Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 52
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 52
Lion slowly continued his explanation in response to the two’s bewildered expressions.
For whatever reason, while living here he had gained mana, and had even succeeded in forming a circle.
“So I’ve ended up with roughly the mana of a 1st Circle master now. Though it doesn’t seem likely to grow any further.”
He told them it had been such a small amount that bringing it up felt like bragging, so he’d kept putting it off—but neither of them seemed to mind.
No, they were actually delighted.
“Good heavens. Truly, congratulations!”
“Haah.”
Petrick looked at Lion, his face full of mixed emotions.
“Back then I sensed no mana from you at all—how…?”
“At that time I was wearing the Hero’s accessory, so it would have been impossible for you to know. It’s the truth that I’ve gained about 1st Circle-level mana. If you’d like, I could demonstrate a spell…”
“There’s no need to see it.”
“It’s all right. Sit.”
When Lion moved to rise from his seat, both of them stopped him at the same time.
They were worried that making him cast magic for no reason might cause a problem.
‘So the Hero’s accessory had that kind of effect.’
Only then did Petrick realize why he hadn’t known.
“Anyway, isn’t this a good thing, Family Head?”
“Indeed! A great cause for celebration.”
For a direct-line descendant of House Asteri to be unable to use magic was a serious matter.
But it wasn’t a capital offense.
The reason Petrick had nevertheless wanted mana for Lion so desperately was, of course, because of mana shock.
And now, mana shock wouldn’t happen!
No matter how paltry the mana, to Petrick it was more precious and invaluable than his own magic power.
‘Thanks to this, I can finally set that worry aside.’
What a relief. Such a relief.
Just as he was inwardly breathing that sigh of relief—
“Elder Brother. So will you be learning magic now? I think studying together would be truly enjoyable!”
“About that… I’m sorry, but I don’t plan on learning magic. It’s not something the eldest grandson of a prestigious mage family should say, but… I want to focus more on the alchemy I’m doing now. And cooking from time to time is enjoyable too.”
Lion attached a convenient-sounding reason.
The truth was that all three basic magic spells were already stored in his head…
‘Could it be… Elder Brother is doing this for my sake?’
In reality, the position of eldest grandson was, from birth, the status closest to the heir.
On top of that, he had sensed mana and even become the master of the Labyrinth.
If this fact came to light, some would think the next head of House Asteri would be Lion, not Rickshel, and no matter how good their relationship was, factions would form.
And if things got serious…
‘It would end up like the Sword Mastery Family.’
Perhaps Elder Brother had foreseen even that far.
‘And I, without realizing any of it, acted like a child…’
I had only thought that if Elder Brother learned magic, his self-defense skills would increase and I could worry less.
Rickshel reflected on himself.
“Very well. If you don’t want to do it, it’s fine not to. Even if problems arise, I’ll handle them at my level, so don’t worry.”
“Exactly! I will assist the Family Head and be the first to eliminate anything that harasses Elder Brother.”
What did he mean, eliminate?
What was I, anyway…
In society, I was still just close to an eccentric.
I’d thought my image might shift a little thanks to the coming-of-age ceremony, but then I went silent for a whole month afterward.
‘Well, in the end my image probably stayed the same.’
At any rate, I was grateful they were thinking of me, and I was just about to at least say thanks—when.
Shhk.
Rickshel pulled something out from inside his jacket.
“Truthfully, I brought this as a modest gift for Elder Brother’s coming-of-age ceremony. Though it seems it’s become a recovery present instead.”
All day today.
No—the present he had been carrying since the day of Elder Brother’s coming-of-age ceremony was finally handed over.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a seed from a newly discovered plant called Moonflower. It’s small, but I thought Elder Brother might like it…”
Uncharacteristically, Rickshel trailed off at the end.
His face said: What if he doesn’t like the gift?
‘Wait—Moonflower?’
Meanwhile, Lion had to struggle not to let his mouth fall open.
Hadn’t he called it a modest gift?
Moonflower!
This was a considerably famous item in <In the World>.
[Moonflower Seed]
-It reacts to magic power and grows by absorbing it. When it completes its growth on the night of the full moon, it produces a special effect.
-It cannot be used for anything in its seed state.
Even after playing <In the World> for over ten years, there were a few pieces of content that stuck in his memory.
One of them was the Moonflower.
New players starting the game would first begin growing Moonflowers to save up money.
That was because Moonflowers were a basic ingredient used in crafting all sorts of high-grade items.
And among those high-grade items…
‘Elixir.’
There was even an ultimate potion said to revive someone who had breathed their last.
‘Well, technically it’s a lower-stage ingredient, but without this Moonflower, attempting it is impossible to begin with.’
Rickshel didn’t seem to have given it knowing all that, but to Lion, who had set his sights on alchemy, it was an object that amounted to a tremendous gift.
“Thank you, Rickshel. This is a truly wonderful gift.”
“Really? What a relief! Next time I’ll bring you an even better present.”
An even better present than this?
‘Well, receiving things is always nice, so I’ll accept it gratefully.’
Amid the warm atmosphere…
Petrick’s expression as he watched was far from good.
“…”
The truth was, he hadn’t been able to prepare a gift.
No, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about it.
He had simply agonized so much that he couldn’t decide.
At first he’d considered giving him a villa key, or maybe land, but neither felt right.
He’d even thought about handing over the entirety of Mimir Forest, but that wouldn’t change much from the current situation.
