After that, the evening bell chimed, and I decided to head back to the royal capital.
As it turned out, I had managed to hunt even more monsters after that.
◇
Monster defeated.
Gained 1 EXP.
5/100 to next level.
◇
"Defeating five raised it by five, which means even at Level 2, each one still gives 1 EXP."
That alone was delightful news.
Having learned so much today, I was thoroughly satisfied.
Upon returning to the royal capital, I went to the guild to claim my reward for the slime-hunting permanent quest.
"Welcome back, Erik-kun."
"I'm back. Reina-san, I hunted some slimes—could you process the permanent quest for me?"
"Of course. How did it go today?"
"Thanks to Ryan-san's training, it was so much easier to fight than before."
When I answered honestly, a warm smile appeared on Reina-san's face.
Once the paperwork was done, I took my reward money and headed back to the inn.
"Welcome back, Erik."
"I'm back, Amanda-san."
Just like Reina-san, Amanda-san greeted me with a "welcome back."
Back when I lived at home, no one had ever said those words to me.
Yet now, they were spoken to me every day as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Quietly cherishing that warmth, I made my way to the dining room.
"Huh? Isn't there more food than usual?"
"It's Ted. He insisted that just breakfast wasn't enough to thank you, Erik, and wouldn't listen when I told him not to make dinner bigger too. I told him doing so much would only put you on the spot."
"...Personally, I'm really happy about it, but um, I feel like this is just too much."
"Fufu, I figured you'd say that. Well, I'll have him put it back to normal tomorrow, so could you just eat it for today?"
In my mind, my reward for helping with the laundry had already been fully settled by breakfast.
Since that was how I saw it, getting extra food for dinner too made me feel like I was taking far more than I deserved.
When I spoke my mind, Amanda-san gently reassured me, and I tucked into the meal.
"Ted-san, thank you for another delicious meal today. Um, but as for the thank-you, breakfast really was more than enough."
"Is that so? The inn has tons of laundry, yet you help out without a single complaint, Erik. I just thought the trade-off wasn't quite fair..."
"That's not true at all. Getting to eat so much of your delicious cooking every morning is more than enough compensation."
After finishing my meal, I spoke to Ted-san directly.
Hearing my words, Ted-san fell into thought for a moment.
"I see. Well, if you say so, Erik, I'll stick to just breakfast... Even so, you're awfully humble. Normally, wouldn't a kid just take whatever they can get?"
"I might accept things once in a while, but I've already received so much kindness from you and Amanda-san just by staying at this inn."
The extra service on my first day, the permission to use the backyard for training...
On top of all that, they had introduced me to wonderful people like Reina-san and Harold-san.
"I've already received more than my fair share, so if anything, I'm the one who needs to return the favor. That's why you have to let me help out tonight!"
"How on earth did you jump to that conclusion?!"
Ted-san yelled in mock exasperation, then burst into hearty laughter.
Hearing him laugh out loud, Amanda-san and Anna-san stared in wide-eyed surprise.
After that, I convinced Ted-san to let me help clean up.
"...You really are good at cleaning. That was done in the blink of an eye."
"If I took my sweet time, there wouldn't be much point in helping, after all."
"Besides, it's ended up cleaner than when we usually tidy up... Whenever Anna wipes down the tables, she always leaves wet spots everywhere."
"Dad, that's completely unnecessary to bring up right now!"
Anna-san protested at Ted-san's remark, making Amanda-san and me chuckle.
With the cleanup finished, I headed off to take a bath.
Having managed to repay Amanda-san and Ted-san at least a little through the chores, I sank into the hot water feeling utterly content.
"My level went up today, and I got to give something back to the inn. It really was a good day."
I reflected on the day's events while soaking up to my shoulders.
Since my required EXP was fixed, I would need to defeat another hundred monsters to level up again.
But defeating a hundred monsters was no hardship for me at all.
As for skills, as long as I kept swinging my sword properly, I should be able to acquire one soon enough.
With countless things I wanted to do tomorrow racing through my head, I got out of the bath and headed straight to my room.
"Next up is acquiring the Swordsmanship skill."
Holding that thought in my mind, I lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.