A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 210 School Clinic

Did you take the medicine you were prescribed last time on time?

The voice coming from the school doctor has a kind of inhuman absurdity, but it doesn't sound scary. If you listen carefully, you can even feel some cuteness to it.

Specifically, Quinn felt that this guy spoke exactly like the Mambo voice pack that was everywhere on Earth, and that the academy had hired a master.

He and Celia were sitting in the school infirmary office. He had thought it was strange enough that a Tongrentang chain store would appear in the Magic Castle, but when he entered the office, he almost laughed out of anger. This lousy place was like a Russian nesting doll, crammed with three different styles.

It's not magical at all, and not even very Chinese in style. There's an iron bed, white sheets, and white floor tiles that aren't great quality but are very clean. The most essential thing is the two rows of stainless steel medicine cabinets and the vision charts on the wall. It's just one air conditioner away from being the school clinic at Sacred Heart High School.

The strikingly similar arrangement led Quinn to even suspect that Merlin was also a fellow townsman who graduated from Sacred Heart High School when he first arrived.

But what a coincidence! Seventy to eighty percent of middle school clinics across the country look exactly like this. It's probably just a case of similarities caused by the quirky tastes of people from the same hometown.

If there's anything that feels like being in another world, it's probably the school doctor standing in front of them.

This is a doll wearing a white coat.

Dolls are the most common familiars in the arcane world. Larger arcane workshops use dolls as servants. Some exquisite high-level dolls even have combat power comparable to that of superhumans. They are good choices for security, household chores, or even as substitutes.

But the doll in the school clinic was rather strange. Its construction was anything but exquisite. Most of its body was made of plain birch wood, while its joints and facial features were filled with straw rope, making it look like a sinister scarecrow from a cult fairy tale movie.

A rope made of tangled dry straw was attached to the top of the school doctor doll's head, extending into the distance behind it.

For some reason, Celia hesitated for a moment before glancing at Quinn behind her, then stammered, "Well, it doesn't seem to be working."

"I still, occasionally, occasionally, have those weird dreams."

Actually, she does it every day. Whenever Celia falls asleep, she transforms into a girl in another world as if her soul has been transported there, living a carefree life in her dreams.

However, Celia was too embarrassed to speak about her relationship with Quinn in the dream when the real person was present.

Two weeks ago at the Arcane Festival, when the two were on a date, Celia revealed the dream to Quinn. As a result, he stubbornly believed that "this is the influence of the abyss" and took the girl to the school clinic on the first day of school for a follow-up examination.

The school doctor performed a mental health examination on Celia, but the conclusion was that everything was normal. He then prescribed seven bottles of medicine with an indescribable taste and told her to take it for half a month and then have a follow-up examination.

The reason for the re-examination is that the academy has decided to restart the Abyss Trial for first-year students.

Although a major accident nearly occurred during the first Abyss Trial, it was later discovered that it was the work of an Abyss Transcendent who wanted to kidnap students and extort money from the academy. The news was leaked because Megan, a student in the Divination class, mentioned the matter in a letter home. One of the instigators, the Abyss Transcendent, was the second son of Grand Duke Lawrence of Britain, and Megan's father was a guard of Grand Duke Lawrence, making it possible that the letter was read.

The college has repeatedly issued orders prohibiting students from disclosing their academic or personal lives to anyone.

Despite the significant worldly events, the effects of the abyss training are obvious. The average mental strength of this year's first-year students far exceeds that of previous years, especially the three students in the divination class who entered the Falling Layer. Their mental strength is comparable to that of second-year or even third-year students.

Why say three people instead of four?
Unlike Celia, who had faced the greatest danger after returning from the abyss, she gained nothing. Even now, her mental strength is only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person, and she can't even ride a broom steadily, which matches her mediocre talent and training time.

The professors in the Department of Basic Sciences, who specialize in research on mental power, held a special meeting to study this matter and believed that the cause was likely related to Celia's death in the abyss.

After observing the girl for more than two months, Celia found that she did not show any typical symptoms of being corrupted by the abyss, so the academy decided to restart the abyss training for new students.

Compared to the demon-slaying war these children will face upon graduation, the risks of the abyss are insignificant.

This time, the academy will be fully prepared, and similar kidnapping attempts will not be successful again.

The only problem now is Celia. Because of the dream, if she cannot pass the school doctor's review, she will not be able to enter the abyss with her classmates again.

