To make matters worse, Cthulhy was keeping silent about Skadi’s current condition and declining any interviews. This appeared to have soured the reporters’ opinions of Cthulhy, and they mixed abusive remarks about her into article after article, writing that she was negligent as Skadi’s primary doctor and that she had a duty to explain the city council representative’s current condition.
“Sorry for always coming to you like this, Dr. Glenn,” Kunai said as Glenn sewed her wrist back together.
“No need for an apology, Miss Kunai. If anything, I should thank you for coming by when you’re so busy.”
“The city council is in such an uproar, I managed to use my medical care as an excuse to get away,” Kunai Zenow replied with a dry laugh. The flesh golem had happened to come by the clinic a little after noon, saying that the stitches on her wrist had come loose and needed to be sutured back together. She appeared as calm as ever, even when carrying her right hand completely detached from her body, but Glenn had become used to such grotesque spectacles.
Glenn was convinced that Kunai had been using her body recklessly again. Yet, he found the appearance of her detached wrist to be a little strange. It looked almost like Kunai had used all her strength to tear off her own wrist. He thought it might be that Kunai’s reason for coming had just been an excuse to escape from the Central Council Hall.
“So the city council is in turmoil, after all?” Glenn asked.
“That goes without saying. At the end of the day, the council’s representative collapsed, and although she’s been discharged, she’s still recovering. The next candidate to become the representative, Miss Aluloona, is doing her best to settle things, but the Lady Draconess’s political rivals are trying to use this as their chance to take over leadership of the council. Both sides are throwing words back and forth at each other,” Kunai replied.
“Miss Aluloona is it…? There were some rumors that she was the one behind Miss Skadi’s collapse.”
“Ridiculous. Her illness brought on the collapse, and Miss Aluloona is very close to the Lady Draconess to begin with. There isn’t a kernel of truth to the story.”
Aluloona was the head of the Aluloona Plantation. For a monster with a plant body, such as her, it really was a rumor without a “kernel” of truth, Glenn thought.
“Is it all right for you to be away from Miss Skadi’s side, Miss Kunai?” Glenn asked.
“I made sure to ask that of the Lady Draconess myself, but she told me that staying by her side while my wrist was detached from my arm was depressing to look at, and ordered me to come here. There wasn’t anything I could do but follow her wishes,” replied Kunai. Glenn thought the combination of being unable to stay at her master’s side and not belonging in the city council was what had really brought her to be treated.
“…However, all of that is actually just a front,” continued Kunai.
“A front?”
“That’s right—well—I wasn’t lying about my hand being separated, but besides that… I wanted to talk to you.”
In a corner of the clinic, Sapphee’s tail trembled with a jolt. She hadn’t paid much attention to Kunai when she entered the clinic, but her hands had stopped grinding down medicinal herbs, and it seemed to Glenn that she was listening closely to their conversation.
“By ‘wanted to talk to me,’ you mean…” Glenn began.
“Of course, it’s about the Lady Draconess.” Kunai nodded solemnly. Sapphee returned to making her medicine. Glenn wasn’t sure what she’d misunderstood, but he wondered if something had stirred up her jealousy again. “Have you heard anything about the Lady Draconess’s illness or treatment? You are Dr. Cthulhy’s disciple, after all.”
“My mentor didn’t seem to want to discuss it at all,” Glenn said. “I don’t know anything specific either.”
“I had thought as much,” Kunai continued. Glenn’s hands never stopped their sewing, all the while. He wondered exactly how many times he had sewed Kunai’s body together now. He had become completely accustomed to it.
“The Lady Draconess has a serious disease. I’m sure you understand that much?” Kunai asked.
“Yes, of course,” Glenn replied.
“Yet, the Lady Draconess shows no interest in being cured and says that she doesn’t need to treat it. Dr. Cthulhy agrees as well… Or rather, I should say, she’s simply respecting her patient’s wishes. As such, there aren’t any plans for the Lady Draconess to be admitted again or to go to the hospital for regular treatment,” Kunai said, biting her lip, sure of the fact that things shouldn’t be left as they were.
