Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 98
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 98
A companion appeared.
It was the petty thief from the underworld who usually mocked me more than anyone else.
Did we get along?
Not in the slightest.
If anything, we acted as if we had a bet going on who would die first.
“Your life is just as short as your thinking.”
“Such a lack of manners—I bet you’ll be the first one of us to drop.”
We were irreconcilable.
Before that day, we had never cooperated on anything.
And yet the bastard had come.
To this dangerous place!
While he held off the high-ranking demon, the priest reached me and cast healing magic.
“You’re bleeding too heavily! Petrick, you absolutely must not fall asleep!”
The priest’s normally gentle tone had vanished somewhere; he shouted in a sharp, agitated voice and poured holy power into me.
In that moment, Petrick realized something.
That there were things he could not do alone.
And on the foundation of that realization, Petrick became a 6th Circle mage, crawled through the mud on the verge of death, and returned alive.
The same held true for the two who had come to rescue him.
They had ended up covered in filth and drenched in blood, but they had survived.
That was what reaching the 6th Circle meant to him.
‘Still…’
Petrick chuckled softly and patted Rickshel on the shoulder.
“You will get there faster.”
Because you already know you can lean on someone.
“…Pardon? Thank you.”
Rickshel didn’t seem to fully grasp the meaning, but he nodded.
“By the way, Lion. Wasn’t there something else you had to tell Rickshel?”
“Ah!”
Lion, who had been enjoying the heartwarming atmosphere, suddenly remembered something.
“Right. I completely forgot.”
“Yes? What is it, Brother? Is it something I need to help you with? Did something unfortunate perhaps happen in the Bydantis territory…?”
“No.”
“No, then what is it?”
“Well, you know the Emperor’s birthday is coming up soon, right?”
“Yes. It is.”
As far as he knew, the Emperor’s birthday was just over two months away.
“It’s a major celebration, so in all likelihood, you and I will both be attending.”
“Right. I don’t know about me, but you as the heir have to go.”
“Yes. But…”
What did the Emperor’s birthday have to do with him?
Reading his expression, Lion grinned with satisfaction and spoke.
“Lady Bydantis has agreed to be your partner for the occasion.”
“…Pardon?”
Could all those stacks of reports he’d seen when he briefly stopped by her room have been related to this?
‘Come to think of it, it doesn’t seem like a bad arrangement.’
This meant his brother had judged the head of Bydantis to be a decent person.
On top of that, she had offered help when his brother went missing.
There might be some issues with emotional communication, but that hardly mattered.
‘It’s a good choice as a partner as well.’
A connection between a sword mastery family and a prestigious mage family would carry strategic value.
‘The head of the family too…’
He glanced at their grandfather’s expression. The old man didn’t seem to mind joining hands with the Sword Mastery Family.
“Understood. I will send a separate letter.”
“Yes. Get along well with her. She wasn’t a bad person.”
“Yes.”
She wasn’t a bad person…
‘That gives me a rough idea of what must have happened in the Bydantis house.’
Only then did Rickshel feel relieved and flash a bright smile.
He could smell it. The scent of an ally.
If things had turned out that way, he suspected he would have a great many things to discuss with the head of Bydantis.
* * *
The three of them returned home rather late, after thoroughly enjoying the hot spring.
Their grandfather had other business and headed elsewhere; Rickshel had intended to get back to work, but…
“No.”
At Lion’s single firm word, he set everything aside and headed to his bedroom,
and promptly dropped into a deep sleep.
‘See. You were worn out.’
Lion watched the sleeping Rickshel and slipped quietly out of the room.
“Phew.”
He’d had a rough few days himself, but seeing his little brother sleeping this deeply left him feeling rather proud.
‘I knew making that was the right call.’
At last, it felt like he could stretch both legs out and sleep easy.
Lion went to his own room and flopped down onto the bed.
He’d thought about going out to the village, but the carriage didn’t seem to have arrived yet.
Moving around Mimir Forest or the manor was fine, but for security reasons, it was better to wait until after the carriage arrived and then go.
‘In the meantime…’
What could he do?
Simply lazing around was fine, but he genuinely enjoyed keeping his hands busy with this and that.
“I made the hot spring,”
Lion murmured, ticking off his fingers one by one.
“For the moonflowers, I think they need a decent fertilizer rather than just planting them as is.”
He’d made a nutritional supplement for the flame grass, but that stuff was only really effective on plants limited to the fire attribute.
If he applied it to ordinary plants, they’d obviously dry right up.
In that case, it was probably best to push off entering the labyrinth for a while as well.
‘Should I just rest?’
He hadn’t been back from the trip for very long, so staying in and lounging comfortably didn’t sound half bad.
“Oh! Or how about I try that?”
Lion sat up abruptly on the bed.
‘Sikhye.’
The hot spring really had left him wanting a little something.
A cold, fizzy drink is nice, but nothing completes a genuine Korean-onsen experience quite like a cup of sikhye.
“I wonder if the kitchen has any barley.”
Lion slowly got up and ambled toward the kitchen.
“Ah, Young Master!”
The head chef, Alex, greeted Lion as warmly as ever.
But…
‘The smell of oil in the kitchen is no joke.’
And on top of that, this particular scent was—
“Hotteok?”
“As expected of you, Young Master! The truth is, I’ve finally mastered it. Making hotteok, that is!”
He added that it had still been unfinished at the last dinner, so he hadn’t been able to serve it then.