The girl naturally wanted to go.

She had no memory of what happened in the abyss last time, but seeing her classmates riding brooms and flying freely, already looking like arcane sorcerers, it would be a lie to say she wasn't envious.

Moreover, Celia also desires power.

“First of all—” Mambo’s voice came from the school doctor doll, “what you drank was not medicine.”

It stood up from the chair, and although it looked old and clumsy, its movements were surprisingly agile, as free as a living person.

"Not medicine?" Celia was taken aback. "Then what is it?"

The school doctor doll didn't answer. Instead, it picked up a pure silver tongue depressor from the table, heated it over an alcohol lamp to sterilize it, and then stuck it into Celia's mouth without saying a word.

"Come on, open your mouth, ah~~~"

Celia had no choice but to comply: "Ah."

Quinn, who was accompanying them from behind, narrowed his eyes.

Instead of examining Celia's mouth or throat, the school nurse doll began chanting a spell—

"Hakikimido, Nanamirudo, Asigahaya."

There was no time to listen carefully to what kind of spell the doll was chanting. Quinn switched to the Demon King's Eye and saw only a gray-white field of vision, from which one after another insects emitting a phantom light crawled out of Celia's mouth.

It was a light that one could only see after eating too many poisonous mushrooms; intense colors, a dense, swirling mass, crawled out of her mouth.

"Ugh, uh, vomit—"

Celia let out a painful retching sound, her slender back instinctively arching like a shrimp, but the tongue depressor in her mouth held her firmly in place. Quinn hurriedly stepped forward to support her, and she vomited until she was almost out of breath before all the "worms" crawled out.

Quinn helped Celia straighten her back, and she awkwardly turned away, but she had no handkerchief to wipe her mouth. Just as she was feeling a little lost, Quinn lifted up her sleeve.

"Dirty, so dirty."

"Clean".

After speaking, the meticulous young woman finished.

"I meant I'm dirty," Celia felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and whispered, "Mr. Quinn, I'm alright, we were too close."

The boy in my dream was just this considerate.

In a daze, the dream and reality almost overlapped.

"Heh, so you complain about being too close?" Quinn casually stepped back a little, then frowned and asked the school doctor doll, "What did you feed her?"

"Dream-eating lice are cute little creatures from the spirit world that enjoy feeding on human dreams."

Those tiny insects, invisible in reality, were crawling along the straw rope above the doll's head, heading deep into the school clinic.

"Let me see, let me see, hmm."

The school doctor doll fell silent and began examining the contents brought back by the Dream-Eating Lice.

"Huh, that's strange."

"W-What's wrong?!" Celia exclaimed anxiously.

The thought that the school doctor might see her dream made Celia panic. What if Mr. Quinn found out about the embarrassing things in her dream?
"you"

The school doctor doll hesitated, seemingly examining the patient repeatedly.

"You weren't dreaming?"

Upon hearing this, Quinn's eyes flickered slightly, while Celia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Weren't you dreaming?"

"The Dream-Eating Lice haven't eaten anything for the past two weeks, and they're starving."

Celia chuckled dryly, "Could it be that I remembered wrong? Haha, I've heard that studying arcane magic can drive you crazy."

“With your grades, it’s unlikely you’ll go crazy from studying.” The school doctor doll spoke in Mambo’s voice, cutting to the heart. “…Are there any other methods to check?” Quinn’s voice was heavy.

"If even the dream-eating lice can't detect her dreams, then the only remaining option is to perform a craniotomy."

The school doctor doll pointed to the human brain model on the desk: "This place is called the cerebral cortex. After carving the Magic Mirror Rune here, soak the brain in the medicine to force sleep. That way, whatever you dream about can be projected to the outside world. Why are you still trembling?"

The school doctor's doll had a face made of wood and straw, unable to make any facial expressions, but Mambo's voice was cheerful: "It's alright, it can be put back in place. Under normal circumstances, it can still eat, drink, and relieve itself independently for the rest of its life."

Celia was even more frightened now, and looked to Quinn for help, receiving a reassuring look in return.

"Say something that works."

“Take the mental health test again.”

The school doctor doll picked up a book from under her desk and handed it to Celia.

"read."

This is a novel written seven hundred years ago, titled "The Pirate Ship Under the Red Moon," which tells the story of a group of pirates on the unclaimed land of "Heavenly Island" with its chaotic writing, illogical narrative, and abstract style.

