There was a Waterway running beneath the clinic.
This facility was available for aquatic monsters who needed to be examined. In most cases, Glenn offered these patients personal visits, but sometimes they would come to the clinic on their own. For example, when they wanted to talk about something complicated.
“Are those two fighting again?”
“Well…it’s not really fighting, but they won’t even meet each other’s gaze. It’s hard on Memé, too. Plum is a regular at her shop, so she can’t just betray that relationship, but she also feels guilty about not taking Illy’s side. The whole thing’s a mess.”
The bearer of this news was Lulala, visiting the clinic as a patient. She shrugged her shoulders in the water and spread out her hands.
“They shouldn’t fight. Nothing good comes of it. I think everyone should just get along and listen to my songs!” Spoken like a true diva.
Glenn chuckled at this. “Yeah.”
Lulala was lying on the exam table for aquatic monsters, which was basically a stone cot submerged in the water.
“I can get along with anyone, right, Miss Sapphee?!”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
“Hee hee!”
Sapphee offered a tight smile at Lulala’s carefree attitude.
Not long before, when they were in the human realm, Lulala had declared she would marry Glenn. She wasn’t even old enough to be married, but Sapphee was still processing the incident. She didn’t want Glenn to have an infinite number of wives, but she also felt that Glenn owed Lulala a straight answer before she came of age.
“So, how does she look, Doctor?” Sapphee asked, changing the subject.
“Honestly, I can’t recommend that she take a long trip,” Glenn answered frankly.
Lulala’s brown skin was peeling in places.
“She’s quite sunburned, I think because it’s been so hot lately, but it’s better to avoid a trip to the human realm, since she’d have to travel part of the way on land.”
Sapphee was filling out a document with Glenn’s findings. It was probably a report for the council.
“Have you been spending more time on land, Lulala?”
“Mmm… The amount of time hasn’t really changed, but the sun is really hot,” Lulala complained as she picked at some of the peeling skin on her upper arm.
“Oh, don’t do that!” Glenn looked alarmed.
“What? Really?”
“Of course,” Glenn said. “Humans should always let it peel naturally, but it’s even more important for mermaids. The mucous membrane needs to develop first.”
Since mermaids had adapted to living in the water but could also handle short spurts on land, their bodies were protected by a thin mucous membrane. When mermaids were exposed to strong sunlight, the top layer of skin burned. While there were individual differences in how mermaids responded, the fact that Lulala’s skin had turned brown meant she probably had some tolerance to sunshine. Others burned a painful red. The brown color was a pigment reaction, and it worked to protect the skin. However, even that couldn’t protect the mucous membrane.
“The mucous membrane doesn’t generate fast enough for freshly peeled skin,” Glenn warned. “Also, the lighter skin underneath is susceptible to inflammation. Mermaids need to be treated more carefully than humans.”
“What?! I had no idea! I picked at it a lot!” Lulala rolled over on the cot, showing her back. It was riddled with patches where the top layer of skin had been peeled off, exposing pale skin beneath.
It was common for both humans and monsters to know very little about their own bodies. Providing accurate information was part of the doctor’s job. Now that Glenn was working independently, he would have to take more responsibility over the health of his patients.
“The mucous membrane is thin in some places, due to the peeling. If we don’t treat it, it could lead to a more serious skin disease, even if you don’t go to the human realm.”
“Eeek! I didn’t realize!”
“The unseasonable heat really is causing problems.” Glenn sighed.
Apparently, a number of monsters had collapsed at Aluloona Plantation. The heat was especially troublesome for monsters covered in fur.
“It shouldn’t be a problem if you just stay in the water. The membrane regenerates quickly.”
“I can’t cancel my singing! The council is counting on me!”
“That’s true,” Glenn agreed.
When Lulala sang in the square, it wasn’t just a performance. It also let the entire town know what time it was. No one could take her place. Sure, she was better off than when she used to sing all day long in the Waterways, but it was still a grueling schedule.
“Sapphee, the aquatic monster ointment.”
“Yes, I’ve prepared it.” Sapphee used her tail to pass him a bottle filled with a clear liquid.
“This is medication to help with the formation of your mucous membrane,” Glenn explained. “If you apply it to the places where your skin has peeled, it can mitigate the damage.”
“Thank you, Doctor! You’re right. I really shouldn’t be going to the human realm like this, should I?” Lulala sighed. Her words suggested disappointment, but the sigh was relief that she wouldn’t need to go back. “I’ll let either Illy or Plum be the ambassador. If it’s a contest instead of a fight, do you think it can be decided peacefully?”
“I wonder.” Glenn still didn’t know what to do.
The Litbeit Clinic had already received ballots. The election wouldn’t begin until after Glenn’s examinations were complete, but once a decision was made, it could mean a whole new mess of problems.
