Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 127

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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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I Don’t Know About Successors, But I’ll Just Heal — Chapter 127

Fire spread across the faint trickle of water, and both Licht and the spring were engulfed in a single mass of flame.
Though it was a blaze vast enough to swallow a modest cabin without effort, it gave off no heat whatsoever.
Instead, it was warm—like the embrace of a mother one has missed.
The fire traced the contours of the delicate carving along Licht’s hand, climbing upward in gossamer tendrils.
And then it flowed into the dark hollow from which the spring water emerged.
It seemed as natural as the way things had always been meant to be.

‘Awaken.’

Licht did not waver in concentration, striving to rouse the Incomplete Sanctuary.
In that moment when cold sweat began to trickle down his flushed face—

Thump.

The entire Sanctuary pulsed gently, responding to Licht’s Holy Power.
It had accepted him.
The Sanctuary that had received only the Archbishop and the Saint’s Holy Power—
Now accepted new Holy Power.

……

A faint smile crossed Licht’s face.
Fortunately, the first button had been fastened correctly.
Now all that remained was to distribute his strength carefully—within the limits of the power granted to him—so that he could fully awaken this Sanctuary.

‘I must succeed. No—I will succeed.’

Perhaps this was truly his first real step, not merely as an ‘Archbishop candidate,’ but as one who carried the name ‘Licht.’

‘I was the only one who didn’t know the Archbishop had fallen asleep.’

Licht’s gloved hand trembled.
He understood well the hearts with which his Elder Brother and Elder Sisters had hidden this truth.
How carefully, how tenderly they had watched over him, their youngest.

“Our little one mustn’t worry about such things.”
“We’ll make a good world for you ourselves.”

……

He knew it.
Perhaps they had hidden it more deeply because they sensed that he held them as more than mere siblings.
Fearing he might suffer some wound to his heart, or worry too greatly.
Concealing it as much as possible so that it would not hinder the work he had to do.
All of it from the wish that he not bear any burden at all.
And yet……

‘It’s infuriating.’

He did not know whether a priest who served God had any right to harbor such a feeling.
Licht found himself strange for even possessing such an emotion.
But still, it burned within him.
The sheer fact that he had not known.
How pitiful he was, doing nothing but receiving protection.
And how the shame of his own uselessness turned even this emotion into something he wanted to hide from them.
He wished he could crawl into a mouse hole and disappear.
And so, it became all the more urgent.
Perhaps it wasn’t the ‘greater good’ after all. No—it certainly wasn’t.
I’d dressed it up in noble reasons, but… that’s all they were.
Just.

‘I want to show them.’

That I’m not merely someone to be protected—Elder Brother, Elder Sister, and the Archbishop sleeping upstairs. I wanted to prove it to them.
So I’d decided on the smallest act of rebellion: completing the Incomplete Sanctuary on my own terms.
Licht gnawed at his lip, grinning widely.

“…….”

Lion glanced at him once, then turned his gaze away and stepped aside.
He couldn’t quite explain why, but judging by the look on his face, Licht seemed to be taking his own first steps into something.

‘Beginnings are always the hardest, after all.’

Like the moment you remove the training wheels from a bicycle.
When you think someone’s holding you steady from behind, but suddenly you realize you’re pedaling alone.
When you turn to look back and find nobody there—that’s when fear hits.
But even then, you can’t stop moving.
Sure, some of it is the panic that you’ll topple if you do, but…….
There’s that rush of freedom when the hands that were steadying you from behind—controlling your speed—finally let go.
The cool wind felt at a faster pace, the open vista spreading before you. Trees and hedges blur past in a streak.
Blue sky, wind brushing your cheeks.
Frightening and difficult to attempt, but thrilling and deeply satisfying once you pull it off.
The kind of feeling that makes you want to grab anyone nearby and shout, “I did it!”
All those sensations tangle together and forge something called pride.
That emotion is so addictive you find yourself sinking into it without thinking.
After that, even if you fall a few times, you never again wish for someone to steady the bicycle from behind.
But what if you get tired?
Then you simply dismount and rest for a while.

“Though for now, it’s all so vivid that explanations like that hardly seem necessary.”

Lion watched as the spring bubbled and overflowed, the water spreading along channels carved through the ground.
It was magnificent.

“You look like you’re surveying something you’ve already lost.”
“Chirp.”

Nature wore an expression that seemed to say ‘I could’ve done any number of things here,’ before perching and settling into a nest atop Lion’s head.
The spirit had enjoyed the hot spring water well enough, but this didn’t seem to be to its taste.
Well, Holy Water and Spirit Water carried entirely different powers, so that made sense.
Or maybe the spirit was simply missing Elvia.
The two of them had quite a bit in common, after all.

‘If that’s the measure, then a witch and a spirit aren’t incompatible after all.’

Since Nature was a spirit king, perhaps it transcended elemental affinities altogether?

‘Hard to say.’

In any case, each time a droplet of spring water splashed onto a plant, the grayscale vegetation that had been rigid as stone crackled and came alive with color.
Lion thought it was like watching paint applied to a sculpture that had been rendered in black and white.

“……Paint?”

In that instant, a lightbulb clicked on inside Lion’s head.

‘Like paint?’

