After that, the food arrived, and I ate lunch together with Reina-san.
The bread was wonderfully soft, and the sandwich was packed full of ingredients.
"Reina-san, thank you for introducing me to such a great place to eat."
"Don't mention it. I just wanted to help promote a friend's shop, so I brought you along, Erik-kun. But I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Chatting like that on the way back, we returned to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Huh? Some adventurers are heading back inside. Did they just return from the dungeon?"
"Hmm, no, those adventurers are from out of town. Word about the new dungeon must have already spread, bringing them here."
Reina-san stared intently at the adventurers and immediately determined that they weren't locals from the royal capital.
With that, she walked around to the reception counter and took her seat.
"Can you really tell the difference between royal capital adventurers and those from other towns?"
"Not every single one, of course. Just by their general vibe. Well, I have been a receptionist for quite a while now. More importantly, what are you doing this afternoon? Are you taking on another request?"
"Yes, that's the plan. Do you have any good ones?"
"Hold on a moment. New requests might have come in during our break, so I'll go take a look."
Reina-san headed into the back to check the request forms.
A few minutes later, she returned and showed me several options.
"If you're looking for in-town work, how about these?"
Most of the request forms she showed me were for domestic help.
What was more, every single one was for cleaning up after the recent earthquake.
"As I thought, that earthquake really did cause a lot of damage."
"Yes. My room didn't have many belongings, so it was fine, but a vase I'd displayed fell and shattered. I imagine there are quite a few homes throughout the city that suffered significant damage."
"...I understand. In that case, I'll take this request."
With that, I accepted a domestic help request offering a reward of 10 copper coins.
The client was a middle-aged woman with bandages wrapped around one of her legs.
She had injured her leg during the earthquake, leaving her unable to clean up on her own.
I told her to just sit back and relax in a chair, then set to work cleaning the messy room.
"Incredible! To think you could clean up such an awful mess and make it this spotless in just two hours!"
The client praised me happily and signed the completion form.
Returning to the Adventurer's Guild, I saw that the sun had yet to set, so I decided to accept another job.
The next request was also for domestic help, and here, too, the inside of the house was in a terrible state from the earthquake.
Once I finished my second cleaning job, I got the completion form signed and stepped outside.
Then, after walking a short distance, I checked my status screen.
◇
You have trained in [Cleaning].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 until skill acquisition.
◇
◇
Acquired [Cleaning].
0/100 to next level.
◇
I had officially acquired the [Cleaning] skill.
"Acquiring it in a single day... [Fixed EXP] really is an incredible skill."
The only disappointing part was that I had acquired it right when the job was already done.
As a result, I hadn't gotten a chance to feel the skill's effects yet.
"...Maybe I should take on one more."
Eager to test it out, I made my way back to the Adventurer's Guild.
After reporting the job's completion to Reina-san, I told her I wanted to take on one last request.
"Didn't you say earlier that you were going to train after finishing your second job today?"
"...Actually, I've been trying to get the [Cleaning] skill since this morning. It finally unlocked right as I finished just now, so I really wanted to try it out in practice."
"...To think you learned a skill in a single day. Talking to you really is full of surprises, Erik-kun."
Reina-san sighed in mild disbelief and laid out the request forms.
I thought other adventurers might have taken some while I was away, but the board hadn't changed at all.
The royal capital's adventurers—from beginners to veterans—seemed completely fixated on the dungeon right now.
"I'll take this one."
The job I selected was a domestic help request with a slightly higher reward of 1 silver coin.
The details specified the size of the house.
Since my goal was to test out the skill, I purposely chose a request that let me clean a spacious area.
The client turned out to be a young woman.
She explained that the earthquake had knocked over her cupboards, leaving the floor covered in debris and too dangerous to walk on, which was why she had posted the request.
The living room had gotten fairly messy as well, so she decided to have the whole place cleaned up at once.
"Well then, I'll get started right away."
I gave my word to the client and began working.
The effect of [Cleaning] was an overall improvement in one's ability to clean.
I immediately focused my mind on the skill and went to work.
"...This really is an amazing ability."
One notable effect of [Cleaning] was making dirt and messes stand out with greater clarity.
When looking at the floor, it was effortless to spot where every shard of broken dishware had scattered.
On top of that, it reduced the fatigue that came with cleaning and made my movements noticeably swifter.
Guided by the effects of [Cleaning], I swept through the rooms.
I had hoped to finish before sunset, but the entire job wrapped up in just a little over an hour.
"...Are you some kind of cleaning prodigy?"
"Ahaha, well, cleaning is a specialty of mine. If you ever need help again, feel free to put up another request. I might just take it."
"Hehe, once you're able to take Permanent Requests, I'm definitely requesting you specifically for cleaning."
The client was overjoyed, admiring her gleaming living room and kitchen with deep satisfaction.
After having the completion form signed, I left the house and returned to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Erik-kun, how were the skill's effects?"
"It was fantastic! I had no idea a skill like this even existed. I wish I'd learned it much sooner."
I enthusiastically shared my impressions of using [Cleaning] with Reina-san.
After submitting the form and completing the paperwork, I deposited the reward money straight into my savings and called it a day for work.
With the remaining daylight, I decided to head back to the inn and practice my [Swordsmanship] in the backyard.