Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 105
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 105
‘Come to think of it, the flame grass had needed a nutrient solution, too.’
Maybe because its fire energy was so strong, it required a fire-attribute nutrient solution.
If even flame grass was like this, wouldn’t one of the highest-grade ingredients, like moonflower, be similar?
‘Well, it’s moon-aligned, so maybe it needs a moon-attribute nutrient solution or something.’
Flame grass, which has stems and roots, had still needed a nutrient solution when it was moved to a new space, so getting a seed to germinate would be more demanding, not less.
‘Good thing I didn’t plant it right away.’
I had nearly failed to sprout the moonflower seed my brother had agonized over and labored to bring me.
‘But the small size…’
Lion raised his head and looked at Varg.
A red wolf… No, even for a beastfolk, his body looked considerably small and frail.
‘A beastfolk can’t be like that.’
Beastfolk, in exchange for their small population numbers, are endowed with the sturdiness to protect their own bodies.
Wolf beastfolk have powerful claws and agile physiques.
Raptor beastfolk can spread their wings and glide, and bear beastfolk… to put it simply, they can tear apart an ogre.
Their traits all differ, but one thing is certain: even their outward appearance makes them look too strong for an ordinary person to approach.
But this one was different.
There are exactly two cases where a beastfolk is weak.
‘They’ve contracted an incurable disease, or they’re about to contract that incurable disease.’
A beastfolk who can handle two or three grown men even as a child or in old age becomes weak only when stricken by a special disease that affects only beastfolk.
‘Among beastfolk, they call it the “Eclipse Symptom”…’
Depending on the race’s characteristics, an abnormality related to the sun or moon occurs.
For example, a beastfolk who can produce solar essence becomes unable to properly see the sun. Conversely, in the case of a beastfolk who can produce lunar essence…
‘They can’t see the moon.’
Then, naturally, the amount of essence they can produce decreases, and they suffer major damage from that very essence in return.
Of course, over time, the body weakens and the mind grows hypersensitive.
To put it more bluntly, the person grows closer to beast than man. The slightest loss of composure makes them ferocious enough to bare their claws immediately, and in the end, they rampage and slaughter everything around them until they collapse from exhaustion and die.
‘It seems he’s still well enough to roam around at night…’
With his essence this small, I suspected a problem would arise before long.
Just as Lion looked at the lunar essence again.
“Um, so… I’m sorry!”
“…”
Varg shot up from his spot and prostrated himself flat.
It wasn’t even a greeting.
He was practically flat on the ground, as if submitting to a higher-ranking beast.
Startled, Lion set the skewers aside and helped Varg up.
“What’s wrong? Calm down.”
“I, that… I was just so hungry…”
“You were hungry? Oh, right. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“Huh? No, that’s not it, I was hungry, so the barley…”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay. Go on and eat.”
Lion caught Varg, who was about to fling himself flat again, and sat him down once more before pressing two sausage skewers into his hands.
If I do this, he’ll quiet down a little.
“…”
Varg stared blankly at Lion, then looked fixedly at the sausage skewers in his hands.
A savory, rich smell rose from them, and the juices inside had run down, moistening the parts where the skewers were stuck.
They were clearly delicious.
And freshly grilled, so…
‘B-but, are dreams usually this vivid?’
Varg tilted his head and took a bite of the sausage.
Pop!
He bit perfectly between the scoring, and the sausage’s characteristic springy skin burst with a pop, flooding his mouth with a spicy flavor and the rich juices of pork.
“…!”
He hadn’t eaten sausage often, but this might be the most delicious sausage he’d eaten in his life.
He didn’t have the vocabulary to express the exact taste.
It was just delicious! It smelled great! The bits of coarser-ground meat mixed in were chewy, giving it a nice texture!
“Wow…!”
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
Having already forgotten that he was supposed to apologize, Varg wolfed down the sausage in his hands.
Gulp!
He devoured the two plump sausages in the blink of an eye…
And this time, unscored sausages slid up onto the grill plate!
“There’s no scoring this time, so the texture will be even better.”
Lion grilled sausages without pause.
“Go on, eat.”
“Oh, yes!”
“Have some more.”
“It’s so, so good…!”
And Varg ate continuously.
‘At least his appetite is still there, thank goodness.’
When the body weakens due to the Eclipse Symptom, eventually the person can’t eat or drink anything at all.
Since the body attacks itself, it vomits up anything ingested.
So as it progresses, the condition deteriorates to a serious level with alarming speed.
That’s why it was better to replenish energy beforehand while he could still eat.
‘First, I should make sure he eats well.’
At present, Lion had no way to improve the Eclipse Symptom.
It was an incurable disease, after all.
Within <In the World>, there was exactly one case of overcoming that incurable disease to date.
It was the Druid, a playable character.
Even that had only appeared briefly during the early character story introduction… so he didn’t know the exact method.
‘They said he went into a remote forest to reduce casualties because he couldn’t overcome it on his own.’
But there, he miraculously survived, and the Eclipse Symptom vanished at the same moment he awakened as a Druid.
It was a miracle.
So it was hard to hope for the same event to happen twice.
It tasted bitter, but Lion was no god.
‘Still, I’ll look for a method.’
