Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 128
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 128
Lion kept creating butterflies.
With practice, he picked up the knack; the creation time grew shorter and shorter, and their forms looked more and more convincing.
The result…
“Mm. Nice.”
Inside the sanctuary, colorful butterflies flitted about diligently, lending the plants their color.
And on Lion’s palm, one last butterfly rested gently, preparing for flight.
“You’re the last one.”
Lion set down the water-soaked brush and blew on it lightly to dry. Soon the butterfly’s wings began to move, and it flew off gracefully, just like the others.
The butterflies that had taken flight earlier circled around a few times, as if greeting the youngest.
It so recalled Licht, who had only ever been protected, that the corner of Lion’s mouth twitched into a laugh.
Of course, he didn’t really know the details of that situation…
Still, the very fact that there was that sort of endearing rebellion suggested they were on good terms.
At any rate, thanks to the butterflies, he didn’t have to run around every last corner of this vast space himself.
‘And the channels have filled up quite a bit.’
It wasn’t enough yet, but the water was splashing adequately all the way to the ends. So if Licht just pushed a little harder, completing the sanctuary was probably only a matter of time.
“Still, just in case, shall we take a walk and see if there are any places the water hasn’t reached?”
Lion filled a watering can inside the sanctuary with a suitable amount of water and strolled slowly through it.
The floor, which had been dry and crumbling like chunks of plaster, had taken on a moist, soft texture like fertile soil. The butterflies had worked so hard that even the grass held dew, which flicked off to wet Lion’s shoes at each step.
“Impressive.”
Was there really any need to search further?
Lion saw no need to supplement anything.
The water he’d put in the watering can felt almost pointless.
As Lion turned to leave…
“Hm?”
Lion sensed one point of incongruity.
‘The soil and plants in this area are already saturated with moisture…’
The butterflies weren’t resting.
They truly were continuing to flutter through the air.
‘Which means there’s still somewhere left that needs water?’
Lion lifted his head, not looking at his feet, and watched intently where the butterflies were heading. He soon realized one thing.
The butterflies kept bringing water to a specific location.
Not just one of them—every single butterfly Lion had made!
‘There’s a plant that drinks that much water?’
To Lion’s eyes, the amount of water a butterfly carried exceeded the moisture a plant required.
At least, that was the concept within the sanctuary.
After all, the butterflies had to deliver the water.
But it was so insufficient that even all the butterflies flocking to it wasn’t enough?
Lion’s feet naturally carried him toward that location, and…
He found a place.
No, could this even be called a discovery?
“This is…”
Well, it was an ordinary tree.
But it was a tree with a burrow at its base, just big enough for a small animal to fit inside.
And into that burrow, butterflies were going in and coming out one by one, busily supplying water.
‘Given that, in this sanctuary, water is life force…’
That meant they were supplying something to eat.
Lion stared fixedly at the pitch-dark interior of the burrow, hidden by the tree’s shade.
“It’s certain there’s something in there.”
The problem was.
‘Usually, a burrow like this is home to an animal, not a plant.’
Like a raccoon, a fox, a rabbit—that sort of thing.
But he’d never heard of anything other than plants living in a sanctuary.
Licht, too, would surely have warned him first, before completing the sanctuary, if an animal lived there.
No matter how small a wild creature, the potential for trouble was plenty real.
A biting incident, for instance.
‘Which means…’
It meant Licht didn’t know, either.
“Then, who are you?”
Lion crouched in front of the burrow and peered inside.
At some point, the butterflies that had been supplying water into the burrow stopped going inside—perhaps because Lion was here—and flew up into the tree instead, alighting softly on the leaves as if to rest.
With even the butterflies’ tiny wingbeats gone, the surroundings fell utterly silent in an instant.
Even Nature was…
‘Mm, let’s give it time, first.’
The one inside the burrow was clearly a living creature… meaning an animal.
Still, the fact that it was this quiet suggested it had frozen up at the sight of him.
Well, if it was a creature that had crawled into that tiny burrow, how big could it be?
At most, it was probably a little larger than Nature.
In that case, it was only natural for it to be extremely tense at the appearance of a human.
Lion simply sat down on the spot with a flump.
Whatever the reason, this was a creature that had drifted in here.
Maybe it hadn’t found a way out until now, was hiding in the burrow, and had used up all its stamina.
If Lion didn’t rescue it and take it out now, it might end its life here.
So the right thing to do seemed to be to reassure the animal as much as possible, rescue it, take it out, and release it.
But—
‘Hmm… It’s too quiet, though?’
It was so dark inside the burrow that it was hard to even tell what the creature looked like.
If it was suffering from severe dehydration while he was doing this, that would be a problem.
On top of that.
‘Nature being quiet bothers me.’
It wasn’t the usual disinterest or the irritable beep-beep as if it were annoyed.
‘No way.’
Lion glanced toward Licht, then channeled Magic Power into his eyes.
[The ‘Expert’s Eye’ skill is briefly enhanced.]
‘Phew.’
He’d wondered if it might be impossible inside a sanctuary, but apparently not.
And the same warning as last time didn’t appear, either.
Lion blinked a few times and scanned the burrow intently, spotting something unusual.
