Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 130

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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 Can Wait, I Just Want to Heal — Episode 130

Just as Lion had anticipated, Licht’s wariness finally flickered to life.

‘That’s right. This person belongs to House Asteri.’

How many stories had he heard about House Asteri at the Temple?
How sharp the tongues of mages were, how they poured astronomical sums and manpower into research and development at the Magic Tower to check the Temple’s influence!
If even half of that gold had been donated to the Temple, they could have built far more Holy Sanctums.
Had it been so, wouldn’t the corrupted lands have diminished far more? — he’d heard such words beaten into his ears countless times.

‘So I need to be careful.’

Until now, he hadn’t known who this person was. But now he did, didn’t he?
No matter how much like an emissary of the divine—
No, even if appearing to be something greater, he mustn’t be swayed.
Licht gathered his resolve and asked carefully.

“……Could you tell me who that person is?”

Lion found Licht’s markedly altered response quite satisfying.
If Licht had been his disciple, he would have given him a reward point.

‘Yes. This is the reaction I wanted to see.’

There was good reason for the old saying about testing a bridge before crossing it.
This habit of questioning once, asking questions, and judging for himself — it would make life far easier down the road.

“There’s no need to be so tense. He’s someone the High Priest knows.”
“That means…….”

Licht immediately grasped the implication and his eyes widened.
Among those they both knew, someone useful to this matter.
There was only one person it could be.

‘Of course.’

Ricshel Asteri.
His own younger brother, who had been waiting and showing such patience all this time.

‘Ordinarily I’d have to ask that guy’s superior for help, but…….’

Licht’s company — no, the Temple — couldn’t offer any aid in this situation.
If he explained the circumstances, Lion’s entire identity would be exposed.
Of course, there was Ann, a trustworthy presence.
But for the High Priestess to handle this entire matter…….

‘It doesn’t quite fit.’

Unfortunately, the High Priestess’s position wasn’t one that could handle a “VIP”.
Had the “Holy Sanctum” developed an abnormality instead, Ann might have been of help.
In any case, there was not a single person at the Temple who could help Licht right now.
And knowing that made Licht all the more despondent.
Without the brethren he trusted and the Archbishop, he could do nothing.
Even though he had an ideal he wished to achieve.

‘Still, resisting was the right call.’

You couldn’t expect to be satisfied on the first bite.
Besides, I’m fortunate enough not to be entirely alone right now.

‘I’m here, after all.’

Lion Asteri—someone with painfully extensive experience navigating society.
Licht was caught between a rock and a hard place, but in truth, Lion still had plenty of options available.
And Lion had simply presented the most reasonable among them.

“Yes. He’s my younger brother.”
“So he is… the heir to House Asteri. Ricshel Asteri.”

I’d thought he wasn’t ordinary, Licht reflected.
He murmured softly to himself before lifting his head to study Lion intently.

‘If he’s on good terms with his younger brother, then why is his body in such poor condition?’

The more he learned the truth and conversed with Lion, the more this question kept surfacing.
In fact, when he’d first recognized Lion’s identity in the Holy Sanctum, Licht had immediately understood why Lion’s body was so weak.
The great House Asteri.
He’d wondered if an even bloodier succession struggle might be unfolding there than in the imperial family itself.
Or else—following the mage’s doctrine that “those without strength receive no aid”—perhaps they simply hadn’t bothered to treat the eldest son’s body precisely because he couldn’t use magic.
But seeing the way Lion now brought up his brother…

‘That’s not the expression of someone afraid.’

Though Licht lacked considerable experience, he was quick to read people’s emotions and hearts.
After all, understanding and empathizing with the sorrow and joy of the faithful was the priesthood’s most vital virtue.

“It sounds as though your brother has been doing well since then.”
“Yes. He’s been getting along well, thanks to your care.”

When Ricshel came up in conversation, Lion found himself laughing softly without meaning to.
That question had settled it for him.
Though he hadn’t elaborated much due to the circumstances, the emotion contained in those words was unmistakable.

‘Family.’

It was the same kind of feeling Licht carried for the Archbishop and his siblings.
If that was the case, then truly…

‘His lifespan is short.’

A complex sadness settled over him.
He found himself thinking that convalescing at the Temple might extend his remaining years, even if only slightly.
After all, he was chosen by Anyatras, the God of Eternal Flame.
In fact, if they were to spend time together, might he not awaken to something profound?
This man was a true ‘messenger of God’—or perhaps something more.

‘No. I shouldn’t think about this now.’

Licht reined in his wandering thoughts.

“Then, should I formally invite Ricshel Asteri to the Temple?”
“What? No?”

Lion’s eyes widened, and he shook his head.

“…Weren’t you trying to resolve this matter definitively through the heir’s power?”
“Of course, there is that method as well.”

To use power to suppress and silence—to extract Lion that way.
However, since the Temple had not resorted to such underhanded methods first, it would be more ethical not to employ them here either.

