Study 01: The Feuding Cerberus

Study 01:
The Feuding Cerberus

 

Long ago, humans and monsters fought each other in a war that lasted a hundred years.

The main reason the war lasted so long was the fact that the monsters weren’t truly united. In fact, the term “monster” is nothing more than a catch-all for non-humans. There are over a hundred species of monster, all with vastly varying biology. Even monsters of the same species were divided into tribes whose nature varied by their occupation and the region they lived in, further complicating things. They say, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” but this did little to unite the monsters against their common enemy: humans.

The human troops, on the other hand, had a clear hierarchy that allowed them to form and deploy a massive army, while the monsters were reduced to skirmishing in much smaller squads. The result was a long, drawn-out war in which the centaurs were forced into a decisive battle in the mountains where the terrain put them at a disadvantage, while the lamia, who excelled at guerrilla warfare, had no choice but to fight on the open plains. Every battle found the monsters unable to take advantage of their natural attributes.

Needless to say, the death toll was massive. The monsters were desperate for a leader who would take them to victory. And, in the final stages of the war, that hero was born. His name was Rheocles, King of Beasts.

Rheocles was a hybrid, born of a mix of monster races. He united the scattered tribes and established an alliance between centaurs, lamia, harpies, mermaids, giants, and other powerful species. This army could easily have crushed the humans in battle, but peace was brokered before any such battle could take place. King Rheocles went down in history as the hero who’d brought all monsters together.

After the war, Rheocles built a massive city in the very heart of monster-ruled lands. The city served as a symbol of unity, and as proof that the once-scattered races now stood together, deterring the humans from ever invading again.

Thus was born Nemea, capital of the monster realm.

Nemea boasted a flourishing economy, with burgeoning trade and a large number of churches that catered to the beliefs of many different species. Its roads were constructed with the most advanced technology available, even accommodating centaur carriages and providing waystations for them to stop at.

Most important of all, a university named the Nemea Academy, was established to educate the monsters—in the hopes that they would go on to achieve great things in years to come.

The Academy attracted educators from all corners of the continent. Here, students could receive the best instruction money could buy. And, although initially established as a school for monsters, the Academy welcomed students of any race.

One day, a young boy arrived from abroad. At the time, he was the first and only human ever to set foot in Nemea. Rumors soon flooded the school about this bright new student who’d come all the way from the human realm to study medicine—a prodigy who moved up in his studies only six months after admission.

His name was Glenn Litbeit.

 

***

 

A young boy walked the halls of the Academy, the most hallowed temple of learning in the monster realm. He wore the white coat of the medical department.

“Ahhh…”

The boy’s face was glum. As the only human at the Academy, every other student stared at him. Glenn was used to it by now, but…

“A voluntary research problem…in a laboratory.”

He sighed.

In his hand was a notice from his professor, Cthulhy, officially moving him up a grade. In the six short months since beginning the course, Glenn’s high marks had earned him a place with the second-years. This wasn’t just unprecedented for the college of medicine—it was unprecedented for the entirety of the Nemea Academy. The rules required a student to obtain professorial approval before proceeding to the next year of study, irrespective of how long that student had been enrolled. Most of Cthulhy’s students repeated grades multiple times.

And then along came a boy no older than fourteen—and a human at that—who advanced to the next year almost immediately, taking everyone by surprise. The other students looked at Glenn with envy.

For his part, Glenn was oblivious to the ill feelings of his classmates. The only thing on his mind was Cthulhy’s requirement for second-years to participate in lab work, of which he’d just been informed.

“Which lab am I supposed to join?” Glenn wondered aloud, rubbing the spots on his arm left behind by Cthulhy’s suckers.

According to Cthulhy, while second-years could undertake lab work alone or in a group, their research had to fall under one of a variety of topics. Glenn looked down at the list Cthulhy had given him.

“Pharmaceutics, herb cultivation, monster origins… whoa, practical application of blood transfusion? Can students really do that? Then there’s studying the development of the outer ear in different races…is that a fetish?”

The students at the Nemea Academy were brilliant. That was obvious from the list of research subjects. Glenn knew Cthulhy wouldn’t allow him to advance unless he proved that he was capable. He wanted to graduate as soon as possible and become a doctor and, if he was going to achieve that, he needed to produce remarkable results.

As a fourteen-year-old runaway, he also had to consider the school fees. Unless he took advantage of the scholarships awarded to exceptional students, there was no guarantee he’d even be able to afford the rest of his study. He had no choice but to complete the curriculum in the shortest amount of time possible.

“Hmm…”

Glenn sighed again.

Most students probably teamed up with their friends for lab work, but he didn’t have any of those. After a single semester, all of Cthulhy’s students clearly considered him an anomaly. He hadn’t really meshed with his roommate either, and had ended up in a room of his own.

“Maybe I should just do it alone…or ask Sapphee…”

Working alone seemed awfully daunting. It was technically allowed, but no student had ever launched a laboratory study entirely on their own. He had no choice but to turn to the only person he knew, which would probably mean joining the pharmaceutical research that Saphentite Neikes had already begun.

Then again…

Saphentite had been a ward of Glenn’s family once. She was basically their hostage, and he’d never expected to be reunited with her here. At first, she hadn’t even noticed him. When they finally ran into each other, Sapphee was extremely surprised.

