Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 272

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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? Don’t Know About That — Just Healing for Me, Chapter 272

I’d decided to simply enjoy myself.
It was the easier path for both of us.

“Young Master, will this be enough?”

Lepios’s arms were already laden with chestnuts—an armful of them.

“Yes, I think this will do nicely.”
“Though… wouldn’t you care to see anything else? The glass apples, in particular, are quite popular among mages.”

At the mention of how mages competed to see who could carve the glass most delicately and sculpt the flesh beneath into the most elegant form, Lion nodded thoughtfully.

‘Hmm, I think I’ve seen something like that in a video once.’

Seeing it in person would certainly be quite a different experience.
Elvia, who cultivated apple trees, might even find the glass apples interesting.
But.

‘It has to be chestnuts.’

The moment I’d spotted the Glass Chestnuts, I’d known exactly what gift to send to Elvia.

“These will do.”
“Very good. I understand.”

Lepios nodded and gave a subtle signal to the mages nearby.

‘I’ll have them prepare something as a memento for when he leaves.’

It seemed he had some plan in mind.
Lepios watched Lion with gleaming eyes.
To his mind, Lion was nothing short of a genius.
Not merely because he’d earned such high marks for the Grand Master.
According to the rumors spreading through the Tower, Lion possessed the remarkable ability to discover extraordinary things in what others simply passed by.

‘Especially that beverage…!’

Though it didn’t contain any particularly potent ingredients, somehow it sharply improved focus and mental clarity.
To research mages, the drink was like light and salt—so much so that those who hadn’t yet tasted it were offering premium prices to obtain it from those who had.
That phenomenon continued even now, long after.
Lepios glanced cautiously around.
There were no shortage of people eyeing Lion with barely concealed hunger.

‘These people…!’

What shamelessness, hounding a sick man like this!
And he was the eldest grandson of House Asteri, no less.

“Where shall I show you next?”
“Is there perhaps a space where I could cook?”
“Of course! The Magical Food Engineering Division of the Magic Tower is equipped with the most state-of-the-art culinary tools!”

Lepios led Lion onward at once.
Descending from the Sky Garden in an elevator, moving down into the depths, a new space revealed itself—one that departed entirely from the “Tower” format he’d seen until now.
This place, laid out as though the interior of some vast estate had been straightened and refined, was actually…!

‘Wow! An office!’

Lion found himself thinking of the past, his head throbbing with the weight of it all.
Then again, if an organization that paid its members a steady salary operated any other way, that would be the real oddity.

“The mages here are well-versed in creativity and theory. And…….”

Lepios lowered his voice and leaned close to Lion’s ear, speaking in hushed tones.

“There are quite a few people who admire you, so I’ll move quickly to keep things from becoming troublesome.”

Once he finished speaking, Lepios made his way through several rooms to the innermost chamber.
With a few words and gestures, he cleared the space, then ushered Lion inside with the confident air of someone who’d handled everything perfectly.

“I only gave everyone a brief rest period, so please don’t worry about it.”

He seemed to know exactly what Lion might be concerned about.

‘Now I understand why Hoffman likes him…….’

Quick to read the room and skilled at his work.
And yet…….

‘But he doesn’t carry himself like a newcomer.’

Lion had thought Lepios had shed much of his inexperience by now.
But at this level…….

“Lepios, are you perhaps the one overseeing this entire division…….”
“Ah, haha…… I suppose it showed that much, did it?”

Lepios laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheek.

“Yes. I oversee the Underground Development Division. Please feel free to use anything here.”

Lepios, who took pride in the automatic organizing Magic that kept the space immaculate, stepped into what he’d mentioned earlier as the Magical Food Engineering Division. Inside lay treasures that made Lion’s breath catch.
And there, among them…….

“Wow…….”

State-of-the-art cooking implements from the Magic Tower filled the space.
Some were familiar from the kitchens of Ester Hotel and House Asteri.

“What’s this?”
“Ah, you recognize it immediately.”

Lion stopped before a pot that looked rougher than the others—or rather, a cauldron, as it might better be called.
Its form seemed vaguely familiar, as if he’d seen it somewhere before.
It was, in fact…….

“A tool designed based on your Alchemical Pot. Crude in appearance, but exceptional in durability.”

It bore a striking resemblance to the Alchemical Pot that Lion himself carried.
Well, he’d hauled the pot around everywhere—of course they’d have noticed.

‘Speaking of which, I need to repair that pot.’

He’d never imagined he’d need to fix his body before fixing the pot.

‘Well, either way, this works out.’

Familiar tools always fit the hand better than strange ones, don’t they?
Especially when making traditional dishes.

“Would it be all right if I used this space?”
“Of course! Then I’ll leave these chestnuts here for you.”

Lepios arranged the glass chestnuts—gleaming with a lustrous sheen—in a neat row on one side, bowed curtly, and left the division.

“Hm, he seems like someone Ricshel would get along with.”

Lion praised Lepios’s abilities generously and glanced around the space.

“Has everything I need. Good.”

Lion immediately rinsed the glass chestnuts in clean water.
Even if they gleamed like actual glass, he preferred to wash them thoroughly just to be safe.

Click. Click.

The crisp sound of the glass surfaces clinking against each other echoed through the water.

“Wow. Now that I think about it, it’s been forever.”