No one knew how long it would take.
So for now, there was no choice but to let him eat his fill so he could at least regain some strength.
Nom nom.
Completely unaware of those inner thoughts, Varg just happily ate his sausage and started talking about this and that.
“I, first, I’ll properly apologize! I was just so hungry that I ended up eating all of your grain, Young Master.”
It was a proper apology, at least.
‘To apologize before even saying his name.’
The guy was fairly unusual.
“I see. But what’s your name?”
“Ah! My name is Varg!”
As if he hadn’t realized he hadn’t given his name yet, Varg answered quickly and then kept chattering on with his backstory.
That he was undergoing the knight order initiation ceremony.
And that by chance, he had received the help of Knight Commander Rickson and was now in the order’s care.
It seemed there was a deeper story, but he didn’t go that far.
Perhaps it was a story too painful even to bring up.
Lion understood that feeling and let it pass.
‘But Rickson brought him here?’
Of all people, the commander of the Asteri knight order.
There was no way someone like him wouldn’t know Varg’s condition.
He must have brought him here knowing he was a beastfolk at the very least…
‘Hasn’t he reported it yet?’
Or had Grandfather, being out of options, decided simply to protect him for the rest of his remaining life?
‘I’ll have to ask about it later.’
Even while that was going on, Varg kept chattering away.
“…and so, a few days ago, I joined as a new apprentice knight.”
Contrary to his first shy appearance, he was more talkative than expected.
That meant his wariness had crumbled, so it wasn’t a bad thing.
…Unless he still thought this situation was a dream.
‘Hoo boy, that’s a distinct possibility.’
If it weren’t, I doubt he’d be spilling every last detail like this.
Besides.
At some point, his ears and tail had popped out and were swishing gently in tune with his mood.
‘Fascinating.’
Unexpectedly, there was no sense of incongruity.
And wouldn’t it be fine to leave it be?
He was bound to notice on his own when it was time to go back, so Lion decided not to bring it up.
“Here. This is yours.”
Instead, Lion grilled a tiny sausage the size of a finger joint and placed it in front of Nature.
“Peep!”
Nature, who had been tactfully waiting, pecked at the sausage in a flurry.
As it pecked with its beak, the skin burst with a pop, and it diligently picked out the meat inside, which was quite cute.
‘It doesn’t like the casing much.’
True, from Nature’s point of view, it was probably tough and bothersome to eat.
“Next time I make them, I’ll make them into skinless sausages for you.”
While I was at it, I should dip them in egg batter and make jeon for it, too.
“Um, by the way…”
Varg, who had been talking continuously, glanced at Nature.
“That chick is a spirit, right?”
“Peep!”
At the word “chick,” Nature, who had been eating sausage, let out an indignant cry.
Though it only came out as a small, clear peep.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
Lion answered while gently stroking Nature’s head.
“As I thought… Ah, I’m sorry. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a spirit in person.”
First time?
‘That means when the people came from the elf nation, he hadn’t arrived here yet.’
He really must have come to House Asteri relatively recently.
If so… the most likely period is when I was at House Bydantis.
‘But if he’s at a level where he can recognize that Nature is a spirit…’
That definitely meant his spirit affinity was high.
It was quite similar to a ‘Druid’ in many respects, wasn’t it?
Lion gazed quietly at Varg in front of him.
The red hair distinctive to a red wolf beastfolk, and grayish-white eyes.
And seeing that other features like the shape of his eyes were also similar…
‘Could he be a relative?’
Since the beastfolk world was a clan-based society, the possibility was high.
“D-do I have something on my face?”
Since Lion was staring at him, Varg became self-conscious and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
The slick grease smeared not only on his lips but all over his cheeks and the back of his hand.
“Let’s finish eating first, then clean up.”
Lion answered as he placed another perfectly grilled sausage on Varg’s side plate.
By the time sunlight slowly began to fill the previously pitch-black sky,
Varg had finally finished his meal.
‘Amazing.’
I had prepared what I thought was an excessive amount, just in case.
If there were leftovers, the plan was to keep them to eat later since they were cooked.
But that concern was gone now.
‘Rather, that’s a good thing.’
It was far better to see him eat with his whole heart like this, heartily, than to pick at his food.
“…”
Varg lounged comfortably, like a dog who had eaten its fill of treats… and gradually sensed that something was off.
It was strange, after all.
Could a dream have such vivid taste and smell, and even fill your stomach?
Varg stealthily picked up one of the skewers piled high in front of him and poked his own cheek with it.
Ouch!
“…Ah.”
It hurt.
It wasn’t supposed to hurt.
Varg clutched his cheek, blinked his eyes, and slowly turned pale.
“What’s wrong?”
Lion took back the skewer in Varg’s hand and tidied up his surroundings.
‘Aaaaaahhh??’
At that nonchalant attitude, Varg screamed internally as if in agony.
Though outwardly, he only opened and closed his mouth.
“It… wasn’t a dream?”
You hadn’t realized until now?
‘Wow. This wolf is seriously slow.’
There wasn’t one iota of wildness in sight.
If anything…
‘He’s an idiot.’
Thinking that, Lion delivered the coup de grâce.
“Most likely not, right?”
That it wasn’t a dream.