The day after my meal with Reina-san.
I woke up before the morning bell rang.
"Nnnh... Slept well. In the end, I didn't spot a single slime yesterday, did I..."
I had decided to take leveling at a steady, moderate pace.
With that in mind, I had set out yesterday aiming mainly to hunt slimes.
However, perhaps because I had culled too many of them lately, I could hardly find any.
Because of that, my experience points hadn't increased by much.
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Monster defeated.
Acquired 1 EXP.
41/100 until next level.
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Trained in [Swordsmanship].
Acquired 1 EXP.
12/100 until next level.
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◇
Trained in [Appraisal].
Acquired 1 EXP.
3/100 until skill acquisition.
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◇
Trained in [Physical Enhancement].
Acquired 1 EXP.
21/100 until next level.
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Trained physical strength.
Acquired 1 EXP.
4/100 until stat increase.
◇
This was where my experience stood.
Unable to find any stray slimes, I had spent far more time simply training.
My progress in [Swordsmanship] was accumulating quite nicely.
The reason [Physical Enhancement] had gained so much ground was likely because I had kept it active while walking around.
By deliberately maintaining it as part of my routine, the EXP had built up before I even realized it.
I had tried practicing [Appraisal] for a brief spell, but given how little I understood the skill, it took a full ten minutes just to earn a single point.
After that, it took another two minutes or so to gain one more, but I decided not to push it any further.
"As for physical strength, it went up when I focused my mind during strength training. But maybe because it requires an intuitive grasp of the body, the time it took to gain EXP was completely inconsistent."
That was the sum of yesterday's results.
And so, for my morning routine today, I chose [Swordsmanship].
After finishing my laundry and stopping by my room, I grabbed my wooden practice sword and stepped out into the backyard.
"Good morning, Amanda-san!"
"Oh my, you noticed me before I could even call out today. Good morning to you."
When Amanda-san stepped into the backyard, I had sensed her presence before she had a chance to speak.
It was all thanks to the pendant hanging around my neck.
"It's thanks to this. With the magic tool I got from Cain-san, I could tell you were coming."
The magic tool I had received from Cain-san.
When I put it to use in the field yesterday, it turned out to be remarkably handy.
Its detection radius was reasonably wide, making it easy to pick up isolated targets.
There just hadn't been any stray monsters around to hunt, so I couldn't level up.
After that, I helped Amanda-san with the rest of the laundry.
And, just like always, breakfast was delicious.
"Good morning, Reina-san."
"Yes, good morning, Erik-kun."
Arriving at the Adventurer's Guild, I stepped into the line for Reina-san's counter.
With only a few people ahead of me, my turn came almost immediately.
She laid out the quest forms for me as usual.
"...There seem to be pretty few available today."
"It seems the monster ecosystem around the royal capital has shifted slightly over the past few days. I was only informed this morning myself. I did wonder why so many in-town requests were being snapped up recently."
Apparently, starting a few days ago, most adventurers had found it impossible to make a living outside the walls.
As a result, they had flooded the town-based commissions, rapidly depleting the available pool.
"Did something happen out there?"
"There might be a powerful entity lurking in the surrounding area, so the Adventurer's Guild is currently investigating. If possible, Erik-kun, please refrain from leaving the royal capital for now."
"Understood. In that case, I'll stick to jobs inside the city for a while."
Heeding Reina-san's warning, I picked out a household chore request from the remaining forms.
The pay was standard, and the description simply asked for help cleaning a house.
Heading to the address listed on the paper, I arrived at an ordinary residence and rang the bell.
The client answered the door, and I introduced myself as an adventurer from the guild.
The mess wasn't particularly awful, and within about two hours of starting, I had cleaned the entire place spotless.
"You've been a lifesaver, Erik-kun. Please come help out again the next time it gets dirty."
Surveying his sparkling clean home, the male client beamed with satisfaction.
After having him sign the completion report—with no awkward offers of extra tips this time around—I was glad to avoid any drawn-out back-and-forth and promptly headed back to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Welcome back, Erik-kun. That was fast once again."
"Cleaning happens to be one of my specialties."
"...By the way, are you planning to take on another city job after this?"
"Well, I was thinking about training, but if there's a specific request you'd like me to handle, Reina-san, I'd be happy to take it."
From the tone of Reina-san's voice, I could tell there was something she wanted to ask of me.
Figuring as much, I offered to help if it was a favor for her.
"Really? If so, I'd love to have you help sort out the guild's storage room."
"The guild's storage? Um... shouldn't the staff be doing that sort of thing instead of an adventurer like me...?"
"We all keep talking about getting around to it, but none of us ever find the time..."
The storage room must be in absolute chaos.
I could read that much plain as day from the look on Reina-san's face.
I nodded and told her I would take the job.