Since I had time to tinker with something alone like this.
With things always bustling around him lately, he found even these quiet moments quite pleasant.
More than anything.

‘It’s been ages since I prepared a proper gift.’

Not those carefully crafted things, but a gift made with genuine heart.
Lion wiped away the moisture clinging to the glass chestnuts with the towel beside him, their sheen deepening with the water.
Then—

Whoosh!

Wind Magic flowed from the towel, and it dried every water droplet from the chestnut’s surface clean in an instant!

[Wind Towel]
-Capable of drying any surface moisture whatsoever!
-Even the tears shed by weary mages longing to leave after research and late nights…….

……

He felt like he’d glimpsed the blood, sweat, and tears of these researchers.
Lion deliberately looked away from the Wind Towel.
In any case, true to something crafted by the Magic Tower, the Wind Towel completed both washing and drying on its own before even hanging itself back in place.
Before the Possession, he would have wanted to take it immediately.

“Well, that works out.”

Checking the glass chestnuts, they were completely dry and fluffy with no moisture.

‘Perfect.’

The recipe called for no moisture at all, and this was exactly what he needed.
Lion pulled out his prepared materials directly.
It was—
A Spirit Stone.

“Heheheh…….”

Fortunately, the Glass Chestnut came with a helpful description printed on its surface.
Normal cooking would shatter it, it said.
Then if one used an abnormal method—a special cooking technique—it should work just fine.

Plunk.

Lion poured a Water Spirit Stone into the pot along with the Glass Chestnut.
Normally, he would have needed help from Salamander or Nature, but his Cooking and Spirit Summoning had both reached a level where he could manage something like this on his own.
Of course, what made all of this possible was.

“Alchemy.”

Lion closed the pot’s lid and lit the flame beneath it.
The difference between an Alchemical Pot and a regular laboratory pot was that this one required separate heating like this.

‘If I use a Fire Spirit Stone too, it’ll burst.’

One type of Spirit Stone might barely hold, but combining two different essences at once seemed difficult.

‘Then again, this is for cooking.’

He’d modeled it after an Alchemical Pot, but reaching that level would clearly take more time.

“And thinking about it, I need to repair the pot too….”

Well, he’d head home for a day before the Emperor’s birthday celebration, so he could take care of it then.

Glub-glub.

Fortunately, Lion’s choice had been right.
A savory aroma drifted from inside the pot.
There was sweetness too, but the aroma was dominated by a clean, rich nuttiness—the scent of quality chestnuts.

“Wow.”

It smelled exactly like a roasted chestnut vendor’s truck on a late autumn or winter street.
After some time had passed like that.
Lion slowly lifted the pot’s lid.
Wisps of white steam rolled out from the pot, and….

“Cooked to perfection.”

The Glass Chestnuts had cooked beautifully, their shells split open just like ordinary chestnuts.
Though there was something different about them.

‘The outer shell….’

Lion picked up one Glass Chestnut with his gloved hand and rolled it.
The shell, which had been hard as glass, had melted into something like jelly, now quivering with a soft, bouncy texture.

“…….”

Lion stared at it intently.
Pop.
Then he popped the piping-hot chestnut straight into his mouth and bit down!

“……!”

The first thing he felt, naturally, was the heat.
Next came the firm, elastic skin with just a touch of resistance.
Without even a few chews, it crumbled and melted like yokan on his tongue.
And that nutty fragrance of roasted chestnuts, mingled with the subtle sweetness that bloomed from the golden flesh!
To be blunt, even a roasted chestnut preserve that an ordinary chef labored over for days wouldn’t taste finer than this.
The excellence of the raw ingredient alone, with not a single additive—it was truly remarkable.

Gulp.

Lion swallowed the mouthful of chestnut and murmured thoughtfully.

“……I don’t think we need honey at all.”

The dish he’d originally planned called for honey, but this single raw ingredient would suffice on its own.

“And the texture—I think I can manage it with just this skin.”

Lion revised the recipe in his mind, then quickly transferred the hot chestnut to a deep, rounded bowl and began crushing it with a muddler.
He could have mashed the chestnut quickly with a magical tool, but……

Since this was a dish meant to carry his heart, he wanted to put his care into it.
That was why he’d chosen this confection in the first place.
Lion pressed and mashed the chestnut, then shaped it into a smooth ball with his hands.
Since he couldn’t work bare-handed, he’d put on the Sanitary Gloves he’d made in the infirmary over the past few days.
Lion rolled the filling smooth in his palms, then shaped the end into a sharp point once more.
That’s right—exactly like the original chestnut shape.

“It came out looking quite like Yullan, though, didn’t it?”

Yullan was a type of Korean sweet made from crushed chestnuts.
Traditionally it called for honey, cinnamon, and sesame, but the chestnut was already sweet and fragrant enough that honey wasn’t necessary, and……

Whoosh.

‘Fortunately, I have something to use instead of cinnamon.’

He pulled out Elvia’s cookie that he’d slipped away with before leaving the room.
The person-shaped cookie wore a scowl, but it was brimming with a nutty, sweet fragrance.
What stood out most distinctly, though—

Crack.

‘Cinnamon.’

Lion bit half the cookie off and popped it in his mouth, then finely crushed the other half into powder.
And when he pressed it gently onto the round chestnut filling……
A rather charming confection was complete!

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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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