Case 01: The Molting Lamia
Case 01:
The Molting Lamia
This is quite sudden, but I’d like to discuss the order of this world.
As everyone knows, there are humans, and there are monsters.
Then there are fairies.
Fairies are a species tasked with guarding the Great Fairy Queen. In other words, all other species are nothing to them. Are they humans? Or monsters? It’s actually quite absurd. Among academics, the general consensus is that fairies are a type of monster, but if you ask me, this is laughably incorrect.
Fairies can only be called fairies.
They are a perfect species, a relic of the age of the gods, completely different from humans and monsters, who still have nothing but incomplete and immature civilizations. We, the fairies, are the closest things to gods in this world.
Fairies are immortal.
Fairies don’t age.
Fairies fight on the front lines every single day in the battle to preserve the laws of nature.
Perhaps I should introduce myself.
I am Cottingley Bradford VI.
I have inherited the noble Bradford name, under which my predecessors served the Fairy Queen for many years, in hopes of assisting humans and monsters under her rule. The current Fairy Queen is a compassionate soul by design. Deeply concerned by the tortoise-slow speed of both human and monster civilizations’ evolution, she ordered us to help them.
To comply with this order, I lead my subordinate fairies in performing our duties at a small medical facility—Litbeit Clinic. The services we brilliant fairies provide play an essential role for the humans and lamia here. The clinic’s main doctor, Dr. Glenn, is as thickheaded and ignorant as you would expect a human to be. If it weren’t for us, the clinic would be shut down immediately. It is only because of our secret activities that humans and monsters can go about their daily lives.
Sometimes we are called derogatory nicknames like “helper fairies,” but that sort of language completely misses the point. We couldn’t care less about humans and monsters. In fact, if it weren’t against the Queen’s will, we would be ruling over them.
“Now, everybody,”
Lady Saphentite looked down on me and my team in our perfect formation. Due to the differences in our physiques, I’m used to being looked down on. Thou shalt not scorn the tiny races. There is even a legend that, during the age of the gods, our lightweight stature, agility, and strength in unity allowed us to cross swords with the gods. Having a massive body means you will fall like the gigas. Our small stature is just one of the infinite facets of fairy beauty.
“Today, you won’t be doing clinic work. Thank you for indulging my personal request. I have high expectations for you.” Lady Saphentite expressed her gratitude to us.
It’s not that I look down on all monsters. If a well-mannered lady like Sapphee has a serious request, my subordinates and I are always ready to serve.
“I appreciate your efforts,” she said.
I answered Lady Saphentite on behalf of my clan.
No matter what obstacles you face, we swear on our unwavering honor as fairies that we will protect you from disaster. We understand the great honor of offering assistance, and the everlasting reward for our service…
“Yes,” I said. “We will do our best.”
Hmph. That’s not what I was trying to say. Only simple phrases seemed to be coming out of my mouth.
We are perfect and loyal fairies, a noble species that should be ruling over the world. But we are not without weakness.
“I want to check one last time,” said Lady Saphentite. “Today is a very important day for me, so I don’t want Dr. Glenn to see me. Please make sure that he does not set foot in this room.”
“Leave it to us!” I replied.
I had wanted to raise my hand and say, So long as I, Cottingley Bradford VI, give the orders, the unparalleled valor of 1,000 soldiers shall serve at the lady’s pleasure, but could only manage those four words. I couldn’t even enunciate those few syllables clearly, and my voice came out like a small child’s.
“You’re always helping me.” The lady smiled and poked at my cheeks without reserve, in a way that an ordinary person could not.
I tried to resist, but my power was unable to ward off her fingers.
“Teehee! Woo!”
Even though I knew it would be useless, I wanted to scream, Don’t you know who I am? How incredibly rude of you to touch me in such a manner! But all my words had changed to very simple phrases.
I regret to mention that there is one thing humans and monsters have that fairies do not. Fairies lack language. Of course, we can communicate with each other. But we don’t have vocal cords to make the air vibrate. We possess our own unique, innate capability to exchange thoughts with each other without exchanging words. We can convey a massive amount of information and the thoughts we hold in our hearts to each other in an instant. That means we do not lie or exaggerate, and all conversations are honest and fair. It is actually a highly effective method of conveying consciousness…but it is an ability that can only be used between fairies.
In the long history of fairy civilization, language never manifested. But it was inconvenient to help humans and monsters without any words. Fairies are a far superior species, and it should have been easy to learn the common tongue of the land.
No one anticipated that fairies would be able to learn language, but not implement it. My language center is not developed enough to convert my advanced thoughts into words.
Hey! What’s going on?!
