LP 1.4 Gooseherd

Bandages were wrapped haphazardly around twig-like fingers, which wandered anxiously over a large, clean palm, touching it in several places. The palm was as hard as a knight’s should be, and warmer than he expected.

He carefully spread a faint magic field over it. He was nervous because he had never done anything like this before, but it was easier than he thought.

For some reason, ever since he had been dragged to this castle, using magic seemed to have become a little easier. Well, was it just his imagination? Was Ostbrahe a good place for it? Or…

An invisible wave permeated Lucian’s palm lines.

Soon, a green light rose beneath his skin, and a streak of light climbed up his forearm.

Some of the knights, seeing this, placed their hands on their sword hilts, and Kosha could feel the tension in the room. They seemed wary that he might be up to something with his magic, but he didn’t have the ability to do so, nor did he dare.

They bring a person here and then show such distrust. Kosha grumbled inwardly.

The light that seeped from beneath his skin swirled around Lucian’s forearm, drawing an unknown pattern. Kosha’s eyes also shone with a clear green light through his messy, matted hair. The blue-gray eyes that looked down at Kosha as if observing him narrowed.

The light soon disappeared. The green flash in Kosha’s eyes also vanished. Kosha tilted his head. This magic potion seemed to have worked as intended, but…

Kosha was wondering if he could keep his fingers there just a little longer, as he was reluctant to let go.

“You.”

A low, chilling voice broke the silence. Before the slow-witted Kosha could react, a hand plunged through his straggly hair and dirty clothes. A large hand gripped his withered neck as if to twist it.

“Heu, uhuk.”

As the fingers tightened, Kosha stuck out his tongue and choked. He was suffocating, and his eyes felt like they were about to pop out.

Did Mages have weaker bones than humans? What if his neck broke? Kosha flailed, being strangled without knowing why. If he died, what would happen to Lucian…?

At the moment his vision flashed white, the hand fell away. Kosha tumbled to the floor, on the verge of passing out.

“Cough, cough, heu, heuk, huk… sob, eugh….”

Air rushed into his lungs in an instant. Kosha gasped madly, clutching his neck. Saliva dribbled down his chin, and he couldn’t stop coughing.

“Such dramatics.”

He heard a clicking of the tongue from above. A large foot in a boot seemed to approach, then kicked Kosha in the stomach. In reality, it was closer to a nudge, but it was enough to be fatal to a frail Mage. Kosha retched and flipped over.

Only then was he able to look around. It was a mess. The knights looked tense, with their swords half-drawn, and all sorts of objects were scattered on the floor. It was as if an earthquake had passed through.

…Was he the cause of this? Kosha’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

No, could he really do this much? Really?

…How was he going to clean all this up? In the midst of all this, he couldn’t help but feel a little dumbfounded by the thought. He glanced around, wondering if he would have to clean it up himself, when a listless voice broke the silence.

“So, you are a Mage after all.”

“—Of sorts.” Lucian added, kicking a letter opener that had fallen at his feet. The metal slid across the stone floor with a sharp sound. Even in the midst of this chaos, he was remarkably unscathed and immaculate.

“Now there’s only one more left, right?”

Kosha made an effort to pull himself together and hurriedly bowed his head again.

“Do it well.”

A hard shoe nudged Kosha mockingly. His shoulders trembled, fearing that he would be kicked or trampled again at any moment.

“Or it wouldn’t be difficult to just kill you and be done with it.”

“…….”

He swallowed hard. The air became heavy once more.

If a Mage was killed, the magic that originated from them would be broken, unless it was something truly extraordinary. So, killing Kosha was one way to resolve this situation.

However, the problem was that no one knew ‘how’ the magic would break.

Magic was a kind of force, like wind, sunlight, or waves. It couldn’t simply return to nothingness without any reaction.

What if magic had entered the body? If he was lucky, it might end with some indigestion or nausea, but if he was unlucky? In the worst case, it might explode.

In other words, if Kosha was killed, Lucian, who had magic within him, might explode as well.

That would be terrible. Kosha, pale at the mere thought, shook his head in horror.

