Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 303

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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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I Don’t Know About Being a Successor, But I’ll Settle for Some Healing — Chapter 303

The Shillings he’d painstakingly accumulated over time slipped away, but Lion didn’t mind.
This level of investment in equipment felt far from wasteful.
Above all……

“I’ve saved up more than I thought.”

After disposing of unnecessary items and weathering various trials, the accumulated Shillings had grown quite substantial.
Despite spending a staggering 145,000 Shillings, over 500,000 remained!

‘As they say, acorns are always worth gathering.’

How convenient to have funds available whenever needed like this.
In any case, the Shilling Shop had made everything he’d planned to do next far simpler.
Enchantment and repair.
As for the Level increase that would follow, his grandfather had promised to provide full support, so he’d set that aside for now.

“Well then.”

Lion cracked his knuckles with a sharp snap and tore open the paper envelope containing the powder he’d purchased from the Shilling Shop.
Quick and efficient—that was the plan!
Or so he thought, the moment after……

“Blech……!”

The instant he opened the envelope, a stench hit his nose—acrid, metallic, and utterly foul.
Unlike sulfur or any ordinary odor, this bizarre, nauseating reek could have rivaled the stench of an apron someone wore unwashed their entire life.
Even Lion, with his iron stomach, felt his gorge rising.

‘Now I understand why it’s called the Hellish Powder of the Yellow Springs.’

Sprinkling this on his body would make even hellfire itself recoil in disgust.

Sniff, sniff.

“……!”

Pus, standing beside Lion, caught the scent and opened its mouth in apparent shock.
Then it sniffed again, deeply.
The smell might actually be quite appealing to Pus.

“……Don’t tell me the smell gets Enchanted too?”

If the stench got absorbed into the Alchemy Cauldron during Enchantment, that would be rather troublesome.

-I’m not sure how foul the smell really is, but it should be fine.

Tieramatrak gazed at the powder in Lion’s hand with curious eyes.

-It appears to be something connected to the Underworld. If the smell truly originated from the depths of the Underworld itself, I could have detected it too.

That’s actually fortunate.

-Of course, you’re likely to reek for about three days, Lion!

Now that’s truly unfortunate.
In all his years of life, he’d never once been told he smelled bad—until now, it seemed.

‘Once the repair work’s done, I’ll need to air out this smell in the Mimur Forest.’

For scrubbing away stench, nothing beats a good sauna.

“Better finish this as quickly as I can.”

Lion held his breath, pinched a handful of the Hellish Powder of the Yellow Springs, and began tracing a rune across the bottom of the Alchemy Cauldron.
There was nothing difficult about it.
Ever since his Alchemy reached the proficiency stage, knowledge had naturally bloomed in his mind.
Beyond that, his other skills had reached such a level that even careless, casual strokes produced lines as perfect as those of a master sand artist.
Each mark aligned flawlessly—it was almost exhilarating.
For some reason, it brought back that time when he’d suffered a Penalty and spent hours playing with sand.

‘Though I’d never want to be a child again……’

Balance had been impossible, and everyone around him treated him like an infant.
No, the freedom of adulthood was far superior.

-Somehow managing to craft it in such an awkward position.

“Peep.”

As Tieramatrak and Nature observed Lion practically folding himself into the cauldron, they left their remarks.

“Phew! That worked.”

Lion extracted himself from the pot and exhaled deeply.
Fine dust clung to his face; even after drawing the Labyrinth’s air into his lungs, it didn’t feel fresh.
Still, the rune for the Enchantment was now perfectly complete!

Whoosh.

Lion carefully closed the cauldron’s lid, stood before it, closed his eyes, and recalled the moment when his Artisan’s Touch had succeeded in an Enchantment.
That process, after forging the Argront Iron, when he’d purified Mudu’s belongings again.
Holy Water touched the scorching casting vessel, and billows of pale steam rose.
At that same moment, the Holy Power within the water seeped into the casting vessel.
Incompatible elements filtered away, replaced by something new in their stead.

