Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 176

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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? No Thanks, I’ll Just Relax — Chapter 176

“A request?”

Jack echoed the word as if he couldn’t believe the Hero had just asked him for something, his voice rising slightly with surprise.
The Hero laughed awkwardly and steered the conversation in a different direction.

“Ha, well, it suddenly brought back some old memories, you see.”
“Old memories? What are you talking about?”

The Hero and his companion.
The conversation between these two men—whose achievements were so extraordinary that calling them the saviors of the world would be no exaggeration—flowed in a remarkably ordinary way.

“Back when you rifled through my pockets…”
“Ha! I never did any such thing! That’s all ancient history… surely you’re not planning to punish me now that the war is over?”

Lion felt a silent laugh bubble up inside him as he listened to their exchange.

‘That’s right. That did happen.’

He’d forgotten about it, but hearing them talk brought the memory back vividly.
The Hero’s companion. That was Jack’s first appearance in the story.
The memory was vivid enough that even Lion, who’d skimmed through the story carelessly, recalled it clearly.
Just as the conversation suggested, Jack had stolen from the Hero’s pockets.
Moreover, the pocket had contained a quest item of considerable importance, and there was something amusing about the game’s main character—the Hero himself—being pickpocketed by someone else.

‘Of course, it was all just setup to recruit him as a companion.’

After that, everything unfolded exactly as expected.
Jack joined the Hero’s party, gradually became entangled in increasingly serious matters, and eventually became the key player in resolving a massive incident as the boundary between the Demon Realm and this world grew thin.

‘But looking at the conversation now…’

It seemed the current timeline was already shortly after the war had ended.
And Lion could sense it instinctively.
Something important was about to be said.
Lion strained to listen to every word of their conversation.

“I’m heading to the Great Barrier tomorrow. I’ll be there for a week.”
“So that prickly Mage and the Saint finally finished it, have they? But why are you telling me this?”

As if to say he had nothing to do with it, that he’d washed his hands of this “playing hero” business.
Jack drew a clear line.

“I’m done playing the hero and going back to where I belong.”

He grumbled that he had no interest in getting swept up in politics or risking his life in combat.
The Hero said nothing for a long moment.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Instead, the Hero simply stared at Jack intently.
It seemed almost like he was applying some kind of silent pressure.

“I’m serious. I’m done.”
“……”
“Especially with you. I have no intention of getting tangled up with you again. And, well, to be honest, I haven’t made nearly enough off that pickpocketing incident to pay you back in—haa.”

He wasn’t listening at all.
Jack had poured out a torrent of words, but realizing it was getting him nowhere, he exhaled a long, deep sigh.
Once Jack had exhausted himself and finally fallen silent, the Hero at last opened his firmly sealed lips.

“As it happens, I’ve disengaged the warehouse’s security and come out.”
…
“And quite by coincidence, a few items from the warehouse will go missing without anyone noticing for some time.”
Right now…
“Wouldn’t it be better if those items went to someone who actually needs them?”

In other words, he was giving permission to ransack his own warehouse.

‘…So that’s how the Fragment of Holy Sword came to…’

flow into the Underworld and end up in my hands?
Now I understood how it had passed through Jack and the Second Imperial Prince before reaching me.
But why?

‘Because the war is over?’

Because there’s no longer any threat to life, it’s acceptable?
Because he is the strongest in this world, he’ll never face a threat to his life?
Being generous, one could think that way.
With achievements of this magnitude, it wouldn’t be arrogance but confidence.
And yet, wasn’t something still off?

‘Better to keep it and use it if someone close to me falls in danger.’

The Saint, for instance.
The Saint’s sudden death had already become known throughout the Empire.
She possessed exceptional Holy Power and held great symbolic weight as the former High Priestess.
As a Hero who cherished and protected his comrades, wouldn’t it have been better to give the Fragment of Holy Sword to the Saint instead?
Or perhaps the Saint wasn’t a suitable recipient in the Hero’s judgment?

‘Now that I think about it, how exactly the former High Priestess died…’

was never made entirely clear.
There were rumors—that she was already on borrowed time from fighting Demons, that her lifespan was naturally short—but nothing concrete.
And.

‘Wait.’

When exactly did the Hero disappear?
Sifting through the clues and conversations I’d gathered so far, one thing was certain: the Hero hadn’t died somewhere.
He had simply vanished without a trace.
If that’s the case…
Lion concentrated his mind as hard as he could, thinking it through.
It felt like trying to catch something just barely out of reach, a suspenseful game of tag where the answer kept slipping away.

‘What I am certain of is this.’

The Hero is acting with some deliberate intention.
Whether the Saint knew of his plan was unclear; his grandfather and Jack did not.
Likely, he never told them.

‘But those two, if anything…’

they could have been gathering information about the Hero’s disappearance on their own since then.

‘The Elder Elf, though—I’m not sure about them.’

The Elf Kingdom isn’t somewhere we can visit right now, so let’s set that aside for the moment.
And the second thing.
The Hero had planned all of this from a point when the war with the Demons was already underway.
That also meant he’d known the war with the Demons wouldn’t end.
And in fact, the Hero’s conjecture proved correct.
Even now, Demons still linger in this world, don’t they?
The grim history of House Bydentis, or the Curse afflicting the Second Imperial Prince—things like that.
And the Demon Beast Egg, too, had originally come from the Demon Realm.
What he’d once dismissed as mere coincidence was now beginning to show its true shape.
Just as Lion was about to continue his thoughts.

