Edited by Iseul

Julian made sure to be careful, his touch feathering as he slowly peeled the bandages off Leonel’s body. The doctor didn’t miss the sharp intake of breath, abs tensing just slightly beneath his fingertips.

Julian frowned. “Is it painful?” he asked, slowing down his movements when the hemp got stuck to sticky flakes of flesh.

“I’m fine.” Leonel stilled his expression and even out his breathing. His pain tolerance was a lot higher than normal. This was no more than an annoying itch, he told himself. 

But the skin underneath the bandages was deep purple and blue, veins popping around the wound, feverish to the touch.

Julian cursed, wondering just how he allowed things to reach this stage under his watch. But to be fair, circuit corruption was extremely painful and for Leonel to go around the entire day like it was any other day was a feat to be applauded. However, that also meant that Julian had no clues or signs that Leonel’s condition could have worsened. 

“This must be due to the anti-mana…” Julian muttered to himself. His palm hovered just above the wound, attempting to feel the corruption’s aura. If Leonel had been a mage, there wouldn’t have been a problem after Julian’s earlier treatment. Alas, it was difficult to account for anti-mana. Julian didn’t have many opportunities to work on inquisitors before.

Leonel hissed, his nails clawing into the sheets beneath him. “The what?”

“Your anti-mana interacted strangely with the spell that injured you. That’s what caused this corruption,” Julian rambled while he continued to inspect the wound. He'd seen many cases of circuit corruption in mages, but this was the first time being up and personal with one on an inquisitor. Curiosity blossomed with child-like wonder. If Julian had the time, he would fill at least three journals of notes on this phenomenon.

Alas, he could only make surface-level speculations for now. It didn’t help that his own mana perception wasn’t nearly as good as it once had been.

In reality, inquisitors were simply dormant mages that had their mana converted into anti-mana through alchemy and ritual. To Julian, this process was magic like any other magical study that existed. However, the Divine Light had a different perspective on the matter, for they did not classify inquisitors as mages.

Julian was pulled out of his thoughts with a disgruntled hiss. “How does…that even happen?” Leonel grumbled, clearly displeased.

“Indeed.” Julian could feel the heat radiating off the wound. He was tempted to cool it with a spell. “I wonder as well. Under normal circumstances, your anti-mana should completely cancel out the mana. It shouldn’t have affected your circuits. For this to happen, your circuits must have been active at the same time as when you got injured. But I find it very unbelievable that you couldn’t protect yourself from this low-leveled spell even with your anti-mana active at the time. How curious. Makes one wonder.”

“…Just fix it.”

Suddenly, the doctor was struck with reckless inspiration. Slowly, he smirked. “Are you certain, my boy? I can try purging the corruption but it will hurt, you know?”

Without batting a lash, Leonel held Julian’s gaze and said, “Do it.”

Quiet, unsaid words passed between them. Julian couldn’t help but let out a breath of laughter. “For an inquisitor, you’re quite absurd.”

Only mages could purge corruption using magic. Julian reasoned he might as well chance an admittance of his magic-bearing talents. Leonel had shown plenty of tolerance and nonchalance towards magic. And even if he were to suddenly turn hostile, Julian reasoned that he could subdue the inquisitor easily enough, so long as he aimed for the corrupted flesh.

Leonel didn’t take kindly to Julian’s remark. He made a face of avid distaste, thinking about all of his psychotic colleagues. “Absurd? Have you met other inquisitors?” 

“Frankly, no. And I’m not so sure if I want to.” Julian rummaged through his doctor’s supplies and pulled out a wooden bit.

The inquisitor glared at the thing but eventually conceded, taking the bit and placing it between his teeth. Hurry," his voice was a little muffled from behind the piece of wood.

"Alright big guy. But I'm going to tie you down first." Julian grinned menacingly, finding cloth and rope amid his supplies. 

Leonel glowered but ultimately nodded. The inquisitor was miffed by Julian’s pleasant expression that he wore while tying Leonel down to the cot. 

This was poetic justice! A part of Julian mused about teasing his guest with excessive ropework around his sensitive areas—

Alas, he was caught in a working mindset and only did what was necessary. If anything, Julian added a few extra loops simply because he was taking the inquisitor’s strength into consideration. Once everything was tight and secure, he made Leonel test his bounds.

“Is that alright?”

Again, Leonel nodded.

Julian hummed and turned his attention back to the ugly wound spreading across Leonel's stomach. "Good boy," he said as though speaking to Dog, which earned him an annoyed grunt. 

