Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 24

Chapter 24

Cedric had to write the recruitment notice again with a gloomy face. A new line had been added to the requirements.

Requirements:

· Minimum 2 years of relevant work experience

· No disqualifying factors for receiving government subsidies

This line about "no disqualifying factors for receiving government subsidies" meant people who hadn't been reported for workplace harassment or similar offenses.

Before long, we received several more applications. Among them, the person we decided to interview was:

Applicant: Kristin Billman

Education & Experience:

· Graduated from Imperial Industrial High School

· Shadow Guild – Intern (1 year)

· Century Guild – Full-time Employee (1 year)

Motivation for Applying:

I am confident in coordinating and mediating between different people's opinions.

At this guild, I want to help members feel comfortable voicing their thoughts.

If accepted, I want to use my strengths to take ownership of the guild and grow together with it.

"Hmm, this person seems like a good communicator?"

"Right? She seems normal enough."

Susanna tilted her head, though her expression still held suspicion.

"But a normal person wouldn't apply to a trash guild like this..."

"Assistant Manager Susanna, are you subtly insulting us?"

"Haha, of course not."

I was already prepared for some level of flaws. As Susanna said, a perfectly normal experienced worker wouldn't apply to our guild.

Still, if those flaws were manageable, I wanted to work together and harmonize...

"Let's interview this person."

And so, Kristin, a woman in her early thirties, came to our guild for an interview.

Seating her before me, I began the interview.

"Hello, Ms. Billman. Let's start the interview."

"Yes, thank you for inviting me!"

"First, your previous guilds are more well-known than ours—what made you apply here?"

"Hmm, do you want an honest answer?"

"Yes."

"To be honest, I was considering changing jobs due to salary issues at my previous guild, and I applied after seeing your guild's conditions. I've also heard that you've been growing lately by successfully resolving several commissions."

"Ah, salary..."

Guilds did tend to have low pay and poor work-life balance. I'd deliberately offered a slightly higher salary to attract experienced workers.

If that was her reason for switching jobs, it was understandable. In fact, I liked Kristin's honesty.

"What do you consider your strengths?"

"I'm confident in mediating interpersonal relationships. At my previous guild, I pride myself on having contributed to improving the work atmosphere despite the formal environment!"

"You seem quite confident."

"Sometimes excessive modesty isn't a good thing!"

Her personality didn't seem bad either.

"You're older than our current members—are you confident you'll adapt well?"

"Of course. I've often been told I have good rapport with people of all ages and genders!"

As the interview continued, I nodded. Kristin seemed like a good hire.

"Alright, Ms. Billman. You can start tomorrow."

"Thank you!"

After Kristin left, Cedric cautiously spoke up.

"Will she also be joining as a Senior Staff member?"

"Yes, since she has experience."

"I see..."

His disappointed expression was pitiful, but Cedric had gotten the Senior Staff position despite having less experience—what could I do...

"Assistant Manager Susanna, what do you think of Kristin?"

"She seemed good at first glance! However..."

Susanna made a displeased face.

"She has a similar vibe to me, so I don't like it!"

"Excuse me?"

"If our character types overlap, that's a problem. And people with my kind of impression are the type who'll stab you in the back someday."

"Are you dissing yourself right now?"

"Hmph, anyway, I bet I'm right!"

Susanna probably just didn't like having another cheerful employee join.

Well, at least this new employee was better than Garrick, who played the victim...

---

"Hello, Senior Staff Kristin. You can use this seat."

After carefully observing Cedric giving Kristin another guild tour, I decided to prevent a repeat of the Garrick incident.

I'd keep a close eye on her for a few days and watch for any fatal flaws.

"Hello, Assistant Manager Susanna! You do calculations by hand? It's admirable that you don't rely on machines!"

"Are you mocking me...?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing..."

Even though she now had a junior to handle trash and break room duties, Susanna was still calculating by hand. She shot me a resentful glance.

Fortunately, after half a day of work, I confirmed that Kristin's work abilities were decent.

She could write documents properly and communicate with people on average. Of course, Garrick had seemed normal on the work front too...

But this time, her interpersonal skills seem fine!

She cheerfully told Susanna that her phonograph looked nice and complimented Cedric's calligraphy—just as her self-introduction suggested, her personality seemed good. Maybe this guild's atmosphere would improve?

"Senior Staff Kristin, good work today."

"Thank you, Guild Master!"

"You can leave now. I live nearby."

"Then I'll head off first! Thank you!"

As I waved goodbye to Kristin, I noticed that Susanna and Cedric hadn't left on time, unlike usual.

What was going on? Susanna usually bolted out the door at 6 without a word, and Cedric also disappeared quickly, saying he was late for something.

When I looked at them with a puzzled expression, Cedric and Susanna were glaring at each other.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, Guild Master! How could this happen?"

"What?"

Susanna spoke first.

"I heard it all from Senior Staff Kristin! She said Cedric told her I was a weirdo who does calculations by hand! You've ruined my image, sob sob!"

"Excuse me?"

Cedric looked baffled.

"I never badmouthed Assistant Manager Susanna to Senior Staff Kristin. I've never thought of her as a weirdo who does calculations by hand."

"Really?"

"Although I did tell Senior Staff Kristin that 'the Guild Master is the weird one who makes people do calculations by hand'—but I never said anything about Assistant Manager Susanna!"

"......?"

Wait—so he did badmouth me?

As I stood there flustered, Susanna's expression finally brightened as if the misunderstanding had been cleared.

"Really? So Kristin lied?"

"I'd like to ask the same question. Kristin told me that Assistant Manager Susanna said I'm 'a Senior Staff whose only skill is writing pretty letters.'"

"I never said that! I only said 'the Guild Master is the weird one who makes people write with strange promotional copy'! I never mentioned Cedric!"

Wait a minute—that was also badmouthing me.

"So that was a misunderstanding too."

"Yes! Kristin was trying to drive a wedge between us!"

"I apologize for misunderstanding. I almost fell for it."

"Hah, so Kristin was also a weirdo! We were fooled again!"

While I was the only one looking dumbfounded, Susanna and Cedric united and spoke to me.

"Guild Master! Another villain this time!"

"We need to fire Senior Staff Kristin before she causes bigger problems."

"...Yes, understood. Stirring discord among guild members is a serious issue."

I'd heard of cases like this before—employees who spread negative rumors about colleagues to create distance while pretending to get along with everyone, making others look like the odd ones.

I understood what kind of villain Kristin was, and firing her seemed like the right call. However...

"So you both badmouthed me behind my back?"

"W-well..."

"That is..."

"Ugh! Are you both crazy or what? Not badmouthing each other but badmouthing me—is that something to be proud of? Susanna, you'll do mental arithmetic instead of writing for a while! Cedric, you're in charge of choosing the lunch menu for a week!"

After unleashing my anger at them, I made a decision.

The reason villains kept joining our company was because there was no mega-villain.

From now on, I would become the mega-villain myself.

Back   Next