It’s not just me. All fairies consider things in a philosophical and high-minded manner, but when converting this into the common tongue of the land, it always comes out in simple terms with a childlike voice. To think that, even with our innate abilities, which are found in no other race, we are so poor at language! To think that our unrivaled strength is simultaneously our weakness! It’s infuriating to be considered inferior to other races who must resort to a form of communication as primitive as language, but it doesn’t matter.
Without any way to understand my unmanageable aggravation, Lady Sapphee kept touching me. Poking, poking, poking.
“Stop it!” I could only manage a two-syllable objection.
It is our persistent infantile pronunciation that makes other races treat fairies as pets. Even a well-bred lady like Sapphee tends to treat us that way.
I pulled away from her prodding fingers and hopped down to the floor. My landing was perfect. That’s what it means to have perfect fairy agility.
“Oh my, I’m sorry.”
Even seeing me angry, her attitude was the same as someone who had just teased a small child and thought it was funny that the child was now annoyed. Of course, it hurts my pride when someone as noble as myself is dismissed like this…but Lady Sapphee is still kinder than most people from the other races.
“Well then, let’s begin molting.” Lady Sapphee announced her most important duty for the day as if nothing had happened. “I will finish before Dr. Glenn arrives. Take your positions.”
“Roger that!”
When Lady Sapphee clapped her hands, we all moved. Naturally, I took my post as well, faster than the eye could see. We were not here to waste time being treated as pets.
“Officer! Officer Cottingley!”
“What is it?”
The voice of my wingman Doyle, the adjutant fairy, resounded in my mind. “All teams are in position!”
“Good! What about the entrance to the room?”
“We have complete surveillance. Lumber is in place for backup, and unassailable protection is also in place!”
“Good! Lady Sapphee will begin molting any moment now! Stay alert and perform your duties!”
“Copy!” everyone replied in unison.
As the commander, it is also my job to issue orders. These conversations take only seconds with our innate fairy abilities. I can transmit my voice not only to the adjutant, but to all fairies, even without seeing their faces. This is why there are no fairy messengers. If we wanted to, we could deliver reports to the far away fairy Land of Youth, where the Queen sits on her imperial throne.
Telepathy is so effective, and no other races can mimic it. Mwahaha!
Now then.
Lady Sapphee was already beginning her preparations for molting in her quarters. The lamia species molts once every two to three months. Lady Sapphee makes sure to hide herself from everyone during that time. Advanced beings such as fairies have no experience with biological phenomena like molting, but it’s easy to understand why Lady Sapphee wouldn’t want to be seen in that state.
First, if your skin is coming off, then clothing would naturally get in the way. The lady wears light-shielding intimates on her top half but removes and discards her skirt and accessories on her bottom half. I would imagine that she wouldn’t want the love of her life and owner of this clinic—Dr. Glenn Litbeit—to see her undressed. Fairies don’t love or marry or give birth, but I understand the logic of the lady’s emotion.
“Humph.”
Loving another… That’s something someone like me, a mere commander, will never have to deal with. Fairy reproduction is a special right granted only to the Fairy Queen. The only happiness we other fairies can hope for is to commit ourselves to serving the health and body of the Queen. In other words, we don’t need love.
Actually, I don’t even consider myself to be a woman.
The difference between the sexes in the fairy species is already quite vague, but it seems that I am especially lacking in femininity—not that it matters, so long as it doesn’t affect my duties.
“Umph…”
I heard Lady Sapphee’s voice. It seemed she’d begun molting.
“Mmm… Umph… Ahh…”
I stood as tall as I could on a chair in the middle of the room to see what was happening in her living quarters. Lady Sapphee was continuously rubbing her body against the post of her own bed.
“Mmm… Mmm… Ahh…”
This hip motion came easily to lamia. Lady Sapphee had the torso of a human, but her bottom half was lamia. She rubbed the line that divided the top of her body from the bottom against the corner of the post repeatedly.
It wouldn’t be long now.
I could hear her surface skin peeling off—starting with the scales on the bottom half of her body—with a soft tearing sound. The molting had begun. Her old lamia skin peeled when the scales were rubbed against something with an edge, like the bedpost.
It was going smoothly.
We had always kept watch when Lady Sapphee was molting. The unique trust in our relationship was built on this duty.
“Mmm… Umph… Ugh…”
Lady Sapphee changed her movements. She began deliberately rubbing the already-peeling skin against the floor. Now and then, she would wiggle her snake belly, and that peristaltic motion would move the skin farther down toward her tail. Before long, the movements became bigger, changing to an exercise that took up the entire room. She ran around the room in circles, sometimes lying face up or on her belly, rubbing the bottom half of her body against the wall and using other movements at varying speeds to move the molting along. She was now panting.
