Case 04: Lindworm Asleep
Case 04:
Lindworm Asleep
Lindworm Asleep
Saphentite was dreaming about her childhood.
In the dream, she was sound asleep in an eastern-style mansion. She had a high fever and couldn’t move. She wasn’t in a bed, but a futon on tatami mats. It wasn’t her home. She couldn’t get used to it.
A young boy with black hair was by her side.
He was reading a book in a language she didn’t understand.
“Hmmm… This isn’t right, either… Well then, that one…”
His face was innocent.
Sapphee, foggy from her fever, couldn’t do anything except stare at the boy.
“Brother! Suiu caught a frog! Maybe it will help Sister get better!”
“It’s just a myth that lamia eat frogs! Don’t believe everything you hear!”
“What?!” Suiu’s voice was audible from the courtyard. It was even more childlike than the boy’s.
Sapphee couldn’t speak. She heard a sound like a sheep’s bleat from far away.
“Okay! I got it.” The boy closed the book. “I’m sure this will cure you, Sapphee.”
Even though he was a young boy, he spoke like an adult. This was probably the first time he’d ever performed any type of medical care.
“Thank you… Glenn…”
A clear image suddenly pierced the haze of Sapphee’s mind—a palm-sized sheep, the source of Lindworm’s sleeping disease. The bleating grew louder.
“Get well soon, Sapphee.”
“N-No… Umm.”
The sheep hopped up and down, making a sound like corn popping. It seemed to be growing. Sapphee tried to cry out, but her mouth was full of wool.
She was suffocating.
The sheep vanished as wool covered Sapphee’s eyes. She tried to protest. She would have preferred a romantic dream…
“Mmmm-fa!”
Sapphee’s eyes opened.
She realized she lay on a hospital bed. Her last memory was of the drinking contest with Sioux.
“What a dream…” Sapphee held her head.
How long had she been sleeping? The hospital room was dark, but something moved in the shadows.
“Dr. Glenn?” Sapphee reached for the curtain that separated the beds.
No lanterns were lit, even though it was night. The moving shadow began to take shape. It was a…sheep?
“Whoa, Silver!”
“Isn’t Silver a horse?”
“So, what do you call a sheep?”
“It should be called Mary.”
“Whoa, Mary!”
“Whoa!”
“What are you doing?”
Sapphee could make out multiple sheep now…and fairies. The fairies were lassoing the sheep, saddling them, and handling them like horses. The sheep didn’t resist at all, just hopped around and played.
“Oh, no… There are sheep in the clinic!”
Was it a stroke of luck that Sapphee had woken up? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t let the source of an epidemic run rampant through the clinic.
“Where is Dr. Glenn?” Sapphee slithered off the bed and headed toward the examination room.
Using her thermal sense, she determined that heat was coming from the examination room—perhaps a lit lantern. She also felt a person’s body heat nearby.
“Doctor?”
Sapphee immediately regretted opening the door. The room overflowed with tiny sheep. Not nearly as many as she had seen in her dream, but there were a lot. They ran past her, brushing her tail.
“Ahhhh!”
“Oh, Sapphee! You woke up. Watch your feet.”
“Doctor! What have I woken up to?!”
Sapphee caught sight of Glenn in the examination room, writing furiously at the desk, Sapphee’s research notes spread everywhere. Glenn didn’t look like himself, however. His bloodshot eyes drooped as if he hadn’t slept in days, and his pale face looked ghastly.
“D-Doctor?”
“The medicine worked. But I’m no good at mixing it. From now on, I’m leaving all the medicinal preparation to you, Sapphee.”
“Did you actually make it? The Sheep Sleep antidote?”
“Yes. But only enough for a few dozen people. I’m not capable of mass-producing the amount I need to treat everyone in town.” Glenn laughed out loud, somewhat hysterically.
It was only natural. He might have the knowledge, but creating medication was Sapphee’s forte. That was the whole reason she joined him in the first place. Cthulhy had determined that Glenn wasn’t cut out to make medicine. If Glenn had been able to concoct an antidote to cure Sapphee, however, he must have put in a lot of work.
“Doctor, have you been sleeping?”
“No… Actually, until I made the antidote, I was so sleepy I couldn’t stand it. But I thought that if I fell asleep, I wouldn’t be able to wake up…because of the sleeping disease.”
“D-Doctor, your arm.”
Glenn’s elbow was wrapped. Was it a cut? No…it must have been an injection site.
“Doctor, you didn’t experiment on yourself, did you…? Did you test the antidote before giving it to me?!”
