Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 54

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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’d Rather Just Heal – Episode 54

“Th-this is… infuriating!”

Who copies something on purpose like that?
More than that—how did he even detect the copy?
I reinterpreted it carefully and hid the traces so well… and yet!
Lion Asteri.
He truly seemed far more skilled as an alchemist than I’d anticipated.

“This won’t do.”

Freiana turned away from the Alchemy Potion bearing its shamefully low score and approached the papers stacked to one side.
They were intelligence files on Lion Asteri—thoroughly researched.

Crackle!

Everything about Lion Asteri before and after his Coming-of-Age Ceremony had been meticulously compiled,

“Hmm?”
“Did something go wrong, perhaps?”

An executive from the Information Guild ventured a careful question.

“…”

Freiana didn’t answer, only turned the page.

‘It doesn’t match.’

To be safe, she had cross-checked all the intelligence available from the Underworld against everything the Information Guild possessed.
But it was different.
The information from the past month was oddly tangled, contradictory.

‘A smokescreen.’

After Lion Asteri’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony, House Asteri had entered Temporary Seclusion, or so the reports claimed.
Was that why?

‘To learn more about him, I’ll need information from even further back.’

Freiana wasn’t curious about House Asteri itself.
Only about Lion Asteri!
Just that alchemist—nothing else interested her.
Why would the rest matter?

“Do you have anything from further back than this?”
“Further back, you say…?”

The Information Guild executive withdrew a bundle of documents from inside his coat.

“We do have them, but information from before that period is rather sparse…”
“Hand them over.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

Freiana snatched the documents from the executive’s hands and scanned through them.
The content was indeed more meager.
Mostly just notes about him shut away in the estate or occasionally visiting town.
A blacksmith’s forge?
This doesn’t seem particularly useful either.
And…

“Mimir Forest?”
“Yes. It’s a forest not far from the Asteri Estate.”
“Hmm.”

A forest.
A forest, then.
Freiana’s lips curved upward in the faintest smile.

“Of course. How did I not think of this sooner?”

There it is.

‘That’s right — I can just go meet them directly!’

Mimir Forest.
I’ll have to visit it myself.

* * *

Freiana pulled a pointed hat low over her head, alert to everything around her.
It had been an age since she’d ventured outside alone, without escort, and into a forest no less.
It was peculiar enough that a half-elf would be returning to the forest after so long, but what choice was there?
She had lived in the Underworld since childhood — in its highest reaches, no less.
Her life had kept her far from nature, let alone forests.
Perhaps that was why…
This Mimir Forest.

‘It feels decidedly unsettling.’

Thick canopies of branches and leaves blocked out the sun, casting everything in gloom.
Though she’d entered knowing there were no large beasts here, the desolate atmosphere nonetheless made her whole body clench with unease.

‘It’s as if someone were watching.’

Who could possibly be watching in such a place, yet a genuine chill persisted all the same.
The deeper she ventured, the more the temperature seemed to plummet around her.

“W-who’s there? You’re not… here, are you?”

Freiana muttered softly to herself, forgetting even that she’d come here in secret.

…

But the forest remained silent.

“R-right. There’s no one here. Of course there isn’t.”

Freiana pressed a hand to her chest and picked her way carefully toward the heart of the forest.
And then.

…

In the darkness, Elvia’s eyes — watching Freiana’s form — flared like foxfire before slowly fading away.

* * *

By the time she reached the heart of the forest, where Lion was said to frequent.

Rustle-rustle-rustle!

“Yelp!”

Something swift darted past her vision.
Likely some kind of flying creature, it seemed…….
Please don’t let it be a giant insect.

‘How dreadful!’

Why on earth had Lion Asteri buried himself in a place like this? What could possibly compel him to stay holed up here!

“Mmm…….”

Freiana pressed her fists tightly together and advanced into the forest’s depths, one careful step after another.
The canopy grew thicker, and the gnarled roots jutting from the forest floor grew more formidable with each stride.

Shhhhk—
Shhhk—

A spine-chilling sound caught against Freiana’s pointed ears.

“Yelp……!”

By instinct alone, Freiana pressed herself against the thick bark of a nearby tree.

Thump-thump.

She’d been told there were no large beasts here…….
But this sound—that was unmistakably the scrape of a colossal creature’s claws!
Could it be one of the guardian beasts of House Asteri?

‘That’s… quite possible.’

If so, she had to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
Freiana held her breath and carefully peered around the tree trunk, stealing a glance at what lay beyond.
And there…….
A great beast kept by House Asteri…… or…….
Wait?

Shhhk— shhhk—
Pop!

“Phew! Haven’t dug up one of these in ages!”
“…….”

A beast? No—that wasn’t…….
Not a beast at all. That was…….

‘Lion Asteri?’

There stood Lion Asteri, gripping a hoe and a sickle in his hands, harvesting plants that clung to the earth.
She wasn’t even angry.
Just utterly bewildered.
She’d come searching to see what he was doing in Mimir Forest.
She’d naturally assumed he’d built a private laboratory here—never in her wildest imaginings had she pictured him digging in the dirt.
Alone in this darkness, chuckling softly to himself no less!
And he was the firstborn heir of House Asteri, no less.

‘It’s not like good materials are hard to find, so why trek all the way into the forest to harvest them herself?’

