It only took a few minutes for the Elven Duke to arrange to have furniture brought to the shop, so Cain decides to start making the Puppets right away.
A copy of his human sized Ancient Form, in long white coat is created and given the [Modify] and [Mana Flood Totem] skills will be the doctor for the clinic. Puppets have almost no mana of their own, and no regeneration so Cain adds a passive skill most mage subclasses get [Mana Battery] that grants 2 maximum mana per level.
[Puppet Created: Additional Ability Gained]
[Existential Dread] active
Cain quickly orders them to turn that off and save it for times when it's necessary.
Next up comes two nurses, Elves in white outfits. After a bit of thought, Cain gives them [Mana Battery] [Holy Light] and [Superior Mental Domination]. That should be enough to keep patients under control, hopefully.
Plus it will allow them to see exactly what the patient wants, and as fellow puppets, they can convey it directly to the doctors.
After some consideration, one last worker was created, a Snake Kin with [Mana Battery] [Summon Greater Golems] and Master level [Accounting] to work the front desk and give a bit of muscle as security. Inside a city, a group of Greater Golems should be able to deal with most things until the guards arrive.
Unlike Cyrene, this one is mostly serpentine, expect for the humanoid upper body shape. Fully scaled under the tidy skirt suit, Cain gave her the look of a common carpet python, a pattern he's seen a lot in the city. Most of the Snake Kin they've seen here have serpentine heads, so this one should blend in.
The smaller back room becomes the operating room, while the larger former stock room becomes an apartment of sorts for the Puppets and the cooler is adjusted to be an air conditioned break room.
Comfortable chairs are brought in for the front and the room almost immediately looks like a clinic waiting room.
Duke Owen finds the decision highly amusing, as must Flesh Crafters would have their waiting room look like a luxurious country club, but Cain made his look like a dentist's office. He's about to mention it when he realizes everything in here can be washed clean and sterilized in minutes, perfect if you're expecting to need to clean up blood in your office.
Making the wealthy customers feel too relaxed might encourage them to make demands, but this has the feeling of a medical facility, where everyone is equal under the doctor's knife.
Cain searched through the items in his inventory, but didn't find the next items that he needs. "Does anyone have a brush and some window paint? I want to make a sign."
Paige smiles at him, bringing both from her inventory. "I'm well versed in calligraphy, what should it say?"
"Darklight Cosmetic Clinic. That should be enough. I don't think it will struggle with customers for quite some time."
That's an understatement, and Paige gets to work painting it on the front window. She's only just finished the writing when a large snake Kin warrior, a young man at level 84, slides in the door.
"Are you open yet? I don't recall seeing this place last time I was in town." He asks.
Cain can see the Elves flinch a little at his appearance, but he doesn't see what the big deal is, he just looks like a coral snake.
"We're just getting set up, you can be our test client if you'd like?" He nods and the clerk ushers him to the counter to sign in.
"How can we help you?" The python patterned Snake Kin Cain created asks politely.
p
"We do, but our resident doctor has the skill to quickly take care of that for you. We haven't set a fee schedule yet, but the big boss says it will be alright to take care of you free of charge today. If you'll follow the nurses they'll get you ready."
The Puppets take him to the back room and Cain realizes it's not soundproof. They'll have to change that. But the nurse gets his request, along with a drawing of what he's hoping for. She gives it to the Doctor, who nods and goes inside the waiting room while Cain prepared a mental list of things they will need. The nurses can order them once they're finished here.
"We will need a few more mirrors as well, for the operating room. Everyone will want to see themselves from every angle." The nurse points out.
That's what a trial run is for though, finding all the little details you missed. Payment will be the hard part. The Flesh Crafter class is exceptionally rare, as uncommon as Puppet Masters, so they tend to demand esoteric prices instead of cash.
Cain decides to continue that tradition, one interesting item in payment. Epic for a small change, Legendary for large, plus a skill book the Guild doesn't have for extreme changes like species alteration. He will keep skill additions mostly off limits and secret, except in special cases where it's necessary for an extreme change.
That should let them take care of almost everybody who comes in without causing problems.
The snake Kin comes out of the office a few minutes later, his scales now a mottled pattern instead of stripes, but he kept his red, black and white colors.
"Looking good. How was the experience? Running a clinic like this is something new to me." Cain asks their volunteer.
"Amazingly painless. I know a change of scale colors might not be the most extreme thing that has been asked of your skills, but it went very smoothly."
"Excellent. Now you can roam the city without the stigma. Hopefully that helps as much as you hoped and doesn't disappoint your mother. Family is more important than the opinions of strangers after all."
The snake Kin rushes out to see his family and Cain works out his plan of action.
"Alright, gather around everyone. I want you to only take a few of the Nobles every day. Two a day should be good, give them a nice long consultation and make the process look more complicated than it is, wealthy people love drama and showmanship. But be sure to leave yourself time to sneak in at least one person in need every day.
Let the extra clients pay what they can, those cases are more for spreading a good reputation than making money and collecting shiny objects." Cain explains out loud to his puppets for everyone else's benefit.
"Got it. I'll put on a good show for them. Will you be nearby if we need you?" The doctor asks.
"We've got to go to King James's coming of age party for the next week or so, but then we will come back again for a while. If there's serious issues I can be here fairly quickly. An hour or two maximum for an emergency."
That's good enough for the Puppets, and they get to work rearranging the office to suit their own preferences.
"Shall we head out then? The circle to the eastern continent in Tortuga is across town from the one that leads to Assah, so we've got a bit of a walk ahead of us." Paige points out, getting everyone motivated to head out, Daisy simply following the crowd like a lost bunny.
"We should grab a bite to eat while we're in Tortuga as well. They've got a lot of great restaurants there." Mary suggests.
Nobody's going to argue with good food, so they head to ground level and then take the portal to Tortuga. The security officer takes the fee and Mary takes the lead towards a sushi shop she wants everyone to try.
"Duke Cain. Excellent timing. We were just about to go drop some paperwork at your house in Assah." A Wave Rider called out to them as they're strolling through the crowd.
The weather beaten Elf has a half dozen more similar looking sailors with him, all dressed as Captains. The difference is subtle, but the Captains of Wave Rider Ships wear their sash differently to keep their compass and sword accessible instead of keeping them in their inventory.
"Do you have good news for me?" Cain asks with a smile.
"Since the Earl fell in battle, the contract will end early, but we sacked the port of Badawi and found five more ships full of his goods." The captain says proudly, handing over a stack of documents.
They confirm that five separate ships were chartered by Earl Mills, so Cain hands over the Gold Bars and pockets the documents.
"A pleasure doing business with you as always. Now, we're off to the shipwright, we took some damage securing the port, but they've learned their lesson about trying to cheat us." The Captain laughs, before turning and walking away.
"Did he just say they sacked a city on your orders?" Paige asks incredulously.
"Oh no, they did that on their own. I just had an open contract to interfere with ships sent by an Earl from Skyview. Just a minor trade war, I'm sure you know how those things go." Cain corrects her.
Paige does not know though, trade wars in their region don't escalate to the point that cities are sacked, such a thing would be the end of them.
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