Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 268
In his joy at having his body back, Lion raised both arms high overhead.
He instantly felt a horrifying muscle ache.
“Ow, ow, ow…”
It hurt, but he was grateful for the pain.
As a disembodied soul, he hadn’t been able to feel even this.
‘That was genuinely dangerous.’
Death was one thing, but hadn’t he nearly been trapped for life in some ambiguous space, neither the world of the living nor the underworld?
Lion slowly lowered the arms he had shot into the air and blinked deliberately, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.
‘Still, thank goodness I made it back.’
While he had been unconscious, his grandfather and Tiamatrak had apparently handled things.
“By the way, how long has it been? Tiamatrak.”
No answer came back.
“…”
Something was off.
There was no way this chatterbox of a dragon would stay this quiet.
Could something have gone wrong when she entered my body and moved me?
Lion sat up at once.
Every time he bent a joint, the pain was so immense that his vision flashed white, but he could still move well enough.
‘First, I need to turn on a light.’
Whether it was because he had only just woken up, or because he had pushed self-enhancement magic to an extreme, everything was far too dim even for the dark.
Just as Lion was groping along the wall by touch, searching for a lamp…
—Huh? Lion! You’re awake!
Tiamatrak’s will came through from the other side of the wall.
“Why are you over there?”
—How can you sound so carefree right now? I’m telling you, you nearly got yourself into real trouble.
—Anyway, I knew you were reckless, but what in the world made you think of jumping into that?
—Still, since you’re awake, it looks like the situation has more or less been resolved…
Tiamatrak’s mouth moved so fast it made her silence from a moment ago look like a lie.
Fortunately, no serious problem seemed to have occurred.
“Were you worried?”
—Wor-worried, what nonsense! You’re a human I thought would be entertaining, so what use would it be to me if you couldn’t even endure this much? I just…
Even though it was perfectly clear she was delighted, Tiamatrak pretended otherwise and grumbled, then, as if suddenly realizing something, pressed herself flat against the wall and pushed her face forward.
—No, that’s not the problem right now!
—Check your own condition first!
“My condition? I can’t see a thing in here. It’s too dark?”
—As that old human said… your senses really haven’t fully returned yet. Hmm.
Tiamatrak looked Lion over carefully, then began explaining things out loud, one at a time.
—First, go back to your bed. There’s a brightness control on the nightstand.
—And it’s going to be a lot brighter than you think, so open your eyes slowly.
—This isn’t from me; your grandfather told me to pass it on.
Come to think of it, where was Grandfather?
‘Don’t tell me I woke up too late?’
Worry about what had happened while he was unconscious began to creep in.
Lion returned to the bed with Tiamatrak’s help, then, with his eyes still closed, reached out and touched the nightstand.
He found an object like a lamp, and as he gently turned it—
Flicker.
A very faint light softly illuminated the room.
“Urgh…!”
But for Lion, it was different.
As if he had been in a pitch-dark cave and been thrust straight into blazing sunlight, his eyes prickled painfully with sharp glare.
‘What in the world?’
It was definitely a weak light.
He could perceive that. So why did it hurt this much?
—Oh dear. Did you honestly think you could push yourself that hard and not feel a thing?
Tiamatrak giggled, as if teasing a child who had played so hard they didn’t know their own reserves were spent.
The problem was, this was only the beginning.
Once his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the light, Lion took in the room at last.
It was still Dragnas Castle, yes.
And the grand duke’s son’s room was indeed… the grand duke’s son’s room.
But many things had changed.
‘First, this protective magic.’
Now that he looked, Tiamatrak hadn’t been talking from the wall; the grand duke’s son’s entire room was draped in an enormous protective magic spell.
Magic circles dense with so many formulas you could almost call it a bomb shelter covered every wall.
It was Grandfather’s magic.
‘…It doesn’t look like he’s confined me here, though.’
Lion pressed himself close to the barrier and checked each circle one by one.
He’d wondered if he had been locked in so he wouldn’t do something reckless, but that wasn’t it at all.
Come to think of it, knowing Grandfather’s temper, wouldn’t he have simply sent Lion back to the mansion at once and ordered his younger brother to guard the door strictly?
‘If so, then this is…’
It looked more like a circle set up to hide him from outside detection…
“Did someone else come calling, by any chance?”
—Quick on the uptake. Yes.
The Temple’s people had apparently just arrived.
Given that Grandfather had gone so far as to cast protective magic, they had most certainly insisted on seeing him.
Which meant the longer he dawdled here, the worse the situation would get…
“First, can you give me a quick summary of what happened while I was out?”
After hearing the full story, Lion let out a low sigh.
Fortunately, the time he had been unconscious wasn’t all that long.
A single full day.
Compared to the other times he’d taken to his sickbed, that was a remarkably decent stretch…
The problem was—
“…That’s kind of serious, though.”
Lion stared at his own hands, which had turned black.
They were stained as darkly as if they had been dipped in black ink.
His body as seen in the room’s mirror did not look good, either.
Spreading black contamination was visible along the blood vessels everywhere.
If there was any silver lining, it was only that most of it could be hidden under his clothes.
‘So that’s why they said my senses haven’t fully returned.’
Normally, contamination to this degree ought to come with excruciating pain.
It was different from a curse, but the underlying mechanism was similar.
If a curse was a refined, finished product,
contamination was the dregs. Closer to filth.
“Tiamatrak. What about your energy?”
