The Legendary Ghost Hunter

Chapter 157: The City of Technology

After that incident, Finn and Iris were now more painfully aware than ever that the guilds—not just the Phantom Slayer Corps but most likely the four others as well—were willing to do whatever it took to capture him. Was it simply because he was a Ghost? No. It was because he was part-Ghost, and that’s what made him dangerous.

A powerful Ghost, packed with human intelligence. To the Ghost Hunters, an entity like this was called a Sentient. Sentients were highly dangerous Ghosts who usually worked alone and were capable of intelligent thought rather than just power and hunger like other Ghosts. Neither Finn nor Iris were Sentients, as they weren’t full-Ghost, but to the Ghost Hunters, they were all but the same.

There was no doubt more forces would be sent after them after those five paladins never return, but for now, Finn and Iris had a little bit of a break. They could explore this city to its fullest.

After flying through the air, the two landed on top of the roof of an extremely tall building to recover some mana and stamina. There didn’t seem to be any slums here like there were in District A, and the entire place seemed a lot more… refined.

“According to what I’ve read, District B is known as the City of Technology,” Iris said. “Compared to District A, it really does seem a lot more… futuristic. There’s hovering cars, skyscrapers, and artificial plants and gardens. It certainly has a nice aesthetic to it, but… man-made nature will never be as meaningful as real nature.”

Since Finn couldn’t actually see anything, Iris was describing these things out loud to be considerate. The city really was beautiful—if Eden was an urban city, this would be it. Still, like Iris said, artificial nature in the end, was still not nature.

“Anyway… what’s the plan now, Finn?” Iris asked, dangling her legs over the edge of the roof. “Whatever you want to do, I’ll follow.”

“… For starters, I will need to gather information about the Emperor in this city. And to do that, I will need to find one of the Ghost Hunters here and infiltrate it, regardless of which guild they are from. Of course, to do that, I will need to Shapeshift…”

“I see… but what about me?” Iris inquired, tilting her head. She didn’t have the Shapeshifter Angelica at her disposal.

“Hm…” Finn fell into thought for a long while, then came up with an idea. After telling Iris it, she was stunned.

“Y-You’re kidding, right? You want me to…”

Finn nodded. “If you want to follow me, that is the only option.”

Iris sighed deeply. “… You really leave me no choice, you know that?”

Still, she agreed, since ultimately, she wanted to stay by Finn’s side more than anything. It was what her heart told her to do. Was it love? Perhaps. But there was also another force of attraction at play here. Something that didn’t involve romance, but instead merely constitution…

*****

The first thing Finn and Iris did was get a wheelchair. That would make getting around a bit easier for both of them. Finn didn’t particularly care if Iris sat on his shoulders the whole time, but she seemed to mind. A lot. It made her feel weak and like a burden to Finn, which is the last thing she wanted to do.

Next, they went to a barber shop. Finn had already Shapeshifted into a random civilian he came across on the street thanks to Iris describing to him their appearance, but now it was time for Iris herself to get a do-over as well.

“Welcome, customers!” The barber said gleefully as the two entered. “What kind of haircut would you like today?”

“Erm… could you… uh… make me look like a boy?” Iris asked hesitantly, as per Finn’s orders.

The barber blinked. “… Come again?”

“You heard her,” Finn cut in. “Give her a haircut you would give to a boy. I don’t just mean tomboy-style—I mean literally a boy’s haircut.”

Finn’s tone was somewhat demanding, and since the civilian he had chosen to morph into looked like a thug, the barber had no choice but to comply.

“Y-Yes! Right away, sir! Please, follow me…”

The barber hurried over to one of the empty seats, leading Iris towards it. Iris slowly shifted herself from her wheelchair over to the seat with help from Finn, and the barber set up his equipment. Once he was done, he gulped a little.

“U-Um… I’d just like to confirm one more time. Are you sure about this, miss?”

Iris nodded. “G-Go ahead. Hold nothing back.”

“Alright… understood.”

*****

He really did hold nothing back.

By the time the barber was finished, Iris no longer looked like a girl, judging from the neck-up. She just looked like an extremely androgynous boy. The transformation was complete.

“I-Is this good enough, Finn…?” Iris asked, glancing at herself in the mirror.

Finn snorted. “You’re asking me?”

“Ah, right… I forgot…”

He was blind. How was he supposed to provide an opinion?

“As long as you look like a boy, that’s good enough. Let’s go,” Finn added, pulling out his wallet and scanning his card on the card reader. Iris shifted back onto her wheelchair, and together, they left the shop, leaving the barber scratching his head and staring at the two in wonder.

“Well… those two were quite the unusual customers.”

*****

Since there was nothing they could do until an Outbreak occurred and a Squadron came out to fight it, Finn and Iris decided to just spend their time pawning off all the treasures they obtained from the Temple. To do that, they first summoned Raiju in a discrete location to retrieve the heavy treasure, then carried it into a jewelry shop.

Needless to say, the elder shop owner nearly fainted upon seeing a whole chest’s worth of gold and treasure placed in front of him. He offered around 10 billion dollars in total for all of it, but rather than one up-front payment, he would give 1 million every month as the treasure needed time to sell. With a written contract, he couldn’t go back on his word.