Chương 51: Chapter 27 : A Day at Work

The little alarm clock rang at exactly 4: 30 a. m. In truth, Aldric was already awake. As he often was before an important assignment. He immediately switched off the alarm and got to his feet. He folded his blanket before putting on the work clothes he had bought with Emma the day before. Before leaving the room, Aldric gathered his few belongings. He picked up his water bottle, slipped his notebook into a pocket, and carefully folded the paper with the job site's address.

Then he read through the assignment sheet he had prepared the previous evening one last time. Satisfied, he left the hotel. Thanks to Emma's directions, the journey to the meeting point went smoothly. For the first time since arriving on Earth, he took the metro alone. When he finally emerged from the station. The company's depot occupied a large yard where several white trucks were parked. Their liftgates were already open, and a few employees were loading equipment while chatting among themselves.

Dollies, moving blankets, and lifting straps were stacked beside a warehouse. The atmosphere reminded him of the preparations before a military supply caravan set out. A stocky man with a salt-and-pepper beard looked up at him.

"Looking for someone?"

"I am Aldric of Valdor. The temporary agency sent me to reinforce your team." The man glanced down at a sheet of paper.

"Ah... so you're the one." He held out his hand.

"Patrick. I'm the team leader." Aldric shook his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you."

"You're early."

"You asked me to arrive before six thirty." Patrick smiled.

"I wish everyone was like you." One by one, the rest of the team arrived. There were three of them: a tall blond man named Lucas who was constantly joking around, Karim, who was quieter, and finally Mathieu, another temporary worker who had already been working with them for several weeks. Patrick gathered everyone around the truck.

"Today's job is an apartment on the fourth floor. No elevator." Lucas let out a sigh.

"Again..." Patrick continued.

"We empty the apartment, load the truck, then move everything into the new house."

"Aldric, you'll stay with Karim. He'll show you how we do things."

"Very well." A few dozen minutes later, the truck pulled up in front of an apartment building. The residents had already packed some of their belongings, with stacks of boxes waiting in the apartment's entrance hall.

"Same as always. Watch the walls, the doors, and the furniture. No running on the stairs, and keep the work clean." His gaze lingered on Aldric for a moment.

"Everything clear?"

"Yes." The assignment began. Karim immediately picked up two boxes.

"You can start with these." He picked up two boxes himself and carried them down all four flights of stairs without the slightest effort. By the time he returned, Lucas and Mathieu were struggling to carry a TV stand downstairs.

"Give me a second," Patrick called out.

"We'll deal with the wardrobe next." A massive oak wardrobe covered an entire wall of the bedroom. In his former world, it would probably have taken four soldiers to move it.

"Should we take it apart?" Karim asked.

"Yes. Otherwise, it'll never fit through the door." Aldric studied the wardrobe for a few moments. His eyes traced the screws, the hinges, the door frame, then estimated its weight. It seemed entirely possible to move it in one piece. Thinking it would save time for the entire team, he slipped his hands beneath the base of the wardrobe and lifted. The heavy piece of furniture rose off the floor as Aldric turned toward the doorway. Behind him, no one moved. Karim froze with a screwdriver still in his hand.

Lucas's eyes went wide, while Mathieu blinked several times in disbelief. Even Patrick was speechless for a fraction of a second. Then he finally found his voice.

"Easy! You're going to break the floor!" The knight looked down. The old wooden floorboards creaked beneath the weight. Patrick climbed the few steps separating them.

"Put it back down." Aldric set the wardrobe back in exactly the same place. Patrick ran a hand over his face and let out a long breath.

"Do... do you do that often?"

"Usually, the furniture is heavier." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Lucas burst out laughing. Karim shook his head, while Mathieu continued staring at the wardrobe. Patrick eventually regained his composure.

"All right... We take wardrobes apart." Then he pointed a finger at Aldric.

"And above all... try not to lift the entire house before the coffee break."

"Understood."

"All right! Back to work!" The team immediately resumed what they had been doing. Patrick walked over to Aldric.

"We've established that you're strong. But this isn't about setting records."

"Understood."

"And most importantly... if something is meant to be carried by two people, then two people carry it."

"Very well." Whenever he went up or down the stairs, Aldric deliberately slowed his pace to match everyone else's. Karim noticed.

"You know, you can move a little faster."

"What speed is considered normal?"

"Uh..." He pointed at Lucas, who was coming down the stairs carrying two boxes.

"Like him." He memorized Lucas's pace, the way he placed his feet on each step, how long it took him to reach the ground floor, then matched that exact rhythm on his next trip. Karim watched him walk past.

"You really do take instructions seriously."

"They exist for a reason." As the morning went on, Aldric discovered that the job involved far more than simply carrying heavy loads. Every item had to be moved thoughtfully. Some pieces of furniture had to be wrapped in thick moving blankets. Others were taken apart before being transported. Fragile boxes were placed on top of the others inside the truck, while the heaviest ones formed the foundation of the entire load. Patrick noticed Aldric watching every step of the process.

