Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 251

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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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Successor or Not, I Just Want to Heal — Episode 251

“In any case, I’ve confirmed there are no problems, so I’ll wrap things up as quickly as possible and return.”
“Yes, Lord of the House. Please don’t worry.”

Ricshel, who had positioned himself at Lion’s side, answered with firm resolve.

“Safe travels, Grandfather.”

Lion waved his hand instead of bowing — a learned response from having fallen over more than once before.
That was the lesson he’d taken from it.

“…! Come back as fast as you can!”

Grandfather had taken it differently.
To Patrick’s eyes, his already pitiable grandson must have looked like he was waving his tiny hand, bearing the bittersweet ache of parting.

Click!

In any case, Patrick left the room faster than ever before.
Then, having apparently used Teleportation Magic right away, everything fell quiet.

“He could have done that here……”
“Perhaps he judged it dangerous if his magical power touched you, Brother.”
“True, that’s possible.”

After all, only Lion knew it was a Penalty.

‘Grandfather has changed quite a bit.’

You could say he’d become considerably more relaxed.
Either way, it’s a good thing.
For him, and for Ricshel too.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need you to do some work.”
“Work? That’s nothing at all. Please tell me if there’s anything you need, Brother.”
“Well then, could you tell me what Licht is doing right now?”
“Ah, I can tell you that right away.”

Right away?
Had he located Licht’s position in the meantime?

“Licht hasn’t left his room for several days.”
“He hasn’t left his room?”

Given what he’d done, Lion immediately pressed for details.

‘Could the Apple Pie really be that potent?’

That couldn’t be right.
No matter how long he slept, it would be at most a day.
Especially for a priest of Licht’s caliber, the effect would surely wear off even faster.
It would have been scarcely more than a nap.
Besides, he’d heard that he’d woken up.

‘…Which means he’s gone back to sleep.’

A Premonition Dream?
As Lion held that question, Ricshel nodded.

“It seems you’ve arrived at the same conclusion as I have, brother.”
“Hmm?”
“Just as you suspected, it appears that Licht the priest is experiencing a phenomenon similar to the Archbishop’s.”

A phenomenon similar to the Archbishop’s.
In other words, falling into prolonged sleep.

‘Now that I think about it…’

What dream was the Archbishop having?
I’d encountered him in that dream, but I had no way of knowing what he’d been dreaming about.
And besides, it was clear that…

‘The priest said that if one has a Premonition Dream, one must verify its cause.’

Had the Archbishop ever taken such action?
It didn’t seem like he had.

“Hmm…”

Lion dredged up an old memory from the depths of his mind.
It was from when he’d been raising a secondary priest character in In the World.
Truth be told, the priest wasn’t a character Lion had been particularly attached to.
He’d managed the equipment to a reasonable degree, but grew bored and abandoned it quickly.
Still, there was one fact he could recall.
The opening story of the priest character class.
Even Lion, who skipped everything, remembered the general beginning.
So to summarize,
it was the process of an ordinary priest having a prolonged dream, then going out to directly verify the unease that stemmed from that dream.
In any case, this meant that verifying this dream was just as important to priests as it was to the one having it.

“Have you ever heard news of the Archbishop going around to verify his ‘dream’?”
“You mean the Premonition Dream, sir.”

Ricshel lowered his gaze, gathered and summarized the vast information in his mind, then answered.

“The incident at the Imperial Palace has been said to be connected to the Chaos Era, but if we consider the period during which the Archbishop was asleep…”

There was certainly a gap.

‘And what he’s aiming for…’

House Asteri.
No—he had a strange premonition about you, brother.
One thing.

‘This is information you don’t need to know right now.’

It would be better to tell you after you’ve returned to your original form.
Ricshel made that judgment and fell silent.

“Consider it how?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know, sir.”
“…”

Lion’s expression went flat in an instant.

“Listen, I’m not actually a baby. Let me be clear about that.”
“I truly don’t know, brother.”

Only then did Lion understand.
Ah, this smaller body made persuasion utterly useless.
Though he supposed he’d feel the same way.
No matter how logically Ricshel argued in this diminished form, Lion could only find him endearing.

“Fine. I understand.”

Lion decided to concede gracefully.
Besides, in this state, causing trouble would be difficult anyway.
The real Penalty was the inability to use his abilities and the halt to his growth, after all.
There was nothing to be done.

“Once I’m back to normal, we’ll revisit this conversation.”
“Thank you very much.”
“So I can go now, right?”

Lion launched himself from the toddler chair with a grunt, landing on the floor.
Ricshel gasped in alarm, but in truth, a child’s physical abilities were quite remarkable.
The only difficulty was maintaining balance with the weight of his head—otherwise, this maneuver was well within reach.

“Where are you planning to go, sir?”
“Everything’s dangerous in my current state, so I thought I’d stay close to Nature and Pus.”

-That’s right. I’m weak enough as a human, and now I’m even more defenseless.
-My heart nearly stopped, I’m telling you.

Tieramatrak, who had remained quiet during their conversation, began chattering again.

“I see. Understood.”

With those words, Lion’s body lifted into the air.
His vision had risen in an instant—or rather, returned to its original height—and Lion took a moment to process what was happening before it dawned on him.
Ricshel had scooped him up into his arms!

“Don’t you have work to do?”

Lion spoke as obliquely as he could, attempting a gentle refusal.

