Chapter 15: The Winter Medicine

Chapter 15:
The Winter Medicine

 

“HOLY CRAP, it’s hot.” I rested my head on the counter, glaring at the sunny outdoors. “What the hell’s going on with the weather?”

I’d wrapped up in the meadow earlier; it hadn’t been nearly so scorching this morning. Now, though, just sitting still made me sweat.

A voice answered my complaints. “Hot because Noela climbed on you, Master.”

I looked over my shoulder and realized that, at some point, Noela had jumped on my back. She wagged her tail happily.

I was wondering why it was extra hot, you damn fluffy werewolf.

“Could you maybe get off?” I grabbed the scruff of

her neck and tossed her away. Of course, she landed perfectly. It was hot even before she jumped on me.

Rrrumble. A familiar carriage stopped in front of the drugstore. A young woman took a servant’s hand, alighting from the carriage. She cheerfully brushed a drill-shaped curl off her shoulder. “I’m here, Sir Reiji!”

“Hi, Elaine.”

“Good day!” Elaine skipped toward the drugstore counter, clearly excited. As usual, she wore perfume from Kirio Drugs.

How can she be so energetic in this heat?

“Why here today, Drills?” Noela demanded.

“Oh! Good day, Noela. I actually haven’t visited to play with you.”

Noela blocked Elaine’s path to me. “No play with Master. Noela play with Master.”

“I’m not going to play with either of you.” Elaine giggled, standing up straight. “Unfortunately, Noela, I can’t play every day like you. As Lord Valgas’s daughter, I’m extremely busy.”

She was probably talking about a few chores and errands, puffing them up into real “work.”

“I’ve come here with an important order, Sir Reiji,” she continued. “Father wants a prescription for wintertime.”

“A what? Oh…he wants to order something to end the summer, because it’s been so disgustingly hot lately?”

Elaine nodded.

“Impossible,” I barked. I seriously wish people in this world understood the difference between magic and medicine.

Elaine shrugged. “Father told me that alchemists only get to work after claiming something’s impossible.”

“He’s one step ahead of me,” I sighed. “Changing the season to winter…” That’d require a super-high magic level. You’d need the power of a god.

“No bother Master,” Noela insisted. “Drills, stop.”

Whap! Whap! She smacked Elaine with her soft tail.

“Ah ha ha! Noela! That tickles! It’s too hot for this!”

The two roughhoused a bit. I’m glad they’re getting along so well.

“Ah!” I exclaimed.

“What is it, Sir Reiji? Did you come up with something?!”

“I can’t get rid of summer, but I might be able to make it nice and cool.”

“O-oh my word!” Elaine gasped. “That’s incredible, Sir Reiji!”

“It won’t last very long, though.”

Leaving the drugstore to Noela, I retreated to the lab. The window was open, but the breeze was lukewarm.

Time to bring some winter to Elaine’s dad. If I’d already created this, I’d be using it right now, I mused. It’s guaranteed to sell out in this heat.

I heard Mina at the lab entrance. “Are you all right, Mr. Reiji?”

“Yeah,” I replied, facing away from her as I worked.

I felt a gust of wind on my back. Turning around, I saw Mina waving a paper fan.

“How’s this feel?” she asked. “Any cooler?”

“Much better. Thanks, Mina.” She must’ve been boiling, too.

All right. Just hang in there, Mina. I’ll cool you down with my new creation.

I shook the bottle, and as usual, its contents glowed.

Icy Gel: Absorbs heat as it evaporates, cooling the skin.

I’ll test it on myself first, I thought, brushing some icy gel on my arm. “Whoa! It’s freezing!”

I walked behind Mina, who was obviously puzzled. “What exactly did you make, Mr. Reiji?”

“You’ll see in a sec. Could you move your hair away from your neck?” I’d heard that chilling your neck was the fastest way to cool your whole body.

“My neck…? S-sure. But…um…don’t do anything steamy, okay?”

“How could I do something steamy to your neck?”

Mina pulled her hair over her shoulder, allowing me access to the nape of her smooth, white neck. Jeez, this is pretty steamy. No! Bad Reiji! I shook my head. Applying some icy gel to a brush, I gently spread it over Mina’s skin.