“I will work hard. I will definitely, complete, complete it.”

“You better.”

The reply was calm and nonchalant.

“Now clean up. It’s dirty and smells.”

Lucian ordered the knights. A servant brought water for him to wash his hands again, and a rough hand grabbed Kosha by the scruff of his neck.

Choking as his neck was strangled by the fabric pulled back, Kosha was dragged out of the room.

---

Woof, woof, he heard a dog barking. Kosha stood on tiptoe and looked out the palm-sized window in the middle of the stone wall. It seemed to be the courtyard of Ostbrahe Palace.

A man who appeared to be a servant was throwing a chunk of meat to a dog. Judging by its size, it seemed to be a hunting dog of noble lineage.

And Kosha glanced at the lukewarm pea soup and meager grilled sardine placed in one corner. It was today’s dinner. A Mage’s treatment was worse than a dog’s.

Moreover, Kosha’s residence was still a prison-like place. The only reason he had been moved from the underground to the ground was because he needed to use fire to make magic potions.

But… it couldn’t be helped, Kosha humbly accepted his situation. He was a flawed Mage who had caused immense damage to Lucian. Of course, he never really intended to do so.

Besides, the fact that Lucian needed to receive magical treatment seemed to be top secret. Why else would Gosrick, Lucian’s closest aide, be directly assisting in the making of the magic potion?

So, it would be difficult to simply offer him a nice guest room.

“Trying to escape there?”

He heard a gruff voice from behind. He glanced back and saw Gosrick. Kosha sighed and shook his head. Now that he was a little more used to him, Gosrick was slightly less scary.

“No. How can I escape from here?”

“Why not? You’re a Mage.”

“There are Mages and then there are Mages….”

The tower was quite high. If he fell, it would be difficult to even recover his body. What should he do to escape from this place without dying? Kosha tried to calculate the force of the wind, the resistance of the air, his weight, and the force of gravity pulling him down… but he stopped immediately.

Even if he calculated it, his magic wouldn’t be able to support him anyway. It would only give him a headache.

“You, this time you really have to make it right.”

Gosrick plopped down on a chair in the corner of the prison room, issuing a warning. Having made magic potions with Kosha all along, his tone had become a little more relaxed. The two men’s gazes turned to the small pot simmering in the middle of the room.

Kosha hesitated before asking cautiously. The content of the question made him a little nervous to bring it up.

“I, if it doesn’t work this time, will I really….”

“Really?”

“Will you, kill me…?”

Gosrick stroked his chin with a troubled expression. He didn’t seem to know either, as the answer came a long time later.

“Well, that’s something we’ll have to see when the time comes. For now, you just focus on the magic potion.”

The magic potion simmering gently over low heat was a thick, black mess.

Of course, it was only like this right now, and just before dawn, when the essence of the mixture was extracted and post-processed with magic, it would turn a clear green. For now, all they could do was wait.

Kosha, who was roughly drawing the image of Lucian he had faced when he presented the second magic potion for the twelfth time in his head, sighed softly. One of Gosrick’s eyebrows twitched sensitively.

“What’s wrong? Do you really think it’s going to fail again?”

“…No.”

Strictly speaking, the second magic potion hadn’t failed either. It just didn’t have any visible effect, but that was what he had originally intended.

“It’s just. I think this magic potion will taste bad too….”

Kosha mumbled. He had said it tasted terrible. He had tried to fix it, but it seemed a little difficult for Kosha to make it taste good with his skills. He was afraid that if he messed with the taste, the potion’s effectiveness would be ruined, so Kosha was about to feed him another bad-tasting potion this time as well.

Gosrick’s expression became strange. He opened and closed his mouth for a moment before crossing his arms. He seemed dissatisfied.

“How can you say that when you’re in that state…?”

Kosha, who didn’t understand his words right away, blinked blankly. He idly smoothed his matted bangs. He might look a little rough, but what did it matter?

He was actually concerned about his appearance. First of all, it had been a long time since he had washed. He had been taking care of livestock until just before he was dragged here, wandering through the forest covered in sweat, then going to the torture chamber once, rolling around in the underground prison, and now he was spending all day in front of the fire, repeatedly boiling magic potions, so he must look a little unsightly.

