The contest with Philia to see who could complete more city requests.
On that final day, we both threw ourselves into the jobs with everything we had.
In the end, I had finished fourteen, and Philia had matched me with fourteen of her own.
At the very, very end, our contest concluded in a draw.
"Well, maybe wrapping things up with a tie at the finish line was the best way for it to end."
Even if one of us had won, that would have been entertaining in its own right.
Turning those thoughts over in my mind, I headed back to the inn.
After returning, I sat down to eat dinner as usual.
"Are there more people here tonight?"
What caught my attention was the crowd in the dining hall.
There were far more people than usual—so many that I practically had to hunt for a seat.
"We opened up the dormitory rooms. You know how adventurers have been flocking here lately because of the dungeon, right? Well, these are royal capital adventurers who were staying at other inns, but their rooms were gone when they tried to go back, so they came over here instead."
"I see. That explains why there are a few familiar faces."
At a glance, I spotted several adventurers whose faces I had seen from time to time around the Adventurer's Guild.
Normally, guests staying in the dormitories were only allowed to sleep there, but as a special measure this time, it seemed they were also permitted to use the dining hall and the bathhouse.
"You have to lend a hand at times like this, after all."
"Fledgling Pavilion really is generous."
"Not entirely out of the goodness of our hearts. On our end, we're making quite a handsome profit off those dorms, too."
With a chuckle, Amanda-san excused herself to attend to another adventurer calling for her.
Once I finished my meal, I headed down to the bathhouse.
There were plenty of adventurers there as well.
Everyone was properly following the bathing etiquette, thoroughly scrubbing down before stepping into the tub.
A few seemed on the verge of hopping straight in without washing up first.
However, other adventurers—whether friends or merely acquaintances, I couldn't tell—stopped them in their tracks and forced them to follow the rules.
If you broke the rules and got kicked out of here, finding another place to stay in the city would be nearly impossible right now.
That was precisely why everyone was on their best behavior.
"I wonder if I'll still be able to train in the backyard tomorrow..."
With this many people around, someone else was bound to want to use it.
Harboring a slight touch of anxiety, I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I stepped out into the backyard carrying a bundle of laundry.
"Huh, surprisingly, nobody's here."
It's going to be packed.
I had braced myself for that outcome, but contrary to my fears, there wasn't a single soul around.
I fetched the wash tools and set to work on the laundry.
"Now then, should I train [Swordsmanship], or maybe [Appraisal]...?"
I pondered it for a moment.
I had already unlocked [Appraisal] as an official skill.
Which meant that, unlike before, actually appraising physical objects might also serve as proper training.
"...Would it hurt to spend just a little mana?"
Unable to resist the temptation, I decided to practice [Appraisal].
◇
Trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
11/100 until next level.
◇
This was my current EXP for [Appraisal].
In my search for a better training method, this hadn't come from activating the skill itself.
Just like before, it was simply the result of gathering mana into my eyes to practice the technique.
What I was about to do now, however, was activate the skill directly.
"All right, what should I use it on?"
I looked around for a suitable target.
Just then, the storage shed holding the washbasins and cleaning supplies caught my eye.
"Okay, let's try it over there."
With that decided, I walked over to the shed and activated the skill.
◇
Name: Washboard
Information: A board used for washing clothes. Used to scrub away dirt.
◇
◇
Name: Wooden Basin
Information: A basin made of wood. Built sturdily.
◇
◇
Name: Broom
Information: Used for sweeping up dirt and debris.
◇
I cast [Appraisal] on three items in total.
When I checked my status screen, what I saw took me completely by surprise.
◇
Trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
12/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
13/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
14/100 until next level.
◇
My EXP had gone up with every single use of [Appraisal].
"...Why?"
Back when I was working on [Cleaning], I understood that my EXP acquisition was fast because I already possessed the underlying real-world technique.
[Appraisal], on the other hand, was a skill I had known nothing about from the start.
"Sure, I studied the materials Olivia-san brought over and spent the last few days researching everything I could about [Appraisal], but... even so, would that do it?"
Activating the skill yielded EXP.
If that were true across the board, then other skills should behave the same way.
I didn't have a distinct sensation of actively "triggering" passive abilities like [Parallel Thinking] or [Mana Control].
So those made sense, but [Earth Magic] and [Physical Enhancement] were abilities I used with clear, deliberate intent.
Yet simply activating them hadn't granted me instant EXP like this before.
"Or was it just that I wasn't being conscious enough of the activation?"
When using [Appraisal], the deliberate intention to "use the skill" in order to inspect a target was much sharper than with other abilities.
Wondering if that difference in focus was the key, I activated [Physical Enhancement] to put the theory to the test.
◇
Trained [Physical Enhancement].
Gained 1 EXP.
17/100 until next level.
◇
"...It actually went up."
The previous value had been 16.
By channeling a much sharper conscious focus into the act of using the skill, a single activation had yielded EXP.
"...When I hunted monsters, I got 1 EXP per kill. It's the exact same principle, isn't it?"
Whenever I fought monsters, defeating one granted 1 EXP.
That was likely because, without realizing it, my focus had been sharp and deliberate in the heat of combat.
Consciousness and knowledge.
I had assumed knowledge was the deciding factor, but I now realized all over again that conscious intent mattered far more.