The doctor stretched out his hand once more, hovering about the wound. “I’ll begin now. Do hold tight.” Julian drew in a breath, focusing on the pulse within his weak mage circuits. A blue glow erupted from his palm, both warm and soothing. 

There was a time when Julian could purge corruption in his sleep but now he found himself gritting his teeth. The mana within his scarred circuits was stretched thin but he ceaselessly gathered his power nonetheless. Little tendrils of blue light reached into Leonel’s abdomen.

The inquisitor jolted from the sensation, the pain taking him by surprise. It was sharp, fire-hot. Refusing to cry out, he bit down, eyes screwed shut and fingers curling into the sheets below.

Julian inhaled through his nose and focused on his spell, carefully weeding out the bits of corruption and burning it with his mana.

Sweat beaded on Leonel's brow, it felt like his veins were being extracted from his body with a sharp scalpel, his blood turned into fire. Each breath drew in sharp pain, making his brain spot with white. He was pulling at the restraints, a muffled cry escaped without his consent. Leonel's mind was so saturated with agony that he couldn't even recognize his own voice.

Julian ignored Leonel’s thrashing and focused only on the corruption that littered Leonel’s body. The doctor clenched his jaw and hissed, "stop moving around!"  But he already knew that Leonel's mind was lost in deafening pain at this point.

Mana strained, his circuits exhausted, and soon Julian was out of breath, panting as though he'd been climbing a mountain. But he hadn't. And was only cleansing minor corruption. Absently, he wondered if he should have used a bluestone for added assistance. The thought didn’t cross his mind, in the past, he’d be able to cleanse corruption without even batting a lash.

Drained of the last drop of mana, Julian dropped his arm in exhaustion. He let out a long, tired sigh. Adjusting his glasses he took a good look at his work. A smile stretched his lips. The brunt of the corruption had burned away, leaving only small bits that Leonel could probably heal on his own.

Pleased, the doctor slapped that big muscled thigh and reached down for a knife to free Leone from his restraints. “Okay, son, it’s all done and good! You'll be as fresh as new in no time. That wasn’t so bad, right?” That last bit came with an added snicker. But it went unheard. While Julian cut into the rope, he realized that Leonel was unresponsive.

He paused, inspecting the young man's state. Leonel was breathing, which was good, just passed out from the pain. Julian removed the bit still wedged between the inquisitor's teeth and scowled at the string of drool before setting it aside. 

Raven hair matted against a glossy, sweat-soaked face. Leonel needed to be wiped down. Julian was feeling exceptionally charitable, so went and retrieved some cloth to clean Leonel from his own, dewy sweat. 

For a moment, Julian lamented not keeping the inquisitor tied up and strapped in, as revenge for the stunt that he pulled on the doctor. Julian snickered at the thought, privately chiding himself for the missed opportunity.

Oh well. At least he was in the cot and Julian can have his hammock back.

While getting up, Julian noticed that his right arm had become bloody again. The spell had ripped open the wounds from this morning. Great. He had to change the bandages already. Clicking his tongue in frustration, Julian was ready to storm off. 

But he was stopped in his tracks, his shirt caught on something that held him back.

Julian looked behind him, horrified to see that Leonel had grabbed ahold of his shirt. 

…Was this some kind of joke?

"...Look, I know that I'm absolutely irresistible to you, young lads, however, I haven't the time nor mind to solely entertain your whims. Release me! I have things to tend to."

Instead of being released, Julian was roughly yanked backward. An embarrassing squeak left his lips as he fell struggling to maintain enough balance. Julian didn’t want to fall atop of the stomach that he had just worked so hard to heal! But his awkward flailing was how his ass met the edge of the cot’s wooden frame.

A pained curse expelled from his lips, but even then Julian couldn’t get up! The damned inquisitor kept pulling him down until he was sprawled right on top of a wide muscled chest.

“You…!” Julian was going to lose his mind. “I should have left you tied up. No, I should have told those brats you were dead in the forest and left you there to rot!" He spat and wiggled but Leonel's grasp was iron. "How dare you treat me like this?"

Dark lashes fluttered. Slowly, blue eyes opened to peer upon him. They were half-lidded and bore none of the sharpness that Julian was used to. This…this bastard wasn’t even fully awake nor aware of what was going on! Leonel was in a half-conscious state, moving languidly as though in a dream.

But even then, he was stupidly strong! And now Julian didn't have a sliver of mana left to defend himself with.

What was he supposed to do now!?