Monster Girl Doctor Vol. 3 Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cast of Characters

  Table of Contents Page

  Title Page

  Credits and Copyright

  Prologue 1: A Winter Scene

  Prologue 2: The Waterways Commemoration Ceremony

  Case 01: The Fatigued Scylla

  Case 02: The Self-Deprecating Cyclops

  Case 03: The Arachne with Bad Habits

  Case 04: The Dragon with a Heart Condition

  Epilogue: Lindworm’s Major Operation

  Afterword

  About

  Newsletter

  PROLOGUE 01:

  A Winter Scene

  T he winters in Lindworm were long. The region had always been cold, and the town of the dragon, nestled at the foot of the Vivre Mountains, saw snow piled high every year. As winter continued amidst this unending snow, the hustle and bustle of the city grew quiet.

  The multitudes of monsters inside the city each spent the winter in their own ways. Those confident in their own strength—the giants and centaurs, for example—shoveled the city streets and with it earned their daily wage. Reptilian species like the lamia and lizardfolk hated the cold, and stopped going outside almost entirely. Similarly, many of the aquatic species spent their time underwater, where the change in temperature was less severe.

  This year, the winter brought with it an infectious disease. Fortunately, it wasn’t anything too severe—nothing more than a rather bad cold. The symptoms mainly included coughing, fatigue, and fever, but while it wasn’t a life-threatening illness, it was spreading like wildfire throughout the city. Even the Litbeit Clinic had become swamped by combating the epidemic.

  The clinic’s doctor of monster medicine, Glenn Litbeit, was kept busy examining patients. The pharmacologist, Saphentite Neikes, made and prescribed medicine. The two spent all their time and energy on the clinic. They had hardly gone outside the whole season. But, perhaps partly because of their fervor, the winter came and went without anyone dying from the disease.

  However, there was one small incident near the end of winter.

  Saphentite got sick.

  ***

  “How are you feeling, Sapphee?” Glenn said through the door to Sapphee’s bedroom.

  Sapphee didn’t answer him. She looked languid as she lay in her bed, her long lower body soaking in a large basin filled with hot water.

  “I decided to make eggnog and brought some for you,” Glenn continued. “Also, I boiled some water. I’ll leave it all here, okay?”

  “…………”

  There came no reply. Thinking it strange, Glenn entered.

  “The clinic’s perfectly fine right now, so get lots of rest, okay?”

  “…………”

  Again, Sapphee didn’t respond, but gave a slight nod of her head. Glenn wondered if she was too sluggish to even talk.

  While they had been swamped with treating the cold epidemic, Sapphee had ended up catching it herself.

  “Khoff! Khak!” Sapphee coughed repeatedly.

  Anyone could come down with a cold, but a lamia’s was naturally caused by different germs and had different symptoms and different treatment methods from a human cold. It was said that a lamia’s symptoms often appeared in their respiratory organs, such as the lungs, throat, and nose.

  Glenn put his finger in the basin where Sapphee’s lower body was soaking and checked the water temperature.

  “It’s cooled down a little. I’m going to add more water, okay?”

  Sapphee nodded her head again. Glenn didn’t know why, but it seemed she was doing everything she could to avoid talking. He even wondered if he had done something to upset her—but there was nothing that came to mind. Ignoring it for the time being, Glenn poured the water from the kettle into the basin.

  If Sapphee were human, an effective way to combat the cold would be to warm up and sleep. Pulling a blanket over her head, her body temperature would rise and she would sweat. Once she started sweating, she would just have to keep herself hydrated due to the loss of water in her body.

  Lamia, however, were a cold-blooded race of monsters. Their bodies didn’t give off any heat, so they couldn’t maintain their body temperature with only bedding and blankets. For them, it was said the most effective method was a warm bath, the most suitable temperature being approximately eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit.

  By submerging their lower bodies in moderately warm water, lamia could then use the heat from the water to warm up. If their body temperature became warm enough, then using blankets and a fireplace to retain heat became effective. If they could maintain a high body temperature, then their immune system would work better to help fight off the cold, but—

  “Hey Sapphee, you aren’t hiding anything are you?” Glenn asked the pharmacologist, who was persistent in maintaining her conspicuous silence.

