The Lunatic's Muse (2)
Josh ultimately decided to remain on Dunbrook Island. Something about refusing to compromise his artistic soul. Burning with enthusiasm, he declared he would create the perfect promotional outfit for Patrick and turned to Oren with a request.
“The more deeply one understands the subject, the better the inspiration flows. I wish to stay on this island and observe the wizard. Would that be acceptable?”
“Hmm… It might be fine. We’ll be busy for a while anyway—buying herbs in bulk, finding workers. My head will be spinning.”
“Then I’ll take that as permission!”
And so it was settled. Josh claimed he needed to watch Patrick’s every movement to truly understand him. Laughable. Artistic soul, my foot.
Patrick’s reaction, of course, was ice-cold. He knew nothing about art to begin with, so talk of artistic souls and inspiration left him utterly unmoved. To him, Josh staying on the island simply meant an extra CCTV camera had been installed. Nothing but a nuisance.
“I’m sorry, Village Chief. It seems I’ve suddenly burdened you with extra baggage…”
“Hoho, not at all. After everything Oren has done for Dunbrook Island, how could this possibly be a burden?”
Oren gave an awkward laugh, but the Village Chief waved it off with his usual warm chuckle.
“Still, you must charge him for lodging, Chief. We don’t even know how long he’ll stay.”
“W-well… inspiration is a fickle thing, you see…”
Josh looked flustered by Patrick’s jab, but he showed no sign of backing down. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he clung to his principles.
“It’s hardly a problem to set one more spoon at our family table, haha!”
“That’s exactly why people say ‘houseguests are a burden.’ These things must be settled precisely, or feelings get hurt.”
“The wizard is right, Village Chief. The cost of the tailor’s stay will be covered by our merchant group. Please send us the bill later. It would put our minds at ease as well.”
“Haha, well now…”
In the end, the Village Chief secured a bit of extra income. Patrick turned away, snickering at having successfully exacted a small revenge on Oren for dumping the problem on them.
“Anyway, you have to keep your promise.”
“……!”
“You can finish the pajamas by tomorrow, right?”
Josh swallowed hard and gave a reluctant nod as his muse demanded new clothes like someone picking up a pre-ordered item.
Pajamas with no pattern or decoration at all!
It wasn’t as if only flashy, intricate designs were beautiful. Yet Josh’s genius kept whispering to him: This man would shine all the brighter the more extravagant the outfit.
Oh gods, why must you test me so?
Suppressing the urge to adorn the garment with colorful fabrics and frills, Josh’s hands moved diligently across the pattern paper.
The chance will come! For now I must make these plain pajamas and work pants… but soon I’ll dress my muse in my masterpiece—the one I’ve dreamed of!
The more Josh’s eyes gleamed, the greater Patrick’s discomfort grew.
Why does he have to stare at people like that? It’s so unsettling.
A new blemish had appeared on his peaceful island life.
***
“You don’t feel like laying eggs because it’s hot, huh?”
Patrick, who had skipped breakfast and stepped outside on an empty stomach, began his day by tending to the animals. The chickens had already grown to eight. He had deliberately left some eggs to hatch.
—Want to trade chickens with us?
—Trade? Sounds good!
Once the chicks grew a little, he would take them down to the village and swap them for other chickens.
There’s only one rooster. Inbreeding won’t do.
If something went wrong with the eggs he ate, that would be a disaster. Absolutely not.
—If you raise a chick and it turns out to be a rooster, bring it to me. I’ll take care of it for you.
—Really?
—Of course!
The villagers, knowing their gentle teacher couldn’t bring himself to slaughter a chicken, had made the offer. Yet Patrick had never once taken a chicken home himself.
Raising them just to eat them feels wrong.
In the end, they settled on him simply collecting eggs. When he craved meat, he would trade the eggs with the villagers instead. He had no major complaints.
“Tsk. But if they stop laying like this, we’ve got a problem. I need thirty eggs to trade for one chicken.”
After threatening them to do their job properly, he moved on to the goats.
Me-eh—
“Alright, let’s see—plenty of hay eaten. I’ll change it for fresh.”
He replaced the bedding and cleaned the floor with practiced ease, then milked the goats. Today he planned to drink the milk plain after boiling it.
It’s so hot. I don’t feel like cooking anything.
Homemade cheese tasted wonderful, but the process required patience. Since he wasn’t yet used to it, making cheese would eat up his entire morning. The heat had already killed his appetite, so cheese-making was sealed away for the time being.
It was an ordinary day, except for one difference.
“Wizard, shouldn’t you have your meal soon?”
“……You’re still there?”
“P-please don’t mind me! As I said yesterday, just go about your day as usual. I’ll stay quiet! Well-behaved! And keep my distance so I don’t disturb you.”
His living CCTV was still following him around.
Damn it.
