Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 101
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 101
Varg moved wherever his feet would take him.
He’d feared the worst, and the worst was true.
Not a scrap of food was to be seen inside knight-order headquarters.
Growwwl!
Thinking about food only made him hungrier.
“Hooooh.”
Should he really go to the well?
He’d thought that once he became an apprentice knight,
he wouldn’t have to go hungry—because he wouldn’t have to leave House Asteri!
“If you officially join the knight order, you won’t have to leave this place.”
It was an offer that would tempt anyone.
And for Varg, it was even more irresistible.
He had nowhere else to go back to, after all.
‘If Rickson hadn’t saved me back then…’
Varg briefly recalled the past, then shook his head firmly.
Anyway, he owed his life, and he’d always thought he must repay that debt someday.
And then, an opportunity had presented itself.
Exactly—recruitment into the knight order!
It wasn’t something just anyone was offered, and his personality was quite timid, but Varg had been confident.
He was strong! Couldn’t he manage somehow?
So he’d done his very best and answered stoutheartedly.
“I-I want to join the knight order…!” “Right. Then shall we change and begin the initiation ceremony?” “…Huh?”
Rickson laughed brightly and got things moving briskly.
While Varg was still in a daze, he’d already received a personal wooden sword, been assigned quarters, and after a quick rundown of important rules, training began.
This was barely a week since he’d given his answer.
‘Up until then, it was great…’
Training was grueling, but the food was delicious!
And nobody said a word even if he stuffed himself with as much as he wanted.
The other apprentice knights were fairly kind, too.
He’d worried he might be ostracized for coming in on a recommendation, but there wasn’t any of that at all.
“Huh? What does that matter? If he’s a clumsy oaf, he wouldn’t last anyway.” “They only recruit the sort who’d survive wherever you threw ’em—so what if it’s by recommendation.” “Yeah, yeah. Hang in there. And don’t go running off.” “Eat as much as you can while you still can.”
If anything, they all cheered him on, as if telling him to stay strong.
‘They’re all such good people…!’
Varg hadn’t caught on to what those words really meant, and he’d spent a pretty happy week.
Even the terrible muscle pain and the training that left him so breathless he felt he might vomit—all of it had felt sweet to bear.
He could do this!
What was more! There was no harsh discipline being enforced.
If you did well on your own, nobody bothered you!
And every single day, meat appeared in the meals.
Before he’d come here, he’d hardly ever had access to it!
Varg recalled the past week and shook his head.
Right. Even if he’d lost this time, supper was still coming, so he shouldn’t let himself get too down.
Besides, compared to the past, skipping a single meal was bearable, wasn’t it?
‘I have to plant my feet here, no matter what!’
Absolutely! No matter what!
“And I need to apologize to Jake, too…”
Hadn’t he lost control and hurt him without meaning to?
He had to be careful—more than careful.
If he made a mistake, a real disaster could happen…
“I need to meditate longer.”
Steeling himself once more, he made his way near the well, when—
Sniff, sniff!
A savory scent drifted into his nose.
“Mmm. Hmm.”
What was that smell?
Varg focused all his attention on his nose and slowly scanned the surroundings.
It was a grain smell, with a hint of something mildly sweet…
“What’s this?”
Varg spotted something covered up in the shade and approached as if mesmerized.
He carefully lifted the cloth and found it filled to the brim with grain soaking in water.
“Is that barley?”
Judging by its shape, it seemed to be some kind of barley.
But why would anyone soak barley in water?
Varg swept his gaze around, then a thought struck him.
“Could it be!”
Had the knight commander arranged this out of consideration for him?
Yes. After such grueling training, surely they wouldn’t just starve him.
Obviously, this was a lesson: leave food they could manage on their own, so they’d learn how to survive by themselves!
If Lion had read those thoughts, he would’ve cried out “No!” with tears in his eyes, but unfortunately, only Varg was there.
“And it’s not even outside the knight order’s territory…”
Varg’s face instantly brightened!
Meat would have been even better, but then the meaning of the initiation would have faded—so they must have prepared grain instead.
And while others couldn’t chew up and eat raw grain, Varg could, couldn’t he?
‘Still, eating it right on the spot feels a little off.’
Glancing swiftly around, Varg picked up the basin of soaked barley and slipped into a secluded spot.
And then…
Crunch! Crack-crunch!
For a while, the sound of raw grain being chewed was heard. And then, a little later…
“Heh heh.”
Wearing a happy expression, Varg placed the basin and cloth back where they’d been, patted his full stomach, and headed back to the training grounds.
And then—
“Oh, you’re back!”
“Hey. What if you’d really gone off somewhere? We were looking for you.”
“Huh?”
A few squires who’d wagered their lunch on Varg’s victory came over to him.
In their hands… were things like jerky and hastily roasted potatoes.
“Here. This is your share.”
“My… share…?”
“Yeah. Normally, everyone wanders around a bit and then comes back. By that time, the seniors have usually put aside food for the newcomer to eat. But we couldn’t find you at all, so…”
The squires apologized profusely, saying the potato had gone cold.
“…”
Huh? Then what was it that I ate?