This was certainly a biological phenomenon, but to me, this molting process looked like rigorous fitness training. Lady Sapphee, out of breath, continued sheding her skin through these violent movements. The old skin peeled off her snake body, coiling up on the floor like a balled-up old sock.
“Mmm! Agh! Umph!”
Even the way Lady Sapphee wriggled her hips was violent. She made large, writhing movements, and the wave-like motion traveled all the way down to the tip of her tail. The lamia method of molting took great effort.
This was another reason why a lamia wouldn’t want to be seen molting by a man they were in love with. They would be exposing him to the repeated contortions of their entire body while moaning loudly. Fairies have almost no vulgar emotions—such as libido—whatsoever, but I could still understand this. Lady Sapphee’s movements were provocative. She wouldn’t want to arouse such lust in the man she loved. Molting was an important matter to the lamia, and it had nothing to do with seduction. It was not flirtatious behavior to show to a gentleman. The promiscuous sounds and movements were unintentional.
“Umph… Mmm, umph… Ahh… Hee…”
Lamia don’t sweat, so how do they regulate their body temperature when exercising? That’s why Lady Sapphee had prepared a bucket in the room beforehand. Lamia wet the bottom half of their bodies as needed. In this way, they keep their skin and scales moist, maintaining an appropriate humidity that makes the molting process easier. Also, the moisture on their snake half evaporates with an increase in body temperature. When the moisture evaporates, it lowers their body temperature. Then, the water that has evaporated from such a huge body increases the humidity of the room. To us, this looks like a steam bath, but what they are doing is no day at the spa. Lady Sapphee was out of breath, and her cheeks were flushed due to her rising body temperature. My subordinates would also sometimes draw water to wet Lady Sapphee’s body.
“Mmm… Argh…”
Lady Sapphee grabbed the bed frame and locked her limbs with her upper body lifted upward. She then wiggled her hips from side to side. She switched from the vertical movements she had been doing to horizontal exercises, trying to get the old skin off. The bottom half of her body undulated from side to side. The way Lady Sapphee’s hip movements rippled down her body made it look like she was performing an eccentric dance that I didn’t know.
“Oof. Ugh. Ahh. Mmm. Umph.” The lady’s voice got quicker. Her old skin was already halfway off.
Lady Sapphee’s smell filled the humid room. It wasn’t unpleasant. Perhaps the faint perfume was the ointment she used to block sunlight. The ointment mixed with the evaporated moisture and filled the room.
“Oof. Mmm. Ahh… Mmm!”
She stretched both arms downward to support her upper body and create a precise friction with the floor using the bottom half of her body. Her heavy breathing made it apparent how hard she was working. The light clothing required for molting; the violently repeated undulating motion; the body moistened to control body temperature and the humid room; the chaotic breathing and voice…
“I wouldn’t want to be seen like this, either,” one of my subordinates commented. When you have telepathic powers, even your private thoughts are conveyed.
“Private Wright, you are on duty.” I reprimanded the fairy directly, as is my duty as commanding officer.
“Y-yes, ma’am. I apologize, Your Excellency.”
Incidentally, it seemed Dr. Glenn was on house calls throughout Lindworm and wouldn’t be back until the evening. Lady Sapphee must have timed her molting with that in mind.
The thin skin that had peeled off was translucent, but it also appeared to be a faint pink color. This color and texture would change once it had dried out. Conversely, the newly exposed epidermis was a clean, pure white. This brilliant color could only be seen directly after molting, and, with time, it would gradually settle into the pink coloration as well. At least, that was what happened every time Lady Sapphee had molted before. Everything was going smoothly as planned.
“Your Excellency! All clear for each unit!”
“Good. Continue to stand by. Don’t let your guard down!”
It was perfect, thankfully. Although, it was getting a bit dull just watching Lady Sapphee’s writhing body. Such a waste of an opportunity to show off the talents of a Cottingley. No offense to Lady Sapphee, but I had hoped for some sort of challenge that would put our fairy powers to the test.
“Mmm. Gah. Mmm…”
The molting progressed to the next stage.
Lady Sapphee lifted her hips and planted her upper body against the floor. Holding that position, she made a circle with the tail part of her lower body, looping her tail through the center. She was, in a sense, tying her lower body into a knot. You would have to possess the long lower body of a lamia to tie yourself into a knot in the first place, but Lady Sapphee took it a step further by moving the knot. She wiggled her snake-like body, sliding the knot to the tip of her tail. In addition to the friction with the floor and wall, she was also creating friction with her lower body.
