Chapter 15: The Drills Cometh Again

Chapter 15:
The Drills Cometh Again

 

“WHY DRILLS HERE?”

“Oh, my. Good day, Noela. Is Sir Reiji in?”

“Master not here.”

I’m in the lab, Noela. Despite that, I continued working. I guessed that the lord’s daughter, Elaine, had come to play. As always, Noela made it clear she couldn’t stand her.

“I’ve come with important business for Sir Reiji. When will he be back?”

“Day after next,” Noela replied.

Hey. C’mon now. You know I’m in the lab.

“About what time?”

“Don’t know.”

At that point, I couldn’t let the conversation continue. I popped into the drugstore. “I’m right here, Noela.”

“Sir Reiji!” Elaine exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were in. Good day.”

“Uh, yeah. Good day to you too,” I returned her greeting.

Noela trotted over and took my hand. Elaine’s eyes widened. “You two sure are…close.”

“Yeah, I guess. So, what’s up? Here to chat?”

She shook her head. “Father’s given me permission!” she said, her eyes shining.

Pardon? “Permission for what?”

“To work here!”

“Shouldn’t you ask my permission for that?”

Noela nodded fervently.

“My father, the lord of this land, will let me work at Kirio Drugs for two whole days,” Elaine continued. “He says it’ll be a good opportunity to learn the ways of the world.”

“Why didn’t anyone ask me whether it was all right?”

“Hmm? Father said it was all right.”

I struck Elaine’s head lightly. Thonk!

“Owie! Wh-what was that for?!”

“Is your old man God or something?”

“As I said, he’s the lord of this land!”

“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking you whether being lord means everything he says is law!”

“Of course it does. Surely you know that much.”

Argh! This is why Drills drives me up the wall. She can only think about things from her noble perspective.

“Why drugstore, Drills?” Noela demanded.

“Huh? B-because I know Sir Reiji.”

“If only want to know way of world, other stores. Zing!”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say “zing” out loud before.

Noela sniffed the air, continuing her investigation. “Perfume. Drills wearing perfume.”

“Oh, you’re right,” I agreed. “It’s the charm perfume from the other day.”

“A-and what’s wrong with that?”

“Drills used for Master. Motive not pure. No need for work. Zing!” Noela jabbed a finger at Elaine.

“Is that a no, Sir Reiji…?” Elaine asked plaintively.

“Now, now. I think this is a grand idea,” I told Noela. “We can have Drills help out around the drugstore while teaching her a thing or two about the real world.”

That said, I wasn’t sure I had specific work for Elaine to do.

“Understood,” Noela said, much to my surprise. “Noela teach Drills.”

“Yikes,” I laughed. “You’re gonna teach a young lady, Noela?”

“No longer Noela. Now Professor Noela.”

She seemed gung-ho about putting the young aristocrat through the wringer. Man, she really gets prickly when it comes to Elaine.

Professor Noela immediately began her lessons. “First, werewolf different from beastling.”

That’s where she starts? Really?

“Um, I’d prefer that Sir Reiji taught me about work,” Elaine objected.

“Master busy. No time deal with you.”

Dang. Noela shoots straight. Will these two get along okay?

I headed back into the house, worried, and found Mina peeking into the drugstore with a big smile.

“You’re in high spirits.”

“Of course,” Mina grinned. “After all, Noela’s going out of her way to be friendly, despite her first impression of Miss Drills.”

Would you describe this as “being friendly”? In the store, Noela explained various products to Elaine, one after another. From this perspective, Drills and the werewolf girl certainly seemed like they could be companions.

“It’d be great if they actually connected,” I mused.

“Wouldn’t it? Noela doesn’t really go out of her way to associate with people around here. It’d be nice if she had a friend or two.”

Just then, Mikoto trotted into the drugstore.

Noela greeted her immediately. “Yo! Welcome!”

At what point had that little troublemaker started saying “yo” to customers?

“Sup, Noela?!”

“Hrmph.” Elaine took her usual haughty pose. “You did well bringing yourself here!”

Noela shook her head. “Wrong greeting, Drills. When customer arrive: ‘Yo, welcome!’”

That’s also wrong, actually. Could you please not teach her that?

Elaine cleared her throat. “Yo! Welcome!”

She legit said it. Why is she only cooperative when it comes to stuff like this?

“Now then,” she added, “what do you want? I suppose I’ll wait on you today, as a special favor.”

Mikoto looked askance at both counter girls before putting two and two together. “Um, I’ll take three energy potions, please.”

“Oh, my! How dare you make an aristocrat like myself fetch items for you—a lowly commoner! You lack respect!”

You’re the disrespectful one! I resisted the urge to head out there and make Elaine eat humble pie. At the end of the day, it was Professor Noela’s job to correct that attitude of hers. Hold it in, Reiji. Hold it in.

I glanced toward Noela to see her reaction, only to spot her opening a bottle—the one potion I gave her daily—and downing it with shining eyes. She really makes that stuff look delicious.

Mikoto couldn’t help laughing at the fact that Noela had already abandoned her duties.

At that point, unable to hold back, I rushed out and with a hand on each head, pushed them gently to bow in apology. “I’m really sorry my counter staff were so rude.”

“Master, what wrong?”

“Wh-what’s the big idea?!”