“Er, uh, no. No, no. I was confident! And now I can see clearly.” Glenn laughed again.
Sapphee was angry, though. She didn’t understand how he could laugh about something like that. Medication became poison with the tiniest of mistakes. So many elements—like the size, age, and species of the patient—had to be considered. It wasn’t something that you figured out through trial and error, using yourself as a lab rat.
“You need to take better care of yourself! You were only just released from the hospital. Now you’re running drug tests on yourself?! If you keep this up, then I’m going to die of worry!”
“But aren’t you doing the same thing, Sapphee?” Glenn’s voice turned serious.
He was exhausted, but he hadn’t lost the twinkle in his eye.
“Me?”
“You knew that you might catch the sleeping disease, but you still went after the sheep, didn’t you?”
“B-but…that was necessary.”
“It was the same for me. I wasn’t acting recklessly or taking the situation lightly. I had the notes you took before you fell asleep, so I could make the medication.”
“Doctor…” Sapphee was speechless.
When had Glenn’s eyes become so confident and prepared? The young boy she’d seen in her dream had become a man without her realizing it. She’d always thought of her little brother as a troublemaker, but now, he could talk back to her.
She was glad.
If he had this much pride and self-respect, he could certainly beat the Sheep Sleep.
“That’s amazing, Glenn. You’re right. You did the right thing.”
“Oh, good. You understand.”
“Shut up! Just because you ended up being right, do you think I’m going to accept it? No way! These are completely different issues.”
Glenn had been correct, but that didn’t change the fact that he disregarded Sapphee’s concerns and acted recklessly. That behavior was just like Glenn, and it was his most dangerous trait. Sapphee stretched her tail toward him. Before he knew it, he was wrapped in her snake body’s embrace, although he still didn’t show any sign of leaving his desk.
“You! You! This is your punishment for constantly making me worry about you!”
“I-I was worried, too!” Glenn seemed determined to stand his ground. “I was afraid you might not wake up. Like that time when you caught a cold at the Litbeit house, or that time you were poisoned… Sapphee, I’m always worried about you. That’s why I wanted to make sure I saved you this time.”
“Er…”
“I have to fight, too.”
“Umm…” Sapphee loosened her grip and let Glenn go.
He’d far exceeded Sapphee’s expectations as a doctor. But the young boy in her dream had possessed exactly the same passion for saving people. What could she do for him? It was obvious. She would be there for him as much as she could as his assistant, his sister, his pupil…and as a woman who loved him.
“Ah, I’m sorry,” Glenn said.
“Don’t apologize, or I’ll squeeze you again! Now, what happened to this clinic?”
The examination room was completely filled with sheep.
“Well, I needed sheep to make the medicine, so I asked the fairies to catch some for me. But there are so many sheep throughout town that, before long, we were buried in them.”
“You don’t mean that the entire town is like this, do you?” If so, the sleeping disease must have completely incapacitated the rest of Lindworm’s residents.
“Yes, well… It’ll be faster if I show you.”
“What?”
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. We have to start mass-producing the medicine.”
So, that was the situation. Glenn woke Sapphee up first because she was a pharmacologist capable of making the antidote.
“I’ll explain about the sheep while we walk.”
Sapphee took a deep breath and followed Glenn outside.
***
Outside the clinic, it looked as though a snowstorm had hit Lindworm.
The “snow” was all tiny sheep. The flock filled the pastures and overflowed into the city.
“So many!”
“Yes. If I hadn’t injected us with the antidote, we’d already have been struck with the sleeping disease again.”
“B-but the townspeople… Aagh!”
It was nearly impossible to see through the sheep, but Sapphee spied a small beast with rabbit ears sleeping on the street in front of her. It was a young vorpal bunny girl. Sapphee remembered seeing her at the arena, so the bunny girl was probably a warrior.
“Oh, no! We have to pick her up.”
“I’ll take care of it. Hey!” Glenn waved his hands toward the darkness.
Two skeletons appeared at the end of the road. They held lanterns and walked forward, pushing aside the sheep.
“Over here! Please, pick her up.”
The two skeletons rattled their skulls, seeming to understand. They lifted the vorpal bunny and carried her away. On closer inspection, the pair was actually a zombie and a skeleton. A shadow wearing a dark cape also stood nearby. They were all rescuing townspeople who’d succumbed to the Sheep Sleep.
“With this many sheep, I would have thought that everyone in town had fallen asleep…” Glenn sounded emotional. “But I guess some people in this town never sleep.”