“Mmm… Argh… Mmm!”
As the knot passed the peeling skin, the friction caused the skin to peel away. It really was a wondrous molting trick.
A significant length of skin had already come off. Even so, there were no pieces of skin scattered about. The old skin was intact, maintaining the body’s shape. If such a massive exuvia was discovered on a mountain somewhere, whoever found it would think a snake large enough to eat a horse in one bite had shed its skin.
“Your Excellency!”
In the middle of thinking about all this, the adjutant suddenly called me.
“What is it, Doyle?”
“There’s a problem! It’s… It’s hard to say.”
“Out with it!”
“Private Wright accidently added a chemical to the bucket of water for controlling her body heat!”
“What?!”
How careless could they be? I would have to train them harder.
There were many chemicals in the clinic used for treatments. It went without saying that those chemicals had to be handled with the utmost caution. Carelessness on the part of my subordinates was ultimately my responsibility. If it were a dangerous chemical, then Lady Sapphee might not emerge unscathed.
“How did this happen?”
“Um… Well, it seems the chemical was Lady Sapphee’s personal sample product, and there was no label! The private said he thought it was just water,” the adjutant explained.
“Hmph… And what type of chemical was it?”
“It was a love potion made from mandrake.”
“What did you say?!” I hadn’t realized I was yelling. It is a rare thing for a fairy’s thoughts to match with their voice.
A love potion… What an absurd thing to sample! Love potions and aphrodisiacs made from mandrake exerted stronger effects than any other similar potions. Maybe she was planning to use it on Dr. Glenn… No, don’t jump to conclusions.
Lady Sapphee was a doctor who conducted various types of research. It’s possible that she was simply testing the effects of a love potion as part of her research…but she should at least label her experiments!
“Mmm… Ah-ahhh!”
Before I could finish my thought, the lady let out a high-pitched scream. Even I could discern what was happening—she was sexually excited. A fair amount of water had already been applied to her body to control her body temperature. It was only natural that the effects of the mandrake love potion would begin manifesting.
“Doyle, hurry up and draw water from the well. Step up the body temperature control!”
“Roger that!”
Doyle flew out the window, leading Unit 1. The well was just next to the window. Using their fairy strength, they would be able to bring in pure water right away.
Whether from the effects of the love potion or not, Lady Sapphee’s cheeks were already flushed. “Mmm. Mph. Mmm… Ahh!”
I wondered what it felt like to shed your own skin. Even though it was old skin, there had to be some stimulation when skin that, up until just before, had been your own scales peeled off. The look on Lady Sapphee’s face was one directly between pain and pleasure that couldn’t be described with words.
According to Lady Sapphee, when the time for her to molt draws close, her skin gets itchy, so I wondered if there were also some pleasure from that itch sensation going away. Now the effects of the love potion had been added to the mix. I could see her shoulders trembling, possibly from the increased pleasure. Even so, she was still moving her hips, desperately trying to complete her molting.
“Ahh. Hmm. Mmm!”
Before long, Lady Sapphee’s movements became steady and rhythmic. She tied her lower body in a knot and moved the knot to the tip of her tail over and over. She swayed her hips widely from side to side to control her movements. Her breathing was becoming more and more rapid.
“Hff! Ahh! Argh… Mmmwaa!”
Her euphoric voice could probably be heard from outside the room. I wondered what might have happened if Dr. Glenn had been in the clinic instead of out on house calls. He and Lady Sapphee lived under the same roof; he would have at least noticed her voice.
Lamia, who can’t live without undergoing the biological phenomenon of molting, are an inferior species compared to fairies, but I understand their girlish desire to go through the process without being seen by the man they love.
Most of all, helping to solve the complicated troubles of other races shows our devotion to the Fairy Queen. We noble fairies are not a species that is subordinate to other races. The aid we provide to them is a favor and an act of goodwill. It is because of our superior existence that we must care for the other races.
There is nothing easy about being a fairy.
“Mmmmmm! Mmm! Mmmmmm!”
All at once, Lady Sapphee’s voice became louder. She put a hand over her mouth, as if her own voice had surprised her. I’m sure the lady never imagined that she was under the influence of a love potion.
The molting progressed with a slurping sound. The peeling of her skin was not consistent, and, at times, larger parts than others would peel. Her snake tail squirmed at the sensation of the molting, swinging from side to side.
“Aah… Argh. Argh. Aah!”
Lady Sapphee steadied her breathing, taking a short break.
But then the molting resumed all at once. Only about a quarter of the lower body remained. She was almost done.
“Your Excellency! Excellency!” A voice echoed in the back of my brain.
