Published at 26th of December 2025 7:40 am

Chapter 474: In the Twilight Town, I Asked Who Is That?

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By the way, Ed. Are you okay with your job?

Huh?

After reminiscing for a while, Jigu asked me that, and I inadvertently let out a stupid sound. Job job?

Thats right. Didnt you say you were going to exterminate claw moles today, Ed? Its almost noon, but is it okay not to go?

At Brans words, memories from that time welled up in my head. Thats right, I was supposed to go into the forest to destroy a claw mole nest Huh? But Im here now?

Hehehehe. Hey Ed, if you let Lunaritia-san pour me some drinks, I might help you out?

Shut up, you idiot Taruho. Ill never rely on you in my life, so dont worry about it. But still Sigh.

Ignoring the grinning Taruho, I stood up from my seat and walked towards the reception. The person there wasnt a young and beautiful receptionist but a gruff old man. Reality is cruel.

Hm? What is it, Ed?

Excuse me, old man. Do you have the receipt for the request I accepted?

Huh? Dont tell me you lost it!?

Well, you see, I was just checking the contents when, quite conveniently, a gust of wind came

It got blown away by the wind How many years have you been doing this job?

F-five years

I became a mercenary shortly after becoming an adult at 15. Normally, if you stay in the job for three years, youre no longer considered a newbie, and after five years, youre more or less considered full-fledged. So, Im already at a position where Im considered somewhat full-fledged.

In other words, making such a rookie mistake as letting it get blown away by the wind was quite embarrassing. Its embarrassing, but it cant be helped. I did search the bottom of my bag, but of course, there wasnt a receipt for a request I didnt remember accepting.

Geez, I thought you were doing well lately Here, take this.

Thank you very much. Well then, you guys! Im off to work!

Take care!

See you later!

See ya!

I dont care about you, but dont let Lunaritia-san get hurt!

After receiving a spare receipt from the old man and saying goodbye to Taruho and the others, Tia and I left the gathering place. Then Tia casually lined up next to me and started talking.

They were fun people, werent they?

Well, yeah. They have foul mouths, spend money recklessly, and are bad with women but theyre not bad guys.

That sounds like youre just badmouthing them, you know?

For those guys, thats enough.

Fufu, I see.

Despite having been tangled up with those idiots, Tia was in an unusually good mood for some reason. Well, theres no harm in her being in a good mood, so I just bought some food from a street stall before leaving town and headed to our destination. Its about a two-hour walk, so its just right for digestion.

Oh, is this the place? Excuse me, Ive come to take care of the claw mole extermination request.

Ah, is that so? Youre quite late, arent you?

Im very sorry, I got caught up in various things.

I bowed my head repeatedly to the client who came out from the field. I was about half a day behind the original schedule, so its entirely my fault.

Well, its fine. But what are you going to do? At this time, it might be difficult to destroy the nest, but Id at least like you to do something about the ones coming to the field

Ah, that wont be a problem. Tia, can you handle the forest area?

Leave it to me!

Tia answered confidently to my request. Claw mole nests were usually visible as mounds of earth, so even a child could find them if efficiency wasnt a concern. For an elf like Tia to find them in the forest was easier than flattering Taruho into buying drinks.

And Ill take care of the field. I think we can finish comfortably before sunset.

Is that so? Well then, Im counting on you.

The male client returned to his work with a half-doubtful expression. Unlike the stationary nests, the claw moles in the field naturally move underground, so finding and exterminating them takes quite a bit of effort.

For the me back then, it would have been a job that normally took half a day. Starting now, I would have missed many claw moles returning to their nests as the sun set.

But I am different now. Combining the [Akashic Compass] with [Auto-mapping] even the movements of underground claw moles became clear at a glance. And if I know their location, exterminating them is a piece of cake.

Hah!

Pyah!?

As I swung my sword lightly as if digging up the soil, a claw mole that had its nose hit popped out. The claw mole, about 30 centimeters long, tried to scratch me with its impressive claws as long as its body, but

Take this!

Bunyah!

I cut it in half with a return stroke. Its a demonic beast that my previous self could defeat, so for the current me, its a small fry that I could defeat even with my eyes closed. Working quickly and efficiently, I finished exterminating over 20 claw moles in the field in just about an hour.

Phew, I guess thats about it.

Youre amazing! No, youre really something for someone so young!

Haha, thank you very much.

The male client applauded enthusiastically, delighted with my work. Back then, I wasnt praised so unreservedly, so it feels somewhat fresh.

Ed! Im done over here!

Just then, Tia returned from the nearby forest. Despite having fought in the forest, she didnt have a speck of dirt on her, but theres no need to worry about Tia.

How many nests were there?

Six. It was just this area that needed to be done, right?

Yeah, thats plenty.

I nodded with a smile to Tia, who was carrying a bunch of claw mole tails, the part required for proof of extermination.

Tia could probably find and destroy all the claw mole nests in the entire forest. However, even if they are demonic beasts, killing too many can disrupt the biological balance and cause unexpected problems. We only work for the amount were paid not out of greed or laziness, but because its the most convenient for everyone.

So, is there any problem with considering this request completed?

Of course not. Well, when you didnt show up even after noon, I was wondering what kind of person would come, but with this level of skill, Im convinced! Thank you very much.

Ahahaha

As I laughed casually to gloss over it, the client wrote his name on the receipt. I received it and returned to town just before sunset, then went back to the gathering place to submit it to the old man at the reception.

Old man, here it is.

Hm? Youre not going to tell me you couldnt do it at this late hour Oh? Whats this, its completed!? How did you do it!?

How? Well, I just worked hard as usual

Hah! Whats going on, when did you get so skilled? Or did you figure out some trick?

No, no, its because Tia she helped me. She found the nests in the forest in no time.

Heh, is that so. Well, whatever. Heres your reward.

After glancing at Tia smiling behind me, the old man placed two silver coins in my hand. After confirming them and putting them in my waist bag, the old man addressed Tia again.

So, young lady Tia-san, is it? Im just asking to be sure, but Ed hasnt got any dirt on you or tricked you into working for cheap, has he?

Huh!? No, nothing like that. Ed and I are good partners.

I see. Well, I thought it was fine seeing how happily you were talking earlier, but I had to check at least. Hey Ed, if youre going to keep bringing this young lady around, make sure to register her properly, okay? Constantly bringing around an unregistered person is like saying youre up to something shady.

I know! Ill visit the branc office tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest.

Thats fine then. Well, young lady, if Ed tries to do anything weird, dont hesitate to tell me. Ill punch him for you.

Okay! You heard that, Ed. No doing weird things, okay?

I wont! Come on, old man, give me a break.

Gahaha! Well, see you later.

Turning our backs on the old man laughing heartily, we left the gathering place. It had gotten quite dark outside, and normally we should be worrying about where to sleep, but

Hey Tia. Where do you think I used to sleep?

Huh? How should I know that Arent you just staying at a nearby inn or something?

Hmm. My memories of that kind of thing are vague

Thinking back on it now, those daily life memories were completely missing from my mind. Despite supposedly living in this town for years, I didnt even know where the inns were.

Then, shall we just rest somewhere for now? In a town this size, there should be inns if we walk along the main street.

Yeah, I guess thats all we can do for now.

A place I know but dont know. Facilities that I cant even remember seeing, yet feel nostalgic just by stepping into them. While being tossed about by emotions I couldnt control myself, I walked through the night town with Tia.

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