Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 271

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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 271

To Lion,

I trust you are well. I heard you endured quite an ordeal.
Had I been at your side, such a matter need not have occurred—this old fault lies with me.
Should something like this happen again, I beg you to summon me.
Next time, I shall be more vigilant to prevent such misfortune.

Yours,
Elvia

“…….”

Lion couldn’t help but smile wryly as he read the deliberately legible script.
This was nothing short of a protest from Elvia.
In other words…….

-This makes thirteen.

That’s right.
During the few days Lion had been convalescing at the Magic Tower, he’d received letters from Elvia carrying nearly identical content.

“I thought she’d at least show anger with the first one…….”

The raven with eyes as red as blood—soaring higher than the clouds themselves to reach the Magic Tower’s top floor—had laid the letter respectfully in Lion’s hand.

Given that the bird had breached the Magic Tower’s security to arrive at such a height, it was surely Elvia’s familiar, so Lion opened the envelope with great caution.
All the while expecting to be scolded.
But that wasn’t it.

‘I thought it would be a simple greeting…….’

Pricked by guilt, Lion summoned Elvia to the Magic Tower.
It was an environment where she could move about freely.
But then.

‘She didn’t come.’

Instead, the moment he called for Elvia, a second letter arrived on swift wings.
It contained the message that she wouldn’t visit in person, lest she cause him any ill effect.

‘So I thought if I just left it at that, she’d scold me…….’

After that, the familiar raven arrived nearly every day bearing another letter.
The content, as mentioned, scarcely changed.
Mostly expressions of concern for his health and apologies for not being able to care for him.
But by now, even Lion could see through it.
What this really meant was…….

‘Why didn’t you call me, and look at the state you’re in now.’

Elvia had certainly been informed of the full situation.
Yet no matter the circumstances.
No—precisely because of those circumstances, her letters insisted he should have called for her.

“Sigh.”

He understood well enough how angry she was.
Lion turned his head to gaze at the raven.
When I first saw him, every feather gleamed with an opalescent sheen, and his eyes held the deep allure of a ruby—but now.

Do ravens breathe through their mouths too?

Countless letter deliveries had left his feathers splayed in every direction, his eyes half-closed and panting heavily.
And not just one bird—four of them.
One had brought a letter, while the other three carried baskets full of various gifts.
There was the Witch’s Bitter Taste tea I’d had before, along with some unidentifiable Powder Medicine marked as good for the body.
And.

“Look angry, don’t they?”

-Wouldn’t you be angry if you were me?

Lion stared at a Human-Shaped Cookie with a scowling face and ground his teeth.

“This is serious.”

Had Elvia ever expressed her emotions this openly before?
Never.

“This won’t do as things stand.”

Lion pulled out a still-warm cookie from the basket and set it beside him, then rose from his seat.
A few more days passed, and after taking the Special Medicine Elvia had given him, his body’s recovery accelerated.

‘The Contamination, though… remains unchanged.’

When he glanced absently at his blackened hand, Puus whimpered beside him.

“It’s all right. Don’t worry.”
“Whine……”

Since his reunion with Lion, Puus had been unusually dejected.
Part of it was not being able to go on spirited walks, but.

-That’s right. No matter how much of a Familiar he is, how could a young one absorb Contamination itself?

“Growl!”

-And even when I sided with him, he got all flustered! Come on, come at me!

“Rar-ruff!”

Complete chaos.
At any rate, part of it stemmed from not being able to help himself either.
But watching them bicker like that made it seem like things were all right.
Lion watched the two of them engage in their tug-of-war match, then dressed himself and pulled on his gloves.
No matter how much a Magic Tower it was, it wouldn’t do for word of the Contamination to spread beyond these walls.

‘Still, my body’s recovered quite well.’

Sensation had returned, and his vision, which had been hazy, had largely come back to normal range.
Of course, the Internal Injury from the excessive Magic hadn’t fully healed yet, so he still had to maintain absolute rest as planned.

‘I never knew nosebleeds came from exhaustion, not anything serious.’

Spitting blood had felt like something more sinister altogether.
Still, since he could move, he was allowed to walk around the Magic Tower to some degree.
It seemed word had gone out to the other staff—or rather, the mages—as well.
In other words.

‘I could make a gift that would smooth things over.’

Of course, he couldn’t use Mana for it—but that was fine.
Fortunately, Lion had quite a few tricks he could manage without Mana!

“Stay and keep yourself busy. I’ll be back shortly.”

Lion headed straight for the Elevator and descended the Magic Tower.
And there, he found…

“W-we’ve been waiting for you! Lion!”
“Oh, it’s you—Lepios, isn’t it?”

A familiar face appeared before him.
Lepios was the newcomer mage who had guided Lion when he first arrived at the Magic Tower.

‘Looks like he’s picked up some real experience since then.’

Though it hadn’t even been a year, he carried himself with surprising confidence.

“P-please, speak freely! But I can’t believe you remember me! Goodness, I’m truly grateful.”
“Grateful for what? And it seems your position has risen quite a bit…”
“It’s all thanks to your grace!”
“My grace?”

What had he done exactly?
All he’d received was directions.

“After that day, the Grand Master took notice of me and assigned me work suited to my aptitude. Ha, honestly, that alone was an enormous help.”
“I see.”