Varg stared, wide-eyed, at the jerky and potato.
“Don’t tell me you already filled up on water and came back.”
It wasn’t water.
He’d poured out all the barley-soaking water onto the ground.
Noticing something in Varg’s trembling gaze, the senior squires forced the food on him.
“We’re fine, so you eat up.”
“Yeah, eat fast and come join us. We’ll be out there training.”
Varg watched the retreating figures of his seniors and comrades, and his face turned pale.
“Wh… what do I do?”
It looked very much like he’d stolen and eaten food someone else had prepared.
* * *
A full day later, Lion returned to where he’d left the barley.
And then—
“Huh?”
He found the basin empty.
Well, not completely empty.
A few grains of barley remained in it, and among them, some looked broken and crushed.
“Was there a wild animal…?”
As far as he knew, no animals lived on the Asteri estate, but this was clearly the trace of one.
But could something like a squirrel devour this much?
It was soaking wet, so it couldn’t be birds, and it was by no means an amount a single animal could eat.
“I don’t see any sign of water being spilled, either.”
Hmm. Lion folded his arms and looked around.
Soon—
[Barley Grain]
-Barley that has been soaked.
Spotting grain on the ground, Lion slowly made his way toward it.
Barley grains had dropped in twos and threes, almost like a trail.
When he followed them into a secluded spot…
“Huhh?”
He saw traces of crushed and scattered barley grains,
which meant someone had carried this rather heavy basin of barley right here, drained the water, and eaten every last grain.
‘If it were an animal, it would’ve dragged it.’
Looking along the way, he saw no such signs.
Then it had to be a person.
But could a person devour this much raw, uncooked barley, even if it had been slightly soaked?
Impossible.
Any servant of House Asteri would also know
that nothing belonging to the house was ever to be stolen, no matter what it was.
Then it couldn’t be a servant’s doing, either…
“Suspicious.”
“Peep.”
As if in agreement, Nature fluttered down and pattered around, inspecting the area.
“Nature. What do you see?”
Quiet as an eagle eyeing its prey, Nature scouted the surroundings, then abruptly scurried over and pounced on something!
It was—
“…Fur?”
It appeared to be animal fur.
But with a reddish tinge.
Lion took the fur from Nature and examined it.
[Beastfolk Fur]
-Fur of the rare ‘red wolf’ beastfolk.
-The quality is poor. Could they be ill?
Beastfolk?
And a red wolf beastfolk at that—among the beastfolk, they were known as the strongest clan.
But as far as Lion knew, the red wolf beastfolk were…
‘Nearly gone, weren’t they?’
The reason Lion knew quite a bit about red wolf beastfolk was, of all things, his alternate character.
His druid character’s race had been wolf beastfolk, after all.
-Druids are wolf beastfolk who can harness the power of nature to simultaneously learn ‘spirit arts’ and ‘beast taming.’
That was the description when the druid first appeared in <In the World>.
Perhaps because the setting required them to understand the words of beasts and, even further, directly converse with spirits, the druid had been set as a beastfolk-exclusive class.
So even Lion, who had little interest in story, had inevitably picked up some knowledge about beastfolk.
…Except.
‘That and this are two different things.’
No, to begin with, a red wolf beastfolk was a rare race.
And his grandfather knew the druid’s identity.
If there had been a red wolf beastfolk in the household, wouldn’t Grandfather have been the first to notice and protect them?
He wouldn’t have left them outside, fending for themselves and stealing grain like this.
That meant one of two things.
They were living here in hiding.
Or they’d wandered all the way here while roaming as a wolf!
‘Anyway, I do need to meet them.’
The barley completely vanishing wasn’t such a big deal. He’d just clean and soak another batch.
“How do I meet them?”
He didn’t know the details, but it seemed they didn’t want their identity found out.
After all, the presence of a beastfolk tended to cause troublesome incidents here and there.
“…Ah!”
Lion sprang to his feet as if struck by an idea.
“Why agonize over it?”
Lion already knew a good method.
He’d make snacks that beastfolk loved!
He didn’t know the exact reason, but that wolf beastfolk was extremely hungry right now.
Their health didn’t look good, either.
That must be why they’d just crunched up and eaten even grain that was hard to digest!
They’d been desperate to survive.
So? Naturally, you lure them with something delicious.
‘Right. Wolves are similar to dogs anyway.’
Lion nodded to himself.
Of course, mere ordinary meat might be tough… but what about meat that’s truly full of flavor?
They probably wouldn’t be able to resist.
Lion left the spot immediately.
And then…
“Ohh.”
Varg, arriving belatedly, caught sight of Lion carrying the basin away.
‘Th-this is big trouble!’
Of course, secretly stealing someone else’s food was a big deal.
But stealing the food of a person presumed to be a young master of House Asteri was a much, much bigger deal!
‘I need to hurry and apologize… Huh? Where’s he going? I-I should follow him, anyway.’
Skipping training barely a week in was a major problem, but he still had to apologize properly, didn’t he?
‘I’m sorry, Commander!’
After stealthily scanning his surroundings, Varg carefully trailed after Lion,
moving as quietly and quickly as he possibly could.