After arriving at the guild, I headed over to Reina-san's reception counter, just like yesterday.
"You look like a proper adventurer today. But that's not the kind of equipment you could buy with just the money from yesterday. Where did you get it?"
"Amanda-san referred me to Harold-san's shop."
"—!...Fufu, I see. It seems Amanda-san has high hopes for you as well. You really are an incredible boy."
A fleeting look of surprise crossed Reina-san's face, but a smile immediately returned.
Seeing that shift in her expression, the guild once again erupted into a stir.
"Reina. Is this kid that novice adventurer?"
A man walked over to where we stood.
He was large and powerfully built, with slightly long red hair tied back behind him.
His eyes were the same shade of red as his hair, and the distinct aura of an expert radiated from his frame.
"Master. Did you really come all the way down here just to check that?"
"Well, if that Reina of all people has acknowledged an adventurer for the first time in ages, of course I'd want to get a look at him, wouldn't I?"
After exchanging those words with Reina-san, the man she called Master stared intently at me.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Erik. Um, and you are...?"
"Whoops, my bad. Almost everyone in the royal capital knows who I am, so I clean forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ryan. I'm the Guildmaster of the royal capital's Adventurer's Guild."
"T-The Guildmaster?! I-I'm so sorry!"
When I hurriedly apologized, Ryan-san let out a boisterous laugh.
"I don't care about someone asking my name, so there's no need to apologize! More importantly, how'd you get Reina to acknowledge you? She's good at her job, but she's utterly unsociable, you see. She's so picky about adventurers that nobody ever approaches her counter."
He muttered the last part in a whisper meant only for my ears.
However, Reina-san heard every word.
Ryan-san couldn't see her expression from where he stood, but she was glaring at him with a truly terrifying face.
"Master? You certainly have nerve badmouthing me right to my face. In that case, I shall be reporting to your wife that you have been drinking without permission—which, as you know, she forbade."
"H-Hold on a second! Anything but that!"
Ryan-san let out a pathetic cry, but Reina-san completely ignored him.
Moments later, other staff members came over and hauled Ryan-san away to the back.
"Um, is that all right? He is the Guildmaster, isn't he?"
"That may be true, but Master was the one who badmouthed me first. Besides, his wife specifically asked me to keep an eye on him, so it is entirely fine."
Apparently, he had caused trouble in the past while drunk.
Thinking it too cruel to force him to quit drinking altogether, his wife had made a deal allowing him to drink only at home.
However, Ryan-san had broken that promise and sneaked off to drink at a tavern.
"Uh..."
"Erik-kun, I imagine you will learn to drink when you're older, but you must never overdo it, all right?"
I nodded at Reina-san's warning and had her show me the available requests for the day.
Since I had come in full gear, several outside quests had been set aside for me.
"...Huh? I feel like I saw this one yesterday too."
Among the request forms was another from Marina-san, whom I had helped with housework yesterday.
Just like before, it was a request for cleaning and chores.
"It seems that after you went home yesterday, Erik-kun, she continued her experiments, got the proportions wrong, and made an absolute disaster of the first floor. The client specifically asked for you, if possible."
"I understand. In that case, I'll take care of her request before doing any subjugations."
"Are you sure? Weren't you planning to head outside in your gear today?"
"That was the plan, but it would weigh on my conscience to ignore someone who treated me so well. I'd rather take care of it first and head outside in the afternoon."
After letting Reina-san know, I accepted the housework job.
Then, following the same path as yesterday, I made my way to Marina-san's house.
"Erik-kun! Thank you so much for coming! And I'm so, so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. I only took the job for the reward, after all."
The moment I rang the bell, Marina-san burst out the door with frantic energy.
Her clothes were even filthier than yesterday, leaving no doubt that her experiment had indeed gone horribly wrong.
Stepping inside, I saw that the living room and workshop were in a dreadful state.
"I-I'm sorry. Even after you made it so spotless yesterday..."
"I told you, it's fine. More importantly, the workshop is pretty bad too. Do you want me to clean that today as well?"
"Yes, please! There are hazardous materials around, though, so I'll stay in the room and clean alongside you."
"Understood. I'll start with the living room, so could you move the dangerous items out of the way in the meantime?"
"Got it!" Marina-san replied, immediately getting to work.
I headed to the storage closet and grabbed the cleaning supplies I had used yesterday.
Unlike before, only the living room and workshop were dirty.
Thinking I could easily wrap this up before noon, I got to work.
Though the mess was the result of a failed experiment, wiping it down wasn't all that difficult.
Even when encountering stubborn stains, Marina-san had an abundance of specialized cleaning agents in the house.
Putting them to good use, I wiped away the grime with ease, and the room quickly regained its former shine.
"Marina-san, I've finished cleaning the living room."
"What, already?! It hasn't even been an hour!"
It had taken less than an hour from start to finish.
When I went to give my report, Marina-san gave me a stunned look and hurried over to inspect the living room.
The grime on the furniture had been completely scrubbed away, leaving the place looking even cleaner than it had yesterday.
"A-Amazing. Maybe I should just put in a weekly cleaning request for Erik-kun..."
"Every week? A house doesn't get dirty that fast, you know."
"Heh. Don't underestimate me, Erik-kun. Making messes is my specialty!"
For some reason, Marina-san puffed out her chest and declared it with absolute pride.