Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 245
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 245
Just as Lion was about to sink into deliberation, Tiamatrak quietly spoke up.
—But human. No, Lion. Why do you even need this?
“Huh?”
—I mean, do you really have to hide my aura? Other humans can’t tell whether it’s a dragon’s aura or anything else anyway.
She had a point.
In fact, letting this amount of aura simply radiate outward might be the better choice.
No—it would almost certainly earn him better treatment than going around with no detectable aura at all.
Word might even spread that the Asteri firstborn had finally shaped up.
…And there it was. That was the problem.
“If that happens, I’d have to work.”
He’d already received countless scout offers from all sides.
Marquis Bydantis and the Second Prince were obvious examples, and even the Elf Kingdom had shown interest, hadn’t they?
His brother and grandfather had been blocking them at the front line, which was how he’d managed to enjoy his leisurely life so far, but if they started sensing an aura like this too…
Lion shuddered.
Ugh, no thanks!
—…
At the ferociously intense refusal, Tiamatrak was momentarily at a loss for words, then nodded.
‘Right. Kicking back is the best.’
And from an entertainment standpoint, it was far better for her to let this peculiar human run wild on his own terms than to watch him do nothing but work.
—I suppose it’s true. You humans seem to put the capable ones to work.
—Ah, now that I think of it, your grandfather was doing forced labor, wasn’t he?
—With that peculiar bunch of humans.
Tiamatrak murmured to herself that the man had possessed truly remarkable and impressive abilities, yet back then he’d done nothing but carry out his assigned tasks without a lick of fun.
Lion quietly turned her words over in his mind, then paused as he grasped something and asked again.
“If my grandfather was there too… Is this about Hero?”
—Huh? You knew?
Normally he shouldn’t have known, but there was no need to hide it from Tiamatrak.
She couldn’t blab about it anywhere even if she wanted to, and more to the point, she’d come to know about it naturally sooner or later anyway.
“Well, I heard things here and there, so I’ve got a rough idea. But I never got the full story.”
Tiamatrak’s eyes widened, then she grinned like a cheeky student.
—Then, how about we take a little break while I tell you the story?
“Shall we?”
Honestly, he’d been about to stop anyway.
‘It’ll probably be tough to keep going until I’ve made the auxiliary tool.’
Since things had turned out this way, taking a short break to listen to that story was the better move.
After all, it was information from an entirely new perspective.
“What was Hero like?”
—Exactly as the name suggests. The role didn’t seem much fun.
Tiamatrak began to share her impressions of the Hero she’d observed in considerable detail.
When with comrades, she said, he’d been exactly what humans imagine a hero to be.
Righteous, kind, and brave. The type to always take the forefront to protect his comrades.
—But I got the sense he had some kind of scheme going on.
“A scheme?”
—Yes. How to put it… A scheme in a good sense, I suppose? I never sensed any malice.
—Anyway, that part was interesting, so in truth, I paid more attention to that than to his combat strength.
Apparently that pregnant-with-meaning side had been what piqued Tiamatrak’s interest.
‘So that means my guess was right after all?’
Not long ago, when he’d witnessed Jack’s past, Lion had come up with several conjectures.
One of them was exactly this scheme of hers.
A plan of Hero’s that his grandfather and Jack had not known, but the Saintess had.
‘Looks like he’d been preparing for it since that point.’
The timing fit perfectly.
In <In the World>, the atmosphere began to slowly shift around the Dragon Lair story.
While the early parts focused on the growth narrative of an adventurer becoming the Hero and a champion, the middle portion centered on that Hero standing at the forefront of the War Against the Demons and vanquishing evil.
He hadn’t followed the story with great attention, but he knew the general flow.
“By any chance, was it someone who used Divine Power?”
—Oh? You’re right! Aw, come on. You already knew this story, didn’t you?
—You just did that to let me rest a bit, didn’t you?
Tiamatrak, apparently convinced that all of Lion’s questions had been born of consideration, let out a laugh that was remarkably goofy for a dragon.
—Ehehe. Anyway, that’s the sort of tale it was. And that map that followed you here—wasn’t it probably one of the things those fellows left behind?
“There are more things they left behind?”
—Well… a broken dagger, or leftover emergency rations, that sort of thing? So I’d assumed this map was more of the same.
If I’d known it was a flying map, I would’ve made it mine. Such a shame!
“Hahaha…”
So it had likely been hidden among the junk and she’d failed to spot it.
Granted, in her Soul State, cleaning up would have been out of the question anyway.
‘…Though, even if it hadn’t been, she doesn’t seem terribly fond of cleaning.’
In any case, he’d have to resolve Tiamatrak’s presence problem somehow, and then examine that map as quickly as possible.
And in order to do that…
‘Actually, there is one foolproof method.’
Lion retrieved an item that had long been sleeping deep inside his inventory.
It was the bracelet—the set piece to the Ability Blocking Pendant.
‘I was saving it for an unpredictable situation…’
In hindsight, this was exactly one of those unpredictable situations.
The catch was that he now needed to render this item permanently invisible.
The surest method was to ask his grandfather… but.
‘He’s away right now.’
Then there was a second method.
Someone as safe and certain as his grandfather.
Elvia.
‘I feel a little bad asking her for favors every time…’
But once again, he had no choice but to broach the subject.
Ahem. Lion cleared his throat for no real reason and opened his mouth.
“Elvia.”
And then.
Out of the darkness, Elvia…
…did not emerge.
“Huh?”
Lion tilted his head quizzically to the side.
“Elvia?”
Silence.
—Hmmm, if you mean that Witch, she won’t be coming for a while.
Tiamatrak, who had been quietly following Lion’s calls, scratched her cheek and answered.
