Appraiser 12

Test

Is A Good Cleaner Valuable?

"When cleaning, start from the top."

Yuuri's cheerful voice echoed in the hideout. Responding obediently to that voice were four boys in total. Starting with Yak, all of them were still apprentices, assigned to various chores. Yak, the youngest, was 13, while the oldest, Ulgrus, was 16. In this world, adulthood was at 18, but even then, they were treated more like half-grown chicks than adults.

Reaching adulthood at 18 and being able to do a proper job alone was rare. It required being born into a craftsman family and learning the know-how since childhood. Or it might be different for the naturally born warrior races. But here, there were only human boys. It's not that they were discriminating against other races. There were only humans among the current apprentices. Just saying.

Yuri held a cloth in hand, wiping the ceiling shelves. Scarlett Lynx was responsible for cleaning private rooms, but other public areas were the apprentices' jobs. Of course, if there were fewer apprentices, other members would help. It wasn't hazing. It was about ensuring everyone could handle basic tasks like cooking and chores without complaint.

This was the bookshelf inside the hideout. Books were valuable. But not unavailable. The hideout housed books brought in by members and textbooks for acquiring necessary knowledge. Therefore, this room had more shelves compared to others. The dust-covered tops of those shelves indicated they had hardly been cleaned before.

Initially, Yuuri intended to follow Yak and the others' instructions for cleaning. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He thought he'd work while learning from his seniors, but their idea of 'cleaning' didn't match Yuri's standards. It looked like they'd left plenty undone.

As a result, while Yak and the others exited the room feeling accomplished, Yuuri continued cleaning silently. Despite realizing they lacked cleaning tools, he persisted with a cloth and a bucket. While he could handle sweeping with a broom decently, Yuuri couldn't help but worry about the details.

Consequently, Yuuri found himself taking charge of the entire cleaning operation.

However, being his usual carefree self, Yuuri didn't give off an atmosphere of issuing orders. If anything, it felt like kindergarten. Or maybe a nursery. It had that vibe as if saying.

"Let's do it like the teachers, okay?"

Perhaps Yuuri was the reason for that atmosphere. The only adult left in the hideout, Tiffana (a mentor and a Thief by profession), smiled indulgently, making it feel even more kindergarten-like.

Yuri and others wiped the shelves just like him. The agile ones climbed up and wiped while Yuri stretched on a chair to wipe. Yak, being petite, focused on lower shelves. Though they usually squabbled about various things, none argued or complained, getting along well and cleaning together.

"Yak, you should wipe the lower places since it's dangerous. Camille, make sure Yak doesn't fall!"

"I'm fine, Ulgrus."

"Yeah, yeah. Speaking of which, Ulgrus, don't topple the shelf with your weight."

"Shut up."

Ulgrus, the eldest, seemed to be the caring type, despite what he said everything. Being the most senior among the apprentices, he worried about Yak and the immediately younger Camille. Yak teased him about his weight causing the shelf to shake, but there was no tense atmosphere.

"..."

Amidst this, quietly working without a word was Mag. With a basic nature of being silent and expressionless, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. But he seemed to be the type who did his job properly, silently proceeding with his work. Furthermore, being just below Ulgrus, that is, overseeing the apprentices, he was more of a lone wolf, not engaging much with others.

Despite these dynamics, everyone seemed to be enjoying the cleaning, one way or another. Yes, they were enjoying it. Because if they followed Yuuri's instructions, the shelves would become clean. It felt good to see them clean. Passing by, Tiffana would remark, "You're doing a great job cleaning today. You're all amazing." which motivated the boys further.

As a result, the shelves in the bookshelf sparkled like new.

Everyone was impressed by how pristine the shelves looked. Impressed, they all grabbed cloths and buckets and started wiping all the shelves in the hideout. Watching the boys dash off to wipe the shelves, Yuuri gazed out the window.

