9: Home Remedy

There was a horrified expression on Sergeant Schultz's face when he walked into the barracks and saw Corporal Langenscheidt lying in his bunk with rags soaked in a pale-green fluid draped over his face. Corporal Kielholz was sitting next to him, occasionally pressing the rag over Langenscheidt's forehead.

"Corporal Kielholz," Schultz started, trying to put on a straight face. "What exactly are you doing to Corporal Langenscheidt?"

"Karl has a headache," Kielholz replied. "My brother had sent a couple of migraine potions a few weeks ago, so I decided to try them out."

"I see. Magical monkey business."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it monkey business. Potions have been in use as medicine for thousands of years."

"I am aware of that, but you are lucky Commandant Klink did not see this, or else you would be in a lot of trouble, and we do not want the Sorcery Division paying us another visit."

"Oh, I know, Sergeant. I do not want them visiting, either."

"How long does this take to work? You need to get back on duty."

"Another half-hour, if I am remembering correctly."

Schultz sighed. "Half-an-hour, and then you get back on duty." He left the barracks.

Kielholz gave a sigh of his own. He looked down at Langenscheidt, whose eyes were covered by the cloth. "Is it working at all?"

"Yes, Erich. It is surprisingly relaxing, too," Langenscheidt replied. "I am curious, though…" He lifted the cloth to look Kielholz in the eye. "Are you… Are you magic? In any way?"

Kielholz shook his head. "I would have told you if I was. Like I've said before, I grew up near a witch village. We learned a lot about magic just from interacting with them."

"Couldn't you learn magic, though?"

"Learning magic as an adult is almost impossible."

"Why is that?"

"You have to train yourself to focus. It requires a lot of mental strength. That's why it is taught almost as soon as you can hold a wand."

"I think you could pull it off if you tried."

"No. You know me very well, Karl. I am too scattered and impulsive to learn magic."

"If you set your mind to it, you would probably be very successful."

Kielholz grinned a little, but shook his head again. "I wouldn't." He didn't want to admit that it crossed his mind a few times, but no matter what, he doubted he would ever have the mental strength to be successful with magic.