“I’m pretty sure she’s been avoiding me…”

Glenn’s parents hadn’t agreed with his decision to come here, and he essentially cut all ties with them in order to travel to the monster realm. It was true that his older brother had covered his entrance fees and initial living expenses, but Glenn interpreted this as an olive branch for his return, rather than a promise of more aid in the future. Sapphee was the only person (or monster) he knew in the whole of Nemea, and she was making a point of not speaking to him. Even when he tried to strike up conversation, she behaved coldly. Now he was frightened to even approach her.

“What to do…?”

He had no friends, and his childhood companion wouldn’t even acknowledge him. He could go to Cthulhy, who was betting on his talent, but she wasn’t going to solve his problems for him. Moreover, he didn’t want to wind up on her bad side…or run up too much debt.

Maybe I should just do it by myself…

“Oh, Glenn! Gleeenn!”

His thoughts were interrupted by a lone student sliding down the hallway toward him. Her pigtails were…bubbling? Her body was green and made of a strange gel. She was a striking sight.

“Umm…” Glenn watched the girl approach. “Remind me of your name?”

“Huh?!” The girl collapsed, flinging herself onto the floor in dismay. “I-I introduced myself before, yeah?”

“O-oh, when I transferred in…right? I’m sorry, umm… all I remember from that day is my lessons…”

“Can’t you at least say you were nervous? Even if it’s a lie, yeah?”

“I apologize…”

It wasn’t that Glenn didn’t care about the other students, his studies were just his top priority. Still, it wasn’t right that he hadn’t even remembered her name.

“Uggh…! I’m Sphwllympf, yeah!”

“What…?” The way she said her name sounded like mixing a jar of paste. “Um…is that the slime pronunciation? No wonder I couldn’t remember.”

“Oh, you’re right, yeah! You can call me Lime! They started calling me that because all I eat are limes, yeah.”

Bubbles burst from her hair—or at least the part of her head that looked like hair. She smelled like citrus.

“Lime…”

Glenn remembered her now. She was the most senior student in Cthulhy’s class, though he thought that was probably a reflection of her poor grades. Her pigtails and cherubic face made her look younger, but as a slime, she could manipulate her body however she liked.

She wasn’t wearing clothes, but she’d formed her body into the silhouette of a collar around her neck and a skirt around her waist. The high collar gave her a sense of sophistication, but her speech and overall appearance was more like a very young girl. She didn’t look like an upperclassman at all.

“Ahh, did you…want to talk to me about something?” Glenn asked.

“Ah! That’s right! It’s terrible, yeah!”

“Umm, what’s terrible?”

Glenn was utterly confused. He’d only spoken to Lime a handful of times, but here she was, acting as if they were old friends.

I’ve never been good at making friends…

When he’d lived with his parents, he’d spent his time reading instead of playing outdoors. His brother was the sociable one, his sister young and naive, but Glenn had been a timid child. Even traveling abroad to the monster realm hadn’t cured him of that.

“Anyway, just come with me!”

“Uh…whoa!”

Lime let the human outlines of her body collapse, transforming into an amorphous green blob. She slid her viscous flesh under Glenn and slid rapidly down the hall, carrying him with her. He tried to resist, but with nothing solid to grab on to, there was nothing he could do.

“I’m sorry. We’re in a hurry, yeah!”

“C-could you be a bit gentler…? Whoaa…!”

But it was futile.

The other students and teachers stared, speechless, at the sight of the human prodigy being carried off by a slime.

 

***

 

“Here, yeah?” Lime said as she dropped Glenn on the floor with a slurp.

She returned to her human form.

They’d arrived at one of the medical department’s laboratories. The plate on the entrance read Pharmaceutical Laboratory. Glenn was already very familiar with its owner.

“So that means…”

Glenn heard a cool voice coming from inside. He recognized her even before he saw her: Saphentite, the lamia he’d spent a portion of his childhood with, and his senior at the Academy.

“I don’t know why you’ve come to me,” Saphentite was saying. “This is just a laboratory. Umm…Cerve, was it? I understand you don’t feel well, but I don’t have the necessary expertise to help you.”

“Don’t say that! Please do something, anything! I heard you were the most talented girl in the medical department! Please, please save my puppies!”

“I-I can’t…”

Glenn could see Sapphee’s straight hair from where he stood. She’d grown more beautiful since he’d last seen her. She was still young, of course, just a student herself, but from Glenn’s perspective, she was an older woman. And, right now, she sounded perplexed. He could see the herbs she was growing, and the test tubes, scales, and pots for concocting medicines. What he couldn’t see was who she was talking to.

“Stop! He’s here, yeah!” Lime declared.

Glenn was waiting quietly for Saphentite to finish when his slime companion threw the door wide open, announcing their presence. For some reason, she had a strange look of pride on her face.

“L-Lime! Why?!” Sapphee stuttered.

“I brought reinforcements to help you with your problem, yeah? C’mon, get in there!”

Lime shoved Glenn into the lab.

“G-Glenn?”

“Um, yeah. Excuse me for bursting in, Sapphee.”

When they were kids, Glenn had called her his sister. But he felt awkward doing that now, in front of others. Besides, she was an upperclassman. He should address her with respect.

“Yes…”

Sapphee purposefully jerked her head away from him. She was literally giving him the cold shoulder. Had he done something wrong? Even though they’d played together as kids, things changed when you grew up. However sad he was about that, Glenn had keep his composure. He was fourteen, and well-aware that he was just a child playing at being an adult.

“Oh, Glenn! Everyone’s talking about you, dude!” exclaimed the other occupant of the lab.

Glenn looked to the back of the room and saw a girl kneeling on all fours, likely because she’d been groveling before Sapphee just a moment ago.

“N-nice to meet you,” he said.