“The paper is reporting whatever it wants,” Glenn said. “Saying that my mentor is negligent, that she has no passion for medicine, that she’s ignoring the disease and isn’t explaining anything to the people of the city.”
“Of course,” Kunai replied, “I don’t take everything that comes out in the newspapers to be true. It is the Lady Draconess’s will that she not receive treatment, after all.”
Now that Glenn thought about it, something similar had happened before. The centaur Tisalia’s shoeing. Cthulhy was aware of the fact that Tisalia hadn’t been shod, but she didn’t suggest it or treat Tisalia herself. Cthulhy didn’t approve of becoming excessively involved with one’s own patients. Glenn was sure that this case with Skadi was no different.
“I must say that it’s likely that my mentor will not go against Skadi’s wishes and treat her. That’s her way of practicing medicine,” said Glenn.
“…Despite you two being teacher and student, your way of doing this is quite different, isn’t it?” replied Kunai.
“All that I was taught was medicinal techniques and knowledge. My mentor’s true calling is to be a scholar. I’ve heard it was Skadi’s strong urging that caused her to become the hospital director here in Lindworm.”
“Those two are very old friends,” replied Kunai. Glenn thought that there was probably something shared between the two of them that none of them would ever understand.
“However!” Kunai exclaimed, tightly clenching her fist as soon as Glenn finished stitching. Practically hearing the strained sound of the threads, he was afraid that the hand he had just reconnected would immediately come undone again.
“Even if that is the case, I can’t just stand helplessly by and watch this life-threatening illness get worse! The Lady Draconess showed me kindness in picking me to be at her side. I can’t sit by silently as she suffers. Even if it meant, for example, that I was going against her wishes!”
“I thought you’d say something like that, Miss Kunai,” replied Glenn. He knew there was no way that Skadi’s bodyguard wouldn’t do anything in the face of her master’s illness. And Glenn had a similar line of thinking. Setting aside the fact that Cthulhy had been his teacher—Glenn was a nosy and meddlesome doctor.
“So that’s the real reason you’ve come to our clinic today, then?” Glenn asked.
“I’m glad you’re so quick to catch on. I wanted to ask you to treat the Lady Draconess, Dr. Glenn. I can pay whatever you ask,” answered Kunai.
Quite the rich offering, Glenn thought to himself. He wondered if being a bodyguard was really so lucrative. But Kunai was in a high enough position to have people working under her. It was only natural her pay would be different from that of a normal guard.
Glenn had heard that since Kunai was a corpse, she didn’t even need food. As such, he imagined the money she spent on daily expenses was probably inconsequential and that her personal wealth must reflect that.
“I assume you know why I am asking you to treat her. Although you might end up infringing on Dr. Cthulhy’s work…” continued Kunai.
“She isn’t the type to fuss over that stuff,” Glenn replied. Cthulhy was absolutely not lazy. However, she didn’t spread her tentacles any wider than she had to. She had absolutely no initiative. Glenn thought that if anything, she would thank him for taking on her work for her. “Now, then… First, I’ll need to examine her.”
/> “Of course. That being said, it will be impossible to have the Lady Draconess visit here. She has no intention of receiving any medical examination. Thus, I’m going to have to ask you to go to her, Dr. Glenn.”
“That won’t be an issue,” Glenn replied. This wouldn’t be the first time he saw a patient that had no interest in his examination. It took a long time to convince Illy to let him see her when he visited the harpy village.
“At any rate, I’ve mapped out a plan,” Kunai said. “You could just visit the Lady Draconess’s chambers at the Council Hall.” At these words, there arose a clatter of something being dropped.
“D-did you say…her chambers?! ” cried Sapphee. She appeared to have dropped the mortar she was using for her work. In an instant, she stretched up nearly to the ceiling, poised like a cobra ready to strike. The sense of intimidation she gave off from this position was extraordinary. “Hold on just a second! Dr. Glenn sneaking into a lady’s room, you said…?!”
