Chapter 45: Doctor Bird's Beak, Witch, and Hops (Part 1)
"Monarchs grow old, dynasties change, city-states rise and fall, and every transfer of royal power is accompanied by bloodshed," Aunt Wolf said. "Compared to the wars that raged everywhere a hundred or two hundred years ago, King Huntington's succession can truly be called a peaceful transition.
"I heard that King Huntington's lineage has the blood of the immortal species. Perhaps this peace can continue for a long time."
"Immortal bloodline?" Jiang You asked curiously, "What immortal bloodline?"
"Who knows? Some say it's a dragon, some say it's a god... Anyway, it's some kind of powerful bloodline. That knight, Andre... did you see his muscles and those beautiful green eyes? That must be a symbol of some extraordinary bloodline."
Jiang You nodded in conviction. "His emotions taste different from others. They're extra thick and filling, but they don't have much flavor. They're like a giant steamed bun."
"So what exactly is a steamed bun?"
"Well, maybe it can be called Chinese sugar-free white bread?" Jiang You scratched his head. "Next time I'll get some flour and let you taste it after I make it~"
As they were chatting happily, the carriage slowly stopped and the voice of the Hafu driver came from the front: "Master, we're here."
Jiang You opened the curtains and saw a lush forest outside. The carriage was parked in front of a small cabin in the woods that looked a bit like a fairy tale. Holly had already gotten out of the carriage, and she hurried to follow.
The driver had already lowered the folding step at the door of the carriage. The skeleton jumped down and turned back to help Aunt Wolf. Holly knocked on the wooden door of the cabin: "Doctor Charles! Doctor Charles! I'm Holly, I'm here to deliver the nightshade flowers!"
"Wait a moment! I'll be right there!" A vague reply came from the room, sounding quite weathered by age.
The clattering sound of footsteps came from far away and stopped in front of the door. The door lock clicked a few times, and the wooden door finally slowly opened inward, revealing a figure wrapped in black oil-waxed leather clothes, wearing a black wide-brimmed hat, a bird-beak mask with round glass goggles on his face, and holding a wooden silver-headed crow cane.
He looked like a humanoid bulging-eyed crow, tall and slender, his voice muffled by the mask. "Holly, wait a moment. I was just doing an experiment... Don't worry, it's not something too dangerous. I've already cleaned it with disinfection magic..."
As he spoke, he took off his hat and the bird-beak convex mirror mask on his face, walked out of the room and took a deep breath: "Huh, it's really hard to breathe with this mask on."
Only then did Jiang You get a clear look at his appearance. This bird-beaked doctor was actually a dark-skinned elf. His skin was a dark gray, almost like cement, his hair was gray, and his face looked older. Fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes, and it was unclear how many years he had lived.
'He's a very charming middle-aged man!' Takumi thought.
"Come, let me introduce you." Holly said to the doctor enthusiastically: "This is my wet nurse, Melon Ho Talia, and this lich is her friend, Jiang You."
Then he said to Aunt Wolf and Jiang You, "This is Count Charles de Nome, the bird-beaked doctor who is well-known in the Witch Forest. He just prefers to be called Doctor."
"Haha, doctor is my profession, and earl is a title bestowed upon me by a king thousands of years ago. Times have changed, and his kingdom and power have vanished into the dust of time. There's no need for me to rehash those meaningless titles," Dr. Charles laughed. "I only kept my middle name, 'De,' because it sounds pretty nice."
The doctor turned around and placed the hat and mask in his hands on the small table on the porch outside the cabin, then took out a pair of glasses from the inside pocket of his waxed leather coat and put them on.
He narrowed his eyes and looked Jiang You up and down carefully: "...You are a lich. Liches are the least common patients here. After all, they can't die, hahaha!
"Hey! I haven't seen a skeleton like this in a long time!" He circled around Jiang You a few times. "So, what went wrong during the refining process? Did you use expired materials? Did you draw the wrong magic circle?"
Takumi thought about it for a moment, and realized that he had written the name wrong...
"...I guess I drew the magic circle wrong." She chose this euphemism.
"Sure enough!" Doctor Charles circled around Jiang You a few more times, rubbing his hands excitedly. "As a believer of the goddess of night and death, I, a night elf, have always been interested in liches trying to escape death, but I've never had the opportunity to study them!
"If you trust me and let me study it carefully, I can give you some discounts on the consultation fee..."
Jiang You's eyes twisted suspiciously. "Huh? What consultation fee? I need a consultation fee? I just followed Holly here to see what's going on. I'm not a patient looking to be treated, am I?!"
Charles: "?? What? You're not here to see a doctor??!"
"Of course not!" Jiang You said firmly, "Like you just said, liches can't die. Being a failure means at most losing your sense of taste, which isn't a big deal."
Besides, wouldn't a dark elf doctor who worships the goddess of night and death try to kill a lich trying to escape death? More importantly, he's charging a consultation fee! A consultation fee! She barely has the money to open her own shop, so why would she spend money on something like a doctor? The lich won't die!
Dr. Charles was visibly disappointed. "Ah... I misunderstood. Sorry..."
Holly interrupted at the perfect moment and said, "Doctor, how about we settle the bill for this Dark Night Flower first?"
"Okay, okay." Doctor Charles replied absentmindedly. He seemed to care more about the lich research than Jiang You. "You really don't want to be treated? Half price? No? 10% off! Still not okay?"
Takumi: Why is this doctor so eager to pay for it? This feels even weirder!
She took two steps back, hiding behind Jericho, pulling her cloak tighter, and said warily, "What exactly are you trying to research?! You're not going to send me to see that goddess of death, are you?!"
"Hey, hey!" Dr. Charles was startled. He waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, you misunderstood. We worship the goddess of night and death, and we wouldn't send anyone to her! This is the biggest misunderstanding of our faith!"
"Aha, Doctor Bird's Beak can't explain it clearly again~" A silver bell-like laughter came from the tree nearby. Everyone looked up and saw two young women sitting on the branches of the big tree. They were wearing tall, pointed dark purple witch hats, the same traditional purple witch costumes, and enamel brooches in the shape of a string of hops on their chests.
"Hello, little lich~" They waved to Jiangyou, "Don't be too scared. Although this doctor looks like a pervert, he is a good person~"
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