Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 193

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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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Successor or not, I just want to heal. Episode 193

There was no doubt that this place was suited for the Magical Beast Egg to hatch.
Lion pressed forward with all the strength he could muster.

“…….”

And Ricshel, quietly supporting him from behind, was inwardly astonished.

‘……He’s finding the path so perfectly?’

A moment ago, he had mentioned heading toward the center of the Training Ground, but in truth, it was not so simple a matter.

The family head’s personal Training Ground.
It was natural that this place, where a Mana Storm constantly whirled, was dangerous.
But the danger did not end there.
The second danger was finding the proper path through it.
Finding the center—the Eye of the Storm, where one could actually train.
It was not a matter of simply crossing a room.
Direction became obscured, and sight grew veiled.
With ordinary directional sense, one could not locate the center of this Mana Storm.
That anxiety transcended imagination.
It broke the hearts not only of ordinary humans, but even of mages who prided themselves on some training.
The problem was that one could not even turn back and give up.

‘Of course, I managed it.’

After all, the family head had explained the precautions regarding this Training Ground to me in detail.
Moreover, I belonged unquestionably to the ranks of the gifted.
And yet, when I arrived here, each step was careful.
I had also struggled, having set foot on the wrong path.
So I could only grow more cautious still.
One wrong choice could bring one close to death.

‘But my brother…….’

His steps were slow in terms of physical strength, but there was no hesitation in them.
He pushed through the tremendous Mana Storm, or else used its flow to spiral forward slowly.
The accuracy of each step was even superior to Ricshel’s own.
It was enough to make meaningless his resolve to guide the way should he happen to falter.
And yet.

‘……Even so, my magic proved useful.’

No matter how keen his instinct, there was a clear limit without Protective Magic.
And he was not yet able to use Protective Magic of a strength sufficient to overcome this place.
But I—Ricshel—could.

‘It feels different now.’

Had it not been just recently that I opened the 5th Circle here?
The longing to see my family.
That longing had brought me to the 5th Circle.

‘It was not mere longing, though.’

When I looked deeper into the wish to be with my family.

‘I want to protect them.’

I’d always wanted my magic to become a means by which I could protect my family, to prove myself useful.
And now, in this very moment.
Here, where I’d found my Insight, that wish was finally becoming real.

“……!”

All at once, I felt the shattered Mana from the barrier flowing into my body.
Fragments of the cold Mana Storm spread through me, and the strange sensation jolted me awake in the most exhilarating way.
It was a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long time—not since I’d reached the 5th Circle.
Ricshel watched me trudge forward with bright, sparkling eyes.

“Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re truly remarkable.”
“Huh?”

Was he saying I was full of surprises?

‘Could be.’

Truth be told, Ricshel didn’t need to suffer through all this.
I gasped for breath, my eyebrows twitching.
Thinking about it that way made me feel guilty.
Since I was focused only on moving forward, I’d completely failed to read his thoughts.

“I… I appreciate it?”

I didn’t really know what he meant, but I figured a vague thanks would smooth things over.
Besides, I was honestly reaching my physical limit—I couldn’t afford to think about anything else.

‘I’m going to die like this.’

It felt like climbing an impossibly high mountain with no gear whatsoever.
My limbs grew heavier, my breathing shallower.
The Mana, bloated and excessive, pressed down on my lungs.
It was nothing like the Labyrinth’s Mana, which had always been gentle and kind to its master.

‘Thank god I’m not a mage.’

If I’d chosen a life walking the path of magic, I think I would’ve regretted it every single day.

“Chirp! Chirp!”

Nature poked her little head out from where she was buried in the bag, chirping frantically.
Suddenly my breathing eased, and my steps grew lighter.
She must not have been able to bear watching her master suffer any longer.

“Still…”

I stopped walking and slowly looked around me.

“I think we’ve made it.”

At some point, the storm had grown quiet.
The howling wind now echoed distantly, and my ears felt oddly clogged.

“Yes. You found the way on your first try.”
“Ha. If I’d had to try a second time, we’d still be lost.”
“…….”

Rather than explain how momentous this was, Ricshel cast a more fortified Protective Magic around Lion and prepared to ask a question.
Or rather, he tried to ask one.
If only the egg in his brother’s bag hadn’t suddenly burst free and hung suspended in the empty air.

“……!”

Ricshel’s eyes widened at the bewildering turn of events.
It wasn’t merely that the egg had launched into flight.
He already knew this was no ordinary egg.
But what in the world could it be……?

‘The Mana…….’

The egg hovering in midair began drawing in the Mana around them at a staggering rate.
The speed was so ferocious that the icicles spawned within the Mana Storm shattered to fragments, their broken shards spiraling down into the hungry void.

“Ricshel.”
“……! Yes. Lion.”

Snapping to attention at the summons, Ricshel raised his Staff once more.
If the egg was consuming the storm at that rate, the currents flowing through the Training Ground would almost certainly destabilize in an instant.
Which meant even the relatively safe Eye of the Storm could become perilous in short order.

