Chapter 14: The Fluffy Lady’s Surprise

Chapter 14:
The Fluffy Lady’s Surprise

 

MINA AND NOELA were in charge of the drugstore today, so I hit up the general store.

“Hey, Reiji!” called the manager, Alf. Then he made a ridiculous request, finishing, “…can you do something?”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. You’ll need to take care of them yourself.”

“I’ll give you all the bottles, thread, dowels, and rice you want! Just—”

“Supplies aren’t the problem, Alf. I literally can’t make a magical treatment. Something that does all the chores instantly isn’t medicine.”

“I see.” Alf let out a sigh of clear disappointment.

This all started because his wife blew up at him for never doing housework. And Alf had no experience with housekeeping, so when he tried to help, he just made things worse.

Still, his wife was pregnant, and they already had four little ones. It was asking a lot of a mother-to-be to handle all the chores while taking care of a bunch of kids.

“Alf, we don’t live in an era where it’s okay for husbands to bring home the bacon and do nothing else. You gotta meet her in the middle.”

Says the guy who has Mina handle all the chores, I thought. That was fine, though. Mina enjoys the housework. Besides, she’s not pregnant, and we aren’t raising kids.

“But I just get in the way,” Alf said defensively.

“Have you considered hired help?”

“My wife’s against it. She wants to save our money for the kids, so she tries to do everything herself.”

Now, that’s one hell of a wife.

“There are chores I just can’t do,” he continued. “Ain’t all folks like that?”

“Nobody starts off able to do everything. You gotta work at it,” I retorted.

As I tried to motivate Alf, his wife poked her head into the shop. “Oh, my! Long time no see, Reiji.”

“Yeah! Glad you’re doing well.”

“You must stay for lunch. We owe you so much!”

“Well, I suppose I’ll accept your kind offer. But it’s not like you folks haven’t helped me out a ton!”

Mina was probably making lunch too, but I’d feel bad if I turned Alf’s wife down. I’ll have a bite here, then go home and eat more.

Alf stood and stretched. “All right! I wonder what’s for lunch.”

“You have to watch the store, don’t you?” his wife replied. “You can have yours after.”

“Fine…” Alf sighed, then sat patiently. In terms of the family hierarchy, it looked like the wives wore the pants even in this world.

I nodded to Alf and then followed his wife into the dining room. On the table were several platters topped with the foods you’d serve a family.

“That dishwashing stuff you made has been a huge help, Reiji,” Alf’s wife told me.

“Oh, you’ve been using it? I’m glad to hear that.”

Alf’s youngest, who was about a year and a half old, was apparently asleep. His other little ones waddled toward me. A four-year-old girl tugged and tugged at my cuff. “Where’s fluffy lady?”

Alf’s oldest boy—probably a first-grader’s age—came over, pulling his toddler sister by the hand. “Beast lady isn’t here?”

Alf’s kids loved Noela, but she had a hard time with them; they petted and pulled at her thoughtlessly. “Not today. She’s watching the drugstore for me.”

“Aw…” The kids frowned, disappointed.

They sat at the table, and lunch began. Kids their age ate messily; I watched as they dirtied their clothes over the course of the meal. Alf’s wife warned them about their messiness, but some things weren’t quick fixes, and she struggled to get them to listen to her.

It was refreshing to join a big family meal like this. I’d gotten used to Mina’s cooking—I loved it, of course, but somehow it had ended up on the same tier as my mom’s cooking back home. Just having something different was a fun change.

“You know, the fluffy lady’s probably bored stiff at the drugstore,” I told the kids. “After we finish eating, wanna come over and play?”

“Yeah!” the kids exclaimed.

“Are you sure, Reiji?” Alf’s wife asked. “They’ll be a handful.”

“It’s totally fine. Noela’s probably sleeping on the job.” When I wasn’t there, she napped on the living room sofa or in my bed, so taking these little monsters with me would serve her right.

After finishing lunch, the kids changed their shirts. I peeked into the other room; Alf’s wife had already started washing their dirty clothes.

