The day after I defeated a monster for the first time.
Just like yesterday, I finished my own laundry and then helped out with the inn's wash.
"Amanda-san, I wanted to ask—would it be all right if I did some training out in the backyard?"
"Training, like swordsmanship? Naturally, using a real blade would be dangerous, but as long as you're using a wooden sword, that's fine with me."
Swordsmanship practice was something I had been thinking about before going to sleep last night.
When I ran the idea by Amanda-san, that was her reply.
"If I can use a wooden sword, that would be a huge help. Thank you very much."
"Don't mention it. You're a hard worker, Erik."
After that, we headed back inside together and made our way to the dining room.
I enjoyed another delicious breakfast, returned to my room to gear up, and left the inn.
Upon arriving at the guild, I headed straight for Reina-san's counter.
Only a few people were waiting today, so I took a spot at the back of the line.
Reina-san handled each adventurer with practiced efficiency, and it was soon my turn.
"What'll it be today? Inside the city, or outside the walls?"
"Are there any requests for helping people out around town?"
"There are plenty of people looking for help."
With that, Reina-san showed me a selection of request forms.
Most of them were household chore jobs, just like Marina-san's.
A few involved things like hauling luggage for people who were moving.
"I'll take this one. It looks like it won't take long, and the pay seems decent."
"Good choice."
The job I picked was for household chores.
The work entailed washing dishes and cleaning the living room.
The reward was fifty copper coins.
My sense of money was in danger of getting warped after Marina-san's jobs, but this was still on the higher end of the pay scale.
After all, it was more than double what I had earned yesterday afternoon.
"Um, is this the place?"
Once the paperwork was settled, I left the guild and made my way to the address.
I found myself in a neighborhood lined with rather handsome homes.
It wasn't the noble quarter, but it certainly looked like an area where well-off people lived.
I rang the doorbell and waited outside.
"Could you be the adventurer who took the household chore request?"
The person who answered the door was a gentle-looking woman.
"Yes. I'm here for the chores. My name is Erik."
With that introduction, I presented my adventurer card as proof that I was sent by the Adventurer's Guild.
She showed me inside, where the living room and kitchen were only slightly untidy.
"To be honest, our servant girl usually handles the cleaning, but she's come down with an illness, you see. In the short time she's been resting, things have gotten this messy. She's normally quite particular about tidiness and would scold me if she saw the place like this, so I put out a request in a hurry."
"I see. If it's only this much, I'll have it sorted out in no time, so please feel free to relax in another room."
"Oh, really? In that case, I'll take you up on that and do some knitting in the other room. Just call for me if you need anything. Ah, that's right—I'm Hannah. It's a pleasure to meet you."
With that, Hannah-san excused herself to the next room.
I immediately set to work in the kitchen.
As expected for a house of this size, the tableware was high quality.
Taking extra care not to chip or break anything, I washed the dishes, and once that was finished, I moved on to the living room.
Since it wasn't that dirty to begin with, I wrapped everything up in under an hour.
"Hannah-san, do you have a moment?"
"Oh my, what is it?"
"I've finished the job, so I came to ask you to look it over."
Hannah-san looked surprised by my words.
And when she saw the results with her own eyes, the transformation left her speechless.
"Erik-kun, was it? By any chance, do you know an alchemist named Marina?"
"I do. I actually took a cleaning job at her place just the other day."
"Ah, I knew it! I happened to visit her house yesterday, you see. I was dreading stepping foot into such a disaster, but when I walked inside, it was so spotless that I was truly astonished. To think the very boy who cleaned her place would end up at mine. I'm truly delighted."
"Are you an acquaintance of Marina-san's?"
When I asked, it turned out that Hannah-san was the wife of the president of a prominent merchant firm in the royal capital.
She explained that their firm handled Marina-san's products, so they had known each other for a long time.
"What an incredible coincidence."
"Isn't it? I posted the request the day before yesterday, so I had no idea who you were at the time. And yet, the very same boy ends up at my door... Hee-hee."
Hannah-san chuckled merrily before signing the report form and adding a brief comment.
And just like that, I received an extra silver coin as a bonus tip.
"If I ever need help again, I'd love to ask for you."
"My adventurer rank is still low, so I can't take direct nominations yet, but if you post a request at the guild whenever you're in need, I'll gladly take the job."
"Hee-hee, I'll look forward to it."
With that, I left Hannah-san's home and returned to the Adventurer's Guild.
Reina-san didn't even bat an eye when she saw that I had received another bonus.
She took the report form, processed the request, and handed over my payment.
Next, I asked to see the available jobs that could be done outside the city.
Today, instead of gathering herbs, I was looking for a subjugation quest.
I ended up accepting a slime subjugation request that wasn't part of the standard, permanent listings.
"I didn't know they had listings like this. The reward is so much better, even though it's the same slime subjugation."
"It happens from time to time. Usually when someone needs materials on short notice. Slime parts are in demand for all sorts of things, so clients in a rush will occasionally put out special requests like this. It's a good thing this one was still up, isn't it?"
"Yes! All right, I'll be on my way."
Bidding Reina-san farewell, I walked out of the guild and headed beyond the city walls.