Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 209
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 209
At the mere sight of him, which anyone could see was well-fed and well-rested, a vein popped on Lion’s forehead.
He wanted to charge out right then and give him a piece of his mind, but…
‘Hoooo. Hold it in.’
First, he’d catch that bastard and get revenge for the banana sweet potatoes—that would settle everything.
Lion stayed composed and waited for the guy to come closer.
He held his breath as much as he could, trying not to make even a tiny rustle.
Varg was the same.
Actually, hiding in the forest and stalking prey was a wolf’s hunting method,
so it wasn’t difficult at all.
Lion glanced at Varg, turning only his eyes.
‘Looks like he didn’t know.’
Even as he perfectly controlled his body in the grass, Varg couldn’t hide his bewildered expression.
He didn’t seem to understand why he was so good at this.
Then his eyes gradually widened, as if he’d realized something.
It seemed something that had been blocking Varg had been cleared, even if only a little.
‘Two birds with one stone.’
Lion stole a glance at that for a moment, then shifted his gaze again.
The waddling bear was quite slow.
Maybe because he sensed something odd, he stood up on his hind legs and looked around, then gave an innocent tree a light swat with his front paw.
Whump.
The problem was that even that light swat made the tree snap like a reed and fall over.
Thanks to that, the tree right in front of Lion, which had been helping with camouflage, was gone.
Now only thick underbrush remained.
“…”
Without that thick cover, he felt like their eyes might have met for some reason, but…
‘No wariness at all.’
The big guy only looked puzzled, just like before.
Lion swallowed dryly and grabbed Varg, who was about to leap out.
Not yet. It’s fine.
If they stuck to the plan, nothing would go wrong.
And luckily…
“Grooong…”
The bear beastfolk tilted his head, looked around once more, and then seemed to fully relax, waddling toward the bait.
‘Hoooo…’
Lion exhaled inwardly.
What was fortunate—whether because there was no scent, or because the bear beastfolk had never been caught so far and had grown bold—was that the guy was even more unguarded than Lion had anticipated.
To the point of looking a little dim-witted, even.
Clench.
‘Still, don’t let your guard down.’
You saw it just now, didn’t you? The tree falling.
Lion grabbed the rope that would trigger the trap.
Now, once the guy came a little more into the safe zone, he’d use it.
A little more.
Just a little more.
The distance between the bear beastfolk and the bait shrank.
He was close enough to nudge the gangjeong with his blunt nose.
‘Yes. Eat it.’
Just as Lion wished, the bear beastfolk lifted the gangjeong with his front paw, opened his mouth wide, and with those sharp teeth…
Crunch! Crunch!
He started devouring the gangjeong, making a sound so crisp it was a pleasure to hear.
‘Now!’
Fwoosh!
A giant capture net made of special rope flew and covered the bear beastfolk.
The edges of the net embedded into the ground, blocking any escape.
That should have meant that no matter how tough he was, he couldn’t get out… except.
“…Grooong?”
A deflated sound echoed through the forest.
“Huh?”
Even trapped inside the net, the bear beastfolk simply shook his head once with a flump and… kept eating the gangjeong.
“…Young master. Did you expect this as well?”
Varg’s claws silently retracted.
“No…”
Lion denied it in an awkward voice and stood up.
He’d expected the guy to be thorough, rough, and shrewd…
Crunch. Crunch!
“…Why is he so dim-witted?”
Even though Lion had revealed himself, he stared at the guy, who even went so far as to pick up the metal plate and devour the honey stuck to it.
The unwanted eating show continued, and by the time even the metal plate was gleaming clean without a single trace of honey or nut pieces—
Poomf.
A small explosion sounded and a fluffy smoke spread.
Alarmed, Varg bared his claws again and blocked Lion’s front.
“Young master, be careful! That guy is…!”
Varg must have finally recognized the guy’s identity.
But even after he transformed into human form, no attack came from within the billowing cloud.
Instead.
“Mm-hmm. Ah. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this form.”
A voice so leisurely it sounded almost languid reached them.
‘Well, well.’
For a thief, he sure was calm.
“Nature.”
“Peep, peep.”
When Nature swept the billowing cloud away with wind, his figure was revealed.
He was well over two meters tall, and having eaten so well, he had long hair as sleek as seaweed.
Compared to his muscular build, his face was puffy as if announcing last night’s binge.
…Wait, muscular build?
Come to think of it, when beastfolk return to their original form…
“Ugh, Nature!”
And as expected, at the sight of a completely bare body, Lion didn’t hide his displeasure, glaring sharply, and called Nature again.
“…”
Even Nature seemed to find that sight unwelcome and brought the smoke it had dispersed back to cover the man’s body.
In the end, with only his face peeking through the smoke, the bear beastfolk even stretched languidly.
“Haaam. You put sleeping powder in the food? Hmm, but the dosage seems too low.”
“Y-You’re awfully brazen for someone who turned the Asteri Territory upside down…!”
Varg bristled and stepped forward.
‘I agree.’
Even so, the bear beastfolk kept smacking his lips,
as if regretful that he’d finished the tasty snack.
At least he didn’t seem to have any fighting spirit.
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Pay up.”
“…For what?”
“For all the food you’ve been eating without paying.”
“Hmm…”
The bear beastfolk rolled his eyes as if mulling it over, then answered.
