Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 236

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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, I Know Not; But Healing, That I Shall Pursue 236

The Great Barrier.
A colossal seal meant to keep the Demon Realm and this place entirely separate.
Patrick stood at the highest point of the tower from which the Great Barrier could be seen, his gaze quiet and steady upon the vast curtain of magic that shimmered before him.
There was nothing amiss with the Great Barrier.
Not that this was surprising.
Patrick, the Archmage, made a point of coming whenever he could spare the time to inspect this Great Barrier ceaselessly and maintain it.
At most, only very weak low-grade Demons occasionally slipped through.
And even those typically failed to withstand the environment here and simply faded away.

‘There’s certainly no problem.’

Patrick’s eyes remained fixed upon the Barrier, woven as it was from Holy Power and meticulous Magic.
Even examining it with his own sight, he could find no flaw in the Great Barrier.
The Barrier held firm.

“Strange.”

According to the Marquis Bydentis, the number of Demons had recently been increasing.
They were mere trifles, barely above the level of common monsters, but this was undoubtedly a warning sign.
Demons could not easily multiply outside the Demon Realm, could they?
Yet they were multiplying nonetheless, which meant a crack must have formed somewhere in the Great Barrier.
And yet it could not be.
No matter how carefully he examined it, the Great Barrier remained intact.
He himself had confirmed it as an Archmage…….

Whoosh.

Patrick turned to regard the Archbishop standing beside him, his expression genial and kind.

“What do you make of it?”
“The previous Archbishop’s Holy Power has certainly grown scattered, but not enough to fail in maintaining the Barrier.”
“You’re certain?”
“As Archbishop, I can say with confidence. Should you remain anxious, I can return soon and consecrate it anew.”

The previous Archbishop—the one called the Saint, his former companion. Though his Holy Power paled before hers, the current Archbishop was no mediocre wielder of it either.
So he would hardly be speaking carelessly.

“Does something trouble you?”
“What would?”
“Ha, ha…….”

The Archbishop gazed at the Great Barrier with a gentle smile.
In his eyes lay a touch of longing, and something indescribable.

“It troubles me sometimes. If this beautiful Barrier the previous Archbishop created were to vanish, I fear people might forget her.”

It was a profoundly selfish thing for a man of the cloth to say.
Should the Great Barrier fall, all the horrors of fifty years past would return.
The innocent would perish, sicken, be led astray, and lose countless precious things.
And yet the Archbishop’s first concern was: “What if the Saint is forgotten?”
In another time, Patrick would have criticized him sharply. But the Patrick of now could not bring himself to do so.

“The Marquis shares your worry—that his grandchildren might come to harm?”
“…….”

Patrick answered with silence and slowly closed his eyes.
Yes.
It was a dangerous thought for someone bearing such great responsibility.

“A natural concern, surely. I myself ache deeply whenever I imagine my children’s bodies coming to harm.”

Even the gods themselves would not escape my resentment.
The Archbishop spoke with self-deprecating humor, acknowledging his own selfishness, and offered a light prayer.

“But if you worry too much, you may find yourself unable to truly enjoy those precious moments with your grandchildren.”
“You’re being rather verbose today, aren’t you?”
“Ha… I only mentioned it because you’ve seemed so busy lately.”

Surely you ought to find time to rest occasionally.
With that, the Archbishop turned to leave.

“In any case, from what I can tell, there is nothing amiss with the Great Barrier. The source must lie elsewhere. I shall investigate it, so perhaps you ought to return now.”

That way I can earn myself a few points as well.
After the Archbishop had gone.

“……Hmm.”

Patrick touched his chin lightly with one hand, murmuring to himself.

“Time spent together.”

For once, the Archbishop had spoken wisdom.
Would Patrick, for whom his grandchildren were more precious than his own eyes, not wish to spend time with them?
And yet he ran about on urgent business, burdened with mountains of work and anxious about his grandchildren’s futures.
Especially that boy, Lion — there was so much about him that gave cause for concern.
And even now.

“He must have gone there.”

Lion’s presence, which should have remained in the Imperial Capital, had shifted to somewhere far away.
He had surely been called forth by “that Painting” in the Imperial Treasure Vault.
Patrick had discerned all of this during his earlier conversation with the Archbishop, yet he had maintained his composure.
This was different from the Labyrinth.
Patrick himself had ventured into “that Painting” before.
In the early days, when he was with the Hero.
Patrick reflected on that time for a moment.

‘There were certainly clues in the Imperial treasures related to the Demon Realm.’

So what was to be done? He would have to infiltrate.
In truth, it was not a difficult task for Patrick.
He had entered the Imperial Treasure Vault before.
House Asteri had remained steadfast even then, and the previous Emperor had held Patrick in considerable favor.
More so even than the current Emperor.
The point was, during all of Patrick’s previous entries, not a single incident had occurred.
The same would have been true for others.
Yet how strange it was.
The moment the Hero set foot in the vault, a situation like that had erupted in an instant.
The only curious thing was that the Hero seemed unsurprised, as if she had known such a thing would happen.

‘I was quite bewildered at the time…….’

Looking back now, he felt grateful that they had been pulled in early.
Patrick and the Hero’s party had dealt with everything that could pose a threat.
And though it displeased him.

‘The Second Imperial Prince’s abilities seem worth acknowledging, at least.’

