Chapter 3: F-Rank Hunter, Yoschua Verdi

When I came back along the same path, I saw Mr. Luca with a cigar in his mouth.

“What, you’re already out?”

“Yes.”

He asked in a slightly surprised voice, as if he hadn’t expected me to come back this quickly, and I answered flatly.

‘Ugh…’

As I kept walking, the cold wind slipped under my skirt again. It’s seriously creepy. I think it’s going to take a while to get used to this.

“So how was it? Magic working fine?”

“Yes. I think I could start working right away.”

“Oh, really?”

When I answered confidently, Mr. Luca made a surprised face.

“Today’s a bit off, though. Starting tomorrow! I’ll start tomorrow.”

“I didn’t expect you to start right away… but hey, are you going to work alone again this time?”

“Yes. That’s the plan.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Mr. Luca looked me up and down, then made a face like he had something to say.

“Why?”

“How about trying to make some friends or teammates this time?”

“Teammates?”

“Yeah. Instead of always skulking around alone. Making connections might help you out later, right?”

“I don’t need teammates.”

I said to Mr. Luca, who was talking nonsense, in a detached tone.

Teammates, my ass. Having more people to clean up after just gets annoying.

“Is that so? Still, there’s no harm in having good relationships. I’m saying this from life experience. You know it’s hard to survive in this industry alone. You used to bring a teammate along later on, after all.”

“…That guy was different from other people.”

I’d closed plenty of Gates alone and never really felt the need to make teammates.

Usually, a mage’s role in a party is a backline dealer, and since most need time to chant spells, it was almost mandatory to bring at least one frontline teammate.

But I have the special ability I got from coming to this other world — Incantationless Casting. Thanks to that, I don’t need a tank either; I can just put up a Mana Shield and cast magic without incantations, going on a rampage alone.

If I have teammates, I have to split the reward. I hate that. My contribution in the party is overwhelming, but the reward has to be split equally? That’s bullshit.

Still, well… there was one single person, a teammate I could trust with my back. Though we parted ways a long time ago.

—How about we stop here?

—…Are you serious?

‘Why did you have to say something like that back then…’

The last words we exchanged came to mind.

Even now, it’s one of the voices I often hear when I have nightmares.

“Fuck…”

I felt a little choked up. This always happened whenever I thought about that day.

“Why the sudden cursing?”

“Ah, sorry. A frustrating memory came to mind.”

“What kind of person just curses out of nowhere because of that? You were badmouthing me behind my back, weren’t you?”

“Absolutely not!”

Mr. Luca spread his arms as if he was about to strangle me any second, and I quickly waved my hands and apologized.

Whenever I crossed the line with money-related stuff, Mr. Luca would grab me by the neck with those thick arms of his.

“Geez, now that you’ve changed like this, I can’t even hit you properly.”

Oh, that’s kind of convenient, isn’t it?

Just as I was thinking that.

*SQUEEZE-*

Mr. Luca put me in a headlock! You just said you wouldn’t hit me!

“Ah! Aagh! What the hell are you doing!”

“Your face looks like shit, it’s obvious. Obvious! Your body changed, but your nature’s still the same!”

This is seriously painful! This guy is actually choking me for real!

Plus, with this girl’s weak strength, it’s hard to break free.

‘W-wait.’

What is this, this fucking feeling. Well, I don’t have a dick anymore, though.

“Hey, Mr. Luca. You’re touching me.”

“Huh? What is?”

“Your… that fucking dick thing… no, I mean literally that thing… it’s touching me. Fuck…”

“Oh… sorry.”

Only then did Mr. Luca release my neck.

Actually, it wasn’t touching, but I lied to get free.

Still, aside from that, being held by a grown man in this small body was pretty fucking annoying.

It felt like falling into a trap I couldn’t escape.

The atmosphere turned a little awkward.

“…Hey.”

Mr. Luca was the first to speak in that atmosphere.

“What.”

