Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 220

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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 Is Unknown, but I’d Like to Heal — Episode 220

“……Really? Are you serious?”

Buck stared at Lion with a bewildered expression.
No matter that he was the Young Master, it was still quite a journey.
Since the Hometown still had no Warp Gate installed, they’d have to go through the larger Village nearby.
That’s why, whenever he headed home, he always had to secure a carriage.

‘And right now, we even have a guest from a renowned Swordsmanship Family.’

“It’s fine.”

Lion smiled and drew something from his pocket.
The moment Buck recognized what it was, his eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets.

“Is that……a Warp Scroll!”

A Warp Scroll!
A special Magical Tool that could send anyone anywhere they wished, to any destination!
A treasure among treasures that everyone knew of, yet only a precious few could actually use!
Even most nobility refrained from using Warp Scrolls except in the direst circumstances.
Some said certain families had passed down scrolls hundreds of years old through generations.

“Surely……you can’t mean……”

Buck swallowed hard without thinking.

“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“Absolutely not!”

Buck thrust both arms out desperately, flailing about in panic.

“How much does that even cost……”
“It’s expensive, no doubt.”

Lion nodded in agreement.
Even In the World, Warp Scrolls were set as quite valuable items.
In reality, too, the Magic Tower could only produce a few scrolls per year—they were extraordinarily precious.
But.

“But it’s fine. I have plenty.”

In Lion’s private Warehouse at the Estate, Warp Scrolls were stacked so abundantly you could have laid them out like carpet.
It was likely his grandfather’s way of telling Lion—who had never been able to use Magic until now—to feel free to travel and enjoy himself wherever he wished.
Of course, Lion had barely managed to set foot in the Library, much less wander anywhere else.
So there were truly mountains of unused Warp Scrolls stacked away.

‘Besides, I wasn’t planning to use them recklessly anyway.’

Lion had plenty of time, after all.
And traveling by carriage was quite enjoyable, too.
So he had no reason to use a Warp Scroll that would whisk him straight to his destination.
Besides.

‘……There’s no need to take Motion Sickness Medicine every time.’

Taking the medicine did prevent Warp Sickness, but even so, that sensation……wasn’t pleasant at all.

‘That was absolutely dreadful.’

It was as if he’d been hung upside down and spent an entire week sailing across a vast sea in a barrel—all that sensation hitting him at once.
Lion shuddered at the memory of that terrible nausea.
In any case, Marquis Bydentis was at the estate, and once Ricshel’s business with the Marquis was sorted, they’d need to head to the Imperial Capital anyway.
So he’d retrieved the Warp Scroll that had been collecting dust in the warehouse.

“We’ll talk on the way.”

Lion stood beside Buck and tore the Warp Scroll in half.
Intricate magical circles bloomed beneath their feet and in the empty air above their heads.

Whoosh.

In an instant, both figures vanished.
Buck, frozen in place for fear of wasting such a precious scroll, could only scream silently in his mind.

‘How are we supposed to talk during an instantaneous teleportation?!?!’

* * *

Whoosh!

He closed his eyes and opened them to find himself in an unfamiliar place.

“So this is it.”
“I can’t believe I actually used a Warp Scroll…”

Buck muttered in disbelief, glancing around his surroundings.
The entrance to a quiet rural village.
Birds chirped, and relatively short trees were scattered here and there without order—this place was unmistakably…
Buck’s hometown.

‘…It’s been a while.’

Though there had been chaos on the way here, now that he’d actually arrived, Buck’s heart churned with complicated emotion.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined arriving here so suddenly, without warning, and with the young master he served no less.
No matter how casually they treated him, he was of a station far too elevated for someone like Buck to even look upon.
If something went wrong, the responsibility would surely fall on him.
He had to keep his wits about him.
And yet, even thinking that…

‘Father…’

The thought of his father, who ran the distillery alone, pressed upon him keenly.

“This is the entrance to the village. The distillery is a bit further in, so I’ll guide you there.”
“Very well. I’m grateful.”

Lion pretended not to notice Buck’s expression—conflicted, overwhelmed—and followed behind him.
As they walked a few paces, villagers who recognized Buck called out in greeting.

“Oh my goodness, you didn’t even send word! What’s this all about?”
“Coming to see your father, are you?”
“Ha ha… Hello, everyone.”

Buck accepted their greetings awkwardly.
Then he turned from the village into a narrow alley.
Treading along a well-worn dirt path packed down by many footsteps, the distillery came into view in the distance.
Buck stopped for a moment and asked.

“Begging your pardon, Young Master.”
“What is it?”
“Thank you.”
“Hmm? Ah.”

Lion understood why he was offering his thanks.
Before Buck could muster a protest, his lips already parting, Lion spoke first.

“I needed the Pomegranate Wine urgently, and I simply had the information that your father runs the Distillery. That’s all.”
“But we could have sourced it from the Kitchen as well…….”
“You could. But I needed a considerable quantity.”

