The next morning, I didn't oversleep.
I carried my laundry out to the backyard and washed it.
Then, after heading back to my room to hang the clothes up to dry, I grabbed my wooden sword and went outside to the backyard once more.
"Hah!"
I swung the sword.
Just as Ryan-san had taught me, I focused on keeping the balance in my legs and hips steady, drilling the movements into my body.
Since I couldn't perform them purely on instinct yet, I carried out my training by consciously thinking through each and every action.
◇
You have trained in [Swordsmanship].
Gained 1 EXP.
65/100 until skill acquisition.
◇
After only about an hour of training, it had risen this much.
Ever since learning how to properly handle a sword, the rate at which I gained experience points had noticeably improved.
As I looked over the skill's experience tally, my status screen caught my eye.
"...Come to think of it, Ryan-san did say stat values could be increased through training too, didn't he?"
It was something I had learned after arriving in the royal capital, but stats could indeed be raised through dedicated effort.
For strength, muscle training.
For magic, repeatedly casting spells.
For endurance, distance running.
For agility, performing quick, explosive movements in short bursts.
For dexterity, doing intricate, delicate work.
It was a rough summary, but that was essentially how Ryan-san had explained it to me.
"Should I give it a shot?"
Curiosity got the better of me.
Just how far did the scope of my special skill reach?
To find out, I dropped down and started doing push-ups right where I stood.
I had learned the proper form back in my home village from an older man who was obsessed with building muscle.
At the time, I had assumed he was just doing it because he enjoyed it.
Looking back, though, maybe he had been doing it to raise his strength all along.
◇
You have trained in Strength.
Gained 1 EXP.
1/100 until stat increase.
◇
"...Are you serious?"
To be honest, I had started out half-doubting that anything would come of it.
Yet the text on my screen had updated, plain as day.
And I had racked up experience points after just about ten minutes of push-ups.
If I did this more efficiently, I could probably gain experience even faster.
Mulling over the possibilities, I decided not to push it any further for today.
"First comes [Swordsmanship]. Getting that skill will be the greatest weapon I can have right now."
Picking myself up, I resumed my [Swordsmanship] training.
A short while later, Amanda-san came out into the backyard, so I put my sword away and lent a hand with her laundry.
"My rental period isn't up yet, but I'll still be needing the gear, so maybe I should stop by Harold-san's shop before heading over to the guild."
After breakfast, having paid to extend my stay at the inn, I thought about renewing my equipment rental as well.
As for the inn, I paid for another two days.
Last time, I had tried paying for three days as a test, but in the end, I decided sticking to two days was better.
Truthfully, I wanted to pay for several days at once.
However, doing that would drain my savings, so I wanted to live as frugally as I could.
Turning those thoughts over in my head, I arrived at Harold-san's shop.
"Oh, if it ain't the kid! What's up? It's not due back yet, is it?"
Harold-san seemed surprised that I had shown up before the deadline.
"I was planning to rent it for another week, so I wanted to come pay early while I still have the coin on hand."
"I see... Say, kid, you liking that gear?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. Even though it's mass-produced, it fits my frame perfectly, so I really like it."
"In that case, would you do a little favor for me? As a reward, I'm thinking of letting you keep the whole set I've been lending you."
I was taken aback by the unexpected offer.
If I were a high-ranking adventurer, receiving personal requests from acquaintances or past clients would be normal.
Between Harold-san and me, though, our connection was simply that of a shopkeeper renting out gear.
Even with Amanda-san acting as our intermediary, we didn't have the kind of rapport where he would casually ask me for private favors.
"...Would it be alright if we went through the guild for this? I'm still a beginner adventurer, so if the guild decided I violated the rules, I could lose my registration."
"I was plannin' on doing that from the start. Shall we head over to the guild together right now?"
With that, Harold-san set his tools down and stepped outside with me.
He locked up the shop's front door, and the two of us set off for the Adventurer's Guild.
Upon arriving at the guild, we approached Reina-san's reception counter. Once we explained the situation, she escorted us into a private room.
"Well then, Harold-san, may I ask what kind of request you were hoping to offer Erik-kun?"
"...Truth is, my warehouse got wrecked. It's a total disaster in there. But an acquaintance told me that if it's the kid, the cleaning would be done in no time, and he'd even fix up the shelves for me."
"...Harold-san, by any chance, who might that acquaintance be?"
"Ah, Marina the alchemist. It happened right on the day my shelves broke and I was moping over it. She happened to drop by the shop, and when I told her what happened, she brought up the kid."
Hearing why the job had come my way, I was surprised to find that Marina-san had a hand in this once again.
Inwardly, I offered her a heartfelt thank-you.
"I see. It's true that Erik-kun's cleaning abilities were highly commended in the previous report. However, since he is still a beginner adventurer, setting this up as a nominated request would be difficult."
"Yeah, I know. That's why I came straight to the Adventurer's Guild."
The restriction against nominated requests was a policy created to protect low-ranking adventurers.
In the past, low-ranking adventurers were allowed to accept nominated requests freely.
Back then, since hiring high-ranking adventurers through nominations cost a fortune, certain clients exploited low-ranking adventurers for cheap labor.
The offered rewards were extraordinarily lucrative for rookies.
Many took on those nominated requests, and the vast majority ended up losing their lives.
Even if adventuring was inherently hazardous work where people put their lives on the line, those tragedies were accidents the Adventurer's Guild could have prevented.
Shortly thereafter, strict conditions were placed on nominated requests.
A new rule was introduced: only adventurers of Silver Rank or higher were permitted to accept them.
"Regarding Harold-san's request, we will process it as a standard public request. It takes a little time to clear the paperwork, so if we submit it now, it will be posted first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I will hold onto it as a referral request for Erik-kun."
"Um, is it really okay for you to do that, Reina-san? Isn't that basically the same as a nominated request?"
"Town requests aren't particularly popular to begin with. Especially not when it comes to household chores. Recommending such a job to Erik-kun, who currently handles so many of them, presents no problem at all. And even if someone does raise an issue, I will handle it on my end."
Flashing a sweet, reassuring smile, Reina-san left both Harold-san and me completely speechless.