She was using a soap the drugstore sold. Still, she had to put her back into scrubbing. There were no machines in this world, so all the laundry was done by hand in a tub of water. Since she had to clean every family member’s clothes, the laundry was more hard labor than a chore.

“Okay, I’ll take the kids now!” I called. “I’ll have them back by this evening.”

“Thank you so much!”

“How long does it usually take you to wash all that, ma’am?”

“Hmm…let’s see. I’m cleaning three shirts today, so it’ll take something like half an hour,” she replied with a big smile. “They always get their clothes this dirty, so I’m used to it.” She added that the morning laundry usually took an hour and a half, all by hand.

“I’m going to create some stuff that’ll make the laundry easier for you.”

“Oh, my. You can do that?”

“Leave it to me. I’ll be back later.” I left the general store with the three Noela Killers in tow, heading home.

Noela must’ve eaten lunch already; she was sprawled over the counter, sleeping peacefully. Shouldn’t she be watching the store?

As the Noela Killers spotted her, their eyes sparkled. Heh heh…they’re so excited. This is your punishment for laziness, Noela. Get ready for hell.

“All right, kids!” I cried, unleashing the Noela Killers. “Go wake up the fluffy lady!”

“Yay!” The three dashed straight over to my werewolf.

Noela’s ears twitched as they approached, sensing danger. “Arrroooo?!” she exclaimed, waking up.

“Let us pet you, fluffy lady!”

“I’m gonna hug her tail!”

“I’m gonna poke her cute ears!”

Noela stood so quickly, she knocked her chair over. “No touch! No pull!” She bolted into the house.

Damn, she’s fast.

However, the kids weren’t going to quit so easily. They quickly waddled after her, beginning a fluffy game of tag—Noela versus the Noela Killers. Things got loud in the house, but it was kind of nice.

Mina poked her head in. “Welcome home, Mr. Reiji.” Hearing a strange sound, she turned. “Um…what’s going on with those children?”

“Oh, they’re Alf’s,” I replied. “They’re here to play with Noela. Well, more like bother Noela.”

“Hee hee! Sounds like they’re having fun.”

“Alf’s wife treated me to lunch,” I continued. “Jeez, she was cooking, doing laundry, looking after the kids… I don’t envy her.”

“Oh. You already had lunch? Um, I made some for you, but I’ll go clean up.” Mina smiled awkwardly and headed back to the kitchen.

Crap. I messed up. Scratching my head, I followed her to try and fix things.

Mina was nowhere to be found. I looked up, thinking that maybe she’d attached herself to the kitchen ceiling, but no. Had she gone shopping? The bag she usually brought wasn’t here, so that was probably it. Unfortunately, that meant that she’d left me here feeling sheepish.

“I guess I’ll get to work,” I mumbled, heading to the lab.

I mixed the required ingredients as usual, producing a detergent.

 

Laundry Detergent: Strong soap. Eliminates stains and grime without scrubbing.

 

“Perfect. This should help Alf’s wife a bit.” I nodded at the glowing bottle.

Just then, Noela yelped from another room. “Gaah! Bug off!”

Sounds like she’s been caught. Hearing the children’s happy cheers, I poked my head into the living room. As I expected, they were roughhousing with Noela. Yup, they’re getting along.

“No pulling out tail fur! Ow!” Noela looked at me, half in tears. “Master, save me!”

“This is punishment for sleeping on the job, buddy.” Joining the children, I pinched Noela’s cheeks. “All right, I’m heading back to Alf’s. Keep watching the drugstore, okay?”

“Master, save me!”

Ka-thunk! I closed the door behind me and headed out.

At the general store, I called, “Hey, I’m back!” Looking inside, I saw Alf eating a late lunch at the counter.

She’s making him work while he eats, huh? That’s tough in its own way.

“What’s up, Reiji?” Alf asked, laughing. “Oh, I know. The little ones exhausted you, so you came here to rest, right?”