  “…………” Sapphee only shook her head.

  As the doctor caring for her, Glenn proceeded to examine Sapphee. He was sure her flushed face was due to the warm bath. On the other hand, her heavy breathing was caused by her stuffy nose, which forced her to rely entirely on her mouth for respiration. When this happened, the inside of the mouth inevitably dried out.

  “Sapphee. Let me see inside your mouth for a second.”

  “N-nuh fwhay,” Sapphee replied.

  “Look! Your words got caught! Something’s happened to your mouth, hasn’t it?” Just when he thought she was finally going to speak to him, he noticed the pronunciation of her words was off.

  Due to the cold, her immune system was weakened. The inside of her mouth was dried out. These conditions could end up causing several other conditions. For example, she could have a cavity or a mouth ulcer. Stomatitis in particular presented itself at times when a patient was feeling unwell or undernourished.

  Glenn wondered if she had been neglecting her meals due to her large amount of pharmacology work.

  “Come on, show me. Show me where it is,” Glenn said.

  “D-Doctwor Gwenn. You know, I can handle a little stomatitis on my own… I can make some very effective medicine for it,” Sapphee replied.

  Glenn found Sapphee’s stomatitis-induced lisping as she called him “Doctwor Gwenn” rather novel. “What are you talking about—you’re a patient . Forget it. Just let me treat you for once.”

  Sapphee seemed to have finally resigned herself to Glenn’s insistence and opened her mouth. Glenn placed his hands on Sapphee’s cheeks and examined the inside. He tilted her head slightly and turned her toward the light from the window so he could see clearly.

  “Fhey, Doctwor. Hlease make dis fwick,” Sapphee struggled to say.

  “Yeah. I know,” Glenn said, nodding to Sapphee and continuing his examination. He assumed it must be embarrassing for her to have his face so close to hers.

  “Aaaaaaah…” Sapphee groaned.

  Glenn couldn’t see anything abnormal. She had a very clean and pretty mouth, without a cavity to be found.

  There are some subspecies of lamia that have poison glands inside their teeth, but Sapphee wasn’t one of them. He would have probably been more careful if she did have some poison in her body, but Glenn didn’t hold back when it came to Sapphee.

  And because of this lack of hesitation, Glenn stuck his finger inside of Sapphee’s mouth.

  “Hnguuugh…?!”

  “Oh, sorry,” Glenn replied.

  “Fwngh, nghfwub!”

  Glenn had no idea what Sapphee was saying, but it was clear that she was angry with him.

  Unconcerned that his finger was covered in Sapphee’s saliva, he felt the inside of her cheeks, then pulled them out from the inside and examined her gums as well.

  “Nnnghh�
��” Sapphee moaned.

  “Hmm… Looks like there isn’t anything wrong with your gums.”

  Due to the foreign object that was inserted into her mouth, Sapphee’s saliva started to build up. It was a good sign, Glenn thought. He hoped it would keep her mouth from drying out as much as possible.

  The inflammation wasn’t on her gums or on the inner part of her cheeks. In that case, Glenn thought—

  “So your tongue.”

  “Ahh…Fhaht.” Sapphee’s glare assured him that he was right. He regretted not asking her from the start.

  “All right, then, I’m going to look at your tongue, okay?”

  “Aaaaaah…” Sapphee gave a lapping sound, and keeping her mouth open, stuck out her tongue.

  The tongue of a lamia was around two times the size of a human’s, elastic and flexible. It had nerve cells for sensing smell in addition to taste. Glenn grabbed the tip of Sapphee’s and examined it.

  “Angghh…”

  Looking at the length of her tongue, one might doubt whether Sapphee could fit it all inside her mouth. The secret was that there was muscle inside her throat. A lamia’s throat was supported with cartilage, and was constructed to fork left and right. It was more flexible and could extend more than one would expect.

