Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 151
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 151
Lion immediately headed for the zoo.
When he arrived and took a quick look around, he tilted his head.
‘This is definitely different from the zoos I knew.’
It was more fitting to call it a mysterious garden full of rare animals than a place to gawk at animals in cages.
The facility seemed to house mostly herbivores or small omnivores, and staff members were stationed here and there.
The entrance where Lion stepped in was no different.
A staff member began explaining with smooth, practiced speech.
“Welcome, everyone, to the ‘Rare Animal Protection Ranch’. I’ll go over a few precautions first.”
The explanation was quite long, but to summarize, it came down to this.
There were no animals that posed a threat to humans, but there were extremely wary animals that stayed hidden.
“Even if you don’t see many animals, please don’t be disappointed! For guests who see fewer animals, we’ll give you a special ice cream made with magic, free of charge!”
The second point was about the time limit.
“There are many quite sensitive children here. Because of that, we limit visiting time to two hours per day.”
It was a plausible statement.
It established the justification of protecting the animals, and also planted the idea that guests would need to visit a few more times to fully enjoy it.
‘As expected of the empire’s top hotel…’
Lion nodded at the high-level salesmanship.
“If you have any further questions, ask one of the waiting staff members, and they’ll give you a clear answer. Then, I hope you have a pleasant time!”
When the explanation ended and they stepped through the entrance, the true appearance of the zoo, which had been hidden, was revealed.
“Oh.”
The first thing they saw was a field covered in grass so soft you could walk barefoot without a scratch.
There, sheep with fluffy wool were leisurely grazing.
“Cloud Sheep. They’re quite popular among the nobility because of their cute looks.”
“Yeah. They really are cute.”
Lion was well aware of Cloud Sheep.
In <In the World>, their wool used to be sheared to produce high-quality fabric.
‘Seeing them in person, my conscience…’
Anyway, they were so popular that the guests who had arrived earlier were clamoring for their attention near the Cloud Sheep.
“Brother, there are Jewel Hedgehogs over there.”
Looking where Rickshel pointed, they saw a hedgehog draped in jewels.
You could sometimes see regular wild hedgehogs with fruit dangling from their quills to attract insects living under the fruit.
But those Jewel Hedgehogs…
“You’re saying they drape themselves in jewels to hunt the creatures that live near mana stones or raw stones?”
“Yes. They’re fascinating creatures.”
Rickshel was more knowledgeable about animals than Lion had expected.
‘…He really wanted to come to the zoo!’
He had thought Rickshel didn’t have hobbies, but it seemed he had an animal-lover side.
Of course, that was Lion’s misunderstanding.
‘I memorized every animal book for a day like this.’
Whenever he had spare time, he looked through books on animals.
There was only one reason.
To have more enjoyable conversations with his brother!
And today, that preparation was shining!
Baa-.
As if recognizing new guests, the Jewel Hedgehogs and Cloud Sheep slipped away from the other guests and approached Lion and Rickshel.
One sheep playfully bumped its forehead lightly against Lion’s leg, acting cute.
It was the other guests who reacted.
“So cute…!”
“They even do that!”
“They’re cute when they stay still, but even cuter when they move!”
Apparently it wasn’t a common performance.
Lion reached down and gently stroked the sheep.
Then, the Jewel Hedgehog, wrapped in dazzling jewels, twitched its snout as it examined Lion, and then smoothly lowered its jewel spines.
“…!”
Seeing that, Rickshel’s eyes widened a little.
Cloud Sheep aside, Jewel Hedgehogs had a very prickly personality.
Moreover, because they cherished the jewels that served as bait for prey, it was a rare sight even for most keepers to see them lower their spines.
‘As expected of Brother…’
Whether it was because of his Spirit Art or not, it seemed he had a talent for taming.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve heard that Spirit Art and taming are closely related.’
He should make time to meet animals whenever he could from now on.
“Oh. You like me?”
Lion, for his part, nonchalantly stroked the hedgehog’s face with his finger.
“Oh my, Jewel Hedgehogs don’t usually follow people this much! How amazing.”
A staff member who had been patrolling the area for safety covered her mouth with both hands in surprise.
“It seems the guest has caught its fancy!”
“Whoa, I’m jealous.”
“Hey, hedgehog. Could I pet you just once too?”
When the wife, from a pair of guests who appeared to be a young noble couple, extended a hand in a white glove, the hedgehog turned its head sharply as if nothing had happened, backed off, and bristled its spines.
“Oh dear, it doesn’t like it…”
“Ah, snacks! My dear, perhaps it’s because we don’t have any treats?”
Seeing his wife looking downcast, the husband quickly glanced at the staff member.
“Would you like to order a snack service? According to the rare animal protection procedure, a small fee…”
“I don’t care about the cost, give us snacks!”
“Yees. It will be billed at checkout.”