Sapphee understood. Both humans and monsters—all living beings, actually—required sleep. Some beings weren’t part of the living world, though. The undead had no need for sleep, and therefore, the Sheep Sleep didn’t affect them. Sapphee couldn’t remember ever seeing so many of Deadlich Graveyard City’s denizens within the town walls at once.
“It’s certainly useful in this kind of emergency. Come on, let’s go.”
A familiar figure appeared ahead, illuminated by blue light. A bewitched lantern floated in the air beside her, as if protecting her.
“It looks like you woke up, Dr. Sapphee.”
“Molly!”
“You look good. Does this mean you’ve completed the antidote, Dr. Glenn?”
“Yes, but we haven’t mass-produced it yet…”
Molly nodded.
The graveyard city’s manager tapped the ground with the shovel she held. At that signal, a number of skeletons emerged from the darkness, like a well-trained army.
“Molly, I thought you weren’t supposed to leave the graveyard city…”
“The stand-in representative, Aluloona, officially requested that Deadlich’s residents mount a rescue mission. The graveyard district is pleased to answer the City Council’s call for help. We have to look out for each other.”
“So, that’s why you came?”
“The undead will do whatever they want if you don’t watch them. They need direct instructions from a manager. Hey! You!” Molly yelled at the undead workers. “Push the sheep aside and make a path. These people are in charge of the Sheep Sleep medication.”
Click-click-click-click-click-click…
The skeletons and zombies picked up shovels and herded the sheep out of the way. Whenever they found sleeping town residents in the process, the undead carried them away to safety.
“Except for the hotel guests, all Deadlich residents are here on disaster relief duty.”
“Thank you so much for all the hard work, Molly.”
“Our goal is to improve the graveyard city’s reputation so that we can receive more funding from the City Council, and maybe even earn a seat or two on the council itself. If nothing else, with more funding, we could afford better flesh.”
Molly wiped her mouth, even though she wasn’t drooling. It was hard to tell if she was joking.
“Which way are you going?” she asked.
“To the entertainment district.”
“The entertainment district? Why?”
“Well…” Glenn wasn’t sure where to start. “Even though I made medicine to cure the sleeping disease—thanks to your notes, of course, Sapphee—we still have to figure out where these sheep come from.”
“I-I see.”
The medicine was just a bandage. If they didn’t remove the multiplying sheep, more and more people would fall to the sleeping disease.
“To put it simply, these are not normal sheep. They aren’t even normal mammals.”
“So…what are they?”
“They’re actually plants.”
“What? Plants?!”
Glenn plucked a sheep up by its fleece.
“They’re basically just seed clusters, like sunflowers, wrapped in wool.”
“Like dandelion fluff?”
“Exactly! The sheep’s ‘heads’ and ‘legs’ aid in those spontaneous hopping movements they make. In other words, they exist only to spread seeds over long distances.”
Like the alraune, who proliferated by mating with other monsters, the sheep had evolved to perpetuate their species.
“With seeds that can move on their own, the sheep plants can expand their habitat. Their fluffy wool is actually cotton, allowing them to move with the wind. If the wind is weak, they move using their limbs. They can even cross water by forming a group. Long ago, I saw a drawing in a picture book of trees that bore sheep. According to that book, wool and meat could be harvested from them. I thought it was just folklore, but now…”
“It’s called the Barometz tree.”
“That’s right. And the palm-sized sheep are actually Barometz seeds.”
The sleeping disease must also have developed through evolution. A single sheep would be no match for a predator, even with the ability to move on its own. Some plants addressed this by growing fruit that spread its seeds when eaten, but the Barometz tree hadn’t evolved in that direction. Instead, a sheep seed ensured its safety by putting anyone who touched it to sleep. Maybe “sleep” wasn’t even the right word for the state. Since the sleepers could still perform the necessary functions to live, “hypnosis” might have been a better description. In the end, however, that convoluted evolutionary process might have actually hindered the Barometz tree’s ability to proliferate—just like the gigas, who were too large and on the brink of extinction.
“But where in the world are the Barometz trees? Why haven’t we seen any?”
“Didn’t Aluloona say that someone was messing with the entertainment district’s flowerbeds?”
“Oh.”
Molly guided them to the entertainment district.
Like the rest of the town, it was full of tiny sheep. A line of patrol team soldiers, including the captain, stood around the flowerbed.
Aluloona greeted them. “Oh, you came?”
A number of male attendants from different species carried Aluloona’s bulb, like a parade float. After lowering her to the ground, they lined up behind her.
Molly addressed her. “You appear precisely as my records state: ‘Aluloona Loona, stand-in City Council Representative, keeps a variety of men who work under her and sometimes tend to her at night.’ Perhaps you’re too concerned with pleasure for an administrator?”