Well, that made sense.
How many people in the Magic Tower would kill for a single conversation with Hoffman?
Lepios had simply caught his eye that day through Lion—a single glimpse of fortune.
For an ordinary mage, it was an opportunity akin to winning a lottery.

‘Still, that fortune had to be seized through his own competence.’

Hoffman was no easy man.
And as a superior, he was even less forgiving.
A single favorable impression would mean nothing if one lacked ability—Hoffman would have cast him out without hesitation.
But Lepios had earned recognition for his talents.

“But that position was earned through your own skill, Lepios.”
“Ha ha… no, that’s not true. You saved me, Lion. You truly did.”

Lepios offered a brief account of his situation.
He’d been struggling terribly with department adjustment and had seriously considered leaving altogether.

“The future felt uncertain, and I just couldn’t endure it anymore… But now I can pursue the research I’ve always wanted. It’s wonderful!”

He added that he currently led the Magical Tool Technology Department.

“What sort of work did you do before?”
“Ah… I had many different duties, but in summary, I was in sales.”
“…You must have endured quite a lot.”

Lion offered his sincere sympathy to Lepios.
For someone who prefers shutting themselves away in a room to conduct research, surviving in a sales position would be no small feat.
That Lion managed it at all was only because he didn’t hate meeting people.

“I’ve heard that you also enjoy research, Lion.”

Lepios, unaware of Lion’s true circumstances, seemed to take this as simple agreement and laughed softly.

“……Yes, quite so. Is there perhaps a place where I might catch my breath?”
“Ah, the Sick Room must have felt suffocating—I’ve been holding you here too long. Shall we go?”

Remarking that his purpose in waiting here had been to show the way, Lepios politely escorted Lion somewhere beyond.
And that place was…….

“My goodness, I didn’t know such a place existed in the Magic Tower.”

It was the Sky Garden, situated in the upper-middle reaches of the Magic Tower!
Below the Top Floor where clouds spread in endless expanse, in a place suffused with clear sky and brilliant sunlight, an array of peculiar plants flourished luxuriantly.

“Please look around freely. I’ll wait here.”
“You’re not busy with work?”
“I’ve been saving up vacation days specifically for this task.”

He even thrust his thumb up to emphasize the point, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
……Was this really necessary?

‘No, I mean, he’s already taken the position……’

He didn’t need to go this far, did he?
In any case, Lepios was better than some stranger mage, so Lion decided to simply pretend not to notice and move on.
He turned his gaze to survey the plants.

‘They’re all food.’

Corn, tomatoes. And winter carrots.
There were even apple trees and chestnut trees.
It was strange enough that they grew all at once regardless of season……but there was something even more peculiar.
The fruit gleamed like glass.

“Ah, those are preservation-grade plants that Patrick personally commissioned—feel free to pick as many as you like!”

Lepios’s voice carried from a distance.
But preservation plants? From Grandfather?

‘……Could it be because of me?’

Hadn’t he gotten swept up into things left and right recently?
The Labyrinth was the prime example.
Since he’d never checked on such a space before, it seemed likely this was indeed the reason.

‘Still, they look like experimental specimens.’

It felt wrong to just pluck something that was growing so well.
Lion stood before the chestnut tree and examined the ground.
Fortunately, a few well-ripened chestnuts lay scattered on the floor, cleanly dropped.
The problem was that the spiky husk seemed to have the same texture as glass—sharp spines were half-buried in the ground, partially cracked.

“Hm.”

Thanks to that damage, he was able to retrieve the chestnut kernels inside without difficulty.
Lion examined the chestnut, which gleamed like a brown perfume bottle.

[Glass Chestnut (★)]
-A Glass Chestnut with higher nutritional value and sweetness than ordinary chestnuts!
-It doesn’t rot, so it should be easy to store.
-The problem is, it shatters if you try to cook it by ordinary methods.

Fortunately, without even using Mana, an expert’s eye could glean simple information from it.

‘It must be one-star because it’s difficult to cook.’

Judging by all his experience so far, the Glass Chestnut was absolutely not a one-star ingredient.
Reflecting the sunlight, it gleamed with an unmistakable luster—clearly polished and lustrous.
And its size was noticeably larger than an ordinary chestnut.

“……This is actually good, isn’t it?”

He’d been looking for something to soothe Elvia’s anger, and this seemed perfect.
Lion bent down without hesitation to pick up another fallen chestnut hull…….

“Allow me to gather it for you!”

Lepios, noticing this, came rushing over faster than the wind itself, using magic to collect the chestnut hull instead and place it in Lion’s hand.
Even removing all the spines in the process!

“Haha. We can’t have your hands getting injured. Of course, I’m aware you have Defensive Magic in place. But just in case. Just to be safe!”

Ah, Lion understood something in that moment.

‘If I were to get hurt…….’

No matter how you looked at it, Lion was the eldest grandson of House Asteri.
In other words, a Third-Generation Conglomerate Heir.
For Lion, a mere prick on the finger would be nothing, but for Lepios it would be a different story.
It probably wouldn’t go well for him at all.

‘……That’s right!’

Lion made up his mind then and there.
Since it’s come to this, let me enjoy the Third-Generation Conglomerate Heir treatment properly.
Or rather, the Elder Grandson of a Magical Family’s special privileges.

‘If I’m not careful, Lepios might lose his job.’

It was probably for this reason that Hoffman had authorized Lepios’s leave in the first place.
A warning not to cause trouble.
And besides…….

It was actually quite convenient, if he was being honest!

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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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