Chapter 27 The Dirty River Cleans Up In An Instant
My name is Leaf Chemist.
I was just a pharmacist from the remote village of Dead End.
After being betrayed by my fiancée, Dokuonna, I left the village and came to the capital city.
There, I ended up staying with Granny Merlin's granddaughter, Comet Witch Mercury-san, and became an adventurer.
A few days after saving Yggdrasil...
I visited the adventurer's guild, [Divine Gemstone].
"Good morning!!!"
Despite the early hour, there were many adventurers inside.
As I entered, they all crowded around me.
"Good morning, Leaf-kun!"
"Hey, tell us about the secret dungeon you cleared the other day!"
Together with S-rank adventurer Aerial-san, we dove into the hidden dungeon to rescue the stranded adventurers.
After some ups and downs, we successfully rescued them and returned.
But regarding this matter, the Guild Master warned us not to say anything unnecessary.
"Sorry, I can't say anything about it!"
"""Aww!!!"""
Our guildmates kept asking persistently about what happened.
It seems the events in the hidden dungeon were too shocking to talk about, so it's better to keep quiet.
And... there's something else we're hiding.
"Alright, everyone. Leaf-san is in trouble, so please move aside."
A beautiful lady with white hair approached with a smile.
"Niina-san!"
It's Niina-san, a guild staff member."
She heard about the recent incident from the Guild Master.
That's why she must have helped.
She drove away the other guild members.
"Thank you so much for saving me!"
"Oh, it's nothing... So, what brings you here today?"
"I came to work!"
I'm already an adult.
I have to work every day and earn money.
Whether I'm in the countryside or in the city, that doesn't change.
"Got it. Then, over here."
We moved to the reception counter.
Niina-san placed the file on the table with a grunt.
"Um... the S-rank request is..."
"Huh, S? What are you talking about?"
"Huh?"
Niina-san looks puzzled.
Wait, wasn't she supposed to have heard from the Guild Master?
"I thought it was an E-rank."
...There was an incident in the hidden dungeon the other day, and I practically became an S-rank.
In a kingdom where tradition is valued, if someone went from being the worst rank, F, to the best rank, S, in just a few days, it would surely cause unnecessary trouble.
So, because of that, I only went up one rank from the recent incident and became an E-rank adventurer.
"But, that's just for show..."
"Even if it's just for show, I'm still a beginner, and going straight to S rank is just too much."
I lived in a village called Dead End.
Also known as the Hero Village.
The elder people, who lived there, was among the amazing people once called heroes in this world.
Among those villagers, I am the weakest.
The village head, Old Man Arthur, also said, "Never get conceited."
"Are you really okay?"
"Yes! I'll do this job as an E-rank!"
I looked over the request form and picked up one.
"C-cleaning the gutters... Is this really okay? You can do a better job..."
"No! I think a beginner like me is just right for this kind of job!"
"Well... I don't think cleaning the ditch is a job suitable for Leaf-kun, but if you say it's okay, then I understand."
So, today my job is to clean the ditch by the river flowing through the capital city.
* * *
The capital city of the Gater Nyiiga Kingdom, [Nyiiga].
It is surrounded by a circular outer wall, with rivers flowing east-west and north-south.
Many tributaries branch off from the main river, where household drainage is dumped.
I came to one of these tributaries.
"Cleaning this ditch in the river is my job!"
Certainly, the river was very muddy.
Because I couldn't see the riverbed.
It's unthinkable in the river of Dead End Village.
That river was very clean.
Compared to that, this is really a ditch river.
"Alright... let's do this!"
Anyway, but it's easy.
To clean up a dirty river, all you need is this potion.
I take down the wooden box on my back.
This is a magic bag. It was made by Granny Merlin, and it's a mysterious bag where you can store an unlimited amount of things.
I reach into the box and pull out a staff.
This is the Divine Healer Staff.
When I left the village, Granny gave me this magic tool.
I can directly administer the potions I make.
"[Prescription]"
I am a Leaf Chemist by profession and my job is a Pharmacist.
I have the power to make medicine.
Through training with the Medicine God Master Asclepius, I am now able to create all sorts of potions.
"[Purification Potion]"
At the end of the Divine Healer Staff, there is a glass ball where liquid accumulates.
Here, I'm filling this potion I made into the Divine Healer Staff.
Then, I swing the staff.
Swishhhhh....!!!!
Suddenly, the murky river transforms into a clear one in an instant.
"Wow! W-what's this!?"
"The river looks super clean!"
"And what's this... there are amazing fishes in it!?"
Now, let's head to the [next] river.
* * *
"Thank you for your hard work, Leaf-san!"
After finishing work, I return to the guild.
I report today's work to Niina-san.
"I'm back. I did the sewer cleaning properly!"
"Huh? Did you bring back the certificate?"
"Oh, shoot, I forgot..."
I wonder what that is...?
"This time's task was from the merchant guild. Did you forget to show the guild folks that you finished the cleaning?"
"Oh... I forgot. Be right back."
Just then,
"Niina-kun! Are you there?"
"Jasmine-sama!"
A woman with red hair walks into the guild.
Wasn't she the Guild Master of the Silver Phoenix merchant guild?
"Niina-kun, who accepted the request to clean up the River?"
Is Jasmine-san acting strange, looking flustered?
I wonder what's wrong...
"Leaf-san, but..."
"What!?"
Jasmine-san looks at me with surprise in her eyes.
She tilts her head several times and secretly whispers something to Niina-san.
"Why is he taking on an E-rank request? Shouldn't he be taking on higher-ranked tasks?"
"Well, he was supposed to, but he wasn't willing to..."
I ask Jasmine-san,
"Um...Am I not good at my job? Did I come to listen to complaints?"
Sorry, was that not enough?
But I thought I did it properly.
"Oh no, Leaf-kun, it's not a complaint at all. You did a wonderful job."
"Wonderful...?"
Niina-san tilts her head in confusion.
"The rivers in the capital city were so clean. Both the tributaries and the main river! It was so clean that you could see the riverbed!"
"What!? What are you talking about!?"
Niina-san's eyes widen in shock.
Oh... maybe it wasn't so bad after all...?
"All of it!?"
"Yes, all of it."
"So clean!?"
"There were even fish in the river. Fish that you usually only see deep in the mountains were swimming there."
"I can't believe it..."
Niina-san is speechless.
"So... did I do something?"
Then Jasmine-san nods approvingly.
"You really are the hero of the village. I never would have thought you could purify that dirty river."
"Hmm...but isn't that just part of the job?"
"This time, the request was simply to clean up a ditch. You just had to clean one specified river within a set time."
No way.
"To clean up a dirty river like the one flowing through the capital city, in such a short time...that's amazing."
"Huh, isn't that easy?"
Niina-san's mouth twitched at the corner.
Did I say something wrong...?
"Impressive, boy. You did a great job."
"Um, does that mean the job is done?"
"Of course. They say it's worth double...no, ten times the normal price."
Huh!? Th-that's...
"I can't accept that! It's just a low-ranked job anyway..."
"But the job you completed was equivalent to an S-rank!"
"No, I can't accept it!"
While Jasmine-san and U were pushing and shoving each other like that, Niina-san muttered as if she was tired.
"I feel like I understand Mercury-san's struggles..."
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