Lynn remained calm. "If that's the case, my initial suspicion is that you ate something you shouldn't have. Specifically, this missing arm of your doll's."
The girl's smile instantly froze.
But the doll kept laughing. "Dolly loves Mommy! Mommy loves Dolly! Heeheeheehee!"
Lynn looked up with dead-fish eyes. "Has your stomach been bothering you lately?"
The girl answered stiffly, "My tummy keeps making noises. It feels like something's tickling me inside."
Lynn nodded, jotting notes down as he casually said:
"Then that must be it. Looks like you haven't digested it yet. Would you prefer surgery or physical treatment?"
The girl asked stiffly, "What kind of surgery...?"
Clang-
Lynn drove the bloody boning knife into the counter.
"I cut your belly open, take out your doll's arm, then stitch you back up."
The doll's laughter stopped dead.
A shudder ran through the girl from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
"What about physical treatment?"
Lynn stood up.
He took gloves and a mask from the counter, looked at her impassively, and said:
"That's simple. No cutting required. Whether you want it taken out from the top or the bottom, I can help. It's cheaper, too."
Girl: "!!!"
Doll: "!!!"
[Girl's SAN -20]
The girl said blankly, "The... the top..."
"All right." Lynn pushed the things on the counter aside and loosened his wrists. "You're small, so there's no need to go to the operating room. I can do it right here, right now. But you'll have to bear with it. Don't bite my arm off."
Under the girl's terrified gaze, Lynn's enormous dark silhouette loomed over her. He wore a mask and leather gloves, a calm light shining in his eyes.
Sitting on the little stool, the girl instantly clutched her doll.
"Can I skip the treatment?"
Lynn said impassively, "No. My teacher said that once you enter this shop, you have to get treated. Otherwise, you'll have to leave something behind."
The girl shuddered blankly, then finally gave in.
"All right..."
She forced her mouth open.
"Wider!"
Riiip-
The girl stretched her mouth all the way behind her neck, opening her enormous maw.
A foul smell hit him in the face.
Lynn remained composed. He took a brace from the counter and wedged it between her upper and lower jaws to prevent any reflexive reactions.
Then he loosened his shoulder and put his arm into the girl's mouth.
It went straight in!
Right down her throat!
The girl's eyes instantly widened.
"Mmph-mmph-"
"Don't move." With a stern expression, Lynn calmly felt around inside her stomach.
"This will be over soon. If you don't want your doll missing a limb, hold still."
[Ding! You obtained hair x50] [Ding! You obtained unidentified body fragments x2] [Ding! You obtained rotten flesh x5] [Ding! You obtained comb x1]
The girl's eyes were wide, her mouth gaping as she kept making terrified, muffled noises.
"Found it!"
Lynn felt a flicker of excitement.
His fingers had touched something that was still wriggling energetically.
[Ding! You obtained lively, wriggling arm x1]
Riiip-
It was the very doll's arm she had eaten.
Remaining calm, Lynn rinsed the arm off and laid it on the counter. "This should be it. You must have been starving that night and eaten your doll's arm without realizing it. Your doll saw how hungry you were, so she didn't warn you."
"But be more careful from now on. Don't go eating strange things. They're hard to digest."
With the brace holding her mouth open, the girl stared blankly, unable to say a word.
"Physical treatment costs ten skull coins. Thirty coins per stitching job."
Still wearing his mask, Lynn calmly took out some hemp cord and a long, sharp needle. A dazzling gleam flashed along the needle.
"Shall I stitch it on now?"
The doll in her arms burst into frightened tears and began flailing, trying to escape.
"N-ow-shtitch-it-"
The girl spoke blankly around the brace propping her mouth open.
Lynn put on his gloves and said impassively, "All right. Hold her down for me. I'll start stitching."
The girl immediately widened her eyes and pinned the struggling doll from her arms onto the counter. The cold gleam in Lynn's eyes was reflected in the doll's as she screamed in terror.
"Here we go."
Swish, swish, swish-
Swish, swish, swish-
[Ding! Basic surgery experience +1] [Ding! Basic surgery experience +1] [Ding! Basic surgery experience +1]
More than half an hour later, with the doll still screaming in agony, Lynn took out a pair of scissors and snipped the thread. "Done. Apply some medicine once a day, and this arm will be back to normal in less than a week."
Lynn found a bottle of vivid green medicine on the counter.
After opening it,
he poured it over the stitching, and the doll immediately let out a terrified scream.
The girl asked blankly, "Is... is it over...?"
Lynn clapped his hands and said calmly, "Finished. You can pay now. Ten coins for physical treatment, thirty for stitching, and ten per bottle of medicine. Seven bottles in total, making a grand total of 110 coins! Thank you for your business. Come again."
The doll swiftly threw herself into the girl's arms, staring at Lynn with trembling fear.
Clearly, Lynn had left her with psychological scars she would never forget.
The girl blankly searched her clothes.
After a long while,
she took out twenty coins and shakily placed them on the counter. "I... I only brought twenty..."
Lynn said impassively, "That's fine. You still owe ninety coins. Which part of your body would you like to put up as collateral? I can cut it off for you. That's free."
As he spoke,
Lynn picked up the boning knife.
The girl's expression instantly became (ΩДΩ), and she took a step back.
"There's another ten!"
The girl hastily pulled ten coins from her clothes and placed them on the counter.
Lynn said impassively, "Still eighty short."
With an (ΩДΩ) expression, the girl set down six bottles of medicine. "I'll come back to buy these later."
Lynn took the medicine back and said impassively, "Still twenty short."
The girl asked shakily, "Can I put it on credit?"
Lynn stepped out with the knife in hand and said impassively, "We're a small business. No credit. That's not my decision to make. But twenty coins isn't much. Leave one of your eyes, and I can give you the medicine and forty coins in change."
The girl backed away with the doll in her arms, covering her right eye as she asked shakily, "Can I pay some other way?"
Lynn said impassively, "Tell me. I'll appraise it."
The girl swallowed and said shakily, "If I show you a good time, will you waive my whole bill?"
Before you continue