Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 57
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 57
“…Then I shall upgrade that half-elf to guest status as well.”
With that report concluded,
once Petrick’s projection vanished, Rickshel shook his head from side to side.
“Hah.”
He had thought it was merely one stalker-kidnapper, and now an armed force from the elf nation was descending upon them.
“We’ll have to prepare thoroughly.”
It really was a stroke of luck that he had trained in advance.
Wouldn’t he have been entirely caught off guard by this sort of emergency otherwise?
‘No, even if I had been caught off guard, I still have to protect him.’
He is my one and only older brother, after all!
* * *
“And so, that is what happened.”
“…”
Having returned from the forest, Lion received a succinct summary of everything so far from Rickshel and Elvia.
Namely, the little kid in the pointy hat had actually been a half-elf, and to make matters worse, one of the kid’s parents was a High Elf.
He had assumed that was the end of it, but then the kid had apparently been employing a spirit, and the elf side had dispatched an elite unit because of it.
‘She could use a spirit?’
That was a detail Lion hadn’t known at all.
Then again, since she hadn’t summoned a spirit while here, he’d had no way of knowing.
“So we just need to be careful?”
“Yes. Precisely.”
In short, caution was advised because the atmosphere was likely to be quite hostile upon their initial arrival.
Grandfather would explain the finer details once he returned, so Lion caught on and gave a nod.
“But is that kid really that important?”
“That is indeed the case.”
“Where is she right now?”
“She is simply asleep. She must have been rather exhausted.”
“…”
Plainly something had happened, but digging it up did not seem productive.
‘Well, that’s fine then.’
At any rate, she didn’t seem to have been harmed.
If she had, this would have blown up into a far larger incident, and they likely would have sent Lion away somewhere other than the mansion, at least temporarily.
“Still, since the family head has announced his return, I need only provide suitable hospitality until then.”
Just as Rickshel said, some matters had come up, but since the guardians were already well acquainted, wouldn’t they likely be able to resolve this amicably enough?
And as luck would have it, the Asteri household was now sheltering and sending back a runaway half-elf whose trail had even filtered into the criminal underworld, so from Lion’s reckoning there ought to be no great trouble.
…Or so he had thought.
“…”
Strolling through the village as usual, Lion caught sight of a host of spirits drifting to and fro before his eyes and found himself at a loss for words.
[A Sylph is languishing in the heat.]
[☞ Click to inspect the spirit’s grievance.]
[An Undine is wandering in search of a well, stricken with thirst.]
[☞ Click to inspect the spirit’s grievance.]
The fact that each of them harbored a grievance, on top of all else, was a bonus.
“…No, what.”
Lion swiveled his head around.
No matter how he looked, he saw not a single elf in the vicinity, nor even a person with pointed ears.
It looked no different from any ordinary village.
‘Elves take tremendous pride in their origins, so there’s no way they’d be in disguise…’
In that case, it meant the actual elves had not yet arrived. Or they were gathered somewhere else.
“Did we miss each other?”
If so, why had the spirits stayed behind in the village?
And in a state so full of grievances, at that?
Lion paused where he stood, mulling this over…
Sliiide.
The intermediate water spirit Undine, which had been wandering here and there, sidled up next to Lion.
“Hm?”
And then brought both of its water-made hands together and fixed its gaze upon him, seeming to make a request of some sort!
[☞ Click to inspect the spirit’s grievance.]
He didn’t need to check to know what the grievance was.
“Thirsty, is that it?”
Nod, nod!
Its transparent liquid body rippled and swayed.
Giving it some water, that was hardly difficult.
And besides…
‘Come to think of it, aren’t they guests too, in the end?’
If anything, weren’t the spirits the pitiable ones here?
They lived in the elf nation with its fine water and clean air, only to be dragged along by their masters to a place where humans dwelled, hustling and hurrying to get there,
and on top of that, from these spirits’ perspective, hadn’t their masters simply gone off somewhere without even looking after them?
‘If this had been before the possession, I’d have been in serious trouble.’
Just think of them not as spirits but as companion animals.
Those masters would be downright terrible ones.
“Wait just a moment.”
Giving them a sip of water was something you could easily do for a stranger who asked.
Much less for a request from a palm-sized spirit.
‘Not like that time a fire spirit was thirsty, either.’
Lion took out the canteen he always carried and opened the lid.
And then…
Cupping up.
About a mouthful of water rose from the canteen into the air, then was absorbed right into the Undine’s body.
At the same moment.
[The Undine’s thirst is quenched.]
[A certain amount of spirit energy returns.]
[The spirit is pleased.]
“Oh.”
A single mouthful was enough?
The Undine circled around him as if in thanks, scattered small water droplets, and then vanished abruptly.
It had likely gone after its master.
‘Ah, so the reason they’ve been left behind is that they couldn’t keep up with the speed?’
At any rate, it was still too harsh.
“No matter how urgent the matter, honestly.”
As Lion stood grumbling to himself…
Sliiide!
…This time, a Sylph that had been worn down by the heat approached him.
“All right. All of you, come here.”
What a hard time you must have had!
And so Lion gathered up the lower and intermediate spirits that had been left behind, unable to follow their masters, and resolved their grievances one by one.
In truth, none of them were all that difficult.
He let the Sylph rest inside his shadow, and set the Salamander atop his head so it could properly soak in the sunlight.
For the Gnome whose sensitivity had been worn to a nub by the harsh march, he took a pretty flower from his bag and handed it over.
