Lumina Beginner Academy
The bubbles that had blanketed an entire wall in a thick, churning mass suddenly shimmered, dissolving into sparkling motes of light that drifted away into the air. What they left behind was nothing short of astonishing.
Whoa… Wow! It’s like a completely brand-new wall!
The dingy stone surface that had been blooming with mold was gone without a trace. In its place stood the wall’s original clean face—so pristine that, if not for the occasional faint scratch, anyone would have believed it had just been freshly built.
Thrilled, Ian didn’t stop there. He sent more Perfect Bubbles at the wall beside the bed and across the sticky floor. Each time the fresh-scented foam swept over a surface, years of grime vanished as if by magic.
He even felt the urge to scour the dust-clouded windows and the filthy ceiling, but his rising sense of reason yanked him back.
Whoa, slow down. I can’t burn through all my mana just cleaning a room.
He had no idea what grueling errands might come his way today. Pouring every drop of mana into housekeeping would be pure luxury.
My total mana is only 150. It might look like a decent number, but it’s nowhere near comfortable. Even washing my face costs mana—if I keep throwing it around like this, I’ll be left twiddling my thumbs when it really matters.
Mana:118 / 150
−32(Recent expenditure)
Ian stared gravely at the bottom of his skill window for a moment, then looked down at the floor now gleaming like freshly laid parquet and gave a small smile.
Still, the spotless floor and the refreshing fragrance filling the room had a wonderful way of lifting one’s spirits. At this rate, the inn felt less like a 1-gold-2-silver room and more like a luxury hotel suite.
Now in high spirits, Ian took a thorough shower, gathered his coat and bag, and headed down to the first-floor dining room.
The dining area was quiet. A middle-aged man who looked like a low-rank mercenary was silently maintaining some old daggers at a corner table. As Ian glanced around, he was inwardly impressed by just how spotless everything was. The innkeeper clearly took special care of this space; not a single speck of dust rested on the worn furniture.
Well… she is running the place alone at her age. Keeping the dining room this clean must take real dedication.
With a mixture of sympathy and admiration on his face, Ian took a seat at a table near the bar. Right on cue, the innkeeper emerged from the kitchen and served him breakfast: a savory cream potato soup redolent with the aroma of butter, and a chunk of rye bread with a crisp crust and moist interior.
Ian devoured the surprisingly refined and deeply flavorful meal as if he were inhaling it.
“That was wonderful, thank you, Grandma!”
“Call me Masa.”
The old woman answered Ian’s cheerful greeting with a faint smile.
“Yes, Grandma Masa!”
When Ian introduced himself with an easy grin, Grandma Masa gave a gentle nod.
“Have a good day, Ian.”
Hearing her send-off, Ian felt an unexpected warmth bloom in his chest—like the start of a thin but unbreakable bond. He beamed, waved both hands enthusiastically, and stepped out of the inn.
The Errand Boy Guild, where he had finally arrived to take on his first proper commission, was somehow even more crowded than yesterday. It seemed to be one of those unlucky days when clients and errand boys tangled especially badly. The reception counter was packed with people waiting to post requests, while a thick wall of errand boys already blocked the bulletin board, each trying to snatch the best jobs first.
Oh no! All the easy, well-paying ones are going to disappear!
Ian bit his lip, then pushed his way desperately into the crowd of errand boys. But a rookie was a rookie for a reason. The veterans’ rough, practiced shoulder-checking shoved him back again and again until he couldn’t even reach the board. By the time the throng had finally thinned out, every last one of them gone with their chosen requests, Ian was left standing alone, exhausted and dejected, without having seen a single posting up close.
“Ah… damn…”
He let out a hollow sigh and scanned the lower edge of the board with tired eyes. The low-rank requests that had been plentiful just yesterday were almost all gone. New ones were being added in real time, but most were dangerous mid-rank or higher jobs. Growing anxious, Ian’s gaze darted quickly across the remaining beginner requests.
Harvesting wrinkle mushrooms that grow at the tops of trees? Hmm… I’m really not good with climbing. What about this one? Let’s see… Porter wanted for floors one through five of the Kalain Beach Labyrinth?
After a moment’s thought, Ian decided to pass on the porter job as well. Heading into a labyrinth without any knowledge at all felt far too risky. Besides, as a former Seoul resident, he had never even encountered a single wild animal in his life. His experience was far too lacking to face monsters, even at a labyrinth’s shallow entrance.
So the only thing left is… cleaning classrooms at the beginner academy. And five of them, at that!
