Judged Worthless part2
I took the elevator up to the third floor.
This floor was a dense, overgrown forest.
I followed the well-maintained stone path.
After a while, the path opened up and I found myself in a clearing.
There was a small pond in the center, with a statue resembling a goddess standing beside it.
It wasn't a safe zone, but adventurers often used the area as a temporary resting place.
As usual, I gave the goddess statue a small bow, collected the trash from the bins, and cleaned the surrounding area.
With so many trees and so much grass, this was one of the floors where people tended to leave their unwanted items lying around instead of taking them to the designated disposal areas.
I went around collecting anything that didn't belong, checking each item with Appraisal as I went.
“Oh, lucky me!”
Someone had dropped a hundred-yen coin.
I slipped it into my pocket.
I'll hand it over to the management center later.
The company leaves the handling of money and valuables up to the individual employee. If an item remains at the management center for six months without its owner being identified, it officially becomes the property of the person who found it.
I've heard that most people just keep what they find, though.
Still, loose change is loose change.
Every week, I report the money and valuables I've collected to the management center.
The original owners rarely show up unless the item is particularly important, and after enough time passes, I gratefully receive some of the previously reported valuables that have gone unclaimed.
“Alright. Time to move on to the next collection point.”
There are two disposal areas on this floor.
One is in the goddess statue's clearing where I am now.
The other is farther along the path, in front of a shrine.
For some reason, there's a small shrine there, along with a Jizo statue and a purification basin beside it.
When I arrived at the shrine, I did as I always did and put my hands together in prayer.
There wasn't much to collect at the disposal area today.
I took a bucket out of my magic trash bin and scooped up a little water from the purification basin.
Then I took out a towel, dampened it, and wiped down the Jizo statue.
I gave the shrine itself a quick cleaning as well.
While I was at it, I replaced the handmade red robe I had made for the Jizo statue.
This was something I did entirely as a personal hobby.
I'd actually like to leave offerings too, but that would probably attract monsters, so I have to restrain myself.
I prayed once more, then pushed my cart back the way I'd come.
Eventually, I returned to the clearing with the goddess statue.
I took off my shoes at the edge of the pond and casually stepped into the water.
The pond was shallow.
I used the fresh water I'd brought from the shrine to wet another clean towel.
Then I began wiping down the goddess statue.
To be perfectly honest, this was the one part of my job that always made my heart race.
I have no idea how it works, but despite the fact that I've been coming to this dungeon for four years, the statue hasn't deteriorated in the slightest.
And the goddess is... quite well endowed.
There were adventurers resting nearby, so I tried to carry on with my work as casually as possible, silently making the statement, “I'm just a cleaner,” without actually saying it.
Once I'd finished everything, it was already past noon, so I decided to take my own break in the goddess's clearing.
I sat down in the grass and took a drink from my thermos.
One of the adventurers nearby left a plastic bottle behind and walked away without picking it up.
“...”
Without saying a word, I picked up the bottle and put it into my magic trash bin.
Then—
“Congratulations! In recognition of your achievements in maintaining and cleaning this dungeon...”
A voice suddenly echoed directly inside my head.
“Huh?”
“As a reward for cleaning this dungeon, I shall grant you the following skills.”
The voice continued speaking inside my mind without waiting for a response.
A window-like frame appeared in front of me.
“The following abilities are hereby bestowed upon you:
Auto-Mapping
Appraisal: EX
Make good use of these abilities, and continue your efforts to preserve and maintain the environment. We sincerely hope for your continued dedication.”
