Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 238

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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 I Shall Seek — Episode 238

Unaware of the tumult outside, Lion surveyed the wreckage scattered beneath him.

“Are you thinking of restoring it?”
“Impossible. The condition is far too compromised.”

The debris was, in truth, in a dire state.
The Gargoyle retained only its wings, while the Golem’s supposedly durable torso lay severed in chunks.
True, one might manage to glue these pieces back together and make use of them.
But the real problem was the Mana Stone — the battery that powered all of it.

-Well, it has been used for quite some time.

“The Mana Stone is depleted.”

Lion bent down, picked up one of the Mana Stones, and tossed it lightly into the air, catching it again.
Do you remember? Moments ago, it had hovered in resonance with Lion’s Mana, only to drop back to the ground the instant his Mana withdrew.

‘Meaning it contains only the barest trace.’

It retained just enough responsiveness to Mana to barely qualify as a Mana Stone at all.

‘But filling it myself…’

It seemed altogether impossible.
There were several reasons, but the chief among them was that the Mana Stone’s capacity was extraordinarily vast.
One rash attempt would likely end with him depleted and the stone still hollow.

“Then the Mana Stone cannot be used at all?”

-The stone must be used! If I don’t see a proper demonstration, I’m not sending you back!

“No. To provide proper proof of my abilities, I intend to use every material available. So…”

-Oh? So?”

Lion maintained his composure and pressed on.

“I plan to synthesize all these unusable Mana Stones into smaller ones that are actually functional.”

Synthesizing gems should work the same way it had when he created the Cosmic Crystal days ago.
His only concern was that the Alchemical Cauldron had suffered considerable damage…

‘It should hold for a few more attempts, at least.’

Since he’d be synthesizing nearly empty Mana Stones rather than ones rich with power, they shouldn’t crack or explode.
And if he was honest, there was something else troubling him far more than the cauldron’s condition.

“A sound plan indeed.”

-Ah, a clever human it is! My eye for talent does not deceive.

…Yes. This voice — the one Lion had been doing his utmost to ignore until now.
The whole matter had begun when he enhanced his eyes with Expert Vision.
As if to make clear this was no ordinary Dragon Lair, numerous details had suddenly become visible to his gaze.
And from that moment onward…

-Eh? I think our eyes just met, didn’t they?

What struck him was recognizing a translucent figure near the dragon’s corpse—arms crossed, watching him with an expression of keen interest.
Though the manner of speech and temperament belonged to someone who’d only just emerged from adolescence.
An elongated frame like an elf’s. Features as refined as his brother’s.
And most tellingly, those sleek wings visible on his back.
There was no doubt.
This had to be…

-Can’t you see me? Well, I suppose none of those I’ve summoned before noticed either.

The form of the dragon who’d once been the master of this Lair.

‘I should have suspected it from the moment the dragon’s remains were still here.’

Ordinarily, when a dragon’s time ends, nothing remains—it vanishes without a trace.
Not the scales and hide, harder than any metal, nor even the bones.
Naturally, all the “dragon relics” in the world were merely enormous wyverns or counterfeits.
Of course, a truly hunted dragon left behind trophies on rare occasions, but…

‘There can’t be more than one or two genuine ones in existence.’

They’d been extinct for far too long.
In any case, dragon relics were that uncommon.
Yet in this Dragon Lair now stood skeletal remains in nearly perfect condition.
And beside them, the Earth-Bound Dragon—that bound spirit—continued to regard Lion with eyes full of fascination.
Not merely regarding, either.

Whoosh.

The moment their eyes met, the Earth-Bound Dragon would dart toward him at lightning speed, then circle back and forth from different angles, hovering awkwardly in his space.
The one mercy was that, having remained here alone, the creature spoke to itself quite often.

‘Thanks to that, I learned how to escape this place from that thing.’

Strictly speaking, he’d deduced it.
Why exactly had the Earth-Bound Dragon summoned him through the painting?
The reason was rather absurd.

-Last time those guys proved themselves pretty flashily with raw power.
-That was fun. Broke all my toys, though.
-So what’re you lot planning to do?

And with that, the creature would drift closer and mime putting an arm around his shoulder.
Lion forced his eyes to relax, fixing his gaze on empty air.
Contrary to his expectation that he’d feel nothing, something cool brushed against his shoulder.
Moreover, it carried an odd heaviness to it.
Perhaps those old ghost stories held more truth than he’d thought.
Not that he had any desire to experience it firsthand.

-But I’d rather you just watched me instead of proof.
-This cursed human seems pretty useless, honestly…

Lion ignored it entirely.
Wasn’t being friendly the answer?
Even if it was a dragon, it was still a ghost in the end—it couldn’t possibly harm him, could it?

‘I suppose you could think that way.’

But that was only because one hadn’t been listening carefully to the creature’s muttering.

—Ah, if I just figured out what you are, I’d have a hundred years of entertainment ahead of me.
—I could really take good care of you.
—I’ve even collected so many jewels!

……What those words meant was clear enough.
The Second Imperial Prince might escape, but Lion might not.

‘And if I recall correctly…….’

Dragons, it was said, possessed a monstrous obsession with their possessions.
Which meant getting entangled with one was absolutely out of the question.
Lion had a work-addicted brother he needed to look after, and two adorable pets besides.

‘Still, I should be able to earn some points.’

According to the Earth-Bound Dragon, whenever boredom became unbearable, it would peer at the outside world through paintings.
And whenever it saw something “interesting,” it would bring that human back.

