Chapter 12: Compost

Chapter 12:
Compost

 

I WAS ON SHOP DUTY when Noela trotted in with a broom, a hand over her nose. She was covered in filth and smelled terrible. She usually smelled quite nice, so that was shocking.

“Deodorizer stop working, Master,” she told me.

“Gah! Didn’t I tell you not to come in here if you’re cleaning Griffy’s stable?!”

That wasn’t just because the drugstore was a hassle to clean. The last time this had happened, we actually had a customer. When they saw and smelled Noela, they’d angrily lectured me—a man in his twenties—about hygiene. It was extremely depressing.

“Deodorizer stop working,” Noela repeated.

“Fine! Okay! I’ll bring more later!” Thank goodness no customers are around.

“Uh-huh.” I sighed in relief as Noela headed back to Griffy’s stable.

Later on, Mina asked me, “Oh…did Noela come in while she was cleaning the stable again?” She knew about that awful incident with the angry customer, and she immediately recognized the filth and smell at the drugstore entrance.

“Apparently, the deodorizer stopped working,” I replied.

“She could just have told you so after.” Mina offered a pained smile. “That deodorizer’s incredible, but it doesn’t stand a chance when it comes to Griffy’s, um, you-know-what.”

I know. Griffy’s stable was cleaned regularly. Noela generally took charge, but Mina and I tidied it now and then.

The deodorizer, which was quite effective against smelly plants and toilets, was the reason Noela could bear cleaning the stable at all. But—while the deodorizer certainly negated it a bit—dung was always smelly. And if you put something with a nice aroma nearby, the combined scent wound up extra unpleasant.

“What about changing Griffy’s diet?” Mina suggested.

“How so?”

“Griffy eats lots of meat. How about feeding it more fruit?”

“Hmm. You think eating so much strong-smelling food makes Griffy’s dung stinkier?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Griffy usually ate cuts of horse, lamb, cow, and pig that humans didn’t like. Mina got them from the town butcher most of the time. In general, the griffin ate everything we gave it—it was a true omnivore, and the bones we considered huge were crunchy little morsels to Griffy.

“Let’s give it a shot,” I agreed.

“All right. I’ll visit the farmers and see if I can get any unsellable fruit.”

Time was of the essence, so Mina set off right away. It didn’t seem like we’d have a customer anytime soon, so I headed to the stable to help Noela.

I could hear her sweeping. “In way, Griffy!”

“Kyuu!”

Sounds like she’s treating this seriously. Good girl.

“If only you were more human when it came to that,” I whispered as I spotted Griffy.

Griffy cocked its head, watching me with its big, cute eyes. “Kyuu?”

Griffy’s a monster, though. It’s not its fault.

As we cleaned the stable, we put Griffy’s dung in a hole. Once we were done, we covered it up.

 

Griffin Dung: Griffy’s excrement.

 

Yup. Thanks for that.

Mina worked hard; she came home with tons of damaged fruit unfit for sale or human consumption. Going forward, Griffy’s diet would consist primarily of fruit; we’d only feed meat to the griffin occasionally. We might’ve been giving it too much meat just because it’s a monster.

 

***

 

When Noela entered the stable on the next cleaning day, it didn’t have the same awful scent as before. “Noela fine, Master!”

“Glad to hear it.”

Since we’d switched Griffy’s diet, the deodorizer had started working as it was meant to. Griffy, on the other hand, seemed unchanged. Thank goodness. All’s well that ends well.

When I peeked into the hole in the stable, however, something was different.

 

Griffin Dung: Griffy’s excrement. Compost base.

 

That’s new. Compost is, uh, that stuff for fertilizer, right?

My identification skill had said “compost base,” so I assumed griffin dung was a fertilizer ingredient. If things pan out, I can actually give those farmers a thank-you gift.

I headed for the lab and followed my medicine-making skill’s instructions.

 

Natural Food Source: Ferments livestock dung, converting it to fertilizer.

 

With that new product, I could make crop fertilizer from Griffy’s dung. Taking the bottle of natural food source to the stable, I discovered Noela getting ready to fill in the hole. “Ack! Hold up!”

“Groo?” She looked at me, confused.

I explained the situation, but it only seemed to confuse her even more.

“Arroooo?!”

“I’m basically going to turn Griffy’s dung into something good.”

“Noela no believe. Stinky.”

“I mean, I guess it won’t be beneficial to you,” I admitted.

Time to give it a try. I poured the natural food source into the hole full of dung, mixing them together with a stick. The hole’s contents seemed less rancid than before.

“Groo?” Noela peeked curiously into the hole.

Don’t you dare fall in!

 

Fermented Griffin Dung: Fertilizer. Promotes root growth when added to soil.

 

Whoo! Nailed it! Griffy fertilizer. I’ll get the farmers who gave us damaged fruit to try this out.

“Griffy, I need you to poop a lot going forward.”

Griffy’s eyes widened. “Kyuu?”

I called Mina into the stable and explained the fertilizer to her.

Even she seemed skeptical. “You mean, this fertilizer is Griffy’s…stuff?”

“Uh-huh. How about we test it on our meadow?” I suggested. I’d feel bad if it didn’t work as intended, so I figured I’d give it a trial run.

Shoveling the fertilizer into a bucket, I headed to the nearby meadow of herbs. The patch we’d just harvested was a perfect spot; I scooped up the fertilizer and mixed the stuff into the dirt. That was apparently all you had to do, so I then scattered some seeds on top. I hope this goes well.

 

***

 

The next morning, I left the store to Ejil and Vivi and headed to the meadow with Mina and Noela.

Noela, wearing her straw hat, poked at a new seedling. “Master, sprout!”

“Whoa! Already?”

“Mr. Reiji, is that what I think it is?”

“Yup! It’s the patch I fertilized.” I figured the fermented griffin dung would speed up the seeds’ growth, but not by this much. The new product would be pretty useful.

Heading over to some farmers working nearby, I told them about the griffin dung fertilizer.

“You made somethin’ like that, Mr. Pharmacist?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s basically just a byproduct of owning a griffin.”

“By the way, how much will it cost?”

“Oh, I’m not charging any money,” I told my farmer friends. “I don’t need the ingredients to begin with. Anyone who wants some fermented griffin dung can just drop by the drugstore!”

The next day, there was a lengthy line of farmers outside the store. Noela and Griffy seemed displeased by this turn of events.

“Weird.” Noela frowned. “People want poop. Noela no need.”

“Kyuu.”

Regardless, we’d be eating delicious fruits and veggies come the next harvest.