Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 3

Chapter 3

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, it's just..."

Sensing that the crown prince was growing suspicious of me for suddenly falling silent, I quickly started talking.

"Customer, you seem quite wealthy. If I succeed in this commission, would you be willing to grant me one favor?"

"I've already promised you fair payment."

"That's true. But I'm just a low-level employee working for a salary, and my circumstances aren't great... And since you've come all the way here to find out that person's identity, I imagine you're quite desperate as well."

"......"

"Would it really be impossible?"

"Let me hear what it is first."

"Oh, it's nothing difficult."

If I'd outright offered to become a double agent for the crown prince from the start, it would've seemed suspicious.

After all, the crown prince was hiding his identity and visiting our guild, and I was supposed to be unaware of who he really was.

So I needed to naturally make the crown prince think, "Odrette Lavendel is a trustworthy person."

And what favor should I ask for that purpose? Investing in our guild? Giving our guild priority when commissions come in?

Unfortunately, our guild wasn't quite at that level yet.

"Please expand our guild building and install a restroom."

That was the current state of our guild.

"...I'll build it."

For some reason, his voice sounded like he was pitying me, but that must've been my imagination. No, actually, it was pitiful.

"Anyway, customer, I'll definitely have the information for you next time you visit."

I continued in a bright voice.

"Let's meet again in three days, at this same time!"

---

After the crown prince left, I diligently began searching for materials.

I already know the person the crown prince is looking for is the heroine. The key is how to logically connect the dots.

If I insisted without any evidence that the person was the original story's heroine, the Lady of Kaliad, it would look suspicious.

She must have used an item to change her appearance...

If I could find the sales records of items that disguise appearance as black hair and black eyes, I could link it to the heroine.

After investigating the laws, I found that items altering one's appearance were legally required to keep sales records. Finding the heroine's trail shouldn't be difficult.

However...

Why isn't it showing up?

Even after visiting the city hall to obtain records and combing through all the sales logs for appearance-altering items, there wasn't a single trace connected to the heroine!

"Senior Staff Odrette, I'm leaving for the day and you're not even greeting me—what are you doing?"

"Goodbye, Guild Master."

"Hahah, Senior Staff Odrette! Then I'll leave the tasks I assigned to you in your capable hands!"

"Yes, you mean stocking the break room snacks with my own money. I'll take care of it..."

"Senior Staff Odrette, could you tell the Guild Master that I stayed late working before leaving?"

"Why would I... Ugh, fine."

After sending off the three villains one by one, I sat alone, lost in thought.

The crown prince had probably already checked the sales records of appearance-altering items through the guilds he'd visited. The fact that there was no trace of the heroine meant...

What did I miss?

As I twirled my pen and pondered, a realization suddenly struck me.

Right, recording and reporting sales is the principle, and legally that's correct. But...!

There was a place where no one audited anything, allowing them to slip through the legal cracks.

That place was—workplaces with fewer than five employees!

If it was a workplace with fewer than five employees, they wouldn't have recorded the sales of appearance-altering items!

Of course, "fewer than five employees" basically meant a trash company, so ordinarily they wouldn't be able to get their hands on major items like appearance-changing artifacts...

Still, there are one or two exceptions.

I quickly jotted down a list on paper. Combining Odrette's original memories and my knowledge of the original story, there was one workplace with fewer than five employees where the heroine could have bought an appearance-altering item.

The Neichel Commercial Guild!

It appeared in the original story as one of the heroine's supporting groups... and while only large trading companies handled appearance-altering items, Neichel had originally been a large trading company.

Finally feeling like I'd found a lead, I smiled. Good. Now all I had to do was gather solid materials before the crown prince returned!

---

"So, have you found the answer?"

"Yes, customer."

I smiled confidently and handed the documents to the crown prince.

"This is the sales record of appearance-altering items from the Neichel Commercial Guild. They didn't report it to the city hall, but they did keep internal records."

"Didn't report it to city hall? I also guessed they might have used appearance-altering items and conducted thorough investigations. But failing to report is illegal, isn't it?"

"The Neichel Commercial Guild is a workplace with fewer than five employees. No one audits them."

"Good heavens..."

The crown prince's voice carried shock—he probably hadn't ever considered the concept of a trash company.

"Still, they kept records just in case they got reported. When I went there, they insisted they'd simply delayed the report. Anyway, thanks to that, I got the sales records. Since it's a small guild, most sales are made through personal connections... and here, we have a notable person."

"Paina Lorendal?"

"Lorendal is a vassal house of the House of Kaliad."

"That means...!"

"If they went to such lengths to secretly purchase such an expensive item and erase the traces, it's highly likely to be the House of Kaliad. You mentioned she had no calluses, suggesting a high status, and since there've been no reports of gender-changing items yet, that would mean..."

"The Lady of Kaliad!"

"Yes, without a doubt."

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could sense his flustered reaction.

"But why would the Lady of Kaliad help me..."

"I refrained from investigating further for fear of guessing your identity, customer. But the rest is for you to figure out. If you wish to know more, please commission us again."

"...No, just identifying who she is has been helpful enough."

"Customer, then as promised..."

"Understood. I'll build the restroom."

The crown prince muttered again, his voice baffled.

"This is strange. Legally, commercial buildings are required to have restrooms..."

"We're a workplace with fewer than five employees."

"That damn fewer-than-five-employees!"

From my investigation, in this world, workplaces with fewer than five employees existed even further outside the law than in my world. Still, even my previous company had a restroom...

"I've also prepared these documents for you. Please read them and shred them."

"Alright— Hm?"

The crown prince's voice turned subtle as he received the documents.

"Did you write these yourself?"

"Yes, I did. Is there a problem?"

"I've never seen this format before."

"Oh."

I'd used the format from my previous company, so it must have been unfamiliar to people in this world.

"It's a format I prefer."

"I see. ...Understood. As promised, I'll also double your payment as a bonus for the success of this commission."

"Yes, customer. Thank you. Please visit us again."

It was money that would never reach me anyway, but I bowed politely.

Returning to the office to work, I felt a tap on my shoulder a moment later.

"Guild Master?"

"Senior Staff Odrette, did you close this commission? The customer left an enormous sum."

"Oh, yes. I..."

As I was about to nod, a familiar voice cut in.

"Senior Staff Odrette helped me a lot!"

Susanna declared in a confident voice.

"I did most of it myself, but I'm really glad Odrette was there to help! Thanks, Odrette! Hohoho!"

"So this was Senior Staff Susanna's task?"

"Yes, it was originally my job! It should be recorded that way in the books too."

"Hoo, Senior Staff Susanna..."

Sensing the Guild Master's eyes gleam toward Susanna, I felt a crisis.

No way. I absolutely could not let her steal my credit.

Working at a trash company, I'd learned this lesson the hard way.

When you accomplish something, you have to take credit for it! Even if you did one unit of work, you need to exaggerate it as ten and claim credit. That's how you survive!

In a split second, multiple thoughts raced through my mind, and I opened my mouth.

"Huh? Senior Staff Susanna, you must be confused. The Guild Master is talking about my task right now. I handled this commission entirely on my own."

Before Susanna could shamelessly steal the credit, the decisive words flowed from my mouth.

"During that time, weren't you doing other work, Senior Staff Susanna? Like, what was it again... Though I'm just a low-level information guild senior staff member, I still live my life on my own terms..."

"Ah! Aaaah!"

Suddenly, Susanna let out a scream rivaling a soprano's. Startled, the Guild Master covered his ears.

Watching that scene, I smirked. After possessing this world, I hadn't just taken on the crown prince's commission. I'd also investigated Senior Staff Susanna's weaknesses.

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