“You know, you should probably cut back on the swearing. With a face like that, if you go around saying ‘fuck’ all day, you’ll get famous for a whole different reason than before.”

“…”

I silently conceded to Mr. Luca’s words. I’d felt it myself when I looked in the mirror. If I casually spat out curses with a face like this, people around me would definitely think it was weird.

“…I’ll try.”

“Good. So, when are you planning to start going into dungeons?”

“I’m going to start tomorrow.”

“Where? The Abandoned Mine?”

“No. How am I supposed to pay off my debt by going to the Abandoned Mine? I’m planning to go through the Association legally.”

No matter how many times you go to the Abandoned Mine, it doesn’t make money and it doesn’t affect your rank advancement. First, I’ll visit an Association-run office, get a Hunter License issued, and then join a Dungeon Subjugation Squad they organize.

Most raids run by the Hunter Association are Low-Rank Gates — places that aren’t worth the time for a guild’s large-scale subjugation squad or B-Rank and above Hunters.

With my cleaned identity, the best I can go to right now is probably an E-Rank Gate, the lowest of those low-ranks. It won’t make money, but what can I do.

If I subjugate dungeons and close Gates, I’ll build up a reputation and earn the right to take the Rank Advancement Exam to raise my Hunter Rank.

So first, let’s raise my rank.

* * *

The next day.

Waking up early for the first time in a long while, I immediately got ready with Mr. Luca and arrived at the Association-run office.

The office was crowded with people.

Man, it’s been a while, Hunter Association Office.

I don’t think I’ve visited once since I ranked up to C-Rank Hunter in my old body.

There are quite a lot of people, so I’m a bit nervous… There’s no way someone will recognize me, right?

Luckily, my worry was unfounded.

‘Definitely.’

No one recognizes me. At first, I was nervous thinking ‘what if?’, but really, no one does.

A few people occasionally glance at me, but that’s probably because I’m a new face.

Anyway, since I’ve cleaned my identity, I need to get a Hunter License issued.

But…

“Hmm…”

I came to the reception desk to get the license issued, but the young woman who seemed to be the receptionist was looking at me with a complicated expression.

“How old are you, by any chance?”

“…”

At the receptionist’s words, I couldn’t help but frown. But that only lasted a moment. Thinking about it, that reaction was only natural. She probably thought she couldn’t send someone who still looked so young to a dangerous place.

But I’m a proper adult.

“I don’t mean to make you feel bad…”

“It’s fine. I’m an Awakened One.”

To the receptionist who looked troubled, I forced a smile and said. That was the best expression I could manage.

“Even if you are an Awakened One, still. What if something happens? It’s still too early. If you wait a little longer and grow up…”

Just as the receptionist was about to speak cautiously, Mr. Luca, who had been watching from behind, came up beside me, smiled brightly at the receptionist, and waved his hand.

“Oh, Mr. Luca!”

“Long time no see, Irene.”

Seeing them exchange names and greet each other, they seemed to be acquainted.

“This kid may look like this, but she’s quite something. She’s a child we’re looking after at our office.”

Mr. Luca said, patting my shoulder.

“Hmm… if Mr. Luca says so…”

Then the receptionist hesitated for a moment but went through a simple procedure and issued me a Hunter License.

After finishing our business, Mr. Luca and I stepped outside the office.

“Mr. Luca, do you know her?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Hmm…”

“It’s not like that.”

When I gave him a suspicious look, Mr. Luca said with a grimace.

This guy is sincere only when it comes to family or money talk. I knew that, I was just joking.

“Anyway, now that you’ve got your license, my job here is done. But are you really planning to go alone?”

“I told you. I’m going alone.”

“Still, you never know how things will turn out.”

Mr. Luca said, subtly checking my reaction.

You never know how things will turn out.

I understood the meaning of those words immediately.

Going from thriving to ruined happens in an instant. Just like me.

“It’s fine. Why are you acting so unlike your usual self, Mr. Luca?”

