Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 105

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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 Successor Is a Mystery, But I’ll Just Focus on Healing — Episode 105

‘Come to think of it, the Flame Plant needed supplements too.’

Because the fire essence was so potent, it required fire-attributed supplements.
If the Flame Plant alone needed them, surely the Evening Primrose—one of the finest materials—would be similar, wouldn’t it?

‘For instance, since it’s associated with the moon, maybe it needs moon-attributed supplements.’

The Flame Plant, which had stems and roots, needed supplements when brought into this new space, so a seed germinating would require even more care, not less.

‘Thank goodness I didn’t plant it right away.’

I’d nearly failed to nurture the Evening Primrose that my younger brother had gone to such trouble to procure.

‘But the size is rather small…’

Lion looked up, his gaze settling on Barg.
The red wolf—or rather, calling him simply a humanoid hardly did justice to how slight and frail his frame appeared.

‘That shouldn’t be possible for a humanoid.’

Humanoids, though scarce in number, were granted the strength necessary to defend themselves within their own bodies.
Wolf humanoids possessed formidable claws and agile frames.
Raptor humanoids could spread their wings and glide; bear humanoids could—simply put—tear apart ogres.
The traits varied, but one thing was certain: they all possessed an exterior strength that ordinary people could never match.
Yet Barg was not among them.
There were exactly two scenarios in which a humanoid could appear weak.

‘Either he’s afflicted with an incurable disease, or he’s about to be.’

Even in childhood or old age, humanoids could easily overpower two or three adult men—unless they’d contracted one of the rare diseases that only their kind suffered.

‘Among humanoids, they call it Eclipse Symptoms.’

Abnormal symptoms related to the sun or moon manifested depending on the nature of one’s race.
For instance, a humanoid capable of generating the sun’s essence would lose the ability to properly perceive the sun. Conversely, a humanoid who could manifest the moon’s essence…

‘Could not see the moon.’

Naturally, the quantity of essence they could produce would diminish, and that very essence would inflict severe damage upon them in return.
Their body grew weak with time, and their mind became unstable.
To speak more bluntly, they became closer to beasts than humans—so much so that the slightest lack of composure would bare their claws in savage ferocity, eventually sending them into a rampage that slaughtered everything in the vicinity before they collapsed from exhaustion and perished.

‘He still seems capable of moving about at night, though…’

Lion wondered if, given how diminished the essence had become, complications weren’t merely forthcoming but imminent.
As Lion’s gaze turned once more to the moon’s essence,

“I—I’m sorry!”
“…”

Barg jolted upright from his seat and threw himself flat on the ground.
It wasn’t even a proper bow.
He lay prone as though submitting to a beast of higher rank.
Lion, taken aback, abandoned his skewers and hastily pulled Barg to his feet.

“What’s wrong? Calm down.”
“I—it’s just… I’m so hungry…”
“Are you hungry? Ah, right. You must be starving.”
“Pardon? No, that’s not it—I’m hungry for the barley.”
“Oh. Yes, of course. Go ahead and eat.”

Lion caught Barg just as he was about to lie back down, seated him properly, and pressed two sausage skewers into his hands.
This ought to keep him still for a while.

“…….”

Barg stared blankly at Lion for a moment, then turned his gaze to the sausage skewers in his hands.
The savory, oily aroma wafted up; juices dripped from within, leaving the punctured portions glistening with moisture.
It had to taste good.
And fresh off the grill at that…….

‘But are dreams supposed to feel this vivid?’

Barg tilted his head uncertainly, then took a bite of the sausage.

Crack!

His teeth found the scored line perfectly; the sausage’s characteristic snap burst through his bite, and with it came a sharp, savory heat and the rich juices of pork flooding his mouth.

“……!”

He’d never eaten many sausages, but he was certain this was the finest he’d ever had in his life.
He lacked the vocabulary to describe it precisely.
Simply delicious! The aroma was wonderful! And the coarse-ground meat scattered throughout gave it a chewy texture that felt amazing on his tongue!

“Wow……!”
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”

Somewhere along the way, Barg had forgotten he was supposed to apologize; he devoured the sausages in his hands with gusto.

Gulp.

The moment the two plump sausages vanished down his throat as if by sleight of hand…….
Another sausage, this one without score marks, slid onto the griddle with a sizzle!

“This one has no cuts, so the texture should be even better.”

Lion grilled the sausages without pause.

“Eat.”
“Yes, right away!”
“Eat more.”
“It’s so, so delicious……!”

And Barg ate without stopping.

‘At least his appetite’s still there.’

As Eclipse Symptoms ravaged the body, it eventually reached a point where the afflicted could eat or drink nothing at all.
The body turned against itself, rejecting whatever was consumed.
In the final stages, the condition deteriorated with alarming speed.
So it was wise to replenish his energy while he still could.

‘I need to keep him well-fed for now.’

At present, Lion had no way to reverse the Eclipse Symptoms.
That’s because it’s an incurable disease.
In the World, there’s been only one case of someone overcoming that affliction.
Only the playable character Druid had managed it.
And even that was just mentioned in passing during the early character story introduction…… so I don’t know the exact method.

‘From what I gather, they couldn’t overcome it on their own and retreated into a remote forest to minimize casualties.’

But miraculously, they survived there, and as the Eclipse Symptoms vanished, they awakened as a Druid.
A miracle.
So it was unreasonable to hope for the same thing to happen twice.
Bittersweet as it was, Lion wasn’t a god.

