Ejil still suspected that Reiji used a specific “magibottle” to brew potions; he assumed that this artifact had made Reiji the cheating pharmacist he was.
The demon king’s chortling continued as he searched. “Now I know the good doctor’s secret—his weakness, even. And since Noela listens to him, I can easily make her mine by blackmailing him and controlling him from the shadows!”
The magibottle! Ejil thought, picking it up. “This is it!”
It was a regular bottle at first glance, but when making medicine, it would shine radiantly.
“I wonder where the good doctor obtained such a peculiar magic tool.” His army would benefit from owning one.
Cackling some more, Ejil gathered the required ingredients. The lab’s owner wouldn’t return from the herb meadow for a while, and neither would the noisy Mina. Following the steps he’d watched Reiji complete many times, Ejil mixed exactly the same potion. “All that’s left is to shake the magibot—”
Knock. Knock.
“Gah!” Ejil’s heart nearly leapt from his chest. He approached the door cautiously.
“Master coming home!” It was Noela’s voice. “Still far, though!”
“What?!”
Reiji had probably forgotten something at the house or drugstore. Either way, this was bad. Ejil hadn’t finished the potion—and the fact that Noela had bothered informing him of Reiji’s approach might mean she was looking forward to it.
“Potion?” Noela called.
“It’s n-not finished yet. I need more time.”
“G-gotcha. Noela buy time.”
“Oh, Noela…” Ejil was touched; Noela’s helpfulness was a complete first. He had to make this potion, no matter what.
Ejil was allowed to enter Reiji’s lab, unlike Noela, but there was a chance the pharmacist might notice that Ejil had taken some ingredients. That would tell him that Ejil had discovered the magibottle.
“Now that I know his secret, he’ll probably find some excuse to fire me!” For Ejil, that would be the worst-case scenario—he’d be unable to see Noela regularly. As soon as he became a customer, rather than an employee, she’d probably never give him the time of day again.
Ejil kept shaking the bottle, but it wouldn’t glow. “Damn it! It’s still not done?”
Could it be that this wasn’t the magibottle? Ejil quickly transferred the potion to another container and kept shaking it.
“Ah…no go to lab, Master!” Noela was trying her best to stop Reiji, but she was awful at it.
Why did she even mention the lab? She’s giving him cause to check in, if anything!
“Noela, why must you be such a ditz?!” Ejil cried to the heavens impulsively.
“Er…why not?” he heard Reiji ask. “I forgot to write down the quantities I need. I’ve got to check the backstock.”
“N-Noela check for you!”
“Nah, that’s okay. You told me you can’t tell those ingredients apart, remember?”
“Yeah.”
Why did she agree with him?!
“Just focus on the drugstore. Wait—where’s Ejil?”
“E-Ejil…not in lab!”
She’s so terrible at this! Ejil silently cried once more. At this point, Noela might as well just have said where he was.
“I smell a rat, Noela. What’re you hiding?”
“Groo? Arroo!” Noela began to whistle innocently.
What a cliché. But still… Ejil cringed. “Noela’s doing her worst—I mean, best—to buy me time, and yet…”
He still hadn’t found the magibottle. Noticing a third bottle, Ejil poured in the liquid and shook it. This time, it glowed. Was that it?!
As Ejil tiptoed out of the lab, Noela blocked Reiji’s path forward. “No go to lab, Master!”
“Why not?!”
Ejil quietly hid, tucking the magibottle inside his cape, and then slowly made his way into the drugstore. “Doctor? Noela? What’s wrong?”
“Where were you, Ejil?”
“In the bathroom.”
“Is that so?”
Noela’s eyes asked the important question—had Ejil done it? The demon king winked proudly in response.
“What signal was that?” Reiji demanded.
How’d he figure it out?! “It w-wasn’t a signal! I just love practicing my incredible winking skills!”
“Hrm.” Reiji still looked suspicious, but he didn’t say anything more. He entered the lab, and after a while, he left with his notes.
As far as Ejil could remember, he’d made sure to put everything in the lab back where it belonged. “We did it, Noela.”
