Chapter 5: The Hopped-Up Carpenters

Chapter 5:
The Hopped-Up Carpenters

 

I DROPPED A DECENT CHUNK of change hiring some carpenters in town to remodel part of the house as a storefront.

Clank. Clank. Rumble. Rumble. Clank. Clank.

All sorts of sounds came from the house’s entrance. According to the carpenters, it wouldn’t take too long—about a week or so—to wrap up their renovations.

I was busy formulating new medicines in the laboratory when Mina appeared with three teacups. “The tea’s ready, Mr. Reiji!”

“Much obliged.”

Noela, meanwhile, inspected my work curiously. When Mina entered, the young werewolf’s ears perked up. She turned to face the ghost; then she turned back to me, poking my side.

“Master. Master. Strange girl here.”

“Well, duh. Wait—can you see her?”

Noela nodded vigorously.

“Oh, that’s right!” Mina said, grinning. “Mr. Reiji, I forgot to mention this. Since I didn’t use my special powers for years, I can stay in this physical form for ages!” She poured tea into the brand-new cups I just bought.

“Noela, this girl here is Mina. She’s apparently a ghost,” I explained.

“Okay,” replied Noela.

That didn’t take much.

“Allow me to prove it to you!” Mina exclaimed. “Woosh! I bet you can’t see me anymore, Miss Noela!”

Noela hesitated. “She gone?!”

Mina was actually still right there, but I guess Noela couldn’t see her.

“How’s this?” Mina reappeared.

“She back.”

“Or this?”

“Only arms. Weird.”

As Mina and Noela played, I left to check up on the carpenters. I didn’t need a whole lot of space for the drugstore, so I couldn’t imagine that the renovation would be too much work. Despite that, it didn’t look like the carpenters had made much progress.

“Um, how’s it going?” I asked. They glanced up at me.

One—Mr. Gaston—rose to his feet. “I-It’s exactly as it looks, M-Mr. Pharmacist.”

Mr. Gaston was the town’s veteran carpenter; he was over eighty. Hell of a long life. Although I said he “rose to his feet,” I should add that he was hunched over; his face only reached my waist.

Mr. Gaston grimaced a little. His eyes seemed buried in wrinkles. This guy’s pretty old, I mused, but the other carpenters respect him like some kind of legend. Hope he doesn’t hurt himself. Gah…now I’m worried.

I decided I shouldn’t say anything, since worrying about a pro like Mr. Gaston might be rude. The other carpenters with him were elderly, too. The youngest of the bunch was in his sixties!

Pointing his trembling finger at various spots, Mr. Gaston explained the situation to me.

“So, you’re saying it’s gonna be difficult to wrap up in a week?” I asked.

“Say wha…? I can’t hear ya!”

“A week! Isn’t! Enough! Time! For the renovation?!”

“Aye!” Mr. Gaston replied. “Way back in the day, the old lady was all—”

I wasn’t asking about your old lady!

“Right, right!” interjected another carpenter. “Then he got cheated on!”

Er—what?! Who got cheated on?! C’mon—now I’m curious!

Mr. Gaston continued to blather leisurely. “Look, it’s exactly what ya think. I can’t move around like I used to, so things’ll take a bit longer than expected, Mr. Pharmacist. That’s how my night of trouble with the old lady started!”

“Uh, you’re mixing work up with private details!” I replied. “Wait…could I hear about this ‘night of trouble’?” Seriously, I have to know.

“We get tired real fast, got it?” Mr. Gaston replied. “Everyone’s gotten so old.”

“Which is why work doesn’t fly by like it used to!”

The other elderly carpenters chimed in to explain. Up till now, they’d done jobs like this on their own. I couldn’t imagine the frustration they must’ve felt at being unable to do what they’d trained for.

“We’re mighty grateful to ya, Mr. Pharmacist,” Mr. Gaston concluded. “Ya made us townsfolk all them potions—potions that sold out across the region! Better yet, they taste delicious! Now, we can work without worrying about getting hurt.”

The other carpenters nodded.

“That’s why we wanna help ya out as best we can,” added Mr. Gaston. “Still, there’s no triumph over old age!”

They get tired fast, huh? Isn’t there some kind of treatment to help them get past that exhaustion, even just momentarily? Wait… Since I can mix potions, maybe I can make that?

“Hey, don’t push yourselves too hard,” I told the carpenters, then headed back to my laboratory. I flipped through the pages of the plant encyclopedia I’d bought.

“Master okay?”

“Yeah. I just wanna make something.”

I could picture the finished product, and instinctively knew what ingredients I needed. This medicine-making skill sure is useful.

There were no plant photos in the book, unlike encyclopedias in my old world, but I at least got the species’ names and whereabouts. Looks like I can find all these herbs in this area.

“Your tea’s gone cold, Mr. Reiji. Would you like me to pour you another cup?” Mina offered.

“Thanks, but I’m actually heading out.”

“Is that so? Take care!”

“Will do. Watch over the place while I’m gone.”

“Righto!” Mina exclaimed cheerfully.

I prepared my toolkit and left. Noela’s enemy-detection ability was tremendously useful, so I had her tag along, and we set out toward the usual forest.