“You really do act on your own whims, don’t you?”
“Hah, hah, hah.”
“Fine then. But there’s something I need to confirm.”
“Confirm?”
“What you’re about to do. Is it truly the right thing to do, this time as well?”
“That is…”

The Hero trailed off differently than before.
But Jack clicked his tongue as if he’d known this would come.

“Tch—you’ll say you don’t even know if it’s the right thing anymore, won’t you?”

Jack grumbled for a while before letting out a sharp sigh.

“Ah, how sinful!”

Here he’d saved everyone, only to have to humor the nonsense spouted by a selfish few. This was what it meant.
Too good-hearted for his own good!
Disgruntled, his feet tapped against the ground with sharp, rapid strikes.
After grumbling for quite some time, Jack finally accepted the request.

“Hmph. Your best effort will surely be the right thing, so this time! This once! I’ll help you.”
“I’m grateful.”
“If you’re grateful, I’d appreciate it if you’d forget the memory of our first meeting.”
“Hah, hah, hah. That’s one I can’t forget.”

And the rest of the conversation was ordinary small talk.
The only thing slightly unusual was that the Hero repeated the exact words Jack had spoken to the two children earlier.
Use it if you need it; when need passes, give it to those who require it.

“There you go with the lectures again. Still treating me like a foolish child from years back.”

Jack replied perfunctorily, as though he’d grown weary, and soon the conversation came to an end.
The Hero and Jack seemed to be parting ways.
Their footsteps receded from one another.
After a long, distant reverie, a clear voice echoed once more.

“That final request certainly did drag on…”

It was the dying old man’s last whispered thought.
Jack—now the old generation—let out one final, solitary laugh, and…
…
…

“…!”

In an instant, his vision flipped.
The darkness that had veiled everything before his eyes lifted, and his body returned to reality.
The moment the old Jack’s breath left him, he could instinctively sense that Story Mode had come to an end.
His body was on the verge of collapse, but he managed to catch himself on the table and sofa with his arms, sparing himself the indignity of a tumble.
How long had it been, though?

“Are you well?”

Lion lifted his head stiffly, regarding the Second Imperial Prince.
The man wore a rare expression of bewilderment as he looked at him, one hand awkwardly extended.
From the stiffness of that gesture, Lion could read the timing easily enough.

‘Only seconds have passed in reality.’

Lion’s head still spun with dizzying vertigo, but he managed a subtle shake and forced himself through a quick situational assessment.
He checked his Disguise Mask with a raised hand, confirmed it was intact, and only then allowed himself an inward sigh of relief.
He’d witnessed and heard an extraordinarily long narrative, yet in the waking world, mere seconds had elapsed.
For that, at least, he was grateful.

“I’m fine. Seems I pushed a bit too hard.”

Had the experience taken any longer, he suspected something far worse would have happened.

‘I should leave early today.’

His original purpose—lifting the Second Imperial Prince’s curse—had been achieved, and he’d gained extraordinary additional information on top of it.
Under better circumstances, he would have pressed the prince about his predecessors or the current situation, but…

‘I feel ruined.’

His body felt dreadful.
And if he suddenly started asking questions now, the Second Imperial Prince might begin to suspect something amiss.

“I’ll accept the gift gratefully. Until next time.”

Lion rose to his feet.
His insides roiled as though they’d been churned inside out.
This hadn’t happened when he first encountered Story Mode—a strange development indeed.

‘…Could prolonged Story Mode exposure have side effects?’

It was a plausible theory.
If so, he needed to return to the hotel and rest quickly.
Perhaps Nature could manage this as she had his nausea before.

“Wait.”
“A parting best made swift. We’ll meet again if fate allows.”

The Second Imperial Prince called out to stop him, but Lion simply couldn’t afford a leisurely conversation.
If his stomach lurching continued, he’d empty it all over the floor.
He’d rather not do that in front of another person.
Lion left the room at a brisk pace, one hand clamped over his mouth.

“Ugh—”

He ended up vomiting on the hotel floor instead.

‘God, this is embarrassing.’

Regardless of how luxurious the establishment or how dear the price of entry, he doubted the staff relished cleaning up another guest’s mess.

“…Huh?”

Lion stared at the red liquid smeared across his hands and palms.
The moment he recognized the crimson stain, a metallic taste flooded his mouth.
Had he just coughed up blood?
Him?

‘…The fact that it’s red blood means I haven’t absorbed the Curse.’

Lion forced himself to remain calm.
He’d coughed up blood, yes, but only a small amount—and seeing no trace of black light meant this wasn’t a Curse problem at all.
Rather, this resembled the kind of internal injury that swordsmen and Mages suffered when they depleted their power excessively.
If that were the case, absolute rest for a while and a potion for internal recovery would solve it.
Ricshel would worry himself sick if he found out, so Lion decided he’d remove the Disguise Mask only after returning to his room and washing away every trace of blood.

‘It’s fine.’

So let’s just get back and rest.
Lion wiped his mouth clean with the back of his hand and resumed his step after that brief pause.
But as they say, there’s no such thing as a perfect crime.

……

After Lion left, the Second Imperial Prince slipped through the incompletely closed door and looked down at the floor.
There were several things that Lion, coughing up blood for the first time in his life, had overlooked—first among them being that the Second Imperial Prince was skilled enough to sense even the slightest presence beyond the door.
And second was this:
Kayl felt gratitude toward Lion far deeper than he’d realized.
Which meant he had no intention of simply letting go of someone who’d bled for his sake.
Regardless of how it might conflict with their ‘agreement.’
And finally.
The blood of one who possessed Mana or aura carries that person’s unique information.
Especially in the case of a distinguished magical House like House Asteri.

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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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