Even with all the finest provisions the House Asteri kept in stock, they didn’t have Pomegranate Wine by the barrel.

“And it happens you know the geography of this Village well. Our interests simply aligned.”
“…….”

Buck, having completed his brief apprenticeship and become a proper servant, understood the meaning behind those words perfectly.
He was being spared the burden a mere servant would ordinarily feel.
No matter how well their interests aligned, if the matter were truly urgent, Lion could have simply extracted the precise directions from him and sent another servant with swifter legs.
That alone would have been more than enough reason for Buck to feel proud.
He would have earned the honor of being the Distillery that House Asteri sought.

‘……He’s a considerate man.’

But the Young Master had gone one step further than that.
He had arranged this errand specifically to give Buck and his father a chance to see each other once more.

‘Yes. I should receive this gratefully.’

And I’ll work even harder for House Asteri because of it.
With that resolve, Buck moved forward.
As for Lion himself…….

‘……I really wasn’t thinking that deeply about it.’

Buck’s father simply happened to be the person who came to mind, just as he’d said.
And the urgency was genuine enough.

‘Well, the misunderstanding’s cleared up, so that’s fine.’

It would be awkward to find himself the object of such gratitude when the deed hardly warranted it.
And so Lion and Buck stepped into the Distillery.

“Father!”

Buck called out as he spotted his father standing in the distance.
A middle-aged man, his back slightly bent with advancing age, turned at the sound.
His eyes went wide, and he rushed toward them at once.

“Good heavens, not a single letter, and now you show up like this!”

He swept Buck into an embrace and looked him over carefully from every angle.
His worry that something might have befallen his son was plain to feel.

“Father, I’m fine, truly. I came on business this time.”
“Business?”

Only then did Buck’s father notice Lion standing beside them.
After examining him several times over…….

“Could this be him?”

He whispered the question to Buck.

“Him?”
“Yes. That’s him.”

To Lion’s murmur, Buck calmly introduced him to his father using the word “him”——a word that needed no elaboration.

“Goodness, Young Master!”

Buck’s Father grasped the meaning perfectly and bowed deeply.

“Ha. No need for such formality.”
“Just as the letter described—you’re as kind as they said. But what brings you to this place……?”

When he looked toward his son as if requesting an explanation, Buck promptly fulfilled his role.
Everything from their reason for coming to the supplies they needed.

“……And?”
“That’s all.”
…….

Buck’s Father tried not to show his bewilderment, but unfortunately, it was written all across his face.

‘Burning such a precious Warp Scroll for that reason?’

It was an action no ordinary person could comprehend.

‘Ah, that’s right!’

Buck’s Father suddenly recalled the conversation he’d had with his son the last time he came home on leave.
It was definitely…….

‘The eldest Young Master is quite an eccentric.’

Even though it was technically Asteri Territory, such rumors spread slowly in these rural parts.
Yet strangely enough.
Since his son had left, that very same story had begun circulating through this village.
He was an eccentric, all right!

‘So that’s why people talk about him.’

Buck’s Father nodded, having pieced it together.
It seemed odd to others, certainly.

‘But to me, he’s nothing short of a great benefactor.’

He’d let him see his beloved son once more.
And more than that…….
He was the one who had filled his life with vitality after his son left for the city.

“I’m not certain it will meet the Young Master’s standards, but the Pomegranate Wine is kept over here.”

They arrived at a small storage room located beside the Distillery.
As Buck’s Father unlocked it with a thick key, he broached the subject gently.

“I heard you gave my boy some advice. About a beverage made from malt, or something like that.”
“Ah, that’s right. What came of it?”
“In truth, while I deeply coveted that recipe, I never did make it.”
“You didn’t make it?”

The distillery owner chuckled and opened the storage door.
Inside, bottles of spirits lined the shelves—not for sale, but made for pleasure.
The oak casks bore the patina of time lightly, still clean and unmarred, suggesting these spirits were not ancient.
The owner tapped one of the barrels with obvious pride, his palm striking the wood with a hollow thunk.

“Instead, I found the courage to attempt something new. These are it.”

Spirits that would not turn a profit—only things I’d wanted to make.
In my youth I dreamed of them idly, but when family came to feed, I couldn’t justify the cost, so I set them aside.

“Isn’t it strange? That I found courage to pursue this hobby through the power of a young master I’ve never met, a stranger to me. Truth be told, when my son first urged me toward it, I wouldn’t even listen.”

At my age, why stir up new troubles? That’s what I thought.
And then I worried—what if something went wrong? My son works so hard in the city; I might find myself living in his shadow, dependent on his success.
He’s the son I’ve protected all my life, and I had no wish to shamefully creep into his shadow in return.
But then, somehow, a different thought took hold.
Every time my son comes home on leave, must I show him the same tedious landscape again and again?
A place where nothing new emerges, where only what existed grows old and withers away.
For some reason, I hated that.

“The foolishness of an old man, I suppose.”
“I think it’s splendid. Buck, you have a remarkable father.”
“…….”

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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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