The next day, I woke up early and went down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I made scrambled eggs, vegetables, and toast, and put them in the “Useful Box” to keep them warm. Then, I went to wake up my father who had not come down to the living room yet.

“Father, breakfast is ready.”

“Umm, I got it. I’ll be there in a moment…”

When I called out to my father, who was wrapped up in his futon, he responded sleepily. After I went back to the living room and arranged breakfast, my father appeared in the living room with a sleepy expression.

“Why don’t you wash your face first?”

“…Oh, okay.”

My father left the living room and walked towards the washroom. When he came back with a refreshed expression, he said, “Sorry for keeping you waiting…Oh, it looks delicious.”

After confirming that my father had sat down, we began to eat together. Like yesterday, my father seemed to enjoy the breakfast, and kept saying how delicious it was as he ate. After we finished breakfast, we went to the guild together to take care of some errands.

On the way, we ran into some adventurers from the inn. The leader, Doldos, greeted us.

“Hey, Guldo-san and Lark, good morning.”

“Oh, Doldos-san, and everyone. Good morning.”

“Are you two going to the guild together? It’s kind of rare.”

“We’re living together at father’s house since yesterday.”

When I explained, Doldos smiled mischievously. “Oh really? So Lark, were you surprised when you saw Guldo-san’s house?”

“Yes, I never expected it to be such a big house. Did you guys know about it, Doldos-san?”

“It’s not that we knew, but we actually helped build that house together. My father was a carpenter, and he was the one who first suggested renovating Guldo-san’s house.”

“What? I’ve never heard of that before.”

When father reacted, Doldos made a gesture as if he was trying to cover his own mouth. “Oh, shoot. My dad asked me to keep quiet about it Guldo-san.”

“So it was you father that renovated my house into such a big one… Alright then, since I’m drinking buddies with that guy, let’s have a drinking contest with him next time,” Guldo replied.

“…Guldo-san, please go easy on him. My dad seems to be exhausted lately from his piling workload,” Doldos said.

Despite Doldos’s plea, father remained wearing a sour face.

Then, I secretly asked Doldos, “Is father good at drinking?”

“I’ve never seen anyone who could handle alcohol better than that guy. Do you know about the Dwarves, Lark?” Doldos asked.

Yes, of course. They’re a well-known fantasy species in novels and games, and there are several of them in the adventurer’s guild. They’re known for being short with strong arms and have a rough demeanor. What about them?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Doldos explained, “Dwarves are a race that’s incredibly strong with alcohol. There are even stories about how a single Dwarf could drink all the alcohol in a tavern if they tried. And Guldo-san has a past of winning a drinking contest against one such Dwarf.”

“That’s amazing,” I said in awe.

“And Guldo-san had a past where he competed in a drinking contest with one of those dwarves and won,” he added.

“Are you kidding me…!?” I exclaimed.

If someone were to compete in a drinking contest with such a person, it would be a big problem.

◈◈◈

After continuing to chat idly, we arrived at the guild in no time. As we entered, I noticed that the guild’s atmosphere was different from usual. There was a general feeling of unrest.

Father seemed to have noticed it too and asked Doldos with a suspicious look on his face, “Something seems different about the people here. Did something happen?”

“Well, lately there has been a lot of turnover among adventurers. Some of the veterans have left, and new adventurers have arrived.”

“…Has a new dungeon been discovered?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything like that.”

As Doldos and father discussed it seriously, a woman descended from the stairs. It was the guild’s vice-master, Lala. For some reason, Lala seemed agitated, but when she noticed us, she suddenly smiled and approached us.

“Ah, perfect timing. I have a request, could you come with me to a room for a moment?”

Of course, we couldn’t refuse, so we followed Lala up the stairs. I thought we were going to the guild master’s room, but Lala continued up to the third floor. I wondered where she was taking us, but then Lala stopped in front of a wall. Suddenly, she started walking towards the wall.

“Eh!?” I let out a bewildered cry.

Lala had passed through the wall as if it wasn’t even there.

“I see, it’s a fake wall created by magic…Lark, let’s follow through for now,” said father.

It seemed that the wall in front of us was created by some kind of magic. When I decided to plunge into the wall, I was able to slip through it without any resistance. Beyond the wall, there was a door with a plate that read “Fia’s Room.”

“Lala-san, did you know there was a place like this in the guild?” father asked Lala, who was waiting beside the door in surprise.

“Oh my, didn’t Guldo-san know? A few years ago, I made my own room in the guild because it was too much trouble to go home,” Lala replied and opened the door with a click.

The next moment, a large amount of clothing poured out of the room like an avalanche. I somehow understood the situation.

“Um, excuse me, but is the request to clean the room?” I asked.

“That’s right. I’m sorry to ask, but can you help me? Master went into this room to clean it a while ago, but hasn’t come back. I think she’s probably buried under the clothes or something, so I want you to rescue her,” Lala pleaded, clasping her hands together and begged.

Well, I guess it’s not a big deal.

I went with father to the basement warehouse and brought back some spare wooden boxes. We repacked the scattered clothing and worked for a while until we finally cleaned up all the clothes that overflowed into the hallway. However, the room was still littered with a large amount of clothing and documents, and the floor and walls were completely covered.

“I can’t believe it’s come to this… master’s words about cleaning up properly were a lie…I’m sorry to both of you,” Lala lowered her head, but I told her not to worry about it.

Let’s just keep using “Useful Box” to tidy things up.

