Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 23

Chapter 23

"Hello, my name is Garrick Crona. I look forward to working with you..."

The next day, as the man bowed politely, Susanna and Cedric gave him a cursory round of applause.

"Alright, Mr. Garrick has experience, so he'll be joining us as a Senior Staff member."

When I said that, Cedric looked slightly disappointed. Hmm, he must have been hoping for a junior.

"Cedric, could you give Garrick a basic tour?"

"Yes, I'll do that."

Cedric stood up and guided Garrick around.

"You'll work here, and there's even a partition."

"Yes? Yes..."

"Here, we even have tea bags and instant coffee mix. And there's even a clean restroom."

"Yes..."

Heh heh, Cedric seemed proud of our guild's benefits too.

After Cedric gave him a general introduction to the guild, it was time for Garrick to start working in earnest.

"What should I do..."

Changing Guild Masters wasn't a simple task, so I'd been busy processing related documents lately.

Fortunately, Cedric was familiar with this kind of paperwork, so he'd been helping me a lot. Susanna was handling budget-related matters...

"Senior Staff Garrick, since no commissions have come in today, there's not much to do. As you know, information guilds have busy times and slow times."

"Yes, I know..."

"If Senior Staff Cedric asks you for anything, please help him with it."

"Yes..."

As it happened, Cedric had something to ask. He handed some documents to Garrick.

"Could you take these to the print shop and make copies?"

"Sniff...!"

At those words, Garrick started crying again. He seemed moved to be given actual work instead of being excluded...

"As expected, I'm useless again!"

"......?"

"I'm sorry, I can't even handle a simple copying task!"

"No, there's just nothing to do right now..."

I tried to console him, but he didn't stop crying.

"It's all because I'm incompetent! I'm sorry! Let me go wipe my tears!"

And with that, he disappeared into the restroom.

In his absence, Susanna and I exchanged bewildered looks. Cedric still seemed confused about what had just happened.

"What just happened?"

"I have no idea..."

I suddenly felt grateful for Cedric, who'd endured well even under the previous Guild Master's tyranny. This new guy seemed a bit odd... Was it because of his emotional scars?

"As expected, I knew it."

Meanwhile, Susanna had grown somewhat cynical.

"He smells like a villain."

"Let's just observe him for today... But Susanna, could you..."

As I was about to give Susanna some instructions, Garrick returned with reddened eyes.

He might have trauma about being excluded from work. Trying to rationalize it, I decided to assign him a new task.

"Senior Staff Garrick, could you analyze last quarter's clients? For promotional purposes, please analyze how each of them found us and decided to commission us."

"Yes, understood. Thank you for trusting me with this."

Fortunately, this time Garrick quietly began working. Peace returned to the guild once more.

Just as I was nearly finished with the documents to submit to the Guild Administration, lunchtime arrived, so I stood up.

"Alright, let's go eat. Since we have a new member, I'll treat everyone to lunch using the company budget."

"Wow, you're the best, Guild Master!"

Susanna cheered cheerfully, and Cedric quietly stood up as well. But Garrick remained seated, still working on his documents.

"Oh, Garrick. You can go to lunch now."

"Y-yes! I just finished the documents too...!"

"Let me see..."

The documents Garrick had prepared were better than I'd expected. His claim of being good at paperwork wasn't a lie.

"Cedric, could you double-check this later?"

"Yes, understood."

Fortunately, lunchtime passed normally. Garrick focused on his meal, and we chatted about ordinary things, spending a pleasant time together.

If Garrick's heart opened up in this atmosphere, he'd surely display his abilities too.

After returning from lunch, Cedric reviewed the documents Garrick had organized earlier. Seeming to think of something, he added.

"It would be nice to add one more page—a chart by acquisition channel for easy visual reference."

As expected, a sharp observation. Cedric was competent in every way except for his poor judgment in joining this guild.

Hearing that, Garrick immediately started working on the additional page. Susanna seemed slightly wary, but since Cedric was being helpful, Garrick would probably adapt soon enough.

Just as I was thinking that and working, Garrick approached me after finishing his document.

"Guild Master, could I have a brief word with you?"

"Huh? Yes."

"In a different room, if possible..."

"Ah, shall we go to the reception room?"

Was he already going to negotiate salary or position? As I thought little of it, Garrick suddenly stopped in his tracks and began tearing up.

"Sniff, I'm sorry."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Actually, I feel like I'm being hated at this guild."

"At this guild?"

He'd only been here five hours—what was he talking about?

As I looked bewildered, Garrick continued.

"I think Senior Staff Cedric doesn't like me very much."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

Naturally, Cedric overheard this and looked up. Cedric, suddenly called out, had a similar expression to mine. None of us understood the situation.

"I sensed sharp emotions in Senior Staff Cedric's feedback. I'm good at reading people's feelings... I can tell he dislikes me..."

Oh, I get it. Now I understood everything.

I briefly turned my head and met Susanna's gaze—she had an "I told you so" expression. As expected, her intuition was sharp. I should stop ignoring Susanna's hunches from now on.

"Guild Master?"

Eventually, Cedric interjected.

"I don't dislike Senior Staff Garrick at all. I have no feelings toward him whatsoever."

"I know... Having no feelings means he has no favor toward me either... which means he dislikes me after all..."

"Guild Master, would you hear my side as well?"

Hearing Cedric say that, I smiled. Then I opened my mouth.

"No, there's no need to hear Cedric's side."

"Huh?"

"Mr. Garrick, I'm sorry, but it seems our guild isn't the right fit for you. You can stop working here."

"Huh?"

Caught off guard by my response, Garrick looked flustered. Meanwhile, Cedric looked like a triumphant consort who'd gained the king's favor.

"As expected of the Guild Master...!"

"Of course, Cedric. We've worked together all this time—there's no way I'd misunderstand you."

"Hah, so this place has cliques too..."

"That's not it. Assistant Manager Susanna, did you get the results?"

"Yes, I got them!"

Susanna stood up and approached me, holding some documents in her hand.

"Let's just observe him for today... But Susanna, could you..."

This was the result of the task I'd given Susanna earlier.

After skimming through the documents Susanna handed me, I spoke to Garrick.

"Mr. Garrick, I'd advise you to stop playing the victim."

"Playing the victim? I..."

"You did the same thing at your previous company and were reported for workplace harassment. I have the victim's testimony here."

From what I'd found, workplace harassment was recognized to some extent in this world too. The workplace culture was remarkably similar to my previous world.

Garrick had repeatedly played the victim like this, making life difficult for those around him, and there had actually been real victims of his actions at his former workplace.

When I waved the documents, Garrick's expression changed in an instant. He immediately packed his things, leaving behind a final attempt at self-justification.

"I'm a victim of unfair dismissal! I'll report this!"

"This is a workplace with fewer than five employees, so those laws don't apply~."

After I left that magic spell, Garrick looked shocked. When he seemed reluctant to leave, I gestured to Cedric. Cedric effortlessly pushed him out the door and closed it.

"I felt justice come alive thanks to you, Guild Master."

"So you didn't trust me?"

Hearing our exchange, Susanna stood with one leg propped up crookedly and muttered.

"It feels like Senior Staff Cedric is getting brainwashed more and more..."

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