Chapter 106

Chapter 106
Chapter 106: Never Mind The Heir, I’ll Focus On Healing

Is this reality?

It felt as though he had passed out drunk, and all the humiliating memories from yesterday had suddenly slammed back into his consciousness in a single, overwhelming wave.

Barg, you absolute idiot! You fool!

‘N-now is not the time.’

Remembering the reckless antics he had previously dismissed as harmless dream-state behavior, Barg scrambled instantly back to his feet.

He felt an overwhelming urge to smash his forehead directly against the floor just to vent his sheer mortification!

Right as he prepared to bury his face against the still-warm stone griddle, a voice intervened.

“Ah, but what is this?”

Timing the gesture perfectly, Lion tossed the Moon’s Essence toward Barg with a question.

*Chop!*

Catching the orb purely out of instinct, Barg dropped slowly to his knees and let out a soft whimper.

“Well, I made it myself…”

Now that he faced reality instead of a dream, he had no idea where to even begin explaining.

Did I actually mention I was a beastman just moments ago?

“Well…”

“Yes. Take all the time you need.”

The young master of the Asteri Family had to be an extraordinarily kind soul.

His tail, held low, swayed sluggishly behind him.

“I’m actually a werewolf, so… creating Moon’s Essence is something I can do. It’s my most unique gift.”

He hurried to add that he wanted to make amends however he could, bowing his head deep toward the ground.

“You must be shocked, right? Because I’m a beastman…”

Rumories had always warned him that humans out in the world held a deep disdain for beastfolk.

Even with such a kind young master…

“Did you know?”

“Huh?”

“Your tail was visible a while ago.”

“Hic! Wait, why is this happening…!”

Panicking, Barg hurriedly tucked his tail away, smoothed it down, and clamped both hands over his wolf ears to flatten them out of sight.

“I’m so sorry! I should have kept it hidden!”

It was a survival trick he had picked up simply to navigate human society.

Aside from that, he knew how to fetch a tossed disc… Oh goodness, now was definitely not the time to be thinking about such nonsense.

“I already accepted your apology, so put your mind at ease. Besides, you ended up with a pretty orb out of it too.”

“Did… did you actually like it?”

Thank goodness. He didn’t hate it at all!

Pushing down the lingering panic that his ears and tail might pop right back out, Barg stepped forward with a flicker of excitement.

“Should I make you some more?”

“You can make more?”

“W-well, I can’t whip them up as fast as I used to lately, but I can definitely manage enough. About one every week…! No, I’ll definitely make them for you!”

Barg spoke with absolute sincerity.

Not only had he been fed incredible food, but his blunder had also been completely forgiven.

It was only natural that he felt a strong urge to return the favor.

Truthfully, a genuine sense of loyalty was already taking root in his chest!

“…”

Watching him, Lion let out an awkward chuckle.

Naturally, having a steady stream of Moon’s Essence supplied to him would be fantastic… but.

‘Is this happening because of Nature?’

A werewolf wouldn’t show this kind of blind devotion over a couple of meals alone.

He suspected the spirit’s mystical energy had influenced the boy’s mindset in a positive way.

After all, he was well aware that Nature was a living spirit.

Still…

‘Turning this down feels genuinely awkward.’

If he cared only about material gain, he would have grabbed the opportunity with both hands, thinking, ‘Oh, really? Much appreciated!’

However.

The admission that he couldn’t produce Moon’s Essence at his previous pace told a different story.

‘This has all the hallmarks of an Eclipse Symptom.’

If crafting such a tiny orb required a full week, the illness must have been creeping up on Barg without his knowledge.

Worse yet, the more Moon’s Essence he forced himself to create, the faster the disease would tear through him…

‘He doesn’t seem to realize it, which probably means he grew up isolated from other beastfolk.’

On top of that, Barg was burning with a desire to pay him back right now.

If Lion refused flat out, would the boy really just stop making the essence?