‘Yes. That was exactly when it happened.’

The notification that the Enchantment had succeeded appeared.
At the time, he’d been too rushed—happenstance upon happenstance had brought it about—but a precise moment of timing had existed.

‘Then this Alchemy Cauldron should work the same way.’

Lion shut out all other senses and concentrated on his hands.
Carefully, he laid his hand upon the cauldron’s lid and spoke the Enchantment incantation.

Whirrr.

A faint vibration rippled through his fingertips.
The rune etched inside the cauldron was operating correctly.

‘The difference from last time……’

Rather than displacing the cauldron’s existing functions, he was adding only new ones.
In other words, it felt like coating the surface.
Like seasoning a freshly cast pot, a distinctive energy flowed from the rune Lion had drawn.
Once that energy had filled the cauldron’s interior, he opened his eyes and carefully lifted the lid.

Siiiii—

Like mist pooling thick over the River of the Underworld where it met hellfire, ash-grey vapors roiled within the cauldron.
True, there was an instinctive revulsion at something so close to death, yet one thing was certain.
This mist could not harm Lion.

‘Because I’m controlling it.’

He couldn’t afford to be overwhelmed.
At Lion’s will, the mist settled across the cauldron’s inner walls and bottom, ash-grey dew beading at the corners where it gathered.
And just before those droplets fell to the floor—

“Enchantment.”

Lion’s voice was low and sharp.
In the same instant,
the droplets reversed their fall.
Or rather, they were drawn upward.
The drops seeped into the Alchemy Cauldron as if being absorbed, and the mist from the River of the Underworld followed suit.

Whoosh.

Time seemed to flow backward in an optical illusion.

[You have successfully Enchanted with the Yellow Springs!]
[Fire Resistance+ has been added to the Alchemy Cauldron.]
[It will endure even the harshest Alchemy!]
[Durability has increased slightly.]

Success.

“Phew!”

He’d known it would work, of course, but performing an Enchantment deliberately for the first time still drew a sigh of relief from Lion.
Examining the cauldron’s interior, the Hellish Powder of the Yellow Springs he’d used as a catalyst had been completely absorbed without a trace.

“Good.”

He’d heard about the durability increase, but the scratches and cracks in the Alchemy Cauldron remained visible.
If he relied solely on that message and skipped the repairs, it would break soon enough.

“Right, then—”

Before using the Repair Kit of the Yellow Springs,

“Nature and Pus, you two need to leave.”
“Kee-ing? Kee-ing!”

The moment the smell faded, Pus—apparently curious—began sniffing around the space, only to protest loudly at the order to leave!

“Chirp chirp.”

Nature seized Pus by the scruff with her beak and flew out of the Labyrinth, straining somewhat under the weight.
The fact that such a small beak could carry Pus at all was remarkable, but Lion simply waved them off without comment.
Those two were handled.
Everyone else.

—Could it be you’re about to kick me out too?

“Yep.”

Of course, there was no real need to drive him out.
As long as he kept his eyes shut, it would be fine.
……But Tieramatrak, this dopamine-addicted dragon, would definitely be tempted to crack one eye open.
And even if that weren’t the case, Tieramatrak was still a ‘spirit,’ wasn’t he?
It seemed unwise to let him encounter the repair workers coming from the Underworld.

“Get out.”

-Wait, hold on! Give me a chance to convince you!
-If this has something to do with the Underworld, wouldn’t it be better to have me here?

“Better to have you here?”

The moment Lion seemed willing to listen, Tieramatrak’s face lit up.

-That’s right! I’m not a soul who fled the Underworld, and I haven’t committed any crimes.
-As a great being, I receive ‘special treatment’!
-So if I’m here watching, wouldn’t they repair things even more carefully?
-Of course there are ‘rules’ since it belongs to the Underworld. I’ll follow them!

