Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 297

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Successor’s Unknown; Let Me Just Heal Episode 297

A start.

Lion’s eyes opened to the brilliant sunlight pouring down.

‘Where am I…?’

A cool breeze stirred, carrying a pleasant fragrance with it.
It was a scent he’d encountered before.
Incense burned in the Temple when prayers were offered to the divine.
This fragrance had certainly come from it.
Did that mean Elvia had moved him to the Temple after removing all his Corruption?

‘That can’t be right.’

Lion slowly pushed himself upright and looked around.
No matter how thoroughly prepared Elvia was, Corruption wasn’t something that would simply dissolve away so easily.
If it were possible, countless people in In the World wouldn’t have died from Corruption.
Including the Grand Duke Dragunath.
Then where was he?
The answer was simple.

‘I’m in a dream.’

It was far too vivid to be a mere dream, though.

‘I can feel everything—touch, smell, all of it.’

Lion removed his Gloves at once.
Just as he expected, his hands—which should have been blackened by Corruption—were slowly regaining their natural color.
Apparently, he would have to wait here quietly in this dream while his Corruption was being resolved.
But.

‘To consume it like that.’

The last words he’d heard from Elvia troubled him.
Lion thought it through calmly.
According to the theory Elvia had explained, his Corruption would certainly be cleanly removed from his body.
And it wouldn’t cause harm to anyone else.

‘Because it’s being transplanted into Demon Race objects.’

And then Elvia simply swallows that Corruption along with the object.
Theoretically, it was perfectly sound.
Save for one thing.

‘Can Elvia really handle it?’

Lion soon shook his head.

‘It would be possible if the amount were small.’

But at this level, there would certainly be consequences even for Elvia, a witch.
The Corruption he carried was that dense.
For an ordinary person, death upon infection or the onset of Demonification would be no surprise at this concentration.
She would definitely suffer indigestion.
This much was certain.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

Lion was already in a dream.
He could force himself awake, but doing so might put them both in danger.
So then.

“There’s no choice.”

I’ll have to solve this from within the dream itself!
It was a conclusion that made no sense, but there was reason behind it.
Lion had a rather thorough grasp of In the World—or more precisely, the game system within it!
He’d never really paid attention to the story, but hadn’t he spent considerable time studying and analyzing character job mechanics?
Back then, it was all he could do anyway.
In any case.

“I can use the Priest’s traits.”

The most obvious example was Premonition Dream.
And going even further than that.

‘Moving freely within a dream is possible too.’

Lion had even experienced it before.
When he first met the Archbishop, in fact.
If he turned that experience to his advantage, he could likely help Elvia even here in the dream.

“Let me see…”

Lion first checked what he could actually do within this dream.
Since he wasn’t walking the proper Priest’s Path, there were many restrictions.

“Good. This is enough.”

Fortunately, his Inventory and Alchemy were still accessible.
And since this was a dream, the Alchemical Cauldron was in surprisingly good condition too.
Then he could make medicine for Elvia using Alchemy.
And.

‘Actually, there’s one more thing that really matters.’

Whisper.

Lion turned to face the gaze that had been dogging him persistently.

Flinch!

A flame rising from the Altar jerked unnaturally and vanished into itself, hiding away.
Lion caught that awkwardness and moved.
He stood quietly before the brazier where the Green Flame burned, gazing into it.
Then he thrust his hand inside.

Whoosh!

The flames blazed up in resistance, yet he felt no pain.
Instead it felt like plunging his hand into warm water and stirring it.

Slip!

Lion grasped something within and drew it out.
It was a tiny flame.
What was somewhat unusual was that it pulsed like a heartbeat at regular intervals, spewing flames with each throb.
And.

[Avatar of Dragunath]
-It was an existence one must never dare to look upon.
-Yet it appears to have expended considerable power.

That much was clear: its true nature was the avatar of a god.

‘As expected.’

Most people would have been shocked senseless, but Lion remained composed.

‘How could I have gotten here on my own?’

Even if Elvia had cast Sleep Magic, he couldn’t have wandered so freely through a dream by his own power.
Was it because Lion was God’s Messenger?
Well, if Lion had accepted Holy Power into his body and trained in it, it might have been possible eventually.
But he hadn’t.
In fact, just moments ago he’d been entertaining rather irreverent thoughts about the divine.

‘Damn it!’

He’d been planning to challenge a god someday, thinking miracles and Story Mode were remarkably similar.

‘Not that I was planning to do it right away, of course.’

But then Elvia had arrived, and Lion had simply fallen asleep.
He’d been on the verge of succumbing to Sleep Magic already, and there was precious little he could do about it.
Just one thing.

‘I could dismiss the notification.’

A message that had occupied one corner of Lion’s vision for quite some time.

[You may walk the Priest’s Path whenever you wish, should you desire it.]

Since he already possessed a Mana Circle within his body, he couldn’t accept Holy Power.
Still, thinking it might prove useful someday, he’d simply left it alone…….

‘I rejected it.’

If the god truly wanted him, they would seize him again through any means necessary.
One might call it a gamble.

‘But I knew they would seize me.’

