Magic Warrior Chapter 73 (Patreon)

Cleaning Request

I knock on the door of the Guildmaster's room.

“You can come in!”

I entered the room to find Reda-san struggling with a stack of papers.

“Mina-chan and the others, what's up?”

“We came to talk to you about the room cleaning request that was posted on the wall.”

“Last night, I came home for the first time in a long time, and I had to come back to the guild because of all the dust. I don't need to go into every nook and cranny, but I do need a quick clean.”

...It's really about cleaning. Not in the guild, but at Reda-san's house.

“I'll show you when I'm done, so sit back and wait for me.”

Reda-san looked down at the papers and started writing something down.

The three of us sat quietly and waited, and Reda-san seemed to have finished his work to the last detail and got up from his seat and stretched.

“Here you go. Let's go!”

◇

Reda-san took us to the end of the street, where we entered the ring road of the northeast district from East Street. It is a little before the houses of the nobility, and it is said that people who do not have a title but are in a certain position, such as guilds and merchants, live in this area.

The site is surrounded by a solid iron fence, and the buildings are large enough to look up at.

Reda-san stopped at one of them and opened the gate to go inside.

From the large gate, which was designed to accommodate horse-drawn carriages, to the front door was a cobblestone pavement, and the front yard between the two was still grass, except for a few trees standing in between. There was also a flower bed under the window of the house, but this too appeared to be untouched, with only soil.

Considering the direction of the house, this could have been the main garden, but it looked very bleak.

“I don't come home frequently, and it's a hassle to maintain, so I haven't planted much.”

Reda-san said that it would cost a lot of money to take care of the garden, and he walked quickly to the front door. The house is symmetrical, in the style of an early 18th-century country house.

“It's a big house, isn't it?”

“I guess you can live in a house this big when you become a guild master.”

I followed Reda-san into the house, who unlocked the door while talking secretly with Clare.

“The hall and the corridor are still fine, but the rooms are not.”

When we entered the hall, there seemed to be rooms on both sides, and there was a door. There is also a door in the front of the house, which seems to be a room. In front of the front room, a hallway extends to the left and right. There is also a staircase to the second floor.

When Reda-san passed through the hall and entered the room in front of him, he found that it was indeed very dusty, perhaps because of the carpet. Walking around a little, the dust makes my eyes hurt.

Looking closer, I think the hallway is not so clean in the corners either.

“From the second floor to the basement, just give me a quick dusting of the tables and floors, please. It would take a long time to do it all, so you don't have to do the details.”

“Understood.”

First, he opened the windows to ventilate the room and started on the second floor.

We decided to use the life magic we had learned from reading books to clean the rooms as a simple coordinated practice for the three of us.

I confirmed with Reda-san that the carpet on the floor was short-haired and washable.

“Let's get to it!”

Rilfana signals for us to begin.

“Cleaning.”

“Washing.”

“Drying.”

Rilfana sweeps out the trash that has accumulated in the “cleaning” section. As she says, she doesn't use it usually, so it's easier than cleaning the house because there are no papers or other things around that can easily fly away.

Clare washes the floor and tables in one go, and I dry them off with my "dryer".

“Mina-chan and the others are spectacular, aren't they? In all my years of living, I've never seen anyone use life magic so well. I bet you could make a living as a cleaner in an aristocrat's house. I envy them for their dexterity.”

Reda-san rolled her eyes in amazement.

“I guess it's the result of raising my magic power.”

Life magic is still magic, so it seems to have a skill level. It's a physical effect, but I think the effect is that as the skill level increases, it becomes easier to perform fine manipulations.

But I don't think he is as old as he looks after being alive for so many years, but he looks so calm. 

“If it's Mina-chan and the others, I don't think I'll have to stay with them all the time, so I'll go back to the guild first. I'll be back to check on them at 1:00 p.m., so just do what you can until then.”

After Reda-san returned to the guild, the three of us worked together to clean one room at a time.

At this pace, we'd probably be done before noon. 

“Next up is the basement, right?”

The second floor has more bedrooms and private rooms, six in all, while the first floor has guest bedrooms and a dining room on either side of the hall. At the end of the hall was a large reception room, bath, and kitchen.

According to Reda-san, the basement is used for servants' quarters and storage rooms. Of course, he said they were not in use.

I turned on the light switch of the magic machine next to the staircase.

“There's quite a bit of dust in the hallway here, too, sister.”

“You said you didn't use it at all, let's do the hallway here too.”

“Yes!”

I proceed to the end of the hallway, trying to clean it with the same life magic as on the upper floor. When we reached the corner room, Rilfana gave me a curious look.

“Mina-sama, there's something in this room. You're not using it, are you?”

“A person?”

“No, I don't think it's that big. It's probably a cat or something...”

Rilfana's sense of presence is not enough to determine what is in the room.

The entrance door is closed, and since it's underground, I don't think it could have come in through an open window.

“We don't want it to come out from somewhere, so let's check it out first.”

“Understood.”

Rilfana drew her dagger and stood in front of the door, while Clare readied his staff and began to gather his magic.

Since I can't use my one-handed sword in the hallway, I take out my spare dagger.

Rilfana gives me a signal with her eyes, and Clare and I nod.

I open the door. The light switches are often located on either side of the door, and it is dangerous for Rilfana to face the wall, so I find the switch from behind and turn on the light.

The room had many empty shelves, which, I assumed, was a storeroom for food or liquor.

“Rats?”

At the far end of the room was a large gray rat with black speckles.

It was a Waste Rat, an animal that lives in sewers and caves, and not a monster. But it was a kind of vermin that could clog the sewage system. There is no problem exterminating them.