And upon doing so…
[You did not dismiss the small spirits’ hardships but lent them your aid. The spirits of the whole world take note of your presence!]
[New Talent: Spirit Art]
[Spirit Art Proficiency Apprentice Lv.1 attained.]
-Lower spirits will heed your requests.
-Intermediate spirits will lend an ear to your words.
-Higher spirits will grant your requests in exchange for a small price.
A cool, refreshing energy, distinct from mana, coiled around Lion’s body.
It was a sensation altogether different from the forming of a Mana Circle, and so Lion had to stop assisting the spirits and inspect his own body.
He had expected something like this from the moment he gained the Spirit Communion talent, but he had not imagined he would acquire it so simply.
“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like anything has otherwise changed.”
Well, unless a special event like this occurred, there were almost no situations in which he would encounter spirits anyway, so paying it no mind was likely fine.
…That was the very moment he had this thought.
“Ohh.”
Someone’s exclamation sounded from behind him.
He felt an indescribable chill and turned around to find a young, handsome man standing there in unfamiliar attire.
The clothes aside.
The problem was that his ears were pointed.
On top of that.
A tremendously enormous water spirit was manifesting behind his back, as well.
“Erm.”
A single glance was enough to tell that this gentleman was someone of significance among the “guests” who had come to their house.
“…Hello?”
Lion offered the greeting first.
In truth, he had been intending to say a simple hello and then scurry straight back.
Stride!
That is, until the guest took a step forward.
“Ohh. How can this be! You are unmistakably of humankind, and yet the spirits follow you so!”
The man, with a curiously archaic manner of speech unsuited to his youthful appearance, naturally drew closer to Lion.
“You there, might you perchance see the child behind me as well?”
“…”
Lion lifted his gaze slightly and observed the imposing wolf of water looming behind the elven man.
It was definitely made of water, but wondrously, it sported fur just like a real beast.
‘It’d be a bit awkward… to claim I can’t see that.’
What’s more, this fellow here had tacked on the word “perchance,” but he was unmistakably certain when he asked.
Which meant…
“You are referring to the water-wolf.”
“I knew it! Just as I thought!”
The elf was so delighted he even applauded. The gesture was decidedly not that of a person of the current era.
‘Huh? Wait. This feeling…’
Lion cast his mind back for a moment, to the past before the possession.
He was certain there had been a person who had shown him this exact reaction before.
Namely…
‘A university professor.’
Before the possession.
Rather far back, at that. There had been a time when, in order to make a sales pitch to a certain university professor, he had studied that professor’s field with the most fervent enthusiasm.
Not knowing what was correct or incorrect, he’d simply needed to be able to hold a conversation, so he’d learned everything he could get his hands on.
As a result, there had certainly been plenty he’d gotten wrong.
And the expression on the professor’s face when pointing out those errors.
‘Was exactly like that.’
“You there, what is your name?”
Yes. These words too were identical.
The professor had surely known his name, since he had presented a business card, yet had asked this out of pure instinct.
He suspected that those very words had been the prelude to the professor ushering many a student into his lab.
However!
‘This time is different!’
Lion brimmed with confidence.
Confidence that he would not get caught!
For his name was…
“Lion, Elder Brother.”
Just before Lion could proudly state his own name, Rickshel appeared.
“I am Lio… Rickshel?”
“You were here. I take it you have had your outing.”
“Yes. I, well, yes?”
The signs of haste were so evident that his usually immaculate clothes were disheveled.
“For what reason have you come in such a rush?”
“Hoo, your return seemed to be running late, so I came out to meet you. And quite by chance, I found you with a guest of the house.”
“…”
The young-looking elf’s expression turned strangely hollow.
It was the expression of a hunter who had failed to catch a slave.
At any rate, this was fortunate.
“As things have come to this, allow me to provide a simple introduction. This is Lion ‘Asteri,’ my elder brother—a direct line descendant of the Asteri household. My own elder brother, in fact.”
It seemed he was stressing certain words, like “direct line” and “elder brother.”
‘Well done, Rickshel…!’
At any other time Lion would have felt quite awkward, but now he cheered Rickshel on.
If this went poorly, he might well have been swept along by this person… no, this elf.
“Mm. A direct descendant of House Asteri. Now that you mention it, you do share a certain air. I am called Embrog.”
“You are most welcome to the Asteri. Well then, let us go.”
“Though, really now… of all houses, Asteri…”
Thankfully, as Embrog stepped back a pace and muttered to himself, Rickshel gathered Lion up and began to lead the way.
* * *
Half pulled along by Rickshel’s grip, Lion came to realize that the state of the household was far from normal.
Rickshel had likely hauled him back to the mansion precisely to show him this sight.
‘It’s a madhouse.’
The normally always-quiet Asteri mansion had become a playground for spirits.
[A Sylph is enjoying itself.]
[An Undine is drifting about.]
‘All hell has broken loose.’
Had people witnessed this scene, they would surely have been unable to contain their shock…
Alas, the average person could not perceive spirits, and so they appeared entirely unaware that anything was happening.
Lion walked, dodging the lesser spirits that were sliding down the garden steps as though they were playground slides.
Of course, a spirit could not exert physical force without its spirit mage’s aid, but for Lion, who could see them all too clearly, it was a little unnerving.
Meanwhile, having naturally walked straight through some spirits, Rickshel asked in a small voice.
“Elder Brother. Are there a great many spirits here right now?”