Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 248
“He fell asleep so soundly that someone could carry him off without him knowing.”
Elvia, who had gone to fetch tea a little late, set a cup in front of Lion with a satisfied smile.
Perhaps she had known it would turn out this way, because there was only one cup.
“I will escort the priest separately.”
“Let’s go together. I’ll carry him.”
Taking the initiative, Lion hoisted Licht, who was deep in sleep, onto his back.
With Elvia’s help, he managed to get him slung over his shoulders—but the problem was…
“…”
The problem was that with Lion Asteri’s body, he could not take a single step while carrying Licht.
To be honest, simply standing was already a struggle, and his thighs were already trembling.
‘Wow, this stamina is really abysmal… What do I do about this?’
A grown adult who could chew up rocks couldn’t carry one person?
He had no idea where all the endurance that emerged during crafting came from.
“…Would you help me?”
Elvia put on a deeply sympathetic expression, then released her restraint and lightly flicked a finger.
At that, Licht’s body slung over his back became light as a feather!
Light enough for Lion to carry him around without difficulty.
“Thanks, Elvia.”
“I will instruct them to increase the meat in your meal plan.”
…Thanks for that too.
But, Elvia, eating a little more meat probably won’t solve the problem…
Lion sighed quietly to himself as he arrived at Licht’s room and laid him on the bed.
“Phew!”
Anyway, he had somehow resolved the first problem.
Now, it was time to deal with the second one.
“Young master.”
At that moment, Elvia spoke first.
“Hm?”
“I have a request. Would you grant it?”
“What is it?”
“I would like to take a long leave.”
“…Is it because of the priest? If that’s the case, you don’t have to worry. I’ve already thought of something.”
“Heh heh, you intend to use that accessory, I take it?”
“That’s right.”
Exactly.
While Licht was asleep, he had intended to give Elvia that bracelet.
That way, even though being together with the priest would be somewhat uncomfortable, she would no longer need to suppress her own power.
-Huh? Then what about me?
-Didn’t you want to hide your power?
…Of course, he hadn’t failed to think of this.
The only ability-blocking accessories were the pendant he himself used and the bracelet he had lent to Tiamatrak.
So I was planning to give Elvia the bracelet and then go into the labyrinth in the meantime to resolve it somehow.
As long as there’s time, it’s definitely a problem that can be solved.
“I, Elvia, am truly moved by the young master’s kind heart. But it is all right.”
When had he grown so much that he worried even about her?
Elvia’s heart swelled with pride at the puppy’s admirable growth.
And so she had firmly refused.
Far from doing something for him, I couldn’t possibly take from him.
Even a witch had a conscience. She couldn’t make herself comfortable using an item belonging to a child still wet behind the ears.
“Umm…”
“If you grant me leave, I find myself thinking that I might use this opportunity to have some time to myself.”
“…All right. If that’s what Elvia wants, I’ll make it happen.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Lion let out a sigh at the sight of Elvia, who seemed to have no lingering attachment at all.
She probably didn’t want to do this.
Wasn’t that why she had chosen to stay at the Asteri mansion, even suppressing her own power?
For better or worse, she had been in this mansion and grown attached to it.
And above all, Elvia hated things that weren’t interesting.
-Wow, this witch is seriously nice, huh?
-If it were me, I’d have snatched that bracelet and never given it back. There’s no place as entertaining as your side, after all.
-Well, I’m fine with not returning the bracelet, so it works out for me.
…Honestly, for once, he agreed with Tiamatrak.
“So where will you go for your leave?”
“The family head has assigned me a villa in preparation for such an eventuality.”
She even had a place to go all arranged—there was no way to hold her back any longer.
‘It’s going to feel empty.’
Even when Rickshel or Grandfather were away from the mansion, Elvia alone had always kept watch over this place.
And now she would be absent.
What’s more, while Elvia had put it nicely as leave, if you looked at it closely, wasn’t this closer to exile?
“Heh heh, young master.”
Elvia took a step closer to Lion and steadily met his gaze.
Her eyes were filled with pride and delight.
“Do you know what the most useless thing in the world is? It is worrying about a witch.”
Elvia reached out and stroked Lion’s head a few times.
The motion was just as awkward as it had been long ago, but the feeling behind it came through unmistakably.
“Ah, but before that, I must take care of this.”
She moved her stroking hand to the bracelet floating in the air, and some sort of magic was cast upon it.
At the same time.
[Do you consent to the item’s modification?]
[Added function: Semi-permanent invisibility state]
[Does not activate against the item’s owner.]
Lion silently consented to the modification.
[The item has been modified.]
[Current state: Invisibility applied]
“Now it won’t be visible to other people’s eyes.”
Though of course it hadn’t truly vanished, so one would have to take care not to bump into it.
-Ah, that much is plenty! I can fly around anyway.
-Tch, if only I could freely use mana too, I could’ve cast an invisibility spell…
Lion lightly ignored Tiamatrak, who had apparently grown excited at not needing to be given the bracelet and had started chattering again.
“Thanks. So are you leaving right now?”
“Yes. The shorter the farewell, the better.”
Smiling, Elvia straightened her clothes and offered a formal farewell.
“Then I shall take my leave. Young master.”
“Yeah. I’ll let you know as soon as Licht departs.”
“Heh heh, understood. And…”
If any trouble should arise, please call for me, Elvia, at any time.