This voice was unmistakably Sergeant Griffith, put in charge of watching over the subordinates. The moment I realized this, I suddenly became tense. The urgency in the voice told me that whatever he was about to report wasn’t good.
“What is it now?”
“Dr. Glenn has returned!”
“He’s back earlier than planned. What’s going on?!”
“We don’t know! But it didn’t seem like he was in a hurry. It’s possible he’s just stopping by in the middle of his rounds…”
“Damn.” I checked on Lady Sapphee’s status.
It looked as though the molting had taken a toll on her, and she was still breathing hard. She had never gotten this excited while molting in the past. The love potion must have had a tremendous impact. She may not be able to move right away, and, even if she had, her clothes were still too revealing to greet the doctor.
“Hurry! Hurry!” (Translation: Thou art in danger! I request thou act swiftly!)
“Hurry! You must!” (Translation: We will make an appropriate judgment call to save thee from the looming danger!)
My subordinates gathered around Lady Sapphee, each speaking out to her. Of course, I could understand what they were really saying, but from Lady Sapphee’s perspective, we cute little fairies were just making a fuss. At first, I thought we should discuss what measures to take with Lady Sapphee, but I soon vetoed that idea. The way she was staring off into space told me she was not able to make the necessary decisions.
Part of the blame for creating this situation lay with us fairies. Always choose the optimum solution when fulfilling your duties, Cottingley!
“Listen up!”
Our innate fairy abilities were working at full capacity. I gave out orders to all fairies under my command.
“I am officially initiating Phase C, due to emergency circumstances! All units, take your positions!”
All my subordinates began moving as soon as I gave the orders.
The biggest inconvenience of this room was the lack of a lock on the door. This breach in security was unacceptable for the quarters of a grown woman. The only way to lock this room would be to bar the door from the inside by wedging a piece of wood in the handle, which we did. At the same time, we stacked more pieces of wood, adding weight so the door wouldn’t break. This way, no one, short of a giant, would be able to open the door easily.
“Sapphee?” A voice came from outside. It was Dr. Glenn Litbeit.
According to my observations, he was one of the dumber humans. Certainly, he was skilled in treatment techniques for monsters, and that was one of the reasons the people of this town loved him. But we fairies, who exist in this world by the grace of the Fairy Queen, do not age or change and are rarely injured. Even if we were to injure our bodies, we can recover instantly—so long as we return to the Land of Youth, where we come from, so the Fairy Queen may bestow her power upon us. Without the need to benefit from medical care, we can’t effectively evaluate someone just by knowing they are a doctor. Dr. Glenn was absentminded, thick-skinned, and—I have to say it—lacked much when it came to going about daily business smoothly. That was the type of man he was.
“Sapphee, are you there?”
The moment she heard his voice, Lady Sapphee seemed to realize her darling Dr. Glenn had returned home. Her shoulders trembled with fear. He tried opening the door, but thanks to our preparations, there was no way anyone could enter that room from outside.
“Umph. Hey, why is the door closed?”
“Not now!”
Ugh! Now more than ever, on behalf of the lady in distress, I needed to somehow get Dr. Glenn to comprehend the extremely sensitive state of this room! Why couldn’t I just say the words? Lady Saphentite is currently in an indelicate state and cannot be seen. Please return after several hours. I appreciate your gentlemanly conduct.
“It’s impossible!”
The only thing that was impossible was my ability to form words. With only simple words such as these, Dr. Glenn would certainly be left with nothing but suspicion.
“I see…”
Huh?
However, Dr. Glenn did not pursue the issue further. Or perhaps it was that he comprehended something about the situation. He did linger a bit by the door, but he did not try to open it.
“Excellent. Dr. Glenn is not taking action! Francis, monitor him for me in front of the door! If anything happens, report to me immediately!”
“Roger that, Your Excellency!”
“Elsea, take Unit 2 and maintain surveillance over each post!”
“Yes, sir!”
“That’s ‘ma’am’ to you!”
I didn’t particularly mind being treated like a man, but that was taking it too far!
After I gave my orders, I rushed back to Lady Sapphee’s side, perfectly demonstrating the speed of my lightweight form. I saw the deflection in her eyes. She hadn’t expected Dr. Glenn to come back at this time. If he had somehow gotten into the room, he would have seen her half-naked, immodest form. It would have been easier to just tell him honestly that she was molting. But it was probably embarrassing for lamia to have their molting and egg-laying cycles known by others. It may be considered equivalent to a human woman’s menstruation cycle being discovered. It was something a fairy like me would never understand.
I hopped up onto Lady Sapphee’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Hurry! Quickly!”
