I recalled the time when I saved the life of Earl Victor de Sillys, but it wasnât that dramatic of an incident. It was only at the level where I go, âAh, come to think of it, I guess that happened too.â
More importantly, the cat beastmen, Zerry-san, was more helpful than I had expected! Iâm so glad she came with me.
After escaping the capital city of Achenbach Dukedom, I headed for the Saint Knight Kingdom with the guidance of Zerry-san. There was only one border checking station, but there was a back route for people who deal in illegal business. And Zerry-san took us across the border using that route.
It cost a little money to do that, but Zerry-san didnât even have that âlittleâ money. She seemed to have been barely getting through while earning small changes back in the city.
The Saint Knight Kingdom was a country under the rule of the Knight King, and because the army had been greatly strengthened, there were few places where adventurers could conduct their activity, so we just passed through.
Further ahead, was the Kruvan Holy Kingdom. A country where people of many races lived together. Itâs very lively, but there were also a lot of crimes. To me, it seemed like an open-minded country in many ways.
Also, you can hear these often:
ăThe Holy Kingâs light shines over all people in the kingdom.ă
ăThe Holy King rules with peace.ă\n
Praise singing of the Holy King was commonplace.
I was planning to register as an adventurer in the holy city of Kruvanyu, and master ăWorld Ruleră in the meantime.
ăDo you want to become an adventurer to see how other adventurers fightâŚ? Nope, nope, nope, absolutely nopeă. People wonât reveal their skills that easily. Needless to say, you look too small, so no oneâs gonna let you join their party, bocchană. If youâd like, Iâll earn money as an adventurer, so how about you take on a more stable job?ăZerry-san said, but since there was truth in what she said, I had no other choice but to accept her proposal.
Zerry-san wanted to continue sticking with me even after reaching our destination. I thought that was fine. She acts over-familiar and was irritating at times, but she wasnât a bad person.
Speaking of me, I got a prestigious position called âCleaner of the Holy Kingâs 18th Knights Orderâ. The knights of the powerful sounding title âHoly Kingâs Knights Orderâ have to go through rigorous training. After the training, the knights return to the dorm and sleep like a log. Since they had money, they had a routine of making a fuss in the city during their rare rest days.
Regarding what it is that I clean â their rooms were damn filthy. Also, an abnormal amount of laundry was piled up.
I made the knightâs room look clean and shiny by combiningăWater Magică,ăFire Magică, and ăWind Magică. Same goes for laundry. The holy city has a special climate. It rarely rains, but when it does, it doesnât let up for a week. They were very pleased that I was able to keep the indoors dry.
Sometimes the knights will tip me when the room is sparkly clean, and if I have time, I observe the knightsâ training, and accumulate all kinds of skills.
âŚThe encounter with the Earl is still a little further away.\nAnyway, when I was ten years old, I received a mysterious nickname called âLegendary Cleanerâ. I was valued by the knights for my work, I was valued by the aunties in the kitchen for providing them with hot water, and I was valued by the frequenting dwarves from the armour mending blacksmith workshop for cleaning their place.
The holy city is large, so I went sightseeing on holidays and treated myself to delicious food.
I was kind of enjoying life too much in the holy city. Though, I wasnât able to make friends because I was way younger than the rest of the people I met.
Rumors of me spread to other knight groups and I moved around cleaning a number of them. And unexpectedly, I started receiving a knightâs salary. That said, the money was just a by-product, and I was happy to be able to practice magic legally and increase the proficiency of the skills that I continued to learn. My mana quantity also increased steadily â but that seems to be only because I gradually became able to handle the ăMana Quantity Increaseă skill I learned from observing Crysta-la-Crysta.
I continued my training in secret. If you donât use the skills, you canât master it. Therefore, I came up with the idea to detach ăWorld Ruleră and then use the skills.
If I remove ăWorld Ruleră, I will not be able to use all the skills I have learned, but the memory of the skill remains in my mind. Thus, I move my body exactly as per my memory and raise the skill proficiency. Mysteriously, when I reabsorbed ăWorld Ruleră, I felt a deeper understanding of the skills.
Thanks to this, I was able to fight even if skills were inhibited.
As I saved money while living a cleanerâs life, Zerry-san, who said sheâll earn money as an adventurer, blew all her money away on gambling and fell into debt â a debt which I had to shoulder with all my savings. And three years passed in that manner.
I started thinking it was time for me to act on my own.
Although I didnât know her whereabouts, I wanted to see my âbig sisterâ, Lark.\n\nWhen the Earl was the only one left standing near the burning carriage, five assassins surrounded him in a semicircle. The assassins, wearing black clothes and masks that only revealed their eyes, said something to the Earl.
ăâPrepare yourself⌠Client requested⌠as much pain as possibleâŚă
I heard such disturbing words as I listened with ăHearing Enhancementă.
This guy will definitely be killed, I thought. However, the nobleman seemed calm and totally unfazed.
I observed the nobleman closely.
His smooth blonde hair was beautiful even in the dark of night, and his scarlet pupils, which seemed to carry a weight of sorrow, were so beautiful that even I, a male, was captivated.
Is he in his late twenties?
(Ah, this man⌠he doesnât care about dying.)
The person who came to my mind at that time was Raikira-san.