For I can appear from anywhere.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Elvia slipped smoothly into the shadows and vanished.
In an instant, the room fell quiet…
-Well, I suppose we can open the drawer now.
-What’s with that expression? It’s only a few months you won’t see her, isn’t it?
-If you really feel that bad about it, shall I chase that priest off for you?
So she wasn’t even giving him a chance to feel empty.
Lion let out a hollow laugh and moved his feet.
Yes, somehow the second matter had been resolved as well.
Which meant he could at last take care of the final matter.
Exactly what Tiamatrak had said: opening the drawer and checking the “map.”
Only then could he put an end to his life in the recovery room, and also reunite with Nature and Pooch, whom he had left behind in case of danger.
“Let’s go.”
After confirming one last time that Licht was sound asleep, Lion slowly left the room.
Fortunately, there was no sign of Licht waking,
but there was one thing Lion had slightly overlooked.
Priests generally have a low probability of dreaming.
But occasionally, they have dreams called prophetic dreams.
* * *
-The moment you touch it, the magic will release on its own.
Before Lion could ask, Tiamatrak quickly explained how it worked.
She seemed quite curious about what would unfold once this drawer was opened.
‘You probably won’t be able to see it, though…’
Even though they were linked through the mana circle as a kind of collateral, it seemed Tiamatrak couldn’t read his subconscious or dreams, so she likely wouldn’t be able to see “Story Mode” either.
‘…Well, I suppose I don’t need to tell her.’
Because Story Mode time and real time didn’t correspond proportionally.
Last time, too, it had only been enough to make him sway for a moment.
‘And in any case, now that I have a mana circle…’
Things like vomiting blood, as had happened last time, wouldn’t occur.
…He wanted to believe that.
Truthfully, the fact that he had vomited blood had been quite a shock to Lion as well.
“Hoo.”
Lion took a light, deep breath and slowly brought his hand to the drawer.
The drawer secured with a golden mana lock vanished the instant Lion’s hand touched it.
Scrape.
He opened the drawer, feeling a slight resistance, and inside was a single rolled-up map.
And, as expected, soon.
[Entering Story Mode.]
[This memory cannot be skipped.]
Lion’s consciousness softly sank away.
…
…
…
Perhaps because he had experienced it several times, the sensation had become quite familiar.
Lion opened his closed eyes.
He found himself in a different environment, seen through someone else’s vision.
The view swayed—was the person breathing heavily?
The arm muscles twitched minutely—the battle must have gone on for quite some time.
The sword in his hand was heavy.
A familiar sword. A familiar backdrop.
The Dragon Lair, the place he had been in only days ago.
This body had been fighting a battle there.
In the far distance, someone with a benevolent face was visible.
And they fired divine power toward this spot.
Thwack!
Right behind him, the sound of something collapsing rang out.
If not for that divine power, he would have died.
Normally it should have made his skin crawl, but perhaps he had grown accustomed even to situations like this—the body remained utterly composed.
“Don’t let your attention wander.”
Someone—no, the Saintess—ran swiftly over and covered his back.
The stinging warning came as a bonus.
The battle continued after that.
The body moved on its own, splitting a golem’s core by instinct.
The elegant, unembellished movements were unhindered.
On the other side, magic blasted away a gargoyle’s torso.
A sharp dagger embedded itself in the lair’s wall.
Kwaaang!
The Saintess asked through the noise of shattering and collapsing.
“You.”
“Something has happened, hasn’t it?”
The body, which had remained composed until now, gave a slight flinch.
Was he bad at lying?
“As I thought, your ■ is reaching its limit…”
The view shook from side to side.
He said something, but oddly enough, the voice was inaudible.
The Saintess’s benevolent face hardened in an instant.
An expression impossible to read as anger or guilt.
“Don’t worry. I will find ■■.”
I will interpret the map you found as quickly as possible.
So the map did belong to the Hero after all.
But a map…
The moment he thought that, the Hero’s body lurched heavily.
No, this wasn’t the Hero’s body.
‘It’s already over?’
This was the queasy feeling he got when Story Mode was ending.
‘No proper information came out.’
Hadn’t he already known that the Hero had some ulterior motive and that the Saintess had caught on to it?
‘I need to find out more.’
For the first time, Lion resisted being pulled out of Story Mode.
He had to obtain a little more information.
When he focused his mind, he was fortunately able to avoid being ejected from Story Mode.
Most likely thanks to the new circle Tiamatrak had given him.
‘Just a little longer.’
Fortunately or not, the Hero’s vision and hearing were excellent.
Lion was able to catch the Saintess’s additional muttering.
“As I thought, in order to resolve ■■, I must find that island quickly…”
And that was the end.
In an instant, his field of vision turned red and black.
The ceiling and floor became indistinguishable, and only the arc of a sword occasionally flashed red.
And then…
…
…
…
“Hah…!”
He returned to reality.
-Hey! Lion! Are you all right?
-A strange current appeared around you. What on earth is…
Lion’s eyes snapped open.
Cold sweat trickled down his cheek.
Fortunately, his insides hadn’t been turned upside down and there was no vomiting blood like last time, but a throbbing headache set in.
Likely a side effect of having forcibly endured Story Mode.
But thanks to that.
‘An island, huh.’
He had obtained an important additional clue.