Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 261
“…Anyway, take care.”
Lion finished speaking, deliberately ignoring the many eyes on him.
He had been taken to task on a fundamental point, but he figured he’d managed a reasonably graceful ending… and so he saw Nature off.
“Shall we head out, too?”
—I’m game. But Lion, I have a question.
Before opening the door and going out, Lion looked at Tiamatrak.
“What is it?”
—Why did you send the crybaby ghost away?
—Even though he was scared of me, I think it would’ve been fine if you’d left him with the Spirit King.
Tiamatrak rubbed her chin as if pondering, then snapped her fingers as though something had clicked.
—You sent him away on purpose, didn’t you?
—You had something you didn’t want that crybaby ghost to see, right?
Perhaps because she was a dragon, her mind worked quite quickly at times like this.
“Right.”
—I knew it!
—…But why? What’s the reason?
Of course, the biggest reason was that I didn’t want to unnecessarily hurt the crybaby… no, Grand Duke’s Son’s feelings.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
“Something felt off.”
Lion hesitated for a moment, then spat it out.
“Sure, he’s a little more mature and clever than other kids his age, but I don’t think that alone would be enough to endure fifty years.”
Grand Duke’s Son was certainly bright.
So maybe that was how he had somehow endured those fifty years.
But if that were the case, how many ghosts would there be in the world?
‘Of course, there are undead monsters.’
But those are closer to evil spirits than ghosts, so let’s set that aside.
“For example, you’re a dragon, so it makes sense.”
—Right.
“And you never said, but I’m guessing you chose to become a ghost yourself.”
—Weeell.
Tiamatrak rolled her eyes and feigned innocence.
Well, Lion didn’t want to pry into someone else’s personal affairs either.
She didn’t seem like a bad sort.
Anyway, what Lion was focusing on was this:
“You’re maintaining your ghost state using your own bones and lair as a foundation, right?”
—Right. I was a great being, after all, so I could handle that kind of scale… Ah!
Tiamatrak, who had been feigning ignorance, seemed to realize something and drifted back to Lion’s side.
—So, you’re saying there’s a medium somewhere in this castle that binds him here?
“Exactly.”
—And there might be more clues left there?
I hope so.
—Hmm, that makes sense!
—I might not have detected it because of the mana from the Great Barrier.
Probably.
If that weren’t the case, that chatterbox would’ve been yapping, ‘I sensed a suspicious place!’
‘Therefore.’
There were two conditions for the place I needed to find.
One: a place the ghost instinctively avoided or couldn’t locate.
Two: somewhere in this castle where items from House Dragnas were left behind.
—Don’t tell me… the reason you gave him free time earlier when we were looking for the crybaby?
“No, that was just genuine free time.”
—Really? Heheh. Anyway, getting some fresh air was nice. Even if it’s dreary out there.
—Anyway, let’s go. Even if I don’t know where, I can at least rule out places.
“Alright.”
After finishing their conversation, Lion opened the door and looked out.
And his little nighttime outing set off certain ripples.
* * *
At the same time.
“Ugh…”
A mage from the Magic Tower, who had only recently been assigned to Great Barrier duty, rubbed his arms.
“Every time I come here, the chill is just too much.”
The mage said this, looking around.
He was well past the age to be frightened by ghost stories, but every time he came here, a wave of fear swept over him.
Maybe it was because of the mighty power of the Great Barrier outside the castle.
‘Or it could be because I know the story of Grand Duke Dragnas.’
Gulp.
The mage swallowed dryly and hunched his shoulders.
“Ah, anyway, this place is definitely strange…”
He wouldn’t have come here at all if he hadn’t been able to attend the great Marquis Petrick, even for a short while.
‘I, I need to go back to my quarters quickly.’
With that resolve, he headed for his quarters, sticking to the brightest paths possible.
Because of this eerie feeling, he had abandoned his pride as a mage and requested the room closest to the priests’ quarters.
Maybe because of that, nothing had happened so far.
Ssssssh…
A flinch.
“Wh-What was that?”
The mage looked around with trembling eyes.
No, the sound hadn’t come from nearby.
It came from farther away.
From the upper floors of the old castle… No one had been assigned to those rooms, had they?
‘No, no. It must have been the wind.’
No matter how solidly built a castle was, it hadn’t been properly maintained for so long, so wind must have seeped through a crack and made an odd noise.
He was soothing himself with such thoughts when—
Swish.
Another sound, like something brushing past.
Normally, the best course of action was to keep walking without looking back.
Unfortunately, those who pursued magic were constitutionally incapable of suppressing their curiosity.
The mage raised his head before he knew it.
“…!”
He saw it.
A shape, moving in the darkness.
To be precise, something barely visible thanks to the torchlight on the floor below.
A foot.
That foot walked through the darkness without a sound.
Without a single sound.
Then it vanished into the dark.
The mage’s mind pieced the events together.
Could the owner of those footprints be Grand Duke Dragnas?
Was the grand duke’s vengeful spirit still wandering this place?
If it considered me an enemy, what would happen to me?
After a flood of questions.
“…”
Slump.
Thud.
He fainted on the spot.
And from that day on, a rumor spread through the old castle as if it were truth: the vengeful spirit of Grand Duke Dragnas roamed the halls.