“Not this time. My younger brother will visit the Temple strictly as a member of my family.”

Lion offered a light clarification.
The plan was thus.
A VIP, after all, remained a guest—and guests could not be coerced by the Temple.
So if that VIP declared an intention to leave, the Temple would have no means to stop them.
Of course, under ordinary circumstances……

‘They would persuade him relentlessly.’

With honeyed words, true and false alike, they would urge him to reconsider and coax him into remaining at this Temple.
But Licht was here, was he not.

“Priest, you need only do one thing: display your willingness to follow my wishes unconditionally, simply because I hold the VIP Mark.”
“…Ah, I see.”
“Yes. If you do that, I will handle the rest myself.”
……
“Oh, and might you provide me with a fountain pen and paper? I have a letter to send.”

Licht was about to ask how he intended to send it when Nature, who had been perched at a distance until now, flew over and alighted on the table, raising her head sharply.

“This friend has rather considerable talents.”
“Ah.”

Licht was…… genuinely taken aback.
He had never imagined Lion capable of devising such a stratagem.
The Lion that Priest Licht had observed was consistently quite gentle in his ordinary conduct.
Moderate, unhurried, taking things as they came, living with an easy acceptance of what would be.
Yet he harbored a wish that as many people as possible might find happiness.
He appeared boundlessly magnanimous, like one for whom such benevolence was the very path of life.
Look at the matter with Peter, for instance.
On the surface, it seemed a well-trodden road had opened before him as a formal priest.
He would never go hungry, provided with shelter for life and healing through Holy Power.
For a commoner—and one born in an orphanage, no less—it was nothing short of a luxury, a path to prosperity and renown.
One could have dismissed his refusal to become a priest as mere childish sullenness.
Yet he had not. He was the sort to view the world with such warmth and tenderness.
And so perhaps it was inevitable that—
Without realizing it, Licht had thought: ‘A person so pure would never devise a scheme like this.’
Just as he himself could not.
He had done everything in his power for good, yet in the end, he too might be blocked, much as he was now.
But he was wrong.

‘That gaze……’

It resembled a predator risen from rest.
If a legendary hero were to reappear, Licht could not help but think they might wear precisely this countenance.
Licht clasped his hands together beneath the table, a habit born of habit.

“I understand. I shall do as you wish.”

Failure seemed unthinkable.
And together with that thought came another: a desire to observe and learn from this.
Even if this matter were to end.

‘……If it were possible, I should wish to see him often.’

As Licht listened to Lion’s explanation, he offered up that prayer in silence.

* * *

And the next day.
The Temple, thrown into chaos as expected, convened an emergency assembly.
Archbishop candidate Licht, who had completed the Holy Sanctum in a single night!
And the mysterious VIP he had brought along!
And finally…….

“I’ve come to retrieve my family.”

Even the VIP’s own family, arriving to reclaim them!
One incident alone would have been cause for tremendous upheaval, but when such events cascaded in a single day, the Temple fell into complete disarray.

“What are we to do about this?”
“The Holy Sanctum is truly functioning?”
“Yes. I confirmed it with my own eyes. The Holy Sanctum is undoubtedly……no, it was operating more beautifully than anywhere else. At this rate, Holy Water extraction should follow soon.”

Ann smiled warmly from within the conference chamber, her confirmation absolute: the Holy Sanctum was complete beyond doubt.
Coming from none other than the Academy Director herself, there could be no question of its completion.
Then came the second matter.

“Has anyone discovered the VIP’s true identity?”
“…….”

Silence fell over the conference chamber at the senior priest’s question.
As expected, no one had managed to gather any information about the VIP.
But to make matters worse, someone claiming to be the VIP’s younger sibling had appeared and was now demanding to take them away.

“What is Licht doing about this?”
“That is…….”

A formal priest answered, scratching his cheek.

“The VIP apparently fell ill from yesterday’s exertion, and Licht is personally attending to them. We haven’t even been able to attempt proper conversation with them.”
“Hmm.”

It was clearly a displeased murmur, but nothing more could be said.
Criticizing Licht at this juncture would mean the end of one’s future within the Temple.

“Then where is this family member now?”
“Well, others are attempting to stop them, but…….”

Apparently they’re roaming about inside the Temple, someone answered in the next moment.

“We, we can’t allow this!”

A commotion erupted outside—crash and clatter.

Bang!

The conference room door swung wide open.
And then.

“…….”

The red-haired boy who had flung the Temple door open on his master’s behalf—Barg—glanced nervously at the priests’ stares before quietly positioning himself behind his master.
Barg’s master lifted his head and slowly swept his gaze across the assembled Temple members, examining each one in turn.
Though it was merely a simple movement, even the senior priests found themselves momentarily overwhelmed by that gaze, their words catching in their throats.

“You’d all know then, wouldn’t you.”

The clamor in the hall fell silent, and a chill swept through the space like the bite of winter frost.

“Where is my brother right now.”

Ricshel, who had come upon receiving word from Lion, asked coldly.

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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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