First, I needed to clear a path so we could haul out the trash.
Thanks to the earthquake, books had spilled from their shelves across the floor, and the furniture was completely disarranged.
Since soldiers would be arriving later to handle the paintings, I started with the living room.
A shattered vase had left shards scattered all over.
Just as I had done before with broken dishware, I bound them together using slime fluid and swept them into a trash bag.
Next, I shifted the furniture, swept the floor, and polished the wood until it shone.
Perhaps the room had sat neglected for a while, as a thick layer of dust had settled over everything, but a thorough scrubbing brought back its original luster.
"Erik-kun, I have returned with the soldiers."
Marcus-san came back just as I was wrapping up most of the living room.
Heading out to the entrance hall, I found him accompanied by several soldiers.
"In that case, could you please take care of the paintings and the heavy furniture?"
"You bet! Leave it to us. Put these muscles to work, and we'll have all this hauled out in a flash!"
Flexing their arms, the soldiers beamed with confidence.
"Also, what should we do with these books? I went ahead and boxed them up."
"We will collect those as well. The Madam mentioned they sustained little damage and asked that they be kept."
When I asked about the gathered volumes, Marcus-san gave a reassuring nod.
It seemed they had simply forgotten to mention it earlier, so I was glad I hadn't thrown them away on my own.
"Even so, Erik-kun, have you truly cleaned this much already? It has barely been twenty minutes, has it not?"
"It wasn't in terrible shape to begin with."
"Be that as it may, wasn't dealing with the shattered vase quite troublesome?"
"Not particularly. If you use slime fluid, collecting the pieces is simple enough."
With that settled, I got back to work.
Giving clear directions to the soldiers, I had them collect the boxed books.
Next, they hauled out the paintings and the larger furniture pieces.
Though the earthquake-damaged furniture looked repairable, I was told new pieces would replace them entirely.
As expected of nobility, I thought, pressing on with the task at hand.
With the living room cleared, moving around became much easier, so I headed toward the kitchen next.
"Please carry out the cupboards next. You don't need to be careful with the dishware inside; they're slated for disposal anyway."
"Understood! All right, boys, haul 'em out!"
A few dishes remained on the shelves, teetering on the verge of falling if the cupboards were moved roughly.
Since they were going to be discarded anyway, I gave the soldiers the go-ahead to simply haul the units out as they were.
I gathered the pieces that fell to the floor and bagged them up.
Once all the debris was gone, I wiped down every surface with a damp cloth until the kitchen gleamed.
"What remarkable cleaning prowess. Your skill surpasses even that of the servants of House Fortis."
"I-Is that so? Thank you very much."
Hearing praise from Marcus-san when he came to check on my progress felt genuinely rewarding—especially coming from a seasoned professional.
Once the kitchen was finished, I moved to the corridor where the paintings had been removed.
It was a long hallway, but relatively bare.
A quick sweep and a thorough wipe-down were all it took to leave it spotless.
The rest of the ground floor consisted of the washrooms, which weren't particularly dirty.
Applying detergent to a sponge, I scrubbed them down and rinsed everything away with clean water.
Soon enough, the fixtures sparkled, ready for use at a moment's notice.
"May I clean the entire second floor as well?"
"Yes, those were my instructions."
"Understood."
After confirming with Marcus-san, I headed upstairs.
As I climbed the steps, my gaze caught the status screen hovering in my vision, and my feet came to a sudden halt.
◇
You trained in [Cleaning].
Earned 1 EXP.
100/100 to next level
◇
◇
Level has increased.
0/100 to next level
◇
Seeing the notification, I opened my status to check.
✤
Name: Erik
Age: 10
Level: 2
Strength: 11
Magic Power: 11
Stamina: 11
Agility: 11
Dexterity: 11
Skills:
[Swordsmanship: 1] [Physical Enhancement: 1] [Cleaning: 2]
Special Skills:
[Fixed EXP]
Divine Blessings:
——
✤
Seeing [Cleaning: 2] confirmed on the screen brought a smile to my face.
"Erik-kun, is something the matter?"
"Ah, no, apologies! I was just checking my status."
Marcus-san's voice broke my concentration, prompting me to answer hurriedly and resume walking.
I made my way into the second-floor rooms.
The upper level had three rooms in total: two standard private rooms and a spacious master bedroom.
The private rooms were devoid of furniture, making them quick work.
The bedroom, however, contained a fair amount of furnishings, including a bed and wardrobes.
"What should we do with the bed and the rest? They still look usable."
"They are to be disposed of. We shall carry the furniture out first."
With that, Marcus-san directed the soldiers to start hauling the furniture out of the room.
While they worked, I set about cleaning the private rooms.
Eager to test the effects of [Cleaning: 2], I began working and immediately felt the benefits of the level-up.
Incredible. This makes cleaning so much easier.
My fatigue was visibly reduced, of course.
Beyond that, dirt and dust stood out with far greater clarity.
I swept up the larger debris with a broom, bagged it, and followed up with a damp cloth.
Surveying the finished room, I felt confident it was even cleaner than my previous work.