“Nice to meet you too, dude! I’m Cerve, from the athletics department! Oh, you really are a human! I’ve never seen one before.”

“Woof!”

“Ruff!”

The barks drew Glenn’s attention to her shoulders, and the fact that Cerve had a dog head sprouting out of each of them.

“I’m a Cerberus, by the way! These heads here are Orr and Ery!”

Cerve grinned from ear to ear. Glenn was dumbstruck.

I’ve never seen a Cerberus before.

Cerve not only had a tail, but dog ears sprouted from her human head. At first glance, she looked like just another beast-kin. It was the additional dog heads growing from her shoulders that marked her as a Cerberus—a particularly rare species of monster. Orr and Ery, as she’d called them, had their tongues lolling out and their eyes fixed on Glenn.

Each dog head has a separate brain and its own, independent will. The body may look human, but the Cerberus is unlike any other living being, Glenn recalled from his textbook.

“Leave it to me!” Lime said proudly. “Glenn is a genius—the most gifted student since Cthulhy founded the medical department, yeah? I’m sure he can solve your problem, Cerve!”

“H-huh?!” Glenn and Sapphee cried in unison.

Lime gave them a smug look and a satisfied sigh. Glenn had no idea what she was thinking. She didn’t know what was afflicting Cerve, but she was somehow convinced Glenn could solve it?

“Seriously?! Please, Glenn, dude!”

Cerve grabbed Glenn’s hand. They were from different departments, but she was probably his senior, too. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

“Uhhh…”

He hesitated, unsure what to say.

“Please, Glenn. For me, too.” It took him a moment to realize it was Sapphee’s voice. She put her hand on Glenn’s shoulder. “It is too much for me to handle alone. But maybe you’ll have some good advice for her. Please, Glenn. Can you help?”

Glenn was surrounded by his seniors. He was at a loss for words. He was a teenage runaway who’d abandoned his family to come to Nemea. He had no money and no friends. The only thing he had going for him were his grades.

But now Lime, Sapphee, and Cerve were counting on him. What could he do?

“O-okay,” he said, barely squeezing the word out. “I don’t know how much I can do, but I can at least listen…”

“Thank you very much!”

“Woooooof!” the dog on Cerve’s right shoulder howled.

Cerve shook his hand, hard.

And so began the first physical examination Glenn Litbeit ever performed.

 

***

 

Cerve said she was a second-year student in the athletics department, which attracted powerful, confident young monsters from all corners of the continent. They were no longer at war, but it never hurt to be prepared. Of course, the Nemea Academy couldn’t exactly announce that it was training soldiers. Instead, the athletic department conducted their affairs under the guise of promoting health and fitness. Students honed their minds and bodies through a variety of activities such as track and field, javelin and discus, martial arts, ball games, and swimming.

“I don’t like to brag, but I have excellent grades, dude.”

Cerve stuck out her tongue. Her flaxen hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her expression was joyful. Her tail wagged furiously. Glenn took this to mean she saw him as an ally. She was wearing a two-piece undergarment that fit her like a glove. It was similar to the light-shielding undergarment Sapphee wore, though probably made of more absorbent fabric. She was taut, lean, and extremely athletic.

“I’m on a full scholarship…but my grades have been dropping,” she continued.

“Why is that?”

“Umm…” Cerve’s eyes darted uneasily around the room. She turned her attention to the dog heads on her shoulders. “Guys, say hi.”

“Grrr…!”

Orr, the dog on Cerve’s left shoulder, growled. But he wasn’t growling at Glenn, rather his disdain was directed at his counterpart, Ery.

“Argrrr…!” Ery threatened in return, baring her teeth.

Orr seemed more aggressive, but Ery clearly had no intention of backing down, either. They were salivating, each ready to take a bite out of the other. Their teeth were sharp, and if given the opportunity, they probably wouldn’t stop at just a nip…not that they could reach each other.

“Hey, stop fighting, dudes!” Cerve ordered.

“Grrr…!”

“Arf…!”

Cerve reached both hands up to stroke her shoulders. The dogs dropped their heads and did as they were told, but didn’t stop eyeing each other.

“See, dude? Lately, they just won’t stop fighting.”

“Your Cerberus shoulders are fighting…? I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

Glenn glanced over at Sapphee, who shook her head. It seemed that, despite her excellent grades, she was flummoxed, too.

“It’s awful! I don’t know when they might start, so I have to worry about it all the time. It gets in the way of my sports!”

“That is…awful.”

“If my grades keep dropping, I could even lose my scholarship. Ahhh!”

Cerve was trembling. Everyone was welcome at the Nemea Academy, regardless of species or status, but that also meant the student body came from a wide variety of financial backgrounds.

“Can you think of any reason why they might be fighting?”

“No! There’s nothing! Even if I get them to settle down like this, they just start back up again later. The worst is when they both howl at the same time. Ugh!”

If she couldn’t come up with a reason, it would be difficult to get to the bottom of this.

“Cerve, I think it might be better for you to talk to a real doctor, like Dr. Cthulhy, rather than students like us,” Glenn said.

“I’m not hurt or sick, dude. I just want these two to get along!”

Cerve held her head in her hands. As soon as she bowed her human head, Orr and Ery started snarling at each again.

Glenn understood. Cerve didn’t think she was ill, just in trouble. She’d gone to medical students rather than a doctor because she was just looking for a consult, as Lime had said. He glanced over at Sapphee. He was sure she would help Cerve if she could, but Sapphee’s specialty was pharmacology, and he didn’t think Cerve’s problem could be treated with medication alone.

