Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 32
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 32
‘Then what about the others? Which one is the real Hero, to begin with?’
All that was known was that the Hero had led the war to victory. What they looked like, their race and gender, how they lived afterward—none of it had ever come out, not in books, not in rumor.
‘…First, I’ll have to look into that bit by bit.’
Why Grandfather had stored the item in the labyrinth, what had become of my main character—questions had piled up, but they weren’t what mattered right now.
Lion glanced around with a blank expression.
The second problem was this.
“How do I break Illusion Magic?”
In the game, when a message about shattering a dungeon illusion popped up, you just pressed Yes. Now that it was real, though… it was proving to be quite the headache.
‘I can’t exactly use Illusion Magic like a real mage.’
The high-purity Mana Circle he’d received as the achievement
clear reward a moment ago meant First Circle mana.
“Illusion Magic can’t be dispelled until at least the 4th Circle, so that’s impossible.”
This dungeon probably required magic of Petrick’s caliber—overwhelming it with raw power—in order to be shut down.
“Then I’ll have to clear it properly.”
Deep in thought, Lion strolled slowly across the lawn.
As the saying went, no dungeon was unbreakable. There were only dungeons that were hard to break.
Even for someone at Lion’s level, there had to be a way to clear it.
Which meant there had to be some method…
“Ah.”
Only then did Lion remember.
The Shilling Shop!
‘First, let’s check the Shilling Shop.’
Better to browse and buy something there than stay as empty-handed as he was now.
Lion opened the Shilling Shop at once.
[Your assets have exceeded 100,000 Shillings. The Shilling Shop is now fully open.]
[Your current customer grade is Bronze.]
[Welcome, valued customer.]
[Would you like to view the products?]
The Shilling Shop, somehow more courteous than last time, greeted Lion.
‘There are grades, too?’
It was more systematic than he’d expected.
At this rate, once his grade rose, hidden categories might even show up.
Right, this wasn’t the time.
“Show me the products.”
[Opening all categories.]
Just as he’d seen before, the items were neatly organized by category.
[Lifestyle], [Food], [Dignity]
And the one that had read “In Preparation” last time…
[Survival]
“…Survival?”
Wasn’t this exactly what he needed most right now?
Lion went straight to the Survival tab.
“Hm…”
Unlike the other tabs, the Survival tab contained only a handful of items.
[Emergency Escape Chair]
-3,650,000 Shillings
-Helps you escape from any situation once.
-We are not responsible for injuries sustained during escape. See Terms and Conditions below.
“…”
Putting the price aside for a moment—injuries sustained during escape?
Lion clicked on the tiny Terms and Conditions link, then closed it immediately.
Because a wall of minuscule text had filled his entire vision.
‘Isn’t this a scam?’
He had plenty he wanted to argue about, but since the price was beyond his reach anyway, he decided to move on.
Next was…
“What’s this?”
[Old Key]
Wasn’t this the key that had been in the Lifestyle tab last time?
Apparently, it had moved to the Survival tab when the shop officially opened.
Lion read the key’s description.
-1,000,000 Shillings
-Can unlock anything. Applicable to physical things, conceptual things, and even to the self. However, we are not responsible for side effects when used on the human body.
-The key is so old that its unlock rate has decreased.
-Unlock Chance: 20 percent.
-Remaining Uses: 1
“This is insane.”
Why in the world were they selling this for a million Shillings?
For all its grand description, wasn’t this the key that said, “Reach for this out of greed, and who knows what might happen to you”?
He had no idea what kind of lunatic had created the Shilling Shop.
No—perhaps the items in the Survival tab were meant as a warning not to use them unless absolutely necessary.
Perhaps they were meant to be used only when your life was hanging by a thread, the way you’d clutch at a straw.
“So… the items in the Survival tab are unusable for now.”
Lion crossed his arms, glared at the Shilling Shop, and muttered.
“Isn’t there a feature that shows me only what I can afford right now?”
[Would you like to apply a filter?]
Oh, it worked?
The cash shop in <In the World> had never been this accommodating—the Shilling Shop seemed a bit different.
‘Wait. If that’s the case…’
Lion recalled the shopping apps he used to use.
If it followed the same structure…
Maybe a request like this would work, too.
“Show me only items priced from 0 Shillings up to 120,000 Shillings. Include any discounted prices that meet that condition, and sort them cheapest first.”
[Retrieving items up to 120,000 Shillings, including discounted prices, sorted lowest to highest.]
At that, a loading indicator appeared on the Shilling Shop in front of him, and soon items began to array themselves neatly in order.
[Magic Seasoning A]
-Contains a random Memory Powder.
-30,000 Shillings
[Magic Seasoning B]
-Allows you to select and add a Memory Taste.
-50,000 Shillings (MD Recommended!)
As expected, the Magic Seasoning series caught his eye first, and after that, various items were sorted low to high.
[Demonic Beast Feed]
-60,000 Shillings ☞ 59,000 Shillings (1,000 Shillings off!)
-※Caution※ Absolutely not for human consumption.
-Prevent your pet Demonic Beast from becoming obese.
[Netherworld Repair Kit]
-90,000 Shillings
-Anything in the Shilling Shop will be repaired in a “snap.”
