"Take off his boots, and be careful with that leg wound, if you touch it maybe you'll get infected with some terrible disease," the doctor barked at the kids who were working too slowly for his tastes.

Freddie made a face of disgust and only used the tips of his grubby little fingers to peel off the boots.

"Mommy told me it's improper for a lady to declothe a man," the little girl said as she helped Julian remove the gauntlets off his arms and shoulders so they could peel off the heavy leather jacket and chest armor.

Julian had a feeling she meant unclothe but didn't bother to correct her. "What, did you guys really just come here to steal a dead man's stuff? I see that your parents failed to raise either of you right!"

The little boy sulked while he carefully moved the boot around the wound with absurd, exaggerated movements.

"Don't be a silly billy. Why would we get Doctor if we just wanted to take his stuff? If he's still alive then it's no good for our conscien-nessie…ness," Lina said with a huff. “We’d only be borrowing.”

Julian rolled his eyes. But he had enough self-awareness to understand that he had no right to comment on the matter of morality.

Though there might have been a time he ran around proclaiming to be a philosopher, the irony was something that he appreciated and enjoyed.

Ah. But such times were behind him.

"Less talking and more working,” Julian snapped. 

Beneath the jacket and pieces of torn leather armor was a heavy linen tunic. Julian groaned in annoyance as he fought to awkwardly shift into a squatted position. Maneuvering an unconscious man with only one good leg was practically a form of art. Or perhaps an aggravating chore. Both kids had to come and help get the heavy wet tunic off over long arms.

"Get up!" Julian roared at them. "Don't think this is over yet." His eyes trailed over to the still unconscious man, now free of the confines of all his heavy garments and belongings.

That still left one hunk of man meat to carry with only one cripple and two fucking brats.

"Let's get a move on," Julian grumbled, "we don't have all day."

The brats whined as they lugged themselves to their feet. The walk back to Julian's shack was normally not far for them but that was a whole different story with Mr. Inquisitor to drag along.

This inquisitor was heavy-bodied, built like an athlete with all compact muscle. He did not look big but he weighed about as much as an obese pony and all in dead weight. The man was damned tall too! Taller than Julian's above average height.

Julian was completely out of his damned depths. And he had to do most of the work! Some of the credit went to Lina as well, who helped support his lame right side. Freddie was supposed to carry the man's legs but instead, the kid spent the entire time complaining about the smelly feet and just let the inquisitor drag the majority of the way back.

The damned shack was even located on a little incline atop a hill that overlooked the village. The last stretch was the worst. The three fools were all left panting, drenched in sweat, and red-faced when they finally made it over the final bend of the hilltop.

All of Julian's muscles screeched at him and there was an insatiable itch that made his right leg twitch uncontrollably.

It was only after he got up the hill that he realized his home was still an absolute mess. He probably couldn’t even get the damned unconscious man through the door without cleaning a bit and moving some stuff outside first.

Julian wanted to scream.

"Why don't you two brats run along home?" he hissed at them between panting breaths.

"Boo, I'm hungry. Don't you have any food, old man?" Freddie jutted his lower lip out in an attempt to look cute. Julian only wanted to punt the shitty little brat.

“I'm also hungry. Mister Doctor is right, we should go home." Lina nodded wisely, trying her best to seem older than her young years.

"I have some water." Julian had a well all to himself up the hilltop. The two kids perked up at his words. "But only for Lina."

Lina wore a bright grin full of childish pride. "Thank you Doctor. You are the village's best Doctor." 

He was also the village's only doctor.

"Boo!" Freddie whined in protest and began stomping his foot. "That's bullying!"

Julian just rolled an eye at them and went to fetch a pail. In the end, both children drank their fill before they were about to make their way back to the village.

Before Freddie could leave, Julian grabbed the brat by the shoulder and yanked him back.

"What!?" the kid screeched and looked up, seeing Julian's outstretched hand.

"Give it."

Freddie glared. And Julian glared back. Lina huffed at her friend in impatience, "Hurry up!"

Eventually, the boy relented, his angry little face melted into a dejected one. "Okay fine…" From his pocket, he plucked out the Inquisitor's Emblem and placed it in the doctor's hand.

Julian hummed pleasantly and fixed his glasses, pushing them back up the bridge of his nose. "Good. Now off you go, little brat."

They snaked down the path from the hill, leading down to the quaint little village of Gotsven where dots of white fleece covered the fields. Julian finally let out a long sigh of relief. He could now bring his full attention to the mysterious inquisitor.

The man was still lying outside on Julian's lawn, next to his little garden of vegetables and herbs. Julian had set up a little tent to protect him from the elements and even brought out a bluestone-powered radiator from inside to keep the man warm.

Julian scoffed at himself while he set the machine up, plugging in the necessary bluestones into respective slots. If an inquisitor woke up and saw a bluestone-powered machine in front of him, there was no doubt he was going to smite the thing into ash. Julian had a feeling his home wasn’t safe either and there was a good chance he himself could be stabbed right through the heart just for helping.

But what was life without a little excitement here and there?

Julian had forgotten what excitement was like.

It had been years since the last time he tasted the thrum of adrenaline in his veins, a joie-de-vivre so vivid that it left him dizzy and lusting after the entire world. 

Confined to a life of tranquility, the echoes of thunderous excitement became nothing more than a dull memory. 

Everything mellowed out into melancholic boredom.

Perhaps it was age.

Or perhaps it was just his fate. 

Shaking his head, Julian forced himself out of his self-pitying drawl and rose to his feet.

He went inside and wove around the mess to find and retrieve his medical equipment. From ointments to hemp, an antiseptic and bluestone-powered medical tools that he designed himself.

It was going to be a long day, but at least it was a little different from his mundane routine.

After bringing out his tools and unfolding a cot for his new, mysterious patient, Julian began to remove the inquisitor’s clothes to get a better look at his wounds.

Before he knew it, Julian was working off lantern light. The day had turned dark with only twilight, the moon, and stars lighting the skies.

Julian wiped the sweat off his brows with his upper arm, finally tucking the last bit of hemp around Big Guy's muscled abdomen. Finally, the stranger’s wounds were all treated and bandaged.

The injury the man suffered on his torso was definitely the worst and most difficult to treat. The inquisitor’s circuits were damaged.

Although inquisitors were mage hunters by profession, often claiming to despise anything to do with magic, in reality, their techniques were not so different to a mage channeling mana for spells. Inquisitors as well had circuits that were used to siphon and circulate their power.

When mage circuits were fried or damaged, they were extremely difficult to repair, especially when the wound was no longer fresh. By the time Julian got his hands on this troublesome patient of his, corruption had already begun taking place. 

Julian wasn't always a doctor in life and he was relatively new to healing. However, when it came to magibiology and magic in general, he liked to believe he was something of an expert. A genius if he were to say so himself.

A proud smirk of satisfaction stretched his lips and he looked down on the bandages. He could say with confidence that at least ninety percent of this man's circuits had been repaired! Julian was amazing and deserved praise.

He also deserved a bath because he smelled like shit. The mystery man also needed a good wipe down.

Speaking of cleaning, his shack was still a damned mess and he couldn't just leave an injured person outside exposed to the elements.

Julian cursed, and his stomach responded with a loud growl.

He was going to cry.

It was already nighttime!

If only he had woken earlier and tended to things in the morning…

Alas, such was his fate. It was one that was infinitely cursed, even now that he lived a mundane life out in the middle of nowhere.