Sapphee was the reason he wanted to become a doctor in the first place. When she was young, she’d fallen gravely ill and it was caring for her that had led him here.

“I understand,” he said. “If you prefer not to go to a proper doctor, I’d be happy to take a look.”

“Glenn! Seriously?!”

Cerve jumped up and down.

He thought she might hug him. She seemed very friendly. Having been wrapped in both Cthulhy’s and Sapphee’s embraces in the past, Glenn was well-aware of the monster propensity to be physically demonstrative. It made him wince a little.

“Okay, then…hear me out, and then follow my instructions.”

“I will, dude!” she answered quickly.

Such immediate submissiveness actually concerned him a bit.

“See, Sapphee? Good thing I brought Glenn, yeah? Another perfect decision made by me, Lime!”

Lime puffed up her chest.

“Shouldn’t you be the one having a consultation, Lime?”

“Each situation is different, yeah!” Lime said, ignoring Sapphee’s sarcasm.

Sapphee let out a sign and returned to Glenn’s side. “Since this is my lab, I’ll help you. What do you plan on doing?”

“Yeah, umm…” Glenn was looking at the dogs on each of Cerve’s shoulders. “I think maybe we have to train them.”

Training. The moment Cerve heard that word, the smile disappeared from her face.

Glenn, still oblivious to the delicate workings of others’ minds, didn’t even notice.

 

***

 

The Academy cafeteria was a popular place, somewhere that students could eat their fill at a reasonable price. They offered meals for all types of monster diets including herbivores, piscivores, and carnivores. But what about humans? At first, Glenn didn’t know if he should line up alongside his classmates.

Fortunately, Sapphee turned him onto the existence of the bread and grains corner.

“Let’s decide what order you should eat in,” Glenn said as he ate his bread.

He was sitting across from Cerve, who had a plate full of beef in front of her. It was fresh and raw, still dripping blood. Cerberii were strictly carnivorous, and Cerve looked thrilled by the prospect of the feast before her, but she sat up straight at Glenn’s words.

“U-understood, Glenn dude! So, uh, what order?”

“Is that plate three heads’ worth of meat?”

“Well, we only have one stomach, so we only need to eat enough for one. But everyone feels bad if they don’t get to taste for themselves. I always feed Orr and Ery!”

What she called a single-person portion was still large serving compared to other species. Cerberii must be heavy eaters.

With multiple brains, they must need much more energy.

Cerberii physiology was full of surprises. Her other heards weren’t superficial appendages, but had brains, mouths, and esophagi that connected to her digestive tract. Cerve controlled the central human body, but she clearly couldn’t control them, as evidenced by their fighting.

The Cerberii lived in especially harsh climates, even for the monster realm. It was possible that their other heads had evolved to compensate, specialized to tear through the enemy at point-blank range and protect the center head at all costs. Each head had its own brain that could attack at any time, even if the central head didn’t notice the threat.

A species that lives in conditions so harsh it can only survive by having multiple heads…

“They say that dogs eat in order according to ranking. Let’s make sure they remember to start with Cerve. Next is Orr, and then Ery.”

“Oh…r-ranking?” Cerve looked at the heads on either side of her own. Their tongues were hanging out, dripping drool. “Orr and Ery are both part of my body. We’ve always lived together. They’re like family, dude. I can’t just rank them like that.”

“Listen, Cerve.” Glenn looked directly into her eyes. “I believe the reason Orr and Ery are always fighting is because they’re trying to establish which of them is more dominant. The literature I’ve read says that when the three heads of a Cerberus cooperate fully, they’re remarkable in combat and can survive even the harshest environment. In dogs, such cooperation requires establishing a clear hierarchy.”

“B-but I’m not a dog. I’m a Cerberus!”

“Yes, but the heads on your shoulders exhibit behavior traits extremely similar to dogs. If they establish who’s in charge, they’ll stop fighting.”

“B-but I…”

Cerve looked as if she was about to cry.

Glenn took another bite of bread. “I thought you said you’d follow my instructions.”

“U-uhh…you’re right, dude! I have to do this!”

Cerve shook her head, then cut some meat. When she opened her mouth to take a bite, Glenn could see her sharp canines.

“Mm, nom nom…” she chewed and swallowed. “Okay, next it’s Orr’s turn!”

She cut off another piece and fed it to Orr, who had his mouth open wide, waiting.

“Grrr!”

Seeing Orr fed first, Ery started growling.

“Err, s-sorry, Ery…”

“Don’t apologize. You need to teach them the hierarchy.”

Cerve already had tears in her eyes. “B-but…”

Ery whimpered in sympathy.

By contrast, after being assigned the higher rank, Orr regarded Ery with a look of pride. He barked, but Ery didn’t like this and responded by baring her teeth.

Cerve looked pained. “Ohhh…”

Glenn cocked his head, trying to figure out why she was finding it so difficult. This was the best treatment, and he needed her to follow it.

He continued eating, trying to remain calm. “Cerve, you need to be patient until they both learn.”

“I-I can do it!”

“Grrr…!”

“Arrrf…”

Glenn was oblivious to his patient’s distress, relying on his book knowledge alone.

He also didn’t notice the two upperclassmen staring him from another table. Both of them could tell that the young would-be doctor had a long way to go when it came to his bedside manner.

 

***

 

A week passed in this manner.

“How’s it going, Glenn? How’s Cerve?” Sapphee asked as Glenn read a book in her lab.

“There hasn’t been much change,” he admitted.

“Is that so?” Sapphee wouldn’t look him in the eye.