Glass-making technology in this world was still immature compared to what Yuuri knew. The transparency and strength of the glass were lacking. However, thanks to the efforts of those with blacksmithing skills, the glass windows were decent enough. The glass made by those with maxed-out blacksmithing skills was the best in this world, both in transparency and strength, but you'll find such windows were only in the lord's mansion or the royal palace.

Hence, Scarlett Lynx's hideout window was made of slightly dull glass. They were dirty due to rain and wind. Furthermore, the inside was also dirty with house dust like dust and grime. Though they had been wiped, it seemed like they were wiped with a fuzzy cloth. Marks were left, and they didn't look beautiful at all.

Yuuri gazed at the cloth in his hand. This cloth was supposedly made of cotton. In this world, cotton seemed to be a common fabric. It was apparently an inexpensive material available even to commoners, so the cloth was made of cotton. But it wasn't a towel.

The trick to cleaning glass windows was to use a damp cloth. Wet half of it, then wring it out thoroughly. Next, overlap it with the dry half and wring it out again. That created a semi-damp condition. You could remove dirt with just the right amount of moisture without wetting the glass by wiping the glass windows with this cloth.

That was how Yuuri knew to clean glass windows. There were other methods involving tools, but he didn't have any tools now, only a cloth. So he thought it would be fine to use this method, but there was one problem.

The cloth Yuuri always used for cleaning was a towel.

Old towels were turned into cloths for cleaning. Isn't that the case in any household? When asked to bring a cloth during elementary school, parents would prepare a cloth made of towel fabric. They would fold and sew old towels into cloth-sized pieces in Yuuri's house. So, for Yuuri, a cloth meant a towel. But what he held now was cotton, though fabric. Would it still clean the glass windows the same way?

"Well, might as well give it a try."

Muttering quietly, Yuuri dipped half of the cloth into the bucket. Then he squeezed out the wet part firmly. Next, Yuuri overlapped it with the dry part and squeezed it again. Now he was ready. Yuuri gently pressed the damp cloth against the glass window. Carefully wiping to ensure it cleaned the dirt but not too forcefully, he tried it out. The dirt came off, leaving no strange streaks. It seemed that even a cotton cloth was fine.

Confirming that, Yuuri began wiping one window after another. He'd leave the outside for later. For now, he focused on wiping all the indoor glass windows. Wiping them with a damp cloth meant they dried quickly, returning to their clean state. Thus, there were no odd water streaks nor did fibers stick from repeated wiping. The windows were gradually cleaned to a satisfactory level.

"Huh? What's Yuuri doing?"

"He's cleaning the glass windows."

"Wow... they're incredibly clean after Yuuri wiped them! How did you do it, Yuuri?"

"Wow?! Seriously! They're always whitish, but after Yuuri wiped them, they're super clean!"

When Yak exclaimed, Ulgrus, who was watching, shouted. Camille and Mag also approached to check the window, and when they confirmed the truth of the two's statements, they stared at Yuuri. There was a silent plea for Yuuri to teach them the method, and Yuuri tilted his head curiously, then started explaining with his usual gentle smile.

From there on, it turned into a mass cleaning of the glass windows with Yuuri's guidance.

Initially, they only intended to clean the bookshelf and dining area. However, as they wiped inside and out and saw the difference in cleanliness between the now-cleaned windows and the adjacent rooms with untouched dirty windows, they understood. Having just one part clean made the dirt in other parts stand out!

It was fine when they were inside. But when they went outside and compared the clean windows of the bookshelf and dining area with the dirty windows of the adjacent room, it was already too late. When Yuuri said, "It bothers me, so I'll clean them," the boys naturally followed. Why were they so enthusiastic? Well, it was mostly because of Tiffana's praise. The presence of a beautiful woman was powerful.

Therefore, instead of spending time on self-training until the afternoon, they spent the morning cleaning the glass windows. As an aside, under Yuuri's guidance, it somewhat turned into a major cleaning, resulting in the communal spaces becoming quite clean. When the members returned and saw the change, they often asked Yuuri for cleaning tips and proceeded to tidy their rooms.