“You must be the graveyard city’s new manager. I heard that you use your predecessor’s name. I don’t appreciate the way you talk about how I live my life, but…let’s put that aside. This is an emergency, and I am grateful for your help.”
Aluloona’s vines made an odd, squishy sound as she extended them to shake Molly’s hand. Neither woman seemed to notice or care.
“So, what’s this about Barometz?”
“Take a look at your flowerbed.”
At first glance, nothing seemed amiss, but a closer look revealed white cotton sprouting from the soil.
“Barometz seeds germinate underground until it’s safe for them to emerge. A whole network of flowers, vines, and leaves is probably hidden among the flowerbed’s other plants.”
“To think, they’ve been right in front of me this whole time…”
The patrol team began digging up the flowerbed. The orphanage kids and the entertainment district’s working women helped as well, all wearing masks to keep them from inhaling the sleeping powder. They transferred the plants from the flowerbed into pots and carried them to a safe place.
“Everyone is treating the flowerbed very carefully.” Aluloona smiled.
Sapphee smiled back. “That’s because everyone likes you so much, Aluloona.”
“Me?”
“Of course! You do everything you can to help others. As a pharmacologist, I respect that. I also happen to like you.”
“Hmm. Are you coming on to me, young lady?” Aluloona tried to hide her obvious embarrassment.
The digging had gotten interesting. The ogre captain raised her hand to halt the work.
“Chief! There’s a massive seed down here!”
“All right! Anyone who can’t fight should go indoors! If you’re drowsy, you can go to sleep now. There are tons of beds here!”
The flowerbed began to shake, and the patrol team took a few steps back.
A massive white cotton ball—the size of an elephant, at least—emerged from the flowerbed, shaking off dirt. It opened its mouth toward the heavens and roared.
“Th-this is a seed, too?!”
“It’s probably the true seed. I never thought it would be this huge, though. The tiny sheep were likely born from this one.”
As Glenn looked closer, he could make out tiny vines and flowers all along the Barometz.
“It’s so big. There’s no way those vines are providing it enough nutrients. Wait…”
“Hmph.” Aluloona snorted. “You think someone is trying to create turmoil in this city?”
“Sapphee, remember when I asked for fertilizer to use in the gardens?”
“Y-yes. Wait… No way!”
“At some point, it was stolen from the garden…”
“Would you manage things better?!” Sapphee grabbed Aluloona’s vines and squeezed hard. The flower on Aluloona’s head shrank a bit, and she looked guilty.
The patrol team stood face to face with the Barometz as it hurled tiny sheep toward them, one after another. The soldiers were used to chaotic fights, but they had no idea how to attack this foe.
“There’s a limit to the protection a mask provides.”
“A long battle will put us at a disadvantage.”
“Yeah.” Aluloona nodded at Glenn’s words.
Just then, a palm-sized sheep struck one patrol team member, a cat sith, in the face. The cat fell asleep instantly, curling up kitty-style, even though she was in the middle of a battle. A group of skeletons and zombies carried her to a safe place. As the battle continued, the patrol kept losing members.
“Hey, Molly!” Aluloona called. “The undead should fight, too!”
“I already ordered the skeletons and others with combat experience to fight. But wouldn’t it be easier to burn this thing?”
“Hell no! If we do that, the entertainment district will become a sea of flames.” Aluloona’s voice was anxious.
“I don’t have an alternative plan.”
“We’re stuck… Glenn, do you have any ideas?”
“I can’t think of anything. What can we do to fight it off?”
“We could try cutting the flowers off its back. If we sneak up on it quickly, that might be possible.”
“Sneak quickly? That means…”
Glenn could only think of one person for the job. Someone very close to him.
“Where’s Sioux?”
“I am here!”
Glenn heard a voice behind him.
When he turned around, he saw his younger sister, horns and all, dressed in foreign clothes. She held two male humans in her arms. They were unconscious and wrapped in sheets.
“Aluloona! Just as you ordered, I caught the insolent guys causing a ruckus in the flowerbeds!”
“Oh! You’re quick for a rookie!”
“I used to be a guard!”
Sioux dropped the two men on the ground as if they were luggage. Since they were unconscious, they showed no signs of protest.
“So, these are the ones who planted the Barometz in the flowerbed, then took the fertilizer from the garden to make it grow faster than normal.”
“B-but…why in the world?”
“I don’t know. But bandits aren’t usually educated about rare plants. Someone must be pulling their strings.”
They’d have to question the bandits later. Sapphee held the two men with her tail so they couldn’t run away when they came to.
