Griffy flew me to the ravine where the two spirits were waiting.
“Hey!” I called. “I finished Sylveen’s medicine!”
“Fast as always!” Vivi called back, splashing her feet in the river. Sylveen sat beside her, splashing away as well.
He’s sick, right…? “Shouldn’t he be sleeping?”
“Mmm…yeah, probably. But I guess he’s happy to have visitors for once,” Vivi replied.
She must get how he feels. Sylveen certainly looked as though he was having fun. I handed Vivi the spirit cure. “You need to get him to drink this.”
“Sure thing!” Vivi turned to Sylveen. “If you drink this and rest, you’ll be back to normal in no time,” she explained.
For some reason, Sylveen’s expression was sad. I wish I could understand what he’s saying.
“I guess he’s feeling kind of lonely because he has a cold,” Vivi told me.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s kind of…scared? Though maybe that’s not the right word.”
“Er…I guess he wants to be looked after…? He wants company?” I sort of got it, even though I couldn’t articulate it.
Vivi tried to pass Sylveen the spirit cure, but he refused it. “Hey, this is medicine! It’ll make you feel better,” she repeated. The wind spirit shook his head.
I thought back to when Kururu had suffered from heatstroke. He’d tried every which way to grab my attention. For his part, Sylveen might be worried that everyone would ignore him again once he recovered.
“You’re close with Sylveen, right?” I asked Vivi.
“Me? Er…sort of, I guess.” Sylveen clearly heard her, and a sad expression crossed his face.
“Hey, he can hear you, you know,” I chastised her. “Don’t be like that.”
“You’re the last person who should tell me that!”
“Me? Did I do something?”
“You’re always a jerk about whether we’re friends or not! And about whether I can work full-time or not!”
I didn’t recall ever teasing her about our being friends, but that certainly sounded like something I’d do. “I’m pretty sure I’ve always said you’re a part-timer, Vivi. I never mentioned anything about you working full-time. We don’t even have full-time employees at Kirio Drugs.”
I swear, this spirit never stops trying to get full-time hours! Why’s she so fixated on it?
“Anyway, we’re going off the rails,” I continued. “I was saying that Sylveen’s probably sad that we might leave when he recovers.”
“Well, I was super lonely for ages, Reiji! Why’re you paying so much attention to whether Sylvi’s sad or not?” Vivi was clearly annoyed that I was treating Sylveen more sensitively, despite them both being spirits.
“If his cold doesn’t get better, that’ll cause tangible problems, right?” I reminded her. “I mean, look at the elves in the forest. They’re getting sick from this heat wave.”
Sylveen listened, looking apologetic. I felt kind of guilty; I wasn’t trying to blame him.
“Why not swing by here sometimes, Vivi?” I suggested.
Sylveen’s face lit up. What an easy-to-read spirit.
“Huh?!” Vivi cried.
“Do you have to be so obvious? If you do come by, I’ll give you more shifts.”
“Sure thing!”
That didn’t take much. Now that I thought about it, I figured Vivi must really hate being alone too. Back in the day, people had worshiped spirits. I bet she must’ve enjoyed being relied on. Maybe that went for all spirits.
“Sylvi, I’ll drop in from now on to play, all right?” the lake spirit promised him. “So, drink your medicine and rest.”
“When Vivi visits, I’ll come by too,” I added. “You won’t be alone like before.”
Sylveen nodded with a grin and finally drank the spirit cure. Then he yawned and disappeared into thin air.
“Did he go off to sleep?” I asked.
“Probably.” Vivi cleared her throat. “Reiji, I want seven shifts a week!”
“That’s literally one every day.”
She was acting like a college student requesting summer-vacation shifts. What’s she need all those hours for? Ejil needed shifts too, so if Vivi staffed the drugstore every day, there wouldn’t be enough shifts for Noela to work.
“Right,” I said. “I’ll think about it.”
“Thanks!”
Vivi already worked three shifts a week. At best, I could give her another day. If I scheduled her more often, I’d need to decrease Ejil’s hours, and he’d be unhappy about not seeing Noela.