‘I’ll search for a method, though.’

No one knew how long it would take.
So for now, all I could do was feed this creature until its body recovered properly.

Munch, munch.

Unaware of Lion’s thoughts, Barg happily chewed his sausage and began chattering away.

“Um, first I should apologize properly! I got so hungry that I ended up eating all of the Young Master’s barley.”

It was a proper apology, at least.

‘Apologizing before even saying his name.’

This one was quite peculiar too.

“I see. What’s your name, then?”
“Ah! My name is Barg!”

Barg didn’t seem to realize he’d never actually given his name, and he answered quickly before rambling on about other things.
That he was undergoing a Knight Order initiation.
And that through a fortunate chance, he’d received help from the Knight Order commander Rickson and ended up indebted to the order.
There seemed to be a deeper story beneath all this, but he didn’t tell that part.
Perhaps it was something too painful to even bring up.
Lion understood that feeling, so he simply let it pass.

‘Rickson brought him, though?’

None other than the Knight Order commander of House Asteri.
He couldn’t possibly be unaware of Barg’s condition.
At the very least, he must have brought him knowing he was a humanoid…….

‘He hasn’t reported it yet?’

Or perhaps Grandfather simply decided there was nothing to be done and wanted only to protect what remained of his life.

‘I should ask him about it later.’

Meanwhile, Barg continued chattering away.

“……and so a few days ago I joined as a novice trainee knight.”

Unlike his initial shyness, he talked more than expected.
That meant his guard had come down, which wasn’t a bad thing.
……unless he still thought this whole situation was a dream.

‘Huh, that’s possible too.’

Otherwise, he wouldn’t spell out every last detail like this, would he?
And then there’s this.
Before long, ears and a tail had popped right out, swaying gently with Nature’s mood.

‘Curious.’

Surprisingly, it didn’t look out of place at all.
Perhaps it would be fine to just leave it as is?
When the time came to return, Nature would notice and fix it anyway. Lion decided not to interfere.

“Here. This one’s yours.”

Instead, Lion roasted a small sausage, no thicker than a finger joint, and set it down in front of Nature.

“Cheep!”

Nature, who had been waiting with anticipation, eagerly pecked at the sausage.
The skin burst with a soft snap beneath her beak, and she busily licked at the filling inside—quite endearing, really.

‘So she doesn’t care much for the innards.’

Come to think of it, from Nature’s perspective, the casing might be tedious to chew through.

“Next time I’ll make it without the skin.”

While he was at it, he should also make some Beef Patties soaked in egg wash.

“Um, but…….”

Barg had continued speaking, then glanced sideways at Nature.

“Is that chick a Spirit?”
“Cheep!”

At the word “chick,” Nature let out a protesting cry mid-sausage.
Though it came out only as a small, clear little chirp.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Lion gently stroked Nature’s head as he answered.

“I see…… Ah, my apologies. It’s just that I’ve never actually seen a Spirit before.”

Never before?

‘Then that means he wasn’t here when the people from the Elf Kingdom came.’

So he really had arrived at the Asteri Family Estate quite recently.
If that’s the case…… then the most likely time was probably when I was with House Bydentis.

‘But if Barg can recognize that Nature is a Spirit…….’

He must have a high affinity for Spirits.
Quite a few similarities to a Druid, actually.
Lion regarded the red-furred humanoid before him carefully.
Those distinctive red locks and pale gray eyes typical of a red wolf humanoid.
Looking at other features like the shape of his eyes, there seemed to be…… similarities.

‘Could they be related, somehow?’

The Humanoid world was a tribal society, after all, so the possibility seemed significant.

“Oh, did I get something on my face?”

Lion was staring so intently that Barg grew self-conscious, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
Slick grease clung not just to his lips but smeared across his cheeks and the back of his hand as well.

“Finish eating first, then clean up.”

Lion set another perfectly cooked Sausage on the front plate as he answered.
Around the time sunlight began gradually flooding into the sky that had been nothing but black.
At last, Barg finished his meal.

‘That’s incredible.’

He’d prepared such a generous quantity that he’d half-wondered if it was even acceptable.
If there were leftovers, he’d boiled them with the intention of eating them for days afterward.
But now, that worry had vanished.

‘Actually, this is better.’

He preferred this wholehearted, indulgent eating to delicate nibbling.

…….

Barg lay sprawled out contentedly, like a dog that had eaten itself full on treats, before slowly becoming aware that something was off.
Something really was wrong.
Could you taste things this vividly in a dream, smell them like this, and feel your stomach full?
Barg reached out and plucked one of the skewers piled high in front of him, then poked his own cheek experimentally.

Sting!

“……Gasp.”

It hurt.
It shouldn’t hurt if this were a dream.
Barg held his cheek and blinked slowly, then gradually fell into a daze.

“What’s wrong?”

Lion recovered the skewer from Barg’s hand and tidied up the area.

‘Aaaahhhhh??’

Barg screamed silently in his mind at Lion’s casual demeanor.
On the outside, his mouth just gaped soundlessly.

“The dream……wasn’t a dream?”

Had he really not realized until now?

‘Wow, this wolf is really dense.’

There wasn’t a trace of wildness left in him.
Rather…….

‘He’s an idiot.’

Lion thought this to himself and delivered the final confirmation.

“I suppose it would be better if it weren’t, wouldn’t it?”

It was no dream.

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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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