The doctor wasn't heavy; in Haida's hands after her modification surgery, she felt as light as a doll to be arranged.
"Is the situation serious? What can I do?"
"It will end within a few hours; just wait." Fran yawned, not worried about it.
She possessed nearly absolute control over her own body. A malignant symptom that could kill an ordinary person dozens of times... was just commonplace for her.
"Was there some mistake in the connection process on my part?"
Given that Fran generally couldn't make medical errors, Haida very honestly looked for the problem within herself.
"No need to blame yourself. If I had done it myself, the result would be the same."
In fact, Fran could certainly complete the connection process herself.
But one should always leave practice opportunities for beginners... Luckily, the experimental subject was herself, so even if problems arose, it wouldn't lead to any severe consequences.
"Let me think... Please help me get a wheelchair, Sister Haida. It's in the equipment room next door."
Although her arms couldn't move and she couldn't check the time with her pocket watch, judging by the wispy pale gray mist seeping through the door crack... it was probably almost time.
——————
As the quarterly house call time approached minute by minute, the pale gray, cold mist in the surgery room became increasingly dense.
"Hand Reaches the Moon."
The black linked chain on Fran's wrist slid into her sleeve at her command, lifting the brass pocket watch by its chain.
"Three minutes until departure. Hmm... Why so soon? I thought there was at least an hour left."
She narrowed her eyes somewhat confusedly.
For some reason, Fran had a very poor sense of time. Even though she habitually checked her watch, she still inevitably made mistakes sometimes.
With one minute remaining, Haida finally pushed a small manual wheelchair to her side.
"Looking for the equipment wasted some time."
The Fog Street Clinic equipment room was quite large, and it took her a while to find the area where wheelchairs were stored.
On the way back to the surgery room, Haida noticed the mist churning like threads at the edge of the corridor, knowing the time for the house call was nearly up.
Therefore, she didn't ask additional questions but quite tacitly held Fran's waist, lifted her, and then placed her in the wheelchair.
"I should have made an electric one when I had time." Fran raised an eyebrow, seeming somewhat helpless.
"But for high-level paralysis, an electric one wouldn't be much use anyway... would need to add voice or neural link control modules."
But if you're going to use something as troublesome as a neural link module, why not just get a set of external armor?
"Whew." Fran let out a light breath, slowly clearing her thoughts.
Visible was a flash of golden-red sparks with her exhalation. That was the nearly boiling Frenzied Flame.
Although she appeared normal, the situation inside her body was probably not calm.
Mist billowed and spread, like a sea of clouds churning, blurring the boundaries of sight and space.
Soon, her and Haida's figures vanished into the pure gray-white.
—
[Cross-Dimensional Quarterly House Call begins. You are heading to "The Nameless Silent Hill." This house call is for two people. Your assistant is "Burial Attendant" Haida Moira.]
[Patients: All sinners who have stepped into this place.]
[Patient Records: Sufferer of heart disease, who knows you better than yourself?]
[Symptoms: Multiple Personality Disorder (Severe Late Stage), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Initial Stage).]
[Warning: Be careful of those around you; they might be far more dangerous than you imagine. Likewise, be careful of yourself; you are probably more dangerous than you think...]
[Begin Consultation Procedure.]
—
"Just seeing the house call introduction gives me a headache. Truly worthy of this year's final cross-dimensional house call..."
Fran, sitting in the wheelchair, idly quipped.
The difficulty of cross-dimensional house calls increases sequentially from the end of March to the end of December, meaning... the system considers this place more dangerous than "Future Norlington."
Haida pushed Fran through the swirling mist for a while. As the mist gradually thinned, the surroundings became clearer.
This was a spacious, quiet, near-modern town.
Roads, cars, and the civilian buildings and church on either side of the street... everything was shrouded in dust and thin mist. Although there were no signs of riots or destruction, there was also no trace of human habitation, quiet to the point of fear.
The mist Fran summoned seemed to possess life, quite humanely changing its form. But the mist in this town was like the ghosts of the dead, cold and eerily shrouding everything.
Hazy, quiet, cold and still, as if placed in a tomb.
Haida's psychic senses caught a whiff of faint malice, but it also felt like a fleeting illusion.
"Dr. Fran, where is this?"
"Muteness Village."
Without thinking, Fran decisively said a name that seemed somewhat out of place here. It even sounded somewhat cute.
"Really?" Haida narrowed her eyes, somewhat skeptical.
She had roughly grasped this doctor's temperament... One of the most classic traits was this ill-timed sense of humor.
"Of course, it has many more proper names... Silent Hill, City of Silence, and the most widely known translation 'Silent Hill'."
Fran recounted them as if listing treasures.
Just as she was about to elaborate further, Haida, holding the wheelchair, came to a sudden stop, her gray-chestnut eyes fixed on the mist at the end of the street corner.
"Something's coming. Carrying a scent of malice..."
Fran blinked lightly, stopping her tour guide-like explanation.
A bizarre humanoid creature slowly emerged from the end of the street corner.
Its gait was difficult and sluggish, almost struggling. Its entire upper body was wrapped in a huge, bloated mass of skin, where one could vaguely see tightly bound arms... and pain-twisted facial features beneath the swollen hide.