Glenn had buried himself in literature, searching for a solution, but there were no documented cases of Cerberii heads not getting along. The solution he’d come up with—to establish a hierarchy of authority of the heads—hadn’t produced any results.

“Shall I make you some herbal tea?” Sapphee asked.

“Y-yes, please.”

“Just a moment.”

Her lab included a coal stove for brewing medicines, which was also convenient for making tea. As she boiled the water, a strange smell filled the air.

She’s not being…cold to me, exactly. But something’s up.

At the Academy, Sapphee was gentle and kind, just as Glenn remembered her being in childhood. And yet, she still wouldn’t meet his eyes. She was…distant, somehow. She was allowing him to use her lab freely while he tried to resolve Cerve’s problem, so he didn’t think she hated him…but still.

“I want some, yeah?”

“Okay, Lime. Get out of that bucket, then.”

“Heh, it’s just so comfy in here,” Lime said, peeking her head out of the bucket she’d poured herself into.

Apparently, she liked to store herself in containers. Slimes behaved so differently from most organisms that it was sometimes hard to believe they were living creatures. She popped out of her bucket with a squish and returned to her human shape.

“Here you are. Glenn,” Sapphee said. “So, what do you think? Can you help Cerve?”

“Yeah, umm.”

Glenn sipped the herbal tea as he tried to come up with the right words. There had been no significant changes over the past week. He was working hard to train Cerve’s shoulders into subordination, but it wasn’t the same as training dogs. No matter what methods he tried, they soon started fighting again.

He’d set out intending to make Orr the second-ranking head, but whenever Orr was given priority, he provoked Ery. Ery grew depressed when put last and snapped at Orr as he gloated.

“So…it’s not going well?”

“Er…”

Sapphee could see right through him.

“Are they really fighting over rank?” Lime asked.

At some point, a lemon had appeared in her herbal tea.

“I’m quite sure about it. Dogs don’t fight when there’s a hierarchy…”

“Hmm. But Cerve is a Cerberus, yeah?”

“Yes, but according to the literature—”

“Books are just books, yeah?” Lime pointed out.

Glenn wanted to protest, but he didn’t have any evidence to back up his words. The reality was that his methods had done nothing to resolve Cerve’s problem. Did that mean his hypothesis was wrong?

“Do you know what’s causing it, Lime?”

It was a childish retort. Even at fourteen, Glenn should have known better.

Lime just giggled. “No idea!”

“Then why—”

“But y’know, I can tell that your method isn’t right, yeah. I mean, Glenn, you just sit there staring at books instead of looking at Cerve.”

There was nothing he could do about her teasing. After all, she was an upperclassman.

“Huh?”

Flustered, Glenn closed the book he was scouring for information on the Cerberus species.

Now that he thought about it…was he really trying to force the text in the books to apply to Cerve? Had he decided from the start that this was a fight for hierarchy simply, because she looked like a dog?

“Ah, um, uh…sorry, I…”

“All you do is study, study, study. I mean, it’s a good thing to study hard, yeah? But that won’t turn you into a great doctor. Still, I’m sure it doesn’t feel great to be told off like this by the worst student in Cthulhy’s class!”

“N-no, that’s not…”

“But the truth is, I’ve been with Dr. Cthulhy long enough that I do know some things, yeah! If she were here right now, she’d say, ‘Neglect the patient, and you can’t cure the curable. You only get ten points.’”

Lime’s Cthulhy impression wasn’t very good, but the words were spot-on.

“So, you’ve known each other a long time, then?”

“Yeah. I met Dr. Cthulhy when I lived by the coast.”

Lime’s pigtails moved with her in affirmation. Her “hair” showed more emotion than her limbs did. Nearly ninety percent of a slime’s body was water. Therefore, many lived by oceans or lakes to maintain their required intake. By adjusting the osmotic pressure inside their body, they were able to absorb either freshwater or saltwater, and they could supposedly move around in water for short amounts of time. Glenn imagined they transformed their bodies to resemble jellyfish to do so.

Cerberii were a wonder, but slimes were something else altogether.

“Do you have any advice for Glenn, Sapphee?”

“Advice? Well…” Sapphee pondered as she drank her tea. “What do you think, Glenn? Do you think your diagnosis is incorrect?”

“Y-yes I do…”

“In that case, start over. Think back to what Cerve said.”

Glenn thought about it again. “Cerve came to Sapphee’s lab because she was concerned that her grades were slipping. And her grades are slipping because the heads on her shoulders are fighting…”

No. Wait, was that right? The only reason Glenn thought the drop in her grades was caused by the fighting was because Cerve had said so.

“I wonder if that’s the truth?” he muttered to himself.

Sapphee and Lime looked at each other and smiled. Glenn was too busy working things out to notice them.

“Cerve controls most of their body. So…would her performance be affected by some spats between her shoulders?”

Lime’s hair bobbed up and down in anticipation. “What do you mean?”

“Could it be that they’re fighting because her grades are dropping?”

“Whaaaaa?” Lime said in a long, airheaded drawl. Although, it was true that slimes didn’t actually possess brains. “That’s an interesting perspective… why would her dogs fight over her grades, though?”

“I don’t know…but Cerve seems convinced that Orr and Ery are the cause of her poor results…”

Glenn went through it again. He pictured how Cerve looked, and how the two dog heads looked. When had they started fighting? Maybe the reason lay there. Cerve said she didn’t know what had changed. But even if she couldn’t see it herself, maybe Glenn could figure it out.

“Glenn, can I give you one more piece of advice?”