“Why?”
—Well, because there’s a human with Divine Power in the mansion? Ah, they’re moving a bit further away now… but she’ll definitely notice anyway.
A human with Divine Power?
Lion blinked, then arrived at a guess.
So what she meant was…
Someone had come to the mansion, and that someone was a priest?
—You didn’t know?
He hadn’t. Not at all.
—Goodness, you’re so oblivious… Anyway, that Witch won’t be able to use her abilities for a while.
That wasn’t the problem!
If things went wrong, the consequences would be massive.
‘So I don’t give this bracelet to that one…’
I have to give it to Elvia!
“Oh dear, Elvia!”
Lion promptly tossed the bracelet to Tiamatrak and immediately strode out of the half-demolished room.
—Oh. You’re giving it to me already? Thank you!
Pleased with the bracelet, Tiamatrak slipped it on and pattered after Lion.
Fortunately, the bracelet’s power seemed to have taken effect, and her presence was sharply dampened, but…
Bob, bob…
The invisibility issue remained unsolved, and the bracelet appeared to float along beside Lion as if bobbing through the air.
* * *
Contrary to Lion’s worries, Elvia had been passing a peaceful day.
In truth, she’d been through this sort of thing several times before.
For instance, when the former Archbishop, the Saintess, had visited.
And on prior occasions too, priests had visited House Asteri more than once.
Each time, Elvia…
Slurp.
“How peaceful.”
…completely suppressed her own abilities and lived like an ordinary person.
It wasn’t without strain on her body, but well. She’d worked out her own methods over time.
‘At worst, it merely shaves a few years off my lifespan.’
Compared to winding up in a precarious position, that was a cheap price.
Elvia finished her leisurely teatime and rose.
A massive crash had sounded a little earlier, so the servants would have evacuated that young priest by now.
It was a measure she’d had in place in case the priest might pester her pup.
Now that things over there were quieting down, the servants would bring the young priest back as she’d instructed.
Explaining that a magic component had conveniently acted up would suffice.
With that in mind, Elvia slowly got to her feet.
In any case, for the next few days—or months—she was effectively on leave.
“Hmm. What shall I do next.”
Since a priest would be residing here for the foreseeable future anyway, baking a drowsiness-inducing ‘Special Apple Pie’ and tucking herself into a deep sleep didn’t sound like a bad way to spend it.
‘It does nag at me a little that I won’t be able to watch over the pup during that time…’
Mulling over that, Elvia let out a soft laugh.
Since when did a Witch guard a person, anyway—it seemed a mere twenty years had been enough to form the habit.
“Excessive coddling is just as bad.”
Elvia shook her head lightly, picked up the basket of deep-red apples on the desk, and left the room, heading for the kitchen.
Unlike her usual means of movement, she had to walk on her own two feet, which made it feel quite far away…
“Hm?”
Elvia drew out the simple Communication Orb she always carried on her person.
It was one of the few devices with a direct line to Petrick.
“What is it, Family Head?”
—…I apologize.
“For what, my lord? If it concerns my ‘leave,’ you need not fret.”
—Before I could even contact you, my grandcub bolted out first.
“…”
Elvia grasped the meaning and simply gave a soft smile.
They hadn’t been able to tell her they were using this reason for her leave, and her pup must have called for her at least once.
But, as on any normal occasion, she hadn’t been able to answer.
‘Around then, that talkative dragon must have told him.’
That a priest had come, and because of that, a Witch had gone into hiding.
Since the chatterbox dragon wanted to score points with her pup.
And the result of that was…
“Understood, Family Head. We shall see when you return.”
Elvia decisively ended the communication and tucked the orb away.
At the same moment…
“Elviaaaaa!!”
“…”
…her pup’s voice came ringing out, searching for her urgently.
The circumstances had upset her plan, but the corners of Elvia’s mouth did not lower.
In fact, they crept ever so slightly higher.
Her grandcub-like boy was fretting so earnestly over her, so how could she be anything but gratified?
‘A priest turned out to be useful after all.’
It truly paid to live long, she thought, and Elvia resumed her steps toward her original destination, the kitchen.
Since things had taken this turn, she decided she would use her leave to create a little extra special time with her pup.
Pleased with her revised plan, Elvia headed for the kitchen with lighter steps.
And then she halted abruptly.
“Lady Elvia. Are you all right? Where is Lord Lion?”
An unexpected figure had appeared.
It was the priest, Licht.
“I was told you had certainly evacuated.”
“I did, yes.”
But he’d grown worried and returned, he said.
“However… Lady Elvia, have you not evacuated?”
Licht gazed at the basket of deep-red apples as he asked.
Riper and glossier than ordinary apples, they were clearly no common fruit.
And her leisurely mien was entirely at odds with the loud crash moments ago.
Besides, wasn’t she Lord Lion’s personal maid?
Why was she out here alone?
“Hm.”
“Moreover, Lord Lion appears to be searching for you quite urgently…”
Elvia painted on a smile.
‘This little priest has sharp instincts.’
He must have unconsciously caught the aura of a Witch.
Now, how to talk her way out…
She was deliberating when—
“There you are!”
Lion caught his breath with a huff and spoke up.
“We were going to bake an apple pie together, and I ended up late. Right?”
“…That’s right.”
“Hahaha. Glad I’m not too late. Here, give me that. I’ll carry… Hm?”
Having smoothly taken even the apples from Elvia, Lion looked at Licht with a start, as though only now noticing him.
“Why, isn’t this Priest Licht?”
“…”
At the remarkably natural act, Elvia narrowed her eyes and gave a soft, low chuckle.
So, our pup…
goes around causing trouble in this fashion.