Chapter 2: [Laundry]

I still couldn’t believe that Lady Uruk of the Isphile House was actually a noble young lady.

I was led through a luxurious mansion and brought to the backyard.

There, an enormous pile of laundry awaited, every piece deeply stained with blood.

…This is awful.

It’s like an adventurer who doesn’t know how to clean up after themselves.

“Sorry for making you wait.”

“N-Not at all…”

Having washed away the blood splatter, Uruk revealed silver hair.

With her sharp features, the word beauty suited her perfectly.

I found myself staring at the stunning woman for a moment before she tilted her head curiously.

“Do I still have blood on me somewhere…?”

“No, you look beautiful.
I was just surprised to see you carrying a sword…”

It was hard to believe a noble young lady could be an adventurer.

From what I had heard, the Isphile House was a marquis family involved in the politics of this kingdom, the Drad Kingdom.

If she was their daughter, then she was undoubtedly someone of very high status…

And yet she had no guards and worked as an adventurer.

Being told to believe that was impossible.

“In our family, once we reach a certain age, we are given a trial to become independent by working as adventurers.
Even if I am a noble lady, I must be able to protect myself.”

“T-That’s quite a strict family…”

Compared to that, what about Lady Wenty from my former home?

Selfish, lazy, and whenever something happened she’d endlessly cry, “Papa, Papa.”

Seeing Uruk, who was the same age as her, really showed just how admirable she was.

“So then, what do you think?
It’s difficult work, but can you handle it?”

“Let’s see…
If there are fifteen outfits, I can finish in about an hour.”

“Well, I suppose so.
About that much time────one hour!?
Not fifteen days!?”

“Yes, that’s correct…”

Did I say something strange?

Back at the previous mansion, Lady Wenty…

Actually, I should just call her Wenty now.

There had been several times when she forcibly ordered me to subjugate monsters, and I ended up drenched in blood.

Hand-washing all of that took far too much time.

There was no way I could keep up with garden maintenance, paperwork, and mansion cleaning otherwise.

And while I washed one outfit, the workload only kept piling up.

That’s why I studied magic.

I cut down on sleep and devoured beginner magic books.

What I created after all that effort was a spell called [Laundry Wash].

I had developed magic.

“…Is that true?”

“I swear upon my master’s name that I do not lie.”

“…Understood.
Then… would it bother you if I stayed nearby and watched?”

Looking genuinely interested, Uruk sat down nearby.

‘Alright…
Fifteen outfits means 3000 gold.
This is the first job I’ve ever had that actually pays money.
I can’t complain about being sleepy now, me!’

I rolled up my sleeves and gathered the bloodstained clothes into a tub.

Pouring water into it, I placed both hands over the surface.

“[Laundry Wash].”

The water took on a faint rainbow hue, and round bubbles began floating up.

The spell wasn’t convenient enough to clean everything automatically.

But it created a liquid that made dirt much easier to remove.

After that, a light wash was enough to completely clean everything.

I focused so intensely on scrubbing that I didn’t notice people gathering around me.

“So this is where you were, Lady Uruk.
It’s already lunchtime.”

“I want to watch a little longer.”

“Oh?
Is this the new laundry worker…
Hm, those dark circles under his eyes are terrible…
He looks like he could collapse at any moment…”

The maids also started gathering to see what was happening.

As the head butler watched Alto washing the clothes, he noticed something strange.

“Lady Uruk…!!
What in the world is this?”

“Amazing…
Those bubbles are beautiful…
It’s almost soothing to watch.
Alto’s magic is beautiful…”

“L-Look, Head Butler!
The monster blood that won’t come out even after washing for an entire day is disappearing so easily!!”

“Let’s get a closer look!!”

For a while, I remained completely focused.

To remove the stubborn stains, I continued refining the liquid with magic.

“Fuu…
That should be everything.”

As I let out a breath, I realized a large crowd had gathered around me.

Apparently the servants had become fascinated by the laundry.

“Amazing…!
There isn’t a single stain left!
And it’s pure white…
It’s practically brand new!”

“Hmm…
I’ve been doing laundry for forty years myself, but to think it could become this clean…”

The wrinkled old butler and the maids all stared at the cleaned clothes in astonishment.

“U-Um…
Excuse me…”

“You there!
What exactly did you do!?
Please tell us!”

“What did I do…?
I simply used magic to [wash] them…”

“M-Magic…?”

They continued questioning me, saying they had never heard of such magic before.

“Y-You know slimes, right?
They digest whatever they absorb.
I used that idea to give water digestive properties while diluting the concentration.
Then I created a sticky liquid that only removes dirt.”

“Y-You can do something like that!?”

“The books said magic could do many things with enough imagination and visualization…”

“I see…
To think something like that was possible…
It never even crossed my mind…”

Muttering that, the butler fell deep into thought.

As Uruk watched the scene, she walked toward me.

“You’re incredible.
Far more incredible than I imagined…
I apologize.
To be honest, I doubted you.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

Come to think of it, this was the first time I had ever shown this magic to anyone.

I hadn’t expected everyone to be this shocked…

Maybe I had created a far more impressive spell than I realized.

“Lady Uruk, perhaps you should request additional laundry work from this gentleman.
None of us can remove bloodstains this thoroughly.
He may be the only one capable of it.”

“…You’re right, but it would trouble Alto…
Alto, would it be wrong of me to ask you to continue coming here whenever we have laundry work?”

“If it is your command.”

Out of habit, I lowered my head automatically.

By the time I realized it, everyone around me was staring blankly.

Your command…

That made me sound like some kind of slave.

“Alto, I don’t know what sort of environment you lived in.
But this isn’t an order…
It’s a request.”

“A request?”

“I witnessed incredible magic right before my eyes.
It was beautiful and fleeting.
And you taught me both the spell and your methods.
Normally, people never share magic they develop themselves.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes.
Which means you are more humble than anyone else.
What do you say?
I’ll even double your payment…
Though perhaps even that isn’t enough?”

────A request.

For some reason, the sound of that word felt nostalgic.

The memories that surfaced were:

“Alto, clean this.”

“Alto, go hunt monsters.”

“Alto, obey your orders.”

Do this.

Do that.

Obey.

…Everything had always been commands.

My own wishes never mattered.

But a request was different.

A request allowed me to decide with my own will.

“If it’s a request…
Then I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Alto.”

Hearing gratitude directed at me for the first time in so long made the corners of my mouth soften slightly.