Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 211
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 211
“Indeed…”
“At this level, I’d say the damages have been compensated.”
“A bear, you said? I tell you, his strength is incredible. Incredible.”
Fortunately, the people who had suffered damage seemed mostly satisfied as well.
In practice, Urhil had handled, in just a few hours, work that would have required dozens of laborers.
Calculating roughly in terms of labor costs, it came out about even—no, more than even.
‘Hm, this might not be bad.’
At the faint praise drifting from the villagers, the corners of Urhil’s mouth lifted.
At first he had been on the verge of a rude awakening, but being forgiven and even helping to resolve the problems made it more fulfilling than he had expected.
“I was right to come out here.”
In his home country, it was something he would never have dared to try.
“Ahem, and I drove off the demon beasts that were visible at the village outskirts, so there should be no security issues for a while.”
Perhaps because of that, he even went so far as to casually mention a good deed no one had asked about.
“Wow. As expected, he lives up to his size!”
“We used to tremble every time we had to go over there, you know!”
Lion chuckled as he watched Urhil blending in unexpectedly well.
He had been fairly furious at first, but looking at him now, the fellow didn’t seem to be a bad sort.
Simply, how to put it…
‘Should I say he did it out of ignorance?’
Come to think of it, a bear picking berries from a tree wouldn’t be a problem, would it.
You just think of it as the way of nature.
Of course, that didn’t mean forgiveness was yet complete.
Wasn’t there still one matter remaining?
The Case of the Missing Banana Sweet Potatoes!
Lion had not forgotten this.
He hadn’t expected the fellow to be better than anticipated, or that the damage to others would be easily restored.
That was all well and good.
‘I’ll make sure I collect properly.’
That thought was still preserved, intact! However…
Grrowl.
The sun hadn’t even set yet, but he was hungry.
Likely because he had been moving strenuously all day.
Just as he was wondering whether to head back and eat a quick bite first—
“Oh my! Young master, are you leaving?”
“The work’s done, so I’d better go.”
“Please don’t. Stay and share a meal with us before you go.”
As behavior toward an ordinary noble young master, it would have been unthinkable, but the one in question was Lion.
The villagers had by now gotten a reasonable grasp of Lion’s character, so they invited him without reservation.
And naturally, Lion—
“Oh, should I?”
—readily accepted.
“…”
In truth, as a meal, there was nothing particularly special.
They simmered stew in a huge cauldron, and below it, over a campfire lit with applewood, they roasted corn and potatoes.
Around the time a savory aroma began to rise, people gathered one by one, settled around, and blew on the hot corn before biting off the well-cooked kernels.
The same went for the golden-brown potatoes.
“Here. Big bear brother, you have one too.”
“I…”
“Ehei. It’s all right. It’s already in the past, so what are you leaving yourself out for!”
Before he could even refuse, a potato and an ear of corn were placed in Urhil’s hands, one of each.
“Eat, and if you want more, just say so! There’s plenty of potatoes!”
“…”
Urhil found himself in a somewhat difficult position.
In truth, this sort of food did not suit his aesthetic.
It was neither sweet nor fragrant.
Were they not simply roasted crops?
Furthermore, they differed in quality from what he had dug up and eaten in Mimir Forest.
‘I suppose I can’t refuse to eat in this situation.’
He had only just restored the people’s goodwill and did not want to lose it by refusing a single bite.
And besides…
Grrowl.
All that work had left him hungry.
In the end, having made a great resolution, Urhil nibbled at the potato and corn little by little.
Just as expected, it was a plain and unremarkable taste.
…Or so he thought.
“Whoa!”
“He sure eats with gusto!”
“Here, here. Eat more.”
Before he knew it, corncobs stripped bare had piled up before Urhil like a mountain.
‘This is absurd.’
I ate this much of something without even a proper flavor?
And even though I thought it was mediocre?
It wasn’t as though I’d been hit on the head and lost my sense of taste.
But, how to put it.
The food kept going in because of the atmosphere.
Of course, since I was in human form, I didn’t eat as much as I would have as a bear…
‘Fascinating.’
Separate from that thought, a single corn kernel was stuck to the corner of his mouth.
In any case, since no one disliked him, that seemed to settle it.
“Here, here. If we’ve eaten, we must have dessert!”
Once they had even eaten dessert made from the leftover honey that was tricky to sell and the ugly fruit, a drinking session naturally unfolded after that.
Urhil, who had kept his wits about him and declined when the alcohol appeared, sat before the campfire and looked around.
The crackling sound of the applewood burning reached him, and the voices of the people chattering in time with that rhythm felt like a rough-hewn chord.
There were even people who got carried along by that chord and began dancing among themselves.
‘…Fascinating.’
At the many novel experiences and sights, Urhil fell into a fresh shock.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say he was captivated.
Just as that small party was approaching its height—
“We’ll be heading back now.”
Lion rose from his seat, and Urhil silently followed behind him.
Fortunately, this time his bed for the night was not a cold cell but a guest room.
Urhil lay comfortably on the bed.
It was a little small, so his feet almost stuck out, but it felt charming in its own way.
‘…The Asteri territory is quite a remarkable place.’
Feeling a strange emotion, Urhil closed his eyes.
* * *
And the next day.
BANG! The door swung open, and Lion appeared in the guest room.
“Strong and wonderful morning!”
Then he strode in vigorously and yanked the curtains wide, letting bright light flood into the room.