  Because of this, even if they swallowed a chicken’s egg whole, they wouldn’t choke. Normally, their long tongue was stored in the partitioned space within their throat, and only extended when necessary. By putting their tongue out and back in again, lamia were able to sense the taste and smell of everything around them.

  “Yup—here it is,” Glenn said. Under the middle area of her tongue, there was a portion that had turned white. He was right. It was stomatitis.

  The mouths and tongues of the lamia had evolved in a unique way that could sometimes be a weakness. For example, if there was any mouth inflammation caused by a bacterial infection—even nothing more than a small infection—there was risk that the inflammation could suddenly spread further while the tongue was stored inside their throat.

  In the worst cases, the inflammation didn’t stay on the tongue, and extended to the throat or even the lungs, leading potentially to pneumonia. Due to the throat’s structural complexity, it was easy for bacteria to lay dormant inside, and if the inflammation worsened, the body couldn’t quite heal it all on its own. This was particularly pronounced during times of cold weather, when the body’s immune system was weaker.

  It was no more than some inflammation, but Glenn thought that for a lamia, it was best to treat it sooner rather than later.

  “And we have…no medicine, it looks like,” Glenn said.

  “Fwan fwaht I hahn fwaen…!”

  Glenn was sure that Sapphee could make the medicine, but he couldn’t have his patient make it for him. Sapphee mumbled something while her mouth was open, but Glenn couldn’t really understand it.

  “Nothing else I can do. I’ll have to use a temporary treatment,” Glenn said, glancing at the items he had brought in: the ingredients necessary to make eggnog. When it came to colds, eggnog was an absolute must.

  It was made by putting egg yolk in brandy, and adding in milk and sugar. Mixing in a small amount of honey and spices could also help make it easier to drink. Glenn had gotten his hands on farm-fresh eggs, so he could make quite a high-quality version of the drink.

  Eggnog was fundamentally effective for warm-blooded races. Since cold-blooded species weren’t able to generate heat on their own, food and drink that warmed the body didn’t have any effect on them. However, considering that proper nutrition helped to speed up recovery, drinking eggnog was an effective remedy even for lamia.

  Glenn borrowed a cotton swab from Sapphee’s room and lathered it with honey.

  “The honey will help the inflammation.”

  “Fwan hwaff ahfhy…Hanh.” Sapphee mumbled, jumping a little.

  Once the cotton swab sucked up a good amount of honey, Glenn dabbed it on the inflamed area of Sapphee’s tongue.

  “Hnh! Aaaaahooonnh…!” Sapphee groaned.

  “Sorry, just bear with it a little while,” Glenn replied. Sapphee’s body trembled, as if in pain. Glenn thought it obvious that touching the inflamed area directly would be painful for her.

  “Aaahh uhhh…!”

  It was impossible to tell what Sapphee was saying, but her face was grimacing in pain.

  The inflamed area of her tongue was rather large. Glenn thought it natural that she would be feeling a considerable amount of pain, but he wondered why she hadn’t told him about her tongue. Sapphee surely knew for herself how much worse it could get if she left the inflammation alone.

  “Ah… Dwefifos…” Sapphee groaned.

  “I know, I’m almost done,” Glenn replied.

  Honey possessed a sterilizing effect. In ancient times, they would wrap honey-lathered bandages around wounds, and it would protect the wound from festering. It wasn’t a treatment used much now, but Glenn felt it was sufficient to work as a temporary measure.

  “Hoofhwaafuu…”

  Glenn’s finger was covered in honey and saliva, but he continued to apply the honey to the inflamed area, unfazed. Once he decided that enough had been applied, he ended his treatment.

  “Nh… Ph-phew.”

  “Thanks for bearing with me, Sapphee,” Glenn said.

  “…Thank you,” Sapphee replied with a glaring look that suggested there was more that she wanted to say. “All the same Doctwor, my mouth is all sore now. I’m glad you were thorough, but still…”

  “S-sorry. I took too long, huh?”

  “I knew this would happen, and that’s why I didn’t say anything about the sore,” Sapphee said as she wiped away the drool dripping from the side of her mouth. “And one more thing.”