‘If I were still at the 4th Circle……’

He might not have been able to protect them.
Even immediately after reaching the 5th Circle, it would have been impossible.
Ricshel tightened his grip on the Staff.
But now, it was possible.
Not arrogance.
Merely the conclusion born of calculation and probability.
Whatever became of the egg, he could certainly protect his brother and himself.

“I’ll take responsibility for keeping us safe. Please don’t worry, and focus on the egg.”

Ricshel spoke with unwavering resolve.

“I trust you.”

Lion answered without taking his eyes from the Magical Beast Egg suspended above.

[The Magical Beast Egg finds this place to its liking.]
[The Magical Beast Egg is curious about the outside world.]

Fortunately, the egg seemed quite taken with this place.

“That’s right. You’re curious, aren’t you?”

Lion reached out his hand.
The distance to the egg floating high above made contact impossible, but he hoped some warmth from him might still reach it.
Ordinarily eggs hatched in warm places, and this location was rather cold, wasn’t it.
So then.

“Come out and come to me. I’ll stay right here, so don’t go anywhere.”

Once you’ve hatched, we’ll visit the Hot Spring you loved, and roam to many other places besides.
You’ll feel the softness of the petals directly and breathe in their rich fragrance, not just through that thick shell.
You’ll pick your own branches to your liking, not just the ones Nature brings you.
And we’ll share delicious food together too.
Whether it was Lion’s words and sincerity that became the decisive force.

[The Magical Beast Egg has resolved to see the outside world directly with you.]

Along with the notification that the Magical Beast Egg had made its decision.

A high-pitched whine.

The surrounding environment began to shift.
The vast whirlwind of the Mana Storm that had filled the Training Ground wound naturally around the Magical Beast Egg, as if cradling it.
No. This was——

‘It’s absorbing it.’

The Magical Beast Egg was drawing in Mana with such force that it altered the very flow of the storm itself.
As if sensing that anomaly, thunder roared through the Training Ground.

“It’s all right.”

Fearing the enormous sound might startle the Magical Beast Egg into stopping, Lion immediately soothed it as one would comfort a child.

“Your uncle has it under control.”
“Un——”

Ricshel, continuously resetting his Protective Magic to match the flow of Mana, murmured without thinking.

‘——Me? An uncle?’

For someone still technically a minor, it was rather bewildering.
And yet, somehow——

‘It might not be so bad.’

Ricshel had never been fond of beasts.
It was partly why he’d resolved to dispose of this egg if anything went wrong with his brother.
After all, a beast was just a beast.
But for some reason, now that he bore this title, a strange affection stirred in him.

‘As long as it doesn’t seem dangerous——’

His brother must feel lonely. A single creature wouldn’t be unreasonable.
While Ricshel thought thus.

A deep hum. A resonant hum.

The Magical Beast Egg, having absorbed Mana to its limit, emitted a vast, thrumming sound.
At that, the thunder ceased and the storm lost its force, falling silent.
A brief, momentary lull descended.
Like some colossal presence drawing in a great breath and pausing.

——

Ricshel clenched his lips in the face of this strange stillness and gathered Mana around him.
Like the quiet before a tsunami.
Surely something massive was coming.
In the moment he resolved to prepare to withstand this immense force.

Crack. Split.

The egg, silent until now, fractured open in wide cracks, and through the jagged fissure poured forth a light so brilliant it burned the eyes.

[The Magical Beast Egg will hatch soon.]

The eggshell cracks and shatters.
The shell fragments caught in the storm have long since been swept away by the vast torrent of Mana, their form dissolved into glimmering chaos.
But the light remained, shaped exactly as the egg had been.
And…….
Something enveloped in that radiance shot through the air like an arrow, straight toward Lion’s arms.
For a moment, it resembled a shooting star with a tail stretched long behind it.

“Brother, danger……!”

Before Ricshel could even reach out.

Thump.

“Huh?”

Something small and warm nestled against Lion’s chest.
The light was still too bright to see it clearly.

‘Something…… awfully fluffy?’

It was roughly three times the size of Nature.
The weight of it felt like that of a cat or a dog.
And…….

Swish. Swish-swish.

A tail swinging in dazzling arcs?
By the time Lion registered that sensation, the light faded.
And cradled in Lion’s arms was a tiny baby Magical Beast, its eyes gleaming brightly, savoring the touch of his hands.
Except this Magical Beast had rather a lot of tails.

“Ha ha…….”

Lion slipped his hands under the creature’s armpits and hoisted it up into the air.

“Ying! Yee-ying!”

The creature’s tails, now dangling in the open air, still spun like a propeller with determined vigor.
Lion knew this Magical Beast well.

“So it was you after all.”

A Druid’s partner, and known to be the greatest of all Magical Beasts.
A Nine-Tailed Fox.

‘It was usually quite a bit larger than this.’

It was normally renowned for being larger and sleeker than several trolls put together…….
But as a pup, it was as small as a dog.
And it didn’t yet have all nine tails.

“Let me see…….”

Three. It seems the creature was still too young for more tails to have grown in.
Well, it didn’t really matter.

“Good to meet you.”
“Screeeee!”

[The Magical Beast Egg has hatched.]
[Please give it a name.]

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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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