It was a request that even veteran errand boys had ignored. Anyone could see it was backbreaking physical labor. Yet for Ian, this job felt more welcome than any golden opportunity. In fact, it was almost as if he had been waiting for exactly this kind of request.
If I mix Perfect Bubble into a wooden tub of clean water and use it like liquid soap, cleaning five classrooms should be a breeze!
The reward was also quite generous—fully 15 gold. For a low-rank physical labor job, the pay was exceptional. Without hesitation, Ian tore the request sheet off the board and tucked it into his bag.
Before leaving the guild, he made sure to bow politely to the expressionless receptionist. Her deep blue gaze followed his retreating back with curious interest for quite a while, but Ian, focused only on what lay ahead, never noticed.
Lumina Beginner Academy was located on the city’s outer central district. That meant a fairly long walk from the errand boy guild near the north gate.
After walking briskly for about an hour and a half, Ian arrived to find the academy far more impressive than he had imagined. Having learned from little Jane yesterday about the harsh reality that children from poor families began working as soon as they turned ten, he had guessed that anyone who could still attend the academy would be the sons and daughters of wealthy merchants or powerful families. He had expected the facilities to reflect that.
Even so… I didn’t think the building would be this grand.
Lumina Academy was built with a harmonious blend of light brown brick and milky marble, evoking the atmosphere of a noble mansion nestled deep in the woods. Instead of a formal garden, a wide, well-tended lawn spread out invitingly in front, while rows of garden trees bursting with bright yellow flowers stood neatly along both sides.
Lost in the watercolor-like scenery, Ian stood before the ivy-covered iron gate until a voice came from the guardhouse.
“Who are you?”
“…Ah, I’m an errand boy here for the cleaning request.”
Startled, Ian quickly pulled out the request sheet. Only then did the middle-aged female guard smile faintly and let him inside.
“Another poor soul here to suffer, I see.”
“Haha… are the classrooms really that bad?”
“It’s less that they’re dirty and more that they’re covered in graffiti. The kids spill paint everywhere during art class, drip sticky syrup all over the place at snack time, and one student even used some weird skill to turn the whole room into an ink disaster. It’s chaos.”
“So these are classrooms for young children, then.”
“Yes. They’re for the little ones from age seven to ten.”
Ian forced an awkward smile at the guard’s words. Just imagining the scene made his stomach tighten.
Good thing I have Perfect Bubble. Without it, even I would have turned tail and run.
The guard escorted Ian all the way to the staff room before leaving. Inside the staff room, furnished with luxurious cream-colored furniture, only one female teacher in her mid-to-late twenties remained. She approached Ian with a slightly doubtful expression.
“Um… the cleaning will be quite difficult. Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
“Yes. Please trust me with it.”
“Hmm, very well. Today is Midnight Day, so only the children in special aftercare are here. They’re with the assistant teacher in the playroom, so you won’t have any interruptions.”
When Ian nodded, she gestured for him to follow and started down a long hallway. Ian hurried after her, meanwhile recalling a basic piece of common sense about this world that had suddenly surfaced in his mind—the names of the days.
On the Adrian continent, the days were called: Monday was Dawn Day, Tuesday was Flash Day, Wednesday was Noon Day, Thursday was Twilight Day, Friday was Moonlight Day, Saturday was Midnight Day, and Sunday was Rest Day. People sometimes referred to the cycle of the week as “the Journey of Light.”
Therefore, the “Midnight Day” the teacher had mentioned was Saturday.
Whew, it seems the most basic common sense pops into my head whenever I need it. That’s a relief.
It really was fortunate. If he didn’t even know such things, he would have seemed far too strange to the people here.
Soon they reached the classrooms Ian was to clean. The moment the teacher opened the heavy wooden door and revealed the interior, Ian’s jaw dropped. The elegant desks and chairs, the floors and walls—every surface was caked in paint and mud. Graffiti covered the walls just as the guard had warned, and countless tiny handprints from little hands smeared with paint were pressed everywhere.
“It’s a disaster, isn’t it? This month has been especially terrible. We had three weeks of clay craft class in a row, so…”
“Ah, I see…”
“Still, the classrooms for the ten-year-olds are much better than this.”
“Um… does the academy not have dedicated janitors?”
“We do, but no one will take the seven-to-ten-year-old rooms. They all quit almost immediately.”
Ian gave a half-smiling, half-crying nod. The teacher returned a bittersweet smile of her own, told him where to find the restroom and cleaning supplies, and quickly disappeared down the marble hallway.
Ian took another look at the disastrous state of the classroom and steeled his resolve.
All right! There’s no backing out now. Time to show what I can really do!