“You’re here just in time, Sioux.”
“That big Barrow-metsu thing? Leave it to me!”
“Don’t be too hasty,” Glenn said.
Sioux drew her sword. Now that Memé had polished it, the blade shone in the moonlight. Still…something wasn’t right about the whole scene. Sioux wasn’t showing any signs of fever, even though she must have exerted great strength to catch the bandits. Had she taken them down without a fight?
“Dr. Glenn, who is this girl with horns?” Molly asked, seeing Sioux for the first time.
“Oh, that’s my sister. Her name is Sioux. She just moved here.”
Molly nodded. “Sister, registered. Body scan complete. Ideal strength. Expected to get one hit on the Barometz. Success rate, 82%. We should implement a strategy to increase her chances.”
With a sudden metallic sound, the blade of Molly’s shovel transformed into something like a scythe. Molly spun it around.
“Sister Sioux, we will flick away these seeds. Avoid the palm-sized sheep and take down the Barometz.”
“Who is this ill-looking person? A walking corpse?”
“I am Molly, the Graveyard City’s manager. More importantly, I desire to be Dr. Glenn’s lover. Please, allow me to call you sister.”
“All the powerful people here want to be with my brother.” Sioux sounded disgusted.
Glenn wanted to bury his face in his hands. What was Molly talking about, desiring to be his lover? Sapphee’s glare could have pierced Molly’s heart…if she had one.
“Miss Aluloona! Sioux is going ahead!”
“You can do it!”
Before Glenn knew what was happening, Sioux yelled and launched herself at the massive sheep, but…
“Huh?”
She couldn’t run. Her feet dragged. Still, she pushed forward, slowly and diligently.
Molly reached the Barometz first, blasting away the tiny sheep it kept spitting. She hacked at its branches with her scythe.
Sioux still couldn’t run. Glenn noticed that her eyes were closed. But she pressed on toward the Barometz anyway.
“Umph!”
The Barometz popped mini-sheep out of its wool like popcorn, but Molly batted them away easily. She didn’t have to worry about contracting the sleeping disease, so it didn’t matter to her how much powder floated in the air.
She was doing a pretty good job of protecting Sioux from the barrage of sheep flying toward them, when…
“Sorry. I missed two,” Molly stated matter-of-factly.
“Duck, Sioux!” Sapphee screamed.
Sioux tilted her head to one side, avoiding the sheep seeds with the bare minimum of movement.
“Can she see? Her eyes are closed!”
It was a strange sight.
Sioux easily dodged the sheep seeds the Barometz shot repeatedly. She would cock her head, lift her leg, or tilt her body a little, like a well-trained martial arts master. She didn’t waste an ounce of movement, avoiding every single sheep by the narrowest margin.
But why? Sioux was a mighty fighter. She could have easily smashed the sheep to bits.
“Oh, I see!” exclaimed Glenn.
“Doctor?”
“Sioux is fighting without overheating.”
Glenn finally understood. Intense exercise would normally give the demon Sioux a fever, so she was moving her body as little as possible to evade the enemy’s attacks. When had she become so crafty? She must have been training while Glenn was busy researching the sleeping disease.
The massive sheep lifted its chin to the sky. What was it trying to do?
Just then, Glenn noticed something strange about the tiny sheep that he’d completely missed.
Why do they have heads? For decoration? That doesn’t make sense. Their feet move, so what are their heads for?
It came to him suddenly.
“Everyone, plug your ears.”
“What?”
“Now!”
As Glenn yelled, the massive sheep opened its mouth.
“OOOOOOOOOOHH-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”
The sheep uttered a high-pitched scream, and a huge cotton ball flew into the air. Glenn and most of the others covered their ears in time, but the patrol team soldiers who hadn’t all collapsed.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Sound waves! They’re directing the sleeping powder at specific targets!”
The Barometz moved like an animal, but it didn’t seem to have a brain or consciousness. Like certain plants, it apparently reacted to external stimulation. The smaller sheep probably reacted the same way, which made sense, considering their hopping movements. When their legs came in contact with the ground, they responded by releasing sound waves that made them jump. Glenn had never heard of such a thing before.
“We’ve been defeated. We should have been prepared for this. Pathetic.”
Molly, close to the noise, had reverted to slime, her bones scattering everywhere. It probably wouldn’t take her too long to form again, but during a battle like this, every second counted.
“Where is Sioux?!”
Glenn looked for his sister. She must have heard his instructions, since she was plugging her ears. However, she hadn’t stopped walking, and had already reached the Barometz.
