Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 12

Chapter 12

2. Your company is way too black

   └I'm the CEO though

"Good morning, Guild Master."

As the Guild Master arrived, Susanna and I, already seated, greeted him. He glanced at the empty seat of the new employee, Cedric, and made a displeased face.

"What? He's not here yet?"

"Hahaha, indeed..."

Well, that's because the Guild Master came in thirty minutes early today... He was usually late—what was this about?

"Guild Master, you're early today?"

When I casually probed, an absurd answer came out of his mouth.

"Yeah, if I come in ridiculously early once in a while, my wife sees how hard I work. I even badmouthed the guild with her this morning before leaving."

But Guild Master, you're the owner of this company... And you're badmouthing your own guild?

Holding back my retort, I averted my gaze toward some paperwork—obviously just a prop to look busy.

Twenty minutes before official work hours, Susanna slid a note over to me.

Did the newbie run away?

I wrote my reply.

└He didn't seem that perceptive though..

Whether Cedric showed up or not today would determine his judgment.

No sooner had I sent the note to Susanna than, with impeccable timing, the door opened and Cedric appeared.

"Good morning."

He must have rushed in—his hair was disheveled. Still, his good looks weren't diminished.

He's handsome, but with black hair and brown eyes, he doesn't seem like a special character in this world.

After all, brown hair and brown eyes rarely qualify someone as a lead. Sadly enough... Actually, anyone with poor enough judgment to join this guild in the first place couldn't be a protagonist anyway.

As expected, the Guild Master, who'd been waiting for this moment, began lecturing Cedric.

"How can you come in this late?"

"Excuse me? ...I'll come earlier next time."

Fortunately, instead of protesting that he'd arrived twenty minutes early, Cedric immediately lowered his tail and answered meekly.

"Young people these days don't understand the value of time! You have to cut down on meal times and come in early to make more money!"

But Guild Master, you're not going to pay him more anyway...

After getting chewed out by the Guild Master first thing in the morning, Cedric sat down with a gloomy face, so I offered some consolation.

"Cheer up, Cedric."

"Thank you..."

"Now, let's work hard. First, please take care of the Guild Master's son's art homework."

"...Yes."

While he handled the art homework with an even more somber expression, I reviewed the guild's recent performance.

Hmm, I needed to take control of this guild and grow it as soon as possible... My goal was to turn the Guild Master into a complete figurehead, but so far I hadn't found any leverage on him.

Anyway, how was our guild even running with just this many commissions? Oh, right—they were saving on employee salaries...

Today, the guild was quiet without a single visitor. Unless someone came in for a cheating-spouse tracking request, it was always like this.

"I'm going out for fieldwork."

Fieldwork, my foot—he was probably just going out to play. What was the point of the Guild Master being the one who showed up least? I shot him a resentful look.

Still, it wasn't bad that he was gone. He was less than useless—more like a negative asset who only got in the way.

While Cedric stared blankly at the art homework with a look of defeat, and Susanna openly worked on her essay, I fell into thought.

How can I develop this guild?

One of the problems, I thought, was promotion.

Objectively speaking, Susanna's skills weren't bad, and I was confident I could gather information using my knowledge of the original story. But our guild's recognition was far too low. We only got the occasional passerby who happened to see our sign and walk in.

Then let's think of ways to promote this guild.

And with almost no budget, of course.

Feeling like I couldn't come up with an answer alone, I decided to ask Cedric for his opinion.

"Cedric, have you ever... Wait, what? Why are you drawing so well?"

"I received some rigorous training when I was young..."

"Ah, I see. It looks like you were taught by a professional artist."

After admiring his art skills, an idea struck me.

We could use this amazing artistic talent to make posters!

Even in my original world, detective agencies posted flyers in places like restrooms.

Ordinary posters might not have much effect, but with Cedric's incredible art skills, anything seemed possible.

"Susanna, what do you think about making guild posters?"

"Huh? Why would you want to create more work..."

"Hoho, with this kind of 'content,' we'll have more buzz."

"Great idea!"

Changing her tune, Susanna got up and came over. She too was astonished by Cedric's art skills.

"Unbelievable...!"

And no wonder—he'd perfectly rendered shading, perspective, composition, and color for a nine-year-old's art homework.

"Then let's make the posters. Let's brainstorm the design together."

I flipped over a piece of paper and started sketching the layout. To get people in this world to use an information guild and attract attention...

FIND PEOPLE / FIND LOCATIONS

GATHER ALL KINDS OF EVIDENCE

SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS QUICKLY

GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK GUILD

XX-XXX-XXXX

"Clear copy is best. What do you think?"

When I asked, Susanna tilted her head. Then, from her hand, a new version was born.

We'll find you wherever you're hiding.

We'll bring you whatever evidence you need.

If you let your guard down, you'll be the one caught.

Before that happens, gather information first.

The Continent's #1 Information Solver

Global Information Network Guild

XX-XXX-XXXX

"Oh! That's amazing!"

I exclaimed in admiration. It was much more provocative, and somehow made me feel like I needed to commission them right away. Strike first before you get struck!

"As expected of a writer! Though I'm just a low-level information guild senior staff member, I'm still the protagonist of my..."

"Q-quiet, please."

"But isn't claiming to be the continent's #1 false advertising?"

When Cedric cautiously offered his opinion, Susanna and I simultaneously shook our heads.

"It's all about perspective."

"We never said what we're #1 at. We're probably #1 in the number of letters in our guild name."

"...Truly unjust."

After finalizing the poster copy, we looked at Cedric with expectant eyes.

He looked a bit overwhelmed for a moment, then began writing the copy in elegant calligraphy on the poster.

"Wow, what beautiful handwriting!"

"Indeed, it's like he was taught by a master calligrapher."

"......"

He seemed somewhat flustered, but soon produced the perfect poster under our expectations. The handwriting, composition, and even the coloring were flawless.

"Now we just need to take it to a print shop, make copies, and post them."

"Where should we put them? On the plaza bulletin board where everyone can see?"

"No, that won't work."

I shook my head at Susanna's question.

"Senior Staff Susanna, do you carefully read the bulletin board when you pass through the plaza?"

"Um, no..."

"Then what about places where we naturally observe our surroundings and spend a lot of time?"

"Ah!"

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