“…Yeah. I was worrying over nothing. A guy who doesn’t even need it.”

“Then that’s settled. I’ll be off now.”

I bowed my head to Mr. Luca as a sign of thanks for his help, then immediately headed toward the Gate.

I wanted to be free as soon as possible. Now that I’d become a girl’s body, just like Mr. Luca said, I wanted to start over. Not as Yoschuko Verdiol, the S-Rank Hunter everyone flinched from as a murderer, but as Yoschua Verdi.

To do that, I had to pay off this damn debt, and to pay off the debt, I needed income. A lot of it.

I stared at the Hunter License in my hand.

[ Yoschua Verdi — F-Rank Hunter ]

The English words written next to my name felt awkward.

Who would’ve thought that I, once an S-Rank Hunter, would become an F-Rank Hunter again.

‘It’s a fresh start, so…’

Rank can just be raised again.

Let’s do this…

*

‘That kid…’

Luca watched the back of the girl running swiftly, a cigar in his mouth, a bitter feeling in his chest.

Exhaling, Luca recalled something from the past.

The first time he met Yoschuko Verdiol was back when the man was still a rookie.

Verdiol had come to him back then, saying he needed funds to secure B-Rank and above Gates faster than the other big guilds, and with a brazen attitude, he’d said this:

—You’re Mr. Luca Modred, right? My name is Yoschuko Verdiol. I’ve heard plenty about you. Your career is quite impressive. I’d like to propose a business deal to someone of your caliber. You won’t regret it. I promise.

Taken by the audacious attitude despite it being their first meeting, Luca lent him a large sum, and Verdiol paid back the debt with enormous profits, just as he’d boasted. After that, he borrowed considerable amounts a few more times, but he always repaid on time. Sometimes he even threw in a bonus.

Not long after, Verdiol rose to the position of S-Rank Hunter, and his status seemed to pierce the heavens.

…Until that incident happened.

—It’s all my fault… Because of me… someone died. I was too reckless… I should’ve stopped it…

A person died in the dungeon.

Not a Hunter, but a civilian.

Civilians can’t enter dungeons. The full story was unknown, but given there were witness accounts of him being with Verdiol, it was certain he’d taken them there.

Above all, because he himself never denied it.

After that incident, Verdiol fell into the abyss.

He lost the only comrade he had and was forced to give up his life as a Hunter. Even if he’d wanted to continue, the stares from those around him made it impossible.

Without Hunter work, he couldn’t pay off his debts, so the interest kept piling up. Maybe he couldn’t bear it sober, because he’d come back to his lodgings dead drunk every single day.

The image of Verdiol, treated as a murderer by everyone, is still vivid in Luca’s memory. Just recently, someone even asked him why he was still sheltering a guy like that.

‘Guess I still have some lingering attachment after all.’

Luca thought he vaguely understood why Verdiol, who had practically retired from being a Hunter, would want to become one again even after his body changed.

Verdiol had always wanted to keep being a Hunter.

But he couldn’t.

Because the stares from those around him never stopped, and the perception of him had plummeted to a point beyond recovery.

But when his body changed and he was freed from those stares, maybe the guy started dreaming again.

A dream of returning to his heyday.

Of course, this was just Luca’s speculation based on watching Verdiol all this time.

“Hoo…”

Luca didn’t entirely blame Verdiol for that incident. He suspected there was something more to it.

But Verdiol kept insisting it was all his own fault, and never spoke about the incident beyond that.

Luca didn’t want to make things harder for Verdiol, so he didn’t press further.

Only Verdiol himself knew what thoughts he held about that incident.

But.

That guy wasn’t Verdiol anymore.

He was reborn as Yoschua Verdi.

So.

‘Well… since you’re starting fresh, do well.’

A faint smile crept onto Luca’s lips.

Luca was a man who couldn’t resist money, but at this moment, he set aside the debtor-creditor relationship and genuinely wished the girl a new beginning.