STABLE BOY ; Trash of the Count's Family

43. SHARE THE BURDEN

"What did you do, Stable boy?"

South will be honest, he didn't expect the interrogation. Or the dragon-dive wake up call. He isn't complaining about the second one, but Cale looked like he was in a bad mood.

"Uhm. I'm sorry Young Master, I don't think I recall...?"

Did South do anything that would annoy Cale?

"I stopped the horses last night when they panicked due to the explosions," South said. "So I got a little bit hurt, but I haven't done anything since."

Cale frowns.

"Then why did I feel a sudden tremor around my heart last time, around the time of the explosions?" he demanded. "My Ancient Power quelled it immediately, but it was a surprise. And could have been a distraction. I don't need you to tell me why or how you did it, I would just want a warning of what the hell that was. Didn't you say you could only send wounds back and forth?"

South blinked in surprise at that.

Right... wait, how?

"Oh I... oh," South clutched at his chest, where the shield tattoo was. "I'm sorry Young Master. I didn't expect this."

South had never gotten another tattoo at his heart before. The more lethal the tattoo's location, the deeper the connection. What he did yesterday should have only affected the bonds in his line of sight, but perhaps a heart bond would surpass that rule.

"I'm sorry Young Master," he repeated himself. "To stop the horses yesterday, I sent a mild wave of my phantom pains to them for a second. Some must have reached you."

The face Cale made then was one of baffled horror.

"The chronic pain you're feeling now? That's what it was?"

South nodded, but he was frantic. How could he have harmed the Young Master?? "Yes, the potion is wearing off slightly, but it's not as bad as during the journey here. And I only opened it for a second, I promise—"

Cale stopped him. "Stable boy. I will need you to reevaluate what a muscle sore is. That was not it."

"Whuh." South was so taken aback he didn't know how to respond. As an illiterate this was the first time someone actually criticised his ability to articulate anything, much less something he was so familiar to as pain.

"Muscle pains are like... bad papercuts," Cale tried to describe. "That was like getting stitches without anesthesia, at least. Everywhere."

South was impressed by how Cale, too, was also marvellously bad at articulating pain.

Cale didn't falter, like he didn't say something objectively silly. "And go call Hans to get you another one of those potions, I don't care how, tell him to get it right now."

Now South wrung back into reality. "Whuhhhh Young Master no! No! Wasn't it terrifyingly expensive?!"

"Hans!" Cale called, and the butler spun around so quickly from the cats.

"Yes Young Master?!" Hans scampered over.

South was clutching at Cale's sleeve. "Young Master, NO! PLEASE! I SAID I'M SORRY! SPARE ME!"

-

South found himself helping the merchants the next morning, by no fault of his own.

"One year's pay for two painless days..." he mourns, swinging the potion bottle lightly in his hands, "another universe, another government putting a price on medical necessities so more people will live in hospitals just to die from debt. Just great."

South downed the rest of it and felt the effects almost immediately.

He sighed in relief.

Alright, he slept the whole day yesterday, and apparently the young master destroyed some whirlpools, picked up some insanely pretty guests, and got hurt in the process.

"Careful! Hey, watch out!"

South caught sight of the men lifting cargo up the next ship— the string had broken for some of the heavier crates they were levering up— it was quite high, and the person below stumbled over the ropes as he was trying to get away.

Oh dear, if those fell it would be death.

With a sigh, South rushed forward, knowing that he could grab that guy and pull him out of the way— but the rational stable hand in his also knew that whatever was in that heavy crate, even if it were just food for the journey— all the workers here may lose their job if it shatters.

He reached for the fallen person first.

And then he saw the shadow coming for them— and decided against wrenchign the guy away. Instead, South raised both his arms and—

—together with Toonka, he caught the entire pallet of cargo firmly on four corners.

South stumbled slightly to shift his grip, but it was a light 'oop' rather than a troubled adjustment. He had to hold it higher than Toonka because of his height, but his eyes were wide as Toonka's as they stared at each other, bewildered.

"Ah—" the man under them gaped in impressed surprise, "thank... you?"

"Yes," South, still holding the thing up, turned to him, "could you show us where we should put this, sir—"

"Scram!" Toonka snarled, and the man yelped, hurrying to his feet and running away like his life depended on it.

South set the thing down as Toonka did, dusting his hands. Good thing the potion healed his hand wound, because that pressure would have reopened it.

"You..."

When Toonka spoke at him, South felt alarmed. He didn't know anything about this guy except he's kind of barbaric and he's a tyrant?? Or something. Either way, if Cale didn't want to get involved with him in the story, South definitely shouldn't either.

"You smell... weird," his nose wrinkled like he was sensing some stench, "you're strong, but the strength doesn't feel like yours... Decent. You're Decently Strong, but your body doesn't seem like it. Your body feels like it's crumbling, and yet..."

South's breath held.

Could he...?

A hand came between them.

"Bob," Cale interrupted, "are you not in a hurry to leave?"

Toonka diverted his attention to Cale. "Ah, yes!" He brightened up, because clearly, he liked things that were nice and simply fun to understand, rather than a mess of contradictions that was South. "I'll get this up, this is the last thing."

He hefted up the pallet of cargo on a shoulder, and climbed up the ladder to set it down at the center of the ship. The quartermaster called for coopers to put it away, and soon, they were ready to set off.

As they left, Toonka gave South a skeptical glance again, but didn't say anything.

South sighed in relief, hiding behind Cale's figure until Toonka was far out into the sea.

"Never go near him like that again, you're attracting his attention in the one exact way you can— your strength. That makes no sense," Cale began, almost a little annoyed as he began walking. "Have you ever heard of stranger danger, Stable Boy?"