Chapter 47: Rumors 3

“Is this the place?”

The request offering ten silver coins involved cleaning a noble household.

When I said I’d accept it, Reina warned me.

The client understood that an adventurer would come, so as long as I wasn’t openly disrespectful, there shouldn’t be a problem.

I briefly considered choosing something else but accepted it for the sake of my skill level.

“What brings you here, young man?”

“Excuse me. Is this the Fortes residence? I’m Erik, an adventurer sent by the Adventurers’ Guild. I’ve come after accepting the household-assistance request.”

I addressed the guard at the entrance as politely as possible.

I normally paid attention to my language to a reasonable degree.

This time, I consciously made it even more formal.

“Ah, they mentioned something about that this morning. Wait here while I confirm it.”

One of the two guards went inside.

After approximately five minutes, he returned and admitted me.

“Are you the adventurer who accepted our request?”

The guard guided me into the house and showed me to a reception room.

Two people were inside.

One was a white-haired man dressed as a butler, and his appearance made his occupation obvious at a glance.

The other was an elegant woman seated on the sofa who was clearly a noble.

“My name is Erik. I’m an adventurer.”

“Erik. Aren’t you the boy people have recently begun discussing around the city?”

“Most likely. I’ve accepted many household-assistance requests since coming to the royal capital, and rumors about me have begun spreading.”

“I see. Marina has told me a great deal about you.”

I was surprised to hear Marina’s name even here.

I tried not to show it, but apparently failed, because the woman smiled.

“Are you curious about my relationship with Marina?”

“Ah, well… I was only surprised to hear the name of someone I know.”

“Hee hee. You truly are an adorable child. Marina and I are friends who meet for tea. When I was suffering from an illness, I hired her to make medicine. We became close afterward. She’s careless in her personal life, but she’s extremely capable at her work.”

I could understand that.

She frequently made a mess of her house and couldn’t tidy anything herself.

However, she possessed tremendous knowledge of [Alchemy].

Her workroom contained the results of many studies. She’d shown me a few, and every one had been impressive.

“Madam, forgive me for interrupting. We should explain the work. That place will take time, and it would be unfair to Erik to delay him.”

“My, you’re right. I’m sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Belinda von Fortes, wife of Count Fortes. This is Marcus, the estate’s chief butler.”

“Erik, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Marcus.”

After the introductions, they explained the work.

I would be cleaning a detached building on the estate grounds.

It had previously been cleaned regularly, but the recent earthquake overturned the furniture and left it in a terrible condition.

“We can have the soldiers remove the furniture, but dishes and other things shattered too. Since I had the opportunity, I decided to hire the adventurer Marina had told me about.”

“I understand. Thank you for submitting the request.”

“Hee hee. It’s fine. I’ve wanted to meet you, and this gave me the perfect opportunity to hire you.”

Belinda said that, and Marcus guided me away.

The detached building was reasonably large, even larger than an ordinary family’s entire home.

“As expected of a noble household. Even the detached building is this large.”

“Indeed. Even so, ours is considered one of the more modest ones.”

Marcus explained that as we entered.

The interior was already disastrous near the entrance.

Paintings that must have hung on the walls lay on the floor, while vases had shattered and their flowers had wilted.

“The earthquake left it in a terrible state.”

“Yes, but the kitchen is even worse. Prepare yourself before following me.”

I followed Marcus to the kitchen.

A shelf that must have contained many dishes had fallen, scattering broken crockery over the floor.

Part of the floor had also collapsed, and I felt this would take considerable time.

After he showed me the rest of the building, we returned to the entrance.

“I generally understand the situation. Is there anything I mustn’t discard, or anywhere I’m forbidden to enter?”

“Nothing in particular. Soldiers will collect the paintings later, but we intend to discard everything else.”

“Understood. I’ll begin immediately.”

“Please do. I’ll call the soldiers.”

Marcus left the building, and I began working.