Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 302

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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 302

Right.
Cooperation had always mattered.
Though a single person made the final decision on grave matters, countless others had to pool their strength and effort until the work was complete.
And depending on how that cooperation happened, the results changed.
Lion, with his years of professional experience, understood that well enough.
But.

‘Work and family are different things, aren’t they?’

Lion pressed his case inwardly.
At work, even if Lion burned himself out, no one worried — and certainly no one told him to stop, since it meant one less task for them.
It all worked out for everyone in the end.
……At least, that’s how every company he’d worked for operated.

“So the plan is to touch three different objects at once, leveraging the fact that touching anything that belonged to the Hero lets you read certain memories from it.”
“And you’re not even sure if it will strain your body or not?”
“……No, if you’re going to put it like that—”

He’d been trying to argue the advantages if the plan succeeded, but the intensity in both their eyes silenced him.
Right. This was the natural reaction from family.
If Lion had been in their position, he would’ve done the same.
In fact, he might have opposed it even more fiercely.

‘Why take such an unnecessary risk?’ he would have said.

No matter how connected it was to the Hero, or how likely something was to happen.

“It was a good call coming home a little early, as Ricshel suggested.”

You?
Ricshel, meeting Lion’s resentful gaze, turned his head — or rather, faced it head-on without flinching.

“Have I deceived you once or twice, brother?”

There was nothing to say to that.
Deceiving anyone, for whatever reason, was wrong.
A lie of good intent only stayed good if it went undiscovered.

—No matter who my contractor is, I can’t take your side on this one.
—Karma, karma!

……Right.
He’d known a day like this would come.
Caught and scolded before he could even act on his plan.
Lion could only clench his now-clean fists quietly.

“Hmm.”

Patrick gazed at his headstrong grandson, now looking dejected, and fell into deep thought.
Even if he seemed downhearted now, Lion would inevitably carry out the plan he’d just described, as he always did.

‘In that case, perhaps…….’

Patrick opened his mouth after his deliberation.

“The stronger your power grows, the higher the probability you won’t be injured, correct?”
“……Yes, sir. That’s correct.”

Lion felt a small jolt of surprise.
Throughout their conversation, he’d carefully avoided mentioning anything related to his “abilities.”
Outside of Magic and Spirit Summoning, it was simply too ambiguous to explain.
Yet the Grand Duke had pieced it together from their entire exchange.

‘He’s remarkable, truly.’

If his grandfather had taken a firm stance and put the brakes on Lion’s path, the road ahead would undoubtedly have become far more treacherous.
But the fact that he was asking in this way instead…

“Very well. First, you must devote yourself to maintaining your equipment. Leave the rest to me.”
“……?”

While Lion stood bewildered, Ricshel nodded in understanding.

“You’ve determined that my brother’s special power is what strengthens his mental fortitude, haven’t you? In that case, it would indeed be wise to rely on Father. Brother.”
“Forgive me, but I’m having trouble understanding. What exactly do you mean by helping?”
“It’s simple, Brother. Opening the purse.”
“Ah.”

Then it clicked for Lion.

‘Right, of course.’

Lion was, in fact, a rather unusual case.
He could use Magic, yet his growth didn’t follow the path of a mage.
Instead, his Circle rose incrementally whenever his Gathering or Spirit Summoning improved.

‘I can train in Magic, certainly.’

But Lion neither preferred it nor found it efficient.
So naturally, despite having an Archmage and a witch nearby, he couldn’t receive proper training.
But if there was another way to grow—a different path—then…

‘…there’d be plenty of it.’

House Asteri!
As a renowned magical family, Magic Towers stood throughout the Empire, and the House’s individual wealth was staggering.
Lion could scatter jewels recklessly and not leave so much as a dent.

‘And as for living skills…’

Even when playing In the World, there were two paths to leveling life skills, weren’t there?
First: pure, relentless grinding.
Starting with mining ore to craft weapons, repeating the work of raising all skill levels simultaneously—
Exhausting and draining, but the efficiency was unbeatable.
And second…

‘…throwing money at it.’

Buying all crafting materials in bulk from the exchange or other players.
In other words, brute-forcing with wealth!
The efficiency was abysmal, but it had the overwhelming advantage of convenience.
After pushing your crafting professions to the limit that way, you’d solve the Gathering side through high-efficiency sub-quests tied to the crafting branches—or so he’d heard.
And now Patrick and Ricshel were presenting the second method to him.
Using this approach in reality rather than in-game was nearly impossible—

“At last I can actually help.”
“Indeed. How much inward suffering you’ve endured all this time, Father.”

Rather, both of them now looked apologetic for helping him at all.
It seemed to weigh on them that they hadn’t supported his ability growth sufficiently until now.

‘No, I feel like I’ve received plenty already?’

First of all, there was the Alchemy Tool Set, and being able to gather infinitely in Mimur Forest — wasn’t that all thanks to the family’s resources?
Even whenever he asked for something, all manner of items would just appear without question.

‘I even got Mana Stones, didn’t I?’

Under normal circumstances, he would have declined now, saying he’d already received plenty.
But.

‘There’s no real reason to refuse.’

There was no need to spurn what they were offering to give.
The efficiency was abysmal, yes, but he remembered that the Experience Points awarded for successfully crafting an item for the first time were decent.

And more than anything else, the fact that he could escape the current crisis relatively easily.

