Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 194
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 194
A name?
“…Let’s get out of here first and take our time thinking about it.”
This wasn’t the sort of thing to rush into in a place like this.
The little one seemed to understand, still wagging its tail gently before slipping right back into the bag.
It made a few motions with its front paws as if scratching the floor, then curled itself into a round ball and flopped down.
“Peep, peep.”
Once the demonic beast had settled, Nature slid back into the bag.
Then it began carefully preening the demonic beast’s fur with its beak.
He couldn’t be sure, but one thing was clearly obvious: Nature was incredibly happy to see it.
‘Good thing they get along.’
From the time it was still inside the egg, Nature had taken such attentive care of it, so naturally Lion had expected they’d continue to get along once it hatched.
But seeing them get along this well, he could finally rest completely at ease.
‘Well, if you think about it…’
From Nature’s perspective, the little one had to be something like a colleague’s child, didn’t it?
“Rickshel. Let’s go back.”
“Yes, brother.”
When Rickshel saw Lion smiling as if a weight had been completely lifted, he smiled back.
Though having a mammal emerge from an egg was a bit unusual, it was small and didn’t look all that dangerous.
‘Of course, I mustn’t let my guard down.’
But at least for now, it was utterly obedient to his brother… no, it was following him almost like a mother bird, so it seemed like it would be fine.
‘The one certain thing was that the Family Head would judge for himself…’
In Rickshel’s estimation, it seemed like a perfectly nice companion animal.
The two carried those impressions in their hearts as they left the training hall.
And outside…
Luckily, there was no one there.
“Phew.”
Lion and Rickshel let out sighs of relief at the same time.
“That’s a relief.”
“Yeah.”
Even though they’d entered with bravado, this was strictly a place their grandfather had placed off-limits.
Rickshel, too, had been told not to enter except for training.
“…First, returning together might arouse suspicion, so I think it’s best we return separately.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the hard work.”
“Not at all. On the contrary, I was happy that you asked me for help, brother.”
And then…
Rickshel stowed his staff and smiled faintly.
‘I’m glad, because it feels like I’ve gained one more memory to share with my brother.’
On top of that, he’d even gained a bit of insight, so it was doubly rewarding.
“I’m grateful too. I’ll call for you once things settle down a bit, then.”
Lion lifted the bag and let it fall back into place, then moved his feet first.
Though he wanted to express more gratitude to Rickshel, taking care of the little one came first.
‘No matter how healthy it looks, it’s a newborn.’
It was probably very low on energy, so he had to let it rest in a comfortable place.
With that sole thought driving him, Lion walked quickly and slipped right into his room.
In the room, the blanket that had covered the demonic beast since its days as an egg was still neatly folded in one corner.
Lion spread the blanket out on the bed, carefully picked the demonic beast up, and placed it on top.
“You must have felt stuffy, right? Now you can come out and rest comfortably.”
The young demonic beast tilted its head a few times, then pressed its little nose to the blanket and sniffed.
Then, as if realizing something all on its own…
“…!”
It perked up its ears and threw itself down to wriggle and rub its body everywhere.
It seemed to like it.
“That’s right. This is the blanket you always used.”
Lion let out a sigh of relief.
It looked like it would be able to adjust well enough in its own way, but.
‘Mm…’
There was an important problem.
Lion had never once raised a companion animal.
Which also meant that, though he had studied on and off ever since acquiring the demonic beast’s egg, that was the extent of his experience.
‘Nature is… different, no matter how you look at it.’
Fluffy potato—no, though it did look a bit like a bird, Nature’s essence was a being from a different dimension not belonging to the material plane. A spirit.
Nature enjoyed the food Lion made, but that was all; eating food didn’t upset its stomach, nor did it gain weight.
But—
“Kieeeng!”
That baby demonic beast was different.
It was a special being, true, but at the end of the day it was a living creature with a physical body.
And unlike Nature, who was only smaller in size, this one was truly young.
It wasn’t all wrinkly the way other living things were at birth, but the fact that it was a newborn didn’t change.
Which meant that Lion had to take care of everything, from food to cleanliness.
Of course! That would be a bit clumsy at first, but he’d get the hang of it quickly.
The real problem was this.
‘A name…’
How do you come up with one?
Lion smiled awkwardly, placed his hands on his waist, and sank into deliberation.
‘Giving it the name the druid’s demonic beast used as it is…’
He felt that was a little too much.
They were the same species, but this one wasn’t that demonic beast.
And that demonic beast’s name had been…
‘Something that seemed thrown together, I think.’
Lion recalled the name and immediately shook his head.
A new name would definitely be better.
‘If so, what would be good?’
Lion mulled it over for a moment as he watched the baby demonic beast roll around excitedly on the blanket.
Delighted to be out of the stuffy egg, it was scratching at the blanket with its paws and chomping on the corner of Lion’s pillow with teeth that were still underdeveloped, like grains of rice.
It seemed to be trying to appeal to its wild nature in its own way… but since it was so small, it was simply adorable.
‘How was Jjajangi, again?’
Lion thought of Jjajangi, a dog once owned by a junior colleague at his old company.
That dog had been named Jjajangi because the area around its nose was black as if it had eaten jjajangmyeon.