“Hey, that tickles, Mr. Reiji!” Mina yelped, shivering. “I-It’s so cold! What’d you do?!”

“It’s a treatment that cools patches of your skin. It’ll reduce the heat for a bit.”

“I see!” Mina touched her neck and then spread some icy gel on her arms. “Wow, this is quite c-cold…but if you use a small amount, it’s incredibly refreshing!”

“Right?”

I hear thumps from behind the lab door.

“Wait, Noela! You can’t just go into Sir Reiji’s lab!”

“Mina! Master! Hanky-panky for sure!”

“That’s all the more reason not to open the door!”

Noela must’ve gotten the wrong idea from Mina’s cry a second ago. I opened the door to clear up any misconceptions. Elaine and Noela stood in the hall; the young noblewoman was trying to listen in, while the werewolf girl peeked into the lab through any hole she could find.

So, Elaine’s an eavesdropper, huh? I frowned at them. “Didn’t I ask you to watch the shop?”

“No mess around!” Noela snapped.

“I’m not! Mina shrieked because she tried some of this.” I showed the girls the bottle of icy gel.

Elaine got particularly excited. “The winter medicine is done?!”

“It’s quite cool and refreshing,” Mina told her.

I looked victoriously at Noela and Elaine. “That’s what Mina says. Raise your hand if you want to try it!”

“Me, me!” Both girls hopped up and down.

Jeez, talk about hyper. I’d let them both try it, obviously. I applied some icy gel to their necks.

“Garroooo?!”

“Th-this’s…so cold!”

The two girls shivered.

“Master, more! More, please!”

Seriously? Sure, why not. I applied icy gel to Noela’s arms, tummy, and thighs.

“Frozen! No hot! Amazing, Master!”

Noela dashed around the lab like Mario with a Super Star; it was nice to see.

“Me as well, Sir Reiji! Hurry!”

“Don’t rush me.” I spread more gel on Elaine’s skin.

Her whole body trembled. “It’s so chilly! Ooh—but it’s also refreshing! I can’t help wanting to move around!”

“Hey, if you two are gonna go nuts, do it outside.” Pushing them outdoors, I came back in. Mina was hugging her knees. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m t-too cold, M-Mr. Reiji.”

“Even though it’s hot out?” Whoa. She’s seriously shivering.

Mina sneezed.

Wait. Does this stuff work too well? Did it give her a chill? I grabbed a towel and wiped the icy gel off her.

“Aah…” Mina sighed like she was getting into a hot bath. She looked nice and warm now. “I feel like it just went from winter to summer.”

“Man…that was a close call. You might’ve gotten sick.” I wiped my sweat away with my hand.

Wait…didn’t the girls use even more icy gel than Mina?

Concerned, I headed outside to find Elaine and Noela in direct sunlight, leaning on one another and shivering.

“S-so…c-cold…”

I knew it!

“Noela…sleepy…”

“You mustn’t go to sleep…!”

“Master…here…”

“Hang in there, Noela…! You’re hallucinating… Mr. Reiji wouldn’t be outside right now…!”

Both girls were freezing below the summer sun.

I had Mina hurriedly draw a hot bath while I picked up Noela, carrying Elaine piggyback.

“Noela…done for…Master…”

“You’re going to catch a cold at this rate. You too, Elaine.”

“I’ve always longed for you…Sir Reiji…”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll be okay. Nobody’s freezing to death today.”

I brought the two to the bathroom and left the rest to Mina. Fortunately, both girls exited nice and warm, no signs of hypothermia to be found.

I gave Elaine the icy gel and told her to bring it to Lord Valgas. “He has to make sure he doesn’t use too much,” I warned sternly. “No matter what, got it?”

“I-I understand! I’ll make sure to tell Father what you said.”

Being sweaty sucked, but so did freezing. Too much of a good thing, right?

 

***

 

A few days later, Lord Valgas’s butler came to the drugstore to buy cold medicine. It turned out that the icy gel had made Elaine’s father sick.

Man. I warned him, too—don’t use too much, no matter what. I couldn’t have stressed the point harder. What a dummy.