Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 207
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 207
“But…”
Before Elvia vanished into the darkness, she asked casually.
“You’ll have to tell us how you intend to catch it, or Young Master Rickshel won’t be convinced. He worries a great deal.”
“We’ll have to catch him with what he likes best.”
With a quiet laugh, Lion brushed off his clothes and rose to his feet.
“I’ll make bait so irresistible he won’t be able to help biting. Tell the knight order to assemble in advance.”
“Understood.”
Elvia melted into the darkness at once, and Lion set off as well.
He knew exactly what bait a bear beastfolk loved most.
Honey.
And not just any honey — Moonflower Honey!
* * *
Meanwhile, Varg was still rolling around the training grounds.
“Hoooh… huff…!”
Drenched in sweat, he went limp and sprawled flat in the center of the training grounds.
Ever since he had recovered his health, sweating this much usually left him refreshed, but today…
Pout.
Varg’s muzzle—no, his lips—jutted out.
It wasn’t because he’d gotten thoroughly chewed out over his contract, nor because Young Master Rickshel had punished him.
‘Not enough…’
It was thirst.
The sparring match from that day flickered before his eyes.
The sparring match where he’d more or less set aside the guilt of attacking another person, that is.
Defeat after defeat, and each bout was astonishingly short — but with every match, Varg drew a little closer to a new realization.
How to use his body, how to make his traits work for him.
And above all…
—You didn’t intentionally go for my throat.
That voice lingered.
To be honest, he’d been trying hard not to think about it.
After all, Varg’s claws were extremely sharp.
Sharp enough to draw blood at the barest touch.
Hadn’t he proved that by wounding Jack in their final bout?
‘The others would have known, too.’
At the very least, Young Master Rickshel and the Knight Commander must have been aware of it.
But neither of them had offered Varg any advice on the matter.
He understood the reason perfectly well.
Varg was still being treated as someone who needed “protecting” here.
He didn’t dislike it.
However it had happened, he was grateful that they had accepted him as one of the group.
But…
Clench.
Varg clenched his fist and stared up at the sky.
He wanted to become someone who could protect, not someone who had to be protected.
Yes. If he had to sum up Varg’s condition in a word:
growing pains.
But to Varg, who couldn’t properly recognize his own state, it just felt like a vague, irritating, stifling emotion.
‘If there were another beastfolk around, could I have asked them?’
A small, involuntary whine escaped him, and he quickly slapped both cheeks with his hands.
“No. I can manage on my own.”
Don’t get discouraged!
Muttering to himself, Varg made to get up.
“Manage what?”
He would have, if a familiar face hadn’t suddenly filled his field of vision.
“Gyaaah!”
He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed anyone approaching.
Varg scrambled to his feet, dodging away as he tried to calm his pounding heart.
“Y-Young Master!”
“What are you so shocked about? You startled me.”
Lion said the words, but he wasn’t particularly startled.
He’d sized up Varg’s condition in an instant.
Granted, he wasn’t sure how apt the comparison was… but Lion had seen this particular case many times before.
‘…A new hire rounding out their first year.’
He knew the pattern.
Around that time, a new hire started to think—they weren’t completely green anymore, they’d absorbed some things, but they couldn’t really do anything on their own.
And if they asked their mentor about it, they felt like they’d shatter: the phase where confidence went into a nosedive.
In Lion’s eyes, Varg looked exactly like that new hire.
‘And he actually seemed to be thinking along those lines.’
The situation was entirely understandable.
Hadn’t Varg been gravely ill and was now rapidly growing in skill and physical ability?
His mind hadn’t grown nearly as fast, and with no mature beastfolk around him, the sense of disconnect would feel all the more acute.
‘Hmm.’
Looking at Varg, Lion thought of something, then filed it away for later.
The thing that had just come to mind involved too many variables that needed checking, so he’d put it aside for now.
Anyway.
“So, did you finish your punishment for today?”
“Yes! I just finished. Do you need my help with something…?!”
His expression had brightened so much that no one would have guessed he’d been sulking with his lips jutting out just a moment ago.
Lion barely stifled a laugh and nodded.
“Yes. There’s something you can help with.”
“Wh-What is it?”
“Revenge.”
“Anything I can help with, I’ll do whatev— …I beg your pardon?!”
Varg went rigid, turning creakily to stare at Lion.
A word he had never imagined coming from the mouth of his kind and generous young master.
When Varg gave him a look that said, “I must have misheard, right?” Lion answered with a bright smile and a nod.
“Revenge.”
C-Come to think of it, the young master’s eyes seemed to glitter even more than usual.
Normally he was about halfway peculiar; today he seemed half again more…
‘What kind of terrible person could it be!’
The young master would never bandy about a word like “revenge” without reason!
Which meant the other party had clearly done something very wrong.
What, exactly… He was curious, but the young master didn’t seem inclined to explain.
“Anyway, I really need your help with this.”
“I’ll do it!”
As far as Varg was concerned, though, he didn’t need that explanation.
He was happy.
Happy that he could take part in his benefactor’s revenge!
“Right, let’s hurry, then.”
“Yes!”
Varg answered stoutly and followed after Lion.
He didn’t even need to ask where they were going.