I shook my head and corrected him, then headed to the kitchen. Alf’s wife was preparing dinner. “Oh, Reiji, you’re already finished?”

“Yup!” I showed her the detergent. “This should make laundry a lot easier.”

“Oh?”

I decided it’d be fastest just to show her. The bucket of water she was using for laundry was beside the bath; I put in some detergent and submerged the kids’ garments. “It can get rid of stains without you scrubbing the clothes.”

“That can’t be.”

Alf’s wife appeared doubtful, but the grime on the fabric rinsed out bit by bit. Wow. This detergent works well enough to impress even me, and I made the stuff.

Unable to process the product’s usefulness, Alf’s wife trembled. “I-It’s all coming out!” She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “You must’ve used cleaning magic, right?!”

“Um, could you stop shaking me, please? All I used was laundry detergent. It’s not magic. Anyone can use this stuff.”

Calming her nerves, I had her try the detergent. One outfit, two outfits—just like that, all the children’s clothes were clean.

“It’s like I’m dreaming,” she gasped, clearly impressed. “You’re right, Reiji. Laundry is going to be way easier now. Thank you so much.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“Even that worthless husband of mine will be able to wash clothes now. Make sure you pitch in with housework too, Reiji. Got it?”

“Y-you think I should help? Mina likes doing the chores.”

“What’re you talking about?” Alf’s wife sighed. “Even if she likes chores, you should help. Don’t come crying to me if she gets tired of cleaning for you and runs off!”

She said it jokingly, but it scared me stiff. Runs off…? Mina would never do that…right? Wait—she vanished without saying a word earlier. She made lunch for me, and I thoughtlessly ate somewhere else! Oh, no…was that the last straw?

I imagined Mina shrieking, “I can’t take this anymore! I’m not Mr. Reiji’s servant!”

It’s possible.

Alf had been listening to my conversation with his wife. He chuckled. “A bit of advice, Reiji. Apologize, and really put your heart into it. It never hurts to grovel!”

He gave me a thumbs-up with a pearly-white smile, but nothing about him remotely reassured me. Panicking, I fled the general store.

Once I’d dashed back to Kirio Drugs, I noticed that things were oddly quiet. The kitchen and living room were both empty. Checking the lab, I found Alf’s kids and Noela napping.

“Oh, Mr. Reiji! Where did you head off to?”

Hearing a familiar voice behind me, I swung around. “Whoa! M-Mina!”

“Is something wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ha ha! Very funny. Thank goodness you’re back,” I sighed. “I swear, Alf’s wife scared the crap out of me.”

“I just went out to buy ingredients so I could bake the kids cookies.”

“I-Is that so? Cool, cool…” I fell on my butt, completely drained. “Are there any chores I can help with, Mina? Cleaning the dishes? Doing laundry?”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of things on my own,” she replied. “I know you’re busy with work, Mr. Reiji. Oh—I get it! You want more allowance, don’t you?”

“No! That’s not it! Since when am I a schoolkid on summer vacation?!” I told Mina exactly what Alf’s wife had said to me.

Mina gaped. “She thinks I’ll leave you? That’s why you’re asking about the chores?”

“Are you getting sick of me…?” I asked hesitantly.

“Hee hee!” Kneeling, Mina embraced me gently. “Never. I love you and this house, Mr. Reiji. Gracious, you were worried about that? You have quite a cute side.”

She gently stroked my head. Our roles were usually reversed, so it kind of embarrassed me.

“All right. I’m going to bake some cookies,” Mina informed me. “Could you give me a hand?”

“Anything you want!”

The cookies were a huge hit with Noela and the kids. That evening, we all walked Alf’s little ones back to the general store.

After that day, Mina had me do simple chores around the house. I recognized that she would’ve gotten them done faster. But…

“Don’t come crying to me if she gets tired of cleaning for you and runs off!”

I was sure Mina was giving me chores so that I wouldn’t worry about her leaving. Jeez. What an incredible girl.