—The part that was in the ground was retrieved straight through your body. The only bit left is that piece inside the picture frame.
The way she said it while stealing glances at the frame suggested she was curious about the fate of the grand duke’s son Leon.
“He said you were affectionate.”
—…Affectionate, my foot. All I did was scold and scare him.
“In any case, he left safely, so you can reclaim that energy too.”
—No. You use it. You said it was necessary, didn’t you?
“Was it that obvious?”
Lion chuckled sheepishly and retrieved Tiamatrak’s energy, which had been hidden inside the frame.
On inspection, it was precisely a reverse scale, split in half.
—Back then, it was an upside-down scale, so it was ugly, and I just gave it to a human as a present.
—It was nearly ten thousand years ago, and I simply forgot about it and went on living.
—Who would have thought that clan would flourish and even establish a house?
Her voice sounded rather bitter.
Lion identified the emotion.
‘Must have been an earnest first love.’
Saying she had forgotten and lived on was probably a lie, too.
“You little…”
—You want to look at me with those insolent eyes?
—Hmph. Anyway, I have no use for it anymore, so take it or leave it. Do as you please.
“Thanks. I mean it.”
Lion placed the reverse scale inside his coat.
“So that’s pretty much it, then?”
—More or less.
“Good.”
He dressed himself at once.
Fortunately, he had spare clothes that could conceal the contamination, and the ability-blocking pendant seemed to be working properly as well.
Thankfully, it also appeared to mask the contamination value.
‘Now all I have to do is not get caught.’
Even a priest wouldn’t dare go rifling freely through the body of the Asteri heir, so all he needed to do was smooth things over suitably.
As for looking unwell—well, that wasn’t exactly a rarity.
—Oh, heading right out as soon as you’re up?
—I suppose it will be entertaining… but you realize you’re going to get an earful of monumental proportions, right?
—Your grandfather is terrifying when he’s angry.
“I know.”
But what choice did he have?
From all appearances, they were making moves as though they were looking for him, so he should respond.
After a final check of his body, Lion stepped out past the protective magic, opened the door, and headed directly for the grand duke’s room.
‘Just as I thought.’
Throughout the castle corridors, mages and priests stood as if in a standoff.
Normally, the tension wouldn’t have risen to this degree, but most likely…
‘The priests came with a set purpose.’
A battle of wills of some kind must have already ensued.
Perhaps the Archbishop had sent a message ahead.
‘They’ll definitely be convinced I pulled something off.’
And with Grandfather refusing to present him and wrapping him up tight, that conviction must only have grown stronger.
‘Well, it is a correct guess.’
Behind that genial face was a man who grasped more than one might think.
From the scattered information he’d picked up, the Archbishop had apparently followed the Saintess who had raised him with a devotion equal to Licht’s.
‘It’s not that I don’t understand…’
No, actually, he understood it better now than before.
But—
That was no reason to raise trouble just to snare an innocent person.
‘Right. Best to make things clear, here and now.’
That to achieve one’s goal, one must offer all the support one can, rather than pressuring people this way.
‘Of course, even that depends on having a conversation first.’
Exchanging nods with the mages, Lion pushed open the door to Grandfather’s room with a sprightly air.
“Ah, I do apologize! I overslept!”
As expected.
Inside the grand duke’s room sat not just Grandfather, but the Archbishop as well.
Grandfather’s expression was grim, while the Archbishop sat grinning from ear to ear—which meant…
‘So the Archbishop did pick up on something.’
Without dropping his smile, Lion stood before the two of them.
“…! Lion.”
“Ha-ha-ha, my apologies, Grandfather. I must have roamed around so much that I just kept on sleeping. But…”
Lion shifted his gaze to the Archbishop.
“I had no idea… the Archbishop himself would be here! It has been a while.”
“Ha-ha. Young Lion. I had been hoping to see your face before meeting the marquis, so I am truly delighted to meet you like this.”
“Since things turned out this way, may I join you?”
“I have no objection… but, Marquis. Is that acceptable to you?”
As if he knew something, the Archbishop deliberately looked at Petrick as he asked.
“…Did you sleep enough?”
“I’m dizzy from sleeping too much. I practically slept at the level of Priest Licht, you know? I thought I might have spontaneously developed divine power.”
“Lion.”
“Ha-ha-ha. Sorry. Of course it’s a joke.”
Lion took natural control of the atmosphere and waved his hand smoothly.
“…It seems Licht has fallen asleep.”
“Ah, you hadn’t heard. Priest Licht has been asleep for quite a long stretch. I expect he kept it quiet so as not to worry you.”
Lion drank the warm tea that had been served.
‘Ah, this is a hundred-percent convalescence trip.’
He couldn’t even tell it was hot when he drank something hot.
‘Which is all the more reason to wrap this up quickly.’
That was also the biggest reason Lion was acting with this much drive.
But it wasn’t simply that.
To put it very honestly…
That scene he had witnessed the moment he entered the room just now.
Grandfather’s and the Archbishop’s expressions had truly gotten under Lion’s skin.
Grandfather was someone who should never have to endure such difficulties in his life.
He had the renown, the status, the sheer ability to command it.
And yet…
‘To protect me.’
He had ceded the momentum, holding his tongue.
Thanks to that, no particular information seemed to have leaked out so far.
In that case.
‘Then I’ll have to turn the tables for him.’
For the first time in a long while, Lion put on the combative smile he had worn back when he was a team manager.