Eldritch Horror Theatre

”What other collection?”

After staring at him for a few seconds, the man suddenly dropped this request, leaving Dorian clearly bewildered.

”The Outlander Dolls. The patients cured just like him.”

”Given your distinguished reputation, I imagine this isn’t the only one?”

Fu Qian gestured toward the pile of ash.

”It is indeed not...”

As expected, Dorian didn’t deny it, though he still showed some hesitation at Fu Qian’s request.

”Relax, I’m not here to seek justice for them. Even among outsiders, some are closer than others.”

Fu Qian knew what he was worried about—simply that the situation might become too chaotic, provoking him into lowering Dorian’s chances of survival.

”Alright... this way.”Clearly aware he had no real choice, Dorian didn’t dare ask for more after receiving that brief explanation. He accepted the suggestion immediately.

Standing up, he motioned for Fu Qian to follow him through the back door and deeper into the Clinic.

The Clinic wasn’t particularly large overall, but its layout was somewhat complicated.

Doctor Dorian obviously wasn’t very good at utilizing space; compared to the crowded consultation room up front, the back area had quite a bit of empty space.

He didn’t step into any of those empty areas, however. Instead, he led Fu Qian straight down the corridor to a far more desolate courtyard, continuing on until they reached a round tower in the corner.

Creak—

Along with the teeth-aching groan of the door opening, the rather small space inside came into view.

...

It was indeed crowded.

The front hall had seemed congested, but compared to this place, it felt like an entirely different dimension.

Movement space was clearly no longer a consideration. The first thing that struck the eye was a dense, disorganized pile of assorted clothes dumped straight onto the floor.

Whoever left them here had clearly never considered organizing them. Even though many of the garments looked quite high-end, they were thoroughly jumbled together like trash.

Of course, that wasn’t the important part. The key point was that they were strikingly normal human sizes.

The dreamscape guests from earlier, as well as the Dolls lining the walls of the Tower, obviously couldn’t wear them.

”After a successful treatment, the person in the chair automatically shrinks into a Doll, but their clothes do not.”

”This means I need to make new clothes for them. The leftover materials just pile up here.”

Without waiting for Fu Qian to ask, Dorian proactively explained in a low voice.

”Understood. That’s about what I figured.”

Showing no signs of fury or anything of the sort, Fu Qian looked around at the finished products.

”I can also see you’ve certainly helped quite a few people. What about the one from earlier?”

He hadn’t given Dorian any time to come back and fetch a Doll. There had to be a reason he carried that one around with him.

”The last patient.”

”I make a habit of carrying one with me, at least until I have a new option.”

Dorian clearly understood what Fu Qian was getting at.

”I could tell. Its effects seemed even better than those of the locals?”

Fu Qian accepted this explanation. It was obvious this served as Dorian’s extra layer of personal insurance.

”Yes... but they are harder to control.”

”They can stimulate potential almost infinitely, but the price is a high likelihood of destruction, and the process itself is very difficult to grasp.”

”In comparison, those four Dolls are much more stable.”

Clearly unable to figure out what was on Fu Qian’s mind, Dorian had no choice but to answer earnestly.

”Sounds like both types of tools have very obvious pros and cons...”

Giving a slight nod, Fu Qian looked thoughtful.

”But if I brought the actual person here, allowing you to upgrade the materials for your handmade Dolls, would the resulting effect be both powerful and stable?”

...

Upgrade the materials?

The Dorian standing before him had undoubtedly never issued such a quest, to the point where Fu Qian’s suggestion made him hesitate for quite a moment.

”Of course. I’ve always had that idea, and I believe the results would be far superior. So the Doll from earlier—”

Dorian clearly didn’t quite believe that the Doll Fu Qian brought was truly made by Hilaria herself. At this point, Fu Qian’s posture invited all sorts of speculation, making his true motives even harder to discern.

”Don’t worry, I won’t forget.”

However, Fu Qian seemingly misunderstood his meaning, directly stating that he wouldn’t forget to take it with him.

”Besides, before that, I need to borrow something from you, Doctor.”

”Borrow what?”

Seeing that the man genuinely looked ready to leave, Dorian found it faintly difficult to suppress the pleasant surprise in his heart.

”I’ll just take it myself.”

Gesturing for him not to stand on ceremony, Fu Qian casually reached out the very next second.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, Doctor Dorian’s head was plucked off and cradled in his hand. The headless corpse convulsed and collapsed into the pile of clothes.

Compared to what he could accomplish within the Healing Dreamscape, this man’s physical body was pitifully weak.

Taking one last look around and confirming that the Dolls showed no reaction to this sudden turn of events, Fu Qian retrieved the Holy Sword from the corpse’s grip and walked straight out.

When he returned to the consultation room, he didn’t even break his promise, picking up Hilaria’s Dolls from the seat—both of them.

After casually bleeding himself once more and feeling the heavy toll taken on his Health Bar, he left in a similar fashion to how he had arrived.

However, while he carried the sword in one hand, his other hand was now carrying quite a bit more.

...

”What is this!”

Naturally, the effect was superb.

Upon his second visit to the Sanctuary of His Excellency Akons, Hilaria’s shock was more than doubled.

”And who are you?”

Kneeling before the Statue, she stared fixatedly at the two Dolls and one head in Fu Qian’s hand, completely forgetting to even stand up.

Sure enough, this woman who had once deeply discussed faith and blasphemy with him had completely forgotten it all as well.

”These two are you.”

Without pausing his steps, Fu Qian walked straight up to Hilaria and casually placed the items onto an adjacent seat, leaving them perfectly at her eye level.

”And this one is Dorian. Couldn’t you tell?”

...

Hilaria was naturally acquainted with the Small Town’s miracle doctor, but that only made the impact all the greater.

Not to mention that on his way here, Fu Qian had not only shocked more than one spectator behind their windows, but he had also conveniently made a few modifications to the Dolls.

One of them had its veil pulled up to cover the upper half of its face, just like Hilaria II in the Healing Dreamscape.

”Who did this?”

It seemed this combination packed quite the visual punch. Even the eyes of the saint before him were flickering wildly.

”Dorian’s handiwork. Not bad, right?”

Fu Qian told her the truth.

”Are you an outsider? Seeking Dorian for treatment?”

Hilaria instantly realized something.

”I am.”

”So what exactly are you here to do?”

”The Dolls are Dorian’s treatment tools. Dorian wanted to upgrade them and needed me to help him find more suitable materials.”

Fu Qian unceremoniously pointed at her.

”Dead or alive, either works.”

”...Heh.”

A soft chuckle followed a long silence, making it very easy to recall the last time Hilaria had switched to her Dark Form.

The visual effect this time was apparently so good that there was no need to provoke her with a headshot to force this woman to reveal her true self.

”I understand. Please, make your move.”

Only, this true self seemed to be a little bit different this time.