The day after learning [Shield Technique], I woke up to the sound of the morning bell.
"Looks like the fatigue really caught up with me... At least I massaged my muscles properly, so there's no soreness. That's a relief."
I sat up and checked how my body felt.
There was no particular pain anywhere.
I felt a slight sluggishness, but that was probably just because I had just gotten out of bed.
Afterward, when I took my laundry downstairs, Amanda-san was just about to head outside.
"Amanda-san, you're always up around this time, aren't you? Even though you stay up so late at night?"
While doing the wash, the question slipped out naturally.
"My mornings vary, you know? As you've probably noticed, Erik, sometimes I'm up before the morning bell, and other times I come down about thirty minutes late."
"That's true, but it's still roughly the same, isn't it?"
"Well, that's just second nature from living the same way for so many years. Aside from that, I take a short nap around noon. If I didn't, there's no way I could work through the entire day."
"Even with naps, I think you work an awful lot. Um, it might not be my place to say, but please take care of yourself."
When I said that, Amanda-san looked slightly surprised before breaking into a warm smile.
"Fufu, I'm fine. I know my own body best. You're the one who needs to hear that, Erik. Working hard every day is great, but resting your body is just as important. Since coming to the royal capital, you haven't taken a proper break, have you?"
"Ugh, I can't argue with that..."
"You're full of energy right now so you feel fine, but exhaustion can catch up to you in an instant. Make sure you're careful."
"...Yes, ma'am."
After finishing the laundry, I hung my clothes up in my room, got dressed, and headed to the dining hall for breakfast.
Once I finished eating, I left the inn and made my way to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Good morning, Reina-san."
"Good morning, Erik-kun. Regarding today's training, Olivia-san said the training grounds were open, so you'll be practicing over there."
"Understood. Thank you very much."
With the message from Reina-san in hand, I headed toward the training grounds instead of the private room.
When I arrived, only Olivia-san was there; no one else was using the area.
"Good morning, Olivia-san. So we're over here today."
"Good morning, Erik-kun. Yes, we've been cooped up in that room for a while, but now that this place is finally available again, I thought we could alternate between the two."
"I see. By the way, how is the reference material coming along?"
"It's progressing. There's quite a lot to compile, though, so please let me know if there are any days you'll be staying overnight in the dungeon. I'll take a break from training on those days so I can dedicate myself entirely to the paperwork."
With that sorted out, we immediately began today's session.
Since we were in the training grounds for the first time in a while, we decided to work on [Earth Magic] instead of [Appraisal].
It had been some time since I cast spells under Olivia-san's watchful eye.
To be honest, I was nervous, but I managed to push through the training.
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Trained [Parallel Thinking].
Gained 1 EXP.
31/100 until next level.
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Trained [Mana Control].
Gained 1 EXP.
26/100 until next level.
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Trained Mana.
Gained 1 EXP.
38/100 until stat increase.
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Trained [Earth Magic].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 until next level.
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Trained [Earth Magic].
Gained 1 EXP.
100/100 until next level.
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Level has increased.
0/100 until next level.
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Trained [Earth Magic].
Gained 1 EXP.
1/100 until next level.
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When I checked the screen, [Earth Magic] had leveled up.
With our session finished, I went to report to Reina-san.
"Erik-kun, hold on a moment. Philia-chan and the others are outside, right? Before you head off to lunch, could you call everyone in so we can talk for a bit?"
At Reina-san's request, I stepped outside, gathered Philia and the rest of the party who had already arrived, and returned to the counter.
"You remember the monsters you reported earlier? The investigation and response have officially wrapped up."
"That took quite a few days, didn't it? Since it was so close to the royal capital, I assumed adventurers or the kingdom's soldiers would take care of it right away..."
"...They wanted to, but they couldn't."
Reina-san went on to explain the truth behind the monsters we had encountered.
That pack had been following a specific alpha monster.
The subjugation squad sent out initially couldn't defeat it and was only able to drive it away from the plains.
It was a higher species of wolf-type monster—a silver wolf.
Even on its own, a single silver wolf possessed strength on par with a Gold Rank adventurer.
She explained that their natural pack instincts could lead them to gather in numbers reaching up to a thousand at their peak.
"A-A thousand? Isn't that enough to wipe out an entire town...?"
"Yes, but fortunately, this pack hadn't grown to that scale yet. There were around fifty of them, and the subjugation force successfully eliminated the pack along with its leader, the silver wolf."
Hearing that the threat had been dealt with, a collective sigh of relief washed over us.
Reina-san then placed a pouch heavy with coins on the counter before us.
"...What's this?"
"A special reward. If you hadn't reported it, Erik-kun, that pack might have grown far more dangerous and inflicted massive casualties. The Adventurer's Guild and the kingdom discussed it and arranged this bounty for you."
"We get this much just for making a report?"
"Bounties are paid based on the severity of the threat. For minor issues, you might only get a word of thanks or a small token....Not that I think any of you would ever do this, Erik-kun, but you must never manufacture a problem just to report it, all right? Doing that could land you in prison at worst."
We nodded emphatically at Reina-san's warning.
Then, we opened the pouch to check the contents.
"...Reina-san, how much is in here?"
"Fifty silver coins. That should give you an idea of just how dangerous the situation was."
We hadn't filed the report looking for money.
Even so, we gratefully accepted the reward.
We split it evenly: ten silver coins for each member, with the remaining ten going straight into the party fund.