Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 307

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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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The Successor’s Burden—Healing Instead 307

What do you mean, the same?
Lion cast a bewildered glance at Nature, only to find her shaking her head vigorously—her expression and demeanor now entirely different from moments before.

“……Does the jelly I made resemble something?”
“Hmm?”
“You said it was identical just now.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“…….”

Boaresia clamped her mouth shut.
Her true thoughts had slipped out before she could help it.
This was awkward, to say the least.
She had come all this way determined to confirm that her friend and Lion were different beings, yet that resolve was proving harder to maintain than she’d anticipated.
Boaresia decided she would apologize for her rudeness.
No matter the circumstances, projecting someone else onto Lion was disrespectful.

“I’m sor—”
“But the taste should be different, shouldn’t it?”

Lion spoke first, cutting off Boaresia’s apology before it could begin.

“The Elf Kingdom has so many fruits that most dishes have been made countless times. And since jellies all look much the same, it’s only natural you’d mistake them for being identical.”
“…….”
“But I added Mellow Grass to this one, so the texture and flavor should be quite distinct!”

With that, she rolled the jellies across a bed of sugar, coating them thoroughly.
Lion held out one of the dry, chewy jellies to Boaresia with confident pride.

[Sacred Tree Fruit Potion (Jelly Form) (★★★)]
-A jelly-form potion containing a significant amount of fruit juice from the precious fruits that grow on the sacred tree revered by elves!
-Chewy, sweet, and tart all at once—it’s like a fruit festival unfolding in your mouth!
-When consumed by a spirit, permanently increases Attribute Technique Power by +2.

The taste, at least, was guaranteed.

“Please, try it.”
“…….”

The moment for an apology had slipped away, so Boaresia had no choice but to accept the jelly Lion offered.
Sugar granules clung to her fingertips, rough and gritty.
A sticky-sweet aroma brushed sharply against her nose.

‘Similar in appearance, yet different in texture and taste.’

It seemed as though Lion were speaking of something far larger than this small treat.

“She’s right.”

The small jelly that dissolved on her tongue was unmistakably different from anything she had tasted in the Elf Kingdom before.
Though made from sacred tree fruit, the addition of other ingredients made it far softer, more yielding.
The sugar coating on the surface crackled slightly with each bite, adding texture to every chew.
It was delicious.
And it was different.
She felt it clearly—and found herself disappointed precisely because of it.
Because now she knew they were different.

‘Yes. It has to be different.’

His friend had been dead for only fifty years.
He’d never even known his real name—had simply called him the Druid.
Later, he’d tried to learn something of his origins, but eventually given up.
What use was it, after all?
A few decades later, word came.
The Red-Wolf Tribe had been completely annihilated.
He felt regret then—deep, bone-grinding regret—but it was already over, and he couldn’t even cling to what might have been.
He could have lived that way again.
But somehow, a different kind of hope had taken root.
Just because this one traveled with the Spirit King and the offspring of a demon didn’t mean they were the same thing.

‘I should go back.’

Nothing would change, and an old corpse of a man would only make Lion Asteri uncomfortable.
Even the Spirit King kept glancing at him now and then.
It was in that moment, lost in such thoughts, that—

“Even if they’re different, they taste good, don’t they?”

Lion asked suddenly, chewing on the jelly.

“Even if the outside looks similar, the taste can be completely different.”
“Wow! It really is delicious, Master! Salamander’s eating it so happily too!”
“Chirp!”

Nature, beak dusted thick with sugar, was pecking eagerly at the jelly without a care in the world.

“I once made something called yulan—it’s a confection where you mold chestnuts into the shape of a chestnut. The taste was different then too. Isn’t that something?”
“…….”

Well, of course.
Other things had gone into it besides chestnuts.
Cookie crumbs that Elvia had made had gone in instead of cinnamon powder, and rather than ordinary chestnuts, they’d used those glass-like chestnuts still being refined at the Magic Tower.
The expected flavor hadn’t come through.
And yet the yulan had still tasted wonderful, and made an excellent gift.

“Even when things are different, I can still enjoy them. And depending on that difference, I might have a brand-new experience.”
“Yes.”

Lion fell silent and looked at Boaresia.
There was something he wanted to say after this.
That experiencing something new doesn’t mean you forget what you already knew.

‘So there’s no need to be afraid.’

An elf who had lived for quite a long span of years, yet everyone encounters their first experience, and the pain of loss comes to all.
The magnitude differs from person to person, though some are struck harder by it than others.
The hurt can be so severe that one simply stops.
Even if you find something similar, it’s ultimately a different being.

‘But if you live eternally in the past because of that—’

Isn’t that like driving a nail through the hearts of those who’ve departed?

‘Well… it’s my own experience, so someone might dispute it.’

But what else could he do?
Lion had lived through such an experience, and drawing on it, he could only offer comfort in the vaguest of terms.
I don’t know that Elder Elf well, nor do I know what the Druid was thinking.
But.

‘It’d be a shame to let them fade.’

Not a plea to stop grieving, but a gentle reminder to recall them now and then as new moments arrive.
That way, they wouldn’t remain frozen in time.

“Well then, I’ve made plenty of these. I should go share some with Urhil and Barg.”

Lion wrapped the souvenir jellies in an attractive package, then stuffed the rest into a container.
In the meantime, Freyanya tidied the area and crept cautiously toward where Boaresia stood.

“Say, wouldn’t you like to come along with us? The Training Ground at the Asteri Family Estate isn’t exactly a place one visits every day…….”

There had to be a reason why the Master specifically mentioned those two beast-humans.
Especially.

‘Barg.’