—Before, it was elves and dwarves, but they’re not much fun anymore.

Exactly fifty years ago.
It had changed its target to humans instead, starting with a Hero.
The shift in prey species wasn’t a major clue, but the Earth-Bound Dragon’s motive offered a useful one.
That dragon was bored. Quite bored.

‘Fair enough.’

For reasons unclear, the dragon had never made it to the afterlife.
And somewhere in all that, it had become bound to this Lair as well.
Playing house could only entertain for so long—how tedious this must be.
Even its toys had been destroyed fifty years ago.
Most creatures would’ve raged, but it reminisced about that time instead.
Said it had been tremendous fun.

‘……Burning all its toys for a moment of pleasure.’

Even facing a dragon—a ghost, no less—Lion could read it. He was late, but he could read it.

‘Dopamine addiction.’

If that were true, what needed to be made became far clearer.
Lion calmly withdrew an Alchemy Cauldron and poured Mana Stones into it.

—For a human, you use quite fine things.
—I covet them.

The Earth-Bound Dragon circled around Lion again, then swiped across the cauldron.
Naturally, it had no physical form, so its hand merely passed through the cauldron in vain.

—Hmph.

“…….”

Lion shut the cauldron lid without hesitation and began the Synthesis.
The fortunate part was that the process went far more smoothly than it had with the Cosmic Crystal.

“It’s grown much smaller.”
“Yes. The remaining power seems to be compressed.”

What emerged from the Synthesis was compressed Mana Stone and the powdered remnants of depleted Mana Stones.

“So, have you decided what you’re going to make?”
“Yes. But I’m keeping the details secret until it’s finished.”
“May I ask why?”
“It’s more fun to reveal things at the end, don’t you think?”

Lion chuckled softly.

Hmm….

Grandly speaking, it was a “demonstration,” but really it just meant satisfying that Earth-Bound Dragon.
And the way to satisfy a dragon whose toys had all broken was simple enough.
Make it a new toy.
A functioning one, if possible.
As it happened, Lion had recently acquired a rather promising gift.
Elvia’s Brush, to be precise.

‘With enough Mana, I can materialize it.’

Of course, it was currently locked under Child Lock, so nothing too ambitious could be created.
But if he just shaped it to the size of his palm, that would be more than enough.
Though it would require a fair amount of Mana.

‘This Mana Stone should do it.’

Fortunately, he’d already condensed the Mana from countless stones to create a single new Mana Stone.
Using that as fuel made it entirely feasible.
In any case, to do that….

Scrape.

Lion began carefully carving fragments of the golem.
The most important thing was getting the proportions right.
Since it needed to be able to walk on its own, he had to balance the weight carefully enough for it to stand upright at minimum.
He shaped strong legs to support the body, and formed the torso from other fragments.
It would be difficult to make without a reference, but fortunately he had just the model.
A dragon’s corpse.
Though only bones remained, it was an excellent resource for establishing basic form.

Wait… could it be….?

The Earth-Bound Dragon, who had been glancing around Lion before finally settling across from him to watch, suddenly seemed to grasp something as it examined both the carvings and the skeletal remains.

“Are you using that dragon as a model?”

Me? Now that you mention it….

The Earth-Bound Dragon looked around its surroundings.
Jewels and gold coins towered in piles everywhere, yet there was not a single sculpture resembling itself.
The dwarves had balked, insisting they dare not carve so great a being, and the elves had no skill for such work.

Hmm….

Truthfully, it had always wanted one.
But what it imagined was a statue life-sized and adorned with brilliant gems and gold, bearing its likeness.
That way, it could boast to the other dragons, couldn’t it?

‘Though they’re probably all dead by now.’

It didn’t know the details, but it understood that its kin had already departed this world.
So no one would have come to this Lair.
The Earth-Bound Dragon pouted its lips slightly.

-It’s less entertaining than I thought.

There’s no dragon to show anyway, and worse, it’s made from golem fragments so it looks shabby.
If he were doing it properly, he’d just melt down that mountain of gold coins and be done with it—why go through all this fuss?
Though admittedly, it was nice to see his precious toy put to use again.

-……I don’t like it.

The Earth-Bound Dragon spoke harshly of the work for all to hear.
Yet he neither left his perch nor looked away.
Lion bit back a smile at that response.
He knew he’d come around.
A dragon might be duller to loneliness than most, but the weight of all those centuries—that couldn’t be ignored.

‘It would be nice to have something dependable to cling to.’

Lion continued methodically, classifying and sculpting each section by part, then subdividing every joint where it might articulate.
That process alone consumed an entire day.

“Why not rest awhile?”
“It’s alright. I’m enjoying myself.”

Then another half day passed, and the separate pieces began fusing together into a unified form.
Another half day later, the shape became even sharper, more distinct.
“…….”

So he goes without food for two whole days straight because he’s having fun?
He’d heard this in reports before, but seeing it firsthand was starting to worry him.
The Second Imperial Prince exhaled quietly and looked around.
He’d need to search the area and find something to eat himself.
This man wasn’t like him, trained to endure days without food.

-……But don’t humans need to eat?
-My Lair has preserved rations.

And the Earth-Bound Dragon felt the same way.
Because in real time, this fascinating human was growing gaunt before his eyes!

-……Is this even right??

For the first time, the Earth-Bound Dragon found himself concerned about another being.

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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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