“Huh? Oh, yes,”

Sapphee interrupted Glenn’s thoughts just as he was about to go down another dead end in his mind. It was as if she knew where he was headed. Her smile was just as gentle as it had been back when they’d lived together. It was comforting.

“Cerve’s three heads have individual brains, right?” she asked.

“Yes…at least, I think they do. It’s precisely because the heads are independent that the Cerberii have been able to survive in such harsh environments.”

“But that doesn’t mean they aren’t connected,” Sapphee said. “Cerve called her heads ‘family,’ but they’re even closer than that. They’re all connected in one body…Orr, Ery, and Cerve. Don’t forget that.”

“Yes, I understand.” Glenn nodded, finally getting it.

He’d been mistaken. Even if they had separate minds, the dogs on Cerve’s body were part of her. Just as you could never rank one of your hands higher than the other, trying to establish an order between Orr and Ery would never work.

He needed to think of another way, and the materials were already in front of him. Glenn’s head was spinning. The best-performing student at the Academy was about to use his brain to help Cerve.

Sapphee cleared her throat. “Ah, um…and also…Glenn?”

He looked at her quizzically.

“Umm… ahem…”

Was there something else he’d missed? For some reason, Lime was watching the two of them, grinning.

“Glenn…about me.”

“Huh?”

Sapphee thumped her tail loudly. Glenn couldn’t gauge her mood. Was it bashfulness? Frustration?

“I-I don’t like being treated as a senior… just talk to me like normal!” she blurted out.

“Ahh, r-right!” Glenn stammered.

He’d intended to be respectful, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect.

Could it be…

He thought back.

Did my actions cause Sapphee to act so cold?

He’d thought that she was avoiding him. But maybe he was the one who’d put up a wall to keep her out. Maybe that was why it had felt like they’d grown apart?

How could he still be so bad at interacting with people? He still didn’t have any friends at the Academy…but didn’t that mean that he should be trying even harder to fix his relationship with Sapphee?

“O-okay I understa—I mean…I got it, Sapphee.”

“Y-yes. I look forward to getting to know you again. Ahh, I was waiting to say that…”

They laughed awkwardly together. At least they’d narrowed the distance between them a bit. Lime looked on, laughing.

To an outside observer, it might have seemed like she was scheming, but Glenn was far too happy about reconnecting with his childhood friend to notice Lime’s expression.

 

***

 

The Nemea Academy campus maintained a massive field where the athletics department held their competitions, but the other students were allowed to use it as well. Glenn was trying to do something he was very bad at: he was going for a run.

“Oomf!”

“Woof!”

“Ruff!”

He could hear three distinct voices behind him.

“Haah… ahh…”

They’d run three long laps around the track, and Glenn was thoroughly out of breath. Behind him, however, Cerve showed no signs of being winded.

“Woof woof! Glenn, this is so fun, dude! I want to run more!”

“M-more… okay, I’ll do my best!”

Glenn’s face was pale, but he kept going.

Cerve was running on all fours. She normally walked on two, but the nature of her joints allowed to switch to being quadrupedal when she wanted. Many beast-kin monsters had similar joints, and preferred to run on all fours when traveling at speed. However, it did put a strain on their lower backs.

What’s more, Cerve had a collar around her neck. The collar was attached to a leash, and Glenn was holding tight to the other end. It was like something a wealthy family might use to walk their family pet.

I wonder if I should be doing this to an upperclassman…

But Cerve didn’t seem to mind. The way she kept her mouth open to breathe as she ran made her look even more like a dog. She came up to him and sat, waiting for his instructions. She was behaving like he was her owner.

It’s okay, this is treatment…it’s just treatment… Glenn tried to convince himself.

Even though they had separate brains, Cerve, Orr, and Ery shared the same flesh. Even though their minds were distinct, they were all the same Cerberus. You couldn’t create a hierarchy within a single being.

“Ahh, haa…whoo!”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

Glenn continued around the track, trying to stay ahead of Cerve, who followed him, barking the whole way. She was in a good mood. And there was no sign of Orr and Ery fighting on her shoulders. All three of them were completely absorbed in their exercise.

Cerve had thought her grades had dropped because of Orr and Ery’s fighting. Sapphee had disagreed. If the cause and effect were reversed…then they’d been fighting because her grades dropped.

Orr and Ery have their own brains…but they share the same nervous systems.

Cerve was a scholarship student, which meant she was under additional pressure. Whatever initial, trivial reason had caused her grades to slip, the mental burden would have increased in tandem. It was only natural that Orr and Ery felt the same pressure.

The left and right heads naturally try to protect the head in the middle. If Cerve hadn’t consciously identified the source of her stress, Orr and Ery would have no idea what was causing it.

From Orr and Ery’s perspective, there was no obvious enemy. Nothing was attacking them, but something was putting stress on their system. As a result, they’d instinctively bared their fangs at the first thing they laid eyes on—the head on the other side of Cerve’s—not realizing that they were blaming another part of themselves.

So, the two heads would fight whenever Cerve was feeling stressed.

No wonder there were no documented records of this happening before. In their natural habitat, Cerberii would never be pushed to this kind of breaking point. There would be plenty of outside enemies for them to focus on. Cerve’s case came about as a direct result of her living in peace, without more pressing issues of survival to contend with.

Glenn was completely out of breath. “Ahh, haa…haa.”

“Ha ha! More, Glenn! I want more, dude!”

“I-I’m sorry…I need a break.”

