Chapter 240: 240 Guild coins…

Ian and Rin walked through the shopping district, which was quieter than usual.

Since guild support missions tended to wrap up early, the two were able to browse the shops during a relaxed window just before the evening rush.

Walking behind Ian, Rin spoke up with a worried expression.

“Captain… You’re not joking, right? Are you serious?”

“Rin. That’s the third time you’ve asked.”

“But… how are we supposed to handle a D-rank mission?”

Rin had gained combat experience through several missions, but ironically, the more she learned, the more her confidence wavered. She tried to dissuade Ian in a panic.

However, Ian persuaded her with his usual confident demeanor.

“The monster is D-rank, but we don’t necessarily have to fight it. It’s a mission to locate its habitat.”

“Hmm…”

Rin’s expression shifted, looking slightly convinced.

As he said, the mission posted on the board wasn’t to hunt the Night Tail.

It was a mission to scout areas where the Night Tail had been sighted and gather information on where it had settled.

In theory, it was a mission possible to complete without combat.

“…But we *might* end up fighting, right?”

“Hmm…”

This time, Ian stared intently at Rin.

He was re-checking her stats, but to Rin, it felt like he was pressuring her with his gaze.

“I think you can catch it, though?”

Rin clutched her head, feeling like she was about to be swayed by Ian’s inexplicable confidence.

After checking today’s wages and his remaining funds, Ian immediately took the money and began shopping.

The Night Tail was classified as a boss-class monster, requiring items a bit different from those used for regular monsters.

Rin followed behind Ian with a basket as usual, asking with a puzzled face.

“Don’t we still have the things we bought last time?”

“For a Night Tail, we need things with better performance than those.”

Walking past the usual shelves, Ian moved toward a display case deeper inside and picked up a higher-grade item.

“Gasp…”

Rin inhaled sharply upon seeing the price tag.

Using items of the same tier against a boss resulted in lower success rates or shorter durations, so using items meant for regular monsters was inefficient.

To compensate, one had to use higher-tier items or prepare specific types of goods that remained effective despite the boss’s resistance.

Of course, since they were more expensive, they couldn’t afford to bring a wide variety for every possible situation like they usually did.

After narrowing it down to a few candidates, Ian fell into thought for a moment about what to bring for this battle.

Normally, a shopkeeper would kick out a customer for lingering and overthinking while holding items, but the shopkeeper stood behind them with a solemn expression, hands folded, waiting for Ian’s choice.

“Wait, hold on! We haven’t even accepted the mission yet!”

As Ian seriously began selecting gear for the Night Tail fight, Rin remembered a crucial fact and stopped him.

“We don’t even know if we’ll be allowed to take it yet, do we?”

Standard missions were claimed by the mercenary group that applied first, but missions with specific requirements couldn’t be registered so easily.

The mission posted this time clearly stated ’Decision after Screening’ under the eligibility criteria.

Even when Ian and Rin left the guild, other mercenary groups were already lining up to apply, meaning they had to compete with dozens of groups to be selected for the mission.

The mission rank was D-rank.

Even if it was a mission that could be resolved without direct combat as Ian said, logically speaking, it was only natural to send a D-rank group over an E-rank one.

However, Ian replied as if to reassure her.

“I have a way. The results might come out as early as tomorrow, so it’s better to prepare in advance.”

The counter had been crowded with people even before they left the guild.

Ian didn’t feel the need to rush into the line; he planned to prepare first and submit the application just before the deadline when the crowds had thinned.

“How? Are you going to ask Chris for a favor? She doesn’t seem like the type to do something like that.”

“There’s a legal way to request a favor from the guild.”

Ian took something out of his pocket and showed it to Rin.

A coin engraved with the guild’s emblem. It was the ’Guild Coin’ he had received previously.

“Ah, that’s from last time…”

“Yeah. I told you it could be used more usefully than money, right?”

Certain special missions required extra conditions beyond just rank.

These ranged from simple limits on combat power or fame to requiring a certain level of contribution with a specific faction or having a mercenary of a certain class.

Missions requiring various conditions usually offered higher pay or special rewards.

However, by using Guild Coins, one could pay the required amount to bypass those conditions and accept the mission.

Not just for missions, Guild Coins could substitute for various guild restrictions, conditions, or required qualifications.

