Monster Girl Doctor Vol. 3

by Yoshino Origuchi

  “Ah… I see. You’re as clever as ever, Sapphee,” Tisalia replied.

  Arahnia had listened attentively to my description of the old story I had found (it had been called yamata-something-or-other) and to the idea that the story had given me.

  “There’s the story of this snake in the east, called ‘uwabami,’ that’s supposed to like alcohol as well. Although, snakes and dragons might not react the same way…” said Arahnia.

  “If it’s from the east, then that means there’s a chance it’s a subspecies of the dragon. I’ll have to look it up,” I replied. I was fairly certain that Arahnia was somewhat knowledgeable about the eastern edge of the humans’ territory. The clothes she wore looked like they were from the eastern countries. I’m told that when she was studying, she even traveled through the human territory on foot. I knew without a doubt from her achievements as a designer that she had experience living there. It was safe to say that if someone in Lindworm happened upon an exotic piece of clothing, it was probably Arahnia’s work.

  This wasn’t good. Dr. Glenn also came from the human territory. If he talked about his hometown, he might hit it off with Arahnia. I needed to stay vigilant. After all, I know a thing or two about the human territory myself.

  “Anyway, I still need to prove my theory with an actual experiment. If this goes well, it’ll be a big step toward producing an anesthetic,” I continued.

  “I hope the surgery can move forward without any delays…” Tisalia replied. She also seemed to be concerned for Miss Skadi. Everyone was worried for the dragon. It was plain to see just how much prestige she had gathered for herself.

  “Yes. However, there’s still one problem,” I replied.

  “What problem?” Tisalia asked.

  “That,” I said, pointing toward Arahnia once more. She didn’t seem to be paying attention at all, and hummed a tune as she enjoyed her alcohol. She was ordering a refill, meaning she had drunk all of the ginjo that had been in her small earthenware bottle.

  “Gulp, gulp, gulp… Aaah!” Arahnia licked her lips and continued to savor the flavor of the alcohol.

  “Arahnia’s not actually a doctor, but I think she is doing very well. Even still, it will be her first experience doing actual surgery. She’s been practicing on Miss Kunai’s dead flesh, but I wonder what her reaction will be upon seeing real blood vessels, nerves, and organs… I remembered what I thought at the time, that the insides of a living organism can be quite disgusting to look at,” I continued.

  Tisalia watched Arahnia enjoying her alcohol as if she were looking at some sort of rare beast. For a non-drinker like Tisalia, the sight of a heavy drinker like Arahnia must have been bizarre. As someone who also enjoyed alcohol, it was a gaze that I had often seen cast my way.

  “Hehehe, Sapphee?” said Arahnia.

  “Yes, Arahnia?” I replied.

  “Are you drinking?”

  “For the most part,” I replied. It seemed I had also gotten a little tipsy. The wine was superb, as usual.

  It would be nice if I could drink with Dr. Glenn, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy alcohol very much. Besides, it might be better that way, since it would be a problem for a doctor to love alcohol.

  “Sapphee, you really are adorable.” Her words slurring as she spoke, Arahnia gave me a sidelong glance.

  Well, she was clearly drunk. She had probably lost some her tolerance as a result of our recent alcohol ban. And she had been particularly exhausted, so I wondered if that made the alcohol affect her more.

  “You’ve had a little too much to drink, Arahnia,” I said.

  “Why, I’ve had practically nothing!” she replied.

  I ordered her a glass of water. The only snack we had ordered was a simple egg dish, and Arahnia hadn’t even eaten that. She was always a light eater, but having nothing but alcohol in her body was concerning, whatever the circumstances.

  Tisalia gave a curious look at the red-faced, giggling drunk.

  “Is she always like this?” she asked.

  “No, normally she’s more…docile,” I replied. Even when she had had too much to drink, she had almost never looked this intoxicated before. Perhaps because she was hot, she took off the ornaments she had around her neck. I had a feeling that if she wasn’t stopped, she’d be stripping off all her clothes entirely.

