Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 37

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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? Never mind that—I’m just here to heal. Chapter 37

Lion crushed the flesh without hesitation, dropping the seeds that fell from it into boiling water.
In the meantime, he needed to clean the crayfish…….

‘I’ve heard you’re supposed to do it in one swift motion.’

It seemed their nervous systems lingered, making them feel pain—that’s what he’d heard anyway.
Whether true or not, he felt uneasy about it, so it was worth doing it properly.
Lion positioned the blade vertically and drove it firmly through the crayfish’s head, draining the blood.
You had to let the blood out to get rid of that rank, fishy taste.
Next, he separated the body, then placed the head and legs in boiling water to make stock, seasoning it carefully.

“Ah.”

The broth began to deepen faster than he’d expected.

“Now then…….”

Lion pulled flour from his inventory—flour he’d swiped from the estate kitchen while making cookies—and began kneading it.
The timing couldn’t have been better.

“Kalguksu? No. Sujebi is the way to go.”

Once the flour mixed with water into a dough that was properly firm, he slapped it hard against the cutting board to build elasticity, then set it aside for a moment.

“The dough’s ready. Now…….”

He trimmed the Young Mushrooms from the forest and simmered them thoroughly, then dropped the cleaned crayfish body into boiling water to cook.
Rustic though it was, the crayfish was large enough that even now the dish was starting to look quite appetizing—a proper seafood stew in the making.

‘This isn’t the end of it.’

He tore off thin strips of the dough, which stretched well, and casually dropped them into the water one by one.
As the flour starch mixed with the rich broth and turned it a lovely milky white, hunger came rushing in.

“Almost done.”

Steeling himself, he finished by piling on a generous handful of Chrysanthemum Greens and gave it one last simmer……!

[Labyrinth Seafood Sujebi (★★)]
-A savory, deeply flavorful soup that beautifully captures the essence of seafood.
-The complex taste of the Peppery Fruits and Peppery Seeds has elevated the dish to completion.
-The ability to draw deep flavor from modest ingredients suggests considerable skill on the cook’s part.

Lion ladled a generous portion into a bowl.
Steam rose from it in thin wisps—it looked genuinely delicious.

“Of course—you always start with the broth.”

Lion lifted a spoonful of the milky broth and drank it carefully.

“Ahh.”

After so long, the taste of sujebi was perfect.
First, this hot broth!
He swallowed it without letting it cool, feeling the heat sear his throat, and the richness seemed to wash straight down into his belly.
After sipping the broth a few more times, Lion finally tore off a piece of sujebi, blew on it gently, and popped it into his mouth.

Gulp!

The thick and thin strands of dough yielded different textures, blending together on his palate.

‘Yes. This is the true taste of hand-torn sujebi.’

Machine-extruded sujebi lacks this rough, uneven character, and the flavor suffers for it.
You had to tear it carelessly by hand to get that varied, satisfying texture.
The mushrooms and chrysanthemum greens that arrived with the sujebi revived what could have been bland sensations, adding bright, crisp notes.
Combined with the fragrant vegetable essence and rich broth, the new depth of flavor created was a delicacy only those who had tasted it could truly understand.

“Now let’s try the crawfish.”

Lion extracted the perfectly cooked, scarlet crawfish body and carefully peeled away the shell.
The flesh, as thick and succulent as a lobster’s, separated cleanly from the shell, revealing its firm, springy texture.

“This is insane.”

The sight alone set his mouth watering.
Lion stabbed the fork firmly into the thick meat and took a large, deliberate bite.

“Wow……!”

The resistance he’d felt from the fork now registered against his teeth, and it was rapturous.
And why was the meat itself so sweet?
The texture resembled the chewy give of lobster or raw shrimp, but the flavor was sweet with the subtle complexity of crab.
Now he understood why the broth was so magnificent!
One bite of crawfish. One bite of sujebi.
When his throat grew full, he sipped the broth; when richness threatened, chrysanthemum greens refreshed the palate.
Only after indulging like this for some time did Lion set down his spoon.

“That was truly delicious.”

It seemed to be the finest meal he’d ever prepared himself.
Lion patted his full belly and leaned back lazily in his chair.
If he surrendered to the blood sugar spike now and took an afternoon nap, it would be nothing short of perfect.

“Time to get moving.”

Once the sun began to set, there was little he could accomplish in the forest.
So he needed to work diligently while daylight still hung overhead.
Lion headed back into the forest.
This time, venturing a bit deeper, he looked around him.

“I’m sure I saw a decent tree somewhere around here.”

Ah, there it is.

[Labyrinth Wood]
-A tree with few leaves and branches. Small in size, but soft and sweet-smelling.
-It’s wood, and it possesses water-resistant properties!
-You can make many things from this.
[Use: Woodworking]
[☞ Woodworking Talent has not been unlocked; recipes are unavailable.]

Lion had found a tree of just the right size.
At this scale, even if it fell, he wouldn’t suffer serious injury.
The first priority of things to avoid in the Labyrinth was injury, so caution was essential.
Yet managing without tools would have been overwhelming, so Lion made a decision.
I’d make tools from wood myself.
And if I could produce items of decent enough quality, I planned to sell them at the Shiling Shop.

‘That’s why I bought this for today.’

Lion gazed at the tools in his inventory—purchased by emptying nearly his entire savings.

[Beginner Woodworking Set]
-50,000 Shiling
-A set prepared by a skilled woodworking craftsman for beginners who wish to take up the trade.
-It does not contain extraordinary equipment.
-But it does contain all the basics.