“Master stubborn,” Noela replied worriedly.
“Nevertheless, I finished the potion. Thanks to you, of course.”
Noela glanced inside the magibottle, eyes sparkling. “Tasty taste done?”
“Just barely.”
“Quick! Quick! Tasty taste!”
Ejil hurriedly concealed the magibottle. “I never said anything about letting you drink this for free.”
“Groo?”
“Either let me enjoy your tail’s fluffiness or spend our whole day off on a date with me. Pick!”
“Impossible! Both disgusting.”
“Please don’t say that. It hurts the most.”
“Quick! Tasty taste!” The werewolf girl reached out, trying to pull the potion away from Ejil.
“Noela, please sto—”
“Noela know you have! Tasty taste! Fast!”
“Stop trying to steal it!” Ejil attempted to block her hands, resulting in an awkward, grabby face-off. “You won’t get the potion if I can’t fluff your tail!”
“Potion hostage! Coward!”
“That isn’t quite right… Look, the world runs on give and take!”
The pair tussled so vigorously that the magibottle fell from inside Ejil’s cape to the floor.
“Ah!” they both cried.
Smash! The bottle exploded into shards of glass.
“Aaaaaugh!” Ejil howled. “I only planned to borrow it for a little while!”
“Master’s bottle broke?! N-Noela in the clear!”
The werewolf girl dashed out of the drugstore like the wind. Zoom!
How would Ejil ever apologize to Reiji? Was there any point even trying? The pharmacist would never forgive him. “I was wrong to try to make my own potions and show up the doctor,” the demon king murmured, depressed. “I’m definitely fired.”
Ejil began to reflect on his fun workdays with Noela, which were surely over, but he couldn’t withstand the grief. His eyes rolled backward, and he passed out.
✦ ✦ ✦
Feeling someone shake his body, the demon king awakened.
“Ejil? Are you all right?” It was Mina; she’d returned from the meadow.
“What do you want, woman?!”
“Is that any way to greet someone?” Mina sighed. “You passed out in the hallway.”
Just then, Ejil remembered his predicament—the splattered potion and broken magibottle’s remnants were still on the drugstore floor.
“I-If only I could put it back together, then I…” he mumbled to himself. This was his all-or-nothing chance to turn things around.
“What’s the matter, Ejil? Did you drop a product?”
“D-Doctor?!” The demon king nearly jumped out of his shoes.
“Sorry, Mina—could you grab a rag?”
“Certainly. One moment.”
“D-Doctor…um…that wasn’t a drugstore product. It was the magibottle.”
Ejil had created that name himself, so of course, Reiji had no idea what he meant. “The hell’s a magibottle?” he asked, picking up chunks of shattered glass. “Are you okay?”
“Doctor, how can you be so kind? I-I’ve done something unforgivable!” Racked by guilt, Ejil was on the verge of tears.
“Noela’s playing hooky again, huh? Where’d she get off to?”
“If we fixed the magibottle, couldn’t you keep using it?”
“No need to fix it. It’s not like I could sell it now anyway, and we’ve got plenty of bottles.”
“P-plenty?!” Does that mean magibottles are produced en masse?! Does he get them from a general store with a witch on-site? But…if so, anyone who bought bottles there could cheat and become an effortlessly skilled pharmacist!
“I never guessed you’d be so worked up over a single bottle, Ejil,” Reiji added. “Jeez, Noela could learn a lot from you. She never feels guilty—just makes excuses.” He threw the pieces of the shattered bottle into the trash.
“Isn’t it thanks to that bottle that you can create products?”
“No way. A bottle’s a bottle.”
“R-right.”
Ejil ran his finger across some of the spilled potion in the hallway, then licked it. “Ugh! Disgusting!” The bottle had just contained dirt- and herb-flavored water.
“In retrospect, the way the magibottle glowed was much different from usual,” the demon king mused. “It was more like sunlight reflecting off the bottle.”
Since no magibottle could help Ejil cheat and become an incredible pharmacist, he was terribly relieved that Noela hadn’t drunk his potion.