That boy was a Red Wolf Humanoid, as far as she knew.
And she’d heard that Boaresia’s friend was also a Red Wolf Humanoid.

‘The Master surely…….’

He was trying to introduce the Elder to a new connection.

“I’m certain you’ll like them.”
“…….”

The small harp elf child’s eyes held an earnest gleam.

‘How kind she’s become.’

Before, she’d heard Freyanya was a handful of trouble, caring only for herself.

‘Is it because of Lion Asteri?’

In such a brief span, Freyanya had changed into something new.
……rather like himself.

‘I suppose I must accept that Lion Asteri is not my old friend.’

Every word, every gesture was entirely different.
It was true he spent time freely with the Spirit King, but it wasn’t quite the same as it had been with the Druid.
He was unmistakably a separate person.
And yet.

“Then let us go together.”

A new connection, indeed.
Light flickered briefly in Boaresia’s eyes.
Freyanya caught sight of it and flinched, her body trembling slightly.

“Wonderful. Let’s head out right away!”

Unfortunately, Lion hadn’t noticed that exchange.

* * *

“Done.”
“Yes. It’s finished.”

Patrick and Elvia, who had been watching this entire scene unfold, exhaled in unison.
Their grandson had managed through some stratagem or other to bring the old elf back to his senses.

“You’ve awakened something in him.”
“That look in his eyes—it’s exactly the same as what I saw fifty years ago.”

The face of a greedy elf.
Patrick, who remembered that incident with perfect clarity, drew a deep breath.

‘In all my years, I’ve never met an elf quite so consumed by avarice.’

Boaresia.
His first meeting with that elf remained vivid even now.

“You said he claimed we’d trampled a single leaf within his territory.”
“That’s right.”

Yes.
That creature had been obsessed with everything within his domain to an extraordinary degree.
A petty thief had stumbled and accidentally crushed a clover in the elf’s forest—and for that alone, the Hero and his companions would have been captured alive if not for the intervention that followed.
What had he demanded as compensation?

‘To bring him the Demon King’s head?’

Or else he would invade human territory?

It was absurd.
For days, ridiculous arguments had gone back and forth.
Actually, let me correct that.
Along with the bickering came spells and spear thrusts flying everywhere, and arrows tipped with poison arriving from places no one expected.
After fighting for some time, the conclusion he’d reached was that he couldn’t trust them—so if they would simply guide him there, he would handle it himself.

‘A far cry from how he is now.’

So, moved by pity at how thoroughly he’d been broken, Patrick had granted him two weeks to recover.

……

Whether the elf’s resilience was exceptionally strong or he’d simply had enough time to heal.
He was already trying to show his younger self to his grandson.

“Master. Shall I take care of it?”
“Hmm……”

At Elvia’s question, Patrick nearly nodded before catching himself.
It wasn’t that simple a matter.

“……For now, let’s wait and see what happens when he meets Barg before we decide.”
“This old man is merely worried our pup might be taken from us.”
“If things worsen by any chance, I’ll summon him.”

His youngest grandson.
Ricshel Asteri.
Because he was currently assisting the Crown Prince with various matters, Patrick had deliberately kept news of this situation from him.
But!
Should that old elf’s honeyed words seduce him into visiting the Elf Kingdom on a whim, Patrick was prepared to summon a reliable reinforcement.
Ricshel possessed a sharp tongue keen enough to hold its own against elven rhetoric.
Above all else……

‘Lion wouldn’t leave Ricshel behind.’

That boy had a combative nature, after all.

“I’ve already given Barg a rough outline of the situation, so we should be able to settle it there.”
“I understand. Then I shall prepare for the worst-case scenario. Hehehehe……”

Elvia finished speaking and slipped silently into the shadows, vanishing from sight.

……

Patrick shook his head lightly as he watched her go.
That old elf Boaresia was himself a creature of considerable stubbornness and ambition.
But the witch living with him at the Asteri Family Estate—now there was another matter entirely.

‘She’s grown stronger of her own will……’

And that wasn’t all.
The dragon’s soul.
The crown prince, lord of the Underworld.
Added to that, the Archbishop—quiet as a sleeping mouse—and his adopted son besides.
Patrick exhaled slowly, turning over in his mind all the greedy souls circling around Lion.

‘Yet he manages to use them all.’

Still, not once had he been played for a fool, so Patrick supposed Lion would simply worry the old man to death—and then handle it all masterfully, as always.
It was just as another wrinkle began to etch itself into Patrick’s brow, unnoticed.

“I-I’m Barg, sir! I heard you know my bloodline!”

A stout pillar of support against Boaresia’s greed.
Barg offered his greeting with clumsy earnestness.

“……I was under the impression all Red Wolf Humanoids were dead.”
“Yes, sir. The lord saved me. I’m the only one left.”
“……I see. Patrick has done great work.”

Boaresia gazed at Barg and released a breath of relief.
Perhaps some weight of guilt he’d carried unawares had lifted from his shoulders.
Moreover, whether Lion’s counsel had taken root or not, the old elf’s face now held expression and vitality that hadn’t been there before.

‘That’s fortunate.’

With things proceeding as they were, he could maintain good relations according to plan while gathering various pieces of information.
If fortune allowed.

‘I want to know the Hero’s purpose.’

He knew where she was, but not why she’d gone there—that remained a puzzle.
Perhaps an Elder Elf would know.
And the key figure who could broach that subject was standing right before him: Barg.

“If I’m not being forward…… would you mind sparring with me while telling me about your tribe?”

Hmm?
There seemed to be a different thread woven into that request.

‘Well, either direction could work out fine, I suppose?’

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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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