Calva City West, Block Six, Poplar Lane No. 9 is a wooden house with a courtyard.
A low wooden fence surrounds it, and in the middle of the courtyard stands an old poplar tree.
The courtyard is relatively clean, with a dozen flower pots stacked in the corner, although the flowers inside have long dried up and died.
The old wooden house has two floors, and the doors and windows are tightly closed, indicating that no one seems to be ho.
Charlotte took out a piece of paper and compared it with the house number, confirming that she hadn't mistaken the place. She looked around and then approached the wooden house, knocking on its door.
There was no response from inside for a long ti, and just as Charlotte thought that there might be no one at ho or that the residents might have moved away, and was preparing to ask a neighbor, the door opened.
A tall and stout young man in his mid-twenties stood at the door. His skin was a sickly pale color, and his prominent dark circles indicated a lack of sleep.
He stared at Charlotte with vacant and unfocused eyes, wearing a loose, slightly worn-out cotton coat. His golden hair grew haphazardly like weeds, and he had stubble under his chin.
At first glance, he looked like a recluse who had lived alone for many years.
"Who... who are you looking for?" the man asked Charlotte, his voice not very loud.
"I'm looking for Arbin," Charlotte smiled.
Sure enough, only a recluse could portray the essence of such a picture book.
After all, when it cos to wishful thinking, who can surpass the imagination of a recluse?
A trace of panic appeared on the man's face, and he nervously said, "I don't know anyone nad Arbin. You must have the wrong place."
As he spoke, he attempted to close the door.
Charlotte reached out and grabbed the door, preventing it from closing.
"What... what are you doing?! If you don't let go, I'll scream!" The man looked at Charlotte in alarm, and his chubby face even trembled.
The way this square-faced man spoke made Charlotte sowhat uncomfortable, but from his reaction, she was already sure that he was the manga artist she was looking for.
However, the man's living conditions didn't seem as exciting and romantic as depicted in the picture book about Arbin and the rmaid maid. It seed that his life was in a ss.
"Don't be nervous, I'm not a bad person, and I don't intend to harm you," Charlotte lowered her voice a bit and looked at him.
"I ca here to talk to you about the rmaid maid."
The man's expression suddenly beca even more frightened.
While he tried to close the door with force, he shook his head and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't know any rmaid maid!"
"Sir, you don't want others to find out about your drawing of adult comics, do you?" Charlotte looked at him, her voice cold.
The man's movent instantly froze, his mouth opened and closed, but he dared not shout. He looked like a chicken with its neck being held tightly, his face turning red with excitent.
Seeing the man no longer struggling, Charlotte took a step forward and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I'm not a weird fan, and I won't harm you.
I ca to find you because I also encountered a rmaid who couldn't return to the sea.
She is dying, but I hope she can survive. Perhaps you can help with so advice."
"You also encountered a rmaid?" The man's eyes lit up, looking at Charlotte in astonishnt.
Charlotte nodded.
"Yes, she encountered a black mist underwater, fell into a coma, and then got washed ashore. When she woke up, she developed an allergy to seawater. Once she cos into contact with seawater, her skin starts to ulcerate."
"Yes! That's the symptom!" The man's expression changed suddenly, and his tone even increased a few degrees.
"What... What are you going to do? If you don't let go, I'll shout!" The man looked at Charlotte in a panic, his face fat trembling.
The man's eyes brightened as if he had found a kindred spirit, his vocal tone raised by several degrees.
"You... You'd better co inside. So things aren't suitable to be discussed outside," the man stepped aside and invited Charlotte into the house.
Charlotte didn't hesitate and squeezed past the man, stepping inside the doorway.
Upon entering the wooden house, there was a small living room, with several faded cushions placed on the wooden sofa.
Next to it was a small kitchen and dining area.
The furniture and utensils were rudintary but surprisingly well-organized and spotlessly clean.