And the mage who had fainted shouted—
“W-We must appease the grudge of the grand ducal house!”
…or so they say.
* * *
Lion hid his body against the balustrade and looked around.
‘No guards.’
Well, this was the Great Barrier, after all.
Wasn’t this the place where the most trustworthy people came?
Besides, no matter how suspicious a person was, they couldn’t evade the eyes of the Archbishop and Grandfather.
‘I’m feeling anew that this isn’t the place for me.’
With a sigh, he thought if things went wrong, the path to reemployment might be lurking.
But he had to do what he had to do, and he had to know what he needed to know, so Lion moved as nonchalantly as possible.
Even though the old castle was maintained with minimal effort, perhaps because of the glory of the grand duke who once lived here, most of the interior was carpeted.
Thanks to that, he didn’t have to worry about footsteps.
And…
‘I wasn’t going to take the usual route anyway.’
The visible rooms, the ones that had been shown to others, were already being used as quarters for those who had arrived at the Great Barrier.
Moreover, after fifty years, every room had likely been used at least once.
That meant the obvious rooms were not the place he was looking for.
In that case.
“Then it has to be this way.”
—Oh, it’s dark. Are you okay?
Lion headed down a path that wasn’t even lit with torches, a route the servants must have used in the past.
It was narrow, and a few abandoned cobwebs hung down, but there didn’t seem to be any problem traversing it.
—Lion, I think it was a good call to come this way.
—A mage just walked by outside after working late… Huh? He’s sleeping?
He felt no fear.
First, Tiamatrak was chattering away beside him, while Pooch, whom Lion had tucked into his bag because he worried about leaving it alone, kept sniffing the air.
“Smells something familiar, maybe?”
Ever since they got near the Great Barrier, Pooch’s nose had been especially busy.
While he was thinking, Should I put him through some nose work?—
Rustle. Rustle!
“Huh? Pooch, what’s up?”
Pooch started wriggling, trying to get out of the bag.
[Pooch wants to help you!]
Wants to help?
‘Wait. This is…’
Lion recalled the conversation he’d had with Pooch on the way to the Great Barrier.
‘I definitely told him to bring me anything strange he saw.’
In exchange for treats.
So, Pooch’s excellent sense of smell might have detected something.
‘It might be related to contamination.’
Since they’d arrived here, Pooch had been interested in things contaminated by demonic energy.
“Shh. Wait a minute.”
If this were House Asteri, he would have let Pooch roam free, but this was the old castle right in front of the Great Barrier.
Moreover, it was a place with almost no foot traffic, so he couldn’t just let him loose.
If he got hurt, that would be a disaster.
“Alright, Pooch. I’ve brought something very nice.”
Lion pulled out a luxurious cloth harness and leash from his inventory!
[Companion Demonic Beast Walking Set (★★★)]
-With this leash and harness, you can fully control your companion demonic beast!
-You can also protect your companion demonic beast!
-Essential for demonic beasts that like to run away.
-However, the adjustment period may vary depending on the Demonic Beast.
The adaptation period didn’t matter.
While playing with Pooch, he’d squeezed in some training.
Varg’s help had been immense.
Although, because of that, Varg’s reputation had taken a bit of a nosedive…
“Alright. Good.”
Fortunately, despite its excitement, Pooch calmly allowed Lion to put on the harness and leash.
“Kyaing!”
“Yeah. Want to go where you want to go?”
The moment Lion finished speaking, Pooch’s body shot forward like an arrow.
He was stopped by the leash with a jerk but didn’t get far, his body leaning and straining, as if he was impatient to confirm his target.
‘I used to wonder, before the possession, why dogs’ bodies would all lean forward like that…’
So it wasn’t because the leash was uncomfortable; they just wanted to go faster.
Lion discovered this new fact as he followed Pooch through the dark corridors this way and that.
He also remembered going up and down stairs.
—Don’t worry about getting lost.
—I’ve got it all memorized.
Fortunately, thanks to his smart navigation… no, Tiamatrak, he didn’t need to look back.
After a long time of half-running—
“Heh-hek! Heh!”
Pooch stopped and scratched furiously at the door in front of them.
‘This place?’
It was more like a storeroom for supplies than a proper room.
—Oh! Indeed. If it’s here, I wouldn’t have been able to detect it.
—And that crybaby ghost wouldn’t have been able to come here either.
—It’s the part of the castle closest to the Great Barrier.
—But…
Tiamatrak looked at the storeroom door with a deep frown.
“What’s wrong?”
—Ssss, I get a very familiar feeling from inside.
—That’s strange. I’ve never met these guys.
“We’ll know once we go inside.”
Actually, there was one more thing he’d been half-guessing.
But he’d find everything out once he went inside.
Lion pushed open the door of the old storeroom.
Creeeak—
The rusty hinges let out a chilling sound, and decades-old musty dust could be felt settling in the darkness.
And inside—
“Just as I expected.”
He saw the possessions of Grand Duke Dragnas that they hadn’t been able to bring themselves to burn.
And—
—Huhhh?
Tiamatrak realized, too.
The source of that familiar feeling.
—…That’s my energy, isn’t it??