Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 308

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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 a Mystery, but I’d Like Some Healing — Episode 308

“You’re putting what I taught you to good use.”

Urhil, who had been crunching on Jelly beside Lion, murmured with evident satisfaction.

“What you taught me?”
“Ah, among Beast-humans, we have genuine conversations while grappling like that.”
“I see…….”
“Of course, herbivorous—no, peace-oriented Beast-humans are an exception.”

It seemed the gap between carnivores and herbivores really was quite substantial.
Lion had just learned one more thing about Beast-humans.

“Boaresia seems to understand it well.”

Given how listless she’d been, she’d accepted his request readily enough.

‘Or maybe it’s because she’s of the Red Wolf Humanoid.’

Both seemed plausible.
Lion watched the two as they Sparred intensely.
It was clearly different from his Sparring with Jax.

‘She’s incredibly fast.’

Where Jax could have dodged everything but chose instead to collide with the blade and demonstrate the difference in strength and technique, Boaresia maintained perfect control and speed, allowing not a single opening in Barg’s assault.

-That Wolf Humanoid is pretty quick, huh?
-The Elf is gradually increasing speed, and she’s keeping right up with her.
-The Elf looks like she’s enjoying the teaching too.

“Chirp.”

This time, Nature also chirped in agreement with Tieramatrak’s observation.
While Lion marveled at the sight—

“Huff.”

Barg finally managed to calm his pounding heart.
Following the Elder Elf’s astonishing speed had been demanding, but she hadn’t pushed him hard enough to strain his body beyond measure.
After all, this was merely practice disguised as conversation time.
Barg swung his Wooden Sword and posed his question with each breath.

“What kind of person was my tribe’s leader?”
“……Good-hearted, fumbling, kind—yet unwavering when it came to their own path.”

Boaresia answered, her gaze distant, sinking into memory.

“Were you close?”
“I thought so, at least. But my friend had something they valued more than me.”

Just before the blade of the Wooden Sword touched near his chest, Boaresia slipped the strike with a graceful, fluid motion, then struck the flat of the blade with her palm, pushing it away.

“Quite different from me. My friend had no talent whatsoever for Martial Arts.”
“Th-thank you for saying so. Then your friend……?”

One clash, one exchange of words.
Back and forth, quite a lengthy conversation unfolded.
The private conversations scattered throughout were too quiet to reach Lion’s ears.
But a few crucial details became unmistakably clear.

“I regret that I know nothing of the Red Wolf Humanoids beyond my dear friend. Had I paid them greater attention… they need not have perished utterly in that war.”

Boaresia put distance between herself and Barg, her gaze falling to the Training Ground’s floor.
The barren earth, devoid of a single plant, seemed to mirror her somehow.

“That is…”

Barg could not easily dismiss such words.
If the Elder Elf had shown greater care, then perhaps… the thought crept in unbidden.
His wretched childhood might have been brighter; there might have remained at least one elder to confide his sorrows to.
Such thoughts were inevitable.
And yet.

‘No.’

Barg shook his head firmly.
In times past, he might have dwelt on such thoughts and even resented the Elder Elf.
But not now.

‘The Master taught me.’

The Red Wolf Humanoids—his own kin—had not been annihilated in that war fifty years ago.
More precisely, a Curse laid down by the Demons had flowed through their bloodline, weakening them steadily with each generation.
Barg, mercifully, had not inherited that tainted blood; instead, he bore the far more lethal Eclipse Symptoms.
Yet for reasons he could not fathom, they had chosen self-destruction rather than seek aid from anyone.
Drawing a slow breath and steadying himself, Barg opened his mouth.

“My people did not perish in war, Elder.”
“… I fail to comprehend your meaning.”
“From what I understand, the Curse itself dwelt within the very bloodline.”
“…”

A Curse?
This was the first Boaresia had heard of it.
It was information she had failed to uncover, despite her inquiries.
Or perhaps, having already marked them as extinct, she had simply ceased to look.

‘I see. That would explain…’

Had they truly perished in war, wouldn’t Barg’s age be inconsistent?
For a race without immortality, fifty years was enough to span one or even two generations.

“Eclipse Symptoms, then?”
“…! Ah, you knew of this?”
“My dear friend once suffered from that affliction. Then it would follow…”

Boaresia paused briefly, then drew a conclusion.

“They must have escaped the Curse because of the Eclipse Symptoms.”
“…!”

It was Lion who was startled by that deduction.
It astonished him that she could infer so much from such a slender thread of evidence.
Perhaps this was what it meant to be an Elder Elf.
Or was it that she had yearned for Druids more than anyone else, until burnout had claimed her?
In any case, her powers of reasoning were remarkable.

“Well…….”
“If there is anything you wish to know, ask freely. Descendant of my old friend.”

Boaresia treated Barg far more warmly than she had at their first meeting.
Even then, she hadn’t been particularly hostile.

‘But now it’s somewhat…….’

The way one might speak to a dear friend’s grandchild?
It was subtly different from how she addressed me.

‘As for me…….’

Lion made a deliberate effort not to dwell on that, refocusing his attention on Barg’s question.

“Then why did she…….”
“Why did she die, you mean.”
“……Yes. I apologize.”
“You have no need to apologize.”

Not the slightest flicker of emotion crossed Boaresia’s expression or bearing.