The book was abruptly stopped halfway through writing and was hailed by the literary world as "the most unsuccessful published work in history." However, few people know that this novel was written by a madman who was imprisoned in St. Elizabeth's Asylum.

That was the last message left by a Sequence 3 [Secret Envoy] before losing control.

If an ordinary person reads this novel, they will only think it's utter nonsense. But if a person with mental abnormalities, especially a superhuman with a tendency to lose control, or an arcanist whose mind has been mysteriously influenced, they will find the book increasingly enjoyable to read, like ice skating, and finally weep bitterly at the abrupt ending, wishing they could dig the envoy out of his grave and continue the book.

Celia stumbled through the overly eccentric novel.

Quinn and the puppet school doctor observed silently from the side.

A reader's reaction often reveals their mental state. If someone is mentally unstable, they will unconsciously behave strangely while reading "The Pirate Ship Under the Red Moon."

Time passed like this minute by minute.

As dusk fell and night descended, when Celia's voice grew hoarse from reading, the school nurse doll suddenly said, "That's enough."

It walked up to Celia, pulled the girl's eyes wide open, and a flame appeared out of thin air, illuminating her spiritual pupils.

After observing for a while, the same method was used to observe the right eye.

"No problem."

The school doctor doll extinguished the flames, turned around, and went back to sit down.

"Ms. Celia, congratulations, you are in excellent mental health."

"Then my dream."

Celia hesitated. Could it be that all those dreams were just fantasies?

“There are two possibilities,” the school doctor doll said cautiously. “If your dream is related to the abyss, it is very likely a very rare contamination disease.”

"Uh, rare?" Celia was startled and asked timidly, "What's the name of this disease?"

What name do you want to call it?

The school doctor doll tells a lame joke: "It's so rare that it can be named after you. Future generations will always remember your contributions to the exploration of the abyss."

“What’s the second possibility?” Quinn asked.

"The second possibility is that she wasn't dreaming. What you're seeing are your memories, but you're under too much stress and are in a light sleep, mistakenly taking your random thoughts for dreams."

Celia blinked. Memories?

Let's call it Celia Disease, it sounds pretty good too.
She felt Quinn's hand, which was on her shoulder comforting her, suddenly tighten, but then quickly loosen.

“Impossible, it must be related to the abyss.” These were the words of Quinn.

Celia had never heard Quinn speak with such certainty.

"That's my opinion too." The school doctor doll nodded. "Humanity's exploration and understanding of the Abyss is still too limited. In the past 1,400 years of the Divine Era, there have been very few cases of ordinary people entering the third level of the Abyss. It's normal for unexpected symptoms to occur."

"Therefore, I would recommend that Celia participate in this Abyss Trial."

"However, she needs to be strictly protected and observed alone. Any changes that occur in the abyss will be positive for studying her dreams."

The school doctor picked up a pen and began writing the medical report he was preparing to submit to Vice Dean Stephens.

"Will there be any danger?" Quinn asked, frowning.

"It depends on how much the college wants to study this particular case."

".Let's go."

Quinn patted the girl's anxious back and smiled, "You'll be alright, I promise."

"Ok!"

"By the way, Mr. Quinn."

The school doctor doll suddenly said, "If you need it, I can also check your mental state."

"I am normal."

“That would be best. Heh.” It paused, not turning around, but saying as it wrote: “But you were quite engrossed when you listened to Celia reading it aloud.”

“Is that so?” Quinn said nonchalantly. “Then I might really like to be a pirate.”

The school doctor doll fell silent, the candles used for lighting were extinguished, and the guests were seen off.

The two left the eerie place side by side.

"Mr. Quinn, are you sure you don't want to get it checked out?" The girl asked with a hint of worry.

"Ah, actually it's because Xiaoqian's voice is so beautiful."

"Where, there it is!! It's, it's perfectly normal."

"Uh-huh."

"You really think it sounds good?"

"I can eat three bowls of rice with it."

"Ugh, what a disgusting adjective."

"I'm off tomorrow, Thursday, so don't slack off on the piano!"

"I won't slack off! It's just that I can't play as well as you. Even the school doctor says I'm a bit slow."

"Humans are more lovable because they have some flaws."

The scorching summer breeze seemed to blow over the girl on the stairs, making her cheeks feel a little hot. Fortunately, he was walking ahead and wouldn't see her lost in thought.

"Shall we go out for dinner?"

"Ok!"

(End of this chapter)