“Sioux! We’re counting on you!” Glenn yelled.
Sioux nodded vigorously.
***
Sioux knew everything.
She could sense the direction of the airflow around her and detect where things moved. She had her eyes closed, but she could see the world.
The secret was her horns.
Through those sharp and sensitive organs, Sioux knew the world around her.
She already had the training. While learning martial arts, she acquired the ability to detect the presence of others. Now she sensed what most humans felt on their skin through her horns. They became another set of eyes through which Sioux saw her surroundings.
A sheep seed flew toward her. She leaned slightly to avoid it.
Sioux could shut out unnecessary information far more easily with her horns than with her eyes. It was a peculiar sense, and she only had it because of her Demonitis.
That was why she came to Lindworm. That, and her secret orders. Being a demon was nothing special here. Everyone had a different appearance.
Beyond that, Aluloona and the ogre captain had treated her well. For the first time since she’d grown horns, Sioux was grateful for her demon body, and for the ancestors who passed down the genes.
I…
Sioux let her thoughts wander as she dodged the Barometz’s attacks.
I am a newcomer. But I love this city. Aluloona, the captain, Sister, Memé, Arahnia, and, of course, Brother. They are all here. It is a great place to live.
Unlike her brother, Sioux wasn’t good at studying, or even sitting still for long periods of time. If she didn’t move, her demon strength would probably burst out of her. Now that she was a part of the entertainment district patrol team, however, that wasn’t an issue. Her job was to restore order. She might work differently than her brother did at the clinic, but she still helped people.
I will protect this city!
The Barometz lifted its head again, preparing to scream. Sioux wasn’t going to let it perform the same attack twice, though.
She opened her eyes and kicked off from the ground, flying into the air with a superhuman jump that launched her all the way to the Barometz’s far side, thanks to her demon strength. On the Barometz’s back was a single white flower.
“Yaaaaahhh!”
Sioux sliced the flower off. The Barometz swayed, then toppled over. Sioux landed in the flowerbed, the blossom she’d cut off fluttering down after her.
The Barometz didn’t scream. Instead, it turned into a palm-sized sheep that wandered away.
“Sioux!”
Her brother ran toward her. Sioux sheathed her sword and turned to him.
Everyone smiled. Thanks to Sioux’s training—her devotion to the sword, both before and after becoming a demon—she’d defeated the Barometz.
Sioux let out a deep breath, content at the thought of saving people, just like her brother.
The breath was like lightning.
Her horns felt as though they were being ripped off.
“Ugh! Ow?!”
Glenn said something, but she couldn’t make it out. She held her head.
“Uggh… Ahhh!”
Sioux’s scream, unbecoming of a martial arts master, conveyed just how much pain she was in.
***
Sioux held her head and collapsed.
As Glenn approached his sister, he tried to think calmly, falling back on his training as a physician.
What happened?
The first possibility was that Sioux had been hit by a counterattack from the Barometz. But she had dodged the sheep flying toward her and guarded herself against the sound waves. It was unlikely that she was injured.
Another possibility was the Sheep Sleep, but that didn’t seem right, either. Sioux was holding her head and screaming. She definitely wasn’t asleep.
“Oww… B-Brother!”
“Sioux! Are you okay? Can you talk?”
“M-my head! My head hurrrts!”
“Your head?”
Glenn examined Sioux’s head. The culprit seemed to be her horns. Their tips were dark red.
“It’s subcutaneous bleeding…”
“Owwww!”
“It’s okay, Sioux! Just…try to stay calm. Sapphee! Painkillers!”
The pharmacologist responded right away. “Here you are.” She handed Glenn a bottle filled with slightly cloudy liquid.
“Thank you! Sioux, this is going to feel a bit cold.” Glenn rubbed the medicine on Sioux’s horns. Her skin absorbed the thick liquid.
“Ohh…”
Glenn continued to examine Sioux’s horns as he rubbed. The tips were bleeding inside. But what was the cause? It could be a bruise, or perhaps the horns had cracked… But she hadn’t suffered any blows that would cause something like that. Glenn looked even closer and discovered that the skin around the horns was bleeding.
“What is it?”
Aluloona and Molly—who had reappeared—approached, sensing something unusual.
“Is she hurt?”
“Negative. Sioux suffered no damage in battle. Dr. Glenn, please explain.”
Glenn nodded. Sioux still looked as though she was in pain, but thanks to the painkiller, she was no longer flailing.
“I think her horns are trying to protrude through the skin.”
“What?”