“A weighty question, indeed.”

Yet Urhil’s instincts detected something amiss, and he naturally stepped forward before Lion, settling into a defensive stance.
It wasn’t only Urhil who sensed the peculiarity—Nature and even Pus, who had been playing in the distance, approached and lowered their tails in wary alertness.

“My old friend’s death came of her own nature, I suspect. I mentioned it just now, did I not?”
“Yes. You said she was a good person.”
“That goodness led her to choose death. She absorbed the Hero’s Corruption in his stead.”
“What? But——”

Barg’s eyes flickered toward Lion without thinking, then quickly away.
And with good reason.
Corruption was——

‘No Druid, no matter how skilled, can absorb Corruption.’

It was theoretically impossible.
Corruption was a problem only Demons could solve.
Yet Demons had no reason to solve it.
It posed no threat to them.
So Elvia had drawn upon her nature as a Witch, and after decades—or perhaps centuries—of research, she had managed to absorb Lion’s Corruption into herself through what amounted to a Demon conduit.
And even then…….

‘We nearly lost her forever.’

When he’d pressed her on it later, she’d admitted she would need at least eighty years of sleep to recover.
Even for a Witch, Corruption was that virulent.
And yet——

‘A Druid absorbing Corruption. That’s what troubles me.’

It was the same bewilderment Lion had felt when gathering information.

“As for the reason, I myself cannot claim to understand it fully, so I fear I cannot explain. Forgive me.”
“No, please! It was a pleasure to meet someone so knowledgeable about my people and speak with them. I’ve learned much, besides.”

Barg waved his hand in gratitude and bowed respectfully.
Pleased by his sincerity, Boaresia allowed herself a faint smile as she spoke.

“If you’d like, I can tell you more about the Red Wolf Humanoid. The knowledge available to us elves differs from what humans possess.”
“…! Really? You would do that for me?”
“Of course. At the very least, we might recover traces of them, or traditions passed down through generations of their clan.”
“But I… I have no way to repay such kindness.”
“Your very presence is payment enough. Besides, I’ve limbered up my body for the first time in decades—that’s reward aplenty.”

Boaresia smoothed out her wrinkled clothes and walked back toward Lion with measured steps.

“That was excellent practice. Though I must confess, I’m quite famished now.”
“As it happens, dinner is already prepared. Shall we go together? Grandfather will be waiting for us.”
“Very well. Let us do that.”

Boaresia glanced at those standing guard around Lion, a faint smile crossing her face.

“You keep good company.”
“Thanks to them, I can move about without worry. Haha.”
“Still, I wonder if proper training shouldn’t begin before you face any stronger adversaries.”

At Boaresia’s muttered remark, Urhil raised one eyebrow.

‘Typical elf attitude.’

Quite the pedant, this one.
But he had no desire to get entangled with her.
Though he was indebted to them for a time, he was ultimately a beast-human of the Human-Beast Kingdom.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

Besides, the clever young master had a way of making delicious food, and it seemed he still had things he wanted to extract from this old crank.
Best to make himself scarce.
Urhil withdrew into the Knight Barracks with Barg in tow.
Nature darted off to the Garden, Pus trailing behind her.
To all appearances, it looked as though only Boaresia and Lion were heading to the Restaurant.

“Boaresia.”
“Speak.”
“You mentioned earlier that the Druid absorbed the Hero’s Corruption.”
“I did.”
“You know the reason why, don’t you?”
“Are you suggesting I lied to the child?”
“No, no. Not at all.”

Lion waved his hand dismissively, a slight smirk playing at his lips.

“You didn’t say it because you couldn’t be certain. I’d do the same in your position.”
“Speaking as though you know something, are you? Patrick’s grandson, Lion. Surely you understand this is a delicate matter for me?”
“Of course.”

And he knew too why the conversation hadn’t ended there, why it continued on. That was precisely why Lion decided to drop the first bomb.

“In fact, I’ve experienced Corruption myself.”
“…Corruption.”

Boaresia stopped in her tracks and fixed her gaze on Lion.
More precisely, she examined him for the traces Corruption leaves behind.

“Ah, but I resolved it through other means. I was fortunate to know a Witch who helped me.”
“….”

Boaresia seemed to be thinking something over, then nodded to herself.
She’d guessed who the Witch was.
It would have been possible, given that she was Grandfather’s colleague.

“But the Druid was a Red Wolf Humanoid, so I’ve been wondering how on earth he managed to absorb the Hero’s corruption.”

Lion continued his explanation.
Normally, it would have been impossible to draw in someone else’s corruption.
Elvia had once blurted out in anger that they should “use the young priest at the Estate,” but he doubted they would have even attempted it without her.

‘From what I know, priests can do little more than gather corruption to one place.’

Even then, the moment corruption took hold, they’d concentrate it to a single location and sever that part to stop the spread — that’s what he understood.
So then.

“What if it became possible precisely because they were judged to be the same body?”

To put it another way — two bodies they could inhabit, but a single soul. That was the feeling he meant to convey.
And that had been Lion’s hypothesis.

‘If that weren’t the case, the Hero and the Druid could never have met in the first place.’

And as it turned out, that had been the answer.

……

Boaresia shoved Lion’s body against the wall in one fluid motion.

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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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