The staff member skillfully sold the snacks, and soon the wife had a small treat in her hand.
Then…
“…!”
Not only the Jewel Hedgehogs and sheep, but all sorts of animals from elsewhere came swarming and looked at the noble couple with sparkling eyes.
“Oh my! Oh myyyyy!”
It could have been a bit overwhelming, but fortunately the young lady seemed so pleased that she shared snacks with flushed cheeks.
Rickshel, glancing at Lion who had fallen out of the animals’ interest in an instant, asked in a low voice.
“Brother, shall we buy snacks too?”
He asked because he was worried his brother might feel left out.
“Hm? Mm…”
Uncharacteristically, Lion fell into thought.
It was obviously not a feeling like wanting to attract the animals’ attention.
Of course, this was the first time he had touched animals like this…
‘They’re not that unique, though.’
According to Easter’s and Rickshel’s explanation, wasn’t there supposed to be genuinely ‘rare animals’?
But strictly speaking, Cloud Sheep and Jewel Hedgehogs weren’t that rare even in <In the World>.
That meant there were others…
Lion raised his head and looked around.
‘Just as I thought.’
Most of the guests weren’t straying out of this garden.
Perhaps the nobles who had grown up privileged thought the forest was a fairly dangerous place.
Or maybe they felt there was no need to go far when this place was already enjoyable enough with a limited time.
That meant…
‘The animals over there live without getting any treats.’
Of course, Easter probably provided nutrient-rich feed or fresh food, but he felt a pang of pity.
“Shall we buy some snacks too?”
“Yes. That would be best.”
“And rather than staying here, I think we should go a little deeper.”
Though he didn’t catch his brother’s intent, Rickshel bought snacks without a word and followed the suggestion, passing through the garden-like field and heading into a small forest.
Shff.
‘Just as I thought…’
The deeper they went into the forest, the more it felt like no one had been there.
The grassy path was manicured for guests to walk comfortably, but there were hardly any signs of people having walked on it.
At most, there were only the footprints of the staff who managed this place.
“…This side is rarely visited.”
“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”
“People don’t come here much… Ah.”
Rickshel belatedly understood Lion’s intention.
Then he turned around.
The place that was still sunny and looked ‘peaceful’ had many people.
That meant the amount of snacks the animals got was large.
In other words, resources were abundant.
But this place…
‘It must be a bare-bones living.’
If attention didn’t go there, resources were cut off.
Of course, they wouldn’t starve to death just because they didn’t get snacks.
‘…I see.’
Rickshel realized something.
In other words, this was the long-awaited lesson from his brother!
The grand meaning: do not neglect the marginalized!
“But Brother, how do we find animals in a place like this?”
Rickshel deliberately asked the question.
He liked receiving his brother’s teaching.
He always gained new insights, and it took a long time to truly digest them.
But getting one insight per lesson forever was no different from just being spoon-fed.
‘Even if I can’t reach ten, I should at least figure out three.’
Rickshel clenched both fists, thinking this.
“…”
Lion glanced at Rickshel.
He seemed to be brimming with motivation.
‘Did I come only thinking about myself?’
He felt a little sorry.
Maybe for Rickshel, even those sheep or hedgehogs over there were quite fascinating animals.
Wasn’t that vast knowledge something that couldn’t be obtained through ordinary effort?
‘Sigh, but still, the reason I came here was because I thought it’d be better to see some properly impressive ones if we’re going to enjoy it…’
Rickshel had asked how to find them.
‘Actually…’
For an ordinary person, there was no way.
How could you lure out a determined, wild animal hiding away?
Even if you carried treats,
the chance of success was slim.
But Lion had a kind of cheat key.
It was Spirit Art.
To be precise, the tiny potato… no, chick, that was taking an amazing nap in his bag alongside the egg.
Lion lifted the edge of his bag and looked at Nature.
‘Still asleep.’
Nature was dead asleep, holding the egg with both wings and even making ‘peep, peep’ sounds.
Maybe it was stockpiling energy to advance to the next proficiency stage of Spirit Art.
Even if not, he didn’t want to wake it up from a deep sleep for nothing.
First, he’d look around a bit more, and if time ran out, he’d ask for understanding and request its help.
“Brother.”
“Right. Finding hidden animals is quite difficult.”
“Um…”
“But don’t worry. There’s nothing that can’t be done with effort, so I’ll do my best to find them…”
“That’s not it.”
“Huh?”
Lion looked up from his bag and stared at Rickshel.
“…Uh?”
Then he couldn’t help but be startled, because next to Rickshel,
a massive deer with golden,
shining antlers was standing there without a sound or a scent!
“Just a moment ago, it suddenly appeared.”
“…”
“I thought you had called it, Brother…”
‘Little brother, I’m not a druid; how would I call an animal I’ve never seen before?’
…Anyway, it was a relief. Rickshel wouldn’t be disappointed.
Lion carefully extended his hand.