Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 137
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 137
Elvia felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
Ordinary living beings could not endure the sanctuary’s divine power.
Wasn’t that why animals couldn’t live in a
sanctuary created by those temple bastards?
But… That egg was holding on.
Despite the excessive accumulation of divine power, it was stubbornly clinging to life.
Meaning it possessed an astonishingly strong life force.
Elvia knew of only three such resilient lifeforms.
A dragon, which only appeared in legends,
or a sacred beast or a demonic beast said to be born with the ability to handle divine power.
‘It can’t be a dragon, and it’s even less likely to be a demonic beast.’
The young master might think it’s special because he’s seeing such a large egg for the first time.
So let’s first check with my own eyes and decide.
“Then may I examine it?”
“Of course. I wanted you to take a look, Elvia.”
Elvia walked slowly into the room and carefully examined the egg wrapped in a soft blanket.
She stroked the smooth white shell and tapped it gently.
Yet she felt no movement from inside.
Anyone might have thought the creature had died without hatching…
‘It’s fast asleep.’
A witch’s eyes could not be deceived.
Elvia levitated the egg into the air with Levitation Magic.
“…!”
Then she noticed something she hadn’t seen before.
She had thought it was a perfectly white egg, but she now saw that the part wrapped in the blanket was mottled with purple stains.
‘No, maybe this is its original color…’
“From what I know, a sacred beast’s egg is pure white. But this one has mixed colors, so…”
Elvia didn’t answer Lion’s remark and kept examining the egg.
No, she had already reached a conclusion, but she was acting out of a wish that she were wrong.
‘This is a demonic beast’s egg.’
She had no idea how he had obtained a demonic beast egg from the temple sanctuary of all places, but it was certain.
The only thing capable of surviving such an excessive intake of divine power was a demonic beast’s egg.
‘This is a headache.’
It was none other than a demonic beast’s egg.
If the demonic beast inside hatched and grew…
It would surely become a great asset to House Asteri.
After all, it wasn’t just any beast, but a demonic beast.
Its power would be unimaginably immense.
But with great power came great danger.
A single misstep could cause a huge problem.
‘Can my puppy handle this?’
Elvia glanced at Lion for a moment.
Judging from his reaction, their puppy didn’t seem to have grasped exactly what the egg was yet.
If that was the case, wouldn’t it be better to say the egg was already dead and incinerate it?
The probability of a demonic beast hatching was low anyway.
Although demonic beasts became the strongest upon birth, they were notoriously difficult to hatch.
‘Of course, if I said that, my puppy would be quite disappointed…’
He was an affectionate child.
He might even think the egg died because he failed to care for it properly.
Just imagining him blaming himself like that made her heart ache, but considering ‘safety’, the direction Elvia had in mind was the right one.
As Elvia was steeling herself to dispose of the egg,
“You look troubled. Is something wrong with the egg?”
At the voice beside her, Elvia took her eyes off the egg, turned her head, and looked at Lion.
“…I was just thinking that an egg this size might give birth to a rather large beast.”
As soon as she spoke, Elvia was inwardly flustered.
Saying it was dead would have made things simpler, yet she had inadvertently said something else.
“Ah, that’s true. Would it be too dangerous?”
“If it is dangerous, may I ask what you plan to do?”
At Elvia’s question, Lion awkwardly smiled and scratched his cheek.
“I’m a little worried about that too, but since I’m the one who brought it here, I want to do my best for it. And…”
Lion, who had moved beside Elvia without her noticing, cradled the egg with both hands and laid it back on the soft blanket.
“I found it all alone in the sanctuary, and it looked so lonely, you see.”
Saying that, Lion briefly explained the moment he found the egg.
That it had been left all alone in a gap between some dry, plaster-like tree bark, where no life force could be felt.
“…”
Lonely, he said.
Elvia lowered her eyes.
Solitude was a sensation Elvia knew well.
Though her childhood was so far back she could no longer count how many centuries had passed, the memory and sorrow from that time were still vivid, weren’t they?
Because of that loneliness, anger, and hatred, Elvia had to live as a terrifying witch until she made her contract with House Asteri.
Of course, she wasn’t pitying her past self who had committed wrongs.
It was simply that back then, that’s how it was.
‘…Come to think of it, disposing of it might not be the only answer.’
When she thought about it, no matter how low the probability of a demonic beast hatching was, unless one possessed considerable magical power, incinerating it wouldn’t be possible.
And if, by any chance, they failed, the hatched demonic beast might bare its fangs for revenge.
Of course, that was sophistry.
She knew it herself.
With her and Petrick’s combined strength, they could have destroyed an egg like this without leaving a trace.
But…
she suddenly thought that a creature which had never once seen the light of the world deserved a chance.
