Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 201

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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 201

“A sparring match.”
“Yes. A, a sparring match, sir. Without holding back.”

Beneath the table, Barg clenched his fists tight.

‘Don’t back down. Don’t you dare back down.’

He’d been turning this over in his mind ever since that first encounter with Jade.
He could sense it instinctively.
This man called Jade was extraordinarily strong.
Stronger, even, than the Young Master Ricshel he now served as bodyguard.
Of course, the Underworld had left him with considerable bitterness.
How could it not?
They had abducted him—someone who had tried, in his own way, to blend in among humans.
Without House Asteri’s intervention, he would have spent his life sold off somewhere, treated with contempt.
And if Eclipse Symptoms had triggered a Frenzy during that time……

‘I might still be trapped in that pit.’

It was something he’d overheard during his time as “merchandise.”
A place also called the Underworld’s fight club.
The Fighting Pit.
There, anyone desperate for money or freedom could step into the arena.
And they fought until one of them surrendered.
There existed a rule that any method was permitted—even killing your opponent, or crippling them for life.
Naturally, some people didn’t step up of their own will.
Rich spectators hungry for entertainment would see to that.
Slave merchants were merely salesmen providing good “merchandise” to their customers.

“You could have asked for something else. Why this?”

Jade, who knew Barg’s circumstances well, didn’t bother hiding his suspicion.

“That’s……”

It was a fair point.
Barg despised slave merchants with a loathing that ran bone-deep.
Beyond how they’d treated him.
The sickening way they trapped the weak and sold their lives for others’ spectacle made his stomach churn with revulsion.
He had thought about revenge.
Sometimes he still worried that more victims like him were being created even now.
But.

‘My strength still isn’t enough.’

Barg was experiencing tremendous growth.
For the span of time he’d been training properly, it was nothing short of meteoric.
But did that mean he had the power to sweep away all those layers of slave merchants in the Underworld?
No. Not yet.
Right now he wore the fine-sounding title of “Successor’s Bodyguard,” but without it?
Barg lacked the strength to stand against an organization.
Of course, if he asked the man standing before him now to “eliminate the slave merchants,” it might be granted.
But that wouldn’t be the revenge he sought.
More than that, there was something he valued more highly now than vengeance.

‘Protecting the Young Master.’

To repay the debt of gratitude to the one who saved my life.
This takes precedence over revenge.
For now, I must grow strong enough to repay that kindness—not seek vengeance.
Of course, if the Young Master heard this, he’d wave his hand and say there’s no need, that caring for Fus and protecting Ricshel is already enough. But for a demi-human like me, this felt less like choice and more like instinct—something I simply had to do.

‘In my own way.’

And the person standing right in front of me was exactly what I needed.
Within the Knight Order, I could get plenty of practical, combat-ready training.
Lately, the Commander himself has been instructing me directly.
The environment for honing technique couldn’t be better.

‘Yet it’s not enough.’

Being a demi-human with the instincts of a beast rather than a human, I understood something fundamental.
A hundred rounds of near-real combat training could never match the experience of even a single true fight.
It wasn’t that the House Asteri’s methods were flawed.
Barg simply needed something wilder—something more primal.

“I believed that sparring with you would bring the greatest benefit.”
“You’ll improve quickly.”
“Even if I lose in just one exchange.”
“Hmm.”

Jade rested his chin in his hand, regarding Barg with visible interest.
He’d thought the beast was merely adequate for escort duty—a playmate for a monster. But the creature was sharper than expected.
Had he remained in the Underworld, Jade would have brought him into his own organization without hesitation.

‘It’s not a bad proposal.’

More than that—it was actually good.
Lion Asteri clearly favored this Barg creature quite a bit.
According to what he’d heard, the beast had even cured him of an incurable illness.
If Jack himself couldn’t figure out how to handle that damned “Unease,” he’d need to find another angle—some way around it.

‘Insurance, even. With Lio—’

Jack finished his mental calculation swiftly, his smile turning sharp.

“A single bout seems like an unfair trade for you, I’ll admit. How about this instead?”
“This instead being?”
“As long as you can hold out until I have to leave, I’ll keep sparring with you.”
“…!”

It was a remarkably generous offer.
Barg’s body possessed the inhuman regenerative abilities of a monster, did it not?
Which meant that if Barg’s stamina allowed, he could press Jade indefinitely without wearing down.
That wasn’t just good for Barg’s technical growth.

‘I could keep the Young Master from being troubled…!’

Yet doubt crept in alongside the relief.
Did deals usually tip this far in one person’s favor so easily?
Barg fell silent, wrestling with the thought, before asking carefully.

“Doesn’t that mean your gain diminishes?”
“Of course my immediate gain lessens. I’d have to repeat what should be a one-time affair multiple times, and I’d have to accept the risk of injury. That’s true.”
“Then why—”
“No big reason. I just want to be liked a little too.”
“……”

Barg couldn’t make sense of Jade’s words and simply tilted his head sideways in confusion.

“I’ve never kept a domesticated animal before, so I haven’t the faintest idea.”

Strange—it had worked fine before this.
Once he finished speaking, Jade pulled a sheet of paper from his breast pocket and began transcribing the details of their transaction in writing.
Jade would spar with Barg repeatedly until the time came to leave this place, while Barg would explain the nature of his Unease during those training sessions.

