Chapter 8: A Misused Product

Chapter 8:
A Misused Product

 

AFTER WE HELPED Eva the monster tamer, a lot more adventurers from afar dropped into the drugstore, thanks to word of mouth. We sold lots of potions, stomach meds, and Translator DX for conversing with monsters and animals. Things were going well. The adventurers tended to stay in town for a while, so the inn and Rena’s Rabbit Tavern also profited.

“How’s it hangin’?” called Thors, an adventurer who’d come into the drugstore a lot lately. Thors was in his mid-twenties with a sturdy body and a scar on his cheek. He talked pretty crudely, but he wasn’t a bad guy.

“Welcome, Thors,” I replied. “What’s up?”

“Reiji, bud, that thing I bought missed the mark!”

“Whoa—really? Sorry.”

“Nah, no big. It’s handy, all right. It’s just falling short.”

Oh. I see.

Thors had last popped in about two weeks earlier for a product to illuminate caves. I’d recommended Special Coating X.

“It’s crazy useful,” Thors told me. “It lights up everything I apply it to. I can even track my party in the dark. And it’s awesome that it doesn’t wear off. Reapplying it because it got wet or rubbed away would be a pain in the neck.”

Dang. That’s a lot of compliments. “Then what’s the problem?”

“Special Coating X helps me keep an eye on my party, but it’s not like I can see the whole cave,” Thors replied. “It’s still too hard to spot bad terrain or traps in advance.”

Got it. Special Coating X isn’t quite right for the job.

“Lighting up our surroundings would be easy-peasy if I had a buddy who was good at that kind of magic. The folks I know only use defensive spells, though.”

Rather than enlisting a new party member, Thors wanted to buy something that would provide brighter light in a dark cave.

“Look, I’d bring somebody in if they were definitely trustworthy. But the reality is that some people get greedy, drag you down, and run off.” In short, adventuring with a stranger was pretty much life-threatening.

If he’s that likely to draw a bad hand hiring a party member, I see why it’s preferable to solve things by shopping, I mused.

“Oh! Welcome, Thors.” Mina popped out from the back, bringing us some tea.

“Hey, Mina. Busy as always?”

“Not at all!” She smiled warmly. “Please make yourself at home.”

As she left, Thors waved, face slack. Hmm. So, that’s why he’s been coming here so often.

“Wipe that grin off your face,” I said.

Thors looked away, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

“I get it,” I continued. “Mina’s a great cook, and she’s perfect when it comes to customer service. But there’ve got to be attractive women in other towns.”

“Mina’s pick-me-ups are on another level, though,” Thors insisted. “She’s like an oasis that rejuvenates a tired adventurer’s heart. She’s seriously maternal.”

Maternal? It was true that, when I looked at Mina and Noela, they seemed more like mother and daughter than sisters.

“It’s not like I want to make a move on her,” Thors added. “I just kind of want to watch over her, if that makes sense.”

Wouldn’t someone “watch over her” from afar, though?

“I’m happy just to look in her eyes and chat.”

He’s like a junior high school boy.

Thors was in good company, though. I heard similar statements often; lots of guys visited the drugstore due to their soft spot for Noela’s fluffiness or for Mina herself. The guys who immediately asked about my relationship with one of the girls were the crazy serious ones.

I changed the subject. “Oh—did you hear that the Red Cat Brigade’s hiring? I bet they’d accept you.”

Annabelle had actually dropped in not long ago, complaining that no one with the right skills had applied. She’d asked me to say something if I met anyone promising, since lots of adventurers had been visiting the drugstore.

“Really?” Thors smiled. “I guess I’ll mull it over.” Judging by his expression, he was giving it some serious thought.

“Protecting Kalta would be a far cry from being an adventurer,” I said. “It’s a peaceful town in the boondocks, so the job wouldn’t exactly spice up your life.”

“I figured,” Thors replied, narrowing his eyes. “Anyhow, pal, think you can tweak Special Coating X for me?”

“Couldn’t a torch light a cave?”

“They’re bright enough. I’ve heard stories about them blowing folks up, though.”

Like, an adventurer accidentally lit a fuse with a torch or something? Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.

“Special Coating X isn’t really designed to illuminate things,” I admitted. “I’m basically going to make an entirely new product.”

“Hey, I can’t let you do that just for me. I’ll make do with what I got.”

Man, Thors is a good guy.