He would undoubtedly end up sneaking around, leaving them in secret before vanishing.

If things played out that way, nothing would actually be fixed.

After a brief moment of internal debate, Lion hit upon a strategy.

“Let’s do this instead. Whenever you bring me an essence, I’ll cook you something delicious in return.”

“What? But you’ve already given me…”

“It’s just because I enjoy treating people. What do you say?”

Barg froze for a second at the proposal.

Someone who enjoys giving.

‘That’s just like me!’

Circumstances kept him from sharing with others for the time being, but Barg genuinely liked providing for people.

… Though he certainly appreciated receiving things too!

Even so, he wanted to contribute however he could.

Because of that mindset, he completely grasped the young master’s underlying sentiment.

“I understand.”

Barg nodded with fierce determination.

“Then meet me secretly in the forest every night.”

“Yes!”

When Lion offered his hand, Barg pressed his own palms against it, collected his wits, and gave it a light, respectful shake.

“See you tomorrow, then.”

“Yes, Young Master!”

Barg dashed back toward the Knight Order quarters at top speed.

Watching him sprint away with such athletic grace made his werewolf heritage unmistakably clear.

“Hmm.”

Crossing his arms, Lion replayed the sight of Barg fading into the distance.

‘If my hunch is right…’

There was a real chance he could cure Barg’s Eclipse Symptom entirely.

Granted, he couldn’t be completely certain yet…

‘Still, I have to give it a shot.’

Accompanied by Nature, Lion headed back toward the mansion.

—

The primary ingredient required was the Evening Primrose.

While the Labyrinth offered the ideal environment for cultivating Evening Primrose, Lion chose not to dive straight in.

‘I don’t have enough materials.’

He could synthesize an Evening Primrose nutrient using the Moon’s Essence gifted by Barg.

However, the current supply was simply too sparse.

If the growth stalled halfway through the process, the setback would be catastrophic.

On the day Lion shared sausages with Barg.

Nature, having accompanied him back indoors, launched into another round of silent mime performances right on top of Lion’s bed.

To summarize her performance, Barg’s Eclipse Symptom was exceptionally advanced and progressing at a frightening pace.

‘If time were on our side, that would be one thing, but as it stands, it’s hopeless.’

She flapped her wings with resolute finality, her eyes conveying that exact grim message.

“This is because the Evening Primrose takes forever to mature, right?”

“Beee.”

She nodded vigorously in agreement.

‘Hmm…’

Lion fell into deep thought.

Ultimately, the bottleneck boiled down to a shortage of Moon’s Essence to formulate the nourishing base for the plant.

‘Is there truly no way to source it externally?’

Perhaps the Asteri Family could acquire Moon’s Essence through trade with other beastfolk tribes.

Unfortunately, the population of beastfolk capable of producing Moon’s Essence was vastly smaller than those attuned to the Sun’s Essence.

That meant tracking it down would consume an unacceptable amount of time…

“If Barg loses his mind and goes berserk before then, it’s all over.”

If the recipe called for Sun’s Essence instead, procuring it would have been trivial.

He could have simply requested assistance from the kingdom of the lion beastmen—a realm bathed in endless daylight where Sun’s Essence was naturally abundant.

… Wait a second.

“That’s it! Why didn’t that occur to me sooner?”

Lion leaped to his feet.

The kingdom of lion beastmen where the sun never set!

The perpetual sunlight meant the ambient solar energy was immensely potent.

By extension, all he needed to do was supercharge the potency of the Moon’s Essence to match.

“Nature.”

“Beee?”

“I think I might actually be able to replicate and amplify the Moon’s Essence.”

“Beeeep?”

“Let’s move.”

Promptly gathering Nature, Lion hurried out of the room.

His destination was none other than his grandfather’s private office!

—

“Report concluded.”

Knight Captain Rikson stood at attention before Petrik, delivering his standard periodic update.

