The morning after cleaning Marina-san's house, I woke up feeling gloomy.
"...Maybe I really should've taken it after all."
Commercially available laundry detergent.
In terms of pure cleaning power, it wasn't all that inferior to what Marina-san had formulated.
However, the suds lingered stubbornly on my skin.
No matter how many times I rinsed my hands with water, an uncomfortable, slippery film remained between my fingers.
Feeling that residue, I couldn't help but reminisce about the exceptional detergent from yesterday.
"Erik. You seem a bit down today. Is something the matter?"
"Ah, no, I was just lost in thought."
I had been so preoccupied thinking about detergent while doing my laundry that time slipped away before I knew it, and Amanda-san had come out to the backyard.
After that, I helped wash the inn's bedsheets, then headed back up to my room to hang my clothes out to dry.
Today, I changed into my clothes and strapped on my gear right away before heading down to the dining hall.
"Oh my, you're already fully dressed today."
"Yes. Since I was already in my room, I figured I'd get changed ahead of time."
Leaving Amanda-san with that reply, I ate my breakfast, and once finished, I headed out of the inn toward the Adventurer's Guild.
After greeting Reina-san at the reception desk, I made my way straight to the usual room.
"Good morning, Olivia-san."
"Good morning, Erik-kun."
Olivia-san was already waiting inside.
With our greetings exchanged, Olivia-san resumed her training to acquire [Appraisal] today as well.
Beside her, I went through my standard training routine to earn experience points.
◇
Trained [Parallel Thinking].
Gained 1 EXP.
52/100 to next level.
◇
◇
Trained [Mana Control].
Gained 1 EXP.
36/100 to next level.
◇
◇
Trained Mana.
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 to stat increase.
◇
◇
Mana increased by 1.
0/100 to stat increase.
◇
◇
Trained Mana.
Gained 1 EXP.
12/100 to stat increase.
◇
◇
Trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 to next level.
◇
◇
Level has increased.
0/100 to next level.
◇
◇
Trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
3/100 to next level.
◇
✤
Name: Erik
Age: 10
Level: 6
Strength: 16
Mana: 17
Stamina: 15
Agility: 15
Dexterity: 15
Skills
[Swordsmanship: 3] [Physical Enhancement: 2] [Cleaning: 8]
[Earth Magic: 2] [Parallel Thinking: 4] [Mana Control: 3]
[Appraisal: 2]
Special Skill
[Fixed EXP]
Divine Protection
——
✤
[Appraisal] leveled up.
Knowing it was right on the verge, I had been focusing a bit more consciously on using it during practice.
"So your [Appraisal] finally leveled up too."
"It felt like it was close yesterday, so I paid extra attention to it during today's session. Would it be all right if I tried using the leveled-up [Appraisal]?"
"It's your own skill, so you don't need to ask my permission, you know? Besides, looking at how restless you are, I don't think I could stop you anyway, Erik-kun."
With Olivia-san's teasing blessing, I cast [Appraisal] on the chair I had been sitting on.
◇
Name: Adventurer's Guild Chair
Information: Furniture.
A chair placed in the Adventurer's Guild consultation room.
Although mass-produced, it is crafted with considerable care.
◇
The description had changed slightly.
With the previous level of [Appraisal], the result would have been far simpler.
◇
Name: Chair
Information: Furniture. Just a chair.
◇
Before the level-up, I was pretty sure it would have looked something like that.
"It seems like the details I can see with [Appraisal] have expanded a little."
"The skill level only went up by one, but even so, it's definitely become far more useful than before."
"Yeah. It only showed this much because I used it on furniture, but if I use it on raw materials and the like, I should be able to identify their proper names. It'll be way easier to work with now."
With today's training wrapped up, I bade Olivia-san farewell and stepped out of the room.
Afterward, I called over to Reina-san to let her know I was finished for the day.
When I stepped outside the guild, only Leticia-san was waiting there.
"Huh? Haven't Philia and Alan arrived yet?"
"It seems not. I only just arrived myself, so I was surprised not to see Philia-chan and the others here."
Leticia-san seemed to have checked the time repeatedly, wondering if she had gotten the meeting hour wrong.
A moment later, Philia and Alan came hurrying over to the rendezvous point.
"S-Sorry, Erik-kun, Leticia!"
"My bad! It's my fault we're late."
"Good morning, Philia, Alan."
Though the two of them were late, looking at them made the reason immediately clear.
Alan's gear was slightly different than usual.
"Could it be you were late because you were sorting out new equipment?"
"Yeah! My bro saw the shield I used in yesterday's fight against the wild boar and said he'd get me something better, so he picked this up for me!"
Alan showed off his new gear with a proud grin.