The request was for housework assistance, offering a reward of five silver coins.
After completing the paperwork for the quest, I headed straight for the destination without even bothering to look at the address on the form.
"Erik-kun! You came. Thank you!"
"I hadn't seen any requests from you lately, so I was wondering... but you've really let things pile up, haven't you?"
"Ehehe, I-I think it's still better than last time, you know? I've had quite a few guests, so there are a lot of dishes, but..."
The quest I took on was helping Marina-san with her housework.
Arriving at her place for the first time in a while, it was indeed quite a sight.
To give credit where it was due, however, dirty dishes were no longer left scattered on the tables.
They were neatly placed in the kitchen sink, and the laundry had all been gathered in one spot.
Even so, the sheer volume was staggering as always.
"I find myself wondering every time, but do you really host enough guests to use this many dishes?"
"I think I mentioned it before, Erik-kun, but I recently rolled out a new product, so we've been having lots of business meetings. The Starsia Company visits often, but other folks drop by from time to time, too."
"...Have you been inviting people over with the place in such a mess all along?"
"I tidied up a little, okay? But lately, I've started thinking it doesn't matter if it gets messy, since Erik-kun will come save the day anyway~"
Marina-san offered a bright, cheerful smile.
Figuring it was fine by me since it was a well-paying job, I set to work immediately.
The power of [Cleaning: 4] was tremendous; my housekeeping abilities had grown even sharper than before.
My eye for spotting grime and the technique required to eradicate it had both been refined. In roughly an hour, I had thoroughly scrubbed the entire requested area spotless.
"Erik-kun, did your cleaning skills level up again?"
"Yes. Just recently, my [Cleaning] skill reached level 4."
"You didn't have it originally, so isn't that awfully fast for having just acquired it? Then again, you were so good at it that it was stranger that you didn't have the skill, so I guess it makes sense."
Marina-san tilted her head, clearly puzzled by the rapid growth of my skill levels.
At this stage, my base level was difficult to raise.
Skill levels, on the other hand, felt much easier to train since I could actually monitor the numerical progress, unlike ordinary people.
"Geez. I really wish I could just hire Erik-kun permanently as my assistant and housekeeper..."
Marina-san muttered wistfully as she signed my completion form.
"Oh, and here, take this."
"...Please don't try to slide extra tips to me so casually."
"Fufu, but you've already taken it~. Just accept it this time."
In one seamless motion, she had handed me a small pouch along with the report form.
Caught completely off guard, I had reflexively accepted it.
With the job finished, I left the building and made my way back to the Adventurer's Guild.
Checking the contents of the pouch along the way, I found five whole silver coins inside.
"Why do I keep getting tipped the exact same amount as the quest reward...?"
Musing over the mystery, I returned to the guild hall.
After having Reina-san process the paperwork at the counter, I decided to accept a few more town requests.
I was planning to head outside the walls again in the afternoon.
Until then, I cleared four more errands before heading over to Sara-san's cafe for lunch.
"Hm? Wait, isn't that Erik?!"
"...Alan? What are you doing here?"
"My bro asked me to run over and grab some sandwiches from this place!"
Upon entering, I spotted Alan at the counter picking up his order.
He was clutching a huge stack of bags in both arms—an amount that clearly wasn't meant for just two people.
"You having lunch too, Erik?"
"Yeah. The sandwiches here are perfect for a midday bite."
"Fufu, I'm glad you like them so much, Erik-kun. Reina isn't with you today, though?"
"We're not joined at the hip, you know. Besides, Reina-san prefers rice over bread, so she said she was going to eat at a diner today."
Lately, she had been accompanying me to this shop out of consideration for both me and Sara-san.
However, Reina-san truly loved rice dishes, so she had opted for a diner instead.
After placing my sandwich order, Alan slid into the seat across from me at my table.
"Alan. Judging by all those bags, weren't you sent to pick up lunch for everyone?"
"A few minutes won't hurt! If I tell my bro I bumped into the guy I traveled to the capital with, he'll understand."
With that, Alan and I began catching up on how we had been doing.
When I casually mentioned that I was already a Bronze Rank adventurer, his eyes went wide with shock.
"Wait, you already ranked up?! I've barely even finalized my registration..."
"You mentioned you were going to study after arriving in the capital. Are you still in the middle of training?"
"Yeah. Because I wound up receiving a ton of skills, they won't stop nagging me about mastering them before I can start taking on real work... Man, I want to hurry up and do actual adventurer stuff, like diving into dungeons and fighting tough monsters!"
Unlike me, Alan clearly yearned for the thrilling, adventurous side of the profession.
"Ah, there you are! I was wondering why you were taking forever, and here you are slacking off!"
"Gah, Philia?! What are you doing here...?"
"You didn't come back, so I came looking for you! Everyone is starving, so what were you thinking, sneaking off to eat by yourself?!"
A girl had suddenly stormed into the cafe, grabbing Alan by the ear to scold him.
She had vibrant blue hair and sharp green eyes.
Standing at roughly the same height as me, she wore training attire very similar to Alan's.
"N-No, you've got it wrong! Look, remember what I told you before? About the friend I came to the royal capital with? I just bumped into Erik by chance, and we were only talking for a second!"
Alan frantically hollered his defense.
At that, the girl—who had been glaring solely at Alan until now—looked over at me, and her face instantly flushed bright red.
"Ah, uh... I-I'm so sorry! I completely thought Alan was eating all alone!"
From the entrance, only the back of Alan's head had been visible.
I had been sitting completely in her blind spot, so she hadn't noticed me at all.
Mortified, the girl cast her eyes downward, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.