Ever since I gained the [Cleaning] skill, tidying up has become genuinely enjoyable... I really owe Ryan-san and Reina-san my thanks.
Reflecting on that, I moved into the now-empty bedroom.
Since it was simply a larger space, I followed the exact same routine as before.
"...I had heard the rumors, but to think you truly finished so quickly."
Once all the cleaning was complete, Marcus-san went to fetch Belinda-san.
Stepping over from the main estate, Belinda-san surveyed the spotless detached building and voiced her admiration.
Looking out the window, the sun was already beginning to set.
The first evening bell had rung moments ago, putting the time just past six o'clock.
Since I had accepted the quest and started around noon, the entire job had taken roughly six hours.
"I have cleaned everything to the best of my ability, but please let me know if any area falls short of your expectations."
"...Not a single spot. Your cleaning skills truly live up to the rumors. Marcus, what did you think?"
"We clean on a daily basis ourselves, yet there was much to learn from Erik-kun. In fact, I would welcome him back anytime to instruct our staff."
Belinda-san offered a gentle smile at Marcus-san's high praise.
"For you to speak so highly of him, you must have taken quite a liking to Erik-kun as well, Marcus."
"Indeed. He is an exceptional young man."
"T-That is... I haven't done anything deserving of such praise. It was just ordinary cleaning, after all..."
"Perhaps it is just cleaning, yes. But making a place truly clean is hard work, is it not? Many struggle with it, so demonstrating such skill in so short a time deserves proper recognition."
With that, Belinda-san signed my quest completion form.
On top of that, she held out a gold coin as an extra reward.
"I-I couldn't possibly accept a gold coin!"
"You finished this place in record time; receiving this much is only fair."
Belinda-san pressed the coin into my hands.
Overwhelmed by the excessive generosity, I stood there flustered, but she simply looked back at me with a warm smile.
"Erik-kun, do visit us again. Next time, let us sit down and chat over tea."
Afterward, they even arranged a carriage to take me all the way back to the Adventurer's Guild.
Inside the carriage, I pulled up my status screen to pass the time.
◇
You trained in [Cleaning].
Earned 1 EXP.
23/100 to next level
◇
Even after a level-up, the rate at which EXP accumulated remained constant.
Gazing at the screen, I looked out the window.
Reina-san is definitely going to be shocked.
A whole gold coin.
To a noble, it might just be a slightly generous tip.
To a commoner like me, however—especially one fresh from the countryside—it was a small fortune.
Combining my current savings with the money I kept back at the inn might just barely equal a single gold coin, and that represented everything I had earned across my adventurer career so far.
To think I had made that much from a single request.
...I need to put this straight into savings so my sense of money doesn't get ruined.
I would deposit it at the guild and try not to think about the balance too much.
With that resolve firmly set, I arrived back at the Adventurer's Guild.
I thanked the carriage driver as I hopped down, then headed inside the building.
"Reina-san, I'm back."
"Welcome back. That took quite a bit longer than your other requests, didn't it?"
"It was a job to clean an entire detached building, so it took some time. But the results were well worth it."
I handed my completed report over to Reina-san.
"...A noble client. And from House Fortis, no less. To receive praise of this caliber, they must have taken quite a liking to you, Erik-kun."
"It seems so. And though I'm not sure if it's noted there, I received an extra reward as well."
Saying that, I placed the gold coin onto the counter.
"...Incredible. Even when handling noble requests, very few adventurers ever walk away with a gold coin, you know?"
"I thought so too. For now, I'd like to deposit this along with the standard reward into savings. It makes me nervous carrying that much around."
"Yes, that's probably for the best."
With the paperwork sorted, I deposited both the reward and the gold coin into my guild account.
"Ah, that reminds me—there was something I forgot to mention, Reina-san. Ted-san asked me to tell you to come eat at the inn again. He mentioned there had been a bit of friction between you two before."
"...Well, I might have pushed my recommendations a little too hard back then, which caused some distance between Ted-san and me. I didn't hold it against him, but work piled up right around the same time, so I haven't had a chance to visit."
"The inn actually started serving rice recently, you know. I told Amanda-san and Ted-san about my trip to the diner, and the two of them went to try it out. Turns out Ted-san—who used to refuse to even touch it—has gotten completely hooked on rice."
"I'm glad he's come around to liking rice, but I suppose I would've preferred it if he'd listened when I introduced it..."
Reina-san pouted slightly, then fixed her gaze onto me.
"Come to think of it, Erik-kun... did you eat lunch today?"
"...I-I did, of course. I bought some skewered meat from a stall."
"Really?"
"...I'm sorry. That was a lie. I didn't eat."
Wilting under Reina-san's piercing stare, I came clean.
By way of an excuse, I explained that I had gotten so caught up in the request that eating completely slipped my mind.
"So it wasn't on purpose, then? In that case, I'll let it slide. Even I forget to eat from time to time when work gets hectic."
Hearing her say that, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Before I left, Reina-san asked me to pass along word that she would drop by the inn for a meal in a few days.
With the message memorized, I called it a day and headed back to the inn.