“This is my most important task.”
“People might misunderstand if you carry me around like this.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Most people won’t believe I’ve actually grown smaller, will they?”
“Ah.”

Ricshel grasped what his brother was worried about.
The nobility were well-informed about House Asteri, that renowned magical house.
They were objects of admiration, yet there were also nobles who wished to disparage them.
Chief among these was Lepicent, the Marquis and father of the Empress.
If word of this sight reached their eyes and ears, scandalous rumors would certainly bloom.

“You needn’t worry about such matters.”

Ricshel smiled warmly and led Lion toward the mirror.
Mischievous eyes, hair bound carelessly.
And the overall impression….

“Anyone in the Estate would recognize you as yourself, sir.”
“…….”
“And I suspect the misunderstanding will fall on you rather than me—but I shall keep silent about that part entirely.”

……So that’s how it is.

“Let’s go.”
“……All right.”

In the end, Lion found himself reduced to being carried about the Estate by Ricshel in a most undignified manner.

‘What a fate this is.’

In another sense, it was the perfect punishment. A Penalty, no less……!

* * *

While the Estate erupted in cheerful bedlam below,

“Sigh……”

The priest, Licht, remained within his chamber and breathed out a succession of heavy sighs.

“What in the world is happening……”

Licht cradled his face in both hands, his expression bitter.
For reasons he couldn’t quite name, his thoughts seemed hopelessly tangled.
After a few more sighs, he offered up prayers to God as though seeking absolution.

“I was certain I dreamed, yet I remember nothing at all.”

It was an affront to God, and it violated the very codes of priesthood.

‘I’ve never had a dream last so long before.’

Since completing the Holy Sanctuary, Licht’s Premonition Dreams had grown far more frequent.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that the length of the dreams themselves had increased.
Where once they had been mere snapshots—a single frozen image—his dreams now often played out like an entire play or a short tale.
Each time, Licht would verify the Premonition Dream’s contents, and through those verifications, he had been able to prevent countless accidents both great and small.
But now.
Was it because he had left the Temple and spent the night elsewhere?
Or was it because he was staying at House Asteri, a family renowned for its mastery of Magic?
Upon waking from that long sleep, every detail of the dream had simply evaporated.
It was an impossibility, and so Licht had moved at once to inform the Archbishop of what had occurred.
Yet suddenly, a thought had seized him.

‘What if it were because of my proximity to Lion?’

Of course, there was no reason for such a thought. No logic behind it.
The one called God’s Messenger.
He dared not presume to study such a being.
Perhaps Ann, the Theological Academy Director, could apply various theories to this situation, but Licht was currently entrusted with an important task within House Asteri and could not afford such speculation.
And besides……

‘If I told Ann, it would reach the Archbishop’s ears as well.’

If Licht’s suspicion proved accurate, the Archbishop would surely move heaven and earth to bring Lion into the Temple.
That was something he could never allow to happen to Lion.
And.

‘The Archbishop is far too occupied as it is.’

The phenomenon of his forgotten Premonition Dream—he would have to resolve it himself.
Otherwise, I’d have to sit with this unease for a long time, wouldn’t I.

‘That won’t do.’

It’s a divine revelation, after all.

“……Very well. I’ll resolve this myself.”

To do that, I should first go pay Lion a visit.
He fell asleep the moment he finished that apple pie last time, didn’t he.
I suspect it may have been a precursor symptom of a Premonition Dream.
With that delicate constitution of his, he must have carried me all the way—I’m worried he might have caught a chill.

‘Come to think of it, things have been quiet for a while.’

Not just the explosion sounds I used to hear occasionally, but I can’t recall hearing Lion’s voice at all.

‘Even staying in my room all this time, it’s strange…….’

Something was definitely different from usual.

“I really should go see him.”

If he’s truly unwell, I might at least be able to offer some healing with my own Holy Power, meager as it is.
Besides.

Licht glanced down.

His eyes drifted to the bag at his side.

“I should give him that too.”

The bag was filled to the brim with Holy Water cultivated in the Holy Sanctuary.
Strictly speaking, it was improper to remove Holy Water in such a private manner, but Lion was more than deserving of it.

‘I couldn’t have done it alone.’

Completing the Holy Sanctuary, that is.
So despite how openly I took the Holy Water, several people turned a blind eye.
The Archbishop even asked ‘Will that be enough?’ and prepared a larger bag for me.

“I wasn’t able to present it due to circumstances, but I should give it to him this time.”

Licht shouldered the bag brimming with Holy Water and stepped out of his room.
And immediately.

“Pardon me, but I need to ask where you’re headed…….”

He encountered a knight who had been standing guard outside his door for some time now.
The red-haired knight, seeming rather shy, asked his destination in a quiet voice.
Licht was about to answer without suspicion, but…….
Then he realized who this person was.

‘The knight who came with Ricshel before.’

I’m certain he was Ricshel’s personal guard.
But why is he keeping watch here?

‘……Are they keeping an eye on me?’

A priest visiting a house of mages naturally expected such treatment.
But until now, there had been no restrictions whatsoever.
Which could only mean something had happened.
And it had happened, conveniently enough, right after he’d experienced a Premonition Dream he couldn’t remember.
Having assessed the situation, Licht smiled and replied.

“Could you guide me to Ricshel?”

Not Lion—he wanted to meet Ricshel instead.

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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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