Chapter 48: Rumors 4

First, I secured a path for removing the rubbish.

The earthquake had spilled books from the shelves across the floor and thrown the furniture out of position.

Soldiers would come later for the paintings, so I began with the living room.

A vase had shattered, scattering fragments.

I gathered them using slime fluid, just as I had with the broken dishes before, and placed them in a rubbish bag.

Then I moved the furniture, swept the floor, and polished it carefully.

The room appeared to have been abandoned for a while, so dust had accumulated, but I removed it and left everything clean.

“Erik, I’ve returned with the soldiers.”

Marcus returned just as I was nearly finished with the living room.

When I went to the entrance, I found him with several soldiers.

“Could you please remove the paintings and the large furniture?”

“Leave it to us! With our muscles, we’ll carry that furniture out in no time!”

The soldiers flexed proudly.

“What should we do with these books? I’ve gathered them for now.”

“We’ll collect those too. They suffered little damage, so Madam instructed us to preserve them.”

Marcus answered my question.

Apparently, he’d forgotten to mention them. I was relieved that I hadn’t discarded anything without permission.

“Still, Erik, have you already made it this clean? Only about twenty minutes have passed.”

“It wasn’t especially bad to begin with.”

“Even so, didn’t the broken vase make things difficult?”

“Not really. Slime fluid makes gathering the fragments simple.”

Then I resumed working.

I gave the soldiers precise instructions. They collected the boxes of books and carried away the paintings and large furniture.

Some furniture had been damaged by the earthquake but could still be repaired. However, they told me it would be replaced with new pieces.

As expected of nobles, I thought while continuing.

Once they removed the living-room furniture and made transportation easier, I moved to the kitchen.

“Please carry out the shelf. They’re discarding the dishes, so don’t worry about them.”

“Understood! All right, men, carry it out!”

Several dishes still remained on the shelf, so forcing it to move could make them fall.

Since I’d been told they would be discarded, I gave the soldiers those instructions, and they carried the shelf away.

I gathered whatever fell and placed it in rubbish bags.

Once the rubbish was gone, I wiped the floor with water and dried it carefully.

“Your cleaning ability is extraordinary. You’re more capable than the Fortes household’s servants.”

“R-Really? Thank you.”

Marcus had come to observe and praised me.

I was genuinely happy to receive recognition from a professional in the field.

When the kitchen was clean, I moved to the hallway after the paintings had been removed.

It was long but relatively empty.

All I needed to do was sweep and wipe it.

The remaining areas on the first floor were water facilities and not especially dirty.

I put detergent on a sponge, scrubbed them thoroughly, then rinsed them with clean water.

That left them shining and ready for use at any time.

“I’m permitted to clean all of the second floor too, correct?”

“Yes. Those were the instructions.”

“Understood.”

After confirming with Marcus, I went upstairs.

I happened to glance at the screen I’d kept open, and my feet stopped for an instant.

◇

[Cleaning] training completed.

1 EXP acquired.

EXP until next level: 100/100.

◇

◇

Level increased.

EXP until next level: 0/100.

◇

Seeing that, I checked my Status.

✤

Name: Erik

Age: 10

Level: 2

Strength: 11

Magic: 11

Stamina: 11

Agility: 11

Dexterity: 11

Skills

[Swordsmanship: 1] [Body Enhancement: 1] [Cleaning: 2]

Special Skill

[Fixed EXP]

Blessings

——

✤

I smiled after confirming that [Cleaning] had risen to Level 2.

“Erik, is something wrong?”

“Ah, no. I’m sorry. I was checking my Status.”

Marcus spoke when he saw me stop. I hurriedly answered and continued walking.

Then I entered the second floor.

It contained three rooms: two ordinary private rooms and one larger bedroom.

The private rooms held no furniture, so cleaning them would be easy.

The bedroom contained a reasonable amount, including a bed and shelves.

“What should we do with the bed? It still appears usable.”

“We intend to dispose of it. We’ll remove the furniture first.”

Marcus directed the soldiers to begin carrying everything from the room.

While they did that, I cleaned the private rooms.

When I began, intending to test [Cleaning: 2], I immediately felt the benefit of the higher level.

“Incredible. Cleaning will become even easier.”

Naturally, it reduced fatigue even further.

Dirt and debris also appeared more clearly.

I swept the larger rubbish together, placed it in a bag, then wiped the room with water.

After inspecting the result, I was confident it looked even cleaner than rooms I’d completed earlier.