“Anyway, let’s apply the medicine. Show me your back, Lulala.”
“Huh? Y-you’re not going to apply it yourself, are you, Doctor?”
“Of course I am. Your back is hard to reach, isn’t it? If you miss spots, that could lead to inflammation.”
“Uhhh, I’m a little embarrassed.” Lulala tugged at the string to loosen her swimsuit and expose her bare back. “But I guess if it’s you, Doctor… You’ll be my husband someday, after all.”
“Uh, uhm, well…” Glenn could only nod noncommittally at her confidence in their future marriage.
“As the first wife, I need to make sure I’m firm in my position,” Sapphee resolved out loud. But neither Glenn nor Lulala noticed.
Glenn stepped into the water and wet his fingers. There was risk of damaging Lulala’s mucous membrane if he touched it before cooling his hands. If he was too rough, the membrane would peel off, risking infection. When he’d palpated her gills in the past, he’d been very careful, but this time the ailment was on her back, and he’d have to touch a much wider area. Glenn scooped out some ointment with his wet fingers and spread it on Lulala’s back.
“Mmm, err, it’s slimy…”
“Well, it’s a mucosa protective agent.” Glenn applied it to the spots where her skin had peeled away. The medication had a high viscosity, so it stuck fast to her back.
When the ointment permeated her gills, Lulala’s body quivered from the strange sensation. “Ahh…mmm-aaa…oooh!”
“Shall I also remove the skin that has already peeled?”
“Huh? But when I did that you said I shouldn’t!”
“Normally, it’s not ideal. But since we have the ointment, I think it would be better to apply the medication to the spots where you’re peeling. That will allow you to regenerate the membrane faster.”
“Oh, really?”
The sunburn on Lulala’s back had progressed, and the burnt skin was peeling in several places.
“I’m going to start now.”
“Yes, please,” Lulala replied in a singsong voice, which was muffled by the cot.
Glenn began peeling away pieces of skin.
“Mmm…” Lulala moaned.
In a way, it was like molting, though there was a bit of pain when the attached skin was torn away. He peeled off a piece about the size of his index finger, exposing the pale skin beneath.
“Mmm, oww!”
He then rubbed ointment into the freshly exposed area. If any part ended up not covered in ointment, it could become inflamed, so Glenn was thorough.
“Yeah, mmm…”
“Lulala, your natural skin is very beautiful,” Sapphee said as she observed.
“Oh, yeah. Um, my mom is from the deep sea, so my skin is naturally light. My father’s from a shallower habitat. I think I tan easily because I take after him.”
“It seems your mother and youngest sibling have stronger deep-sea mermaid blood,” Glenn said. “I think sunburns would immediately inflame their skin, rather than turn it brown.”
“That’s right. That’s why they don’t really leave the Waterways on days when the sun is strong.”
Glenn nodded. The main reason Lulala was able to sing on land and be the breadwinner of the family was genetics.
“I hate my father. I hope he never comes back. But I feel just a little grateful that he gave me a body that can move easily on land.”
“I think you have a high tolerance to the sun because you have a high volume of pigment in your skin. But if you’re not careful, it could cause inflammation. It might even lead to throat or respiratory disease,” Glenn warned. “Please be careful.”
“Okay,” Lulala agreed.
Lulala had had a rough life at home. Her father had run off, and she’d been forced to support her mother and four younger siblings.
“Hey, Dr. Glenn?”
“What is it?”
“I wonder if I can… Can I really become a good wife to you? My mother and father fought ever since I was a small child. I admire married couples that get along, but I don’t really understand them.”
“Lulala…” Glenn was at a loss for words.
Even though she’d been the one to declare that they’d get married, she couldn’t really imagine what a happy marriage looked like.
“They were both mermaids, and yet they couldn’t get along,” Lulala said. “And you and Sapphee are completely different species, yet you’re a great couple. But then there’s me, and I can only live in the water.” It wasn’t like her to talk like this, to be so…timid.
“Yeah,” Sapphee said, switching out the empty ointment bottle with a new one. “An interspecies marriage like that might be very difficult.”
“I thought so,” Lulala said, looking dejected.
“But marriage is even difficult between the same species, as you know,” Sapphee continued. “My mother never spoke about my father. Something happened before I was born, but I don’t know the details.”
“Is that right?” Glenn was surprised.
“Yes. I’ve never told you about it, Doctor.”
It was rare for Sapphee to mention her parents. Glenn had never even heard her talk about her father before, but evidently that was because Sapphee hadn’t known him herself.
“If it’s difficult no matter what,” she said, “then we should go after someone we truly love. Don’t you agree, Lulala?”
“Yeah,” Lulala agreed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“You can always call on me if you need someone to talk to,” Sapphee said. “I’m Dr. Glenn’s lawful wife, after all.”