Published: July 31, 2025
Today, two chapters updated simultaneously.
This story is the first chapter.
The next day.
When I woke up, sunlight was streaming into the room.
Ah... I slept well. It had been a while since I pulled an all-nighter for work... The sun is already pretty high... Wait, the sun is high? ...That's bad!
"Good morning, Lord Ryoma."
"Mr. Sebas, what time is it now?"
"It's already before noon. You must have been very tired to sleep so deeply. What would you like for breakfast?"
"Thank you, but I have to go to the Guild, so I'll eat when I get back."
"I see. Understood."
I quickly finished getting ready and headed to the Guild. This is troublesome; there’s no time... Well, it can't be helped.
'Envelop myself and divert attention — Concealment Barrier.'
I cast a concealment barrier around my body to hide my figure, then activated the non-elemental magic 'physical enhancement.' Mana wrapped around my body, strengthening my abilities. I sprinted up the roof of a nearby building and ran along the rooftops to take a shortcut. Where there were no footholds, I used the spatial magic short-distance teleport spell 'Teleport,' running almost in a straight line to the Guild, managing to make it before noon.
"Excuse me."
When I entered the room I was guided to, the others had already gathered.
"You’re here, Ryoma. Now everyone’s here."
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Just barely, but there’s still time. Since you made it, don’t worry. Now then, here’s the reward!"
The reward was distributed. I received three silver coins and thirty small gold coins—payment for the original task of cleaning the cesspool. The others each got ten small gold coins.
"Hey, old man, you’re pretty generous, aren’t you?"
"Yeah, if you’re giving it, I’ll take it, but we were just on watch duty, you know?"
"The reward amount seems excessive. Even though there was risk of contracting the disease, since we didn’t do anything directly, half that amount would be reasonable."
"No, the amount is correct. And here’s why... Ryoma."
"What is it?"
"The cesspool disease you mentioned, it’s called Idake disease, right?"
"Yes, I confirmed it through appraisal magic, no doubt about it."
"That’s a pretty dangerous one. I heard from an acquaintance who knows a lot about these matters — an old woman who's quite a pain — that the mortality rate is low for a plague, but it spreads easily. The aftereffects are severe; even survivors end up unable to move their limbs or work, and eventually die."
"That’s why the reward is that amount. Even if the mortality rate is low, the elderly and children die. Those who survive but can’t work won’t be able to sustain themselves."
The group broke into a cold sweat at those words. It really was bad... depending on how severe the aftereffects were, being unable to work meant no income. In this world, with little insurance or government support, that’s fatal. In the end, it means starving to death on the streets.
"Good thing we prevented it..."
"In a way, it’s even scarier than a plague with a high death rate..."
"Once you contract it and die, you go to the afterlife; if you survive, that’s a living hell..."
"They say the officials got a huge scolding over this. Several of the top brass and their subordinates were arrested. The rest are now in a big fuss about how to handle cleaning the communal toilet cesspools."
"Won’t they leave it to the slum residents?"
"Unfortunately, no. The top official who was stingy with the money got fired, but even though they promised to pay the original amount, no one trusts them. Plus, the slum residents seem to have already taken new jobs."
"Unlike other towns, this place is near a mine, so as long as you’re willing to do hard or dirty work, there’s demand for labor. If they can earn money elsewhere, they have no reason to stick to cleaning cesspools."
"Since the town was at fault this time and can’t ask those who already got jobs to quit, it seems they’ve pretty much given up on reemploying the slum folks."
"Then what’s the plan? This time you were lucky Ryoma noticed, but this kind of thing can’t keep happening."