Weird Stories: Gothic Lolita Begins

Douglas Doll Workshop.

It was a sunny afternoon, but Barlow Douglas's exclusive workshop was dark because of the blackout curtains.

In the unlit workshop, an old man in his sixties with sparse white hair sat in front of a workbench filled with various small tools, wondering what he was thinking, or maybe he was thinking nothing.

This was the scene Lenari saw when he walked in with Lucia and Valya, who was staying in a lily of the valley pot.

"Good afternoon, Master Barlow." Lenari greeted politely, holding a black cat in one hand and a cute palm-sized lily of the valley pot in the other.

Hearing the noise, Barlow's lifeless eyes moved, and he turned to Lenari's direction without focus, muttering in a low voice: "The illusion has evolved again... But, are there such dolls in my works?"

"Illusion?" Lenari repeated it in his mouth, and he had already arrived in front of Master Barlow's workbench.

Putting down the lily of the valley pot, Lenari reached into the shadow that unfolded from the void, took out the business card of a company that was rumored to be a ghost story detective agency, and handed it to the trance-stricken old man.

"Master, if you don't mind, can you tell me about the illusion?" Lenari said.

"..." Barro hesitated for a long time, and finally slowly stretched out his hand, tentatively touching the business card in front of him that looked extremely real and extremely ridiculous.

Lenari waited quietly, and Lucia, who was nestled in her arms, couldn't help but open her emerald eyes wide, staring at the old man's fingertips without blinking.

Barro's fingertips successfully touched the business card.

The touch of the card's fine cardboard made Barro barely come back from his trance: "... Not an illusion?"

He confirmed again and again, and the other hand hanging outside the armrest of the chair was raised and stretched out, and took the business card with slightly trembling hands, rubbing it repeatedly and reading it.

When Lenari withdrew his hand, he frowned slightly.

As a human figure master, Barlow's hands should be very steady, but now it looks like this...

"It is said that there is a firm that accepts all supernatural investigation commissions..." Barlow trembled as he read the beautifully designed business card with a simple and insincere slogan. His tired eyes showed a bit of disbelief, and a bit of sudden realization that everything had settled. "It turns out that supernatural phenomena really exist in the world..."

"Of course, you should have seen my "entrance" just now, right?" Lenari said, handing over a cup of warm water that the firm usually uses to entertain guests.

"..." Barlow subconsciously took the exquisite single-handled ceramic teacup with a tray, and finally realized that this cup was not a common style in the workshop, and it was taken out from a dark shadow by the incredible girl in front of him...

Barlow froze in his subconscious action of holding the cup and putting it to his mouth.

After his mind became active again, he realized belatedly that his lips had cracked due to extreme lack of water, and blood began to seep out as he moved.

Seeing that the old man was so thirsty that his lips were cracked, but he was still hesitant to drink water, Lucia couldn't help but stand up in Lenari's arms, changing from lying to half-lying and half-squatting, and said: "Don't worry, this is just ordinary warm water. Lenari's ability is very convenient. It can move in space and serve as a constant temperature box!"

"..." Barro's slightly stiff eyes shifted from the face of the girl in black, who looked like an exquisite Gothic doll, to the black kitten.

After a while, he retracted his slightly rude eyes, exhaled a long breath, took a sip of warm water, and smiled bitterly at himself: "I'm old... I can't keep up with the times."

"In fact, the so-called "supernatural" phenomenon has existed since ancient times..." Lenari said pertinently.

"Maybe." Barro took another sip of water, and in a blink of an eye he had regained the composure that a master should have. "I wonder what important matter has brought you to my small workshop?"

The implication was that if it wasn't important, get out of here.

It could be said that he was quite rude.

Lenari didn't care, raised his hand and gently knocked on the flower pot placed casually in the corner of the workbench, and said, "Valya, come out and show me, Master."

The petite and lovely lily of the valley flower swayed gently, and a burst of elegant floral fragrance filled the air. Then, a translucent girl in a simple white dress, like a lily of the valley fairy, appeared out of thin air.

"Good afternoon, Master Barro." Valya imitated Lenari and greeted shyly.

"..." Barro's hand holding the cup trembled slightly, and he was almost immersed in the amazement and didn't come back to his senses.

"This is the new employee of the firm, the psychic Valya Rin," Lenari introduced nonchalantly. "Considering that her form is rather special, she could easily violate the confidentiality regulations. Therefore, II want to customize a few realistic dolls of the same proportion for her to wear, so that she can at least be presentable. "

"..." Barlow was silent for a moment, and "calmly" put down the cup, and suddenly became excited, "You have found the right person! I'll take this order! Free!"

"Uh, special materials are needed." Lenari reminded, and at the same time, in the abnormal dark shadow like a crack that has not dissipated in the air, several slender black hands stretched out and handed out a small sample box, "I brought some samples of this material, do you think it is suitable for making realistic dolls?"

Master Barlow, who was in the passion of creation, naturally ignored the weirdness of the black hands, and couldn't wait to grab the sample box, turned on the desk lamp, and opened the sample box for a careful inspection.

Accompanied by a vague muttering that only the master himself understood, Barlow turned over and over to check and rub the sample, and finally looked up after a while and said: "This material is very good, there is no problem in making large dolls, but the simulation is a little lacking. ”

“In terms of simulation, can we solve it by covering it with a layer of simulated skin?” Lenari asked, “Team Seven… um, the department of the Sheriff’s Bureau that specializes in supernatural events seems to have simulated skin that is realistic enough to be mistaken for real.”

Barlow’s eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, “What is it like? Bring it here for me to see!”

“I don’t have it at the moment…” Lenari said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll take you to the Seventh Team’s base to take a look, and by the way, I’ll solve your ‘illusion’ troubles and confidentiality agreement issues.”

It’s not that Lenari didn’t want to help the humanoid master solve his troubles, but after repeated confirmations with Kampers, this matter was not professionally related…

Both Lenari and Kampers could sense that there was some strange atmosphere in the workshop, but they had no idea what was going on…

“Okay! No problem!” Master Barlow agreed without hesitation, and at the same time pressed a call bell on the workbench.