Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 39

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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 Unknown, or a Bit of Healing — Chapter 39

Then it made sense.
For the past several weeks, despite fishing desperately, he hadn’t caught a single 3-Star fish.
There hadn’t even been a single bite—just silence.
Lion had assumed it was because his Fishing skill was low and his Fishing Rod worn, but…… apparently not.

‘So I can actually catch that fish with this?’

Lion deliberated.
If he sold this straight to the Shilling shop, he figured he could haggle his way up to twenty thousand Shillings.
After all, it was bait for a Rare Grade fish.
But……
Lion gazed out at the still Lake.
A fish caught with bait like this might drop something better, wouldn’t it?
Then perhaps the Fish Orb would be of a superior grade as well?

“……All right.”

Lion picked up the Fish Orb and walked to his Fishing Rod.
The calculation was done.
The immediate value was an amount dizzying enough to turn his head, but he resolved not to sell.
He’d be escaping soon anyway. There was no need to buy tools from the Shilling shop anymore.

‘I don’t even need to eat.’

A trace amount of Mana.
Some might say an Orb was perfectly suited to Lion, who possessed less than 1 Mana Circle worth of Mana, but……
He had no great need for it either.
During his time living within the Labyrinth, he’d accumulated quite a bit of Mana.
True, his 1 Mana Circle still wasn’t full, but he’d advanced enough that he could afford to forgo the Fish Orb.
He’d decided it was better to do everything he couldn’t do once he left than to chase after a bit of money or a trace of Mana.
The odds of catching the fish weren’t a hundred percent, but then again, if he didn’t try, the odds would be zero, wouldn’t they?
Most of all.

‘This is more fun.’

Lion made up his mind not to chase money and numbers.
Just to pursue what brought him joy.
And so Lion rigged the Fish Orb as bait and cast his Fishing Rod far out.
The line stretched and extended deep into the water.
Now all he had to do was wait.

* * *

At that same moment.

“Only two days left now.”

Elbia spoke to Patrick, whose nerves had grown even more taut.

“I know.”

Patrick was literally in a state of glucose deficiency in his bloodstream.
Depletion of mind and spirit.
She didn’t understand how a Grand Mage’s mind and spirit could become depleted, but regardless, Patrick was in rather poor condition at the moment.

‘At least it’s not as bad thanks to that girl, Liquerel.’

Elbia recalled Patrick as he had been in his youth.
That is, when he was a father rather than a grandfather.
Patrick’s love for his daughter had been extraordinary—so much so that……

“The Crown Prince dared propose to my daughter without knowing his place? I’ll kill him at once.”
……

There had been an incident along those very lines.
In comparison, he was handling the current situation with considerably more restraint.
Though he was keeping the surrounding retainers under tight control.
In any case, she needed to ease his mood a little.
Elbia deliberately steered the conversation elsewhere.

“We should prepare for his return, I think.”
“For instance?”
“He must have endured considerable hardship, so what if we reserved an entire luxury hotel for him? I hear Hotel Easter has recently reopened with magnificent new facilities.”
“……Not a bad thought.”

If he returned in good health, there was no harm in indulging in such extravagance any number of times.
In fact, buying an entire hotel and gifting it to him didn’t seem unreasonable either.

“Shall I make the arrangements?”
“Yes. And……”

Patrick looked at Elbia.
It was a wordless inquiry—did she not have something more to say?
The reason Elbia, once known as Silvia, had sought him out in person.
Even she had begun to feel a certain restlessness in her heart.

“……If your concern is about the Contract, please do not worry yourself.”

The Labyrinth had collapsed.
Which meant her contract would be beyond recovery—that much was certain.
In other words, she would spend the rest of her life in service to the Asteri Family.
Yet Silvia—or rather, Elbia—smiled.

“These days have been quite pleasant, truly.”

Though freedom had slipped away, she found herself occupied with joy, tending to a young master who created endless commotion without a dull moment in sight.

……

Patrick had paused, as if there were more he wished to say, then closed his mouth.
Patrick knew his grandson well.
Which was to say—beyond his concern, he understood the scale of chaos his grandson could unleash.
A month’s time.
He would surely not return unchanged.
Perhaps he would even return with ‘that’.

* * *

In truth, fishing with nothing but a single worn Fishing Rod and only one bait was a rather absurd endeavor.
Fishing required far more knowledge than one might expect.
One had to miss-strike from time to time, and constantly change the bait.
Only then might even the unwilling fish bite; had fishermen witnessed this, they would surely mistake him for an utter novice.
And indeed, Lion had been staring at his motionless Fishing Rod for hours now.
Silent.
Not even fish surfaced with bubbling gasps.
As if no living creature inhabited these waters at all.
Or else, as if the smaller fish fled from some great predator, refusing to bite.
And so the sun set, and the moon rose.
Lion continued to watch his Fishing Rod by the light of the moonlight reflecting off the water’s surface and the campfire’s glow.
And then, at last.
A bite.
Rather, it was a sluggish kind of movement.
The rise was gentle, and the sensation of being hooked felt different from the other fish—yet Lion knew.

This one. It was big.
A predator of the Lake.

A Rare Grade fish.
With no competition from other fish, it had swallowed the bait in a single gulp.
He was certain. This vibration, this pull.
His hands, hardened by countless fishing sessions, felt the sensation keenly.

‘From this point on, I can’t hesitate!’

