Let's Go, Kids! Straight Ahead!
"Baron, we're all set."
Walter whispered in my ear after clearing all the guests from the first floor of the Beauty Tower. I approached Abdul, the knight from the Ecna ducal family, and flashed a smile.
"You can bring him in right away. Everything's ready."
"Thank you for your consideration. Could you open the automatic doors for us?"
"Of course, no problem at all."
"Much appreciated."
Up to that point, I figured he was just asking out of some East Continent custom or ducal courtesy.
Then—
Toot!
Abdul bowed his head and stepped forward before the line of knights at attention. He gave an order to the man in front of him, who pulled out a horn and blew a sound like an elephant's trumpet.
'What the hell is that...?'
Sky elephants—massive beasts with ears even larger than their enormous trunks—began dragging themselves toward the Beauty Tower's main entrance. They moved sideways in a side-step shuffle, ears scraping the ground.
Walter tensed at the sight and pressed close to me, eyes wary.
Thud!
Boom—
"Director, those elephants are getting too close. You should head inside."
"Good idea. Cache, you too."
"Got it."
By the time Walter, Cache, and I slipped through the open automatic doors, the sky elephants had backed right up to the entrance, positioning their trunks flush against the first floor—like they were shielding the young duke from prying eyes.
Plenty of nobles had visited the Beauty Tower before, but none had gone to such lengths to hide their status. I couldn't help feeling a twinge of tension.
Clunk—
The doors of the carriage finally opened. But heavy curtains shrouded the interior, hiding the young duke from view. Only vague, writhing shapes—alive and twitching—poked out from beneath the fabric.
'Those are... giant armadillos?'
Roll... roll—
Thud—roll—
Thud—roll—
Six massive adult armadillos tumbled out one by one, rolling down from the carriage to the ground below the Beauty Tower.
Unable to speak, they didn't respond to micro-expressions, but exhaustion was etched into their faces and sluggish steps all the same.
"Form up! The young duke is disembarking!"
Abdul stamped his foot and barked the order crisply. I assumed it was directed at us, but seeing the armadillos glance at each other, form a square formation, and curl into balls like living boulders made it clear it was for them.
"Pull!"
"Hup!"
A long rope dangled from under the curtains. The dozen or so knights who'd entered with us split into two groups and yanked with all their might.
Screeech—
Clunk!
A massive bed rattled out from behind the curtains, dragged by the rope. On it lay a hugely obese man, smiling benignly.
"Greetings, Baron. I apologize for receiving you like this—my mobility is limited. I'm Harish Ecna."
"No need to apologize. Thank you for visiting the Beauty Tower, Young Duke. Please, come insi—"
I'd treated plenty of obese patients before, but seeing the young duke made all those prior cases look merely plump by comparison. For a moment, I froze, wondering how the hell we'd move him inside.
"Is there a private spot inside where we can talk? I'm a bit shy around strangers."
"Yes, of course. We have an elevator just ahead."
That was all I managed. Honestly, the sheer scale of him was suffocating any ideas I had for transport.
"Ah! I see it. Let's go, then."
Screeech—
Grind—
Screeech-grind—
"Haha, these are the pride of House Ecna—our giant armadillos. Don't let their cute looks fool you; they're tough as nails."
"I see. Let's head to an empty room first and talk there."
So the armadillos were beasts of burden, like horses. Those pitiful little eyes weren't just my imagination.
"Forward. Right. Straight ahead."
While I hurried ahead to hold the elevator, the young duke issued verbal commands. Astonishingly, the armadillos obeyed, adjusting their direction and rolling along precisely.
Those moist eyes flashed in my mind, stirring a pang, but I pushed it aside and hit the button for the ninth floor, where the inpatient rooms were.
"Wahaha, this is incredible! Outside my family estate, I've never seen an elevator I could actually use. Magic-powered, right?"
"Not magic, exactly—solar-powered."
"Oho! Fascinating. If the chance arises, I'd love one for our estate. Ours runs on manpower, so I always feel a bit guilty for the servants, haha."
"......"
Abdul and the Ecna knights crammed into the elevator weren't especially tall, but they looked solidly built—especially those forearms, thick enough to wrestle a cow.
The elevator—rated for 21 passengers and 1,600 kg—felt slower than usual today as it ascended to the ninth floor.
"We have a private room inside. This way."