“It’s only a hypothesis. But when demons are children, their skin protects their horns. As a demon grows, the horns slowly protrude, exposing the bone matter. Perhaps Sioux’s horns have grown large enough, even though her skin isn’t ready to peel off yet.”
That wouldn’t normally be a problem if the demon’s skin softened as the horns grew. However, Sioux’s skin wasn’t ready to be stretched, so it was bleeding—and probably coagulating—inside. It had to be painful.
“Perhaps the sudden exercise exacerbated the bleeding.”
Sioux had said that her horns felt sensitive. It was possible that the pain was especially strong because of its location.
“Doctor, what’s the treatment? Painkillers? Or even…removing her horns?”
Sioux shook at Sapphee’s words. Since the horns were the source of her pain, removing them was a valid treatment. Sometimes, removing the horns of livestock improved their temperament. But cow horns, for example, had veins and nerves running through them. Removing them meant more bleeding and more pain. Plus, the wounds had to be cauterized with a hot iron to stop the bleeding. Sioux had seen it back home.
“No…” Sioux mumbled.
Glenn shook his head. He stroked Sioux’s hair to help her feel better. “We will only remove your horns if there is no other choice.”
“Th-then…”
Glenn didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to remove the skin. No surgery necessary.”
Sioux’s horns had simply grown too quickly. Helping them grow properly would be better than removing them.
“Miss Aluloona, there will be some bleeding. Is there a large space around here where we can use water?”
“The bathhouse. It has the latest equipment.”
In times like these, Glenn was grateful that Lindworm’s canal system supplied the town with fresh water.
“I will treat any injured patrol team members in the bathhouse! If you can get there on your own, please do.”
Luckily, there were no serious injuries. Sioux was the most severe case.
“She saved the entertainment district—no, she saved Lindworm. Take good care of her, Glenn,” Aluloona called.
“Of course. Even if she wasn’t my sister, I would.”
“Good.”
Sioux whimpered in his arms.
Her pain seemed severe, but she hadn’t lost the fire in her eyes. Glenn followed Sapphee and Molly, carrying his sister to the bathhouse. His own strength surprised him. Perhaps it was just adrenaline—or perhaps, even though he didn’t have horns, demon blood really did run through his veins, too.
***
Glenn removed Sioux’s armor, and everything else that he thought might get in the way of her treatment. He laid a cloth on the bathhouse floor and sat Sioux on it. Sapphee held her from behind.
Glenn knelt, facing Sioux.
“Doctor, the fairies and the graveyard city residents brought your tools from the clinic.”
“Thank you. And those with minor injuries?”
“They’re treating themselves.”
The patrol team members were taking out wrappings and disinfectant as needed. Molly also helped with the first aid. Seeing the way she moved without hesitation, Glenn wondered if she had prior first-aid experience.
He shook his head. Right now, the priority was Sioux.
“Doctor…I’ve never cut horn skin before.”
“It’s easy. First, disinfect the area.”
Luckily, there was a lot of clean water in the bathhouse. Glenn put Sapphee’s handmade topical medication in a pitcher and mixed it with water, checking its sticky texture with his fingers. Then he applied it to Sioux’s horns.
“Mmm… Uggh… Ahh.”
Sioux’s eyebrows twitched.
Glenn slathered the medication generously from Sioux’s horn tips all the way to her forehead to minimize her pain. The gooey liquid stuck to her skin easily; some of it dribbled down to her nose. Sioux’s eyes were closed against the pain, so she didn’t even notice.
As Glenn continued rubbing, Sioux’s skin softened, the surface absorbing moisture and becoming supple.
“How are you doing, Sioux? Does it still hurt?”
“Mmm! I-It hurts a little, but…not very much.”
“I see. I’ll rub it in a bit longer.”
Glenn poured on more medicine. In addition to stopping pain, the ointment also eliminated friction, to aid in removing the skin.
“Mmm! Ahh!”
“Sorry. It might hurt a little.”
“Mm! Ahh! U-understood…”
Glenn’s hands moved quickly. The treatment seemed to work well. Sioux’s expression was distant, perhaps from the medication’s effects. Hopefully, her pain was now almost nonexistent.
“Sioux, I’m going to go faster.”
“Huh—ahh! Haa! Mmm!”
Sioux’s body arched.
It was a bit worrisome, but Sapphee held her shoulders with both arms, wrapping her tail loosely around Sioux’s legs.
Glenn sped up, putting more force into the motions.
“If I keep this up, the skin will come off eventually.”
“It’s like molting.”
“Yes, well, it’s close.”
Sioux’s horns were starting to peel.
