Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 225

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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 Doesn’t Know, But I’ll Try Some Healing – Chapter 225

An incorrect base, an incorrect formula. And on top of that, improper alchemical equipment!
With failure factors so certain, it was only natural that a slime would form even from Lion’s hands, genius though he was.

Bubble… bubble-bubble-bubble….

The Slime Made from Morning Dew began to boil.
Or rather, it wasn’t truly boiling.
The temperature hadn’t risen at all.
Yet the placid liquid, which had only rippled gently before, began to froth and undulate in a sickening way.
Shapes like palms jutted forth and vanished, and now and then it seemed to pucker like lips.

‘Ugh.’

It was quite grotesque.
He could now understand why Alchemists were so appalled by slimes.
As the clear dew gradually acquired the characteristic viscous consistency of slime, the bubbling sound grew duller.
At first it had sounded like stew boiling, then like thick syrup beginning to bubble.
Finally, it produced an eerie sound—as if only a few precious drops of air were struggling to rise through mud-like liquid—that assaulted the senses.

Squeeee….

By the point where Lion wondered just how such a sound could even be produced, the Slime Made from Morning Dew—no, ‘the slime created from morning dew’—revealed its grotesque form.

[Alchemy has failed.]
[※Warning※ A Slime Made from Morning Dew has been generated.]

The moment it took its own shape, it lunged straight at Lion!
A liquid hand stretched toward him—

Splat.

“This is just right, actually.”

Lion caught the slime with one hand and turned it this way and that, examining it.
The sensation in his palm was soft and squishy—just like those toy slimes the children used to play with before the Possession.

‘Come to think of it, they both have the same name.’

He hadn’t noticed it consciously until now.
Lion unconsciously kneaded the slime between his fingers.

[You have achieved the Achievement: “Another Word for Failure is Slime”.]
[You have obtained 1,000 Shilling as consolation reward.]

“Oh, Shilling.”

Though it was called a consolation reward, he didn’t mind at all.
He’d deliberately failed anyway, hadn’t he?

“A slime this size, I can handle it just fine.”

Lion lowered his gaze to the slime.
The slime, barely the size of a fist, struggled to slip from his grasp, but sadly did not succeed.
Lion was simply too large for that.
And the slime created from morning dew was far too small.
There was nothing for it—the slime had become Lion’s work tool.

“I’ll have to make good use of this technique more often.”

But for now, properly shaping this Jade Stone was the priority.
Before that, though.

Soft. Malleable.

Lion felt an odd sense of familiarity at how the texture fit snugly into his palm.
Strange—he’d never even played with a slime toy before, so why did this feel so familiar?

‘…Oh!’

The reason it felt so familiar hit him: the texture was almost identical to the keyboard cleaner he’d used at his old company before the reincarnation.

‘But then you’re not supposed to use it right away, are you?’

Fresh cleaners had to be kneaded in your hands first before use.
If you didn’t, they were too wet and not sticky enough—bits would flake off as you tried to clean between the keys.
Sometimes you’d end up making things worse, with the cleaner crumbling into the gaps and causing all sorts of trouble.

‘Of course, right now I’m polishing the Jade Stone, but…’

Given how similar the texture was, the slime might tear apart if he wasn’t careful.
Especially since the raw Jade Stone still had some fairly sharp edges.

“Let me work it a bit more.”

If anyone else had seen him kneading the slime like this, they would’ve been horrified, but Lion paid it no mind.
In fact, it almost felt like playing with a tactile toy.

‘No wonder enthusiasts love this stuff.’

Now he understood why slime had been so popular with children and adults alike before his reincarnation.
After kneading it several more times like clay, the slime firmed up as expected.
Some moisture had evaporated and it had shrunk slightly, but it should still be enough to shape one Jade Stone.

“Alright then, let’s begin.”

Lion lifted the raw Jade Stone and started rubbing it against the slime.
The rocks and dirt clinging to the stone were washed and ground away by the slime’s action.

‘Monsters really are monsters.’

He’d wondered if merely kneading it would be enough, but the polishing power turned out to be impressive.
Which made sense—that’s why Freyanya kept incinerating it with Salamander’s flames every time.
Of course, that didn’t apply to Lion.
He’d already put on gloves before the slime started changing.

Scrub, scrub, scrub.

Lion rotated the Jade Stone this way and that, shaping it as best he could.
He didn’t need to cut it with the precision of a real gemstone to catch light beautifully, but at least making it roughly spherical seemed worthwhile.

“Though it’s harder than I expected.”

Despite his words, a smile played across Lion’s face.
For something he was calling difficult, the work was progressing quite smoothly.
Lion savored this sensation.
The act of remaining sharp and focused in a situation that could so easily fail, and steering it toward success.
Without this quality, he wouldn’t have survived all those years at his old company before the reincarnation.

Patter-patter.

The more Lion devoted himself to the refinement work, the smaller the slime became.
The murky water mixed with stones and debris melted and ran off, falling to the ground as muddy sludge.
Just when he thought the Slime Made from Morning Dew might be consumed entirely—

“There!”

In Lion’s palm rested a single bluish gemstone, gleaming with transparent radiance.

[Aquamarine Crafted from Morning Dew (Complete)]

One of the materials on his list—the Aquamarine—was now finished!
What’s more, it had come out better than expected.
Not a single dent or crease; it was perfectly round and quite convincing.
It would certainly serve well enough as a Gem Pigment once synthesized.