There was… no animal!
Only something round and massive was simply resting there.
‘This is.’
Lion reached into the burrow and, without hesitation, carefully grasped and lifted out the round object.
It was… an egg.
Half white and half deep purple, a bizarre egg.
What’s more, a small flower-like pattern was even drawn on one side.
At first glance, it looked like an enormous ostrich egg that someone had done decorative work on, but…
Lion could see it.
[Puzzling Egg]
-What will hatch from it?
-This location does not appear suitable for the egg’s survival.
“Hm.”
Although it was clearly labeled “Puzzling Egg,” what this egg implied was unmistakable.
Didn’t Lion have something he’d received from Varg last time?
Exactly: ‘Demonic Beast Baby Food’.
[Upon opening, nearby demonic beasts may be drawn to the scent and come looking for you!]
And demonic beasts weren’t the savage monsters of rumor that lived in the Demon Realm.
They were simply creatures adaptable enough to survive even in the Demon Realm.
So, in theory, enduring in a sanctuary was also possible.
In that case.
Lion scrutinized the egg once more.
[Owing to the enhancement of the ‘Expert’s Eye’ skill, precise information is discerned.]
[Demonic Beast’s Egg]
-This is a demonic beast’s egg, coated in divine power.
-It is holding on through tenacious life force but seems to be nearing its limit. Please grant the egg a new home.
-Perhaps it is an existence that sought you out and came all the way here.
“This is…”
Lion’s lips moved slightly, but first he stowed the egg away without a word.
As expected, it was a demonic beast’s egg.
What’s more, it even said it was an existence that had come all the way here, looking for him.
‘Though I expected I’d meet one someday…’
He’d never dreamed it would be inside the Temple, of all places—inside a sanctuary, no less.
Neither he nor the creature probably knew how it had drifted in here.
It had likely just been holding on.
‘Won’t we find out once it hatches?’
It was known that demonic beasts possessed considerable intelligence from the start and could even inherit memories from the egg or their ancestors.
‘If that’s the case, this one’s parent is probably…’
Most likely, it was a druid’s partner.
‘In any case, for this little guy’s sake, I’d better hurry back soon.’
Given its tenacious life force, no major problem would arise overnight, but still, getting it as far away from divine power as possible seemed best.
No matter how it was a creature that could live “anywhere,” the “Temple”—its natural enemy—was an exception.
If that were possible, there’d be no reason to separate divine beasts and demonic beasts.
‘Besides, Nature doesn’t seem to have a solution for it, either.’
If it did, Nature would have sensed its presence first and flown over here.
“It’ll be all right.”
Lion stroked Nature, which was still nesting limply atop his head, then wrapped the demonic beast’s egg in the ‘Parental Devotion’ fabric clothing and placed it into his inventory.
This way, it would at least be somewhat less exposed to the influence of divine power.
‘Since I can’t leave here right away, after all.’
Even after completing the sanctuary, he was going to have to stay here for at least a day.
As he was thinking that and lifting his head.
“…”
Feeling that every drop of divine power within his body had been exhausted, Licht slowly rose to his feet.
His feeling was good. It felt as though the Eternal Flame had helped him well this time, too.
As he slowly lifted his eyes, which he had shut in concentration…
“Ah!”
Color bloomed on Licht’s face.
The spring, which had been nearly parched, was brimming over coolly, filling the channels, and the sound of streams spreading in all directions and trickling along could be heard!
That wasn’t all.
The plants were verdant, and vitality and vigor surged on all sides!
The subtle, tender fragrance of new sprouts growing filled the sanctuary.
It was just like the other completed sanctuaries!
‘The benefactor has succeeded, too!’
It must have been a terribly difficult time.
How much had he struggled, walking around this vast place on his own?
…No, this was no time for that!
There were surely still places that hadn’t received water.
Licht filled the remaining watering can to the brim and turned around,
meaning to search for spots still petrified.
But— Flutter—!
“…What is this?”
Something that shouldn’t have been there entered Licht’s vision.
It was a vivid green butterfly.
Living creatures cannot inhabit a sanctuary.
Sadly, a priest who borrows God’s power could not create moving creatures within a sanctuary.
That was why a sanctuary was a space solely for plants and the priest.
Yet a butterfly?
‘To say it came from outside…’
A barrier of divine power had been erected, and the design ensured that all life avoided it.
‘…No way.’
The benefactor. No—God’s Messenger?
Licht stared vacantly at the butterfly, then slowly moved his footsteps.
And Licht’s thought was exactly right.
On a particularly tall tree, colorful butterflies were perched, and in their midst, the benefactor was bowing his head as if in prayer before slowly lifting it again.
That figure was the same as the back he’d seen in the dream.
And the color of the hair that cascaded smoothly past the shoulders, too…
Yellow.
“…Benefactor?”
Licht called out to Lion as if spellbound.
“Ah, Priest. You must be finished.”
Lion, having failed to notice Licht’s state, tucked the egg neatly into his inventory and turned around.
If there was a problem…
It was that the usage duration of ‘My Spitting Image’ had expired.
So, in other words.
The violet eyes of the Asteri family had been completely revealed.