The Beauty Tower had just two VVIP inpatient suites. I used one myself, so I opened the door to the other and ushered him in. The young duke recited a string of "left, right, straight" commands, and the armadillos rolled him inside.
"Oh! This reception room is splendid."
"Thank you. The Beauty Tower is a hospital, so we use inpatient suites as reception areas. I hope you'll forgive the arrangement."
"Not at all—it's finer than any I've seen. Truly."
Of course it was. My VVIP suites were decked out flashier than a university hospital's top-tier hotel rooms.
"So, what brings you to the Beauty Tower?"
"Of course. But first... could you clear the room? It's a sensitive matter."
"Certainly."
At my nod, his escort knights, Cache, and Walter all filed out. The room held only the young duke and me.
Grind—
Screeech-grind—
"......"
A grinding noise came from under the bed—armadillo friction, or maybe their muffled cries? Either way, it grated on me, so I dove straight into the consultation.
"You're here for weight loss, correct?"
"Pardon? Oh, no—not exactly. I heard you're great at trimming jowls, so that's why... Weight loss is possible too?"
"Yes... it is. Wait, jowls?"
He nodded at my puzzled question.
"Yes. We have five great ducal houses on the East Continent. And there's a photo shoot for the commemorative coins at the emperor's banquet celebrating the tenth birthday of the crown prince and princess."
"A photo shoot?"
"Yes. The heirs of our five ducal houses will be minted on the coins alongside them. It's just faces, so no need for full weight loss, haha."
"No, you absolutely need to lose weight, Young Duke."
"Pardon?"
His eyes—barely visible amid the flesh—widened at my firm tone.
"Aren't you having trouble moving around?"
"No? Not really? I just hide my face because of the jowls—this massive body is nothing to be ashamed of, ahaha."
"No, Young Duke. Your jowls aren't the issue right now."
"Pardon? What do you—?"
His reaction only confirmed how dire this was. He had no idea how serious his condition truly was.
"We'll need a full checkup for details, but even at a glance, you're in extreme danger. Don't you sweat, get short of breath, and tire easily with the slightest movement?"
"Well... yes."
Judging by his title and skin, he was in his twenties. But super-morbid obesity at that age exposed him to hypertension, diabetes, fatty liver, arthritis, infertility—the works.
But that wasn't the scariest part.
"To put it simply: You're morbidly obese—super-morbidly obese."
"Yes, I know, but being bigger than average isn't—"
"This isn't about discrimination, Young Duke. The deadliest thing for the morbidly obese is shortened lifespan."
"Shortened... lifespan?!"
Now he seemed to grasp the gravity.
"Where I'm from, they say obesity is the root of all disease."
"Where are you fr—"
"That's not the point!"
I raised my voice with steely resolve. He needed to understand the stakes. And anyway, I couldn't reveal my origins.
"Any family members as large as you?"
"Just my father. Mother and the rest are slim like you, Baron. Is that a problem...?"
Not hereditary, then—likely lifestyle. Needed more details.
"Forgive the indelicacy, but as your doctor, I must ask: Is this acceptable?"
"Yes, go ahead."
His voice trembled with fear. Permission granted.
"Young Duke... why are you this obese?"
He paused at my blunt question before answering.
"Well... I'm the baby of the family, raised indulgently. I'm not some wastrel noble terrorizing the streets—I just eat well."
Pampered rotten, basically. But this was lethal. Easily over 200 kg.
"Forget the jowls—obesity is the real killer here. Let me explain why it shortens life. Higher blood pressure leads to adult-onset diseases like diabetes and hyperlipidemia, which cause angina, heart attacks..."
I broke it down step by step: clogged arteries causing strokes, higher cancer risk, and more.
"My God... that's exactly my symptoms... Just from eating well..."
"As I said, forget jowls—focus on weight loss. But it requires diet, exercise, and more..."
The obesity lecture was done. Now, his choice mattered. No willpower, no treatment—not even for a doctor like me.
"I'm no fool, and my resolve isn't weak. I just didn't know how dangerous obesity was."
Worth of the Ecna name—one of the East Continent's five great houses.
"Then let's start with a full health checkup. This way."
"Yes. Let's go, kids! Straight ahead!"
Screeech—
Grind-screeech—
The armadillos' grinding seemed even more frantic now. And along their rolling tracks on the floor... was that moisture?