“I’ll pay for what I ate directly to the owner of this territory. So I have nothing to give to y—…”
“Oho.”
A soft smile settled on Lion’s lips.
This bear bastard was clearly trying some trick, but unfortunately, he seemed to lack background knowledge.
He was practically turning himself in
and promising compensation on his own.
But— Not a chance.
“I’m the owner.”
“Hmm…”
“Lion Asteri of the Asteri Territory.”
Strictly speaking, the owner was the grandfather, but since he’d taken charge of this “bear problem,” Lion could act as the owner now without issue.
“…”
Maybe because he realized something had gone wrong, the bear murmured in a slightly lower voice.
“I didn’t expect someone so high-ranking to come in person. They say humans have especially heavy behinds. Is that an old saying now?”
It was clearly the attitude of a man who’d realized he was about to be caught.
“Since you said you’d pay back with your own mouth, let’s first go to where you belong.”
That meant jail.
“W-Wait!”
The moment he moved to object, Varg stepped forward and smacked the back of his head hard with the scabbard.
Bam!
With a sound that could have come from a smithy, the guy crumpled right there.
…He hadn’t planned to take him away like this, but.
“…Beastfolk are tough, so he won’t die… probably.”
“Yeah. That felt good.”
His chest felt completely cleared with that one hit.
“Let’s head back for now.”
“Yes.”
Varg gathered up the trap and dragged the massive, thoroughly knocked-out guy back to the mansion.
“Tch.”
Meanwhile, Nature was taking responsibility for his last shred of modesty with an extremely displeased look on its face.
…They’d done rough work, so the first thing he’d do when they got back was give Nature a snack.
* * *
“…It was a beastfolk?”
“Yeah. Turns out it was.”
The day after they’d thrown the guy into House Asteri’s underground prison, Lion gave Rickshel a brief report of the situation.
“A bear beastfolk, huh…”
Rickshel frowned slightly.
If it was a bear beastfolk, of all things, things could get a little troublesome.
Bear beastfolk were known to hold quite high status even within the Beastfolk Kingdom.
Moreover, they normally spent their whole lives inside the kingdom, so you couldn’t even see them.
It was even said they treated fellow tribe members with great value…
‘It’s not like the Freyania situation.’
Back then, the Family Head had a personal acquaintance with the other side’s leader, so things had resolved quite easily and smoothly.
But now.
‘He’s not here.’
If they went through the Elf Nation, they might be able to make a connection, but one misstep and relations with the Beastfolk Kingdom could sour.
Besides…
‘They said he was oddly docile.’
Elder Brother guessed it was because of Varg, but Rickshel’s thoughts were a little different.
‘…It’s probably because of the presence they sense from you, Brother.’
Wasn’t it true that because of his unprecedented, genius-level spirit art ability, most animals ended up remarkably docile toward his brother?
Like the Luminis Deer he’d seen at Easter, and that fox that hatched from the egg, and Varg was no exception.
No, maybe even the reason he came to the Asteri Territory in the first place was because he was drawn by his brother’s presence.
“It’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
“The guy said with his own mouth he’ll pay everything back. So even if bear beastfolk come storming in, they won’t have anything to say.”
“I… see.”
Rickshel didn’t voice his inner thoughts.
Telling his brother would only burden him.
It would be better to quietly stay in the background and prevent anyone from messing with his brother.
Besides…
‘In any case, it’s something Elder Brother pulled off.’
In other words, another feat had been added to his brother’s name.
And this time, it was subduing a massive “bear,” so he’d be building a different kind of reputation from before.
“Then what do you intend to do with that bear beastfolk?”
“As soon as he wakes up, I plan to demand payment for everything he did.”
“You already have a plan, I see. Then I’ll entrust the future matters to you as well, Brother.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry. Oh, and…”
Even after confirming the door was firmly shut, Lion picked up a pen and scribbled on a piece of paper.
-That bear beastfolk. He can help Varg.
-As expected, you noticed.
“Then I’ll entrust that matter to you as well. But if the situation ever becomes difficult or troublesome, I’ll handle it immediately, so you absolutely must tell me.”
“Okay.”
“If not me, at least tell the Family Head. Promise me.”
“When have I ever clung to a problem I couldn’t solve alone and agonized over it? Don’t worry.”
“…”
That’s exactly why—I’m afraid you’ll try to solve it by yourself and suffer—he wanted to say,
but Rickshel held it in.
“Oh, and a letter came from the Bydantis territory. They said they’ll be coming here soon, also to carry out the Emperor’s orders.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, they’d have to start preparing for the ‘Birthday Celebration’ soon.
Of course, there wasn’t much for Lion to do there, but it wasn’t bad that they were using this opportunity to foster goodwill.
And…
‘Ahem, I’d better resolve this bear problem as quickly as possible.’
Rickshel and the Bydantis marquis would be meeting after a long time; if there was a ruckus nearby, it would kill the mood, wouldn’t it?
Lion smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
“Right, right. Once the bear problem is solved, we’ll have to prepare for that too.”
“Sigh. I can’t help feeling bad, thinking you’ve been needlessly tangled up in a bothersome matter, Brother.”
“Hahaha. I’m fine.”
No? Actually, from this angle, it was perfect.
Wasn’t watching other people’s love lives the most fun?
‘Heh heh heh.’
…Sadly, those two didn’t have such feelings at all, though.