Everything was neatly arranged, to the point where the phrase "dust-free" could be used to describe it, forming a stark contrast with the image of the recluse before Charlotte.
It seems that soone is taking care of this place.
Perhaps... the rmaid maid?
"Please have a seat." The man led Charlotte to the sofa and scratched his head.
"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My na is Leo. May I know yours?"
"I thought your na was Arbin," Charlotte chuckled and extended his hand. "I'm Charlotte."
"Charlotte?" Leo paused for a mont, then scrutinized Charlotte closely before shaking his head with a smile.
Charlotte sensed the change in his emotions and asked tentatively, "What is it? Have we t before?"
"We probably haven't, but there was a classmate of mine with a na similar to yours when I was studying dicine at Calva dical School," Leo shook his head.
Damn it! I should have used a different na! Charlotte was taken aback. He never expected to encounter soone familiar with the original host.
But this otaku, who was a cartoonist, didn't look like a doctor at all.
However, it suddenly made sense.
It was highly unreasonable for an otaku to co up with a random idea and save a rmaid who had encountered the black mist.
"So, you're still a doctor?" Charlotte asked, clearly surprised.
"That's in the past. I haven't practiced dicine for three years," Leo shook his head, looking sowhat embarrassed.
"Why?" Charlotte looked puzzled.
"Being a doctor is a good profession, and it should be more lucrative than being an artist, right?"
Leo's gaze darkened, and he spoke in a low voice, "I had so conflicts with my family, as you might know. To save her, I had to use unconventional thods that couldn't be widely recognized, especially not by the dical Association."
"Did you perform surgery on her?" Charlotte asked.
He noticed that the tiline was three years, indicating that Leo's rescued rmaid had been staying on land for three years, possibly even living in this small cabin.
Leo suddenly looked up, a hint of panic flickering in his eyes, and his voice beca sowhat hesitant, "I... I didn't."
"Don't worry, I'm not from the dical Association, and I won't hunt you down as a heretic or sothing," Charlotte reassured with a smile.
"I ca here today to seek your advice on how to help her continue living on land.
If I'm not mistaken, during her first year on land, she couldn't survive on land anymore and couldn't return to the sea, right?
The rmaid I'm currently helping is in her first year on the land and can feel that her life is down to three months."
After staring at Charlotte for a mont and confirming that he wasn't a law enforcent officer, Leo nodded.
"You're right. In the later stages of her first year, she gradually experienced difficulty breathing, and as ti went on, the symptoms beca more severe, almost suffocating her."
"So, what did you do to help her maintain her life?" Charlotte asked with curiosity.
"During that half month, I tried over a hundred different potions on her. Eventually, I found that two of them had so effect.
Then, with a lot of connections and money, I managed to obtain the formulas for those two potions and adapted the ingredients to create a potion that could greatly alleviate her pain."
Leo recalled the agony she endured during that period and the pressure he bore, causing his eyes to unconsciously turn red.
Charlotte's eyes lit up. At least Leo was a doctor who was willing to try different potions to prolong her life when healing arts didn't work.
If this potion could extend the lifespan of the rmaid, it should work for Kasha too. It was good news.
"So, in these three years, have you found a way to let her return to the sea?" Charlotte asked again.
Leo shook his head, feeling sowhat dejected.
"There's no way. No matter how many potions I tried, I couldn't eliminate the corrosion caused by seawater.
Instead of relieving her pain, all I did was bring her more suffering by trying different potions and making her wounds worse when she went back into the water."
He looked down, appearing like a middle-aged man who had suffered from the tornts of life.
"You said you didn't perform surgery on her. How did you deal with the corroded wounds on her body?" Charlotte inquired.
Leo's lips trembled, and his eyes welled up with tears.
He grabbed his hair with his hand and trembled as he spoke, "I had no way. I had no way. I tried every thod I could think of, but the potions I could prepare only slightly alleviated her pain.
They couldn't completely heal the festering wounds. I could only watch them worsen bit by bit and see her suffer."
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