“Good. Next, then…”

From here on, things grew considerably easier.
He retrieved the Diamond he’d placed among the young shoots collected beforehand and checked its condition.
When first removed, it had looked like an ordinary diamond, but held up to the early morning sun beginning to rise…

Sparkle!

Various shades of green scattered across it, like a forest seen on a clear and cloudless day.

[Diamond Stained with Freshly Grown Wood Shoots (Complete)]

Lion placed the two gems into the alchemy cauldron first, then stepped out to the yard before the Cabin and withdrew something from his Inventory.

Thud!

It was an enormous barrel of Pomegranate Wine, purchased from Buck’s father.
Lion turned the oak cask on its side until the cork stopper faced upward, then retrieved a hammer.

“All right. Easy does it.”

He raised the hammer in a fluid motion and brought it down sharply around the cork stopper, strike after strike.
Controlling his strength carefully so as not to damage the wood, he struck with force.
Pop!
The cork stopper that had sealed the barrel popped free, and the lid came open.

“Hmm. The aroma is still quite good.”

The moment the lid opened, a few drops of Pomegranate Wine splashed out, and a lovely fragrance bloomed into the air.
The oak barrel’s scent mingled with it, deepening the bouquet all the more.
After savoring the aroma thoroughly, Lion inserted a long pair of tongs deep into the barrel and fished something out.
It was the Pomegranate Petals that had been added when the wine was made.
The petals he’d retrieved, steeped in spirits, were so delicate they threatened to fall apart at a touch.
Lion carefully wrapped the Ruby with those petals.
The original recipe contained no such intricate detail, but…
Since he was making it anyway, he thought it best to use every part that corresponded to the “scarlet pomegranate.”
Lion dropped the wrapped Ruby into the barrel with a soft plop and covered it again with the cork stopper.
Normally, pickling the Ruby would take at least several days.

“But there’s no time for that.”

He was meant to depart for the Imperial Capital within days, and since he’d agreed to part ways with the Marquis Bydentis in the Imperial Capital, he needed to complete everything—from preparation to finish—in those few days.
Fortunately, Lion possessed a technique for this.

“Aging Acceleration.”

Lion swept his hand across the tightly sealed oak barrel and activated the skill.
After more than an hour spent tending the barrel, he popped the cork stopper just as he had before, fished around inside with long tweezers, retrieved the Ruby, and broke into a broad grin.

“No need to verify this one.”

[Ruby Marinated in Pomegranate (Complete)]

The system window announced the completion first.
Lion peeled away the Pomegranate Petals and examined the contents.
The Ruby, which had already possessed an intense crimson hue, now radiated a deeper, more vivid scarlet.

“Excellent. Now that everything’s finished.”

All that remained was to synthesize these materials together.
Lion wiped the luscious Ruby dry with a cloth, tossed it into his alchemical cauldron, and sealed the lid shut.
Then he gripped the lid firmly with both hands.
Once the three gems fused and became pigment, powerful energy would certainly radiate outward.

A low hum resonated.

Already the gems were reverberating against each other, releasing energy.
A subtle vibration hummed through his fingertips at the sealed lid.
And each time the lid trembled from the force pressing against it, brilliant light leaked through the cracks.

‘This power… it’s no joke.’

Lion felt a moment of surprise.
It was stronger than he’d anticipated when theorizing the recipe.
Had his strength declined recently? No—that wasn’t it.
His physical capacity had only increased, never diminished.

‘Yet it’s this powerful?’

Bang, bang-bang-bang!

The cauldron itself rattled from the violent force, not just the lid.
From within came sounds like fireworks detonating.
The three gems struggled to merge, scratching and scraping against the cauldron’s interior with a sharp, piercing sound.
Lion recognized this phenomenon.
This meant…

‘Something better than I planned is trying to form?’

There had been occasions when a result one tier above what Lion had designed emerged—and this was always accompanied by such disturbances.
The Fish Pill was a prime example, was it not?
A smile spread naturally across Lion’s face.
Unexpected superior outcomes were always a cause for anticipation.
And to bring that result fully into being, he would have to give his all.
Lion pressed down with every ounce of strength and held firm.
What had started as mere hand pressure now became him practically climbing atop the lid to contain it.
Beads of sweat welled up and streamed down his forehead.
And in the moment one of those drops fell onto the cauldron lid—

Boom!

Lion’s body, perched atop the cauldron lid, was hurled into the air!
Along with the lid!
In Lion’s field of vision, a brilliant something shimmered like an aurora across the clear blue sky.

[The Artisan’s Touch has caused the crafted item’s value to increase dramatically!]

With a notification confirming the Artisan’s Touch had succeeded……

Flump!

“Squawk!”

He tumbled unceremoniously onto the soft grass below.
Fortunately, nothing seemed badly injured—he scrambled up and hurried toward the cauldron.

Peek.

Lion peered very carefully into the pot.
And there……
Three gemstones of a form he’d never seen before lay gleaming with an aurora-like light.

“Huh……?”

They looked quite different from the Gem Pigment he’d originally planned to make.
Because if it were pigment, it should naturally take a powdered form, shouldn’t it?
But what lay in the cauldron was, to anyone’s eyes……

“Actual gemstones.”

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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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