“But now! I’ve finally perfected it!”
Alex shrugged his shoulders and displayed a batch of hotteok, each one shaped perfectly.
‘Looks like he really took a liking to it.’
After he’d taught him the recipe, there had been no word about it, so Lion had assumed Alex simply considered it an amusing experience. Apparently, he’d been wrong.
The hotteok were indeed perfectly round, evenly browned, and cooked to a beautiful golden color!
They even glistened with just the right shine, practically oozing the feel of a professional hotteok stall.
‘I never even gave him the recipe.’
It seemed he’d put a lot of work into mixing the dough and developing the filling.
“The first time I tried making these, the filling bursting out was no small challenge. But who am I? Am I not the head chef of House Asteri?”
Confidently, Alex held out a hotteok.
“Here! Please, taste it and give me your verdict.”
“Ahem! Shall I have a look, then?”
Lion didn’t hesitate. He took the hotteok and bit into it.
A soft, delightfully chewy texture, and then a rich, sweet syrup seemed to coat his entire tongue!
The flavor and texture were nearly identical to the ones Lion himself had made.
‘An artisan really is different.’
“At this level, it stands comparison with the ones I made myself.”
“That is a relief! And by any chance, do you have anything else to add?”
Alex beamed, his expression full of expectation at Lion’s positive feedback.
“Hmm… if I had to be picky.”
Lion hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest.
“It’s a bit too high-end.”
“Pardon?”
Too high-end?
What could that possibly mean?
‘Isn’t that… exactly how it should be?’
Alex cocked his head for a second.
This was food prepared for the most esteemed individuals—for the direct descendants of House Asteri, whom he served.
So naturally, shouldn’t he pour the finest ingredients, his best skills, and all the time it takes into it?
“The thing is…”
Lion scratched his head.
If someone asked him whether hotteok was actually that kind of high-end food, he’d have to say no.
It was more of a humble, common-person’s dish. A familiar one.
Wasn’t it the kind of food you ate on a cold day, wandering the streets until you found a hotteok truck, then fished some crumpled change out of your pocket?
How could he put this?
This hotteok, delicious as it was, felt like something you’d have to eat daintily with a knife and fork.
And naturally, that killed the unique feeling of hotteok.
‘How do I explain this?’
He didn’t quite want to put it so bluntly.
Lion mulled it over, then an idea came to him.
This should do it.
“Actually, I’d intended these to be for the family as well. It’s a dessert I made hoping anyone could easily enjoy it.”
“Anyone can easily enjoy it?”
“Yes. Like street food, for example.”
“…Ah! I see!”
Thankfully, even though Lion had been vague, Alex seemed to pick up on it right away.
He stared at the perfect hotteok he’d made and muttered to himself.
“So that’s what the Young Master meant back then… of course!”
“Still, I think these are good in their own way, too. I can tell how much care you put into our family, Alex.”
“Young Master…!”
Visibly moved, Alex shot him a look with eyes so sparkling it was almost burdensome.
‘Our Young Master really is the best.’
He would have to repay him by making even more delicious food from now on!
“I shall strive to improve further. Oh, but by the way, does your visit here mean there is something you needed?”
Alex, a bit belatedly, asked the purpose of his visit.
And he asked it with every intention of providing whatever it might be.
“Do you happen to have any barley?”
“B-barley?”
It must have been an unexpected ingredient, because Alex’s expression turned peculiar.
“Why barley…? Do you perhaps intend to eat it, Young Master?”
“I’m not going to eat it right now. Why?”
“Well, barley is usually only used for beer. Ah, occasionally people who practice the sword consume it for training.”
Alex scratched his head, then said to wait just a moment and disappeared into the grain storage.
Rustle, rustle!
After a few bustling sounds, Alex emerged carrying a sack full of barley.
“Here you are.”
“Thanks. But…”
As he accepted the sack, Lion recalled what Alex had mentioned a moment ago.
‘He definitely said sword practitioners use it for training.’
In that case, the people eating this in House Asteri would be the knight order, wouldn’t they?
‘Still, I doubt they’re using it to brew beer.’
His grandfather was not a man who enjoyed beer.
And Lion had never once seen beer in the household.
Rickshel?
Obviously not. He’s underage.
“Anyway, thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. Young Master! Whatever I can provide for you, I will have it prepared!”
“Really?”
“Pardon?”
“Then could you get me some rice, too? The kind that’s polished all the way.”
“…”
Rice?
Ah, is he planning to make something like risotto?
“Not the kind of rice that falls apart. It needs to be the kind that turns sticky when cooked.”
Sticky rice? That ruled out risotto.
What in the world was he trying to make?
For the first time in a good while, Alex looked at Lion as though he were seeing an eccentric.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine it… and yet.
‘He did create hotteok.’
On top of that, he’d even made use of the glutinous rice flour that had just been sitting around waiting for a purpose.
The results were always shockingly creative.
Now that he thought about it that way, he felt anticipation building.
“It should be possible to obtain.”
Though finding rice that met those exacting conditions was another story entirely.
“Thanks. I’ll leave it to you, then.”
Lion hefted the sack of barley onto his shoulder, and before Alex knew it, he had also picked up a few kitchen tools and waved a hand.
“Huh?”
Alex stared blankly at Lion as he walked away.
‘Why is he going that way?’
No matter how unique Young Master Lion was, he had never seen him head in that direction before.
Because that was the space mainly used by the servants!