“If they went somewhere else, they’d risk being seen,” Kunai replied. “If the convalescent Lady Draconess and the town doctor are discovered meeting, there will be more groundless gossip in the papers. Her chambers are the best place to avoid any prying eyes.”
“Th-that may be so, but…” Sapphee stuttered. Glenn wondered exactly what in the world the flustered Sapphee was imagining.
“On top of that,” Kunai added, “it would be better for the examination if the Lady Draconess was lightly dressed, correct? Anywhere else and she would have a hard time taking off her usual robe and veil.”
“So Glenn’s going to stealthily sneak into Skadi’s chambers and have her strip all the clothes off her youthful body?! N-no—it’s just an examination… It’s just an examination, right? Right, Doctor?!” Sapphee said, frantic for reasons unknown to Glenn. But the way she put it, he had to admit it did sound indecent.
“You don’t have to worry—it’s just work,” Glenn replied. “I’ve made plenty of house calls for other patients before, right?”
“R-right. An examination… This is just an examination…” said Sapphee.
It was just a simple house call—or at least that was what Glenn had assumed. But, as Sapphee had said, sneaking off in the middle of the night to give an examination was scandalous in itself.
“I’ll say this up front. I want you to be prepared,” Kunai said with a serious expression, apparently not having paid any attention to Sapphee’s panic. “I’m sure you’ll be looking at the Lady Draconess’s heart, but that thing is beyond my imagination. It’s hard to explain… No, I can give an explanation, but I have no idea how it happened.”
For Kunai, a flesh golem created from piecing together different corpses, to say all of that—Glenn wondered exactly what kind of disease Skadi suffered from. Judging from the way Kunai spoke, it seemed he would understand as soon as he saw it. This convinced him that the reason Skadi always covered herself with a veil and robe was to hide her illness.
However, there was one thing above all else that lay on Glenn’s mind—the way Kunai had said, “ when you see her heart .” The heart was concealed behind the rib cage, not visible from outside the body. Yet, the way Kunai spoke almost seemed to suggest she had cut open Skadi’s chest and looked directly at her heart.
Glenn shook his head—he had to be overthinking things.
“Dr. Glenn, please. I’m begging you.” The faithful bodyguard bowed her head deeply and pleaded with Glenn. He had absolutely no objections and immediately accepted her request. Afterward, Sapphee mumbled to herself about whether Glenn was actually going to examine her, or whether this was some kind of lover’s tryst, but Glenn set all that aside for the time being.
And yet, he wondered if Skadi’s disease might be much, much stranger than he could even imagine. He couldn’t stop those thoughts from creeping into his head.
He asked himself what he would do if the disease proved too much for him to handle. It was a possibility he needed to consider.
***
The night of the house call came quickly. Only a few days had passed when Kunai came to visit Glenn at the clinic after he had finished his work for the day. She took both Glenn and Sapphee outside and headed toward the Council Hall.
The hall naturally only had a few people around it at night, and its small security team consisted entirely of Kunai’s colleagues and subordinates. It wasn’t difficult to convince them of the situation.
What worried Kunai was the possibility of a scandal involving Skadi. She was cautious of any more half-baked articles being written in the city paper and used by Skadi’s political rivals. But being seen a little by the security force at the Council Hall wouldn’t cause any problems. None of the security team bore any ill will toward Skadi.
Actually, not only did the stationed security team not reprimand them when they came across them, they all nodded as if to say they were aware of everything, which told Glenn just how thorough Kunai’s preparations had been.
He had come to the Council Hall once before. A colossal building built out of stone, it was comparable in scale to the arena, and was one of Lindworm’s prominent historical buildings. It looked rough from the outside, and though there were a few statutes and engravings decorating it, it was a facility fundamentally devoted to its practical purposes.
Entering from the front, one immediately saw the large assembly hall, where the council discussed matters of importance to the city every day. This time, however, Glenn and the others entered through the back. That way, they were directly connected to Skadi’s chambers, Kunai’s room, and the guest room that was used to house dignitaries from outside of Lindworm. Previously, when Sapphee had been attacked by a slave trader’s poisoned blade, she had borrowed that room to rest and recover.
