Chapter 38: A Disturbance 2

After accepting the request, I came to the guild’s warehouse.

It occupied an enormous underground space.

“The shelves themselves are properly installed… What are those materials piled over there so carelessly?”

“Those come from standing requests. They accumulate easily. We used to have designated places for them, but we’ve been so busy that they ended up like that.”

“In that case, I think you should’ve prepared large boxes there from the beginning…”

Reina showed me around the guild’s warehouse.

Its floor area was approximately the same as the Stacia Trading Company’s warehouse.

However, the Stacia warehouse had a higher ceiling, so the guild’s felt a little cramped.

This request involved organizing only the front section.

Many valuable materials were stored farther inside. If I handled and damaged them, I could owe an enormous amount in compensation.

With that risk in mind, I would clean only the area containing relatively inexpensive materials.

Once the explanation was complete, I began immediately.

“I’ll start there. First, I’ll remove the reason half the entrance is blocked.”

Materials from standing requests had been left near the entrance.

They’d overflowed until they blocked half of it.

I decided to begin there.

“Are the materials at the bottom still usable?”

Those beneath the other boxes appeared to have been crushed flat by the weight.

“Well, they aren’t things I’m permitted to throw away. For now, I’ll place them in the same box.”

Before beginning, I’d asked Reina to prepare several large wooden boxes.

The warehouse contained many kinds of unused wooden boxes farther inside.

Several employees brought them forward and placed them wherever I directed.

Naturally, I attached wheels beneath them so they could be moved easily.

I made the simple modification using dollies that had also been sitting unused in the warehouse.

I first checked with Reina. Since neither the boxes nor the dollies were in use, she granted permission before I did anything.

Then I wrote the material names on the boxes and sorted everything.

“Even this alone looks much better.”

Once I’d sorted them, the mountain of materials near the entrance had disappeared.

The wheeled boxes were easy to move, so I positioned them directly near the entrance.

Each box was labeled, making it possible to see immediately what it contained.

“Next are the shelves… They look clean at a glance, but they’re actually quite disorganized.”

Many adventurers delivered materials to the Adventurers’ Guild every day.

The employees probably placed them in the warehouse hastily because they had limited time.

A few areas had been organized, which suggested that at least one employee had attempted to tidy things.

“If even one person is trying, it won’t become messy again immediately. If I make it easy to organize, the others should help too.”

With that thought, I began organizing the shelves.

First, I gathered identical materials together.

Most were stored in the same area, but some had been placed elsewhere.

Similar-looking materials had especially been mixed together.

I separated them by material, placed them into boxes, and arranged the boxes on the shelves.

Three boxes for each material were generally enough, so I prepared three wooden boxes for every type.

“…The fact that they have this many wooden boxes probably means someone intended to organize things.”

Reina had told me I could use the boxes freely, so I did without hesitation.

I sorted the materials and labeled every box.

That made them easy to identify at a glance and should make the warehouse easier for the employees to use.

For materials that were easy to confuse, I added warning notes and continued organizing with usability as my priority.

Naturally, I swept the floor as well.

Dust and rubbish had accumulated beneath the shelves, and some materials had even fallen there.

“I’ll place the fallen materials in this box for now. I certainly can’t throw them away without permission.”

Even if they’d fallen beneath or behind the shelves where nobody could find them, they were still valuable materials.

I didn’t know whether every one had value, but I made sure not to discard any on my own.

“Erik, let’s take a lunch break… What?”

I’d begun organizing the warehouse at approximately ten o’clock.

The first midday bell had just rung, and it was now lunchtime.

Reina entered at that moment and called to me.

“Reina, is it already lunch? I haven’t finished cleaning yet…”

“…You made it this clean in only two hours?”

“Yes. Is something wrong?”

“It’s less wrong than… astonishing…”

She seemed shocked by the warehouse’s transformation.

It certainly looked much cleaner than when I’d begun.

However, I wasn’t finished.

“I finally understand why every report praises you.”

I’d intended to work without a lunch break, but Reina dragged me out.

She took me back to the same restaurant as yesterday.

“Eat properly. Cleaning uses a great deal of energy, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but I can last until dinner.”

“Just eat. Otherwise, your body won’t grow properly. Skills and training are important, but meals are extremely important too.”

After Reina lectured me, I ate the same set meal as yesterday.