In SeveChro, its name and appearance often appeared in sub-quests to explore the sewers, but it was not a monster that could be fought as a monster, as it only added to the atmosphere of the game.

Perhaps because there was no data on it as a monster, Rilfana did not seem to remember it either. I was probably more knowledgeable about this area since I had been walking around here and there. I had a friend who was doing a lot of research like a scholar, so I guess I knew more than him.

“It's a way strut. It's a kind of vermin.”

“So you don't mind if we take them down?”

I mean, it's okay, but isn't that a lose-lose scenario? 

...A rat that was just a little bit bigger than Rilfana was no match for her and was eliminated with a single stroke. It was a peak strike so as not to stain the floor.

“There's no sign of them anymore, but where did they get in?”

“Let's check it out. Let's check it out. Just make sure the door is closed.”

“Okay!”

I tell Clare to keep the door closed in case someone comes in from somewhere else and leaves the room.

A quick sweep around the room reveals that there was another one hiding, but it seems to have been silenced by Clare's cane tapping it. The cause of the Waste Rat's presence was soon discovered.

Some of the masonry in the room had collapsed and seemed to lead directly to the groundwater. It is not big, but it is a hole that even an adult could get through if he or she bent down.

Gardia town is equipped with a sewage system.... I thought about it and realized that the toilet in the inn was also flushed.

“Let's just plug it up with a board or something and report back to Reda-san later.”

“Sis, maybe we can block it up with a shelf here.”

“Let's do that.”

I decided to find an empty shelf that I could move and block it up.

I put a piece of paper on the back of the shelves with the words “There is a hole in the back wall” on it so that I could identify which shelf it was.

“Okay, let's get on with the cleaning.”

“Okay.”

The cleaning went smoothly with no other problems.

The cleaning went smoothly and without trouble.

The cleaning was complete, but I think the bell for 4 a.m. is about to ring.

“Well, what should we do?”

“Should we clean up the details? Maybe we could rent this house, right?”

“Yes, I suppose so. It really doesn't look like it's being used at all, so I feel like it would be a waste.”

“Well, let's take a break and then do that.”

While I was thinking about what to do for lunch, a woman in a guild uniform came in. I might have seen her at the reception desk.

“Are you Mina-san? Reda-san asked me to deliver lunch.”

The woman at the reception desk shows her the bag she was carrying. There appears to be a lunch box inside. There is also a cup in it.

“This is the lunch we make at the guild. They ask that you use the water supply at home.”

I accept the bag containing the lunch and the cup, and the woman returns to the guild. She was happy that lunch was on Reda-san instead of delivering it.

Since it was not written in the request form that lunch was provided, Reda-san may have made the arrangements in a rush because I asked her to finish it until the afternoon.

The water was muddy at first, probably because we had not used it for a while, so we left it running for a while and it became drinkable.

The main dish for lunch seemed to be meatballs with sweet and sour sauce. There were also steamed vegetables as garnish. Rice would have been nice, but it was bread, not rice.

Rice tends to go bad when it is hot, so it may not be suitable for an adventurer's lunch box, as one never knows when he or she will be able to eat it.

The way the crop is produced is different, but the properties of the rice seem to be almost the same as the rice we eat in Japan.

The taste, though, is better than Japanese rice, which is constantly being researched and made into new products.

The lunch was a hearty meal with a small variety of side dishes but a large amount of food, just the kind of lunch for adventurers who do a lot of hard work.

In the afternoon, I focused on cleaning the hanging lights and furniture.

◇

“Good work. You've cleaned up a lot in such a short time.”

Reda-san came in, probably having left the guild after the bell rang.

“Reda-san, it looks like the basement wall collapsed, leaving a hole that leads to the sewers.”

“Oh...”

Reda-san checked and was wondering what to do.

He said he would try to bring the rat back to the guild, and depending on the size of its teeth and claws, it might be usable. He was not sure if it would be worth the money.

“I'll ask them to repair this place later. I'll go back to the guild since I've already done the cleaning you asked me to do.”

After making sure Reda-san and I had locked the windows and front door, we returned to the guild together.

I also had the rats purchased, but the valuation was two rats for five small copper coins.

“The order form says two small silver coins, but I'll give you a bonus and make it three small silver coins since you cleaned up better than I thought you would be able to get rid of the rats.”

“Thank you.”

Hmmm, work in town is pretty cheap. After all, he must have made quite a bit of money yesterday.

“E Rank pays about the same as the rent for a pre-adult apprentice, and I'm sure Mina-chan and the others can make a decent amount of money if they move up to D Rank.”

Reda-san told me with a wry smile on his face. I guess he felt it was just the cost of a part-time job.

I got a certificate of completion from Reda-san and took it to the receptionist, who was an employee since yesterday.

“Please report the completion of your request.”

I hand him the certificate and the guild card.

“Yes, I will check it.”

Just like yesterday, the woman at the reception desk inserts the guild card and operates the magic tool magic item.

“Congratulations. All three of you have met the requirements for promotion, so you will be D Rank. Just as when you registered, you can renew your card by pouring magic power or a drop of blood on it.”

I thanked him and received the card, and when I poured magic power into the card, the place that had been E changed to D. The pattern created by the magic power also changed shape slightly, but there was no change in color.

Clare's light gold color seemed to darken a little, and Rilfana's color did not change at all, as if she was manipulating the magic power.

I decided to use the money to pay for dinner again and received it in cash.

It's a little early for dinner, so the three of us sit down at the guild table to discuss what to do.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”

A voice called out to me, and I turned to see a boy who looked like the kid general who was in the class.