“N-nice to meet you. I’m Glenn.”
“Likewise. You are young, but you have a promising future.”
Glenn laughed nervously. He’d never seen anything like the maid-like creature sitting in the chair in front of him. Her body was humanoid, but it was made up of multiple distinct parts, articulated together. He didn’t know much about sorcery, but if he had to guess, she might be a kind of magicked marionette.
She had accessories, like the bobbins of a sewing machine, on her head… wait, no, those weren’t for decoration. There were thin strings wrapped around the bobbins, connecting them to Bellmer’s wrists. To all of her limbs, in fact. But Glenn still couldn’t tell how they worked.
What he could tell was that she had a beautiful face. It wasn’t a natural beauty, but a manufactured one. Whoever had made her must have been a talented craftsman. Her eyes looked like glass beads—come to think of it, they probably were—and they were currently staring at Glenn.
“Miss Bellmer, can I ask you something?”
“Of course you can, Saphentite.”
“I’ve heard that the sorcery department doesn’t interact much with other departments… how did you hear about our lab?”
“I was created to deal with the outside world. That’s how I found out about this lab.”
Glenn cocked his head at this strange wording. “The outside world…”
Bellmer nodded. “Yes. Normally, there’s a clear boundary drawn between the pursuit of the arcane arts and the methodology of other departments. Dr. Draconia has maintained such a boundary since the Nemea Academy was first established, ordering the students to avoid fraternizing with outsiders. Apparently, Dr. Cthulhy calls us the Grim Hermit Department,” she said casually.
“I apologize for my mentor…” Glenn said.
“Why would you apologize? She states the facts directly. That is wonderful.”
Bellmer seemed genuinely perplexed by Glenn’s apology. She cocked her head to the side in a way that was cute at first, but then she kept going, till her head was tilted at an unnatural angle. If she was anyone else, Glenn would have suspected a broken spine.
“However, though isolationism might be the sorcery department’s official policy, we are still a part of the Academy. We cannot function without any contact with the outside world. Hence, Dr. Draconia created me to take handle certain tasks.”
“I-I see… so that’s how you learned of the lab, then.”
Bellmer nodded. “My main tasks are shopping, drafting departmental paperwork, and conducting negotiations with the heads of other departments. Although, I don’t usually deal with the medical department.”
“O-oh.”
“I have been having an issue for some time now. However, I was unable to find an appropriate solution. I heard about this lab by chance, but once I absorbed the rumors, I determined that Glenn would be the optimal person to consult.”
“Th-thank you so much…”
Glenn glanced over at Lime. She was silently sticking out her tongue and winking at him, as if to say, “See what my rumor-spreading skills can do? Go ahead and praise me, yeah!” She looked exceedingly proud of herself.
“Now then, what is your issue?”
“My joints are in pain.” Bellmer lifted her arm. “Is there any way you can examine me, Mr. Glenn?”
Glenn groaned. Consultations had been Lime’s idea. She hadn’t even asked them before advertising those kinds of services. If he’d put his foot down, he could have bowed out and joined a lab with an easier workload, but it was too late for that now. Of course, he enjoyed being in the same lab as Sapphee, and Lime did her part to help them out.
It was nice to feel like he belonged, but there was a more important reason he’d stayed. Glenn wanted to examine monsters’ bodies in practical situations. Real contact would teach him much more than just reading textbooks, and giving consultations was the perfect way to glean such experience. He’d already examined a number of monsters and was certain the valuable experience would help improve his grades even further. But the doll in front of him was an entirely different kettle of fish. She hadn’t been born in the normal, biological sense, but manufactured. Could he really diagnose her through examination? Was this an additional opportunity to gain experience, or was it too much for him to handle? He’d studied living monsters, but never even seen a magic doll…
“Excuse me. May I speak to you for a moment?”
“Anything you like, Miss Saphentite.”
“Miss Bellmer, you are a doll brought to life by Dr. Draconia’s magic, correct? Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to examine you, rather than one of us? Perhaps your master would know better—”
“No. My master said there is nothing wrong with me.”
Bellmer lifted her arm again. As she did, one of the bobbins on the top of her head rotated, winding the thread connected to her arm. Glenn could see now that the threads connected each part of her body and assisted her movements. As a doll with no muscles, the strings allowed her to move in defiance of gravity.
“My master has the utmost confidence in her own sorcery. It is not arrogance, but experience. My master heard my complaints and conducted an inspection, examining every part of my body. Her conclusion was that there were no problems.”
Glenn groaned. He’d never met the head of the sorcery department, but he’d heard of her. She was a practitioner of old magic, whose unbroken traditions had been passed down since ancient times. She was invited to the Nemea Academy to address the need for such knowledge in the new era.
However, Glenn’s issue wasn’t with her history. It had to do with his mentor, Cthulhy, and her relationship to Draconia…
“I was debating whether or not to ask Dr. Cthulhy,” said Bellmer.
“Is that so? Why didn’t you? Dr. Cthulhy is quite knowledgeable…”
“True, but our masters fight like cats and dogs. Actually, it might be more accurate to say they fight like alligators and octopi. Neither of them would be happy if I did so.”
Glenn held his head in his hands. “You’re right…”
Cthulhy’s department was founded on the principles of science: universal logic and replicable results. Draconia’s department, however, was shrouded in secrecy, and its principles could only be replicated by those with a special ability. The two fields were opposed in every way: from inception, to development, and even methodology. Cthulhy rejected sorcery as nonscientific and Glenn didn’t know what Draconia thought of medicine, but he imagined her views were likewise incompatible.
Their rivalry was famous throughout the Academy.
“I could ask Dr. Cthulhy to examine me,” said Bellmer. “But if Master were to find out, she would be furious. She would say: ‘What is that octopus doing with my adorable doll?’ I do not wish for that to happen.”
“O-oh.”
“For I am her adorable doll,” Bellmer said casually.
Glenn was beginning to understand her. Bellmer might have been brought to life by magic, but she also had self-awareness. She had her own thoughts, her own will, and she was choosing to act according to Draconia’s wishes. In other words…
“That’s why you came to me.”
“Yes.”
“I see…”
Glenn didn’t know anything about sorcery. Bellmer, in turn, probably had no frame of understanding for the biology, pathology, immunology, or anything else that he was studying.
Sapphee seemed worried. “What are you going to do?”
Glenn thought for a moment. “I would be happy to examine you.”
Lime tilted her head to the side, pigtails bouncing. “Glenn, are you sure, yeah?”
He might lack an understanding of Bellmer’s anatomy, but the same applied to his knowledge of slime biology, for instance. When Glenn thought of it that way, he was sure he could help the doll somehow.
“I’m still a student, so I can’t promise that I will know what to do.”
Bellmer bowed her head. “Of course. Thank you very much, Mr. Glenn.”
The bobbins on her head spun ever so slightly when she moved. With each rotation, there was the sound of winding string.
“Miss Bellmer…our policy is that if an examination uncovers something beyond our ability to treat, we must go straight to Dr. Cthulhy to ask for help. Can you agree to that?”
“That is fine. If that happens, I will deal with Dr. Draconia,” Bellmer said.
“Now then.” Glenn stood up from his chair. “Miss Bellmer, please let me start by taking you apart.”
“All right, Mr. Glenn.”
Anyone else would have been shocked at that, but Bellmer simply nodded, as if it was completely normal.