Customers tended to ask the impossible of me. It wasn’t that big a deal, but they basically wanted me to create whatever they were looking for, come hell or high water. People didn’t really think about what I had to do to make that happen.

“Don’t worry, Thors. I can make a new product for you,” I assured him. “If something happened to you during an adventure, I’d be bummed.”

“Reiji…thank you.”

I chuckled, slightly embarrassed. “I’ll go whip that up right now. Stay put.”

I called Noela in to watch the store. She got along with the adventurer in her own way.

“Hi, Buff-Buff,” she greeted Thors.

“Hey, Fluff-Fluff.”

With the drugstore in Noela’s hands, I headed to the lab.

Special Coating X helped things show up in the dark, but it didn’t produce light, and spreading it on a cave’s walls would just be too much work.

Luminescence…

An object that continuously gave off light could be a hassle too. I tried to picture a torch that didn’t require fire. “Hmm… This should work.”

 

Single-Use Light Source: Shines continuously once spread on an object’s surface.

 

I made the single-use light source in four colors: red, blue, yellow, and green. When I applied the red formula to a pestle, it glowed faintly. Perfect.

I carried the pestle into the store. “How’s this look?”

Thors and Noela must’ve been bored; they’d started thumb wrestling.

“Garoo…roo!”

“Dang! Not bad, Fluff-Fluff!”

Well, then. “Thors?”

“Hey, Reiji! Already done?”

Noela’s eyes sparkled as I distracted the adventurer. She took his thumb down swiftly. “Noela win!”

“Gah! I’ll get revenge next time.”

“Understood. Challenge accepted.”

“That’s my line!”

Looks like Noela made a new friend.

Thors turned back to me. “That’s the stuff?”

“Yup. What do you think?”

He looked down at the pestle, cocking his head. “It barely glows.”

Oh, yeah. In here, it’s hard to tell how bright the light is. I closed the drugstore’s doors, windows, and shades. The red light on the pestle shone throughout the room.

Noela’s eyes widened. “Red glow!”

“Whoa!” Thors exclaimed. “That’s the stuff! Just what I wanted!”

That’s what I like to hear.

Noela left the drugstore, soon rushing back with her trusty stick in hand. “Noela’s weapon!”

Play weapon, maybe. That stick might look tough, but it doesn’t “swoosh” like a real weapon when you swing it.

“Master color. Make shiny strong!” the werewolf girl blurted out, excited.

I applied all the single-use light source colors except red to Noela’s stick. The four hues illuminated the drugstore.

“Groo!” Noela seemed stunned by all the light.

Mina came in. “Wh-what’s going on? It’s beautiful!”

I explained the new product I’d made.

Her eyes sparkled. “You’re quite a romantic, Mr. Reiji, illuminating the night like this!”

This product wasn’t just supposed to “illuminate the night,” but that was neither here nor there.

Thors seemed to have an epiphany. “Sell me some, Reiji!”

“Of course. That was the plan.”

The adventurer bought all four shades of the single-use light source; as he left, he looked confident.

At any rate, I’m glad I could give him a hand.

 

***

 

A few days later, Thors and four party members dropped in just before the drugstore closed. The adventurer looked nervous, like a kid at his first piano recital. “Could you get Mina for me?”

“Er…sure.” Puzzled, I called Mina.

Thors and his companions asked us to follow them outside. We did, and the visitors lined up next to each other. Mina and I had no clue what was going on.

“Please watch carefully, Mina!” exclaimed Thors.

He and his buddies had been hiding short sticks behind their backs. Now, they each gripped one in their fingers. Every stick was coated with one of the single-use light source colors I’d sold Thors the other day.

The five adventurers began to dance, swinging the glowing sticks. Since it was dark outside, the lights looked especially pretty.

Wait…where have I seen this before? Isn’t this what idol fans do at concerts?

I doubted that Thors’s party was familiar with the concept, but this was obviously the same thing.

Each time the adventurers swung the one-time light sources…that is, the glow sticks…the colors danced in space. Eventually, the five wrapped up their little performance, out of breath.

“How was our routine?” Thors asked.

“Beautiful! You’re all incredible!” Mina earnestly replied, applauding happily.

Thors and his companions were bashful but clearly relieved that they’d pulled the dance off. They high-fived.

Am I watching the season finale of a high school TV drama or something? I didn’t create the light source to use like that! Please follow the instructions!