Lion sprang to his feet and surveyed the interior of the Sanctuary.
Now that he looked at it, didn’t it resemble a blank white canvas?

‘Come to think of it, they did say this place was like an incomplete Labyrinth.’

That meant its purpose wasn’t entirely fixed—it could be reshaped with considerable freedom.
And the medium for that reshaping was this holy water. Either way, Holy Power functioned like life force itself.
He didn’t understand the mechanism, but within this Sanctuary….
Perhaps. Perhaps it was possible.
That through this holy water, he might perfect this place even further.

‘If this incomplete Sanctuary itself is the sketch, and that spring is the paint.’
Lion glanced sidelong at Ricshel, then stepped before a tree.
The wood was withered and brittle, evidently devoid of any vitality.

“Sorry—I’m going to carve off a little piece.”

Lion took the carving knife from the Tool Set and pared away a small section of bark.
The bark was dry and crumbly, the sort of thing that would splinter and crumble like a stale biscuit if handled carelessly at all.

‘Take it slowly.’

Lion began carving with meticulous care.
First, he shaped a pair of wings while preserving the wood grain as much as possible.
Drawing on his experience making blocks for Peter, he crafted a body to receive the wings, cut a groove, and fitted them snugly into place.

Click.

Fortunately, the grooves aligned perfectly. Though fragile, it seemed sturdy enough to withstand an ordinary breeze.

‘Finally….’

Lion twisted thin twigs and leaf stems from the ground to form antennae for direction and legs for the butterfly to rest on.

[Butterfly Model (Incomplete)]
-A butterfly model crafted from fragile material.
-The natural texture of organic matter remains, creating a unique tactile quality.

For something made from such crude materials, the butterfly model turned out reasonably well.

‘I was worried it might be classified as something strange when made from bark….’

It had barely squeaked through as a butterfly, apparently.
Not that it would have mattered if it were something else, but still—a butterfly looked nice.
Lion exhaled with relief and withdrew a brush.
Now that the model was complete, it was time to begin the real experiment.

‘Not that the experiment amounts to much.’

Lion filled a Potion Bottle with the faintly trickling water, then plunged the brush into it.
Once the bristles had absorbed sufficient water, he squeezed gently at the bottle’s mouth to regulate the moisture.
Too much liquid and the delicate model would collapse entirely.
And…..

“Here we go.”

With even greater care than carving, he began brushing the holy water onto the butterfly model.
As though painting and watching it sink in.
So it began.

Shhhhh—

The transparent water soaked in cleanly.

“……Huh?”

And that was it.

“Chirp chirp.”

Nature fluttered her wings above his head.

“Ah, you’re saying it’s not quite enough?”
“Chirp.”

Now that he looked, the butterfly model gleamed faintly, as though a polish had been applied to it.
Lion dipped his brush in water once more and painted on additional color, just as he had before.
With each stroke, the shine deepened, and at some point the words “Incomplete” that had been attached to the back of the butterfly model vanished entirely!
After repeating this several times more, layering color upon color as though painting a watercolor……!

A faint tremor.

The butterfly model—which should have remained perfectly still—moved.
Its once-colorless body shifted to blue, its wings trembled with a soft rustle, and it soared up toward the sky.

“……!”

At this astonishing sight, Lion could only stand there with his brush raised and his mouth hanging open.
He’d only tried it on a whim, but it had actually worked.

[You have invented the Sanctuary Butterfly (★★)!]
-A water-attribute butterfly that drinks from the Sanctuary’s spring and shares that water with plants.
-A special space and a drop of creativity. What else could one need?

[You have created a special object in a special space!]
[You gain tremendous bonus experience points from all skills used in its creation!]
[Woodworking proficiency has reached Apprentice Lv.6!]
[Painting proficiency has reached Apprentice Lv.4!]

And……

[You have made a great contribution to the completion of the Incomplete Sanctuary!]
[The god of the Eternal Flame, Anyatras, takes notice of your good deeds.]
[Should you desire it, you may walk the path of the Priesthood whenever you wish.]

The notice of a god, no less.

‘Ugh……’

Fortunately, it seemed the system was being considerate of his current situation and had not immediately bestowed the Holy Power of the priesthood upon him.

‘I’m genuinely grateful for the attention, but……’

……For now, he didn’t urgently need Holy Power!
Besides, he had no idea what would happen if he possessed both Holy Power and Mana at the same time.
Lion shook his head rapidly.

‘Get it together.’

True, what Lion had accomplished was certainly unconventional, but strictly speaking, what he’d created wasn’t a “living creature.”
The notification window had classified it as an invention or special object, after all.
So later, when Licht woke up and asked what it was, Lion could simply dodge the question or claim he’d devised it as a tool for watering—

“Right, first I need to see how much water the butterfly delivers.”

He had to verify its performance first.
He needed to determine what area a single butterfly could cover.
Lion turned around to track down the butterfly that had fluttered off.
And then.
He noticed that much of the butterfly’s flight path had already turned a shimmering blue, as though paint had been sprayed across it.

“Hmm.”

So the butterfly’s effect was… remarkably effective!
Perhaps a dozen or so could cover this entire Sanctuary.

‘I’ve essentially built a spring-fly instead of a sprinkler.’

Well, so be it.
Why not make a few more while I’m at it?

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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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