Chapter 35: Seeing Ghosts

“Five gold coins.”

Iris’s voice sounded in my ear; clearly, she had noticed the contents of the commission notice as well.

“As I recall, Yuuri-chan, you only have a single silver coin left, right? This job pays five gold coins—come on, don’t tell me you’re not tempted?”

There was no way I wasn’t tempted.

Gold coins—five of them, at that. For Yuuri, who had never even touched a gold coin before, the allure was overwhelming.

Of course, high rewards always meant high risks.

Until now, Yuuri had never accepted a task above C-rank.

This would be her first time.

The Guild had a clear difficulty classification system for commissions. From easiest to hardest, they were: D-rank, C-rank, B-rank, and A-rank.

Accordingly, there were also matching adventurer ranks: from lowest to highest, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. As for adventurers above Platinum, only a handful had ever been recorded in the entire kingdom, honored as Amethyst-ranked.

Adventurers could select commissions matching their own rank.

While the correspondence between strength and commission difficulty was clear, the Guild did not restrict adventurers to only take jobs at their own level.

If you were confident in your abilities, you could try taking on higher-ranked commissions.

But high rewards brought high risks.

If you faced a commission above your abilities and ran into trouble, the best outcome would be failure; the worst, you’d lose your life on the spot.

Therefore, although the Guild didn’t prohibit it, whenever an adventurer attempted a higher-ranked job, they always tried to dissuade them.

If someone insisted on taking the job and died as a result, it was considered a personal decision, unrelated to the Guild. No one could blame the Guild for that.

At present, B-rank commissions corresponded to Gold-ranked adventurers. Yuuri herself was still only Silver-ranked. For safety, she’d always chosen C-rank commissions matching her strength. If none were available, she’d settle for a higher-paying D-rank, but she’d never tried to overreach.

But now, things were different.

After turning into a girl, not only had her physical abilities not declined, they’d actually improved. More importantly, with Iris’s help, she could now use magic she’d never dreamed of before.

Even if she wasn’t Gold-ranked yet, she couldn’t be far off.

Her eyes dropped to read the commission in detail.

The task was straightforward: defeat a dangerous magical beast known as the Silvermoon Wolf King, and retrieve its pelt, claws, skull, and—most importantly—its magic core.

The so-called magic core was the crystallized source of mana within a magical beast, the most precious material on such creatures.

Normally, Silvermoon Wolves’ pelts were a dull gray, but under moonlight, they shimmered with a metallic silver sheen—hence their name.

Moonlight didn’t just change the color of their fur; it also enhanced their fighting ability. Under the moon, in addition to their sharp fangs and claws, Silvermoon Wolves could channel mana to cast spells, making them extremely dangerous.

Yuuri herself had encountered a Silvermoon Wolf at night before—a lone wolf separated from its pack.

She’d struggled, finally managing to win thanks to the beast’s fear of fire.

But now, the target was the Silvermoon Wolf King. Compared to the lone outcast she’d faced before, this one would be far stronger.

Worse still, Silvermoon Wolves were pack animals, meaning she’d face not just the Wolf King, but the whole pack under its command. Typically, a Silvermoon Wolf pack numbered between ten and twenty.

One-on-one, she might be able to take down the Wolf King, but if she ended up surrounded, things would look grim.

Originally, Yuuri had thought she’d accept any commission no matter what, but now she hesitated.

The reward was definitely tempting—almost too good to resist—but facing a pack of Silvermoon Wolves alone seemed too risky.

If only she could form a team, the job would be much easier.

Should she find someone to team up with?

No… Forming a party would mean acting with others. To avoid exposing her identity, Yuuri had always kept her distance from others.

The idea of teaming up vanished the moment it appeared.

She couldn’t work with others, for her own sake and for theirs.

It was best for everyone this way.

If she couldn’t team up, she’d have to face the wolf pack alone.

How to deal with the pack while focusing on the Wolf King—that was the challenge Yuuri needed to solve.

Perhaps she could use the wolves’ fear of fire, creating a blaze to divide the battlefield. She could then defeat them one by one and use the flames to slow the wolves down.

But how to start the fire? Could she create a blaze quickly enough to divide the battlefield?

She could.

She really could.

Now, she could even enchant her weapon with flames. While her mana reserves wouldn’t let her summon a huge fire, the commission’s location was in a patch of dry-leaf forest west of Anvil City.

That area was full of dry branches and fallen leaves—perfect for making a fire. She just needed to prepare in advance and lure the Wolf King into the trap, naturally forming a fire barrier to contain it. With the beast’s fear of fire, and a flaming sword in hand, she could beat it so badly it would wish it had never been born.

Thinking it through, completing the commission alone was not impossible.

Even if she couldn’t win, she could still escape using the fire as cover.

With this settled, Yuuri took the commission notice from the bulletin board, walked to the reception desk, and placed it on the counter.

“Hello, would you like to accept this B-rank commission to subdue the Silvermoon Wolf King?”

The receptionist took the notice and, seeing who it was, couldn’t hide her surprise.

“By yourself?”

“Yes.”

The receptionist glanced at the commission, then at the silver-ranked badge, then back at Yuuri. Her astonishment only deepened.

That was the Silvermoon Wolf King—plus its entire pack. No Gold-ranked leader, and just a single Silver-ranked adventurer going alone? That was practically suicide.

“Are you sure? This is a B-rank commission, and it’s not just the Wolf King—you’ll face its whole pack. It’s best to form a team. The risk and difficulty are far too high for one person. Please, consider—what’s more important, the reward, or…”

“I’m sure.”

Seeing Yuuri’s determination, the receptionist didn’t try to argue further.

She’d seen plenty like this before.

Probably just another reckless adventurer blinded by the reward, running headlong to their doom.

With that, the receptionist stopped persuading her and efficiently processed the registration, stamping the Guild’s seal on the commission and recording Yuuri’s personal details.

“All done, Miss Yuuri. The paperwork is finished—good luck.”

“Thank you.”

Taking the registered commission and her badge, Yuuri left the Guild directly. Before setting out, she had to pick up her gear from the smithy.

*****

Just over an hour after Yuuri left, another team of adventurers arrived at the reception.

“Submission of commission.”

At their words, the receptionist accepted the notice and the quest item.

It was a recording crystal, capable of capturing a certain amount of visual footage.

This team had taken on a C-rank commission: investigating a suspicious area near the Silvermoon Wolf King’s territory. Everything in the area had been recorded by the crystal.

But at the moment, all their faces looked off. The receptionist counted heads—one was missing.

It was only a C-rank area investigation mission. There shouldn’t have been any casualties. Yet the fear still lingered on their faces, as if they’d just survived something truly terrifying.

“Damn it, wasn’t this supposed to be a C-rank job?

How could something like that—how could that thing be in the forest?!”

While the receptionist was still puzzled, one adventurer suddenly slammed the counter, shouting out his question.