Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 34

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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 I Don’t Know — Just Let Me Heal — Episode 34

It wasn’t enough.

“Just 1st Circle, and yet something feels off.”

A 1st Circle couldn’t hold much Magical Power. No matter how pure the Mana he tried to store, the container itself was simply too small.
That’s why everyone else meditated at dawn, trained relentlessly, and recited Magic Spells endlessly, all to advance to 2nd Circle, 3rd Circle—expanding the size of their Mana reservoirs—but……

“It’s rather large.”

The Magical Power he could store in 1st Circle was far too vast.
Even in the Labyrinth, he’d sensed something was off, but confirming it in a safe place made the anomaly undeniable.
He’d calculated the Mana ratio by blending what he knew from playing In the World with Lion’s current common sense, yet the figures didn’t match at all.
Normally, more than half of a 1st Circle should be saturated with Mana.
But now… it’s so empty it’s barely worth calculating.

“Guess I should just take the win.”

It meant he had a Mana reservoir of genuinely exceptional quality.
The only problem was that if this happened to be discovered by accident, it could become a rather troublesome situation.

“At least I managed to keep it hidden.”

It wasn’t the Hero’s possession for nothing.
Even if it was an item that scattered easily in the real world, here it counted as a rare, treasure-grade Artifact.

“What a proper Coming-of-Age Ceremony this turned out to be.”

He’d never expected to receive such an unforeseen gift.
In any case, it didn’t seem like much time had passed, so he needed to escape this place quickly.
With that, Lion headed straight for the location of the Magic Circle……

“……Huh?”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it outside.
Lion made no attempt to hide his bewilderment as he looked around.
Wasn’t he standing in the heart of the Labyrinth?
Moreover, the interior of the Labyrinth was far more of a mess than he’d thought.
Whether the entire Labyrinth had trembled or not, every book on the shelves had scattered across the floor, and the Library’s interior—once immaculate—was now covered in loose pages fallen from the volumes.

[Reading is currently forbidden without the permission of the Library’s owner.]
[The current owner of the Library is Lion Asteri.]

“……?”

Moreover, a notification appeared with content entirely different from what he’d seen before entering this place.

“I became the owner?”

Was it because no one else had cleared the Labyrinth?
‘The first Head of House Asteri only created it—they never actually cleared it.’

The family records stated that not a single person had ever conquered this Labyrinth, so one way or another, he could accept it.
And yet……

“Tch, this wasn’t part of my plan.”

Lion scratched the back of his head vigorously.
I’d thought I was leaving, but instead I’d ended up back in the Labyrinth—now a complete disaster that would take years to put right.

[Labyrinth entrance is damaged. Auto-repair in progress…….]
[Would you like to move to the Labyrinth’s final chamber?]

Fortunately, the Labyrinth had sensed its master’s mood and offered the relocation.

‘So I can move later if I need to.’

That was a relief, at least.

‘But if it stays this wrecked, things could get complicated.’

Suppose time passed, the entrance repaired itself, and Lion went outside.

“By the way, the Labyrinth was damaged, wasn’t it?”

If he said that—
what would people say?

“You broke the Labyrinth—you’d better fix it!”

That’s exactly what they’d say.
Patrick especially.

“I told you to do as you please, and already you’re causing disasters on this scale?”

Something like that.
Lion absolutely did not want to hear such a scolding.
It’d be better to handle it alone.

‘Wait, hold on.’

If I’m the owner, can I repair it myself?

[Would you like to reset the Labyrinth? All currently bound items will return to their original positions.]

“…….”

And a reset would mean…….
All the books brought in since the Labyrinth’s establishment would vanish.
That wouldn’t work.

Manual adjustment seemed to be like editing a save file.
At least that was straightforward.

At most it wouldn’t take more than a day, would it?

[Approximately 672 hours will be required, and you cannot leave the Labyrinth.]

“……How many hours?”

[672 hours will be required.]

Lion pressed his lips together.
It seemed the estimate included the time needed to restore all those countless scattered books and shelves to their proper places.

“So I could stay at the far end of the Labyrinth during that time?”

[The Library’s owner may move freely anywhere within the Library.]

“While I’m restoring it, is there any way to send word to the outside?”

[There exists a currently unused library return slot.]

“Well, that’s a relief.”

If he sent out a summary of the situation, it would ease his family’s worries considerably.

[Will you proceed with restoration?]

“Yes. Go ahead and restore it.”

[671 hours 59 minutes remaining until Labyrinth restoration is complete.]

Lion watched the books find their way back to their proper places, then moved toward the far end of the Labyrinth.

Whoosh!

He arrived in an instant and looked around.
The far end of the Labyrinth remained exactly as he’d left it after digging through the ground.

“So for the next month, I just need to survive.”

Lion decided to look through the Sealing Shop for something useful.
But before that, something caught his eye.

“A pond? Or should I call it a lake?”

In the distance lay what looked like a decent-sized reservoir.

* * *

“A month. An entire month…….”

It was a joy and a relief beyond measure—gratitude to a god he’d never found in all his life—that Lion was safe, yet he was deeply troubled at the thought of him being alone in that place for an entire month.

As Patrick sat there, fretting inwardly…….
Ricshel examined the note that lay on the table once more.