He couldn’t deny it when they criticized him for being dirty and smelly, as it was the absolute truth. He wished he could have met him looking a little cleaner. Then Lucian might have remembered him. Kosha, who had greeted him several times and given him flowers.

But in this situation, could he dare to say that he wanted to take a bath? Who could he ask for bathwater? Gosrick?

“…Never mind, just do your work.”

Gosrick, who had been speechless for a moment, clicked his tongue.

His neck was mottled with bruises, and his eyes were bloodshot, but his actions were so bland. Among the aides, there was talk of keeping a close watch on the Mage to make sure he didn’t harbor resentment and assassinate His Highness… but he didn’t seem to have the mental capacity to do so.

Was he perhaps a little lacking somewhere? Gosrick reasonably suspected. Could he even make an antidote?

Whether Gosrick was sending him suspicious glances or not, Kosha began to focus on the magic potion simmering in the pot again.

Anyway, this was the last magic potion. For everyone’s sake, it had to be.

---

The last magic potion was completed just before dawn the day after a full day had passed since the second magic potion.

Kosha carefully transferred the clear, bright green liquid simmering in the pot into a silver cup embossed with a grape vine pattern. Then, he knelt down and raised the cup with trembling hands. It was the time when the sun was just beginning to rise.

Lucian was perfectly dressed, without a single flaw, even at this early hour. Was he getting enough sleep? Kosha was a little worried inside.

He emptied the cup without hesitation this time as well. Kosha looked up at him with as much earnestness as the sun rising over the horizon beyond the eastern window.

“…….”

Lucian was silent for quite a while. He momentarily touched his forehead as if he was dizzy, and after a moment of silence, he finally slumped down in his chair.

“…Your Highness!”

The air became tense. Kosha’s heart also dropped. Not because the knight next to him had drawn his sword and pointed it at his neck.

His green eyes, which seemed to shine even more brightly in the sunlight, were fixed only on Lucian. His heart pounded in his head.

“Hoo….”

At the end of several seconds that felt like years, Lucian, who had been sitting with his eyes covered by his hand, took a deep breath. Then he slowly raised his head.

“Ah…. So this is what it felt like.”

Yes, that’s right, this was it. He murmured softly. His voice was languid. He didn’t throw the cup, he didn’t curse, and he didn’t kick Kosha, who was at his feet.

“Are you alright, Your Highness…?”

One of his retainers hesitated and approached. A sigh-like laugh escaped from Lucian, who was slowly looking around the room. It sounded somewhat incredulous, and at the same time, a little, generous.

Lucian’s hand slowly fell from his face.

“Yes, perhaps.”

“Heup.”

Kosha swallowed without realizing it. Lucian’s gaze turned to the source of the sound. Their eyes met before he could avoid it.

For a moment, Kosha shuddered, thinking that something… the remnants of the ‘fake madness’ that the magic potion had created seemed to be glistening on top of his blue-gray eyes.

“Ah, the Mage.”

There was this. He muttered.

And, after a moment of silence, he smiled. It was that picture-perfect, gentle smile, with well-shaped lips drawing a soft curve.

Had it worked? Just as his green eyes, which already gave off a humid feeling, were becoming even more moist,

“Really….”

Lucian, who was tilting his head at a strange angle, narrowed his eyes.

“How did you really make it in just three tries.”

“…….”

“You acted like you couldn’t do it, but you kept your promise so well….”

It sounded like praise at first, but the tone was ambiguous. Still kneeling, Kosha was trying to figure out the atmosphere. Lucian, who was fiddling with the edge of the silver cup with his fingertips, smiled again.

“Anyway… well, I’m in your debt.”

A soft voice, expression, and tone. All the things he had seen and heard so much that they were ingrained in him, having chased after him for years.

“Thank you.”

And with that one word of gratitude, all the fierce worries melted away faster than frost under the early spring sun. Oh my god, Lucian thanked him! He couldn’t think of anything else when he saw the hand he held out in front of him as if telling him to get up.