Any unforeseen complications would be handled sufficiently at his level.
Patrick closed his eyes slowly and nodded.
His eldest grandson was a moth drawn to flames, after all.
He had a talent for finding genuinely dangerous places.
Patrick had no doubt that once invited to the Imperial Capital, the boy would find his way there too.
What good would it do to tell him not to go beforehand?
Given his nature, he’d only sneak off and do it anyway—he had no patience for restraint.
Better to send an escort along than forbid him entirely.
Of course, he’d likely cause some kind of incident wherever he went, but Patrick worried far less about that than he did about the Labyrinth.

“Now that I think of it…”

It would take time for him to emerge from the painting.
He’d need to send word to his youngest grandson beforehand.
Patrick set down his hand from his chin and began writing in empty air.
Following the elegant movement of his fingers, Mana flowed forth like ink and inscribed itself into characters.
It was not a long message.
The content amounted to a brief assurance that Lion would be safe, and a request to watch over things until his return.
Having written such a succinct letter, Patrick flicked his fingers lightly, and from nowhere paper appeared with the Mana-ink adhering to it at once.
The paper folded itself into the shape of a bird in midair, becoming a simple conjured servant that took wing powerfully and vanished like an arrow into the distance.
Patrick watched the direction the paper bird had flown, then turned his body.
If he tidied up and left now, he could arrive in the Imperial Capital just as Lion emerged.

“Hmm. Though I really ought to bring him here at least once.”

It would be necessary to settle his rampage-prone grandson down.
What they called a dopamine detox.
Unfortunately, in the not-distant future, when Lion came near the Great Barrier… he would do no such thing.

* * *

“I’m sorry.”
“It’s quite all right.”

Lion had been hearing the Second Imperial Prince’s apologies for an hour now, ever since arriving in this place.
After the dragon’s relentless insistence on contact, they’d arrived at the Dragon’s Lair.
More precisely, a Dragon’s Lair with no master.
In this world, dragons were more legend than reality—creatures extinct ages past.
Yet the reason Lion was receiving these apologies was simple enough.
Warp sickness. That was the culprit.
Yes, he’d been flattened.
The one mercy was that whoever had designed this transit device—whether it was actually a dragon—his body had recovered faster than it would have from a Warp Gate.

‘At least there was warp sickness. That means this isn’t somewhere like the Labyrinth.’

He must have been transported to an actual Dragon’s Lair still existing somewhere in this world.
As Lion’s strength gradually returned, he groaned and pushed his heavy body upright.

“Let’s look around a bit, shall we?”
“That would be wise.”

The Second Imperial Prince nodded grimly and drew a weapon from his robes—

‘He carried it with him, after all.’

Within the Imperial Palace, carrying weapons was fundamentally forbidden.
Even princes were not exempt.
Which was precisely why the imperial tour had taken them through relatively safer locations.
The Second Imperial Prince would have continued hiding his weapon if the situation were any different.
But circumstances had shifted since the Ester Hotel incident.

‘Hm, though…….’

Lion slowly turned to survey his surroundings, tilting his head in puzzlement.
Even through the warp sickness, he’d caught glimpses—and now he recognized the place. It felt oddly familiar.
More precisely, he seemed to recall a map like this from In the World.

“Hmm…….”

As Lion examined the lair and its treasures carefully, he finally struck his palm with his fist before the dragon’s skeleton!

‘Ah, this is that place!’

The combat map that appeared in the main story questline!
Truth be told, he’d skipped the middle section because it bored him, so he hadn’t understood why he’d suddenly been brought here.
But here’s the thing—
The mandatory battle itself had been designed with surprisingly engaging mechanics, so he’d retained this single map in his memory.
Of course, the Dragon’s Lair looked somewhat different from his recollection in In the World.
Now he could see the unmistakable traces of a battle that had taken place.
Stones that appeared to be golems lay shattered from powerful Magic, and he noticed gargoyle wings hardened like plaster statues by Holy Power.
Fortunately, since at least fifty years had passed since the incident, there seemed to be no danger.

“I see no danger here.”

Lion sought to calm the Second Imperial Prince, who remained on guard, then stood once more before the dragon’s skeleton.

‘The problem is…….’

Back then, he’d undoubtedly destroyed all the guardians protecting this lair before returning straight to where he’d been.
But now, no guardians remained.
That meant there was no way back.

‘Well, I could use a Warp Scroll in a pinch…….’

The Hero—his main character—had arrived here, and Lion being pulled in surely meant there was a reason. He needed to save that scroll for the final resort.
Besides, he had no way of knowing if he could return to this place again, so while he was here, he needed to properly investigate everything.
To do that…….

‘I need to strengthen my Expert’s Eye.’

With an enhanced eye, his chances of finding clues would increase.
And likely…… he’d discover something.
To prepare for any contingency, he would need the Second Imperial Prince’s cooperation.
Or rather, since the Second Imperial Prince had already resolved to help, Lion needed to steel himself to be openly revealed.

“Your Highness.”

Lion called the Second Imperial Prince in a low voice, then asked directly.

“You said you’d help without asking questions, correct?”
“……You’ve figured something out, I see.”

The Second Imperial Prince answered firmly to Lion’s grave inquiry.

“Whatever you witness here, you’ll forget it all.”

Lion chuckled softly at that, then slowly closed his eyes.
He exhaled Mana into his eyes as usual, then gradually opened them again.
Done.
As if resonating with the brilliant violet light in Lion’s eyes, the countless Mana Stones scattered throughout the Dragon’s Lair began to hum.

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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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