Telling him not to mind was useless. How could he not notice a hulking man occasionally blushing while staring at him? If not for the sketchbook constantly in his hands, Patrick would have found the sticky gaze offensive enough to warrant a slap.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Why do you care about my meals?”
“Well, people often reveal their true selves while eating, so……”
“You.”
“Yes?”
“Stop blushing.”
“……I can’t really control that…… I-I’ll try my best!”
Patrick felt a headache coming on that hadn’t been there before.
Trickle—
The heat was already intense by morning. He had no desire to light a fire just to cook breakfast in this weather. He quickly warmed some milk, mixed it into the coffee he had set aside earlier, and made a makeshift iced latte, then sliced some fruit.
“Ice!”
Crackle—
Magic had become second nature. Even without ice cubes, chilling a single drink was effortless.
“Mmm—nice.”
Sitting on the wooden platform, sipping coffee and popping tart blueberries into his mouth, the heat seemed to ease a little.
“Hey, want some too?”
A full stomach always improved one’s mood. He called out to Josh, who was probably hiding somewhere in the bushes watching him.
“I-I’m fine! The Village Chief served me a hearty stew with plenty of meat and two large grilled fish this morning!”
“Son of a—”
The curse slipped out before he could stop it. Why was that guy eating better than him?
I want to board somewhere too instead of living alone.
Even while living in exile, Patrick’s dreams were grand.
Meanwhile, Josh’s arm never rested. Every gesture and expression the wizard made became a wellspring of inspiration. He sketched the human form nonstop, layering clothing ideas over the drawings and scribbling notes about fabrics, patterns, and concepts in the margins.
Oren’s request was…… to make the outfit that suits Patrick best, wasn’t it?
With such a naturally good physique, anything would look decent on him. To ordinary eyes, it might not seem like a difficult commission. But Josh’s instincts told him otherwise.
This won’t be easy.
Being able to wear anything well also meant it was that much harder to find the single outfit that suited him best.
***
Having nearly finished his meal, Patrick dragged his feet toward the fields.
“Maybe I took on too much after all?”
A farmer’s day was never as leisurely as it seemed. Especially under the summer sun after rain, crops grew visibly by the hour and problems appeared overnight. One couldn’t afford to look away even for a moment.
Today’s task was tending to the fruit trees.
“I wouldn’t have known about pruning if someone hadn’t told me……”
A villager who had come to share some newly made glass jars had taken one look at Patrick’s fruit trees and offered advice.
—Teacher, those fruit trees need pruning.
—Pruning?
—If you leave them like that, there won’t be enough airflow. More importantly, the nutrients get spread too thin and the fruit will suffer.
—I thought more branches meant more fruit……
—Haha. Just because you have lots of children doesn’t mean they all turn out well, does it?
What was that? It felt like he had just heard a profound truth about life.
At any rate, today’s job was pruning.
Snap—
“Whoa!”
The pruning shears he had borrowed from the village workshop looked positively menacing. The thick, blade-like jaws gleamed in the sunlight as though they could sever a neck just as easily as a branch.
“Teacher!”
“We’re here!”
“Kyahaha!”
The children appeared, as punctual as ever.
“Want help?”
“No. It’s dangerous. Go play over there.”
“We’ll help.”
“I said no. If you’re bored, pull some weeds. And you—did you finish all your studying? You have an exam coming up.”
“I already memorized everything?”
“Memorizing isn’t the point. You have to understand it. Understand!”
After the usual brief squabble with Ben, Patrick focused on his work. With a grave expression, as though he had spent his entire life tending trees, he began cutting branches.
Snap, snap, snap.
Time passed. When the children—who had dutifully studied, practiced arithmetic, and even read history books—came looking for him, they were met with an unexpected sight.
“Is that really our teacher?”
“I thought he’d be slacking off……”
Even after a long while, he was still standing there, wielding shears half the size of his own torso and trimming branches.
“……It does look like our teacher.”
“Huh?”
Ben sighed as if to say “as expected” and dashed over.
“Why are you cutting them down to the size of fingernails? That defeats the whole purpose of pruning! You have to cut them this much at once!”
“You barbarian! Get away from my cherry tree!”
“What did you say!”
Just then, Josh shouted.
“I-I found it! Inspiration has struck!”
……?
Josh, who had been crouching among the bushes as if in camouflage, suddenly thrust both arms skyward. With eyes gleaming with madness, he stared at Patrick for a moment before bolting toward the village, as though terrified he might forget the inspiration if he lingered even a second longer.
***
Two days later, at midday.
Oren, who had returned to the island after only a few days away, had brought a painter with him.
“Haha. I thought it might take a month since he said finding inspiration could take time.”
“It’s fortunate things went well. Hoho.”
“I received a letter saying the clothes are already finished. Have you seen them yet, Village Chief?”
“Not yet. Come along. He says he’s ready to reveal them now.”
People began gathering in the square for an event rarely seen in the island village.