‘Lion’s handwriting was unmistakable.’

The script was hurried, scrawled hastily, yet it didn’t seem to lack strength.
More importantly, there was no trace of blood or corruption marring the letters.
That much, at least, was certain — no grave trouble had befallen him.
Beyond that… the Lion he’d come to know possessed a vitality that exceeded all expectations.

‘In the Mimur Forest, he found sweet potatoes and roasted them himself.’

Truthfully, even a commoner outside the Nobility would hardly think to forage for emergency crops in that dark, damp forest and cook them there.
Yet the Lion, raised without want, had managed it without difficulty.
There was a strange certainty that he wouldn’t starve, no matter where he found himself.
What truly worried Ricshel was Patrick — his grandfather.
He couldn’t forget those trembling hands.
It was the first time he’d ever seen his grandfather so fragile.
Patrick of Asteri had always been a strong man.
Stern, cold, unbending — a mountain of absolute authority that could never be crossed.
And that was the truth of him.
But the figure before him now was not the Head of Household Patrick of Asteri.
He was only a grandfather who couldn’t sleep for worry over his grandson.
Ricshel fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.

“Grandfather. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

He’d never comforted or soothed anyone before; the words felt awkward in his mouth.

“There’s no blood, no corruption. Yes, it was written in haste, but the fact that he mentioned how long it might take suggests he’s already grasped a considerable portion of the Labyrinth. So…”

How should he end this?
What would Lion have done?

“…Don’t worry, Grandfather.”

Yes. He would surely have said it that way.

“…….”

Patrick lifted his head and looked at Ricshel.

‘I made a mistake.’

So consumed by worry for Lion, he’d neglected the younger boy standing right before him.
Yet this child had comforted him with an maturity beyond his years.
Trusting in his brother. Asking him not to worry.

“Yes. You’re right.”

When had his grandsons grown so tall?
Just days ago, he would have sworn they barely reached his waist.

“…Yes. I’ll have faith.”
“Yes, sir.”
“…….”

He wasn’t going to call him grandfather again?
Patrick felt a small pang of regret.

* * *

“Hmm.”

Lion surveyed the area around the vast lake slowly.

‘Nothing dangerous, and the water’s quite still.’

Though from the ripples that occasionally splashed across the surface, there were clearly fish here.

[The Lake contains numerous forms of life.]

Ah. So it’s the Lake.

“Go into detail.”

[Specifically, bilaterally symmetrical aquatic fauna and decapod crustaceans exist here.]

“……Could you explain it more simply?”

[Edible fish and crustaceans are present in abundance. Should you attempt fishing, you may catch fish ranging from the ‘Common’ and ‘Uncommon’ categories to the ‘Rare’ grade.]

So you’re saying there are fish rated from one star up to three stars?

“How many of the Rare grade fish are there?”

[Only a single specimen exists.]
[By the authority of the Labyrinth’s Head of Household, Lake fishing has been unlocked.]

“Even if fishing is possible…….”

I don’t have a fishing rod in my possession right now.

“……No, wait.”

There is a way.
Lion immediately opened the Sealing Shop.

[Welcome. Customer.]
[Would you like to check our products?]

“Show me fishing rods. And bait too.”

[Searching for fishing rods and bait.]

[Beginner Fishing Tool Set]
– 400,000 Shilling (Staff Recommendation!)
– Automatically sets bait and increases your chances of catching fish.
– All options included.

The first thing that appeared was this Beginner Fishing Tool Set.

‘Yeah. I didn’t expect that anyway.’

There was a reason it hadn’t shown up when I searched for items under 105,000 Shilling.
But……!

[Old Fishing Rod]
– 40,000 Shilling
– The appearance is shabby, and it wouldn’t be strange if it broke right away.
– Bobber sold separately, fishing line sold separately, bait sold separately.
– The fishing rod’s durability has worn down past 90 percent. Repairs are necessary.

[Beginner Fishing Tool Set]
-10,000 Shillings
-A fishing set perfect for selling to inexperienced buyers.
-Rod sold separately. But you won’t find anything better than this, will you?
-Free gift included!

“…….”

There were alternatives, though.
An old fishing rod glimpsed in passing, paired with some grating description. And then…….

[Fishing Bait]
-1,000 Shillings
-Made from Potato, Barley, and other ingredients. The dispersal rate isn’t great, but the binding strength is decent.
-99 portions.

Usable bait, all things considered.
Lion especially had high hopes for the bait.
If it actually caught fish, that would be perfect.
But if it didn’t work and became useless, he could always just eat the bait itself to get by!
It was his last line of defense, truly.
Lion steeled himself and spent the considerable sum.

[Will you complete this purchase?]

“I’ll take it all.”

[Purchase complete!]
[The Old Fishing Rod and 2 other items are now permanently bound to you.]
[You have lost 51,000 Shillings.]
[Your current balance is 48,100 Shillings.]

Lion sorted through his purchases from the Sealing Shop one by one, then began setting everything up.
And the very first thing he did was…….
Set up a chair and fishing rod by the Lake.
Remarkably, the Beginner Fishing Tool Set actually included a chair!
Perhaps this hadn’t been such a wasteful purchase after all.

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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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