Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 12
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 12
“I don’t think of it as a hardship. If anything, you have it harder, Brother…”
“You’re working hard for the family in my place. And it’s always harder to be the one watching over someone who’s ill.”
“…I truly don’t think of it as a hardship. I’ve never thought it was because of you. Besides, many of the territory’s people suffer in far harsher circumstances than I do, and I have a duty to look after them, don’t I? But still…”
Rickshel hesitated before continuing.
“Yes. Honestly, right now, I’m a little envious of you, Brother. Because you have something I don’t.”
Rickshel had spoken his true feelings, then quickly added an excuse.
“That doesn’t mean I’m dissatisfied with my position. I’ll keep working hard from now on, and…”
“Good. That’s enough.”
Lion patted Rickshel’s back a few more times.
‘He’s still a kid.’
Compared to Lion’s memory of him, Rickshel was even more of a child.
A grandson who resembled Petrick. An unprecedented genius.
Behind that, he was merely a boy whose sensitivity had not yet faded.
No, perhaps that very quality made him all the more pure.
Sitting together in the dark forest, their wariness of each other seemed to melt away even further; they stayed by the fire,
sharing this and that until the sun began to set—everything from utterly trivial chatter to the news that Head Maid Sylvia had finally decided to retire, the coming-of-age ceremony that lay ahead, and more.
And when their conversation and the campfire alike had begun to die down,
Rickshel took his time, then carefully asked.
“Um, Brother. If I get the chance again, may I come here like this?”
“Yeah. Anytime you want to rest, you can come here. Also…”
Lion added, firmly putting out the last embers.
“You’re at an age where you can afford to act a little more willfully. If you don’t feel like studying later, it’s fine to just do what you want now and then.”
It might have been meddlesome advice, but it was something Lion had learned with certainty across his previous life and this one:
that you have to do the things you want to do.
Otherwise, you just exhaust yourself.
‘How much he must hate studying.’
“…Thank you so much, Brother!”
Rickshel offered Lion a relaxed smile at his permission.
It was a heartwarming evening.
* * *
As Rickshel had said, Sylvia resolved to retire and came to see Lion.
Although he regretted that Grandfather had been turned down, Sylvia’s expression looked so genuinely content that Lion put his regrets aside and saw her off.
Nothing special happened after that.
He gathered herbs and ingredients as he always did, raising his levels and achievements.
It was a pity that achievement messages didn’t pop up as often as they had last time, but he still managed to save up some Shillings.
[Currently holding a total of 71,500 Shillings.]
What was more, his relationship with his brother had grown quite close, and Rickshel came to Mimir Forest once every few days to visit, so Lion never had a dull moment.
Everything was going smoothly.
…Or so he thought, until one day.
“I’m Elvia, and I’ve been assigned to serve you starting today, young master.”
A new maid had arrived.
The woman who introduced herself as Elvia smiled as she offered a polite greeting.
But… what was this strange sense of dissonance?
‘Huh?’
Pieces of a puzzle automatically clicked together in Lion’s mind.
Grandfather insisting on a higher-grade replacement, Sylvia’s retirement.
And now Elvia, who carried a similar aura to Sylvia.
‘Hmm…’
He could roughly guess why.
But what did it matter?
Life was the same everywhere, and everyone had a story.
In any case, wasn’t it enough as long as he could live here without trouble?
“I’ll be in your care, Elvia.”
“Yes. Please call for me anytime you need.”
“Sure. Ah, and thank you.”
“…”
Elvia tilted her head slightly, as if she didn’t quite understand.
“Thanks to you, I think my brother and I have grown closer.”
“I’m sorry, young master. It’s hard to understand.”
“Because I’m an eccentric.”
Lion compressed the answer into a single word and rose from his seat.
“…Then, please call for me if you need anything.”
Sylvia—no, Elvia smiled once more and vanished into the darkness.
‘We already have dwarf descendants and spirits; a witch is nothing new.’
It wasn’t anything to get worked up about.
Lion shrugged and left the room.
Today was the day he was supposed to go out together with Rickshel.
Rickshel had said it was something he really wanted to do and that he’d like Lion to come along—what could it be?
* * *
At that moment.
Rickshel Asteri sat with his characteristic cold expression, slowly tapping the table with his fingers.
Spending time with his brother had turned out to be an immensely valuable experience.
Eating delicious snacks, peering over his brother’s shoulder as he gathered herbs—
even though Rickshel simply sat still and ate what he was given, he found an inner ease and an inexplicable sense of reassurance.
It was a situation with nothing at all to dislike.
However.
“…Hah.”
A deep sigh escaped Rickshel’s lips.
Yet his heart remained heavy.
The reason, too, was his brother.
It was because of Lion Asteri.
Perhaps because he spent more time with his brother and had more chances to observe him up close, Rickshel now felt it even more keenly.
His brother’s physical condition.
“Even though he goes up into the forest every single day without fail…”
His stamina hadn’t improved.
It was impossible by common sense. A person’s stamina naturally increased the more they moved.
Especially for a body that couldn’t sense mana, that should have been all the more true.
But to Rickshel’s dismay, Lion’s stamina seemed to be decreasing instead.
‘It must be the aftereffects of the mana shock.’