‘Other cases…’
The cat raised by a person at a client company had been named Seol-i as a kitten because it looked as pale and fluffy as a white rice cake while loafing, he remembered, and they had panicked when its fur turned yellowish as it grew.
Anyway, most names were drawn from careful observation of the pet’s appearance.
Just as he was wondering if he really ought to observe a bit more.
‘But, uh…’
…What was that little thing doing?
He’d just been watching it because it was cute, but the way it was chewing on the pillow was no ordinary thing.
Should he say it was obsessively targeting one spot?
That wasn’t all that was odd.
It struck the pillow with adorable front-paw punches and scratched with its claws, until the fabric that must have been carefully selected by House Asteri was gradually tearing.
Wait… tearing?
Then that meant…
The moment Lion approached to stop it!
Riiipp!
In the end, it clamped its teeth onto the pillow and thrashed its head wildly.
Naturally, the fabric tore completely, and the cotton and feathers inside scattered across the bed and the air.
“Goodness.”
Lion laughed helplessly as he watched the feathers drift and flutter down.
It seemed to have far more energy than he’d thought.
‘Once I’ve given it a name, I’ll have a lot to do.’
Foxes really were in the canine family.
First, he’d have to get a few toys it could play tug with.
“You’re all covered in them. Come here.”
Lion chuckled and approached the little one, which had a small feather stuck to the bridge of its nose.
“Pchoo!”
Its nose must have tickled, because it immediately gave several adorable sneezes—pchoo, pchoo—then shook itself in a flurry.
The feathers that had briefly settled down fluttered back into the air with the motion.
“…!”
In that moment, for reasons he didn’t understand, this scene etched itself into Lion’s mind with vivid clarity.
At the same time, he decided on a name.
“Pooch. Let’s call you Pooch.”
Even when it later grew as big as a mountain, even when its few tails became nine and it became a full adult, this memory of its youth would remain forever, wouldn’t it?
And even then, to Lion, it would probably always be the baby that sneezed so adorably because of a feather.
He had taken the sound of that sneeze and turned it into a name.
‘It sounds cute, too.’
…Or is it?
Still, isn’t it pretty cute in its own way?
[Name the young Demonic Beast ‘Pooch’?]
[The name can be changed at any time.]
[However, changing the name often may cause confusion for your companion animal and may lead to difficulties during later training.]
“How’s that?”
Before settling on the name, Lion asked it one last time.
An ordinary pet might not understand, but demonic beasts had higher intelligence than one might think.
So it might not like it…
“Kieeng!”
Luckily, it approved.
Lion reached out his hand and stroked it, and Nature plucked the fluff stuck to its tail with its beak.
“All right. Let’s get along well.”
Even if he might be pretty clumsy at first…
At the very least, he was confident he wouldn’t let it starve or leave it lonely.
[You have tamed the only demonic beast left in this world!]
[Pooch will remain with you for all its life!]
And then.
A tiny cluster of light, like a glass bead, began to sparkle in Lion’s room.
[You have fulfilled the conditions.]
[Your Spirit Art talent breaks through its limits!]
He had thought they were simply specks of light, but when he tapped one of the droplets of light, the inexhaustible energy of nature surged up.
A boundless, crisp clarity warmly enveloped his entire body.
Lion turned his gaze to look at Nature.
Sure enough, a change seemed to be occurring in Nature’s body as well.
The immense power that had been transmitted from another dimension,
which he had felt a few times before, settled within Nature’s small body.
And this time, Lion was able to bear that weight.
Lion extended his hand to Nature.
And the creature—no, its true wings—covered Lion’s hand as if wrapping around it.
Along with a warm sensation, he could feel an emotion of concern for him.
‘It’s all right. Whatever that being may be, you are Nature.’
Because you’re the adorable, grateful friend who nags when your master overdoes it or gets hurt and tries your best to help.
Shhhh…
The droplets of light slowly dwindled, and Nature’s vast being was stowed away as well.
Unlike when other talents broke through their limits, there were no additional words,
but Lion could tell that he had finally overcome one of the walls of Spirit Art.
[Spirit Art has become Skilled Lv.1.]
[You step into a new realm.]
[Knowledge related to beast taming will be unlocked.]
“Hoo.”
Lion smiled, feeling incomparably lighter in body.
More than a sense of pride that his Spirit Art had entered the Skilled tier, he was happy because it felt as though his sincerity had been conveyed to these two.
And…
“Hahaha!”
Fortunately, all that detailed knowledge relating to beast taming had flowed naturally into Lion’s head!
That is, knowledge about how to raise Pooch.
And as it happened, Lion had quite a collection of good things.
The thing he needed most right now among them was…!
“There we go, you’ve played plenty, so shall we eat some baby food now?”
It was the demonic beast baby food.
Lion took out the baby food he’d received from Varg, which he had carefully repacked and hidden away after checking it.
Pale powder was revealed inside the packaging.
‘At first, I wondered about it because it said this powder was baby food…’
Looking at it now, this isn’t baby food.
Poke.
Lion poked the powder with his little finger and tasted it.
‘Mm. As I thought.’
This taste—nutty, smooth, and subtly rich.
This was unmistakable.
It was formula!