The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

Page 344

Fran, in his childhood state, was unable to describe in words the images and questions in his mind.

She instinctively pursed her lips, her eyes reddening and misty with tears. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, she raised her hand to cover her face and began to sob softly again.

"..."

She didn't know the answers to the questions above, nor did she know why she was crying; she just felt inexplicably sorrowful.

Seeing that the girl in front of her was losing control of her emotions, Sigrid was momentarily at a loss, but then her professional instincts as a maid at the Fog Street Clinic were immediately awakened. She wiped away little Fran's tears with the lining of her sleeve and then gently patted her back.

"Flamel, I apologize to you. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked that question, and please don't dwell on it anymore."

Perhaps even she herself didn't realize that her tone of voice at that moment was almost like coaxing a child.

This little Flamel does indeed have the ability to communicate with people; he is well-behaved and quiet, but he seems to have an unusually fragile quality in both his body and mind, like a delicate glass sculpture.

Feeling the warmth and comfort emanating from Sigrid's embrace, she calmed down after a while. ▲〉

"It wasn't a memory, I didn't actually remember anything... I just couldn't stop the tears."

After calming down, little Fran lowered his eyes and explained with a hint of shyness.

Clearly, from her perspective, crying in the arms of a complete stranger carries a hint of coquetry, and even if the other person doesn't mind, she still feels a little embarrassed.

"Excuse me, ma'am, what should I call you?"

"Just call me Sigrid."

Sigrid maintained her smile and stated her name confidently and clearly.

“Flameel, you can’t remember the past, and it’s dangerous here. So I hope I can travel with you and ensure your safety… okay?”

"Ah."

Little Fran nodded slightly, offering no objection.

Although they had never met before, Sigrid gave her a sense of familiarity and warmth. And the drowsy warmth emanating from her was something she couldn't help but feel a deep longing for.

Just then, little Fran reached out and gently touched her lower abdomen beneath her robe, her amber eyes flickering thoughtfully.

"...I'm hungry."

After a moment of hesitation, she explained her situation to Sigrid.

Oh, this is indeed a somewhat embarrassing topic for some children, and they need to tug at an adult's clothes before they can bring it up.

"Ah... I didn't bring any food with me, but there should be some in the train's luggage area. I'll go look for it."

During a previous thorough inspection of the carriages, Sigrid had noticed that one area was piled high with various suitcases, some of which had broken zippers, exposing the clothes and snacks inside. However, she didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

In Miss Craftsman's mind, Dr. Fran did not have any rigid requirements for eating. For him, three meals a day were more of a honing and appreciation of his own cooking skills.

However, now, in his smaller form, Dr. Fran seems to feel hungry just like a normal human.

This prompted Sigrid to consider something deeper... Since little Flamel could feel hunger, was her body now as frail and vulnerable to injury as that of an ordinary human?

For Sigrid, Fran's safety was undoubtedly her top priority, and the aforementioned issues forced her to pay even closer attention to this.

The craftswoman didn't find it troublesome; on the contrary, she felt a surge of enthusiasm and a sense of mission welling up in her chest.

3 Finally, the time has come to test my professional skills as a maid!

Sigrid lifted Flamel up in her arms and carried her straight to the luggage area. Although she had said "I'll go find it," she clearly wasn't comfortable leaving him alone in the carriage.

The sudden changes in scenery in the past had made her wary, so she would try to keep Flamel in her sight at all times.

As for what to do next, and how this strange quarterly house call would unfold... to be honest, Sigrid had absolutely no clue. All she could do was take it one step at a time, gathering information while waiting for things to change.

---

---

soup!

Chapter Forty-Six: The Asymmetrical Ring [The Final Sacrifice]

Sigrid rummaged through the area where luggage and miscellaneous items were piled up, and after finding tattered, dirty pieces of cloth, rotten vegetable pulp, and oddly colored pieces of meat, she finally found some food that was more palatable.

It was a piece of slightly moldy dry bread and two eggs that looked fairly fresh. The latter, judging from their size and shape, should be chicken eggs... but they could also have come from other birds, or some kind of lizard, it was hard to say.

Looking at the bread in her hand, whose hygiene was questionable, Sigrid fell silent for a moment, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

...Are we really going to give this to Dr. Fran?

In the artisan's memory, Fran has always been quite picky about food.

Oh, calling her "picky" might be an overstatement, since she actually eats almost anything and doesn't really have any dietary restrictions. It's just that her taste, standards, and cooking skills are all maintained at an extremely high level, and her eating is never driven by hunger.

