Kiran picked up the child and placed him on his lap. "Thanks to these two gentlemen, we didn't run into any trouble today," he said.
"Is that so? Thank you for your efforts, brave sirs."
"It's our job." Colin waved his hand dismissively.
He looked at the happy family of three before him, their faces beaming with joy.
'It's impossible not to be a little envious.' A wife, a child, a home in the Inner City District, and a stable job—this was the ultimate goal for which an Ordinary person in this world strived their entire life.
The woman took something wrapped in a white cloth from the basket she had brought.
Unwrapping it, she revealed a freshly baked meat pie.
Kiran borrowed a knife and plates from the tavern owner and divided the meat pie among the people at the table, giving even Kase and Colin a share.
Colin glanced at the slice of meat pie placed before him.
He cut off a piece with his Small Knife and popped it into his mouth. A rich, meaty flavor exploded on his tongue. He could faintly taste a hint of pepper. The slow-cooked vegetables had fully absorbed the savory fats, and the crust was baked to a perfect crisp. The more he chewed, the more flavorful it became.
Beside him, Kase only started eating after seeing Colin take a bite.
After one bite, the Half-Orc shoved the entire piece of pie into his mouth, grease dripping from his chin as he chewed.
After finishing his slice of pie, Colin felt the morning's exhaustion wash away completely, taking the stench and dampness of the sewers with it.
'The morning's hardship feels like a dream that never happened,' he thought.
After their lunch break, the group returned to the sewers once more.
The work was the same as before.
The cleaners didn't finish their work until evening, at which point Colin and Kase were finally able to escape from the sewers.
Time flew by, and the week-long guard duty assignment reached its final day.
Colin followed the cleaners in front of him into the Dream of Returning Harbor Tavern. The tavern wasn't crowded, but among the patrons were two City Guards in uniform.
The City Watchers were the army of Thousand Masts City, while the City Guard played the role of maintaining public order. The two were completely separate entities.
As usual, Colin ordered some oatmeal and cheese to fill his stomach.
No one at the table spoke.
They were all focused on tackling the food in front of them.
It was worth noting that Colin guarded a different team of cleaners each day.
Aside from Kiran's team, the other cleaning crews were all lifeless and sullen; none of the cleaners had any energy.
This wasn't really surprising.
After all, with a work environment like that, it was hard for anyone to remain optimistic. If anything, Kiran's cheerful, upbeat family was the anomaly.
He hadn't realized it when he first started the job, but now Colin found himself missing the meat pie and the relaxed atmosphere of that first day.
The work over the past few days had been much the same.
The most troublesome task had just been chasing away sewer rats. On a few days, they ran into gang members, but after seeing the ring on Colin's hand, those guys didn't dare cause any trouble.
After all, the severity of killing a cleaner versus killing a City Watcher field agent was on a completely different level.
While eating, Colin took a moment to check his quest Panel.
-----------------
[Quest: Protect the Cleaners]
[Rating: 0 (Mortal)]
[Reward: 25 Skill Level points]
-----------------
'The difficulty of this quest is way too low. This amount of Skill Level is only equivalent to a few days of normal training.'
Only the one Gold Coin reward upon completion was worth looking forward to. Including the giant rat tails they had collected during this time, Colin and Kase could each get about eight Silver Coins in the end.
But no matter how torturous it was, it would all be over this afternoon.
Thinking of this, Colin felt a little more relaxed.
As he ate, a loud BANG came from the tavern's main entrance, followed by the sound of a woman's sobbing.
"Huh? Isn't that the cleaner's wife from the other day?"
Colin, who hadn't wanted to get involved in any trouble, glanced back and saw that the crying woman at the door was indeed Kiran's wife. Several of Kiran's fellow cleaners were with her.
"What's going on here?" The two City Guards in the tavern walked over as they spoke.
"Should we go too?"
As Colin asked, he glanced to his side and saw that Kase was already on his feet and heading over.
He quickly stuffed the rest of his lunch into his mouth and walked over to see what was happening.
"Sirs, our colleague fell into a pit in the sewers! We're afraid he's fallen deep into the lower levels!" a cleaner said hurriedly.
"Please, save my husband..." After barely getting the words out, Kiran's wife broke down into uncontrollable sobs, desperately trying to shove a purse of money into the City Guard's hands.
Of the two City Guards, one was younger while the other looked more experienced.
"Don't worry about the money for now. Rescuing him is the priority," the older Guard said. "What were the circumstances when you last saw him? Where was it? Were there any monsters?"
"No, he stepped on a loose floor tile, and it just collapsed. We couldn't see what was below. Oh, right, the location is sewer line 145, under Troll Street."
"I see."
With that, the old Guard skillfully tore a note from a pad in his pouch.
As he wrote, he glanced at the ring on Colin's hand and said, "I recall the City Watchers recently hired a batch of Adventurers for fieldwork. Is that you two?"
"That's right."
"Then I'd like you to assist us in checking the situation down there. We'll give you five Silver Coins each afterward. If you take care of any monsters, you can keep the spoils."
Colin nodded. "We can do that."
Since it was a paid commission, there was no reason to refuse.
Besides, on a personal level, he didn't want to see such a bright and positive family be destroyed.
Seeing that Colin had agreed, the Guard tore the note off and handed it to one of the cleaners.
"Take this note to the nearest square. There's a clock tower there. If we're not back up in thirty minutes, go to the security post and call for backup. The City Guard is short-staffed right now, so I can't just call for reinforcements without knowing anything."
Seeing how proficient the City Guard was, Kiran's wife's sobs quieted a little, and the other cleaners also showed expressions of relief.
After getting two oil lamps from the cleaners, the rescue party immediately headed for the nearest sewer entrance.
The two, already familiar with the route, quickly followed the Guard into the sewers.
The old Guard was highly experienced and knew the sewer layout perfectly. He led them forward without a moment's hesitation, leaving chalk marks from his pocket as they went.
A little over ten minutes later, they arrived at the location the cleaners had described.
Sure enough, there was a hole of shattered brick and stone on the right-hand walkway of the sewer.
The group moved closer for a better look.
The light from the oil lamps faintly illuminated the floor below.
"The drop isn't too high, and there are no signs of monsters," the old Guard said. "Let's head down and assess the situation first. We'll deal with anything we can't handle as it comes. Morninglord be praised, I hope we don't end up finding just a corpse."