“Hmm.”

Petrik affixed his signature to the document and offered a terse nod.

“What’s the status of that wolf cub?”

“Barg…”

“Is there genuinely no hope left?”

Faced with Petrik’s direct inquiry, Rikson lowered his gaze heavily.

“The manifestations of the affliction are growing more violent by the day. It appears he won’t hold out much longer.”

“And no effective remedy has been uncovered?”

“The Magic Tower reports that even with their combined expertise alongside the beastfolk, stopping the Eclipse Symptoms remains impossible.”

Rikson furrowed his brow, a shadow of deep frustration crossing his features.

Barg was a werewolf whom Petrik had personally ordered to be rescued a month prior.

The Red Wolf Tribe, staunch allies of the Hero, had been decimated during the war. Afterward, intelligence reached them that a rare surviving Red Wolf Beastman had surfaced in the hands of an underground slave syndicate.

Sure enough, the captive turned out to be Barg.

He had fought desperately to conceal his tail and ears in order to blend into human society, but the advancing Eclipse Symptoms caused his feral instincts to break through, ultimately leading to his exposure and capture.

“…”

Petrik released a soundless sigh.

‘Is there truly no alternative?’

Deep down, Petrik wanted to save the young wolf cub as well.

In fact, he was willing to exhaust any available means to do so.

After all, he carried the bloodline of ‘that Druid’.

Red Wolf Beastmen were an endangered rarity.

‘Yet, solutions simply don’t exist.’

Time was running out—not for his own sake, but for the child.

The hand gripping Petrik’s pen tightened rigidly for a brief second before forcing itself to relax.

If saving him proved impossible…

‘I will be forced to make a hard choice.’

Not as Petrik, who wished to preserve the kin of a fallen comrade, but as the patriarch of the Asteri Family, Duke Patrick Asteri.

Should Barg display the definitive signs of a berserk state, Petrik would have to step in and execute him personally.

It was an absolute necessity.

They could not risk the lives of innocent residents simply to spare a single child.

Furthermore, he refused to let the boy become a monster driven by blind slaughter.

He would not allow him to die the most agonizing death imaginable while rampaging as a mindless beast.

‘This is a miserable situation.’

The taste in his mouth was overwhelmingly bitter, sickeningly so.

“Family Head…”

Sensing the heavy shift in Petrik’s mood, Rikson spoke up hesitantly.

“That boy Barg possesses an inherently pure spirit.”

Strictly speaking, a Knight Captain tasked with guarding the Family Head had no business voicing such personal appeals.

At the very least, he shouldn’t be burdening his lord with emotional pleas.

Yet, sympathy won out.

Perhaps it stirred memories of his own son, who had been taken by death at a tender age.

The boy was slipping away before he even had a chance to experience the world.

If nothing else, Rikson wanted him to have a little more time.

Shouldn’t he at least be allowed to walk among people and forge a few happy memories?

Ultimately, overwhelmed by his turbulent emotions, Rikson made his plea.

“Despite possessing formidable strength, he fears hurting others and shrinks away from conflict instead. I want that child to remain in this world just a bit longer. Because of that, I intend to exhaust every option to buy him more time.”

It was a desperate request for borrowed days.

“…”

Rikson sank slowly to one knee.

“If the boy finally loses control… I will deal with him with my own hands.”

A prolonged silence settled over the room.

Both Petrik and Rikson understood the reality of the situation.

This wasn’t something that could be resolved through mere sentimentality.

Under normal circumstances, Petrik would have dismissed the request with absolute coldness.

However…

‘It isn’t that simple anymore.’

As his daily interactions with Lion and the rest of his household grew, he found his hardened resolve wavering against his better judgment.

Even while knowing the immense complications it might invite later.

Just as Petrik fought to steel his heart against emotional sway.

*Creeeak!*

The heavy office door swung wide open.

“A solution exists!”

Lion announced his arrival.