“Grrrrr…”
As though he had never gotten up at a time like this, Urhil pulled the blanket up over his face.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.”
He had gotten a sense of it from his behavior, but—
this brat, compared to the strength and ability he possessed, was boundlessly lazy.
It was clear his oddly spaced-out quality stemmed from that too.
What sort of life he had lived in the Beastfolk Kingdom was none of Lion’s business.
At present, was he not a prisoner who had committed a crime?
“Get up.”
Time to go pay for your crime.
Even at those words, Urhil did not so much as twitch.
“No helping it. Nature. Take the blanket away.”
“Peep, peep.”
Without hesitation, Nature snatched the blanket away with wind.
He was taking a direct hit from the morning’s chilly breeze, but Urhil was stalwart.
However, Lion was not about to stop here.
Because from the start, he had no intention of waking him kindly.
“Nature. Let’s go.”
“Peeeep!”
Nature, having tossed the blanket far away, now used wind to hoist up the massive body over two meters tall.
With the weight involved, Lion could feel a little mana draining from within his body.
‘At this point, something like this is nothing.’
And so Urhil was once again dragged along.
Just as they left the room, passed through the main gate of the mansion, and headed toward the forest—
“…A dreadful morning.”
Facing the bright sun rather than light coming through a window, he had no choice but to declare surrender.
With practiced skill, Urhil twisted his body in midair and landed on the ground.
“Did I not sufficiently pay for my crime yesterday?”
“The most important part remains.”
Lion let out a snort and smoothly pointed his finger at one spot.
Urhil could identify it without even looking.
“They were delicious.”
“They must have been!”
Yes.
That spot was precisely the banana sweet potato patch!
The devastated site, now left with nothing but tiny bits, was preserved there just as it had been.
“But is this location not public land?”
Urhil attempted an excuse, nursing his own sense of injustice.
He would concede the apiary and the orchard.
There were people who had indeed suffered damage.
But this place was a forest, situated somewhere you couldn’t call a field.
If one were to insist, were they not simply gifts of nature?
“It’s my field.”
“…Of course, this forest is your domain, so you are not wrong, but.”
“Not that. I mean it was actually my field.”
From discovery to cultivation, a field I tilled with my own hands.
Of course, it was somewhat rustic and shabby enough to be mistaken for not a field, but!
Still, I’d left it alone because it grew well.
And on top of that, had anyone else been able to lay a hand on this place!
“…”
Reading the sincerity in Lion’s eyes, Urhil shut his mouth, then, after checking his reaction for a moment, rolled up his sleeves.
“Fine. What must I do? Shall I start by clearing away the filthy bits first?”
And with that, wasn’t he about to snap off the banana sweet potato shoots!
“Stooooop!”
Lion swiftly went and blocked Urhil’s path.
He had nearly rendered the remaining stock unusable, too.
Just look at those sweet potato shoots, crushed in that pot-lid-sized hand.
Lion snatched the sweet potato shoots from that hand and pressed a shovel into it.
“Here. Do you see that over there?”
Lion pointed his finger at a flat area not far away.
Compared to other parts of the forest, it was a place with fewer tree roots, yet still thick with fallen leaves and all sorts of weeds.
“I see it.”
“From there to there. You can just turn all of it over.”
…With this tiny shovel?
Urhil stared at the plot of land Lion had designated.
Somehow, with this tiny shovel, it looked as though it would take a great deal of time.
“Are you planning to create a field by turning over that land?”
“That’s right.”
Lion had thought.
What should I demand from this fellow?
The deliberation did not last long.
Yes. Let’s have that fellow till a field.
If I plant the banana sweet potato shoots in that field and tend them well, before long, a great many high-quality banana sweet potatoes will appear!
‘This latest crop… sob.’
It had already been absorbed into that brute’s body as nutrition, so nothing could be done.
In the meantime, I can subsist on the banana sweet potatoes in the labyrinth…
In any case, I believed this counted as a punishment on a humane level.
“Hmm.”
While Lion was thinking such thoughts, Urhil briefly inspected the field.
The soil was on the softer side, but because it hadn’t been properly plowed, there were many rocks among the dirt.
Turning earth like this bit by bit with that shovel was unmistakably grueling work.
‘What that person wants does not appear to be my suffering.’
If he had wanted to see suffering or humiliation, he would not have gone out of his way to press down on my back and assist in the apology in that village yesterday.
If that was the case…
‘He truly wants to reclaim a field.’
There was no knowing why the master of this great territory was fixated on such a tiny field, but just as every beastfolk had… no, every person had various tastes, he decided to simply accept it.
And—
‘It seems I will be staying here longer than I expected.’
Was it because of yesterday’s experience? He had taken a liking to this place more than he had anticipated.
Of course, he had no intention of living off others his whole life, but he judged it would be all right to stay here at least a few years.
‘As for the Beastfolk Kingdom… well, I can simply send a letter.’
His mother would be quite furious, but he trusted his father would hold her back well.
After concluding such carefree thoughts, Urhil opened his mouth.
“If you are going to exact a price anyway, there is a more efficient method.”
“An efficient method?”
What efficient method could there be to digging earth?
Did he mean he’d hold a shovel in each hand?
Reading that puzzlement, Urhil let out a slight grin, set down the shovel, and lowered his body.
Then, fwoom!.
A small burst of smoke spread from both hands—
and the hands that had been in human form transformed into those of a beast.
Only up to about the forearm!
‘…Right. He had a function like that, didn’t he?’