“Then I’ll accept gratefully.”
“Good. As for what comes after, don’t worry about it. Just prepare yourself carefully, and take every precaution not to injure yourself.”
“Understood. We’ll do our best to prepare as well.”

With that, the two began to discuss seriously where to procure supplies.

“It would be best to seek assistance from Duke Bydentis, I think.”
“I’ll also contact the Elf Kingdom to have supplies sent to us. And…….”

Watching their heated discussion, Lion smiled sheepishly.

‘I thought they’d only oppose me.’

In truth, what Lion was about to attempt was not reasonable by any measure.
Yet his family not only trusted and supported him — they stood behind him without hesitation.

“There’s no need to thank us.”
“That’s right. This is a deserved return on our investment.”

Patrick answered, sounding embarrassed, his characteristic bluntness coming through.

“Do you know how remarkable the things you’ve accomplished so far truly are? We’re simply making a proper investment in proportion to that. So don’t burden yourself with gratitude.”
“As the Grand Duke says. So even if this fails, or the results fall short of your plan, don’t worry yourself.”

This was the reward for what he’d achieved until now, and even if this venture went awry, the support would continue.

“Yes. I’ll do my very best.”
“Please don’t do your very best.”
“Understood. Now go rest. You’ll enter the Labyrinth tomorrow.”
……

Yes, right.

‘How did they know? It’s uncanny.’

Since the conversation had ended well anyway, he’d been planning to go buy materials at the Sealing Shop to repair the Alchemy Cauldron.

-Even I can tell, and I’m just a ghost.
-Go rest already!

……For now, I really do need to rest today.
Only after Ricshel made a gesture asking if he should escort him out did Lion struggle to his feet and head toward his room.
In the meantime, he could have slipped off to the Labyrinth.

“Young Master. I’ve prepared warm water for you.”

When he stepped out, Elvia was standing guard with an iron defense.

“Anyone who saw this would think I was someone who worked myself to exhaustion all the time.”

To reiterate: Lion was unemployed.
And not just any unemployed person — one who splurged money freely on his hobbies!
It was only because of one slightly unfortunate personal matter that things looked this way; otherwise, his schedule was quite free, thank you very much!

“……Heh heh.”

Elvia, as if she could read his very thoughts, smiled knowingly and led the aggrieved puppy toward his room.
And so Lion’s plans sadly went unrealized.
Though the peace of the household was preserved in the process.

* * *

“Shilling Shop.”

The very next day, Lion logged into the Shilling Shop.
His immediate plan was to have the Alchemy Cauldron repaired.

[Underworld Repair Kit]
-90,000 Shilling ☞ 45,000 Shilling! (Special customer discount: 50% off permanently!)
-Repairs anything and everything in the Shilling Shop with a snap.
-Never open your eyes while repairs are underway.

This Underworld Repair Kit was exactly what he’d been thinking of to easily restore the Alchemy Cauldron.
After all, it claimed to repair absolutely anything with a snap.
But after mulling it over for a few days, something began to nag at him.
Specifically.

“Anything in the Shilling Shop, it says…….”

The Alchemy Cauldron wasn’t an item he’d purchased from the Shilling Shop.
Just to be sure, he checked the fine print labeled “Special Terms,” and…….

“It won’t work.”

The Underworld Repair Kit appeared to repair exactly two classes of items only.
The first was items purchased from the ‘Shilling Shop,’ as stated in the description.
And the second required the keyword ‘Underworld’ to be included.
Unfortunately, the Alchemy Cauldron fell into neither category.
So, for lack of a better option, he looked for other repair kits, but nothing appealed to him.
Therefore, Lion decided to use a different approach.

“Enchantment.”

Quite some time ago, he’d had the experience of enchanting an item, hadn’t he.
The first time was thanks to a fire spirit’s favor; the second time, his tanning tools received a ‘blessed’ Enchantment.
Back then, his Blacksmithing level was too low to do anything but rely on luck.

“But now, it’s more than sufficient.”

His Blacksmithing level and Alchemy level were both perfectly suited for the Enchantment work ahead.

‘If I enchant the Alchemy Cauldron with “Underworld,” I should be able to use it.’

To do that, first he’d need to purchase additional items from the Sealing Shop.
The ones containing the most Underworld power, specifically.

“The best effect is probably this one.”

An item caught Lion’s eye as he scrolled through the Sealing Shop’s catalog.

[Origin of the Underworld]
-500,000 Shillings ☞ 250,000 Shillings! (Special customer pricing: 50% permanent discount!)

An item that lets you glimpse the memories of the dead once.
But.

‘Setting aside the price for a moment…’

It felt like a waste to use for Enchantment.
And it probably wouldn’t synergize well with the Alchemy Cauldron anyway.

‘If I wanted to use it later, I’d have to put a corpse in the cauldron…’

That was… not ideal.
Even for someone with eccentric tastes, that wasn’t something he wanted to do.
Lion mentally swept away the elaborate images unfolding in his mind.
So his second choice was this item instead.

[Underworld Hell Powder]

An item that guarantees safety from the flames of hellfire when sprinkled on the body.
Wasn’t it perfect for enchanting a cauldron that needed constant heating?

“And the price, too.”

-200,000 Shillings ☞ 100,000 Shillings! (Special customer pricing: 50% permanent discount!)

It was expensive, certainly, but far more reasonable than the Origin of the Underworld!
Lion purchased the Underworld Repair Kit and the Hell Powder without hesitation.

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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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