Eldritch Horror Theatre

’Is this... really how it is?’

His thoughts churning more violently than ever, Mister Winslow stared at Fu Qian, speechless for a moment.

Every bizarre thing the doctor had done since arriving flashed rapidly through his mind.

Every step seemed absurd, yet every step achieved exactly the right result. For things to have progressed this far—was it really just a coincidence?

’How could it possibly be just a coincidence!’

Winslow certainly wasn’t naive enough to believe that. He dismissed the thought in an instant.

Not only had the man genuinely been diagnosing his daughter the entire time, he had also guided the whole process without leaving a trace.

Even up until a moment ago, he had deliberately left the final layer of truth unspoken, minimizing the negative impact...

’Does he actually possess this level of professional ethics?’

”Thank you, Doctor.”Just as Mister Winslow was reeling from this realization, Mrs. Winslow spoke up from beside him, beating him to the gratitude.

Her tone, however, didn’t sound particularly warm.

”Excuse me, Nathalie. Could I trouble you to take the doctor to rest? He’s been working hard all night.”

Without even waiting for Fu Qian to offer a polite reply, Mrs. Winslow suddenly looked at the family teacher and pointed.

”Huh?”

Her body gave a slight jolt. The request clearly took Nathalie by surprise.

Truth be told, her reaction wasn’t completely unwarranted. After all, as a family teacher, entertaining guests was obviously not part of her duties.

But Fu Qian was well aware of the guilty conscience hiding beneath that shock.

She had come here with ulterior motives to begin with, so being singled out so abruptly was bound to make her overthink things.

Though Mrs. Winslow seemed to be asking a favor, her tone was unusually firm, leaving no room for refusal.

After her initial shock passed, Nathalie adjusted her composure and instinctively glanced at Mister Winslow. Seeing him standing there with a stony face and saying nothing, she finally nodded in agreement.

”Please come with me, Doctor.”

Taking one last look at Jane, she called out to Fu Qian and led the way.

...

”We have to send Jane to The Order.”

As the sound of the second door closing echoed from outside, Mrs. Winslow looked at her husband with resolute eyes.

”Let’s talk outside.”

Winslow seemed to have anticipated his wife’s words and gave a noncommittal response.

”Can you stay here by yourself for a little while?”

Mrs. Winslow didn’t object to the suggestion. Instead, she turned and asked her daughter in a soft voice.

”Mhm.”

The girl nodded obediently without saying another word.

”It really looks like what we were worried about.”

Hardly had they stepped outside when Mrs. Winslow lowered her voice, speaking with eager urgency.

”Regardless of whether this doctor is a bit unreliable, his claim that the voice has been there all along feels the most plausible.”

”If we trace it back to when her eyes first started changing, it perfectly aligns with when she came into contact with the Mist.”

Mrs. Winslow was speaking much faster than usual.

”And just like the information we gathered, that fog is very peculiar... I don’t think we can cling to the false hope that everything is fine anymore. We need to seek help from The Order as soon as possible.”

”As it stands, that does seem highly likely.”

After listening intently to his wife, Winslow immediately agreed with her assessment.

”But you’re hesitating.”

Mrs. Winslow understood her husband quite well.

”There’s no way you just realized this now. So what are you hesitating for?”

”I admit this doctor is certainly unique, and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he’s playing dumb. But do you really think he has a way to cure Jane? He was even getting ready to leave a moment ago.”

”I can’t be sure.”

His own words left Mister Winslow’s eyes dim with sorrow.

”Then you...”

”I genuinely don’t know if this doctor has a solution. But regarding the information we gathered earlier... to keep you from worrying too much, I actually kept some of it to myself.”

Mister Winslow let out a long sigh.

”The Order places an incredibly high level of importance on the Mist, and their stance toward anyone involved with it is much harsher than we imagined...”

Harsher.

From her husband’s tone, Mrs. Winslow could clearly feel the heavy weight behind that word. For a moment, her tears flowed almost uncontrollably.

”Then what do we do? Do we just watch?”

”At least from earlier until now, the situation has improved somewhat.”

Winslow was clearly referring to the successive changes in her eyes and voice.

Strictly speaking, the latter did seem slightly better than the former. But the fact that Mister Winslow would even use this as an excuse showed just how utterly helpless he felt.

”Let’s wait a little longer and see... Also, don’t worry too much. Nathalie has a great relationship with Jane. She’s reliable when it comes to keeping a secret...”

...

’Do they really distrust a professional’s opinion this much?’

Pulling his attention back from the conversation behind him, Fu Qian sighed repeatedly, deeply feeling that unscrupulous peers had ruined the profession’s reputation.

He had clearly and logically told the patient’s family that everything was fine, yet he was still obviously not trusted.

’As expected, living in this world is all about acting skills.’

Fu Qian glanced at Nathalie beside him. In just this short amount of time, every trace of a smile had vanished from her face.

”Care to explain?”

Seemingly satisfied that they were far enough away, Nathalie finally turned to meet his gaze and spoke coldly.

”Why did you drag me along? I could tell that was your idea.”

She cut straight to the point. Clearly, these words had been brewing in her mind for a while.

”I’m an honest man. We agreed on a fair trade, so naturally, I had to fulfill my end of the bargain.”

Of course, this sharp attitude had no effect on Fu Qian, who answered without missing a beat.

”What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

Nathalie frowned.

”Didn’t you want to know Miss Winslow’s condition? Wasn’t seeing it with your own eyes enough? No matter how you look at it, that’s more credible than taking my word for it.”

Fu Qian looked at her strangely.

”Earlier, I only heard your information, and the diagnosis wasn’t finished when I left. So, of course, I had to honor our agreement.”

”...Then what was the meaning behind calling out my name?”

She was left speechless for a moment, but after a brief silence, Nathalie thought of another point.

”Just verifying the credibility of the information you provided. It seems you at least didn’t lie about your name.”

Glancing at her, Fu Qian continued to answer smoothly.

”Now we’re even.”

’How the hell are we even...’

Although that glance made her heart skip a beat in fear, Nathalie clearly couldn’t accept this outcome.

”So what’s your answer?”

”Didn’t you see it with your own eyes? Do you think Miss Winslow is fine or not?”

...

Nathalie was at a loss for words.

Although Jane’s voice was strange, her eyes had indeed returned to normal. No matter how one looked at it, she seemed to be perfectly fine.

This result was obviously not what she wanted to see.

”That’s impossible. I saw her condition before. How could she possibly be fine?”

Nathalie practically growled.

By now, a familiar door was already in sight. Following Mrs. Winslow’s instructions, the two had returned to the place where he had rested earlier.

”With me here, what’s impossible?”

Fu Qian pushed the door open and walked right in, taking all the credit for himself and leaving her with nothing but the sight of his back.