Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 259

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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 Have No Idea. Let’s Just Heal — Episode 259

Lion first sensed something wrong as the carriage rolled deeper into the Old Castle.

Whiiiiish—
Sob, sob—sob, sob, sob—

…….

At first, weeping mingled with the sound of the wind, drifting in and out.
The sobs were so mournful he’d nearly found himself drawn to listen, but Lion forced himself to ignore them.
After all, ignoring strange phenomena had become second nature to him—thanks to Tieramatrak.

-Ugh, why is it wailing so loudly?
-Only recently turned into a ghost? Humans always have such weak spirits.

Though the thought did cross his mind: could a human’s spirit truly be weak if it had only just become a ghost?
Fortunately—or unfortunately—a thick fog blanketed the outside.
Only the buildings closest to the carriage’s path were barely visible as they passed.
A rusted front gate, monuments that had once symbolized Dragnas’s ancient glory—that sort of thing.
Even those were half-destroyed, slashed to pieces as if by a massive blade.

“The Imperial Court’s stubbornness.”

Patrick answered before Lion could even ask.
Lion nodded.
Of course. The Imperial Court’s pressure had kept them from making repairs.
One wrong move and the place would be open to attack.

‘The sort of thing people say: while the Duke suffers such humiliation, what has the Imperial Court been doing?’

If someone with half a wit had been emperor, they’d have turned this to their advantage—used it as propaganda for the Court itself. But……
Lion caught himself thinking of the current emperor and shook his head slowly.
Well, if Kyle becomes emperor, things might change around here.

Sob, sob, sob—wheeze, wheeze—

…….

Hadn’t the weeping grown closer?
Lion glanced sideways at the window.
And in that instant, he saw it.
A pale handprint pressed against the glass.
Before Lion could even react—

-Ugh! Enough!
-Lion. I’m heading out for a moment!

Tieramatrak’s patience had reached its limit, and the spirit passed through the carriage window, vanishing into the fog.
And moments later……

-Ahhh!

Tieramatrak returned, looking refreshed.
And the weeping had stopped.
The handprint was gone too.

…….

Well done.
Still, the combination of weeping and handprints was admittedly unsettling.

—Thought I’d die from the noise!

Fair enough. Spend a lifetime in a quiet place and then have constant weeping in your ears—you’d be irritated too.
And dragons weren’t particularly pleasant by nature.
Tieramatrak, truth be told, wasn’t exactly the friendliest either…… but let’s stop thinking about that.

‘But a ghost, though.’

Lion gazed out the window as silence settled.
At first he’d been skeptical about the surroundings and atmosphere, but it might not be so bad after all.

‘Perfect for gathering information without Grandfather knowing.’

And with Tieramatrak here, it didn’t seem like anything could harm him.
As he stood contemplating this, the carriage slowed to a stop.

Whoosh.

“We’ve arrived, it seems.”
“We’re early. I thought the mist would delay us more.”

The carriage pulled up to the Old Castle without incident.
Lion descended and surveyed the surroundings.

‘Nothing at all.’

He’d heard wailing from outside the castle and assumed the interior would be teeming with ghosts, yet surprisingly nothing was visible.

‘If ghosts were crawling everywhere, the priests would have noticed first.’

Even if the priests hadn’t seen them directly, they’d sense the aura of undead creatures.

‘Maybe one or two might escape notice.’

But what could be done about it.

‘Nothing beats a ghost for Information Gathering.’

Losing such a useful source felt genuinely regrettable.
Maybe he should ask Tieramatrak to retrieve that ghost.

“Once you’re done looking around, come inside.”
“Yes.”

Lion followed his grandfather into the castle.
Unlike the ruins outside, the interior had a lived-in feel.
It seemed arrangements had been made to accommodate other visitors who came here.

‘Grandfather isn’t the only one who comes.’

Apparently the Magic Tower sent expeditions periodically, and the Temple visited the Great Barrier nearly as often as Grandfather did.
Though for now, thanks to whatever arrangement Grandfather had worked out, there were only two of them.

“Pick a room that suits you.”
“Understood.”
“Only—don’t settle too far away.”

With those words, the grandfather showed him to his own quarters.
As expected, it appeared to be the room Dragnas the Grand Duke had once occupied.

‘Hmm…….’

Lion paused to consider.
If he chose a room too close to his grandfather’s, it would be difficult to move about freely, yet selecting one too distant would seem provocative.

“Then I’ll take this room here.”

Lion indicated one of the doors.
Worn though it was, the door bore rather elegant furnishings.
Still, it lacked the grandeur of the Grand Duke’s chamber.
It was likely the room that had belonged to his son.
And Lion’s guess proved correct.

“The Crown Prince’s chamber, then. You do have a keen eye.”
“Ha ha. Whose grandson would I be?”

“You must be weary from travel. Rest well in your room—don’t think of coming out.”
“Of course. I’ll be perfectly well-behaved.”
“…….”

Lying without so much as a second thought.
Patrick watched his troublemaking grandson slip into the chamber, then sighed quietly to himself.
His heart was still not at ease.
Not that it should have been.
What guardian wouldn’t wish to dissuade his child from dangerous pursuits?
That it served the greater good, that it mattered for the future—none of that changed anything.
Even the Elder Elf, who had lived nearly a thousand years, had said as much.
Never to sacrifice him.