In any company, truly essential talent—
talent that could be leveraged cost-effectively—was grasped as firmly as possible.
Only when the moment came to declare, “I can’t do this anymore, I’m done!”—only then would they quietly reach out and ask what you needed.
A god was no different. God’s Messenger, Hero—it was all the same.
And Lion was someone who could fill both positions at once.

‘Especially a staff member whose headcount hadn’t been filled.’

You had to hold onto such people at all costs, or the company—the world itself—wouldn’t function.
But then.

‘It’s far more pathetic than I expected.’

Lion gazed at the flame that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.
Though its shape wasn’t quite distinct—more a lump of fire than anything precise—something about it seemed to be avoiding his gaze, as if trying to hide.
Whether it was ashamed of having become so small, or whether it had lost face with Lion, he couldn’t say.
Either way, this was an opportunity!

‘Got you now!’

Lion had no intention of letting it off easily, so he grasped the flame in both hands and pulled, stretching it like sticky rice cake.

* * *

Some time passed—whether it was long or short was hard to say.
Lion watched as the flame intently created something.

‘It won’t say anything, so there’s no information to be gained that way.’

Yet there was plenty he could determine with certainty.
God was favorably inclined toward Lion, but that power was far from absolute.
In fact, it was rather weak.
The only things it could manage were granting Lion Story Mode or preventing Corruption from spreading further.

‘That’s why it appeared in this small flame form instead of its true shape.’

In any case, for whatever reason, it had lost most of its power and seemed to be in a position where it almost needed to ask for help.
For Lion, that was fortunate.
There was no element of coercion involved.

‘Besides, peace has come.’

The number of people seeking God must have dwindled too, and its role was probably finished.

‘Yet it still left Story Mode behind.’

Probably for the reason Lion had already guessed.
Could it be sadness for the Hero—the original character, as it were?

‘Well, there’s no way to know for certain.’

Still, it was better than being completely unable to fathom its intent.
It seemed to be quite embarrassed about having provided Story Mode on its own authority, too.
Well, it had been quite helpful to Lion as well, so he decided to consider it fair compensation and call it even.

Whoosh.

The divine manifestation, now thoroughly downcast, placed a small fruit onto Lion’s palm.

[Green Flame Plum (★★)]
-A plum created by giving form to divine flame.
-Nothing quite like it for indigestion caused by Corruption!
-Its rare, pleasantly tart flavor is absolutely exquisite—a taste you’ll never experience twice.
[Usage: Alchemy]
[☞Click to view recipe.]

‘This ought to suffice.’

Then it quietly displayed another message.

[Should you wish it, you may walk the Priest’s Path at any time.]

“Let me think about it.”

Lion ignored the second offer and opened the lid of the Alchemical Cauldron.

Bubble-bubble.

Inside, the Digestive Acceleration Potion he’d made beforehand was already bubbling away.
Last time, when the spirit had fallen ill, he’d added pure Spirit Water and mixed it in—but this time was different.

‘This time it’s for Elvia.’

Lion squeezed the plum fruit in his hand and poured the juice streaming from it directly into the cauldron.
What was remarkable was that despite looking like just a handful of small plums on the surface, the juice kept pouring out for quite some time.
An amount equal to the Digestive Acceleration Potion flowed down, and the plums that remained in his hand vanished without a trace.
Lion stirred the cauldron countless times, waiting for the liquid to reduce down to a single dose’s worth of potion.
As he carefully moved the liquids around to keep them from clumping or scorching, a thick syrup gradually formed, eventually leaving barely enough to pool at the bottom.

[Green Flame Digestive Remedy]
-Viscous.
-The taste is dreadful. Sweet, yet bitter. Astringent too!
-Exceptionally effective at neutralizing corruption. Works regardless of race.

“…….”

Though the potion was made by blending an avatar’s Holy Power with Alchemy close to Magic, the taste couldn’t exactly be guaranteed.
And as for what remained—

“Here. I’m asking you to deliver this.”

Lion handed the finished Green Flame Digestive Remedy to the avatar.
The avatar appeared genuinely troubled by whether it truly had to run such a petty errand, but soon vanished.

“My hand’s almost back, too.”

If he rested here a little longer, it seemed he’d wake up soon.
He hoped the potion would reach Elvia properly.

‘But if the avatar shows up in Elvia’s dream, isn’t that a nightmare?’

Only then did it dawn on him that Elvia and flames had poor compatibility, but what could he do about it now?
At least it was good for the body!
Ha ha ha. Sorry, Elvia……!

* * *

And just as Lion had anticipated.
Elvia, who had been forced into deep sleep as the price for swallowing corruption,

“Ugh…….”

It was bewildering enough that a witch had experienced a nightmare, but what was even more absurd was that she couldn’t remember a thing.
Just as she was growing confused by this strange sensation,

It looked exactly the same as before she’d fallen asleep.

It meant less than a day had passed.
By any rational standard, it was impossible.
Having pursued this research for quite some time now, I knew better than anyone that it couldn’t be done.
And yet.

‘There are always exceptions.’

Especially when there’s one troublemaker in the world better at creating exceptional circumstances than anyone else.

……

Under Elvia’s gaze, Lion’s eyes rolled back in exasperation.

“What on earth have you done this time?”

In the end, Elvia couldn’t hold back any longer and asked.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————