Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 86

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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 Heir Doesn’t Care; I’d Rather Heal | Episode 86

“If you’re referring to Ricshel Asteri.”
“Yes. He’s my younger brother.”
“Is there a political motive behind this?”
“There is.”

Clarentia regarded him with surprise.
Lion Asteri was making a request for political reasons? That was unexpected.

‘He’s lying.’

Though the time between them had been brief, Lion was not the sort of man who would do such a thing.

“Do explain more thoroughly.”

Lion paused, considering his words, then continued.

“As you know, Ricshel hasn’t come of age yet, but I believe it would be better for him to start spending time apart from the Family Head rather than always being at his side.”

So why not have them get along well, since they were of similar age and both from ducal families? But as he spoke, the explanation grew longer than intended. In truth, boiled down to its essence, it was simply: ‘Be good friends with my little brother.’ It was exactly as Clarentia had suspected.
He simply wanted to protect his brother more securely.

“There are people better suited to it than I am. Why should I take it on?”

He truly seemed uninterested.
It must have been difficult to achieve such detachment.

“Ha… well, he’s my little brother.”

At those words, Clarentia smiled faintly.

She had servants whose bonds ran deeper than blood itself.
Clarentia’s gaze flicked toward Jesper before naturally turning away.

He’d gone to the trouble of gathering his tools and a hoe, only to find himself unable to gather anything there. It was disappointing.
There was a certain thrill to discovering new items—the novelty of it, the exploration of how to collect new forms and varieties.
That had been one of his genuine pleasures.
Now it was gone.

‘I’ve got nothing to do for the rest of the time.’

Just as I was wondering if I should go find Andrie and learn knitting, or something equally pointless.

“Young Master. Has something happened?”

Elvia caught the sigh that escaped Lion and asked with keen attention.

‘Did the Duke make some unreasonable request?’

If so, she was ready to march back to House Asteri with their pup at a moment’s notice.

“Well, the thing is……”

Lion made no effort to hide his dejection as he told Elvia about the Avalanche.

“Ah.”

Only then did Elvia conceal her darker thoughts and smile warmly.

“So the worry was that more snow could fall at any moment, and they restricted entry as a precaution against disaster. I understand.”

What’s more, all the medicinal herbs in that area had surely been buried under snow and rendered unusable.
For Lion’s sake, it was certainly a sorrowful situation.

“……Now that I think about it.”

Elvia recalled a landscape she’d glimpsed while surveying the Mountain Range.

“Young Master.”
“Mm?”
“It’s nothing much, but I did notice there were quite a number of things you might fancy in the deep Snow Mountain, where the Avalanche’s reach doesn’t extend.”

Elvia mentioned it in passing, as though it were mere coincidence.
She had gone out to scout whether any forces intent on harming the Young Master might be lurking near the Snow Mountain or Bydentis Territory, and while she was at it, she’d done a proper reconnaissance.
Fortunately, she’d detected no such threat, and the Avalanche had eliminated any lingering possibility anyway.
In any case, while rushing to make her return, Elvia had discovered something in the middle reaches nestled between the mountain peaks.
Countless medicinal herbs.
And……
Elvia smiled with playful mischief.
No, it would be more fun not to say it outright.

‘If it’s there, our pup would be safe enough to enjoy himself.’

And even if it weren’t, with her at his side he could certainly be protected well enough.

“Things I’d fancy?”
“Yes. Most notably, there was Mellow Grass, which you could say is the very symbol of Bydentis Territory.”

Mellow Grass?
Lion’s ears perked up.
It was a plant whose berries resembled marshmallows, and because it grew only in Bydentis Territory, it was a material you couldn’t gather easily.
Wasn’t it one of those ingredients he’d always regretted not having when making hot chocolate!

“Elvia.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Let’s go right now!”

Lion and Elvia exchanged playful smiles.

* * *

Crunch!

Lion’s footprints pressed sharply into the pristine snow that no one had yet disturbed.
Deep within the Mountain Range that surrounded the Bydentis Territory.
Lion stepped into a place where not even the tracks of beasts were visible.
It was thanks to Elvia’s guidance.

“Wow.”

Lion’s eyes widened as he gazed at the plants hidden among the white snow.
Every single one of them shimmered with a faint glow.
Which meant, in other words, that he could gather them all!

‘What a stroke of luck—or rather, medicinal herbs?’

The place was overflowing with plants he’d never seen before!
Lion pulled out his Hoe and sickle as if entranced, and set to work at once.

[You have obtained Mellow Grass. (★★)]
-The sweet white berries are wonderfully fluffy! Soft as cotton, with just a touch of chewiness.
-They’d taste even better if roasted, wouldn’t they?
-Selling price: 300 Shillings and up.
[Uses: Food, Potions]
[☞Click to view recipes.]

First, he harvested great quantities of the Mellow Grass he’d had his eye on.
He gathered the berries separately and snipped the stems cleanly with his sickle, stacking them neatly.
And then…….

[Your Gathering Proficiency has reached Apprentice Level 9!]

His Gathering level, which had been stuck for so long, shot up all at once!

‘Just as I thought!’

Perhaps because he hadn’t felt this fresh sensation of skill in so long, electricity seemed to crackle along his fingertips and up his wrists with an exhilarating tingle.

“Oh, what’s this?”