‘I suppose raising a puppy has made me soft.’
Nevertheless, Elvia thought this feeling wasn’t so bad.
“As you expected, young master, this egg does not appear to be that of a sacred beast.”
“Right?”
“Yes. Then the priority would be to neutralize the accumulated divine power. Any creature suffers if it’s skewed toward a single attribute.”
“Neutralize the divine power…”
“Heh heh. Why are you worrying? Isn’t the person with the easiest method right here?”
Elvia smiled gently and stepped a few paces away from the egg.
Then she slowly gathered magic power in her hand.
Unlike ordinary mana, a dark, ink-like mana coalesced.
It boiled up strangely, as if screaming, and was sticky. It looked ominous and sinister to anyone, but neither Elvia nor Lion paid it any mind.
When the mana in Elvia’s hand was finally drawn in, a few obsidian-like stones were left on her palm.
“These are…”
[Witch’s Obsidian]
-An ominous obsidian created by a demon child.
-If you stare into it too fixedly, you will be mesmerized.
-Yet, doesn’t it feel as though it could grant any wish?
[Uses: Alchemy, Blacksmithing]
[☞Click to view recipe.]
“It’s my condensed magic power. You can think of it as similar to a mana stone.”
“Thanks. But are you sure I can have these? What if I use them for something bad?”
“Young master. Someone who truly intends to do bad things wouldn’t ask such a question.”
“Haha. That’s true.”
“And even if it’s something made by a witch, its purpose changes depending on the type of desire of the person using it.”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
Lion accepted the obsidian.
Contrary to its ominous description, he felt nothing in particular.
Rather, he simply felt grateful.
‘She definitely recognized it as a demonic beast egg.’
That’s why she had given him this method.
Elvia had decided to trust him without asking anything.
“So I just need to make a potion using this?”
“That’s right. If you can dilute my magic power into your alchemy and contain it, you’ll be able to wash away all this divine power.”
So that was why she had prepared this obsidian.
Certainly, a direct hit from Elvia’s magic would be too much for the demonic beast egg to endure.
No matter how powerful a demonic beast, it was still only an egg.
“However… it would be difficult with the potion bottles you currently possess, young master.”
As expected.
At Elvia’s playful smile, Lion nodded as if he had anticipated it.
Of course, every potion bottle Lion owned was top-grade, but Elvia’s power was as immense as Petrick’s.
‘I think the alchemy apparatus could withstand it.’
It wasn’t for nothing that the recipe for using this obsidian included blacksmithing.
If he crafted it well but the bottle couldn’t hold it, that would be a problem.
“Personally, I don’t recommend a transparent container.”
“Why?”
“You would be fine, young master, but whether others could withstand its sweetness is uncertain…”
Elvia deliberately trailed off as she finished.
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll prepare the most opaque and sturdy bottle I can.”
Lion grinned and put the obsidian into his bag.
‘Anyway, this turned out well.’
An idea had just struck him.
“Then I’ll be off for a bit.”
He had obtained the materials and a reliable helper, so there was no need to hesitate.
Lion left the room immediately.
Click.
The door closed.
“Huu.”
Unlike a moment ago, Elvia let out a deep sigh.
She had been swayed by her puppy’s words and ended up doing this…
‘Should I tell Petrick about this?’
In truth, she was still agonizing.
If Petrick found out, this egg would certainly be disposed of right away. For no good reason, it bothered her, and she had chosen an irrational method.
Helping to hatch a demonic beast egg, of all things!
Of course, whether it would truly hatch was unknown…
“I’ve gotten too soft.”
Elvia smiled lightly even as she coldly assessed herself.
It had been a soft-hearted decision, but surprisingly, it was rather…
enjoyable.
‘Fine. If a problem arises, I’ll deal with it then.’
You’ve got to give it a chance, right?
“So if you want to live, you’d better listen well to your master. The outside world is… far more enjoyable than you might think.”
So seize the chance when it comes.
Elvia slowly stroked the egg and whispered.
* * *
Lion headed straight for Mudu’s Smithy with determined steps.
For an opaque material that could withstand demonic energy, iron was naturally the best.
Of course, the material Lion had in mind wasn’t ordinary iron.
‘Snow Mountain Iron would be perfect.’
Snow Mountain Iron was light, sturdy, and capable of containing even a sword master’s aura.
Hadn’t he received a generous amount from House Bydantis during his last trip?
That very iron was exactly the alchemy bottle he needed this time!
‘Though what I’m thinking of isn’t exactly a bottle…’
Anyway, it was a similar shape, so let’s move on.
And there was something else he needed.
‘The Shilling Shop.’
He figured he’d call on the achievements he had diligently earned so far.