And it wouldn’t be appropriate to give his own things to someone who had no interest in magic.
They were all magic-related…
‘Wait.’
Petrick recalled a memory he had forgotten he possessed.
“…Not bad.”
Muttering to himself, Petrick pulled something long from the subspace inside his jacket and held it out to Lion.
It was…
“…?”
An old wand?
“It is a staff I used in my younger days. Its durability is spent now, and you can’t expect significant results from it functionally.”
“Indeed…”
Rickshel tilted his head as he looked at his grandfather’s wand.
“At best, it seems it could be used perhaps three or four more times.”
In reality, the mana stone set into the wand had lost all its light and felt like a dull pebble, and the shaft was crisscrossed with fine cracks as if it might shatter at any moment.
Frankly speaking, its value was scraping rock bottom.
Not even a novice mage would use a wand like this.
But—
“Isn’t it a keepsake of yours?”
Yes.
In terms of value, it was an object so meaningful it couldn’t be priced.
[House Asteri ■■wood St■ff?]
-A wand used by the great mage Petrick Asteri during the days he traveled with the Hero.
-Size adjustable.
-It has high mana conductivity, is harder than iron, and excels at explosive firepower and mana control, but… the time has come to let it go.
-※Caution※: The staff will be destroyed upon the third use of magic.
-You are not the current owner of the staff, so additional information cannot be viewed.
“A keepsake, you say. Yes. It is indeed a keepsake.”
A brief flicker of nostalgia spread through Petrick’s eyes and then vanished.
“But it is an object I no longer need.”
Having reached the 8th Circle, Petrick could now freely cast magic with his bare hands without the help of any wand or staff.
So it was indeed something he no longer needed.
But…
‘Wouldn’t giving it to Rickshel be better than giving it to me?’
Wasn’t it Rickshel, not me, who inherited Grandfather’s magic?
On top of that, he’d just finished saying he wasn’t going to learn magic.
“I am not pressuring you to learn magic. It simply has a hidden function that may prove useful someday—that is the only reason I am giving it to you.”
A hidden function?
“Ah, perhaps…”
Rickshel, who had caught on first, let out a low murmur of admiration, and Petrick nodded.
“Elder Brother. Please accept it.”
“What in the world is this hidden function you keep talking about?”
So it wasn’t just a keepsake from Grandfather after all?
This felt like it might be a rather substantial gift…
“It is a function Elder Brother absolutely needs.”
Rickshel nodded as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“If you accept it, I will explain.”
“Please take it, quickly.”
Lion, unable to withstand the pressure from both of them, accepted the staff.
And then…
Shhhhh.
A soft light swirled around the staff—and then.
[Item is being bound.]
…It was bound.
And so the additional description naturally surfaced.
-When the staff is destroyed, it renders the user ‘safe.’
It was a simple description, but.
‘…Renders them “safe”?’
It was an explanation that was difficult to understand.
“By the look of it, you’ve sensed it.”
Seeing Lion’s expression, Petrick began to offer further explanation.
“That is a staff handed down through House Asteri for generations. Its magic-amplifying effect was so outstanding that I carried it with me in my younger days. But because of the war, the staff’s span also came to an end.”
“…”
Indeed, that was the case.
The remaining durability of this staff was a mere three uses.
After withstanding three spells, it would shatter into pieces and disappear, just like that fishing rod had.
“However, there is a legend that is passed down together with the staff when it is handed down through the family. That is precisely what you sensed.”
“In a moment of crisis, it saves its master.”
“Originally, I intended to hand it down to Rickshel when he became Family Head…”
Grandfather and Rickshel met each other’s eyes.
Nod!
And then they both bobbed their heads and spoke with considerable firmness.
“I have no need for it.”
“But you need it.”
“Why would I?”
“…I am sorry to say this, but Elder Brother is weak.”
“Severely.”
“…”
When a genius mage and the continent’s strongest archmage said so, he had nothing to say.
‘Hey, if I farmed the Shilling Shop too…’
Feeling unjustly wronged, he started to make excuses to himself but simply gave up.
No matter how much he argued, the fact was that he was weak!
Lion stared intently at the staff.
‘So this is a self-defense item, in other words.’
Honestly, in a peaceful era, when would he ever use this, he wondered—but still, having one on hand seemed all right.
He’d just think of it as a protective charm.
Above all, those two were so earnestly wishing for him to take it…
“Thank you. Then I’ll keep it.”
When Lion finally expressed his thanks, both of their faces brightened in an instant.
Good grief…
They were acting like they’d set a toddler down next to open water.
Admittedly there was a lake here, but Lion wasn’t a child, was he?
Here, too, he was an adult—and originally he’d become an adult long ago.
‘Anyway, even as coming-of-age ceremony presents, I’ve ended up receiving things that are way too big.’
A Moonflower Seed and the family staff…
“Later, I’ll make you something delicious here again.”
“Haha, thank you.”
“Although, next time, reducing the portions might be for the best.”
“Was it too much?”
“…It seems the Family Head wanted to try other dishes as well.”
“Really?”
And here I thought it was because there was too much food.
“So, shall we head back now?”
If they stayed any longer, the others would start to worry.
“We ate truly well.”
“I shall make time again next time.”
The three, now warmed by the shared meal, exited the Labyrinth and returned to their respective rooms.
Lion did the same, but…
“…”
The room was strangely quiet.