Why was it that my voice could be so relaxed without any sense of urgency? It was vexing that this voice was coming from my own mouth, but all I could do was believe that my thoughts were being conveyed properly to Lady Sapphee.
“Mmm… I-I know.” Lady Sapphee wasn’t paying complete attention. She began rubbing the end of her tail against the floor. However, perhaps because of the stimulation of the molting up to that point, her movements were awkward.
Hmm.
If it were possible, I would have peeled off the old skin for her, but if hands as small as ours were to touch the skin, it would tear into tiny pieces instead of the nice, clean single piece that was already coming off. That would be pointless. The other goal with this molting was to create a single, uncut exuvia.
“Mmm… Ahh… Argh… Ugh!”
“Don’t rush it!”
“I can’t help it!”
Normally, Lady Sapphee would have maintained a composed expression, saying something like, “I would never mix business and pleasure with Dr. Glenn,” but she was in a state of crisis. This was a rare moment of desperation for her.
“Doyle!”
When I called his name, my prudent adjutant replied immediately.
“Yes, Your Excellency?”
“Prepare for Phase D!”
“Right! Change of clothes and all other preparations are already in place!” Doyle replied.
“Good. Make sure everything is finished before Dr. Glenn comes in!”
“Roger! Everything will be completely cleaned up!”
I could always count on my adjutant, Doyle. He was my most trusted subordinate.
The fairies’ work would begin once the molting was complete, but Lady Sapphee would have to make the final push before we could move on to that step.
“Mmm… Hmph… Mmmmmm!”
Lady Sapphee was working hard to remove the last bit of skin, rubbing her tail on the floor. But for some reason, that last push wasn’t going well. If she could just peel off a little bit more, it would all come off. Lady Sapphee was used to this, so why was she having so much trouble this time?
Oh… Dr. Glenn.
The presence of the man she loved was making the normally competent Lady Sapphee tremble.
“Sapphee?”
“Hmm?! Ha! Argh?!”
Ugh!
After we’d made it this far, Dr. Glenn was calling from the other side of the door. Son of a… He couldn’t have had worse timing. Why can’t you just shut up and wait?! To be called by the man she loved while still under the influence of the love potion… Lady Sapphee looked like she was in a state of panic.
“I can hear your voice… Are you all right?”
“F-fine… I’m fine!”
“Are you sure? You don’t sound fine…”
“I-I’m fine… Mmm… mmm. Uh, ah, just wait… Just wait for a few minutes… Please!”
“But—”
“Sometimes women need time to get ready!”
Once Sapphee said that, my subordinates jumped in.
“Yeah, yeah!”
“The manly thing to do is wait!”
“Where is your sensitivity?!”
Without waiting for my orders, my subordinates laid into Glenn. See how much Lady Sapphee was loved and respected by them?
“I-I see.”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
Dr. Glenn grasped the unusual ambiance in the room and stopped talking. Lady Sapphee seized her opportunity and went back to her tail molting. She covered her mouth with both hands so she wouldn’t cry out and moved the lower half of her body using only her waist, desperately trying to shed her old skin.
“Mmmph! Mm! Mmm!”
I wondered what Dr. Glenn could be thinking. It was easy to tell she was muffling her voice through the thin exam room door.
I wanted to explain to Lady Sapphee that molting was nothing to be ashamed of, but, well…with my limited language abilities, I would only be misunderstood. All I could do was pray that Dr. Glenn would at least understand Lady Sapphee’s girlish feelings.
“Mmmmmm! Mmmph!”
Lady Sapphee was feeling both shame and passion. I’m sure she was feeling a variety of other emotions as well, as she swayed with an expression of desperation on her face. She couldn’t even take her time to make sure the skin didn’t tear. She was just trying to finish the task without raising her voice. It would be impossible for Dr. Glenn to fully comprehend. They were both still young, and they weren’t the type of people who could be together without any hitches in the relationship. There was no helping it.
But I, Cottingley Bradford VI, would do everything in my power to help.
“You can do it!” I whispered words of encouragement in Lady Sapphee’s ear.
What a dumb thing to say. But I hoped those simple words would convey to Lady Sapphee my high-minded thoughts and the prayers in my heart. This was the only way a fairy, superior to other species, could convey encouragement. This encouragement had nothing to do with the Great Fairy Queen. It was coming from me, Cottingley.
The last of the skin slipped off.
“Umph. Finally!”
I saw Lady Sapphee smile joyfully. I immediately gave orders to my subordinates.
“Excellent! Initiate Phase D! All units together now!”
With Adjutant Doyle at the forefront, my subordinates replied.
“Right!”