“Ever since I acquired [Cleaning], I’ve enjoyed cleaning even more… I need to thank Ryan and Reina.”

With that thought, I moved into the now-empty bedroom.

It was simply a larger space, so I cleaned it using the same procedure as the private rooms.

“…I’d heard the rumors, but you truly finished this quickly.”

Once all the cleaning was complete, Marcus went to summon Belinda.

She came from the main mansion and said that after inspecting the detached building.

Outside, the sun was beginning to set.

The first evening bell had rung a short while ago, so it was just after six.

I’d accepted the request around noon, meaning the cleaning had taken approximately six hours.

“I cleaned everything I could with my own hands. If there’s anywhere that doesn’t satisfy you, please tell me.”

“…There wasn’t a single place. Your cleaning ability truly matches the rumors. What did you think, Marcus?”

“We also clean regularly, but there were several things we could learn from Erik. I’d certainly like to invite him again so he can teach us his methods.”

Belinda smiled at Marcus’s words.

“For you to say that, you must have taken quite a liking to Erik.”

“Yes. He’s an excellent young man.”

“I-I haven’t done anything deserving that much praise. It was only cleaning…”

“It may be only cleaning, but making something clean is difficult. Some people are poor at it. You deserve recognition for cleaning this thoroughly in so little time.”

Belinda signed the report.

Then she tried to give me one gold coin as an additional reward.

“I-I can’t possibly accept a gold coin!”

“You finished cleaning the entire building this quickly. You certainly deserve this much.”

Belinda pressed the gold coin into my hands.

It was far too much. As I stood there flustered, she smiled at me.

“Erik, come again. Next time, let’s talk over tea without rushing.”

After that, they even prepared a carriage and transported me to the Adventurers’ Guild.

Inside it, I checked the screen to distract myself.

◇

[Cleaning] training completed.

1 EXP acquired.

EXP until next level: 23/100.

◇

Even after the level increased, the rate at which I gained EXP hadn’t changed.

Seeing that, I looked outside.

“Reina will certainly be surprised.”

One gold coin.

For a noble, it was only somewhat more than usual.

However, for a commoner like me, especially one who’d only recently left a rural village, it was a fortune.

If I combined my savings with the money left at the inn, I’d have a gold coin, but that represented everything I’d saved throughout my adventuring career.

Now I’d earned the same amount from a single request.

“…I’ll deposit it so my sense of money doesn’t become distorted.”

I’d leave it with the guild and avoid thinking about my savings too much.

I made that decision before returning to the Adventurers’ Guild.

When I disembarked, I thanked the driver and entered.

“Reina, I’m finished.”

“Welcome back. This took longer than your other requests.”

“I was cleaning an entire small mansion, so it took a little while. However, the request produced several useful results.”

I handed Reina the report.

“…For the Fortes family, a noble house, to give you such a high evaluation, they must have liked you considerably.”

“It appears so. I don’t know whether it’s written there, but I also received an additional reward.”

I placed a gold coin before her.

“…Incredible. Even after accepting a noble’s request, adventurers rarely receive a gold coin like this.”

“I agree. For now, I’ll deposit this and the listed reward. Carrying them frightens me.”

“Yes. I think that’s best.”

We completed the request procedure, and I deposited the gold coin and reward.

“Ah, there’s something I forgot to tell you. Ted asked me to invite you to eat at the inn again. I heard you had an argument before.”

“…I pushed my recommendation a little too strongly, and Ted and I grew somewhat distant. I wasn’t upset, but work became busy at the same time, so I stopped visiting.”

“Incidentally, the inn has begun serving rice. When I told Amanda and Ted about eating at that restaurant, they went together. Apparently, Ted had been refusing to try rice, but then became fascinated by it.”

“I’m happy he learned to like rice, but I’d have been happier if that had happened when I introduced it…”

Reina said that, then stared intently at me.

“Come to think of it, Erik, did you eat lunch today?”

“…Y-Yes. I ate grilled meat on a skewer from a stall.”

“Really?”

“…I’m sorry. That was a lie. I didn’t eat.”

Unable to withstand her gaze, I confessed honestly.

As an excuse, I explained that I’d become absorbed in the requests and forgotten.

“You didn’t deliberately refuse to eat? Then that’s somewhat better. Even I occasionally forget when work becomes busy.”

Her answer left me relieved.

Afterward, Reina asked me to tell them she’d visit the inn for a meal on another day.

Having received her message, I ended my activities for the day and returned to the inn.