We steadily worked on the task until we managed to put away all the belongings. However, we couldn’t find Fia, who we thought was buried under the pile of her belongings. As we wondered where she could be, we noticed that there was another door at the back of the room.

Could it be that Fia-san has multiple rooms?

“Um, how many rooms does Fia-san have?” I asked.

“Well, I think she has three rooms. But, this is the largest room, so the rest should be easy…I hope,” Lala answered in a troubled tone.

Then, father spoke up, “Hey, Lark. I think we’re running out of spare wooden boxes.”

“Eh? Ah, that’s right.”

When I checked “Useful Box,” I noticed that the empty wooden box that we had obtained beforehand in the basement was missing. Without the box, it would be difficult to organize things, so we headed back to the basement with father. In the meantime, I asked Lala to do her best on her own.

When we returned to the room with the replenished wooden box, Lala was nowhere to be found.

“Huh? I wonder where Lala went. Did she go home?”

“I can’t imagine that she would give up halfway… Hey, Lark!”

Father rushed to a pile of clothes nearby and rustled around before pulling something out. It was Lala, who had fainted.

“Could it be that while she was cleaning up, the pile collapsed, and she got buried?”

“Probably… In any case, Master sure makes a mess. If it were me, I would have cleaned up before it got this messy.”

“Well, father, in your case, you don’t have anything to make a mess with… Anyway, let’s lay Lala-san down in a safe place for now.”

Saying that, I looked around and happened to find a sofa buried under the pile of clothes. We quickly filled the wooden box with the clothes on top of the sofa and, together with father, carried Lala to the sofa. Then, the two of us continued to clean up. To be honest, it was harder work than organizing a warehouse. If it weren’t for “Useful Box,” it would have taken an incredibly long time to finish cleaning up.

After a while, we finally found a door that led to the third room. If Lala’s information was correct, this was the last room. Wiping the sweat from our foreheads, we caught our breath and I looked at father’s face.

“Phew, I’m tired… Oh, father, you’re really sweating.”

“Yeah, it’s tougher than training… By the way, where the heck is Master?”

“I think she’s back there… But with all this stuff, how did she even get in?”

At that moment, Lala, who had fainted earlier, suddenly sat up. “Huh, why did I faint?”

We told Lala what we had seen, and she made a bitter expression after hearing the situation.

“I remember now. Honestly, I have to scold Master properly.”

I asked the question I had earlier to Lala, who was rubbing her head, “Um, Lala-san. Did Fia-san really enter this room? I mean, did you let her in this kind of room?”

“I watched her enter through the magic wall, so there is no mistake. She might have used teleportation magic.”

“I see. So it’s highly likely that Fia-san is in the final room.”

And so, we finally started on the last room. When father put his hand on the doorknob, Lala cast a barrier with her magic. Apparently, it was to protect ourselves from the overflowing items.

I never thought that a barrier spell would be used just for cleaning up a room, but I think Lala-san’s judgment is correct.

And finally, father opened the door.

“… What is this?”

I was speechless when I saw the scene in the room. Unlike the other rooms, nothing was scattered here. Everything was stacked and balanced perfectly. I didn’t want to touch anything since it seemed like it could collapse at any moment. However, that wouldn’t solve the problem. When we tried to put everything in the “Useful Box” at once, I noticed Fia sitting on the floor reading a book in a small space between two piles of items.

“Fia-san!”

When I called out loudly, Fia raised her head and looked at me through the items.

“Oh? Lark-kun, and… Guldo is here too? What brings you here?” Fia said cheerfully.

“We came to find you, Master. You said you would clean up the room, right? Why are you reading a book?”

As soon as she heard Lala’s voice, Fia froze for a moment. Then, she quietly placed the book on the floor and slowly stood up. “I’m sorry!”

“You won’t get away!”

Just when I thought Fia had disappeared from the spot, she reappeared again. It seemed like she tried to escape using teleportation magic, but Lala interfered.

Then, Lala gave me a chilling stare. “Lark-kun, please move the items in front of you.”

“Yes, ma’am…” Following her instructions, I stored the items in “Useful Box.”

Slowly, Lala approached Fia, who seemed to have resigned herself and was keeping quiet. “Master, didn’t you say before that you keep your room tidy?” she asked.

“I-I’m sorry…” Fia apologized, but it seemed Lala didn’t hear her as she was still angry.

Lala then grabbed Fia’s head tightly and unbelievably lifted her up with one hand.

‘Wait a minute, Fia’s body is floating,’ I thought to myself.

At that moment, father whispered to me secretly, “…Lark, let me give you one piece of advice,” he said.

“Huh? Yes, what is it?” I asked.

“No matter what happens, never make Lala angry. She is usually kind and doesn’t get mad easily, but once she does, no one can stop her,” he warned.

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Yes. There was a certain A-rank adventurer who was very violent and often attacked other adventurers. Lala had warned him several times, but he didn’t show any signs of remorse and kept on with his violent behavior. As a result…”

“As a result?” I prompted, imagining what had happened next.

“Lala finally lost her temper, straddled him, and kept punching him relentlessly. Of course, the man resisted, but he couldn’t match Lala’s strength when she got serious. In the end, the man retired from being an adventurer due to mental illness, and Lala was also suspended for about six months for going too far. Since then, no one has dared to oppose Lala,” he explained, finishing his story.

“I understand. I will never do anything to make Lala-sam angry,” I said while swallowing my saliva.

And so, we all looked up at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with Fia, who was being punished by Lala.