“Nah,” said Mikoto cheerfully. “They’re funny. It’s all good.”

Thank goodness they were dealing with her. I stuck around to make sure the two handled Mikoto’s order properly before seeing her off.

“Listen up, Elaine,” I snapped. “The customer’s the customer. It doesn’t matter whether they’re aristocrats.”

“But I’m nobility, and that girl was just a commoner! That was decided at birth; nothing changes it.”

“Hi-ya!” I smacked Elaine’s head fiercely.

“Owie! Y-you hit me again! Why must you be so hotheaded?!”

“Don’t you dare patronize customers, Drills! Say you went to buy bread—”

“I’d never buy bread myself. That’s a servant’s job.”

“It’s an example. Whether you’d actually go is beside the point.”

“All right. So?”

“Imagine if the bakery clerk was like, ‘What do you want, bread? I suppose I’ll get you some, as a special favor.’ What would you think?”

“Hrmph. I’d tell Father immediately and have him shut down the bakery,” Elaine replied casually.

“Argh! You entitled dummy! That’s exactly how you just acted!”

Elaine thought for a moment before replying. “But she was a commoner, Sir Reiji. She possessed no power. Therefore, she could never destroy this drugstore.”

“You idiotic noble! That’s not what concerns me! Are you only capable of judging people based on how much power they wield?! If you keep acting like this, no customer in their right mind will come here, because you’re awful. Got it, Lady Elaine?”

“U-um…could you say ‘Lady Elaine’ one more time? With passion…?” she asked, glancing upward.

“Uh, Lady Elaine…?” I repeated.

“Mm…I can imagine sneaking out of the mansion at night for a secret rendezvous. B-but it can never happen, since I’m a noble, and you’re but a commoner.”

Okay, yeah. Not really following. I turned to Noela. “And you! If Drills is gonna learn from you, you need to get your act together. No drinking potions in front of customers!”

“Grrr…” Noela’s ears drooped sadly.

I lightly patted both girls’ heads. “Everyone messes up. Just make sure to be more careful next time. Got it?”

“Noela try hard, Master,” Noela replied. Her eyes burned with determination; her ears stood straight up.

Elaine nodded, clenching her fists childishly. “I-I’ll try my best as well, even if I’m dealing with a commoner!”

Did she really need to add the “commoner” bit?

Since I was still kind of worried, I watched the store secretly from the doorway. Unsurprisingly, Elaine’s huge attitude problem was still an issue. She constantly boasted about her household, tried to hard-sell products, and basically just acted as her usual snobbish self. My stomach sank the longer I watched her.

Meanwhile, Noela actually tried too hard, and didn’t support Elaine at all. “Do it right, Drills!”

“I am!”

“No.”

“I am! I absolutely am.”

What kind of conversation is this? They’re like a broken record. They say the more you quarrel, the closer you get—but is that actually true?

Teaching a noble girl the ways of the world was harder than I expected. The next day, I had Elaine help mix products instead of working inside the drugstore.

“W-we’re all alone, Sir Reiji.” Elaine blushed and fidgeted.

I showed no mercy and immediately put her to work. “Grab that. Next, that—no! Listen carefully, Drills. Yeah… Now crush it with that tool over there.”

“This is completely different from what I expected when I imagined us one-on-one in the laboratory!” she complained, although she did exactly as I asked. “I was positive you were just making time for us to be alone together.”

“Don’t underestimate how tough pharmaceutical work is, you dang scatterbrain,” I retorted.

After finishing a day’s worth of products, we sat down to enjoy some tea Mina provided. Elaine looked at our surroundings. “Um…Sir Reiji? There’s one more thing I’d like to make. Do you think it’s possible?”

After asking her what exactly she meant, I agreed that it was a good idea.

I prepped the lab as I gave Elaine directions. I left most of the steps—cutting, crushing, kneading, squeezing—to her, but handled the final step, bottling and shaking the ingredients. If I didn’t, my medicine-making skill wouldn’t activate.

The next day, Elaine’s internship ended, and a horse and carriage arrived to take her away.

“Thank you very much for the last two days.” She curtsied politely and bowed her head to us. “I’ve learned quite a bit. Um…I’d like you to have something, Noela.”

Elaine pulled out a bottle she’d been hiding and placed it in Noela’s hand.

“Grrr…what this, Drills? Potion?”

“Ah ha ha ha! It’s not a potion. Uncap it.”

Noela did as Elaine instructed, and a wonderful fragrance greeted her.

“That’s perfume,” Mina remarked.

“Exactly.” Elaine smiled shyly. “Um…I had Sir Reiji help me make a scent that’d suit you, Noela. I hope you like it.”

Noela’s nose twitched as she sniffed the bottle. “Smell good! Thanks, Drills.”

Just like that, Elaine’s concerned expression vanished. The whole time we’d worked on the perfume, she’d been terribly worried about whether Noela would like it. “Is it…all right if I come by again?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Thank you so much, Noela!” Elaine hugged the werewolf girl, smiling, and waved at us before leaving in her carriage.

“Isn’t that great, Noela?”

“Arroo!”

Noela vanished into the back of the house, wagging her tail. Mina and I peeked and found her sniffing the perfume, closing the bottle when she got tired of it, then opening it again to smell it some more. She repeated this process over and over as Mina and I simply watched, smiling.