“Roger!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Some of them put the nurse uniform we had prepared onto Lady Sapphee. Others fixed the furniture left in disarray from when the lady was moving around the room. She had been writhing around so much that it looked as if the room had been burglarized, but it only took a moment for the space to return to its original, orderly state. The exuvia was quickly put into a cloth bag that we had prepared and hidden away in the closet. Normally it was also our job to dispose of the exuvia, but, for some reason, this time Lady Sapphee said she wanted to save it. We didn’t know the reason, but we succeeded in storing it without a scratch.
“Clothes are on!”
“The room is in order!”
“We also hid the exuvia. It won’t be found, Your Excellency!”
“Good! Now open the door! Once Dr. Glenn has entered the room, all units out!”
“Roger!”
Everyone removed the wooden pieces holding the door shut and hid them under the bed. Phase D was the final step of today’s duties as well as an extremely important camouflage so Dr. Glenn would have no idea what Lady Sapphee had been doing. Once we succeeded in this, our task would be complete, and we would be free to return to our normal duties.
“You can come in now, Doctor.”
I stowed away in the closet with the exuvia and monitored the room through the crack in the door.
“Y-yes… Um, what happened?”
“It was nothing important.”
I thought Lady Sapphee was still breathing hard. But maybe I only noticed because I had witnessed the entire molting ordeal. Without that knowledge, perhaps it would only seem like she was rushing to get herself ready.
“Let’s put that aside. Doctor, I thought you were going to be making rounds today.”
“Yes, I have to go out again soon. I just thought I would have some lunch. I bought some sandwiches at the stall on the main road. Would you join me?!”
“Why, Doctor, aren’t you thoughtful!”
That was Dr. Glenn. He picked the worst times to be thoughtful. If he would just show that much consideration normally, then I’m sure Lady Sapphee wouldn’t be so anxious!
“Also…I heard a strange rumor, and I wanted to check on you.”
“Strange rumor?”
“Someone said they saw you on the street… They tried calling your name, but said you ignored them.”
“What?”
That was strange. Lady Sapphee rarely went out unless it was absolutely necessary. Furthermore, she had stayed in her room to molt today, so no one would have seen her outside.
“I didn’t think you would have gone out for any reason, but I came back to check, just in case.”
“I’ve been in my room this whole time.”
“Well, I guess it must have been a doppelgänger…”
A doppelgänger. I had heard a similar rumor. Fairies love rumors. Like, meeting yourself, or the phenomenon of encountering someone in a place where they would never be. In other words, a rumor created by your eyes playing tricks on you…or a hallucination. Some say there are ghosts and spirits that create illusions, so it could have been that. There was also a time when fairies deliberately confused humans by using enchantments.
“That seems to be happening so much lately,” said Lady Sapphee. “I mean, seeing someone in a place where they aren’t.”
“There’s a rumor of that going around Lindworm.”
“So…now someone has seen my doppelgänger?”
Dr. Glenn nodded. It must have worried him, causing him to rush back. Actually, there was an even more sinister rumor having to do with the doppelgängers. It’s said that if you saw your own doppelgänger, you would die soon. The rumors had spread so quickly because of that frightening addition to the story.
It was absurd.
Monsters like doppelgängers don’t exist. It is either a case of mistaken identity, or a trick being played by someone. People don’t die from mistaken identity. Of course, it’s possible that a ghost could show you a vision then suck the living spirit out of you—but there are no beings in Lindworm that would commit such violence. As a doctor, Glenn had to know that there had never been a case of a doppelgänger causing death. I couldn’t believe he would be misled by such a ridiculous rumor. But I understood why he would be worried for Lady Sapphee.
“Well, thank goodness it’s nothing. Let’s eat.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“I can wait if you want to clean up from your molting first, though.”
“Huh?!” Lady Sapphee opened her eyes wide, and her face turned bright red.
He noticed?! There was no way. We fairies covered it up perfectly! And even if he did somehow find out, why would he say it like that?! The simpleton! But then, how would Dr. Glenn understand a lady’s feelings? He was like an idiotic teenager, and his entire clinic would fall apart if there were no fairies to run things.
“D-Doctor, you knew?! The whole time?”
“No, I had no idea until I came into the room. But I knew the moment I saw you.”
“What?”
“Your scales are shiny. I know that’s what you look like when you’ve just molted.”
At that, Lady Sapphee finally looked at the lower part of her body. Her scales were white and shiny, slick like silk, and completely unblemished. That was the beauty of lamia scales.
“Oh… Um, well…”
“They’re beautiful, your new scales.”
“Oh?!”
“I’ll be waiting downstairs.”
