Afterward, Ryan-san told me that because he had work to take care of, our training would take place in the afternoon.
So, I decided to take on requests during the morning as usual.
"I ended up hearing something pretty shocking. Was it really all right for me to listen in on that?"
"You've taken great care of me, Reina-san, so it's completely fine. Besides, having you understand what I'm capable of will broaden the range of requests you can recommend to me."
Saying so, the two of us returned together to the reception desk.
I asked to see the city request forms and looked through them.
While checking, I figured Marina-san probably hadn't posted one, and sure enough, there was nothing from her this time.
In the end, I picked out a request and decided to accept it.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the adventurer Erik. I'm here regarding the housework request."
The job I took was for domestic chores, and once again, it was house cleaning.
The residence was on par in size with Hannah-san's estate, and when I rang the call bell, a man answered.
"Thanks for coming, you're a lifesaver. I'm Cain. I'm an adventurer just like you."
Cain-san was apparently a fellow adventurer, but our ranks were worlds apart.
He was Gold Rank.
"Our professions might be the same, but our ranks are on a completely different level. Wouldn't someone of your standing be able to hire servants?"
"Well, I could, sure. But see, I leave the house empty for days on end, so paying wages during those stretches feels like a waste, doesn't it? In that case, it makes more sense to just hire an adventurer to clean whenever I happen to come home. Plus, it helps me get to know more of my fellow adventurers."
"I don't really see much benefit in a Gold Rank getting acquainted with someone of a low rank like me, though..."
"That's not true at all. You never know who's going to rise through the ranks. Even if it's just being on nodding terms, knowing people can lead to future work."
After Cain-san said that, he showed me inside so I could survey the work area.
It certainly needed cleaning, but it was nowhere near the disaster zone of Marina-san's place.
If anything, the overgrown yard needed far more attention than the interior.
"By the way, would you like me to tidy up the yard as well?"
"Oh, you can handle that too? If you're willing, I'd really appreciate it. It looks pretty awful out there."
"Understood. I'll get right to work, then."
Having assessed the layout, I dove straight in.
I picked up the discarded trash and clothes scattered across the floor, tossing the garbage into the bin and placing the garments into the laundry basket.
Moving briskly as always, I tidied the living room and proceeded to the kitchen.
There was certainly a mountain of dishes, but not a scrap of leftover food remained on them.
On top of that, Cain-san seemed to be the type to give dishes a quick rinse after eating, so they weren't particularly greasy.
"Whoa, incredible! To think it could get this clean in just an hour... Honestly, it's cleaner now than it was before I made a mess of it."
Having knocked out the living room and kitchen in a single hour, I moved on to clean the other rooms.
The first floor of Cain-san's home consisted of the living room and kitchen.
Originally, there had been two private rooms, but they had been renovated into a storage room.
That area saw frequent use and contained items he preferred not to have disturbed, so I left it alone.
The second floor housed a bedroom and two private rooms, which were in relatively good shape.
I wrapped up cleaning upstairs in a brisk thirty minutes and headed out into the yard.
"Sorry about this. Letting the yard get so completely overgrown, I mean... Whenever I'm away on requests, yard maintenance just falls by the wayside."
"Don't worry about it. When it's this overgrown, the results are much more noticeable. Is there anything you'd like me to leave untouched?"
"Not at all. Feel free to mow down the whole lot."
With Cain-san's permission, I grabbed a sickle and went to work clearing the weeds and overgrowth.
It turned out nothing had been left lying around the yard in the first place, so simply weeding the area transformed it completely.
"Amazing... I had no idea my yard was this spacious. I could probably do some training out here from time to time."
"Definitely. And with this much room, you could easily hang laundry out to dry."
"Ah, good point! I didn't have anywhere outside to hang clothes, so I set up a drying pole indoors. Would it be all right to move that out here?"
"Of course. I'll give you a hand."
Together, Cain-san and I carried the indoor drying pole out into the yard.
I then washed the dirty clothes gathered during the cleaning and hung them out on the newly relocated pole.
"That takes care of all the cleaning. As for the laundry, please just bring it inside once it dries, Cain-san."
"Got it, I can handle that much myself. Man, thank you so much! It's been ages since I've seen this place looking so spotless!"
Taking in his freshly cleaned home, Cain-san beamed with delight.
"The standard request reward isn't nearly enough for this. Hold on a second."
"Wait, no, hold on—"
I tried to stop Cain-san as he turned to fetch an extra reward.
However, his fleet feet easily outpaced my voice, and he vanished in the blink of an eye.
A few minutes later, Cain-san returned holding a necklace.
"It's a magic tool I used to use back in the day. I ended up getting better gear, so it's just been sitting in storage. For a beginner adventurer like you, I figure it'll come in handy, so go ahead and take it."
"Wait, no, no! I can't accept something so valuable just for cleaning your house!"
"It's fine, really. It might seem valuable from your perspective, but to me, it's just a piece of junk collecting dust in my storehouse."
Brushing off my protests, Cain-san practically forced it into my hands.
"...By the way, what kind of effect does it have?"
"To put it simply, channeling magical power through it allows you to sense living creatures in the vicinity. For an adventurer who doesn't possess magic detection or presence detection, it's an exceptionally useful magic tool."
"That sounds incredible! It must be insanely expensive!"
"Heheh, you really are a good kid. But I've already handed it over, so no take-backs~"
Cain-san's easygoing smile made it crystal clear that returning it wasn't an option.
In the end, I had no choice but to accept the gift. I had him sign the completion report, then took my leave.