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Once we decided to divide into two groups and accept requests, Finia and I headed towards the warehouse district. This city was the northern relay point of the trade route, connecting The United Nations with Raum, so there were many warehouses to accommodate all those goods.

Our today’s objective was to repair one such warehouse located in one part of the warehouse district.

“……………”

As Finia and I walked side by side, she had a finger on her chin and looked up as if she was pondering on something. She was so absorbed in it that she didn’t even notice me touching her butt from the side.

I could imagine what was going on in her head, however.

She was most likely thinking about my Gift.

Same Thread Manipulation ability as Reid. Presence of mind and power that didn’t match my age.

Not to mention, the bad timings where I appeared whenever Reid disappeared. There were many questionable points.

However, as long as I remained an Adventurer, my Thread Manipulation was bound to get discovered eventually. Rather than try to keep hiding it and get suspected later, it was several times better to reveal it early on and convince her.

“That said, I can’t just leave it like this either, huh?”

If I left the situation as is, her doubts would just grow and eventually link to Reid once again. I had to convince her somehow. I divided us today like this while taking that into account too.

“Ah, we’ve arrived, Finia.”
“Pheh? Ah, right.”

We had arrived while we were absorbed in our respective thoughts.

There, a man who seemed to be the warehouse manager along with one more Adventurer party was waiting for us.

“Ah, good day. I am Nicole, dispatched from the Greatshield’s Protection.”
“I am Finia, also with her. We look forward to working with you.”

Hearing our introductions, the merchant extended his right hand with a smile.

“Yes, let us get along. I am the manager of this warehouse, Lange. Employed by the Caar trade firm.”
“Caar trade firm… It is a large business that is famous in this city, yes?”
“Indeed, you are well informed.”

Just as we exchanged handshakes, the other party of three Adventurers butted in

“Greatshield’s Protection sent just two people, and little girls? So even Six Heroes can grow senile huh?”
“Hey, drop it. Though I can understand your feelings.”
“We’re talking about warehouse repairs here. Is that something you should entrust to brats? If they just send us a burden, that’d just dampen our spirits to work, ain’t it?”

Following the man’s gaze, I checked the warehouse in question.

It was a large building that wouldn’t lose out to Gadius’ inn. It was about ten meters tall and even longer in width. It was quite a big warehouse even with the standards of this district.

But putting it another way, it had just that much scaffold too.

“Um, given how big it is, wouldn’t repairs go well if you just climb up using a ladder?”
“Ah, no… I am ashamed to admit it, but the repairs are not so simple.”

Lange pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Though we were approaching a warm season, it was still an easy-to-get-by temperature. Perhaps he was just a profuse sweater.

“I also believed so at first and let the employees climb, but it turned out that the water that seeped in from the roof had corroded even the internal parts.”
“By internal… You mean the structure material?”
“Yes. They ended up drilling holes in the roof as they stepped on it, so I could not carelessly let them climb back and decided to rely on the Adventurers instead.”

Leaving roof repairs to Adventurers might seem weird, but some of them could use spells like Float or Flight, so they could prove to be quite useful for this kind of work. Finia and I couldn’t use such high-level spells yet, but we still had many other useful ones in our arsenal, so we wouldn’t be dragging anyone’s feet.

“We have some spells that are effective at high altitude work, so we would not get in the way.”
“Liars, as if you twerps would be able to do heavy labor!”
“Now now. Lord Gadius chose them, so there must be no mistake.”

Lange intervened, but I could understand where these Adventurers were coming from. If little girls showed up as my coworkers for high-altitude work, even I would have doubted their abilities.

Much less when both Finia and I looked dainty enough to see that we weren’t suited for heavy work.

“That aside, let me explain the work particulars. Please come inside for now.”

Lange opened the warehouse door and invited us inside to disperse the tense aura.

The inside of the warehouse smelled a little of mold.

“Please take a look at that. The leaked water has started to corrode that beam. I would like you to start from there.”
“Part of it looks broken, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, that is where the first employee fell from. We have it covered with leather as an emergency measure now, but the water still managed to seep inside. Some of the goods have been spoiled too.”
“That seems serious. Is the fallen person alright?”
“Yes, there was dried jerky underneath, so it cushioned their fall. As you can see, the entire warehouse is in the atrium-style, so you would need to come down from the roof to repair the beam. Would that be alright?”
“Do we have repair materials?”
“Yes, they are in the back.”

Lange pointed to one corner at Finia’s question. There was a backdoor there, so they were probably behind it.

“Okay, we’ll get up so you just get the materials for us.”
“Huh, but we are the lighter ones…”
“Men should take over dangerous work.”

The Adventurer puffed his chest boastfully. He seemed to be prideful, but he wasn’t a bad fellow.