‘Sigh. I’ve been a companion to the Hero before…….’

But being a guardian was something else entirely, and far more difficult.

‘At least he won’t cause any trouble tonight.’

The hour was late, and this Old Castle stood taller than he’d expected.
Moreover, the distance to the Great Barrier was considerable, so mapping the terrain would take at least several days.
By ordinary standards, it was an environment where the boy couldn’t possibly cause mischief before the expedition concluded and they returned home.
But his grandson was no ordinary boy.
Surely he would stir up something within days.
Still, it wouldn’t be tonight.

“Whew.”

As Patrick let out a long breath, Nature—still not yet in her room—flew over and circled once around him.
The gesture seemed to say, ‘You’ve got your hands full, don’t you?’

* * *

The moment Lion closed the door, he turned to Tieramatrak with a question.

“So what did you do with that ghost?”

-That crybaby? He kept whimpering, so I scared him into shutting up and left!

Tieramatrak boasted of his exploits, adding details that hadn’t even been asked about.
In summary: he’d quieted the weeping ghost, and the specter, having never encountered anything like Tieramatrak before, had fled somewhere.

-But that’s strange, isn’t it? It’s not easy for such a young entity to remain as a spirit.
-Even if it lingered, demonic energy should have corrupted it long ago.

“Young?”

-Yeah. A bit bigger than when you were turned into a child?

“Hmm.”

Lion nodded and glanced around the room.
A young spirit dwelling in a duke’s mansion.
Its true nature remained uncertain.
It could be a servant who died wrongfully and lingered in sorrow, or an unrelated soul tangled up in the demonic energy.
But…….

“Something doesn’t sit right.”

-What is?

Instead of answering Tieramatrak, Lion began examining the objects in the room one by one.

‘These look recently acquired.’

Duke Dragnas’s castle had already been reduced to a watchtower for surveying the Great Barrier.
As a result, all the possessions of the household had been disposed of without remainder.
Not only luxuries, but even the picture frames that likely once held portraits.
The empty spaces had been replaced with furniture for temporary residents.
A wardrobe to hang clothes, a bed.
A desk for reviewing documents.
Traces of the person who lived here before were nearly impossible to find.
But.

“There are ways around it.”

Lion smirked and pushed and pulled at all the furniture against the walls, creating gaps.
Then he pressed himself close and began running his hands over every inch of wall.

-……?
-He’s doing something strange again…….

Even Tieramatrak couldn’t detect anything and simply watched, bewildered.
Pus was no different, but as if following what his master was doing, he pressed his dark nose against the wallpaper and sniffed.
After running his hands along the wall for some time, Lion discovered a mark.

“There it is.”

It was a scratch, like graffiti, drawn horizontally for about one word’s length.
He reasoned that even as time passed and all the furniture changed, such a mark would remain unless the wallpaper itself were completely replaced.

“Is the height of that weeping ghost you saw about this much?”

Lion pointed to the highest part of the mark as he asked.

-Oh……!

Only then did Tieramatrak realize what Lion had found and gasped in amazement.

-That’s right! Ah, so that’s why it remained!
-You said someone called Dragnas was the master of this place? And there were rumors of that spirit wandering here.
—So this weeping ghost is…….

“Yes. Probably his son.”

Lion didn’t know every detail of Dragnas’s family circumstances, but the fact that the heir’s room was pristine and meticulously maintained suggested there was a reason for it.
Whatever the cause, it meant he’d been deeply cherished.
Which is why Lion suspected there would be marks left from measuring the boy’s height as he grew.
And fortunately, Lion’s guess had been right.

‘Though he is rather young…….’

As the heir, he would surely know the castle better than anyone, and though Lion couldn’t say what lingering resentment bound him here, the boy seemed capable enough to help.
……Well, he’d have to meet him directly to know the details.

“In that case.”

Whoosh. Lion turned his head to look at Tieramatrak.

—Mm…….

“Bring him to me.”

—……Who? That crybaby? I chased him off.
—How am I supposed to find where he is?
—He’ll probably run the moment he sees me.

But where in this whole place could you find anyone half as useful for this situation? Certainly not another dragon.
Besides…….

‘Hm. No, that’s not it.’

This wasn’t something to jump to conclusions about yet.

“You’re not about to tell me that a great dragon can’t find one little ghost child, are you?”

—But…… I don’t like crybabies, and I’m not really fond of brats either…….

“Now, Tieramatrak. Listen to me.”

Lion seized Tieramatrak’s cool, translucent shoulders and pressed his case.

“Isn’t this a perfect opportunity for you? Where else will you find a place as unusual as the Great Barrier?”

—W-well, that is true.

“I’m going to be stuck in this room for a while, so won’t you miss me?”

—…….

Now that he mentioned it, that made sense.
Tieramatrak found himself slowly enchanted by Lion’s smooth words.

‘When you think about it, I could roam around alone, couldn’t I?’

And see all sorts of things in the meantime.
Tieramatrak’s thoughts tumbled over one another.
Watching his every feeling play across his face, Lion smiled quietly to himself.

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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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