“Hm…….”

He’d thought it was just an excuse from someone who wanted to stay, but it sounded more convincing than expected.

‘Come to think of it…….’

He’d assumed it was simply a ‘Yellow Springs’ series item, and workers appeared to help repair it—beings the living shouldn’t see.

‘But now that I think about it, isn’t this a perfect setup to get cheated?’

Lately, everyone around him had been so kind, their hearts so clean, that he’d momentarily forgotten.
This was a world where you could lose your nose while your eyes were open……!

‘Even if that weren’t true.’

It wouldn’t hurt to have a spirit receiving ‘special treatment’ nearby, as Tieramatrak claimed.
The instructions on the Repair Kit didn’t even mention that no one could be around during use.

“Fine. But you have to keep your eyes shut tight.”

-Really? Got it! I’ll be on my best behavior!
-Hehe, when else would I get a chance like this?
-You’d have to be dead to try it!

The acrid remark flew past in an instant, but Lion chose to ignore it and pulled out the Repair Kit.
The instructions were simple.

[Repair Kit of the Yellow Springs — Instructions]
-Strike the item requiring repair hard with the included mallet, then shut your eyes tight!
-The workers will repair the item cleanly and retrieve the mallet!

“…….”

Just looking at it, it reminded him of some being from a folk tale.

‘Tap-tap with a mallet…….’

Well, as long as the item got repaired cleanly, did it matter who did it?
Lion picked up the mallet, small enough to hold in both hands.

“Close your eyes ahead of time.”

-Okay!!

With Tieramatrak squeezing his eyes shut eagerly like a child in anticipation, Lion turned and swung the mallet as instructed.

Thud!

The dull sound rang out, and Lion set down the mallet and closed his own eyes.
Then footsteps came at once.

-Well I never, fixing something so grand they needed this too, hee— heeek! A, a dragon!
-No, sir. How would a dragon use this? All dragons are in the Underworld…… Oh my!

The grumbling died away quickly.
The ‘workers’ seemed quite startled, their murmuring rising and falling before the sound of hammering resumed.

-There we are, all done nicely! Don’t you worry!
-Well then, we’ll be on our way!

After the brief commotion passed, Lion slowly opened his eyes.

“Wow.”

The workers had seemed somewhat suspicious, but the state of the Alchemy Cauldron was extraordinary!
The dented portions had been smoothed completely, and the cracks showed no trace of damage whatsoever.
There was a hint of age to it, but it was nearly indistinguishable from a new one.
On top of that, they’d apparently given it some finishing work—it gleamed with a brilliant shine.

“Hm?”

But that wasn’t all.
Lion had only swung the mallet at the Alchemy Cauldron…….

‘The other equipment is all repaired too?’

Not just the Alchemy Cauldron, but the Potion Bottles and Distiller alike seemed mysteriously new.

-Ahem, how’s that?

Tieramatrak, who’d apparently overheard what the workers said, planted his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest proudly.

“Do you know those workers?”

-No? I don’t know them.
-But honestly, worker or dwarf, they’re all the same thing anyway.

Ah, I see……!

‘So it’s like saying goblin or dwarf, they’re all the same?’

And the dragon had a history of tormenting dwarves without mercy.
Tieramatrak seemed to be one of the more difficult types at that.

‘Ah, so that’s how it works.’

It was truly a fresh perspective.
Lion nodded, understanding something new.

“Anyway, you did well.”

-So later, you’ll make me more treats, right?

“Sure. Do you like baked eggs?”

-I do!! I want to try roasted banana and sweet potato too!

“Got it. I’ll make them for you.”

Since I’m making treats for Tieramatrak as well, I should head to the Mimur Forest.
Lion thought that he’d used the kit quite skillfully, and went to wash off the smell clinging to his body.
And at that same moment.
Patrick reached out to the Elf Kingdom.

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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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