"Around when did you become an academy teacher, Olivia-san?"
"Geez. Look what you did, Cain! Now you've gotten Erik-kun curious!"
Olivia-san glared at Cain-san as she spoke, then began to explain with a slight pout.
First, she shared her age, telling me she was turning twenty-six this year.
And it turned out she had taught at the academy six years ago, working as an instructor at just twenty years old.
"Isn't being an academy teacher at twenty incredible?"
"It really is. In fact, I don't think anyone has broken Olivia-san's record as the youngest ever, have they? After all, she was already a Platinum Rank adventurer by then."
"Huh, really?!"
"It was just because I received a good skill at the ritual, that's all."
Incidentally, Cain-san was twenty-two this year.
While on the subject, they also told me Reina-san's age, which came as quite a shock.
Reina-san was eighteen—only eight years older than me.
"Reina-san seems so mature and composed that I thought she was older."
"Fufu, she's been like that since she was little. Did your time overlap with hers, Cain?"
"No, I think she had already left. We went out to eat occasionally, though, so we did see each other."
As Cain-san said that, his food arrived, and he began eating with relish.
"By the way, I've been hearing a lot of rumors about Erik-kun in the royal capital lately."
"I've heard them too. Erik-kun has only been taking cleaning jobs among the city requests, so the clients have all taken to calling him the 'Cleaning Fairy.'"
"Cleaning Fairy...? Why that nickname...?"
"Hmm, well, I can understand where they're coming from. Seeing such a small kid working so hard at cleaning probably made them think of a fairy."
I hadn't gotten enough to eat during my early childhood.
Because of that, I was a bit short compared to other boys my age.
"I'll grow from here on out. I'm eating properly every day now, so..."
"I'm sure you will. You get plenty of exercise, Erik-kun, so you'll grow big and strong in no time."
Hearing my defense, Olivia-san offered some gentle comfort.
After finishing our meal, we parted ways outside the shop.
I made my way back to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Good morning, Erik-kun! You look kind of down. Is something wrong?"
"Morning, Philia. Well, it's just..."
I told Philia about the nickname Cain-san had mentioned.
"A fairy... Well, I can kind of see what they mean."
"Not you too, Philia! We're practically the same height!"
"...Erik-kun, I'm a girl, and I'm on the smaller side even for my age."
"...Let's drop the subject. Any more emotional damage and it's going to affect my work."
Faced with Philia's blunt truth, I retreated into denial.
We headed inside the Adventurer's Guild and walked up to Reina-san's counter.
After accepting our respective requests, we parted ways outside.
Today, I once again selected housekeeping tasks focused on cleaning, while Philia took on jobs similar to yesterday's.
Just as I had the day before, I activated [Physical Enhancement] while traveling.
That way, I could cut down on travel time while training my [Physical Enhancement] on the go.
◇
You have trained in [Physical Enhancement].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 to next level
◇
◇
Level up.
0/100 to next level
◇
After finishing several requests, I checked my screen and saw that my [Physical Enhancement] skill level had increased.
"Yes! Now I'll be able to use [Physical Enhancement] even more effectively!"
I immediately activated the leveled-up skill.
The difference between Level 1 and Level 2 was distinct enough that I could feel the improvement the moment it took effect.
Moving even faster than before, I powered through my assignments.
"Man, there were a lot of requests with huge cleaning areas today..."
Yesterday, I had taken on several quick tasks, like washing dishes or clearing out the trash from a single room.
Today, however, there were only about three simple jobs like that; the rest were all fairly large-scale.
As a result, my pace dropped sharply compared to the first day, and I managed to complete only twelve requests.
"You look bummed that the count is low, but you had some pretty tough jobs in the mix, right? Completing that many is still really impressive!"
Seeing me sulk over the lower number, Philia spoke up to reassure me.
"Speaking of which, you had several difficult ones too and still managed fourteen, didn't you, Philia? How do you clear so many search-and-find requests?"
"If it's inside a house, it's surprisingly easy. The places where small items get misplaced are usually the same. If it were outdoors, though, that'd be a different story."
On the second day, I had barely edged out Philia in total requests.
Today, on the third day, I had finally lost to her.
Etching today's frustration into my heart, I said goodbye to Philia outside the guild.