  Every movement as she took off her ornaments was suggestive—erotic. I’m sure there are many men who would fall madly in love from seeing it. But even though she had stolen the hearts of countless people’s lovers before, she had yet to try and settle on a partner herself. Once she grew tired of one of the lovers she had stolen, she would quickly kick them to the curb. She had less interest in the person or thing she was taking away than the act of snatching them away itself.

  She was quite the ill-natured arachne.

  “Miss Arahnia, do you remember our quarrel in the harpy village?” Tisalia asked.

  “Hmm? Oh, that, I definitely remember that,” Arahnia replied.

  “Back then, you asked me if my love for Dr. Glenn was real or not, didn’t you?”

  “I did, didn’t I?” Cackling as she spoke, Arahnia didn’t show any signs of regret for her actions.

  The incident at the harpy village hadn’t been a mere quarrel. If I hadn’t gone and stopped them, either Tisalia or Arahnia would have gotten seriously hurt. Of course, it had been entirely Arahnia’s fault for making a move on Dr. Glenn to begin with.

  I wondered just what would happen if she tried to lay her hand on my sweetheart—and yes, Dr. Glenn is my sweetheart—or the lover of another woman. I knew that Arahnia was aware of what would happen. And yet, despite that, she went out of her way to provoke people.

  “Well, then… Miss Arahnia, do you know what real love is?”

  I almost gave a triumphant clap at Tisalia’s question. Instead, I used my tail to clap quietly against the floor.

  Arahnia smiled in satisfaction, as if she was scheming something. It was a very suspicious smile—but I understood. Tisalia had touched on a sensitive subject with Arahnia, and Arahnia was just trying to gloss over it with a smile.

  “I wonder…” Arahnia began, slurping down a sip of her drink. “Love, lust, fancy, hatred—you see, I just love the diplomacy of it all. But is there any real emotion in any of that, or is it all just lies? Everyone might just be lying. Everyone’s feelings might be true. Is there any way you can verify if your love is true or not?”

  I sensed some sort of sensation on my pinky. Without my realizing it, a thin strand of white had wrapped itself around my finger. Looking over, I spied a similar piece of white silk on Tisalia’s pinky as well. The glittering white spider silk had been wound around Arahnia’s finger, too.

  “A red thread connecting two pinkies is proof of two lovers’ destiny. Now it may not have any color, but I can connect anyone with my silk any time I want. Not just between a man, but between other women as well—look, just like this,” Arahnia continued.

  Connecting the three of us with her threads of silk, Arahnia was overjoyed. At least on the surface, she seemed to be in high spirits.

  “Us three—our pinkies are tied together, so we’re friends,” Arahnia continued.

  Really? It would be simple for Tisalia to use her dinner knife and cut right through the thread. Was Arahnia trying to say that this thin web had tied the three of us together? I had no idea what she was so happy about or why she was grinning so much. It felt as if she was trying to confirm that our friendship would be everlasting.

  “Yes… That’s right, Arahnia,” I replied, for the time being. I knew very well that Arahnia couldn’t satisfy herself with relationships that could be severed whenever she wanted.

  You may ask how I know that.

  Of course I do. After all, she’s my best friend.

  ***

  The commotion in Lindworm grew louder day by day.

  The city newspaper had apparently written a new article on Miss Skadi’s illness. This time, they even mentioned how t
he Central Hospital would work with the Litbeit Clinic to operate on her.

  Well, the Central Hospital, Kuklo Workshop, and Loose Silk Sewing were all major institutions that had many different people coming and going from them. If one went around collecting all the available information, it was probably an easy guess that we were preparing for surgery. But it didn’t seem like Dr. Cthulhy was strictly enforcing a gag order, either.

  We medical professionals weren’t about to get involved with the commotion. It was clear what needed to be done, so all that was left was for us to push forward toward our goal. Fortunately, it appeared that the paper had done its research properly this time and hadn’t spread irresponsible rumors around the city.

  It wasn’t that which was causing a stir in my heart.

  “Yes, that’s it right there. Be thorough. Like you’re gently pinching it. This area’s important, so be careful… Yes, that’s it. You’ve gotten much better,” said Dr. Glenn.