She’d come here in secret, but she wanted to ask outright anyway.
What on earth was she doing?
Her startled heart felt more wronged than anything.
But then.

“Oh, there’s another one here.”
“This one’s already grown this much?”
“…….”

……She looked genuinely delighted?
Freiana slipped out from behind the tree where she’d been hiding.
She wanted to see what kind of reaction he’d show once she revealed herself.
If she stayed hidden much longer, she had the feeling he’d never react to anything at all.

“…….”

Glance. Flick.

Lion looked at Freiana as she emerged, then immediately dismissed her and went back to what he was doing.

“What?”

It wasn’t so much deliberate ignoring as genuine disinterest.
Like spotting a squirrel in the woods.
That was all.
Thoroughly baffled, Freiana decided to speak first.

“Listen. Do you know who I am?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“Huh?”

If she said yes here, it would be a problem for her.
Right. From now on, I don’t know that guy.
I don’t know Lion Asteri.

“…….”

After that, Lion’s actions remained the same.
Harvesting herbs, plucking berries.
The only difference was.
His movements had slowed just enough that she could watch and follow them?

‘Wait. Could this be a secret technique being passed down?’

She wasn’t sure why she’d come this far, but was he teaching her his methods out of appreciation for her effort?
The background check on Lion Asteri in the documents had noted his temperament was quite mild-mannered, so it was certainly possible!

‘Hehehehe! Perfect! I’ll wring out every secret he’s got!’

Freiana didn’t miss the chance—she keenly mimicked Lion’s actions.
She tried digging up rosemary with the hoe she’d brought just in case, and plucked what looked like sweet potato stems.
Half-elf or not, she had a knack for handling plants.

‘They’re almost the same, aren’t they?’

Of course, almost.
Apart from fine roots coming loose and stems getting a bit ragged, her harvest looked visually no different from what Lion Asteri had collected.
And most importantly!

‘But what does this have to do with Alchemy?’

The thought that she was wasting her time wouldn’t leave her.
If freshness was what mattered, wouldn’t it be better to contract directly with herb gatherers?
That way, it would be easier to source materials of better quality, and there’d be no need for all this unnecessary hardship.
Just because an alchemist does the work that herb gatherers usually do — would that really make the potions much more effective?

“Hmph.”

Could he possibly be putting on a show just to wear her down?
Freiana’s interest quickly faded.
Boring.
Her fascination lay solely with Alchemy, after all.

‘Still, since it’s something Lion Asteri is doing, I suppose I can humor him a little longer.’

An hour passed that way.
Then two hours.
……

“Why won’t it come out!”
“Got it!”

And so a week went by.

“So this is how you pull it out!”
“Ugh! Every muscle aches!”

……and four more days passed, making it ten.

“Hm?”

This is… strange.
Why have I been digging up herbs for ten days?
Me — the prodigy alchemist of the Underworld?

“This… this is absurd!”

Thud!
On the day that marked exactly ten days, Freiana hurled the bundle of herbs she’d been holding to the ground.
All the herbs she’d so painstakingly harvested scattered haphazardly across the forest floor.
Something was wrong about this.

‘That’s it. That scoundrel must have done something.’

Because otherwise, there’s no way the great Freiana would be out here digging up plants like some common laborer.
Lion Asteri! What exactly did you do to me!

Clang!

Freiana dropped the hoe itself and pointed an accusing finger at Lion.

“Y-you! What have you done to me!”
“……?”

Lion regarded the half-elf, her ears flushed bright red even between the brim of the pointed hat.
More precisely, he was looking at all those precious herbs scattered on the ground that she’d just thrown down.

‘It’s a hassle, but all of that has its uses…….’

Why go to the trouble of digging them up just to discard them like that?
The moment they hit the ground, their market value plummets.
Which was to say—it might as well have been stars falling from the sky.

“What a waste.”

Of course, these were herbs without stellar qualities to begin with.
But treated this way, they’d become completely unusable—relegated to the lowest grade.

—Aqua Rosemary (pulp)

A flinch.

At Lion’s words, Freiana’s expression flooded with bewilderment.

‘Did he… just speak?’

For what felt like an eternity, Lion hadn’t uttered a single word since then.
Excepting his quiet murmurs to himself, that is.
Not when Freiana was diligently gathering herbs.
Not even when she fumbled and cursed herself.

He’d never said things like “Did you come again?” or “Let’s gather together.”

“…….”

A chill crept down her spine.
The man who’d been nothing but indifferent had finally shown interest—but only to point out a mistake. Was that why it unnerved her so?
Normally she would have bristled and protested loudly, but after watching Lion fuss over those herbs for the past ten days, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“I, it’s—”

Should she gather up the scattered herbs from the ground right now?
As she hesitated, Lion Asteri approached from across the clearing, footsteps steady and deliberate.
And then.

A soft movement.

He bent at the waist and picked up the hoe Freiana had dropped, brushing it clean with his own hands.
Dirt caked on the blade shook loose, and grime accumulated on the handle was wiped away against his sleeve.

“No, I—um.”

She would almost have preferred his anger. This quiet, deliberate care frightened her more.
She felt like a child caught in some terrible mistake.

Gulp.

It wasn’t really such a grave error, was it? And yet—

She shouldn’t have let her temper run away with her.

“Pick them up again.”
“Yes.”

Freiana, who had slipped into formal speech without realizing it, bent down to gather the herbs scattered across the floor.

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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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