Seeing Sigrid staring blankly at the food, Flamel tilted her head slightly and asked in a low voice.

"Sister Sigrid, are you hungry too?"

"No, I don't actually need to eat anything."

Upon hearing this, Sigrid immediately came to her senses, placed her from her arms to her side, and explained.

"I was just wondering if it would be bad for a child to eat food that doesn't look very clean... but there doesn't seem to be anything else edible on this train. Please let me do something first."

As she spoke, her index finger glowed a bright, metallic red, and she quickly peeled away the moldy surface of the dry bread with her fingertip. To prevent the bread from turning into a lump of black carbon, she deliberately left a heating distance.

After confirming that there was no mold or mycelium spreading inside the bread, Sigrid cracked the two eggs she had found earlier and then spread the egg wash evenly on it. Once the egg wash was thoroughly cooked, she handed the final product to Flamel.

"It might be a little hot."

Before she could finish her instructions, Flamel had already taken the lightly cooked bread, opened her mouth, and began to chew and swallow.

Although she paused briefly because the egg filling was too hot to handle, she quickly blew on it to cool it down and continued eating. Judging from her expression, manners, and demeanor, she was probably really hungry.

"call……"

After licking the remaining breadcrumbs from his fingertips with his lips, Flamel breathed a sigh of relief, and his previously weak and dejected expression improved somewhat.

However, she remained in a quiet, almost ethereal state, like an introverted girl with something on her mind, and did not display her usual mature and approachable signature smile.

Sigrid, however, couldn't help but smile.

Ah, humans have always possessed this almost instinctive mechanism of satisfaction when feeding others. Just as older generations enjoy watching their children eat with relish, or pet owners are often keen to observe how their pets eat.

"Flamel, let's rest for a bit and then leave."

Sigrid took out a handkerchief and wiped Flamel's lips, which still had some food residue, before explaining the next steps to her.

Of course, the craftswoman herself didn't actually have any specific plans, as that wasn't within the scope of her job duties. Most of the time, all she had to do was transform into a sword form, be carried by Dr. Fran, and then wait for instructions.

But what's clear right now is that there's no point in staying on this train any longer.

They were completely unaware of the situation outside and urgently needed to gather information. Besides this, they had almost no essential supplies like food and water left, and even if they could find some, it wouldn't be enough to sustain their daily needs.

Although this had no impact on herself, Sigrid had to consider the little guy beside her whose physiological needs were almost identical to those of ordinary people.

"Ah."

Flamel Jr. had no objection and nodded obediently.

However, she seemed to have no desire to say anything more, or perhaps she was indifferent to everything in the outside world. After replenishing the energy that humans cannot do without, she returned to her previous ceramic sculpture-like silence.

……

As she was about to get off the train, Sigrid noticed a piece of glossy paper with a street scene drawn on it on a seat near the exit. She picked it up and examined it carefully, seemingly lost in thought.

It was a city map, and it used Old Common Tongue, so there was no reading barrier for her.

"Presville?"

She focused her gaze and slowly uttered the name of the city.

This was undoubtedly a valuable discovery for Sigrid; at least she was no longer completely clueless about her surroundings. But problems soon arose: she hadn't found any landmarks to pinpoint her location and couldn't yet be certain she was on the railway line leading to the city…

However, without any other sources of information, she had to assume for now that she was outside Preshville, and base her subsequent travel plans on this assumption. This was more practical than simply relying on luck.

Temporarily setting aside the tangled thoughts in her mind, Sigrid, arm in arm with little Flamel, opened the train door and stepped outside.

The view was exactly the same as what she saw through the window: a forest shrouded in a gray, misty haze. Sigrid could clearly sense a hidden unease, as if a discordant note had been mixed into the natural, flowing key of C major.

What's wrong?

Doubt and speculation flowed through the craftswoman's mind.

To be honest, she'd only been in this godforsaken place for a few hours, but the amount of thinking she'd done was almost more than she'd done in the entire previous month. Fortunately, she didn't actually dislike this feeling; after all, the brain, like a casting, needs regular use and maintenance to prevent it from rusting.

A moment later, Sigrid SouSUO:△○玖si∶§lin｀＞si∏[三浯∈ touched the source of the strange feeling.

Aside from the murky fog and dim daylight, there was a lack of birdsong, insect chirps, and other common signs of life. Not that they were absent, but rather that they were diminished to the point of being barely perceptible.

Furthermore, the air in this forest smells of iron, like blood, and of decaying proteins.

Thinking of this, Sigrid couldn't help but miss Sister Heda.