Glenn decided that touching both horns at once might be too much for Sioux to bear, so he concentrated on rubbing just her right horn. As her skin absorbed the medicated lotion, he poured more from the pitcher.
Sioux looked as though she was in a trance, possibly a side effect of the painkiller. Sapphee whispered gently to her. She probably couldn’t actually sleep while they worked on her horns, but it would be better for her if they finished the procedure while she was in a dreamlike state.
“We’re almost there…” Sioux’s skin was stretching. Glenn grasped her horn harder.
“Mmmmaaa!” Sioux squealed.
The sound of skin tearing filled the bathhouse, and suddenly, the sharp tip of Sioux’s horn poked through.
“The skin’s peeling. I’m going to help it along.”
Now it was time to be gentle.
Glenn slowly peeled the skin off Sioux’s horn, as carefully as if it were a hard-boiled egg. There was some bleeding, but not much. If the horn had grown just a bit slower, the skin would have come off naturally, without pain.
Her horn was probably extra-sensitive. Glenn tried his best to avoid touching it, pulling the skin off with a delicate touch. He worked slowly from the horn’s tip down to its base, brushing aside Sioux’s bangs and applying lotion as needed.
“Okay, now for the final step. Don’t move, Sioux.”
After removing most of the skin, Glenn signaled to the fairies for his scalpel. There were still pieces at the bottom of the horn. Glenn quickly ran his scalpel around the base, so no marks would be left behind.
“Ooohh… Ahhh… Ahh… Haa…”
Sioux exhaled and snuggled up to Sapphee.
“I-It is done?”
“No, I still need to do the left horn.”
“Ohhh…”
Glenn wiped the blood and the medicated lotion off Sioux’s right horn. It shone white, like ivory.
Mammal horns varied, depending on the species. Some grew over a lifetime, and others regrew every year. He wondered what kind Sioux’s would be. Blood vessels and nerves ran through them, so he thought they might be similar to bovine horns. They’d matured under the skin, though, which resembled deer antlers.
Either way, Sioux’s progress would need to be monitored.
“Okay then, let’s continue.”
“Ahhh, ahh.”
Glenn touched Sioux’s left horn. It was essentially the same. After applying a generous amount of medicated lotion, he started massaging it in. Sioux squeezed her knees together, as if looking for an outlet for the stimulation.
Eventually, her left horn also broke the skin, and Sioux’s high-pitched scream echoed through the bathhouse. Molly and the patrol team looked to see what was wrong.
Glenn was proud of his sister. When Skadi came back from her business trip, he hoped she would honor Sioux with an award ceremony.
He continued peeling the rest of the skin away until there were two sparkling horns on Sioux’s forehead.
“Ahhh. Oh, haaa…”
Sioux’s shoulders heaved. There were tears in her eyes—whether from the pain or the treatment, it wasn’t clear.
“You’re all done, Sioux. You did great.”
“I-It was nothing…”
She was trying to act strong, but she remained lying down, looking as if she might fall asleep. Sapphee stroked Sioux’s head.
“Dr. Glenn, are you finished?”
“Oh, yes.”
At some point, Molly had arrived at Glenn’s side.
“Aluloona has asked you to come to her once you examine the other patrol team members.”
“That’s fine, but why?”
“The bandits messing with the flowerbed were interrogated. Aluloona wants you to hear something.”
“Then I will prepare…”
Interrogation often went hand in hand with physical injury. Aluloona was doing what she needed to protect the city, but as a doctor, Glenn felt that even criminals deserved proper medical treatment… Although these ones had brought the Barometz into the town.
“You won’t need any medical supplies. It’s Aluloona. I doubt she used violence.”
“Oh…”
Glenn remembered how effective Aluloona’s pollen could be. Especially on men.
“Will it be snakes or demons?” he muttered.
“Well, there’s one of each over there.” Molly pointed at Sapphee and Sioux, who had fallen asleep.
“Oh, no. It’s just a saying in the east. It means there’s no telling what will happen, but it won’t be good.”
“I see. New phrase registered. Snakes or demons. Use and pronunciation perfected. In addition to the mainland’s common tongue, I am learning regional dialects.”
Molly nodded repeatedly with an unchanging expression.
Now that Glenn had defeated the Sheep Sleep, his work as a doctor was done. Once Sapphee mass-produced the antidote, the city residents would start to wake up.
But the City Council’s work was just beginning.
What kind of person would smuggle in a plant that made the entire city fall asleep? Whether snakes, demons, or sheep trees, Glenn was sure Lindworm would accept them.
He chuckled.
His sister, the demon girl the city had welcomed, was sound asleep, using Sapphee’s body as a pillow.