Though a healing mage’s or physician’s examination said there was nothing wrong, that wasn’t true.
“…As I thought, should I have him examined by a priest?”
A priest.
Unlike mages who pursued truth through mana, priests were those who sought enlightenment through the divine.
There was an invisible line between priests who had awakened divine power and mages who had awakened through mana shock, much like the line between their paths.
How much more so for House Asteri, a prestigious mage family?
Fifty years ago, during the war against the demons, they had briefly cooperated with the Saintess, the former Archbishop, to face a common enemy. The moment it was over, they had each gone their separate ways.
The meaning of that was clear.
It meant that even if the eldest grandson were ill, they would never have him examined at the Temple.
‘And on top of that, the family head doesn’t pay that much attention to my brother.’
It was obvious he wouldn’t have let a priest check his condition.
Because he didn’t grant privileges to the eldest grandson.
No, if anything, he had been rather harsh.
Had Petrick heard this, he would have indignantly pounded his chest at the misunderstanding, but such was the public perception.
Rickshel in particular believed without doubt that the family head was neglecting his brother.
He thought that was just the sort of person the family head was, a man too busy handling external affairs.
But—
‘The situation isn’t good.’
Though Lion hid it behind eccentric speech and expressions, his pale cheeks and perpetually fatigued eyes were never those of a healthy person.
A state where it wouldn’t be surprising if he collapsed at any moment.
‘At this rate, he’ll obviously fall ill again before the coming-of-age ceremony.’
And… probably.
He might not get back up this time.
Rickshel shut his eyes tight.
Unlike the indifferent person he’d once been, now thoughts of his brother overflowed with sympathy.
Of course, if Lion heard this, he’d explain that it was because he stayed up all night making potions… but regretfully, there was no way for that explanation to reach Rickshel.
‘I have to step up.’
It was only natural that Rickshel, who had been worrying alone, arrived at this conclusion.
The problem was, he didn’t yet occupy a position where he could wield the family’s power as he wished.
But who was Rickshel?
Wasn’t he the youngest mage ever, a genius said to either succeed Petrick or even surpass him?
He wasn’t boasting, but he was smart.
A stratagem came to him at once.
A way to quietly have his brother examined by a priest, without the mansion or the Temple finding out.
Today was the day he would take the first step of that plan.
Knock, knock.
Just as he had been contemplating his scheme, Lion entered Rickshel’s room.
“Brother. You’ve come early!”
The cold rigidity of Rickshel’s face melted away.
“It’s the day we decided to do volunteer work, so I couldn’t afford to be late.”
“That’s right. It’s a good cause.”
Rickshel smiled a gentle smile, clasped his hands behind his back, and clenched his fists.
Volunteer work.
Rickshel had first considered what the easiest way for an ordinary person to meet a priest was.
That was to go around doing volunteer work.
Priests by nature had a strong desire to help others, and their doctrine likewise encouraged volunteerism.
So by wandering around doing volunteer work, one could naturally get to know priests.
And if they grew closer while volunteering, he could casually ask about his brother’s condition.
Of course, to do that, they would have to hide their identities, but…
‘That’s no problem.’
He knew the perfect place.
In that respect, today could be called a day for laying the groundwork for volunteering.
Rickshel smiled as he left the room with Lion.
Right. If there was no direct connection, wouldn’t it be enough to work his way up from below, step by step?
It would be slow, but it was the surest method.
‘Brother. Just trust me.’
Rickshel made a firm resolution.
He would ensure that Lion Asteri could live a long, long, and happy life.
And if that proved difficult.
At the very least… he wanted to give his brother many memories, just as Lion had given him.
“…”
Of course, there was no way Lion could know about Rickshel’s resolute determination, so he simply wore a mildly puzzled expression.
He seemed to be in an especially good mood today, didn’t he?
Lion didn’t think much of it.
He had time to spare anyway, and since Rickshel said he’d be doing the rewarding work of volunteering, Lion had just agreed to come along.
Wasn’t it admirable?
People born with silver spoons in their mouths usually didn’t look around them.
And in this world divided into commoners and nobles, that tendency was even stronger, but…!
‘He really is cut out to be the family head.’
Sharp and cool-headed when he worked, yet treating people with a warm heart when helping them.
Wasn’t that the model of an ideal lord?
‘And it’s a good opportunity for me too.’
In his previous life, he’d been too busy just feeding himself to even make a donation, let alone volunteer.
“So, where did you say we’re going first?”
When Lion asked, Rickshel answered with solemn gravity.
“First, since going as we are might cause unnecessary misunderstandings, I plan to buy something we can use to disguise ourselves.”
“Oh.”
It wasn’t a bad idea.
Certainly, to insist that Lion and Rickshel were ordinary people was a bit… they looked too distinguished.
Well-kept hair, fine clothes, hands without calluses.
And unmistakable vivid violet eyes that practically announced, ‘We are scions of House Asteri,’ to anyone who looked.
“We’re going to wear commoners’ clothes, right?”
“Huh?”
“Good thinking. Clothes are the biggest problem, after all.”
“…Ah, you don’t have to worry about that, Brother.”
Rickshel smiled at Lion.
“Because the place we’re going is not a clothing shop, but a magic tool store.”
“…”
Do they have those?