"Dr. Fran, do you know about this kind of monster?"
Out of caution, Haida first asked Fran about its relevant characteristics.
"The Straitjacket. A monster materialized from entanglement and struggle... Very weak, but it spits acid mist, and requires appropriate caution."
Fran was quite familiar with the Silent Hill setting and quickly detailed the specific information about this monster.
Haida's delicately arched brows furrowed slightly, beginning to consider a response plan.
The Straitjacket had now entered her firing range, but rashly using firearms to probe in an unknown environment wasn't wise. The noise of gunfire might attract more dangerous things.
But close combat while bringing Fran along was inconvenient; she couldn't exactly carry the wheelchair while fighting...
"Worried about me? Hmm... That's not hard to solve."
As she spoke, the [Hand Reaches the Moon] chain on Fran's hand promptly shot out, wrapping around Haida's wrist, connecting the two.
"Like this, we're linked together."
"Alright."
Haida softly agreed, then shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.
The Straitjacket was now close to about twenty meters. And she almost instantly arrived before the monster, the blade of the power sword 'Nirvana' sweeping down, bringing a tearing shriek of air.
The twisted human body was cleanly divided into two sections, filthy, rotten blood gushing from the split.
In just one encounter, the Straitjacket had turned into silent corpse pieces.
"No healing ability, physical strength similar to ordinary humans..."
Now, Haida had a relatively deep understanding of that "very weak" evaluation in Fran's assessment.
A monster that could be stabbed to death by ordinary people with knives and clubs... he probably never imagined he'd one day enjoy the luxurious treatment of a power sword. Truly could die without regret.
After dispatching the enemy, Haida was about to return to Fran's side following the guidance of the black linked chain.
For some reason, the originally thin cold mist suddenly became heavy and gloomy.
So much so that within two steps, she could barely see the doctor in the wheelchair, only vaguely glimpsing her facial outline.
Right then, a sudden change occurred.
Woooo—
An explosive, piercing alarm shattered the town's silence. The originally somewhat clear sky almost instantly darkened, turning into lightless depth.
Of all times... Haida's gaze turned serious. Just then, she felt a pulling sensation from the chain on her hand.
"Dr. Fran?"
She slowly approached the wheelchair's location, calling out, but received no response.
An ominous premonition arose. Haida then didn't wait, quickly approaching Fran.
The [Hand Reaches the Moon] on her hand was still connected, not broken, meaning Dr. Fran hadn't left. But the person now leaning on the wheelchair back... was it really her?
As the distance between them became close, Haida also clearly saw her features.
Pale, frost-like hair and eyelashes, amber eyes, and the gentle smile at the corner of her lips... It was Fran, no mistake.
But compared to before, a very obvious change had occurred with her.
The iconic white coat and small suit jacket Fran wore had somehow been replaced by a thin straitjacket. It was covered in rusted metal buckles, as if the wearer wasn't a young girl but some kind of man-eating beast.
Also, she had become, hmm... much younger.
Her originally fine features had become somewhat childish, as if only in her teens. Her figure had also become like a young girl's, so the straitjacket seemed somewhat loose and baggy.
The young girl cleverly blinked and greeted Haida.
"Hello, Sister. Are you looking for someone?"
Something I don't yet understand has happened... Haida had some experience dealing with such situations. She suppressed the absurd feeling and went along with the girl's words.
"Yes. Do you know a doctor named Fran?"
"Ah, I know!"
The girl's amber eyes lit up, seeming proud because she knew the answer.
"I've heard that name; she's the director of Hishem Hospital. The hospital in the center of town."
As she spoke, she pointed in the direction of a certain block. But due to the gloomy sky, Haida didn't see any landmark building there.
"Thank you. What should I call you?"
Maintaining courtesy when talking to a stranger, Haida asked the girl for her name.
Since she didn't think "Fran" was herself, that meant... she had another name.
"But... Sister hasn't told me your name yet."
The girl lowered her head, sitting in the wheelchair and gently swinging her slender legs. She seemed able to control her body freely, unaffected by the side effects of the Chimera Spine "Sphinx".
"Haida Moira. Call me Haida."
"Hey, I'm Flamel. Haven't decided on a surname yet. Nice to meet you, Sister Haida."
Flamel lifted her head, her amber eyes holding a flash of lively cunning.
So it was this name. Haida's expression turned grave, remembering the situation from the last house call.
The fictional psychiatric hospital in the first-category ritual [Construct Dream Slumber] was also called "Hishem," and the doctor identical to Fran there was also named "Flamel." There must be some connection.
"Sister Haida, do you have something on your mind?"
Flamel waved her fair hand in front of Haida, somewhat worried about this sister who tended to zone out.
Haida had now roughly sorted out her thoughts and decided on the next course of action.
"A little. Dr. Fran is my friend, but she's missing... Now I need to go to the hospital to find her."
"To Hishem Hospital? But it's just gotten dark now; the hospital isn't very safe. And I just left there not long ago." Flamel slightly pouted her lips, appearing somewhat troubled.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL