I obtained [Physical Enhancement].
I told Reina-san right before heading back to the inn.
"...Understood. I'll let the Guildmaster know on my end."
Reina-san had almost cried out in surprise, but managed to catch herself at the very last second.
Returning to the inn, I finished dinner, took a bath, and headed straight to my room to collapse onto the bed.
Days when I used magic power always left me thoroughly exhausted.
The moment I lay down, I fell into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.
The next morning, the ringing of the bell woke me.
"Ngh... Slept like a log."
Feeling completely refreshed without a trace of lingering fatigue, I grabbed my laundry and headed out to the backyard.
Amanda-san had evidently stepped outside just moments before me and was preparing the wash.
"Oh my, I didn't think you'd be coming today, but you're up and about."
"Yes. The bell woke me right up."
"Fufu, it looked like you had quite the exhausting day yesterday."
Exchanging pleasantries, I set up my washboard and tub.
After finishing my own clothes, I helped wash the inn's bedsheets and linens.
"Ah, that reminds me—I went over to Cain-san's place yesterday for a quest."
"Oh? So Cain was back in the royal capital. That boy is always off traveling somewhere, so I rarely get to see him."
Amanda-san then began reminiscing about the days when Cain-san had stayed at the inn.
Originally, Cain-san hailed from a prosperous town—though not quite on the scale of the royal capital.
He had longed to be an adventurer ever since he was young.
Deciding that the royal capital was the best place to make a name for himself, he had relocated here.
"Cain was extraordinary right from the start."
Unlike me, who only possessed a single special skill, he began his journey with four skills already at his disposal.
Putting those skills to full use, he launched his adventuring career.
His talent bloomed almost immediately, and he rose through the ranks at a staggering pace.
"To think such an incredible person stayed at this inn before me. It really makes me feel like I need to step up my game, too."
"Fufu, other people are other people, so you should just focus on going at your own pace. Besides, your main goal is just to survive, isn't it, Erik? If that's the case, taking adventurer work in moderation should be more than enough."
"...No, in my heart, I really intend to see this through properly."
Becoming an adventurer had been a choice made out of sheer necessity to survive.
If I simply maintained my current situation, I could certainly stay alive, but there would be no true freedom in that.
To live freely.
That was my ultimate goal.
"You have the kind of dream anyone might hold, Erik, yet it feels surprisingly grounded coming from you. Did something in particular spark that desire?"
"A spark... Well, it's not that there wasn't one, but..."
Trailing off, I hesitated over how to put it into words.
"Erik. If it's hard to talk about, you don't have to push yourself right now. You can tell me the rest whenever you feel ready."
"...I'm sorry. No, I can talk about it—I was just trying to figure out how to explain it. As for why I think this way... it's because I almost died once."
The moment those words left my mouth, Amanda-san's eyes widened in shock, and the garment in her hands slipped right back into the tub.
"Back then, I was five years old, but even at that age, I knew I was unwanted in that house. That's why I spent most of my time outside, foraging for nuts and wild vegetables all by myself."
A little before I began helping out around the village, I headed off to the nearby forest as usual.
I managed to gather the greens without any trouble that day, but a sudden downpour drenched me to the skin.
Panicking, I rushed home and dried myself off with a towel to keep from falling ill.
Even so, the cold had seeped deep into my bones, and by the next morning, I had come down with a burning fever.
"As I mentioned before, my family treated me as though I didn't exist. That didn't change just because I was sick."
"...So, even in that state, no one took care of you?"
"No. While I was lying bedridden, not a single person came to check on me."
I managed to endure the first day somehow.
Because I had gathered wild greens the day before, I could at least stave off the worst of the hunger.
However, despite having a severe cold, I couldn't change my soaked clothes, nor did I have access to proper food.
The illness dragged on, and in the end, I spent two full days without a bite to eat or a drop to drink.
"Naturally, I came close to death. The day my fever finally broke enough for me to move, I gorged on the breakfast left out on the table and threw it all right back up."
"...While you were sick with that fever, did your family really not check on you even once?"
"Not once. And when I finally showed my face after several days, they just acted as if nothing had happened. Getting caught in the rain while foraging nearly cost me my life back then. But thanks to that, I realized once and for all that staying in that house would eventually kill me."
From that day forward, I started doing chores and odd jobs around the village.
To survive—because I refused to die—I honed every skill I could.
In return, I received meager sums of copper, groceries, or daily necessities.
Sometimes, my only compensation was being taught a practical trade, but I kept working relentlessly.
"I actually learned to read and write quite early on. I knew above all else that I wouldn't survive long without literacy, so I went to the village chief and begged him to teach me."
"So that's why your handwriting is so neat, Erik."
"I'll always be grateful to the village chief for teaching me. He knew how my family treated me, and it seemed he wanted to do whatever he could to help."
The village chief and the other villagers who showed me kindness protested to my family several times.
However, my family simply told them to keep their noses out of other people's household affairs, and the way they treated me never changed.