I had caught a glimpse of it when I grabbed the drying rack and poles earlier, but this room was in quite an impressive state of disarray as well.
"Well, rather than garbage, it's mostly materials scattered everywhere... The ones on the floor still look usable, so I suppose I'll sort them by type."
While clearing out the living room, I had set aside several empty boxes.
I began sorting the materials into those boxes by category for the time being.
For anything that was difficult to identify, I used [Appraisal] to determine what it was.
Using [Appraisal] too much would drain my mana, so I only relied on it when I had no other choice.
"...I-In the ten minutes or so it took me to eat, more than half the floor is already visible?"
"There weren't any large pieces of furniture in the way, so the work went a lot faster. For now, I've gathered everything that looks ruined over there—could you double-check them? If any are still usable, please toss them into the sorted boxes."
"E-Erik-kun, your cleaning skills have improved way too much..."
Surprised by how fast I worked, Marina-san inspected the sorted materials and began going through them.
"It was really just cluttered, so it wasn't all that difficult."
"No, it's you who's amazing, Erik-kun! You dart around so fast, sweeping and gathering dust so accurately... your movements are on a completely different level from mine!"
Cleaning the workroom took less than thirty minutes.
Compared to when I started, the entire atmosphere of the room had vastly improved.
It had been so packed with clutter that opening or closing the window had been impossible, but I cleared away the mess so that someone could walk right up to it.
"Marina-san, I understand getting engrossed in your research, but keeping a workable space is important too, you know? Nothing happened this time, but if the air had become toxic and you needed to ventilate, you wouldn't have been able to before."
"I'll be careful from now on. Having you come over really saved me, Erik-kun."
Marina-san smiled warmly as she looked around the tidy workroom.
After that, we brought back the materials temporarily moved to the living room and arranged them neatly in the storage area.
"By the way, regarding the new detergents you made—are you planning to put them on sale as soon as you show them to Hannah-san?"
"Hmm, it takes a little time for the firm to register them as official merchandise, so they probably won't be sold right away. Did you take a liking to them, Erik-kun?"
"...To be honest, I really did. The way the laundry detergent lifted stains while being so gentle on the hands was genuinely impressive."
"Fufu, hearing you say that makes me so happy~"
Pleased by my praise, Marina-san inexplicably began packing the detergents into a bag.
"...What are you doing?"
"Eh? Oh, just a little token of my thanks for today! It's not a reward, okay? Just a thank-you gift, right?"
"That is very clearly a reward! I can't accept that!"
I immediately pushed back as Marina-san tried to slip me such an exquisitely useful gift as compensation.
Seeing my reaction, however, Marina-san simply broke into a grin.
"You say that, but your eyes have been glued to the bag this whole time, haven't they?"
"Kh!"
Without even realizing it, I had been staring right at the bag.
"S-Still, I'm not taking it!"
Even so, I stubbornly stood my ground.
Marina-san and I locked eyes, neither of us willing to back down.
"Mmh... you really are stubborn, Erik-kun."
"I am. So please give up."
At my firm reply, Marina-san finally conceded and set the bag back on the table.
"I lose this round. I'll just accept your kindness."
"That was the whole point from the beginning. Still, the detergents really were fantastic, so I hope you can commercialize them soon."
"Fufu, in that case, I'll give it my all during the pitch to Hannah-san. If I mention that you loved them too, I'm sure she'll be interested."
By the time Marina-san finished speaking, dusk had already begun to fall outside.
After giving the toilet one final scrub, the cleaning of Marina-san's house was entirely complete.
It had looked like a dreadful hoarder house when I first arrived, but after a thorough clean, it had transformed into a proper, spotless home.
"Marina-san, as I mentioned earlier, I haven't been taking city quests lately. So please do your best to keep it clean, all right?"
"Got it! I think I'll be focusing purely on product manufacturing for a while, so I'll do my best to maintain this state. Erik-kun, thank you so much for today."
With Marina-san's heartfelt thanks seeing me off, I stepped out of the house.
After retrieving all my gear, I left her residence and headed back to the inn.
Once I returned, I maintained my equipment and ate dinner in the dining hall.
After finishing my meal, I took a bath to wash away the day's grime and headed up to my room.
"I didn't get much hunting done today, but I managed to repay Marina-san's favor, so it was a good day..."
Musing to myself, I lay down on the bed and pulled up my screen to check my status.
◇
Trained in [Cleaning].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Level increased.
0/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained in [Cleaning].
Gained 1 EXP.
87/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained in [Parallel Thinking].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Level increased.
0/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained in [Parallel Thinking].
Gained 1 EXP.
31/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained in [Mana Control].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Level increased.
0/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained in [Mana Control].
Gained 1 EXP.
12/100 until next level.
◇
◇
Trained in Mana.
Gained 1 EXP.
87/100 until stat increase.
◇
◇
Trained in [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
80/100 until next level.
◇
✤
Name: Erik
Age: 10
Level: 6
Strength: 16
Mana: 16
Endurance: 15
Agility: 15
Dexterity: 15
Skills
[Swordsmanship: 3] [Physical Enhancement: 2] [Cleaning: 8]
[Earth Magic: 2] [Parallel Thinking: 4] [Mana Control: 3]
[Appraisal: 1]
Special Skills
[Fixed EXP]
Divine Protections
——
✤
Not only had [Cleaning] leveled up, but it had already accumulated over 80 EXP toward the next level.
I had been using other skills alongside it while working.
Thanks to that, [Parallel Thinking] and [Mana Control] had leveled up as well.
"...[Appraisal] has built up quite a bit of EXP, too. It should level up soon."
As [Appraisal] rises in level, it reveals more detailed information.
I was looking forward to seeing how much more it would show.
With those satisfied thoughts drifting through my head, I closed my status screen, shut my eyes, and fell asleep.