Its ability to distinguish gas particles stems from the human sensory mimicry of alchemical lifeforms, and lacks any form of specialization. Therefore, although it can smell distinctive odors, it cannot trace their origins like a hunting dog using a single scent.

The good news is that a forest called "Virgin Forest" is marked in the southwest corner of Presville's map, and the city is located directly to the north.

The railway extends northwards, and looking towards the sky in the direction the train is traveling, one can vaguely see city buildings, walls, and towering columnar towers in the distance... Based on these features, it can be determined that one is currently on the border of the Virgin Forest, southwest of the town of Preshville.

The city center isn't far from here; you can get there on foot. The only slightly troublesome part is that you have to walk through the forest.

After completing the analysis of the current situation, Sigrid breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Now that they were near a city, many of her previous concerns could be alleviated, at least she wouldn't have to take Flamel with her to survive in the wilderness. She herself didn't mind, but the little guy might not be able to withstand the harsh outdoor environment.

As for how to reunite with Sister Heda, that can be resolved once we enter the city.

The simplest way is to go to the building marked "Hollow Tower" on the map and wait. It is so conspicuous that it can be vaguely seen even from outside the city. Sister Heda, who is traveling alone, will probably go to explore it.

Although many details still needed to be perfected, Sigrid had a general idea of ​​what to do next. Without further hesitation, she immediately led Flamel into the ominous, dark forest.

The forest was completely silent, yet in some places, one could vaguely see paved paths, providing some convenience for moving forward. This indicated that this was not a desolate, uninhabited primeval forest... Perhaps a little further on, one would encounter a village on the outskirts of the forest.

At the same time, the nauseating smell of blood became even stronger.

Sigrid narrowed her gaze, focusing on a small wooden cabin beyond the woods and the murky mist. It was more of a shack than a proper dwelling.

It was badly damaged, but the bloodstains and two corpses on the side were much more conspicuous than the charred marks left by the flames on the wall.

One man was pinned to the wall with a wooden stake driven straight through his chest, his head slumped limply to one side of his shoulder, the blood flowing from his face already congealed. Another man's body was covered in fatal wounds, his limbs scattered on the ground like a rag doll torn apart by scissors.

The corpses did not evoke any feelings of panic or fear in the young craftswoman. On the contrary, seeing the horrific scene before her, she inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

Compared to aimlessly wandering through this desolate forest, stumbling upon a crime scene would at least provide more information.

"The fatal wound was caused by a sharp weapon."

"The blade marks were deep and wide, and the overall attack method was not like 'cutting' but more like 'smashing'... The perpetrator's weapon was probably an axe, or a broad-spinned cleaver."

Sigrid wasn't an expert in trace evidence analysis, but her familiarity with castings allowed her to easily determine the type of injury. In that respect, she might even have a talent for being a coroner.

After quickly searching the two corpses outside the cabin, she glanced silently at Flamel, wanting to observe his reaction.

I wonder how well Dr. Fran will be able to accept such a bloody scene after she has transformed into her current childhood form... Will she show the same research interest as usual, or will she be frightened like an ordinary child?

The next moment, Sigrid saw Fran's reaction.

Her delicate yet slightly immature features remained unmoved by the blood and limbs so close at hand, as if they were mere specks of dust at her feet, utterly ordinary. In her eyes, one could only glimpse an almost timeless calm and a trace of languid weariness.

In the end, only a barely perceptible sigh remained.

Perhaps young Flamel wanted to express pity, but that emotion had already been extinguished by a somber indifference before he was even born. No matter how shocking or tragic the scene, once people see it enough, they will eventually adapt to it and become accustomed to it.

Gazing into those amber eyes, Sigrid momentarily forgot what to say next. She wanted to comfort Flamel, but felt that he didn't really need such empty words of solace.

In the end, she simply held the little one's hand a little tighter.

Feeling the warmth and strength emanating from Sigrid's palm, Flamel, who had been taciturn the whole way, spoke softly.

"There is something in this burned-down, abandoned house."

“I can sense that perhaps… I need it.”

As she spoke, her expression was somewhat puzzled, as if even she herself did not understand where this idea came from.

"Let's go take a look."

Sigrid did not hesitate upon hearing this and immediately led her into the half-ruined shack, always keeping herself in a position where she could be the first to be threatened.

The shack was almost devoid of furniture or interior decoration; any that had once existed had been burned to the ground.

Therefore, the strange, asymmetrical six-pointed star on the floor became particularly conspicuous.

"A circular ritual array?"