Cerve’s initial problem with her grades was probably just a slump. She might understand this if he told her, but the pressure of her poor performance was already hurting her. As such, Glenn had decided to focus on reducing her stress.

He figured that exercise unrelated to her grades—and with a new companion—would help her let off some steam.

“Woof…woof! Ha ha ha… ha!”

For some reason, Cerve had made Glenn hold the lead connected to her collar. She’d told him that she needed it when she ran with someone. He wondered if it was a Cerberus tradition? There was still so much about the many monster cultures that he didn’t understand.

Cerve was panting, but her eyes were shining.

I hope she feels a little better now.

At the very least, Cerve’s shoulders weren’t fighting. Even going on this brief jog seemed good for her. She could probably resume running regularly from now on.

“Um…Cerve?”

“Woof?”

“I’m sorry… I put you through a lot this week. It seems my diagnosis was wrong. There wasn’t really any point to trying to establish an order.”

“Oh, that?” Cerve laughed. “It was tough, and I didn’t get it. But look, now we’re running together! Don’t worry, dude! See? Orr and Ery are happy, too!”

One side barked, as if they had forgotten what Glenn had put them through, too. The truth was, they probably didn’t remember. Even though each shoulder had its own brain, they didn’t have much in the way of long-term memory. That was the role of the central head.

“Thank you very much…”

Mistaken diagnoses could have serious consequences. Even if he wasn’t a doctor yet, he’d been responsible for treating Cerve. Glenn vowed to never be overconfident in his own judgment in the future, and to think of the patient first. He would let this failure be a lesson for the future.

“Shall we go around one more time, Cerve?”

“Woof! Yes! Thanks, Glenn dude!”

It was tough to keep up with Cerve when she ran on four legs, even though she probably wasn’t going at even half her full speed. But when Glenn tried to run again…

“Whoaa?!”

The ground suddenly rose to meet him. He’d pulled a muscle in his leg and tumbled forward, falling flat on his face.

“Agh, owww!”

“Glenn?!”

Luckily, only Cerve was present to witness him faceplant. He would have been pretty depressed if Sapphee had seen it happen.

“A-are you okay?” Cerve asked, helping him up. “Ohh! Your face is all scraped up!”

“Ah, I-I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

Glenn could feel her breath on his skin. It didn’t help that she was a beautiful and charming upperclassman. The only other girls Glenn had been around were his sister and Sapphee.

He absentmindedly wiped his cheek, and his hand came away bloody.

“It’s not fine! If a scrape like that gets infected, it can be dangerous! As a medical student, you should know that!”

“Well, yeah, but—”

Slurp.

Cerve suddenly started licking Glenn’s cheek.

He tried to resist.

“Oh, don’t move, dude! I’ll disinfect it right away.”

“Huh? Aggh…!”

Slurrrp.

Cerve’s ran her tongue over Glenn’s scrape. She was holding his face with both of her hands and her fingers had pads like a dog’s, helping to hold him in place.

Slurp, slurrrp.

Glenn tried to back away. “O-okay, that’s enough!”

Cerve’s licking was intense. At this rate, his entire face would be covered in her slobber.

“No! It’s not enough! I need to lick more!”

Slurp, slurrrp.

“Ugh, aggh…”

Dogs used their tongues to show affection. Perhaps this persistent licking wasn’t just to disinfect his wound, but also to express her gratitude. Glenn thought it was a little excessive, but his strength was no match for hers. Cerve moved on from his cheek to his nose, his mouth, and even his eyeball.

Slurp! Smack!

“Ergh…!”

Glenn’s voice didn’t seem to be working.

He wished someone would come to his rescue, but very few students used the athletic grounds at this time of night. In fact, he’d chosen this time precisely because there wouldn’t be any other students around.

“Mmm, mmm!”

Slurrrp, slurp!

“Ugh… Ahhh!”

Glenn looked around desperately for someone to help him.

Just then, he saw white scales out of the corner of his eye.

“I was starting to get worried.” Sapphee said, appearing out of nowhere. Her expression was ice-cold—far more serious than he’d seen her since they’d been reunited. “Exactly what is going on here, Glenn?”

Glenn wanted to tell her that he’d fallen, but he couldn’t do anything as long as Cerve kept licking him.

“First of all, get away from him.”

“Wh-what?!”

Sapphee pulled Cerve away, bringing the Cerberus, who’d apparently been completely lost in her licking, back to reality.

“Now, explain yourself, Glenn!” Sapphee said, with the sweetest smile painted on her face.

“I just fell down…”

Covered in Cerve’s saliva, Glenn did his best to explain.

He’d thought helping Cerve would just be a practice shot at consultation. He’d never expected it to turn into something so intense. It was only now that Glenn finally understood the meaning of the phrase:“the extraordinary path to becoming a doctor.”

 

***

 

“Ouch…” Glenn moaned.

This time, the pain was muscle soreness. He usually spent all his time stuck behind a desk, studying. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that his body was screaming after trying to keep up with the top student in the athletics department.

“Glenn, go rest.”

“Thank you very much…Lime.”

“It’s nothing.”

Glenn was collapsed shirtless on the sofa in Sapphee’s lab. Well, it wasn’t actually a sofa, but Lime’s transformed body. The elasticity of her gel-like flesh was perfectly suited to support Glenn as he lay face-down.

“Ahh, this feels good.”

“Heh heh! I’m a slime that turns humans into mush! Don’t complain if you get addicted to me, yeah?”

Glenn was surprised by her malleability. Slimes could change the density and salt content of their flesh using osmotic pressure, which allowed her to turn herself into a Lime sofa for him to collapse into…and also cradle every part of his body as his muscles slowly relaxed.

