Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 239

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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’s Unknown, But I’d Like Some Healing (Episode 239)

Kyle looked around the Lair, examining it from every angle.
Normally, since this was a Dragon’s Lair, he would have needed to proceed with utmost caution, every step deliberate—but these were not normal circumstances.
And the reason was, of course, Lion Asteri.

‘He needs to rest.’

And he needed to be fed.
Left to his own devices, Lion would keep moving until he finished that sculpture—there was no doubt about it.
Kyle waded through the golden coins scattered beneath his feet, searching the chamber.
A Crown fit for any kingdom’s monarch; a Precious Sword so finely honed that any swordsman would weep at the sight of it.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

He hurled those useless trinkets into the distance, and then…….

“……!”

In one corner, he discovered a single object that bore no gleam.
It was wrapped in fine cloth, certainly, but inside…….

“Preserved Food.”

Whether left behind by travelers who had come before or provided by the Dragon itself, he couldn’t say—but it was edible, in any case.
And it hadn’t spoiled!

‘How is that possible?’

A question suddenly formed in his mind.
Dragons had been extinct for quite some time now, according to history.
Moreover, the moment a Dragon dies, the spells it cast begin to fade away one by one, starting with the weakest.
By that logic, this Preserved Food should have rotted long ago—or better yet, vanished without a trace.
Yet it was still being preserved…….

‘Is it connected to those bones?’

The Second Imperial Prince stared at the Dragon’s remains for a moment, then shook his head.
How that Dragon’s magic had lingered was not something he needed to worry about.
What mattered was that his benefactor, Lion Asteri, was starving—and worse, so absorbed in his sculpting that he wasn’t even thinking about eating.

“Sigh.”

What kind of person was this, anyway? But there was nothing to be done for it.
The one in need had to be the one to make the first plea.
The Second Imperial Prince returned to Lion’s workshop, carrying an ample supply of Preserved Food.
……In that time, the form of the sculpture had changed once again.
Kyle started to speak, then stopped himself, fixing his gaze on Lion instead.
Truthfully, he wanted nothing more than to force Lion to stop working and eat something—but seeing that expression, he found himself unable to muster the will to do so.
Lion Asteri had not lost his smile once throughout his sculpting.
Some might call such tireless devotion, such quiet laughter through day and night, the mark of an eccentric—but Kyle, who prided himself on knowing Lion Asteri a little better than most, disagreed.
After all, wasn’t genius merely another name for eccentricity?
Right now, Lion Asteri was drawing out his absolute maximum to find a way to escape this place.
So Kyle resolved to let him work until his concentration had burned through, and only then offer him food……only.

“…….”

Kyle watched Lion with a crooked gaze as he obsessively carved at the same section for the hundredth time.
And what had he expected, really…….

“That should do it.”

—Right! Good timing! You useless human, try to stop this man from rambling, would you!

After hearing Earth-Bound Dragon’s additional complaints, Lion finally relaxed his body.

“Whew!”

The moment his concentration broke, he felt his whole body creak and groan.
His shoulders were stiff, his lower back bent, and even the nape of his neck ached as if a stone had been laid across it.
Still, there was something he needed to check.

He stepped back smoothly.

Lion retreated quite a distance and gazed upon the sculpture.

‘I need to see how it looks as a whole.’

He’d started with a perfect sense of proportion, but there were times when focusing too intensely on a single area could throw off the overall harmony.

“Mm.”

Fortunately, to Lion’s eye, it looked quite satisfactory.

—That’s done, so eat something now, you human!

“Since things are progressing smoothly, I think it’s about time you started taking care of yourself as well.”

Having finished speaking, Kyle retrieved Lion’s Sculpting Chisel and gestured toward the Water Spring nearby.

“Go wash up.”
“Am I really that filthy?”
……

Kyle looked him over as if to say the question needed no words. Even when he’d rolled around in the depths of the Underworld, he’d never gotten this dust-covered.