‘Well, what I’m asking for borders on the abstract, so it probably won’t be terribly effective.’

In any case, it was a far more trivial exchange than a Blood Contract, so there was no harm in it.

“Let’s confirm it, then.”

Barg took the paper and began reading through it carefully, only to spot something odd.
There was no signature line on the contract.

“Ah, you weren’t aware of this, I see. This contract isn’t signed with a name—it’s written in blood.”

After all, this world has no shortage of people without names.
Speaking cheerfully, Jade drew a Short Sword from his breast pocket and slashed his palm without hesitation.
As the finely honed blade cut through the skin of his hand, bright red blood began dripping onto the contract.
What was remarkable was that the contract actually absorbed the blood.

“Would you like to borrow it?”
“No, I’m fine.”

Barg swallowed dryly with a gulp, bared his sharp teeth, bit into his forearm to draw blood, and let it drip onto the contract.
As the blood of both parties was absorbed, the contract gave off a peculiar red glow and slowly faded away.
At the same moment, both of their wounds healed, and a strange mark appeared on their skin.
Jade glanced once at the bewildered Barg, then calmly wiped away the blood and answered.

“Don’t worry. Only the two of us will be able to see it.”
“I see… that’s a relief.”

If the Young Master had seen it, he might have been quite startled.
I didn’t want to cause him unnecessary concern.

‘Though that Young Master might be able to see it regardless.’

Jade swallowed the rest of his words deliberately and smiled faintly.

“Well then, whenever you feel ready, come find me. For now… it’s already time for the day to begin.”
“Right.”

Now that he thought about it, quite a bit of time had passed.
He’d have to hurry back and prepare quickly just to barely avoid being late.
Barg rushed out of the room in a flurry.

“Thanks to this, I’ve managed to stay here a while longer.”

The House Asteri had told him to stay as long as he wished, but lately he’d been catching Kyle watching him with suspicion.
When it came to Lion Asteri’s affairs, suspicion came first.
It was truly a disheartening state of affairs.

“And yet it’s all for your sake.”

Now that he’d grasped the thread of his task, he thought he might spend a little more time hovering about that fellow’s vicinity.

‘He’s probably in the Labyrinth again today.’

His visits to the Labyrinth had grown more frequent of late.
Not that he was avoiding Jade exactly — the man was clearly doing something in there.
The servants and Ricshel alike simply wore expressions of ‘there he goes again’ without any real concern.

“Well, it doesn’t matter much.”

He wasn’t staying down there all day anyway, so he’d run into them eventually while wandering the library levels.
Or at least their associates.

* * *

During the days after Jade took a proper beating and hadn’t come looking for him.
Lion was occupied with work of considerable importance.
Namely.

“Heheheh…….”

Well, as everyone knew by now, he was fermenting sauces.

“They’re aging beautifully.”

Lion lifted the lids of his containers and checked each one carefully, his expression growing increasingly pleased with a sinister smile playing at his lips.
All his frantic labor during the days Jade had stayed away was paying off.
The first day without Jade’s appearance had been the busiest.
He’d gently washed the well-dried Soybean Paste Blocks, adjusted the brine to the precise concentration using water from Mimur Hot Spring and the House Asteri’s most expensive salt — testing it until eggs floated — then traveled to Mudu’s smithy to make charcoal himself, which he combined with Red Chili Peppers, then prepared red chili paste by removing the seeds, drying them thoroughly, grinding them fine, and mixing in Malt and Soybean Paste Blocks without skipping a single step.
He’d handled every detail himself.

‘And somewhere in there I managed to gather toys and materials for Fus too.’

Figuring it would be best to use materials from the Labyrinth while the sauces aged, he’d traipsed through the forest and gathered suitable ingredients.
As a result, Fus had gotten lucky.
The demi-human had rolled around in the Evening Primrose Field he’d been curious about, and even slipped over to peek while Lion was preparing the sauces.

“Keying.”
“No.”
“Huff!”

Of course, he’d dragged Fus away when fur threatened to end up in the containers.
Using Accelerated Fermentation in small doses here and there had been the finishing touch.

‘Come to think of it, I really was busy.’

Still, the time to focus on what he wanted without Jade’s interference had left him in quite a good mood.
His body was occupied, but his mind was utterly calm.
And today was no different.
Well, today required a bit more care, actually.
Specifically…….

‘Today was the day to separate the soy paste.’

Normally, soy paste required about two months of fermentation to be done properly, but by using Accelerated Fermentation with careful precision at just the right intervals, he’d managed to compress the timeline considerably.
And the paste hadn’t spoiled in the slightest.
And…….

‘I can’t hold out any longer.’

That rich, earthy aroma wafting up — he simply couldn’t endure it any longer.
So he made up his mind.
Today he’d go to market, and make a soy paste stew for dinner.

‘Jade will probably struggle a few more days,’ Lion thought.

By Lion’s reckoning, Jade wouldn’t find the answer so quickly.
And even if he did notice it, he might refuse to acknowledge it.
Because Jade’s pride was beyond all imagining.
How could such a man ever admit to himself that he feared his younger brother might abandon him and leave?

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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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