He wondered if he should touch his palm a little more, but he had been strangled just the other day. Kosha carefully took his hand with a full heart and staggered to his feet.

He lost his balance and swayed because his hand was mercilessly pulled away before he could even get up, but Kosha thought he was just feeling dizzy because he was too excited.

However, before he could even feel the wave of emotion, rough hands unexpectedly grabbed Kosha by the scruff of his neck and his arm, respectively.

“Uh, uhuh?”

Why, why again? He didn’t even have time to check who was holding him from behind. In the meantime, Lucian didn’t say anything to stop them, but just looked down at him with a picturesque smile, which made it even more confusing.

“Wait, wait a minute, uh, where are you going? Uh? Your, Your Highness?”

Kosha was dragged out of the room again.

Still, he wasn’t dragged back to that prison room. He didn’t know exactly because they covered his eyes again, but the distance wasn’t that long. They pushed Kosha somewhere and locked the door from the outside. With the words to stay put.

It looked like a small room, like a prayer room, but it was covered in dust, as if it hadn’t been used for a long time.

The room, where human warmth had long since departed, was chilly. Kosha idly rubbed his arms and slowly looked around the small room.

The chair, with a soft cushion attached to the foot so that he could kneel and sit, was just for one person. The frame was gold, and the embroidery on the cushion was elaborate.

Also, there was an altar placed at a height where he could kneel and rest his arms, and it was filled with small, delicate crafts. They seemed to be religious objects. There were human shapes, and there were non-human shapes as well.

…Traces of the ancient times.

In ancient times, these things lived with humans. The so-called another race. They were powerful and mysterious beings, unlike humans, so they were often the object of awe and worship. Most ancient religions are rooted in that worship.

That is why that time was called the age of mythology.

But now that era had ended long ago. Those endlessly wondrous beings had all disappeared, and the only thing left was the lineage of the subspecies ‘Mage’ that had branched off from one of them.

Naturally, religion was not the same as before. There were still those who worshiped the old beings, but humans now worshiped other things more. Natural objects such as the sun, the sky, or the sea, or some imaginary divine being they had never seen.

It was frustrating to pray for miracles to the empty air, but it seemed to be in human nature that they couldn’t stop praying.

Kosha looked at the small crafts and speculated about what the owner of this prayer room worshiped. What would a powerful person who had such a splendid private prayer room kneel down and ask for?

And he thought of Lucian. There were no traces of long-term use, so he probably hadn’t prayed here, but this antique prayer room and the man seemed to go well together. His face sometimes felt very ascetic and even pious.

As he imagined him kneeling and praying with his eyes closed, Kosha burst into laughter, quite out of character.

Beautiful Lucian, beautiful and good Lucian.

‘Thank you.’

The voice lingered clearly in his ear as if it were speaking right next to him. Kosha covered his mouth again.

So, I did it?

Of course, since the problem originated from me in the first place, it is only natural that I fix it. But….

He was flawed in many ways. He could count on one hand the number of times he had properly used magic since he had grown up.

The mana that filled and left his body fluctuated every time, so there were more days when he couldn’t feel like a Mage. He had not received proper magical education either. The reason Kosha had mingled with humans and lived raising geese was because there was no other way.

And yet… he had succeeded!

He himself felt like, ‘Is this really working?’

When he learned what had happened to Lucian, he had no other thought but that he had to do it somehow. Was it thanks to that desperation?

Kosha looked down at his palm. Bandages were still wrapped all over it, but while his whole body was dirty, only his hands were clean. It was thanks to always making sure to have water to wash his hands with in order to make medicine well.

“I saved Lucian.”

In the old days, when things that breathed fire and had bat wings still lived on this land, the legend of a hero who defeated the violent monster and saved the oppressed princess was still passed down.

Kosha felt as if he had become such a hero.

Of course, in this case, the violent monster that put him in a corner was probably Kosha himself….

His heart was pounding and his face was flushed, so Kosha cupped his cheeks. He couldn’t tell whether this excitement was because he had seen Lucian up close, or because he had done something useful for once.