“Hah… I…”

Only then did Lion sheepishly examine himself.
He thought it was acceptable, but from the Second Imperial Prince’s perspective, apparently it wasn’t.

‘If I hadn’t been taken care of here and there, it would’ve been even worse than this….’

—You’re filthy. While you’re at it, drink some water too!

“……I’ll go wash up now.”

Lion made an effort not to bristle as he headed toward the Water Spring, where clear water was welling up.

“Truly…… you are the least aristocratic person I know.”

The Second Imperial Prince watched him go, shaking his head in disbelief, and set about clearing a spot. He swept away the stone fragments so no dust would scatter, then spread out the cloth wrapping that had held the Preserved Food.
It couldn’t be called magnificent, but given that this place was the Dragon’s Lair, it had become a rather decent place to eat.

“I searched through the Lair and found it in one corner.”
“The Dragon must have prepared quite a lot of things before leaving.”

Lion tore off a strip of dried meat, popped it into his mouth, and as he spoke, the Second Imperial Prince nodded in agreement.

“Right. It doesn’t seem like he torments without reason.”

-Well, yes. I’m not trying to kill you!
-I just want to enjoy myself, that’s all.

Once Lion started eating, Earth-Bound Dragon seemed to shed his worries and chimed in enthusiastically.
Despite the one-sided nature of their exchange, he spoke with perfect confidence.

‘Remarkable sense of self-worth, that one.’

And truth be told, the dried meat he’d prepared as preserved food tasted quite excellent.
Whether he’d used quality beef or not, the dried meat yielded an increasingly salty and savory flavor the more he chewed it.

‘This is good.’

Dried meat had been one of his favorite snacks even before the possession—before his reincarnation.

‘Though admittedly, the price is steep and the portions small.’

So whenever dried meat arrived as a holiday gift, the joy was boundless.
Even tearing into vacuum-sealed dried meat and eating it straight along the grain was delicious, but there existed ways to make it taste even better.

‘If only there were cooking tools here…….’

That thought crossed Lion’s mind before he paused mid-tear, frozen.
If the dragon had prepared everything this thoroughly just for his own enjoyment…….

“Might there be cooking tools available?”
“I’ll look.”

The Second Imperial Prince rose abruptly at the question, abandoning his preserved food, and began rummaging through the Dragon’s Lair without hesitation.

-This guy, he does it once and now he’s just tearing the place apart…….
-But what’s he planning now? Cooking tools? Is he going to make a stew out of dried meat?

Regrettably, that wasn’t quite it.
It wasn’t cooking, exactly—more like preparation.

“There’s something usable here.”

Kyle, who had been sifting through the jewels, returned with what appeared to be a stone griddle and a cutting board, both crafted from a rare-looking special metal.

“They seem to have an auto-heating function. Will this work?”

Apparently he’d tested them in the meantime; wisps of steam were already rising gently from the griddle.

“That will suffice.”

Lion accepted the stone griddle and laid properly torn strips of dried meat across its surface.

“You’re planning to grill it?”
“Yes. Just enough to bring the oils up, lightly.”

Lion rotated the griddle lightly above the flames, as though flipping it.
Though there was no fire beneath it, the griddle’s built-in heating function kindled again, and soon a delicate oil began beading up across the dried meat nestled between the griddle’s ridges.

‘This is exactly right.’

Dried meat becomes tougher if you grill it too long.
Lion pulled the warm meat from the stone griddle and set it on a jewel-encrusted bowl that the Second Imperial Prince had procured from somewhere.
And then!

‘Hehehehe…!’

Lion smiled with quiet satisfaction, pretending to rummage through his bag while actually withdrawing items from his inventory.

“What’s that?”
“Fortunately, I happen to carry these sorts of things.”