I wound up harvesting three potion ingredients from the woods. In town, I bought oranges, honey, and ginger. According to my medicine-making skill, I could mix the treatment I wanted from those materials.

With the goods in hand, I locked myself away in my laboratory.

Before long, Mina poked her head in. “Welcome home, Mr. Reiji, Noela. What would you like for lunch?”

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “I’ll eat later.”

Noela’s tail wagged; she focused on my work with great curiosity. “Noela eat later, too.”

“Gosh. You both need to make sure you have lunch. I’ll make you something quick.”

Mina headed for the kitchen, whistling happily. To my surprise, she was pretty considerate.

I crushed and dried the potion ingredients, then mixed them with orange and ginger juice, adding a little honey.

“What make, Master?”

“Hey now, I can’t go ruining the surprise. Could you bottle some water for me?”

Noela trotted off to do as I asked, returning quickly. Thanking her, I poured the blended juice into the bottle, then capped and shook it.

Splash! Splash! Splash! The liquid glowed as usual.

 

Energy Potion: Relieves exhaustion. Functions as stimulant. Effects vary person to person.

 

“It’s done!” I told Noela.

“Done? Done?”

I sipped the liquid. “Mm-mmm!”

“What is it? What is it, Master?”

I just wanna tell someone—anyone—that this tastes like my favorite energy drink! It sucks that it’s not carbonated, but it’s delicious enough as is!

“Noela try too!”

“If you’re not used to this stuff, the flavor might startle you. Take a small sip, okay?”

I poured a bit of the energy potion into an open bottle. When Noela tried it, her fur stood on end so quickly, I swore I could hear it. Her wide eyes looked back and forth.

“Hmm…?! Master amazing! Tasty, tasty! Noela feel like can fly!”

“Please don’t try.”

Noela ran in circles, eventually sliding between my legs and climbing my back in an attempt to soar. She’s hyper.

At that point, Mina arrived with a plate of food. “I made some sandwiches, Mr. Reiji! This way, you can work while you eat.” Her eyes widened as she spotted Noela running amok.

“Thanks a lot, Mina. I’ll definitely eat those soon. Could you do me a favor and watch Noela for a sec?”

“Of course. What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s got too much energy.” I bit into the ham-and-veggie sandwich. Yeah, this is good stuff.

“Hunh.” Mina tilted her head.

I poured some of the energy potion into five smaller vials, then headed to where the carpenters were working.

“Here. For each of you.” I handed one bottle to each old man.

They curiously inspected the contents, bringing the bottles close to their faces before lowering them. Ah. Their vision must not be great.

“What’s this weird liquid?” Mr. Gaston asked, speaking for all the carpenters.

“Let’s just call it a drink that’ll energize you guys,” I replied. “It’s not guaranteed to work, so I guess it’s more accurate to say you’ll hopefully feel more energetic.”

“Hrmph.” Mr. Gaston chugged the bottle, then froze in place, making a strange sound. “Hwaa—?!”

“How is it?” I asked. “It might be an acquired taste, but it should relieve your exhaustion and wake you up a bit. The results’ll vary by person, but…”

Mr. Gaston trembled as he took a step, his hunch gradually lessening until he stood up straight.

“Are you evolving?” I chuckled. “Er…now’s not the time for jokes. How’s your hip, Mr. Gaston?”

Mr. Gaston clearly wasn’t listening to a word I said. “This feeling…” he whispered to himself. “Aaaaaaaaah!”

I couldn’t help rubbing my eyes. Mr. Gaston was glowing! What the—?! What’s going on?! He’s got an aura! Energy’s bursting from him!

“I can see it!” he exclaimed. “I can see my youth!”

He suddenly began working with incredible speed. Clank! Clank! Clank! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Wh-whoa,” I stammered. “Are you okay?!”

“Silly question! I’ve never been better! Gah ha ha ha ha!”

“He’s like a different person,” I gasped. “I can’t follow his movements!”

The youngest carpenter, who was in his sixties, patted my shoulder. “What, did you think you saw him just now? That was an afterimage.”

“A what?!”

“These moves…” he breathed. “This is the legendary carpenter Gaston at his sharpest!”

“The man I looked up to when I was but a lad,” another carpenter agreed. “The legend has returned!”

“Don’t just stand there, men!” exclaimed the youngest carpenter. “Bottoms up!”

The rest of the elderly workers gulped their energy potions.

“Er, you shouldn’t just chug them like that,” I warned.

“Whoa! This job’s nothing! We can wrap this up in a heartbeat!”

“Hee hee! The time’s finally come to unleash the black dragon sealed in my left hand!”

Their personalities are totally different…and one of them’s having some kind of dragon awakening?!

Rumble, rumble, rumble—the elderly carpenters gave it their all. They ultimately finished the renovations that were supposed to take a week in a single day. Instead of working at a steady pace, they just zoomed through the job.

The carpenters had a blast renovating the house. As far as I was concerned, that was the best part. They all told me that they felt young again. And since they finished so quickly, I could open my shop much sooner than I’d anticipated. Jeez, that energy drink I made worked way too well.

As the carpenters left, Mr. Gaston turned to me, back straight and tools in hand. “If you ever need more help, just give us a call, pal.” He flashed me a grin.

It was a total personality shift. Too cool.