  “Y-yes?” Glenn replied.

  “Having your face so close to mine was…embarrassing.” Saying this turned Sapphee’s face a far deeper shade of flushed pink than Glenn’s. Pulling the blanket over her head, she hid under the covers. Glenn thought she shouldn’t have said anything if it was just going to make her feel so self-conscious.

  His face was also flushed.

  Glenn’s response and treatment had been the correct course of action, considering the possibility that the inflammation could progress. However, he thought she might have been correct that he didn’t show enough care and consideration for Sapphee while treating her. In fact, Glenn thought that his treatment might have ended up becoming a little aggressive and overbearing, due to their almost familial relationship.

  “Um… Well, Sapphee, do you want some eggnog?”

  It was a blatant attempt at getting back in her good graces, but eggs and alcohol were two of Sapphee’s favorite things. While Glenn had prepared the eggnog because it was effective at treating colds, he had also done it because he knew it would make Sapphee happy while she lay sick in bed.

  “…Did you make it yourself, Doctwor?” Sapphee asked.

  “Huh? Yes, of course,” Glenn replied.

  “You’re totally clueless about cooking, Doctwor, yet you’re so good at making things when it involves treatment of some kind, aren’t you?”

  She was right, Glenn thought. He left all of the meals in the clinic entirely up to Sapphee. He would have liked to help, but unfortunately he had no understanding of how to cook. Moreover, Sapphee rather seemed to enjoy herself when she was cooking, which made it harder for Glenn to try and get involved.

  “Thank you,” Sapphee said, taking the glass from Glenn.

  A scattering of spices floated on top of the pale yellow eggnog. The drink was also enjoyed as a normal cocktail, so Glenn had tried serving it to her in a glass that was a bit fancier.

  Glug, glug, glug.

  It was over in an instant. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sapphee gulped down the eggnog in one breath. Glenn wondered if it was because she had been thirsty, or some other reason entirely.

  “Phew…” Sapphee let out a sigh. “I made sure to finish it all, Doctwor
.”

  “R-right.” Glenn replied. It appeared the combination of her two favorite things had been tasty after all, as Sapphee gave a satisfied lick of her lips. It had plenty of nutrition, so Glenn was sure it would immediately start to work toward healing her cold and her inflamed tongue.

  “…Dr. Glenn, did you know?” Sapphee asked.

  “Know what?” Glenn replied.

  “It appears that long tongues are favored by members of the opposite sex… My tongue is long, even compared to other members of my species,” Sapphee said, poking her tongue out once again.

  Glenn couldn’t argue that her tongue was overflowing with sexual charm. He was often enthralled by the way Sapphee’s tongue moved when she was licking something—although most of the time, when a lamia was sticking out their tongue, it was to simply smell food.

  If that was the case, Glenn thought, then the food she was sniffing for right now must be—

  “I-I could also be good at kithing, too, you know?” Sapphee said.

  “You’ve got a cold—don’t say things like that! You couldn’t even say it properly!” Glenn retorted.

  “Hnnnnn, yeah buuuuut!” Sapphee said, diving under the blankets and twisting her body around. She had just said how embarrassing having Glenn’s face so close to hers had been, yet here she was, talking about kissing.

  “What’s gotten into you all of sudden?” Glenn wondered.

  “Hmm… Well… I’m a little tipsy, Doctwor,” Sapphee said, casting a flirtatious glance toward Glenn.

  The amount of alcohol in eggnog was definitely not enough to make her drunk. Glenn figured it was just too embarrassing for her to say without using the alcohol as an excuse. He had to admit it was very much like her to act this way, considering how bad Sapphee was at expressing her feelings.

  “Honestly…” Glenn said.

  Patients grew listless when stricken with a cold. They became lonely, and anxious to get better. Saphee’s mixture of sullenness and a desire to be looked after was characteristic of those who had become sick. Glenn guessed that her using an excuse to cozy up to him was also because of how wretched she felt.

  There was only one thing he could do.