Lion yanked powerfully, setting the hook with a sharp strike.
Immediately, he felt something unmistakably heavy caught on the line!
He pulled, gave slack, pulled again with all his strength, reeling hard—and the placid Lake erupted with splashing waves……

Splash!

In an instant, an enormous tail appeared and vanished.
The creature was so startlingly large that Lion focused intently, reeling in the line.
If the line snapped now, there would be no greater disaster.
One chance only!
Right now……

Whoooosh!

Lion threw his weight backward, wrenching the fish from the water and up onto the surface.
He hauled it across the Lake and dragged it all the way to the dry ground where he stood……

[The Fishing Rod’s durability has been completely consumed.]
[The Fishing Rod is destroyed.]

The Fishing Rod vanished without a trace.
And at the same moment.

[You have caught a Labyrinth Five-Colored Armored Sturgeon (★★★)!]
-A rare Armored Sturgeon, only one of its kind!
-Armored Sturgeon eggs are renowned among delicacies, but this one seems to possess something else in place of eggs.
-Its eyes gleam like topaz. It surely carries considerable value!

The Armored Sturgeon flopped on the earthen ground.

“……Did I really just catch that?”

He wished he had a camera to photograph it.
It was that large, and such an extraordinary catch.

“Ah, this isn’t the time for that.”

Lion swiftly butchered the Armored Sturgeon, placed it in a jar, and extracted its Essence.

[Labyrinth Armored Sturgeon Essence (★★★)]
[Labyrinth Armored Sturgeon Fish Eye (★★★)]

As expected, a high-grade Essence and gem had appeared.
3-Star.
Lion immediately swapped out the Essence of the carp he’d caught earlier for the Sturgeon Essence, added the Fish Eye last, and quickly sealed the jar shut.
The lid rattled with even greater force than before, and the trembling lasted far longer.
One hour passed.
Two hours.
The commotion finally subsided around dawn.
Lion waited a little longer to be safe, then opened the jar.
Cloud-like vapor rose up again, and from within it…….
Lightning crackled.
Five-colored radiance, like a rainbow itself, blazed across his vision.

[Alchemist’s Five-Colored Fish Orb (★★★)]
-Far exceeds the standard of even a master alchemist!
-Crafted from materials found nowhere else in the world, it possesses immense value. Upon consumption, a considerable amount of highly purified Mana permanently increases!
-At this quality, you could simply chew and swallow it. Of course, that’s possible—just not recommended.
-Additional effect: Maximum breath underwater extended by 1 minute
-Selling price: 50,000 Shilling.
[Usage: Finished product.]

[Alchemy has reached Proficiency Level 2.]

“……Wow.”

He’d done it.
Lion gazed at the orb, transparent as an opal and glowing with countless hues.
If anything, it was smaller than before.
Nearly the size of a common pill.
Yet the description stated it granted ‘highly purified Mana’ upon consumption.
Until now, it had only been ordinary Mana.
And at 50,000 Shilling, the efficacy was all but guaranteed.

‘This is…….’

He couldn’t possibly not consume it.
Lion popped the orb into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

Gulp.

The moment the orb passed down his throat…….

Whoooosh.

Wind scattered around Lion’s body.
The Mana Circle in his heart began to spin rapidly as it drank in the new Mana.
An extraordinary surge of power flooded through him.
The fish’s vitality and strength flowed directly into his Mana Circle—he could feel it vividly.
Lion didn’t resist the sensation of weightlessness; instead, he surrendered completely to storing the new Mana within his Circle.
Quite some time passed in this state.

[Your Mana Circle is now completely full.]
[You have mastered the 1st Circle.]
[You acquire 3 Basic Magic techniques.]
[You cannot currently open a new Circle.]
[Unrefined Mana is automatically expelled.]

The 1st Circle was completely full, and at that same moment…….

[Labyrinth restoration is complete.]
[You may freely exit.]
[The Labyrinth as reshaped by the current Master’s will remains as is.]
[The current Master of the Labyrinth is Lion Asteri.]

At last, the long month had ended, and the time to escape had arrived.
Even if he left and came back later, the cabin he’d carefully maintained would remain intact—so there was nothing to worry about.
Lion gathered his few belongings and made his way to the magical circle without hesitation.

[During restoration, an object requiring the Master’s verification has been discovered.]
[It is not registered as your property.]

“Hm?”

Not registered as his property?
Lion caught the object that tumbled down from above.

“This is…”

A scroll of parchment.
Lion unrolled it and examined its contents.

“…Not treasure?”

Rather, it looked like a contract.
Lion studied the writing more carefully and soon made out its nature.
It was a contract between Elbia and the previous head of the Asteri Family.

“…So that’s how it happened.”

He’d sensed that Elbia’s origins were unusual, but he never expected something like this.
Servitude, made in place of death.
Naturally, the terms were grossly unfair.
She was forbidden from using any magic beyond a certain Circle, forced to transform daily to match human aging, and required to fulfill her duties as a servant faithfully.
And if she violated the contract’s terms, it stated, severe penalties would follow.
Elbia received only one line in return.

-To be able to live as human within the Asteri Family.

No details, just that single line written down and nothing more.
Well, witches were a race treated as monsters, after all.
…In any case, it had been lost somewhere in the Labyrinth and, being unregistered as property, no one could ever find it.

“I’m taking this with me.”

Lion tucked the parchment into his chest without hesitation.
After completing his final inspection, Lion stepped onto the magical circle.

“Time to head home.”

Life in the Labyrinth hadn’t been entirely bad.
But there’s no place like home, after all.
He couldn’t wait to return to his warm home.

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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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