If you collected enough, you could even skip rank-up missions. Occasionally, when a tedious and time-consuming rank-up mission appeared, people would simply pay the coins to promote immediately.

After visiting several more shops and carefully selecting the necessary equipment, Ian finally turned his steps and opened the door to a nearby bakery.

As Ian began picking out loaves of bread, Rin poked her head out from behind him.

“Oh, I want this one instead of that.”

“This is for the staff.”

“…Is it a bribe?”

“We’re going right before closing time.”

With all preparations complete, Ian knocked on the guild’s door while holding a basket of bread.

Inside the quiet guild nearing its closing hour, the staff members sorting paperwork accepted Ian’s application along with the gift.

In the stack of documents piled in order of submission, Ian’s application was placed at the very top.

＊　＊　＊

The second floor of the guild, a place where ordinary mercenaries rarely ventured.

In a dark office permeated with the scent of old paper, a middle-aged staff member wearing glasses was reading a document with a slight squint.

On the desk in front of him sat a thick stack of applications that had just come in today.

Camila, the senior examiner in charge of selection for this mission, pointed to the document she was holding and confirmed with the assistant beside her once more.

“Are you sure this was submitted by an E-rank?”

“Yes. They are E-rank.”

Urgent missions had more flexible rank restrictions for applications.

The idea was that because it was an emergency, they wouldn’t nitpick the details but rather choose the mercenary group most suited to handle the situation.

…But that was only the case according to the regulations.

In a situation like this, an E-rank was naturally out of the question. When there were D-rank applicants, there was no reason to go out of the way to send an E-rank.

There were quite a few E-rank applications for this mission, but they had all been pushed aside without even having their contents checked. It wasn’t the kind of mission an E-rank could handle.

However, this specific E-rank mercenary group’s document had one special feature.

Camila looked back at the desk and saw two coins placed alongside the application.

“How does an E-rank even have these?”

“They performed exceptionally when the goblins came down last time, so Chris-san issued them…”

“Chris did?”

As the assistant answered, Camila’s worried expression deepened.

She pulled out the reports to see what had happened back then, but there was nothing properly written.

Reports from mercenaries who exaggerated too much couldn’t be trusted, but conversely, Chris’s reports were so dry and cut out all the fluff that they were difficult to grasp for a different reason.

After checking the papers, Camila’s sighs only increased.

Eventually, Camila ordered that all missions performed by the Ian Mercenary Group be brought to her.

Reviewing the history of the Ian Mercenary Group in order, Camila muttered.

“They’ve only picked missions with a certain level of difficulty from the start. Are they that confident in their skills?”

On paper, it was clear that their skills were significantly better than the average E-rank at the very least.

“Arrogant mercenaries like this usually cause trouble when given important tasks…”

“Um… I saw them at the guild, and they were very polite. They don’t seem like the type to make mistakes out of vanity.”

Hearing that small mutter, the assistant helping sort the papers spoke up while gauging her reaction.

“…They have a good reputation at the guild?”

“Yes… quite good.”

Occasionally, there were mercenary groups that the guild staff favored.

Among rude and frustrating mercenaries, if there was one who was even slightly polite and humble, the staff would go out of their way to try and look after them.

“An E-rank, huh…”

The Night Tail was a sharp-witted monster; if loud, strong mercenaries searched the forest noisily, it would simply flee deep into the woods and hide.

Ideally, someone needed to confirm its location quietly, then rush in and catch it immediately.

Sending a clumsy mercenary would do more harm than good—they might mess up the tracks, provoke the monster and increase its alertness, or cause it to flee elsewhere.

Camila finally set the document down and picked up the coins submitted by the Ian Mercenary Group.

Placing conditions on a mission was, in the end, meant to filter out subpar mercenaries who weren’t qualified to take it.

However, these coins were tokens given to mercenaries who had achieved results beyond expectations.

If there was a line, it moved you to the front; if there was an exam, it exempted you; and if something wasn’t for sale, they’d sell it to you if you presented this.

It was a privilege officially granted by the guild to outstanding mercenary groups.

“…Fine. If Chris gave these to them, I’ll allow it.”

The examiner’s stamp was pressed onto the bottom of the Ian Mercenary Group’s application.

“Let’s see if Chris’s eye for talent is still sharp.”

Camila gathered the Ian Mercenary Group’s coins and documents and stood up.

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