While the other descriptions held little merit, the fact that a skilled craftsman had personally prepared the set seemed reason enough to trust in its value.
And indeed, whether by design to accommodate beginners or sheer craftsmanship, it proved remarkably thoughtful in every detail.
Especially this axe…….

[Cut in a V-shape along where the tree will fall.]

A guide was etched right into it—just like a master craftsman’s measuring tool!
Of course, there were no instructions on exactly where to aim or how to strike, but even this much was more than enough.
The craftsman’s own technique!
That mattered quite a lot when it came to chopping wood.

‘It’s not about brute strength.’

Well, certainly if one possessed the strength of a Sword Master Class warrior, you could simply cleave through without thinking…….
But I was weak enough that I had to use my head instead, and there was nothing for it.
Lion began earnestly carving the V-shaped notch where the tree would fall, striking with the axe again and again.
Even for a relatively small tree, it took far longer than expected.

Crack! Splinter!

Only after repeated strikes did he finally manage to cut a groove at roughly thirty degrees.
Then he moved to the opposite side and sawed a semicircular notch slightly above the first groove.
This would create the gap where the wedge would go.
The saw was sturdy enough that the semicircular cut went surprisingly fast.
Lion wedged a wooden peg into the gap and struck it repeatedly with the hammer.
Then, with a tilt——

Crack-snap! Boom!

The tree fell with quite a fearsome sound.

[You have obtained 55x Labyrinth Wood Lumber (Small).]
[You have obtained 25x Labyrinth Wood Lumber (Medium).]
[You have obtained 10x Labyrinth Wood Lumber (Large).]

Even though it was a rather modest tree for its kind—barely taller than Lion himself—a substantial haul of material had accumulated.

“Phew.”

Lion sawed the wood into manageable pieces, packed them into his inventory, and prepared to head back.
But then…….

“Was there a path over there?”

Where the tree had fallen, there stood a cabin.
A cabin in this place? How strange.

“…shall we take a look?”

Lion set off without hesitation.
When he arrived, the cabin—cleverly concealed between trees and undergrowth—revealed itself.
It was…surprisingly ordinary.
In fact, save for a bed, the interior was completely bare, which somehow made it seem less suspicious.

[By the authority of the Library Labyrinth’s owner, you may now use the Cabin.]

“Can I really use it?”

[Everything here belongs to you.]

…This is actually quite good.
There had been several reasons for investing a substantial sum to acquire the Beginner Woodworking Set.
Small things like chopsticks, or larger ones like shelter.
A full month of rough sleeping seemed less than ideal, so he’d thought to at least craft a simple bed frame.

‘…Wait!’

The Library’s owner had said he could withdraw anything from here.
Then could he move this cabin to the Base Camp?

“Can I move this house?”

[It is possible.]

Excellent!
He’d felled some trees and gained a house.

‘This will make the month so much easier.’

He’d only need to craft furnishings for the interior!

[Shall we proceed at once?]

“Hold on a moment.”

Lion bounded back to the Base Camp, energized.
There, he used a sickle and hoe to clear the grass and weeds, making space for the cabin.

“Set it up here!”

[This will require some noise and time.]

…Noise?

[5]
[4]
[3….]

Lion instinctively clapped his hands over his ears.
Now that he thought about it, the falling tree had made a tremendous crash.
So a house relocating would sound…

[2]
[1]

Crack!

One week into life in the Labyrinth.
Lion had found himself a home.

“Well then, shall we start by moving in?”

Lion quickly gathered his belongings and arranged them inside the Cabin.
Once he’d organized the firewood he’d collected so far along with today’s lumber just outside the Cabin, the place had taken on an unmistakable lived-in quality.
And even after finishing all that, the sun still hung high in the sky!

“Well then, shall we actually start making some essentials?”

He drew out his woodworking knife and plane, then set about crafting the tools he needed, one by one.
First came the chopsticks he’d been missing, then various bowls and dishes!
With so many things he’d longed for, even if their shapes were rough around the edges, usable items began to tumble out in succession.

[Ugly Wooden Bowl]
-Crude in appearance, but the broth won’t leak through.

At first, of course, came the ugly series.
The ugly chopsticks were so poorly made that he couldn’t even grip a fruit properly with them—they ended up as kindling.

[Plain Wooden Plate]
-Looks reasonably respectable.

[Usable Wooden Chopsticks]
-A properly balanced pair of chopsticks, neither too thick nor too thin.
-The balance is quite well struck.

[Creativity in rapidly producing diverse works! You open your eyes to a new Talent!]
[New Talent: Woodworking]
[Woodworking Proficiency Level Apprentice Lv.1 has been achieved.]

Thus, moving past the merely plain, he’d reached a usable standard, and at last, tools fit for ordinary people were born from Lion’s hands.
In fact, for life in the Labyrinth, this much was more than sufficient.
But Lion had seen it, hadn’t he?
That items with even a single star could potentially be sold!
Of course, he had no way of knowing what the Shiling Shop actually wanted.
Not every one-star item seemed to be purchased.
But at least, items that looked aesthetically pleasing appeared to be bought.
The Chrysanthemum Flower had sold that way, after all.
If so, then there was a high probability the Shiling Shop would buy what Lion was now making.
And that was none other than…….

[Labyrinth Wood Flower Pot (★)]
-A unique flower pot made of wood. Beautiful, certainly—but can it truly serve as a pot for flowers?
-Selling Price: 1,000 Shiling and up.

A pot for displaying the Chrysanthemum Flowers.

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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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