Eldritch Horror Theatre

An excellent physician prided himself on providing charcoal in snow and adding frost to the bed.

Fu Qian’s thoroughly self-satisfied boast successfully complicated the mood for almost everyone present.

The Winslows, whose eyes were shining bright as lamps over their blessing in disguise, instantly lost their excited momentum as they recalled this man’s earlier performance.

Ever since the first ”analysis report” came out, this ”quack” had indeed maintained that she was perfectly fine.

Was it a lucky guess, or was he playing the fool?

Thanks to the speaker’s eccentric behavior, this fundamentally optimistic assessment even dragged down the credibility of Olinter’s words by a few percentage points.

Amidst the mixed reactions, the Winslows were left unsure of how to respond. Meanwhile, the family teacher Nathalie, who cared just as deeply for her student’s safety, experienced a very different emotional shift.

”You really don’t know the first thing about humility.”

Before anyone else could speak, Nathalie coldly broke the silence.

”So you’re saying you saw right from the start that Jane had the Favor of the Stars?””Then what was with your behavior earlier? Some sick joke to scare people?”

”Like that painting at the art salon—was all that so-called danger just something you made up?”

...

Nathalie’s outburst naturally sounded like righteous indignation, the reaction of someone looking down on a jianghu swindler like Fu Qian.

But the Winslows frowned in unison as they listened.

Bringing certain things up right now was clearly causing unnecessary complications.

Like the ”painting” at the art salon, for instance.

The moment that subject was raised, no matter how they reacted, it would only make things look worse—just like right now.

The Winslows reacted in perfect sync, reining in their emotions without showing the slightest dissatisfaction toward Nathalie’s behavior.

”Painting? What’s this about?”

Sure enough, anyone from The Order seemed exceptionally sensitive to things like paintings.

Olinter instantly raised his brows, asking with a hint of vigilance.

”Actually, some strange symptoms began showing up a while ago...”

With things having reached this point, Mister Winslow could only brace himself and explain.

”It’s just that it seemed a bit different back then. Jane’s eyes even grew noticeably larger at first.”

Now that the incident was out in the open, certain things couldn’t be hidden if The Order investigated, so Mister Winslow was being entirely honest.

Of course, while coming clean, he tried his best to keep his tone light.

”Because she felt no other discomfort, we didn’t pay much attention to it at first and kept attending various events.”

”But then, at an art salon the day before yesterday, Jane suddenly felt a bit unwell while admiring a painting. We haven’t gone out since we returned.”

”What kind of painting? What kind of discomfort?”

Unfortunately, Olinter wasn’t so easily distracted. He seized on the main point without hesitation.

”It wasn’t well-known. It supposedly came from a street artist. The style was a bit similar to this one...”

As the person involved, Jane proactively answered the question, pointing to the head of her bed.

”I really liked it at the time, so I stared at it for a while. But eventually, my vision darkened, and I had to close my eyes to rest.”

Her vision darkened...

The painting by the bed didn’t seem to be the type The Order would consider outright heretical.

Olinter glanced at it briefly before looking away, fixing his eyes on Fu Qian and the Medical Visit Box beside him.

”Then what danger did this quack of a doctor deduce?”

...

Even though she had called him here, it seemed Nathalie hadn’t told him much.

Singled out for questioning, Fu Qian wasn’t nervous in the slightest. Instead, he thoughtfully evaluated the question.

Nathalie had already admitted that Olinter came because of her, and their division of labor—blocking one door each—was quite clear.

Fu Qian naturally wouldn’t believe any excuse about just passing by. Given this abnormally fast response, he guessed that Nathalie possessed some special means of contacting Olinter.

There was a very high probability that Olinter was her friend in The Order, and their relationship was close enough that he came at her beck and call.

But even so, Nathalie still held back certain details from him with deliberate caution.

Interpersonal relationships truly were a profound field of study.

Amidst his inner praise, Fu Qian gave a slight nod.

”That painting might have been somewhat dangerous, triggering a self-protection mechanism.”

...

In that instant, Olinter’s killing intent nearly maxed out.

”What danger?”

Studying this jianghu doctor with unprecedented caution, he wore a half-smile.

”A Nightmare.”

Completely ignoring the deadly atmosphere, Fu Qian scoffed and threw a question back.

”If I didn’t even know that much, what right would I have to claim the title of chief physician?”

”Very well. At least it seems Winslow’s money wasn’t spent in vain.”

Confidence truly was infectious. After Fu Qian proudly proclaimed himself the chief physician, Olinter was clearly somewhat intimidated and actually agreed with the diagnosis for the first time.

”This is also my first time encountering someone who truly has the Favor of the Stars. It feels like Jane’s earlier symptoms were very likely caused by an unconscious resonance with the Star Law.”

The next moment, he looked at the Winslows and spoke.

”The bizarre enlargement of a certain organ is nothing when it comes to the Star Law. As for that painting, it might have indeed brought about a premonition of danger. I will have someone look into it thoroughly later.”

His tone leaned more toward comfort. Obviously, the allure of genius was immense; in light of this pleasant surprise, the Winslow Family’s previous little tricks were now insignificant. Not to mention, their attitude in admitting fault had been quite sincere.

”That is truly wonderful. I apologize; we were too worried before and overreacted a bit.”

Winslow, who clearly sensed this, showed no signs of smugness, maintaining a proper, apologetic attitude.

”I hope there’s nothing wrong with that painting, or else our delay in bringing it to light will cause trouble for The Order.”

”Yours was just a normal reaction. Not to mention, if it weren’t for the help of this quack doctor, you wouldn’t have even realized there was a problem with the painting.”

Olinter waved a hand as if dismissing the matter, even remembering to toss Fu Qian a compliment.

”I can tell that this chief physician truly has a sharp eye. I hope he can properly accept some guidance over at The Order later.”

...

Winslow hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to help him out of this.

No matter how it sounded, this doctor who ran blood tests with his mouth was in deep trouble.

Olinter hadn’t been targeting him too heavily at first, but this guy’s ability to draw aggro was simply too strong; in just a few words, he had successfully attracted most of the fury.

”I wouldn’t dare accept guidance; I’m merely sharing a humble opinion.”

Before Winslow could even think of how to phrase things, the man in question threw out another modest remark.