The moon was dazzlingly bright. Lindworm was famous for its bright full moons, but tonight’s was especially bright. Glenn could clearly see Kunai’s face in the corridor of the Council Hall without the help of any illumination. The window had been made large to keep the stone hall well lit, which let them walk through the building without any difficulty.
“Here we are,” Kunai whispered. “These are the Lady Draconess’s chambers.” Glenn thought the whispering must have been out of consideration for Skadi. “Someone might come if it gets too loud, and the Lady Draconess hates to be fussed over. I ask that Dr. Glenn be the only one to go in.”
“I-I will go, too,” Sapphee declared. “Dr. Glenn doesn’t show enough consideration when examining female patients, so another female should be there!” She had absolutely no trust in Glenn. But given how many times he had made a mistake when examining his female patients, there wasn’t anything Glenn could say to defend himself.
“Sorry,” Kunai replied, “but please bear with it. A whole crowd running in would put an unnecessary burden on the Lady Draconess.”
“B-but… I guess that’s how it has to be…” Sapphee replied.
Glenn thought there hadn’t been any need for Sapphee to tag along on a house visit to begin with—but it seemed that no matter what she was told, Sapphee was worried that something beyond the examination was going to happen.
“Now, of course…” Kunai began, a flash appearing in her eye. Glenn was sure her eyeballs had also been taken from a corpse, but he felt the insight housed in those dead eyes was several times stronger than those of the living. “I don’t believe that there is even the slightest chance of this being an issue, but if I think that anything has happened to the Lady Draconess, I’m going to rush in there. Don’t think about trying to do anything audacious, Doctor.”
In the end, it appeared that Kunai had been thinking something similar to Sapphee.
“I’m not thinking about that stuff at all… Why are you being so cautious?” Glenn replied.
“Oh? Did you forget about what happened when you stitched up my leg?” said Kunai.
“Ah,” Glenn replied, in realization.
“O-of course, I’m fully aware that in my case, it was just part
of my treatment, but… Well, um, while that may be true, it’ll be a problem if you do the same to the Lady Draconess as you did back then… How should I say it… Hmph, well, she is a dignitary, so give her the appropriate amount of consideration, that’s all,” stammered Kunai.
“U-understood. I’ll be careful,” replied Glenn.
“I-I’m counting on you,” said Kunai.
Glenn thought the care he had once given to Kunai must have been humiliating for her. At long last, he was able to understand the cause of her anxiety on the matter. Having not been there at the time, Sapphee looked puzzled, wondering what the two were talking about.
“Okay then, please head inside,” said Kunai.
“Pardon me,” Glenn said. As soon as he went inside, the door shut behind him, but he could still feel the presence of Sapphee holding her breath and Kunai with her ears at attention. It seemed the two of them were still worried after all.
The inside of the room was so bright that it was hard to think that it was still nighttime, thanks to the moonlight streaming into the room from the large window. Due to the especially bright moon that night, Glenn was able to see the canopy bed in the middle of the room, as well as the design on the lace curtains surrounding it.
“Miss Skadi,” said Glenn.
“…………”
In the middle of the moonlight there stood a young girl. Wrapped in her nightclothes, the dragon woman truly had the appearance of a young girl no more than ten years old. Glenn thought this was probably his first time seeing Skadi without her robe on. The slender dragon looked in danger of collapsing in a stiff breeze—so much so that it was impossible to imagine she was a being of such colossal power. Except for her horns reaching up to the heavens and the tail extending behind her—these two traits conveyed that this immature child did indeed conceal within herself the power of a dragon.
Skadi’s nightclothes were so thin they were almost transparent. They were well made, and Glenn thought perhaps they were the product of Loose Silk Sewing, where Arahnia worked. It had a flowing design similar to her robe that made Glenn think that loose clothing was a preference of hers.
Monster Girl Doctor Vol. 3 Page 5
