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chapter 15
I smiled brightly and held his front paw.
“I’ll need to hold the other paw too.”
“Grrr… yelp!”
The little one let out a sound that seemed to say, “Annoying!” and then plopped down in front of me, stretching out both paws.
Seeing that cute pose, I gently held his paws and sent a weaker flow of magical energy than before.
“Does it hurt?”
Since he didn’t say anything, it seemed he was fine. I carefully and slowly sent a slight amount of magic into his small body, checking his condition.
But then I noticed something odd in his hind legs. It was subtle, but poison had spread unpleasantly through them.
Startled, I withdrew some of the magic I had in Louis’s body and looked at him.
Louis looked at me with wide, round eyes.
“Louis, I need to touch your hind leg for a moment.”
Without asking for permission, I announced my intention and touched the left hind leg.
Louis yelped in shock.
“Arf-woof!”
Then he bit my wrist, glared at me sharply, and suddenly ran away.
“Ah!”
“Louis!”
Merina shouted, reaching out to catch him.
But Louis, lucky for him, slipped outside through the door left open by a servant.
He can’t run away!
I shouted to Rudels.
“We have to catch him! Right now!”
“Why are you so urgent, Iriel?”
“Louis is poisoned! And I haven’t withdrawn all my magic yet! If we don’t act immediately, it could spread worse!”
“Huh?”
Ignoring their stunned looks, I stamped my feet and ran toward the place Louis had escaped.
“Iriel!”
Rudels called after me, but I ignored him. Right now, Louis was the most important.
For beastmen, magic alone wasn’t usually a major threat. With patience, the effects would fade over time.
But for a young beastman, magic was extremely dangerous, since their resistance was weaker than an adult’s. In other words, even a small amount of magic could threaten their life.
I followed the residual magic in Louis’s body and went outside.
Louis must have run energetically because he seemed to have gone over the backyard and into a hill covered with dense trees.
“You little rascal!”
I gritted my teeth, cast a spell to increase my speed, and ran up the hill.
The cold wind stung my face, but finding the runaway pup was my priority, so I went as fast as I could.
“Louis! Where are you?”
Following the flow of magic led me to an empty space. I looked around, searching for him.
Rustle, rustle.
Grass moved to my left. I stopped and slowly turned my head.
It looked like this little white dog had used his small size to hide in the bushes, but the camouflage was poor. I couldn’t help but laugh seeing his plump white hindquarters and tail wriggling through the leaves.
If you’re going to hide, go somewhere with similar colors or a hole between the old trees.
Seeing him blatantly say, “I’m hiding right here!” I wanted to forgive him, but I couldn’t in this emergency. I kept a short distance and called him softly.
“Louis.”
“!”
Startled, he froze, tail still. I crouched down and spoke gently.
“Your hind leg hurts, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“That’s why you stayed seated the whole checkup, right? You didn’t move because it hurt. And you yelped when I touched your hind leg.”
Louis timidly lifted his head and glanced at me. His eyes reflected anxiety. With ears and tail down, he peeked at me. His gaze lingered on the wrist I’d been bitten earlier.
“Auuu…”
Whether it meant sorry or I’m scared, he gave a low whine while glancing at me. I smiled gently at him.
“Did you bite me earlier? It’s okay. I’m a healer.”
Louis hesitated, then turned his body to face me. Seeing my eyes at his level, he kept shaking off discomfort in his hind legs.
I said to him,
“You can’t feel your leg, right? It’s numb?”
“Awng?”
I smiled at those round eyes that seemed to ask, “How did you know?”
“You’re poisoned with paralytic venom. I think you got too close to a plant with it while playing outside. But it’s not old, so I can heal it quickly.”
I carefully stepped closer. Louis flinched but, fortunately, didn’t run away. He kept his ears perked and watched me closely.
I gathered my courage and asked for permission.
“Can I heal you? Nothing bad will happen. Rudels gave me permission as the healer of the Ipin family.”
I slowly extended my hand. Louis sniffed it, showing hesitation. I silently prayed he would come, gazing at him earnestly.
The white pup tilted his head and approached me slowly, wobbling because his hind legs didn’t move properly. He rubbed his face against my hand in an adorable gesture.
I barely contained my joy and lifted him into my arms.
“Keeeeng.”
“You must have been in a lot of pain, and you ran so far, huh?”
“Ung, ung, uung.”
Louis lowered his head, ears drooping. I chuckled and prepared a teleportation spell.
“I’ll teleport us. You might feel a bit dizzy, so be careful.”
“Arf! Arf!”
I cast the spell:
[Áppĕto de Árĕa]
A bright light swirled around us, and we were soon transported to the yard. Louis looked around, startled by the changing scenery. Perhaps it was the first time he’d seen magic up close.
I held him close and said,
“Let’s go inside for treatment.”
“Arghhh! Arf! Arf!”
Looking into my eyes, there was no fear, only trust. I was relieved that my plea worked.
Inside the mansion, the staff and Rudels’ family were restless, unable to stay still.
Penelope covered her mouth, pacing. She ran over as we entered.
“Louis!”
Louis froze, ears perking at his mother’s voice. Penelope’s eyes welled with tears.
“Louis! You can’t just run out like that!”
“Auuu… auu. Kkiuung.”
Louis shrank, whining nervously, realizing he had done wrong.
Penelope, her eyes misty, finally noticed me holding her youngest son and wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
“Sorry, Iriel.”
“It’s fine. I’ll take him straight to the treatment room. Is that okay?”
“Do so.”
I bowed slightly and walked briskly to the treatment room, with Rudels and Merina following silently, worry and guilt in their eyes.
I placed Louis on a patient bed and put my hands on his hind legs.
“Louis, I’m going to remove the poison from your hind leg now. It might sting a little.”
He nodded and looked at me. Feeling the gaze of his guardians behind him, he swallowed and closed his eyes.
“Then I’ll start.”
I carefully began withdrawing my magic from Louis’ body. Fortunately, only a tiny amount remained; otherwise, he might have suffered for weeks.
Once the residual magic was gone, I channeled healing magic into him. Ideally, I would identify the poison first, but there wasn’t time, so I took the risk.
Using healing magic without knowing the illness carries a risk that depends on the patient’s condition.
So far, the risk had been minor—just a few days of discomfort. The poison in Louis’ body was mild enough that at most, he’d be down for three days.
A blue light swirled around his hind leg as the healing magic continued until the poison was fully gone.
Ah… my vision is turning yellow.
After treating Louis, I collapsed. The backlash from using healing magic recklessly—without confirming the illness—hit me harder than ever.
If pain had a scale, this was about 6 out of 10.
Feels worse than treating that patient with food poisoning blindly.
Lying on my bed, I tried to breathe through the pain. When using healing magic on a strong poison, the caster absorbs part of the pain the patient endured.