“What happened to Cerve after that?” Sapphee asked.

“Too cold!” Glenn shouted, as Sapphee laid a compress on his back. He’d exercised with Cerve several more times after that first outing, which was why his muscles were in such severe pain. “S-Sapphee, not so rough.”

“Stop complaining. Now, what about Cerve?”

“Ah, well…it seems her grades have gone back to where they were before. She regained her confidence, and she hasn’t said anything about the dog heads on her shoulders fighting since.”

“So, your diagnosis was correct, then? Although…I still don’t understand why your face needed to be licked.”

“I already explained that…”

Apparently, Sapphee was still annoyed. Glenn wondered why she got so worked up over Cerve licking his face, but had no problem with him laying, half-naked, on Lime. He couldn’t fathom her criteria.

“I also question your judgment. Running so much that your entire body is sore… what were you thinking?”

“I had to!”

Glenn moaned again. He’d known that the exercise would be too much.

But still…

He’d wanted to follow through. If he wished become a doctor, he couldn’t let Cerve down. It was that simple.

“Ugh, whatever,” Sapphee growled. “I’ve applied all your compresses, so just stay still for a bit. You’re forbidden from studying, understand?”

“Yes, Miss—er, Sapphee.”

“Good,” she laughed.

Sapphee didn’t want to be treated as his senior, but she sure was treating him like her junior. If he’d had an older sister, he was sure it’d be the same way. In fact, Sapphee had been more of a sister to him than his real siblings. It hadn’t changed after all these years either. That made Glenn happier than anything.

“By the way, Glenn. Have you decided what to do about your lab? Cthulhy told you to choose, right?” Sapphee asked.

He’d been too preoccupied with Cerve. “Ah, yeah… I’m still thinking.”

“If you’d like…” Sapphee sounded bashful. “If you’re not against it, you could join me in my pharmaceutical lab. I mean, as one opti—”

“I’m here, dude!”

The door to the laboratory opened, and Cerve walked in. Sapphee seemed taken aback at this interruption.

“C-Cerve, what are you doing here?!”

“Heh heh, I was going to ask Master… just kidding! I was going to ask Glenn to brush me, dude!”

For some reason, Cerve had taken to calling him Master. He was glad Cerve looking so upbeat, but didn’t understand why the treatment had made her grow so attached to him. Why couldn’t she brush herself?

“As you can see, Glenn is exhausted. Please leave him alone.”

“What?! Glenn, are you sick, dude?!”

“He’s sore from running with you!” Sapphee shouted.

Cerve just chuckled. Was that normal, in this situation?

Glenn reluctantly stood up from his Lime sofa and put on a tunic. “It’s fine, I’ll do it. But just for a little.”

Cerve sat at his feet, and he began brushing her hair.

“Mmm, woof, mmm!”

Cerve let out a coquettish bark. He kept brushing. Cerberus fur was stiff, and it tangled easily, forming knots and picking up dust. Cerberii generally used grooming as an expression of affection between close friends or relatives—Cerve probably didn’t have anyone she could ask for help with this at the Academy.

For his part, Glenn also felt a sense of affinity with her.

“Ah, mm, oh, mmm! Glenn, you’re good…dude.”

“Yes. Please hold still.”

“W-woof!”

Cerve’s tongue lolled. It wasn’t just Cerberii: all canines used their tongues to regulate body temperature.

“Mmm, oh, w-woof!”

“Okay, now your shoulders.”

Cerve’s shoulders twitched. “Mmm, ooh!”

Glenn moved over to the dog heads. They had the same relaxed expression as Cerve and seemed to trust Glenn with the brush.

“Mmm, oh, oooh, woof…mm!”

Cerve was drooling now, but Glenn was too busy with the brush to pay this any mind.

“Sapphee!” Lime whispered into the lamia’s ear. She’d returned to her human form. “Aren’t they getting a little too close? It looks like Cerve has feelings for him…”

“I don’t know…I’m pretty sure Glenn doesn’t have much experience with that sort of thing.”

“Do you think…it’s a talent he was born with, yeah?”

“Well, there is no arguing that he has a knack for making monsters relax around him.”

Half-surprised and half-disgusted, the two upperclassmen watched as Glenn brushed Cerve’s fur. He was firm but gentle.

“Mmm! Oh, agh! Mm, oh!”

“Ahh… Cerve, don’t you think that’s enough?” Sapphee asked, thumping her tail on the ground. “How long do you plan on taking advantage of Glenn’s kindness? He already solved your problem, right? Do you really have to keep coming back?”

“Mmff, mmwoof! Ah, oh, uh, what?”

“I said, you don’t need to bother Glenn just for brush—”

“B-but he said I could consult him anytime. Didn’t you start something new?”

“What?”

Sapphee had no idea what she was talking about, and Glenn was just as confused.

Cerve abruptly ran from the room, returning moments later with an object in her hands. It was the sign from outside Sapphee’s pharmaceutical laboratory. However, it had clearly been written over.

The new text read: Feel free to consult us about your problems. Laboratory of Sapphee, Lime, and Glenn. Medical Department.

Sapphee look puzzled. “What…is this?”

It was Glenn’s first time seeing the sign as well. When he’d come in this morning, he was sure the sign had read, Sapphee’s Pharmaceutical Laboratory. Why had it changed?

“Lime!” Sapphee cried angrily.

“Heh heh!” the green slime laughed, scratching her head.

And that was how Glenn came to join Sapphee’s laboratory.