But that wasn’t all.

[You have obtained Snow Mountain Stone Mushroom. (★)]
-A mushroom as hard as stone. So tough that neither humans nor beasts can consume it.
-It has earned the devotion of certain dedicated enthusiasts.
-Selling price: 250 Shillings and up.

Some of them looked like king trumpet mushrooms in shape, but were hard as stone to the touch.
Lion scoured the snowy field, gathering them methodically.
Watching him work, Elvia smiled with quiet satisfaction.

‘How delighted he must be.’

When he’d first taken up Alchemy, she’d thought it was out of apprehension.
Magic simply wouldn’t work, so she’d believed he’d chosen Alchemy as an expedient path—a way to accomplish something without immediately expending his Mana.
But that wasn’t it at all.
Whether it was when he’d made a potion for Patrick, or when he’d crafted an even finer one for her, the young master had always been delighted.
And so she simply couldn’t keep this place hidden from him.
A deep mountain sanctuary, an herb garden untouched by human hands.
As Elvia gazed at Lion, something unusual caught her eye.

“Young master.”
“Hmm?”
“What is that?”

Elvia pointed with one finger at a crimson shimmer rising through the white snow.
Looking more closely… it wasn’t a shimmer at all. It was a leaf.
The ground around it had melted clear of snow as if there were actual heat radiating from it.

“…!”

Lion’s eyes widened at the sight.
It hadn’t been gleaming moments before, but now it shimmered distinctly.
This meant a new plant had been unlocked upon reaching Gathering Proficiency Apprentice Level 9.

‘Which means it’s at least a rare plant?’

As proficiency levels advanced, the chance of gathering rare plants increased.
And from this point onward, the plants themselves possessed considerably potent properties.
For instance, those flame-like leaves visible right now.

[Snow Mountain Flame Herb]
—Actual burns possible upon contact. Handle with care.
—Caution: Explosive when gathered!

“….”

That was an unsettling description.
Likely the Flame Herb was actively spewing fire, which accounted for the warning.
As for the explosion…

‘It must have to do with the roots.’

If he broke it carelessly, the whole thing would detonate.
But.

“I have what I need for this.”

Lion wasn’t particularly threatened.
After all, he now possessed several excellent tools.
First, gloves crafted from Graceful Descent material.
And a Hoe enchanted by the Fire Spirit…

“Chirp.”

Plus the ancient spirit Nature, who could wield the power of all elements.
Having come to this cold place, Nature’s fur had puffed up in an instant, making her look like a single yellow ball.
It seemed her appearance changed subtly depending on her surroundings.
In any case.
These were ideal conditions for harvesting the Flame Herb.

‘I’m certain of it.’

If he harvested this correctly, he would break through to the next proficiency tier.
The conditions were perfect.
Lion exhaled a plume of white breath and carefully picked up the Hoe.
The first step was clearing the surrounding area so that snow wouldn’t touch the Flame Herb’s leaves.
For this task, using the Hoe would be less ideal than…

“Nature. Can you make the soil around here nice and loose?”

Nature, her fur puffed out, waddled from the pouch and circled around the damp soil, treading carefully.
At the same time, Lion felt a faint drain of Mana from his body.

[The earth dries due to the effect of your Companion Spirit, Nature.]

Though the range was small, the ground around the flame herb dried out noticeably.

“Not bad at all.”

An ancient spirit indeed.
Normally, this was work that required summoning an earth spirit and a water spirit in succession, but Nature had solved it in a blink.

“Thanks.”

Lion gently tucked Nature back into the warm pouch and picked up the hoe.
Now the crucial part was to dig as carefully as possible without damaging the roots.
Even though the earth was dry, the roots would still be gripping the surrounding moisture tightly, so the work demanded extreme precision.
Drawing on his experience so far, Lion worked the hoe carefully along the ground, and a remarkably thin, elongated root of the flame herb came into view.
It looked just like the wick of a candle.
Slip!
Lion gently pulled the flame herb free, preserving the root all the way down.

[You have obtained Snow Mountain Flame Herb. (★★)]
-A fiery grass that blooms only on Snow Mountain, burning hot to the touch.
-Be careful when handling it, lest you suffer burns.
[Uses— Food, Potion]
[☞Click to view recipes.]

“Phew!”

Fortunately, no explosion occurred.
The tension that had seized him made the dopamine rush all the sharper.

‘Now this is it. This is the feeling!’

Unlike the plants he gathered normally, harvesting something of this caliber gave him a real sense of mastery.
Moreover, the Star Rating was quite excellent for a first-time harvest!

‘Delightful.’

The only minor disappointment was that he hadn’t leveled up immediately.
But that was fine.
He could just gather more!
Of course, his body was gradually growing colder as he gathered here in the middle of Snow Mountain, but it paled against this joy.
And besides……
Lion skimmed through the flame herb’s recipes, and his eyes gleamed.
Though it required care in handling, the flame herb was a remarkably useful item with applications in many areas.
First, if processed properly as food, it could yield a peppery oil much like fire oil.
As for Alchemy, it was useful in an astonishing range of ways.

‘I thought it was just flame herb……’

The word “Snow Mountain” was added before it.
That clearly meant this one was of superior quality compared to ordinary flame herbs!
Lion suspected that if he used this for Alchemy, something quite remarkable might emerge.

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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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