"Trying to figure it all out?"

"Yes."

"If you load the truck carelessly, everything shifts during the drive."

"I see."

"And if something falls..."

"The client's belongings are damaged." Patrick nodded.

"Exactly." The whole system reminded him of supplying an army. Food, weapons, and equipment were all loaded in a precise order to prevent damage during long marches. A little later, Lucas handed him a box.

"This one's marked Fragile." Aldric accepted it carefully.

"What's inside?"

"No idea."

"Then why is it fragile?" Lucas burst out laughing.

"Because it says so." Aldric lowered his gaze to the box. Sure enough, the word FRAGILE was printed across it in large red letters. He immediately slowed his pace and descended the stairs with almost excessive caution. By the time he carefully set the box inside the truck, Lucas was watching him with a grin.

"You carried it like it was a treasure."

"If its owner considered it necessary to write 'Fragile,' then this object must be of great value." Lucas exchanged an amused glance with Karim.

"He's got a point." Around ten o'clock, Patrick called for a short break. The whole team sat down on the sidewalk in the shade of the truck. Everyone pulled out a bottle of water or a coffee they had picked up along the way. Aldric joined them after making sure nothing inside the truck was at risk of falling. Lucas held out a bottle to him.

"Here."

"Thank you."

"Tell me... do you lift weights?"

"No."

"Martial arts?"

"Not exactly."

"Then how did you get so strong?" Aldric opened his mouth. For a brief moment, he considered telling the truth. Years of training. Military campaigns. Dragons. The Demon King. Then he remembered Emma's advice.

"A great deal of training."

"It shows."

"You've definitely got incredible stamina," Karim said. Aldric inclined his head.

"Thank you." A few minutes later, the break came to an end. The entire team headed back upstairs to deal with the remaining furniture. This time, when they reached a large dresser, Patrick stepped beside Aldric.

"Two people." Each of them took one end of the dresser.

"Lift." Aldric bore just enough of the weight to make it feel evenly distributed. In reality, Patrick was carrying almost nothing. Yet he never noticed. Aldric constantly adjusted his strength so that his coworker felt exactly the amount of effort he expected. When they finally set the dresser inside the truck, Patrick let out a long breath.

"Perfect." Once the last piece of furniture had finally been placed inside the new house, Patrick rested his hands on his hips and looked around the different rooms. The boxes had all been stacked in the correct bedrooms, the furniture was back in place, and nothing remained inside the truck. Patrick checked his watch.

"Faster than expected." Lucas wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

"Good thing we didn't have to carry everything back down the stairs..." Karim burst out laughing.

"Don't start that again." Everyone began putting the moving blankets, straps, and dollies back into the truck. Every piece of equipment was returned to its proper place. The blankets were neatly folded, and the straps carefully rolled up. Patrick watched Aldric discreetly. Since the wardrobe incident, he hadn't had to correct him a single time. Once everything was finished, Patrick closed the truck's rear doors.

"That's it." The homeowners came outside to thank the movers. A woman in her fifties warmly shook Patrick's hand before handing out a few cold drinks.

"Thank you so much."

"It's all part of the job," Patrick replied. The woman then turned to Aldric.

"And thank you as well." Aldric inclined his head.

"It was an honor to be of assistance."

"That's very kind of you." A few minutes later, the entire team climbed back into the truck and headed for the depot. The drive back was far more relaxed than the trip that morning. Lucas entertained everyone with stories about bizarre moving jobs, while Karim regularly added details of his own. Aldric listened attentively, discovering that this profession sometimes led to situations almost as extraordinary as some of the adventures he had experienced.

When they arrived back at the depot, everyone began unloading the equipment. Once the truck had been emptied, Patrick asked Aldric to wait a moment.

"Can you come into the office?"

"Of course." The small office overlooked the yard. Patrick closed the door before sitting down behind a desk cluttered with paperwork.

"So..." He folded his arms.

"First day on the job. At first, I thought I was going to have to replace the hardwood floor."

"My apologies." Patrick raised a hand.

"That's not what I meant. You're unbelievably strong. But more importantly, you listen. After the wardrobe incident, you never made the same mistake again. A lot of new guys think they already know everything. You watch, you ask questions, and you follow instructions. That's a real quality."

"Thank you." Patrick opened a drawer, took out an envelope, and handed it to Aldric.

"Here you go. You've earned this." It was the first time anyone had handed him money he had earned on Earth. In his former world, rewards usually came only after weeks of travel, hard-fought battles, or the defeat of powerful monsters.

"If I ever need another temporary worker... I'd be happy to work with you again."

"It would be an honor." Patrick let out a quiet laugh.

"You really do talk like a knight."

"Thank you." △ SIDE QUEST COMPLETED △ Complete Your First Job Difficulty: C Rewards +750 XP Employment Knowledge +1 Reputation +1 △ BONUS REWARD UNLOCKED △ Self-Control Lv. 1 △ LEVEL UP △