Chapter 13:
Making the Tastiest of Tasties
IN HIS BEDROOM in the demon king’s castle, Ejil compared a potion he’d made to one from the drugstore.
“It’s completely unlike the good doctor’s. But why?” He rubbed his chin. “The ingredients are the same. Why are they so different?”
The demon king had once ordered his army’s doctor to create a similar potion, but it had also turned out differently. In fact, it’d been disgusting—a far cry from the tasty beverage Noela so enjoyed.
Ejil sniffed his homemade potion. “No scent. And it’s flavorless!”
He’d watched the pharmacist make potions countless times, but when Ejil himself shook the bottle at the end of the process, nothing happened. He’d gotten the measurements down to a T—even the water—but Ejil’s potion was barely medicine. Its effects were, at best, hard to detect.
The demon king cocked his head. “Could the doctor be less a pharmacist and more a witch?” But perhaps it made no sense for a man to be a witch.
Ejil had suspected that Kirio Drugs’ potion bottles possessed some secret benefit, but it turned out that the doctor bought bulk orders of standard bottles from Kalta’s general store. Still, the demon king wondered if there might be one unique magic bottle. Maybe the pharmacist used that for mixing, then poured the contents into standard bottles.
“Heh heh heh… Ha ha ha! Bwa ha ha ha! I finally understand! I’ve seen through your tricks and arrived at the truth, you cheating pharmacist! Next time I work, I’ve got to ask him to let me use that magic bottle!”
Ejil checked his calendar to see when his next shift was. Fortunately, it was the following day. Cackling, the demon king tucked himself into bed.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day, Ejil showed up to work on time as usual. “Good morning!”
Having teleported in, he was a bit breathless, but Reiji had told him many moons ago that “Greeting people when you arrive at work is a must.” So, Ejil obeyed.
“Hey. Morning, Ejil,” Reiji replied as he cleaned the store.
Noela also greeted the demon king, albeit quietly, while restocking a shelf. Reiji had given her a hard time, so Noela had finally started returning Ejil’s greetings. It was clear to everyone that she only did it because her master told her to, but any response made Ejil happy.
“Noela…” Ejil breathed. Her silky silver hair… The way her bewitching tail swayed… Ejil could’ve watched her forever.
“You’re grinning, Ejil.”
“That’s normal.”
“If so, it’s a problem.” Reiji’s calm straight-man schtick was on point as always.
Since Noela was restocking, Ejil checked the drugstore’s change at the register. When he’d first started working at Kirio Drugs, he’d found counting the change every day annoying. Really, though, the drugstore ran out of small coins frequently.
“We’ve got enough change, Doctor.”
“Gotcha.”
“Potions okay, Master! Lots now,” Noela reported with a victorious look and a nod.
“What’d I tell you about just restocking the potions, fluffball? Check over everything.”
“Groo?”
Ejil coughed pointedly. “I wouldn’t mind helping.”
Checklist in hand, Ejil walked through the drugstore, counting the stock. An employee did that every day before the drugstore opened and after it closed. If a product was low, someone would grab more from the backstock in the lab.
After restocking where necessary, Ejil, Reiji, and Noela were finished.
“All set, Doctor!”
“Thanks, Ejil.”
“No worries!”
Noela flashed Ejil a glare.
“What’s wrong, Noela?” To Ejil’s confusion, she shook her head, snorting.
Reiji simply chuckled. “Noela’s envious that I thanked you, not her.”
“I can’t believe it! Envious of me?”
“Master wrong! Noela no envious!” Even in a foul mood, Noela was adorable.
Once the drugstore was prepped to open, Reiji told Noela and Ejil the day’s schedule. “Today, I’m harvesting stuff from the meadow and restocking the lab. You two need to manage the store while I’m gone.”
“Together, Master? Noela and Ejil?”
“Yeah. Mina’s coming to the meadow with me.”
“Groo…”
“I’m working alone with Noela?!” Although he’d said the words aloud, they nonetheless echoed in Ejil’s heart. Noela quickly hid behind Reiji, distancing herself from the demon king.
Reiji patted the werewolf girl on the head gently. “Play nice.” The words were more directed at Noela than Ejil. She nodded, despite her very clear unhappiness with her predicament.
“What a perfect opportunity. I can secretly utilize the magic bottle that produces the doctor’s underhanded potions!” Ejil muttered under his breath, suppressing a foul laugh.
“All right, Ejil. You’re on shop duty.”
“Certainly!”
“Give Noela duty too, Master!”
“Okay, okay. You’re also on shop duty.”
“Groo! Certainly!”
As Ejil said a polite goodbye to Reiji, Noela left for Griffy’s stable.
“Noela! Didn’t the good doctor just ask you to watch the drugstore?”
She’d gone out of her way to have Reiji assign her drugstore duty, yet she’d up and slipped away.
“She’s truly a free spirit,” Ejil sighed.
After a while, Noela returned, seemingly thunderstruck by an incredible revelation. “Noela looking forward to morning potion! Master forget!”
“Ahem! Noela, what say I make you a fresh potion just like the good doctor’s?”
“Arroo?!” She balked, assuming he was deceiving her.
“They’re quite simple, you see,” Ejil insisted.
“If trespass in lab, Master mad.”
“No one’s ever gotten mad at me.”
Noela hesitated.
“Ha ha ha! The good doctor probably loses his temper because you always forget to clean up after yourself, Noela. I, however, do not, and he trusts me completely and utterly!”
“Garoo…”
“Hm? Why do you look so annoyed?”
When Reiji went to the meadow, he usually returned just before lunch. Ejil had plenty of time. Fortunately, no customers were present at the moment. If he and Noela didn’t sneak into the lab, they’d likely pass the morning loafing around in the store.
“If the good doctor doesn’t notice we went inside his lab, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Ejil insisted.
“Noela tell Master.”
“But why?!”
“Kill trust in Ejil.”
“That’s your goal? You’re quite a villainess! On the other hand, Noela…” Ejil cackled, then grinned at her. “What will you do if I succeed at making your potion?”
The werewolf girl scoffed. “Same thing.”
“I’m talking about your favorite, Noela! Potions, the tastiest of tasties!”
“Groo? Master make Noela potions no problem.”
“But didn’t you say you haven’t had one this morning?”
“No problem. Sneak from backstock.”
“Aha! Stealing potions when you enter the good doctor’s lab is what so upsets him, Noela!”
Even Noela sensed this to be true.
“However,” Ejil continued, “I can enter and leave the lab freely without leaving a trail. Which means…what?”
“Ejil make potion…and Master no angry?”
“Precisely! And the backstock shall remain the same!”
Finally realizing what Ejil was getting at, Noela trembled. “Arroo…”
“Heh heh heh. Have you finally seen the appeal of my potions, Noela? They’re neither on sale in the drugstore nor written on the backstock list!”
Ejil’s demonic whisper had Noela on the verge of falling from grace. “N-not like you can make potion,” she objected. “Tasty taste is Master only!”
“Shall we test that theory?”
“Noela know nothing, hear nothing, see nothing!” Apparently, the werewolf girl would remain quiet about Ejil’s trespassing.
“Heh! You’re quite a troublemaker.” Ejil’s cape billowed as he left for the lab. There, he cackled wildly. “Heh heh heh…today is the last day I acknowledge you as my superior, Dr. Reiji! Now, where’s the magic bottle—the magibottle?!”