  “Oh, come now, it’s only because you’re such a good teacher, Doctor,” Arahnia replied.

  “This time, why don’t you try doing it faster?”

  “Okay, I’ll try.”

  They were close. They had been too close to each other for a while now. But there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Dr. Glenn was looking over a body with a surgical sponge and having Arahnia practice her suturing. Arahnia had an instrument in each of her four arms, and Dr. Glenn stood next to her with his face close to hers, watching how she used her hands.

  This practice was necessary for the surgery, so I just had to deal with it, but nevertheless, they were, well, quite close to one another. It was irritating.

  “Here…and here, Miss Arahnia.”

  “Understood, I’ll just squeeze here and… Okay, Doctor, how is that?”

  “Good—very good.”

  Hold on a second. What exactly were they talking about? Listening to the words out of context made it sound like bedroom talk—no, no, no what was I even thinking? This was all because Arahnia’s very existence was indecent. Enough that even innocent surgery practice ended up sounding obscene. Yes, that’s right, this was all Arahnia’s fault.

  “Doctor, you are so fantastic. Why, it feels like I’m taking more of a fancy to you with each passing minute.”

  “Ah ha haha…” Dr. Glenn’s smile twitched as he laughed. It was only natural he’d be unsure how to handle Arahnia’s confession, considering he had already been attacked by her before.

  “Dr. Glenn,” I said forcing myself into the conversation, unable to bear listening any longer. “About this medical record.”

  “Huh? Oh, um, yes?” replied Dr. Glenn.

  “The pages are all out of order. Please make sure to arrange them properly.”

  “Understood… But still, that’s strange, isn’t it…?”

  Oh no—I ended up scolding him.

  While it was upsetting that Arahnia was so close to Dr. Glenn, if I acted too harshly he’d just end up hating me. I knew that, and yet, I still acted this way.

  “It’s fine. I’ll just fix it. You’ll be going to the workshop and the Central Hospital today, right?” I said.

  “…I’m sorry, Sapphee. Oh, and I’ll be stopping by the Council Hall today, too,” he replied.

  “In that case, I’ll prepare a late dinner.”

  I was right—it seemed he was having a difficult time convincing Miss Skadi. That was why his trips out of the clinic were getting more frequent. Every time I thought he’d stay in the clinic for once, all he did was coach Arahnia instead—if you could even call their subdued whispering to one another coaching.

  Was I just being ignored? Was that it?

  I couldn’t stand this. Nothing but jealousy—I couldn’t stand what I was becoming.

  “I’ll be waiting for you to come back, Doctor,” I said.

  “Yeah, I’ll leave the rest to you, okay?” Dr. Glenn replied.

  Even I could feel the sardonic tinge to my words. I was sure Dr. Glenn picked up on the irritation I couldn’t hide. But he was so thoughtful that he faced my jealousy with calm composure.

  No, that wasn’t it. I’m sure it was simply that he didn’t have the time or energy to fully contemplate my feelings. Dr. Glenn just wanted to help Miss Skadi and the other monsters of this town.

  “Are you fine with that, Sapphee?” Arahnia asked me after I had seen Dr. Glenn off, never breaking her smile.

  “With what?”

  “You have to say to him, ‘Doctor, please pay attention to me.’ A man will never understand unless you tell him properly.”

  “It’s fine.”

  That’s right. I was looking after the clinic as always. It was proof that Glenn relied on me. I’d look after it, organizing documents, while Arahnia continued her four-armed suturing practice.

  I knew that Arahnia wanted to provoke me. But unfortunately for her, that wasn’t going to work.

  “This isn’t the first time I’ve looked after the clinic,” I continued.

  “Hmm? What does that mean, exactly?” Arahnia replied.

  “We’ve been separated from each other once before. We parted, and I thought that I would never see him again.”

  Back then, I had lived at Glenn Litbeit’s family home. He was from a major merchant family, and I only lived there because of a ruse involving both my family and Glenn’s—a hostage exchange, in a sense. But I was able to meet Glenn through that, so I was grateful to my family, the Neikes, for everything, and didn’t bear them a grudge at all for involving me in their plot.