-Never open your eyes during repairs.
“None of these are usable right now.”
Skipping past the odds and ends, before he knew it, he was looking only at items priced above 100,000 Shillings.
“Hmm…”
After some thought, Lion added two items to his cart.
‘Let’s choose between these first.’
One was 110,000 Shillings.
[Magic Detector.]
-Can identify even an 8th-Circle Archmage’s magic, even the Dragon Tongue of extinct dragons!
-That is, if you can manage to hold this Magic Detector in such a situation.
-Uses Remaining: 3/3
With this, he could analyze the Illusion Magic right away and find a gap.
That would make escape much easier.
But the problem was that he was a little short on Shillings.
‘Which means I’d have to stay trapped here until I can gather enough Shillings.’
Lion looked around.
Thankfully, there was a lake, and plenty of trees nearby. The flat field he was standing on even had soft grass—no problems surviving here for a while.
“…Let’s check the other item, too.”
Lion examined the remaining item on the list.
This was something he’d seen in the preview before.
[Sharp Scissors]
-990,000 Shillings ☞ 9,900 Shillings (99% off on first purchase!)
-Scissors that fit neatly in one hand. Can snip through anything visible that “has no soul.”
-Cannot cut anything larger than the scissors. (Logs, iron gates, boulders, Meteor Strike, etc.)
Oh?
That was an incredible discount, wasn’t it?
Maybe because it was a sale item, it caught his attention.
Honestly, judging by the name alone, it didn’t seem related to his problem, but he got the feeling he’d be losing out if he didn’t buy it.
“Huh? Wait.”
Lion focused on the description.
‘Meteor Strike?’
That was definitely a large-scale spell only an archmage-level caster could use.
A top-tier fire-attribute magic that pulled a meteor from the sky and dropped it.
A magic that was impossible not only to cut but even to block—and it was listed under “cannot cut.”
If you thought about it the other way, didn’t that mean the scissors could cut magic, too?
‘Provided I can see it, that is.’
Lion fell into thought for a moment, then promptly purchased the [Sharp Scissors].
The Magic Detector had been tempting, but the scissors were something he could make use of right now.
‘Even if I used the Magic Detector to analyze the Illusion Magic, breaking it would still be too difficult at my current level.’
He’d only just developed a single Mana Circle.
High-purity mana though it was, overcoming magic on the level of the 4th Circle was still beyond him.
But if he concentrated as hard as he could to narrow the scope, he could at least manage to “confirm” the crucial point.
In that case, it was better to handle the gimmick directly and escape with the item’s help.
‘There’s definitely a chance.’
Besides, it did not seem as dangerous as the items in the [Survival] tab.
“Alright. Decision’s made. I’ll take this one.”
[Item purchased!]
[The ‘Sharp Scissors’ are now permanently bound to you.]
[You have lost 9,900 Shillings.]
[Current balance: 99,100 Shillings.]
In an instant, the Shillings vanished from his inventory.
Seeing the money disappear left him feeling cold.
“…It’s fine. I can always earn more Shillings.”
And if he couldn’t escape now, money and everything else would become meaningless anyway.
He couldn’t borrow anyone’s strength—he had no choice but to solve this on his own.
And if he looked at it the other way, wasn’t this a great opportunity?
He’d dropped straight into a reward map without even running the dungeon.
If he could just resolve this, he might even pick up some extra items.
“Come to think of it, this might not be such a bad situation after all.”
If it’s good, it’s good.
He could imagine someone asking what the hell he was talking about in this situation, but honestly, he was confident.
He might not know the game’s story, but Lion had a rock-solid grasp on the game systems.
Besides, while walking around the area, he’d already found one pattern.
It was this.
[Rare Pure White Flower]
-A flower that grows only one per zone.
-Cannot coexist with yellow flowers or purple grass.
-Highly popular as a landscaping decoration.
That Pure White Flower.
While wandering earlier, he had noticed that these flowers were planted on the lawn in a regular pattern.
And it wasn’t just the Pure White Flowers.
[Rare Yellow Flower]
-A flower that grows only one per zone.
-Cannot coexist with white flowers or purple grass.
[Uncommon Purple Grass]
-A grass that grows only one per zone.
-Cannot coexist with yellow flowers or white flowers.
There were three distinctive plant types in total.
‘And the description clearly said only one per zone.’
The fact that they were planted this densely on a lawn that wasn’t even that large meant one of two things.
They had been placed here artificially, and this area’s zones were subdivided.
In that case, wouldn’t it work to find the most unusual spot among these artificial zones?
Swish.
Lion combed the ground a little more slowly, and sure enough.
The unusual area revealed itself.
In a few specific zones, all three plant types had been planted together.
‘One of these will be the critical point.’
If he just cut everything recklessly, he might end up trapped in the magic forever.
“Alright, now then…”
Time to confirm it for real.
Lion took a deep breath and closed his eyes
to feel the Mana Circle inside his body.
With his eyes closed, after a long while, the sound of his heartbeat reached his ears.
And as he slowly sank his consciousness deeper into his body, following that heartbeat…
----.
He felt a small cycle near his heart.