Dr. Glenn! He just says whatever he wants then runs away?! That’s how he acts after toying with a young woman?! I can’t just sit around and watch this without saying anything!
That’s what I was thinking anyway, but, in the end, my complaints went unheard by Dr. Glenn. My words would be wasted on a species that could only communicate their feelings through the inconvenient mode of language.
I just sat there, livid.
That’s when Lady Sapphee opened the closet door. Her face was still red. Of course it was. Dr. Glenn hadn’t noticed our presence, but Lady Sapphee had lost face by having her secret—which we had worked so hard to keep—pointed out.
Hmm.
Those were my first thoughts, but when I looked closer, Lady Sapphee’s face was relaxed. Perhaps it’s because the fairy species is far superior to any other race, but humans and monsters say that our expressions are difficult to read. For us, unless it’s a face we’re very familiar with, the faces of non-fairy beings all look the same.
Even so, I understood her expression. Lady Sapphee was clearly, desperately trying to smile.
“Dr. Glenn figured it out, even with all the help from the fairies…”
“Sapphee, are you happy?”
“Happy?! Don’t think for a second that I’m suddenly smitten just because Dr. Glenn is paying attention to me! I may be slightly pleased that he complimented my scales—but that’s all.”
Although her tail did seem to be flapping quite a bit.
I take back what I said about Dr. Glenn being insensitive. He pays closer attention to the bodies of monsters than you would expect. Perhaps he was looking at her more with the mind of a physician, like an occupational disorder, rather than as a woman. But that shouldn’t have mattered to Lady Sapphee.
How pathetic! I’m not here to get carried away by the intimacies of lovers.
“Sapphee—”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
My subordinates and I all humbled ourselves. This was about the love potion. However, Lady Sapphee tilted her head to the side, puzzled. Perhaps she hadn’t noticed. I wanted to explain my subordinate’s blunder and the effects of the love potion we had discovered in detail, but I didn’t have the confidence to explain it in a way Lady Sapphee would understand.
Lady Sapphee stroked my head with her index finger. It was disrespectful, but she probably meant it to indicate acceptance of my apology. I swallowed my pride and resigned myself to her fingertip.
“What about this?” I asked.
“Yes, that exuvia. There is a frame in the warehouse. Will you put it inside and display it for me? The frame might be too small, but if it is, you can cut the exuvia.”
An odd request. But there was no reason to refuse. My subordinates and I got to moving again. First, we needed to carry the exuvia to the warehouse. My subordinates picked up the cloth bag that held it. It was a large load for fairies, but with our teamwork, nothing could hold us back.
“You really saved me today. I mean, you always save me, but today especially. I wish I could increase your pay, but… Well, you wouldn’t hear of it, would you?”
“No way!”
The remuneration for using fairies was one bowl of milk per person. However, this was not a demand that fairies made because they loved milk. It was because the Fairy Queen gloried in our labor—which served both humans and monsters—for a flat fee. It would never do to change our fee based on the work done.
“Well, the same amount of milk as always then. I will go downstairs to have my lunch.”
“Good work! Have fun!”
Lady Sapphee smiled like a blooming flower and went downstairs.
I am Cottingley Bradford VI. Regardless of species, or whether I am praised or disparaged, so long as I am paid, I will perform my job, putting my personal feelings aside. Even if my feelings go unheard, even if my thoughts are simplified into speech, I will not object. We do not serve so that we may receive praise. We accomplish what we must, regardless of whether we are admired. We are the mighty fairies. Everything we do is for the Fairy Queen.
But, well… I can’t say that I disliked seeing Lady Sapphee’s smile of relief and gratitude. I think the Fairy Queen would forgive me for taking that as encouragement in my endeavors.
“What are your orders, Your Excellency?!” my courageous subordinates spoke in unison. We were a veteran corps.
It wasn’t Dr. Glenn or Lady Sapphee preserving the peace and order in this clinic. It was the highest order of fairies, led by me, Cottingley.
“Okay! Everyone! Our mission is almost complete! Don’t let your guard down until the job is done!”
“Right!” they spoke in unison again.
“But I can’t overlook the issue of the love potion! Ten laps around the room for everyone before we continue the mission!”
“What?!”
“No complaints! Everyone is responsible!”
At that, my subordinates began running.
The famous story of the elves and the shoemaker is not simply a tale. We are just here trying to fulfill our duties. Not as figments of your imagination, but as real, live fairies. Sooner or later, all other races will bow to the fairies!
I can’t wait until that happens. Mwahahaha!
“Mwahahaha!”
Even with my meager language ability as a fairy, my loud laugh came out precisely as I meant it to.