As I put together the next month’s schedule in my head, Vivi and I headed home.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next morning, I awoke to sunlight creeping into my bedroom.
“Whew! Talk about a good night’s rest.”
The heat had made it hard to sleep until yesterday evening, when a nice, cool breeze came in the window. I’d slept all the way through the night without getting drenched in sweat.
“I’m guessing Sylveen’s spirit cure worked,” I said.
The sun was glaring in the sky overhead, but the dry heat didn’t feel humid. It was kind of like Japan in May. I was betting that the elves’ woods were much cooler now, but I figured I might as well check.
Arriving at the village, I met folks going hunting, collecting water, doing laundry, and completing all kinds of other chores. Nobody was holed up at home anymore. And, to my joy, a cool, wonderful breeze blew through the village.
“Reiji!” Ririka ran up to me.
“Looks like everything’s all right now.”
“Yeah, it is! Did you meet the wind spirit?”
“Uh-huh. He caught a cold, and that brought on the heat wave. I gave him some medicine, so I don’t think we’ll need to worry about the temperature anymore.”
“Thank you so much. You really saved our butts. On behalf of this village, you have our gratitude!”
“Please. I’m just glad we figured out the problem quickly. If things kept going that way, we could’ve lost tons of crops.”
“You’re way too humble, you know that?”
“It’s just the truth. How’s Kururu?”
“Fighting…against his beard. He’ll need to buy more shaving gel, I guess,” Ririka grinned.
He does get a crazy bad five o’clock shadow.
Having confirmed that the weather in the elven village was fine, I headed back to the drugstore. There, I found Sylveen standing on his tiptoes, peeking through the window. He jumped repeatedly, trying to see inside.
“Need something?”
The wind spirit’s shoulders flinched, and he turned around cautiously. Upon seeing me, however, he nodded several times.
“I’m glad you’re doing better,” I told him. “This breeze is nice and cool and everything. You spirits really are something else!”
When I complimented him, Sylveen blushed and looked away. Then, he pulled out a beautiful emerald stone and presented me with it.
“Um…” He pushed the stone toward me. “For me?”
Nod. Nod.
“Are you sure? This looks really valuable.”
Nod. Nod.
“Is it a token of gratitude…?”
Nod. Nod.
“Thanks a lot, then. If you’re ever bored, feel free to drop by and hang out, okay?”
The wind spirit blinked several times in surprise.
“We’ve got all different types here,” I reassured him. “A ghost, a werewolf, a demon king, a spirit, a monster… You’d fit right in. Vivi works and visits regularly too.”
Sylveen grinned and waved, then disappeared into the wind.
This stone’s sure beautiful…
Wind Crystal: Crystallized breeze.
Whoa! That’s kind of incredible. Should a pharmacist like me really have this?!
I had no inkling how to use a wind crystal. Still, I figured the gift showed how much Sylveen appreciated what I’d done.
Heading back inside, I found Mina making breakfast in the kitchen. “Good morning, Mr. Reiji.”
“Morning, Mina.”
“Hmm? What’s that?”
“A gift.” I explained everything that had happened, starting with Ririka’s request.
“Oh my! I had no idea. Sylveen’s all right now, then? Thank goodness. No wonder it’s so cool today!”
“Exactly.”
“Breakfast will be ready soon. Could you wake Noela up?”
“You got it.” I’d slept like a rock myself, so I understood why Noela would still be asleep.
Heading to Noela’s room, I passed the open hallway window. A pleasant breeze came through it. I knocked on her door first, since she was a girl, but there was no answer. With few other options, I opened the door and saw Noela asleep as always.
“Fresh potions!” I exclaimed.
“Garoo?!” Her eyes opened in seconds.
Now I know how to wake her up going forward. “Breakfast’s ready, buddy.”
“Groo…yeah.”
Noela rubbed her sleepy eyes, and we headed to the dining room. Just like that, another ordinary day began here at Kirio Drugs.