Red chili paste portioned out in small amounts, peppery fruits, and various seasonings!
Lion began by preparing the peppery fruits.
He split apart the garlic-like flesh and extracted the peppercorn-like seeds inside.
Then he ground them finely on the cutting board.
The pepper he reduced to the finest powder, while the garlic he left slightly textured for a subtle bite.
…Incidentally, lacking a proper kitchen knife, he’d borrowed the smallest dagger from among the countless precious swords scattered about.

-Hey, you strange human! What is this fruit? What’s with the sauce? And why do you carry things like this around?

It was a habit he’d picked up ever since accidentally falling into the Labyrinth.
Lion spooned the finely ground garlic and pepper into a small vessel, then added the portioned red chili paste.
He added a touch of sugar and vinegar, mixed the instant sauce right there on the cutting board, and poured it smoothly into a small bowl.

“All done!”
“…You’re fast.”

The Second Imperial Prince spoke with genuine admiration.
He’d known Lion’s hands were swift from watching him sculpt, but this was something else entirely….
Practice so ingrained that his body moved on its own?
The meat still rising with heat as it sat on the lightly grilled stone griddle.

“How should I eat this?”
“Tear the meat into pieces, dip it in the red chili paste, and enjoy, Your Highness.”

Red chili paste….
He didn’t know much about it, but apparently that’s what this particular sauce was called.

“Let me try it.”
“Please do.”

The Second Imperial Prince tore off a piece of meat without hesitation, dipped it liberally in the sauce, and placed it in his mouth.

“…!”

The first sensation was the distinctive fermented depth of the chili paste mingled with the sharp, peppery aroma of the spices and garlic.
Then came the heat the moment the sauce touched his tongue!
The stimulation naturally drew saliva.
The Second Imperial Prince chewed the meat slowly.
After grilling, it was noticeably less chewy than before and considerably more oily.
The fat that had been compressed within melted slightly from the heat, and it married with the sauce far better than he’d expected.

“What do you think?”
“The harmony between the meat and sauce is excellent.”
“Isn’t it?”

Lion thought to himself that this was something no one could really dislike.
He grinned and savored another piece of the dried meat.

‘That’s it!’

This spicy-yet-sweet flavor, the way richness and salt swirled across the palate before vinegar brought everything into focus at the end!

‘Truth be told, even plain rice mixed with this would be delicious.’

Of course, it truly shone in an atmosphere like this, under the open sky.

-That looks delicious… ah, no. Hmph. Getting worked up over some roasted dried meat, of all things.

Earth-Bound Dragon watched the sight, swallowed hard with a gulp, then abruptly shifted tone and grumbled.
It was inevitable, really.
No matter how much he could speak and observe, he couldn’t directly touch anything.
He couldn’t even taste what he couldn’t handle.

‘That is rather unfortunate.’

For the first time, Lion found this dopamine-addicted Earth-Bound Dragon somewhat pitiable…

‘But I can’t afford to slip up.’

Until the verification was complete, he couldn’t afford to let on that he understood.
That creature certainly possessed the power to keep Lion confined here.
Though he didn’t know how exactly…

A glance.

‘The fact that the Protective Magic at the Lair entrance doesn’t fade…’

Likely he retained a certain level of power even in Spirit Form.
In other words, he could still wield Magic.

“Well, now that my hunger is satisfied, let me return to work.”

-Huh?

“…….”

The Second Imperial Prince and Earth-Bound Dragon regarded Lion simultaneously, their expressions identical.

“You barely ate half a handful of dried meat.”
“Pardon?”

Lion was genuinely baffled.
Half a handful of dried meat was hardly the pittance he’d consumed before the Possession.

‘That’s got to be at least three pouches’ worth.’

By that measure, wouldn’t that count as a feast?

-You’re moving around like that after eating something smaller than a single one of my scales?

A dragon’s scale was the size of an adult man’s two hands, after all.

“And you haven’t slept either.”
“I don’t normally require much sleep.”

-A lie. Your eyes are dark as pitch!

“Rest.”
“……Sigh.”

With Earth-Bound Dragon and the Second Imperial Prince attacking simultaneously, there was nothing left to say.

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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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