  For less than a year, I spent time with the young Glenn. During that period, I was completely taken with him—so much so that I wanted to howl when it came time for me to return to my own home. Lamia don’t have tear ducts, but we are still able to express our sorrows with loud cries.

  I thought it was a final farewell—that I would live my whole life with the memories of the days I spent with a boy named Glenn, my first love, without ever seeing him again.

  “Can you understand what it felt like back at the Academy, when I was reunited with my first love?” I asked.

  “I wouldn’t know, but I’m sure that was quite the surprise,” Arahnia replied.

  “Yes, very much so.”

  I had been surprised. The young boy from so many years ago had arrived at the Monster Academy, now a student overflowing with genius. There wasn’t any among Dr. Cthulhy’s students at the time that could rival his knowledge or his skill.

  The once-young boy had now started to become a man. My knowledge of pharmacology, too, was easily eclipsed by his passionate pursuit of learning. His skills weren’t just for show—they were recognized by Dr. Cthulhy, and he was the only one among her students who had been permitted to open their own independent clinic.

  Anyone would fall in love with him, wouldn’t they?

  Or rather, I should say it was practically a given I’d end up falling in love again, wasn’t it?

  Glenn Litbeit is a man I have seriously fallen in love with twice in my lifetime. The first time, I found him adorable, while the second time I found him attractive. That’s why it was already too late—my heart is a slave to Dr. Glenn.

  I wouldn’t be moved, even by Arahnia’s little provocations. I absolutely. Would not. Be. Provoked.

  “Dr. Glenn really is loved, isn’t he?” Arahnia remarked.

  “Yes, that’s right. So you keep out of it,” I replied.

  “I’m rather jealous.”

  As I organized the documents, I wondered. My reunion with Glenn had made me extremely happy. Although we currently slept in different rooms, we were living together in the same clinic. It wouldn’t be too much to say that we were already in a de facto marriage. Yes, that was exactly right, and I wouldn’t hear any objections that said otherwise.

  But…

  That personality of his—the one I fell in love with—was exactly why he was so often absent from the clinic. This was most evident at times like now, when he was the most busy. There w
ere many things he had to handle outside the clinic. So long as there were only two people working there, I would have no choice but to look after it while he was gone.

  Of course, there were also times we would take trips as part of our clinic work, or go out shopping together, but it was a little lonely right now, as even that was out of reach.

  I can only imagine what would happen if these feelings of mine were made clear.

  I’m not good at being by myself and not cut out for watching the clinic while Dr. Glenn is gone. Not to mention the fact that when I’m left alone here, all sorts of thoughts come into my mind. Thoughts like the possibility that Dr. Glenn might go somewhere far, far away in order to help someone—far enough that no matter how I may stretch out my tail, I’ll never be able to reach him.

  Even if I tell myself that there is no way it could happen, in the back of my mind I remember that, when I was younger, I had already experienced parting from him once.

  “…Sapphee, you’re making a rather frightening face right now,” said Arahnia.

  “You’re the one who said something strange,” I replied.

  “Really? Well then, I suppose it’s my fault then.”

  The golden dragonscales—Glenn hadn’t been carrying the pendent I had given him today, either. It should have been carefully tucked away in his bedroom. So that meant that he was actually meeting with Miss Skadi today. He did mention he would be stopping by the Council Hall.

  I found myself touching the dragonscale attached to my own clothes. I felt a little bit of peace of mind when I was touching the charm—probably because it matched the one that Dr. Glenn had.

  I had things of my own that I needed to do. I could wait until it was all over before I selfishly asked Glenn to dote on me more.

  “Arahnia. Time to get back to work. Let’s work hard,” I said.

  “Snakes sure can be mean and cold, can’t they?” she complained.

  “I’m just hiding it. If I were really that cold, I’d be hibernating.”

  Women never say what they really mean. Isn’t it shameless to expose anything and everything, all the more so if it is to someone you love? The boiling passion in a woman’s chest is always desperately pushed beneath the surface.