It was, of course, the kitchen.
Perhaps the staff had been sent away in advance — the kitchen was empty.
Except for one.
Nature, sitting there as grand as you please.
“Nature, while I’m making this, keep the smell from spreading.”
“Peep, peep.”
With that, Lion shut every window in the kitchen.
Ordinarily you weren’t supposed to do this in a kitchen, but it would be over quickly, so it would be fine.
“Varg.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“First, stand here and check whether the smell leaks out. It absolutely must not escape.”
“Yes…”
“Because I’ll be using this.”
Lion pulled a bottle from his coat and gave it a light shake.
A viscous golden liquid!
Being inside the bottle made its color and consistency seem even richer.
Varg knew in an instant what it was.
Moonflower Honey!
It was unmistakably the same honey used to treat his Eclipse symptoms and used in the gangjeong the young master had made.
But he was using it for revenge…?
‘Ah, wait, could it be that?’
However much punishment Varg had been taking, his original role had been Rickshel’s guard.
Naturally, he was well aware of the recent bear problem.
‘So is he planning to use it to… catch the bear?’
No matter how sweet Moonflower Honey was, wouldn’t it be difficult to catch a bear beastfolk whose location was unknown?
“Heh-heh-heh… don’t worry about that. Just check if the smell leaks out. Please!”
As if reading his mind, Lion laughed a sinister laugh and shooed Varg out of the kitchen.
Then, click.
He shut the door firmly.
“…”
Varg still didn’t understand.
“Alright. Preparations are complete.”
“Peep.”
“Shall we open it, then?”
With a solemn expression, Lion uncorked the bottle of Moonflower Honey he had taken out earlier.
Pop!
The instant the cap came off, an intensely dense fragrance flooded the kitchen.
It was enough to make Lion’s nose sting sharply.
‘Did I concentrate it too much?’
Lion pressed the back of his hand lightly to his nose and gazed at the deep amber honey.
The truth was, immediately after returning from Mimir Forest, he had refined and concentrated the Moonflower Honey he’d stockpiled as much as possible.
The result was an essence several times stickier than ordinary honey, with a fragrance so intoxicatingly rich it could send you to the Netherworld.
Of course, this alone wouldn’t be enough to lure the bear beastfolk.
The scent and flavor would be phenomenal, but the quantity was too small.
So what he’d thought of was gangjeong.
He planned to mix various nuts and dried fruits into this extract.
That would add nutty and tangy notes, creating a fantastical bait the bear beastfolk would be powerless to resist.
“Good. Let’s make this quick.”
Lion put his plan into action at once.
First, he placed an assortment of nuts and seeds into a dry pan and toasted them until the raw smell had cooked off.
Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and more sizzled in the dry pan, releasing their characteristic savory aromas.
The walnuts, especially, exuded oil that accentuated the best qualities of the other ingredients.
Just as the nuts deepened in color, he took them off the pan. Then he melted a generous knob of butter and poured the Moonflower Honey over it in a thick, glistening stream.
The golden liquid cascaded, thick and glossy as though heated by the flame.
Normally, he would add starch syrup or the like at this stage for extra sweetness.
‘No.’
The Moonflower Honey was more than sufficient on its own.
Instead, he needed to adjust the consistency.
Splaaash!
He adjusted the consistency by adding Mimir Forest Hot Spring Water.
Lion adjusted the heat of the burner and waited for the butter and honey to blend and come to a rolling boil.
Just as fine, bubbling foam rose to the surface,
Lion dumped in the toasted nuts he’d prepared and mixed vigorously with a spatula.
The honey, thick as caramel, and the nuts merged and began clumping together.
Even this already looked sufficient, but Lion didn’t stop there.
‘If it were just an ordinary bear, this much would be enough to catch it.’
But his target was a bear beastfolk.
There was something people here occasionally got wrong: that bear beastfolk were slow and stupid.
That was a major misconception.
Bears were far cleverer than people thought.
Which meant they were certainly capable of suspicion.
And a beastfolk bear would be even more so, not less.
‘So I’ll make food even a bear beastfolk can’t resist.’
Lion drew another small bottle from his coat.
It was not the sort of everyday alchemy flask he normally used — it was a beautiful bottle, clearly meant to hold a luxurious gift.
Stamped on its cap was the mark of Hotel Easter.
It was one of the many gifts given to him by Willi, the manager of Easter — and one Lion had only checked during his period of confinement…!
[Dried Mushberry (★)]
- Resembles dried poisonous mushrooms.
- Taste and aroma are exquisite, but the appearance makes it unappealing to eat.
- Excessive consumption may cause tooth decay.
It was Dried Mushberries.
He’d been wondering how to make use of them given their appearance, and the opportunity had arrived at just the right time.
“Ha ha ha.”
Lion grabbed a handful of the mushberries from the bottle, scattered them generously over the sticky gangjeong, mixed them in vigorously, then spread the mixture flat on an oiled tray.
If this were for people, he’d have to cut it into small pieces. But his target was a bear larger than an ogre.
“Nature. Dry it out just like this for me.”
“Peep, peep!”
And so, from Lion’s hands, bait to catch a bear — made with painstaking care and an abundance of fine ingredients — was complete!