An hour had passed since I started my work at the Starsia Company.
The rearrangement was a major undertaking; we broke down the old desks and chairs and assembled brand-new ones in their place.
On top of that, we added more shelving and swapped out the curtains, making it a fairly extensive overhaul.
"Hannah-san, why are you doing such a massive remodel all at once?"
"The truth is, our staff has grown lately, and the old layout was getting cramped and awkward to work in. We decided to rearrange the whole room to accommodate everyone. Well, we probably could have handled it ourselves, but we figured having you here would get it done much faster, Erik-kun. So after talking it over with the others, we posted the request."
In truth, it looked like they had plenty of hands even without me.
Still, I made sure to leave the office spotless, leaning into the cleaning skills they expected of me.
The work continued, and about three hours after I first arrived, the entire rearrangement was complete.
"Mmm, that turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much, Erik-kun."
Hannah-san signed the quest report with a warm smile.
"Oh, that reminds me. It's not quite an extra reward, but would you mind trying this out, Erik-kun?"
"Um, what is it?"
"It's a new medicine Marina made. Its safety is already verified, but we aren't sure yet if it'll sell well as a finished product, so we're handing out samples to various people."
With that, Hannah-san handed me a small bottle containing twenty tablets.
Inside was a nutritional supplement.
She explained that it was also supposed to restore a small amount of magic, designed specifically to be marketed to adventurers.
"It won't harm you in any way, so please feel free to use it whenever you like."
"Understood. Once I try it, should I just stop by and let you know how it worked?"
"Yes, that would be a huge help."
Tucking the new medicine into my bag, I left the company and headed back to the Adventurer's Guild.
I walked straight toward Reina-san's counter, but she wasn't at her usual post.
"Huh? That's strange, she's usually right here..."
As I stood there wondering what was going on, another receptionist called out to me.
"Erik-kun, if you're looking for Reina-san, she's in another room having a brief discussion. If you wait a moment, she should be back shortly."
"Oh, I see. Thank you for letting me know."
I thanked the receptionist and waited by the counter.
A few minutes later, just as she had said, Reina-san returned.
"Erik-kun, you're here to report your request, right? Once we wrap that up, do you have a moment to talk?"
"To talk? Sure, of course."
Seeing the serious look on Reina-san's face, I sensed that something important had come up.
After finalizing the report, I followed Reina-san into a private room.
It was a room I had been in once before, and sitting inside was a man I didn't recognize.
"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Dilm."
"P-Pleased to meet you. I'm Erik, an adventurer."
He introduced himself in a gentle, refined voice.
Though somewhat intimidated by his dignified presence, I introduced myself in return.
What Dilm-san said next caught me completely off guard.
He was the magistrate overseeing the region that included my home village.
"W-Why would someone of your standing be here...? Ah, is this about the wyvern?"
"It is. By rights, this was a matter the state should have resolved. However, our response was far too slow. We caused you undue distress, and worse still, forced you to resolve the crisis on your own. You have my deepest apologies."
Dilm-san bowed his head low as he apologized.
Even if a wyvern were to appear near the royal capital, it wouldn't normally require state intervention.
The capital had plenty of garrisoned soldiers and no shortage of capable adventurers.
In rural areas like my old village, however, a wyvern threat was something the governing lord was expected to handle.
Since my hometown fell under direct state administration, soldiers should have been dispatched immediately.
Yet no help had come, forcing Henry-san to make the long journey to the capital just to find adventurers.
"Um, why did things turn out like this?"
"...It may sound like an excuse, but the sudden emergence of the dungeon has partially paralyzed the state's administrative functions. Because it appeared right next to the royal capital, it has drawn immense attention from neighboring nations, for better or worse. Many officials, myself included, were pulled from our normal duties and overwhelmed with managing the fallout."
Dilm-san explained with a deeply apologetic look.
A dungeon right on the royal capital's doorstep.
For the kingdom, it was a tremendous blessing, but also a fertile seed of trouble.
The obvious benefit was that the realm could immediately exploit the resources yielded by the dungeon.
If it were located far away, transport would inevitably take time, but being right beside the capital meant those valuable materials could be utilized with virtually no transit delays.
That would boost national revenue and bring greater prosperity to the kingdom.
At the same time, however, it inevitably stoked the envy and resentment of rival nations.