged, his face was a portrait of satisfaction and remorse in equal measure.
His lips glistening with pork fat.

* * *

[Someone has eaten your food and is extremely satisfied!]
[Cooking Experience Points increase by five percent.]

“Just as I thought.”

Lion smiled with satisfaction at the message that arrived moments later.

‘Hard to resist.’

An ordinary person might have held back.
But the Humanoid Races are different.
By nature of their kind, their restraint runs thinner than that of humans.
Of course, in daily life they’re much the same—with practice, they can even retract their ears and tails into storage.
But in these slightly unusual circumstances, patience tends to crumble.

‘I’m not sure if I should be making that comparison…….’

It was like leaving fish with a cat, or setting treats before a greedy dog.
Unless the wolf had undergone some extraordinary training, or was already full.

‘That’s why I prepared meat for him.’

Well, at least he ate. That’s something.
This was only the first meal, after all.
Lion had no intention of approaching the wolf humanoid just yet.
One meal wouldn’t be enough to build trust.
But two, three, or perhaps ten meals.
Grow accustomed to food like that, and eventually he’d have to come.

“Yes. Good.”

Lion brushed the dust from his hands and smiled to himself.
So then, once a day he’d conduct his wolf-taming experiment.
He planned to offer the nameless wolf humanoid a variety of meat dishes.
He’d call his strategy “I mean you no harm” or something like that.
In any case, the next day and the day after that, Lion continued to prepare new meat dishes and leave them at the same time.
Some days it was Boiled Pork, other days he’d roast a whole chicken and set it out.
And each time…….

[Someone has eaten your food and is very satisfied!]
[Cooking Experience Points have risen by 5 percent.]

The nameless creature devoured the food cleanly, and Lion’s Cooking Experience Points climbed steadily.

‘It’s been about five days now, hasn’t it?’

In what was a short span, he’d learned a few things.
First.

‘He likes Pork.’

He ate other meats readily enough, but Pork was clearly his favorite.
On days when Lion used other meat, the word “very” was missing from the notification, which gave it away.

‘Ah, is it because he’s a wolf?’

Lion recalled that fairy tale where the wolf blew down all the pigs’ houses with his breath.
Considering that Elvia was a witch and baked excellent pastries, there seemed to be some truth to it.
And the next thing he’d learned was that the wolf probably wasn’t starving at all.
The quantity of meat Lion prepared was quite generous.
Enough that not just anyone, but even a wolf humanoid wouldn’t go hungry for the entire day or even into the next.
He’d thought at first the wolf was simply famished, but it seemed he was just possessed of an extraordinary appetite.
There was evidence for that too.
Nature had been secretly going out and collecting the wolf’s fur daily, but her description of its condition hadn’t changed.
If he’d been suffering from hunger, the quality of his coat should have improved, but it hadn’t.

‘I have my suspicions…….’

But since he hadn’t properly met the wolf yet and nothing urgent had surfaced, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
One misstep could only breed wariness.
Humanoid Races were extremely rare.
Especially rare ones like red wolves—Slave Traders would kidnap them, and they’d end up living as Combat Slaves or war trophies for the nobility.

‘He’s here now because he thinks it’s safe…….’

If he ever sensed that this place wasn’t safe, he would leave without hesitation.
Though, truth be told, the fact that he’d eaten without suspicion for days suggested he wasn’t overly cautious by nature—but it was better to be prudent anyway.

‘So I suppose I can start properly tempting him now.’

The barley had sprouted roots and green shoots, growing well enough that the malt was ready to harvest.
Lion gently loosened the clumped malt by hand and spread it out properly before heading outside.
This time, instead of the shaded spot where he’d kept it until now, he placed it in the sunniest spot available.

“Oh? Young Master! Aren’t you heading over there today?”

The Apprentice Servant, who had become quite familiar after showing his face for several days, posed the question.

“No. I need to dry it now.”
“Ah, I see. The sprouts came up really well. Hmm?”

The Apprentice Servant glanced at the basket Lion was holding and made a subtly troubled expression.
Should he say something or not?
The Apprentice Servant scratched his head before speaking.

“It seems to have grown a bit too well, though?”
“Doesn’t it?”

Lion answered with evident satisfaction, but the Apprentice Servant’s expression darkened further.

‘I was certain he was going to make beer……’

When brewing beer, sprouting the barley was indeed important.
But if the shoots grew longer than the grain itself, that wouldn’t do.
The starches would be consumed entirely, and without them, the alcohol—the very soul and essence of beer—could never form!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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