Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 46

Chapter 46

5. If you feel love for your boss, consider the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome

"Your Highness, didn't you say you were actually going to stop the infiltration work now?"

When Eric looked at Cedrian with suspicious eyes, he nearly flinched, but hid his agitation and answered calmly.

"Yes, I should stop now."

Logically, stopping was the right choice.

Now that he understood how Odrette obtained information from the Temple—purely through her own abilities—there was no reason to suspect her.

Also, Odrette genuinely harbored resentment toward the Temple, and Cedrian had personally witnessed how the Temple mistreated them. Odrette seemed determined to bring all the Temple's information straight to Cedrian.

So stopping the infiltration was the right call, but...

"Why can't I bring myself to leave this guild..."

Perhaps it was because he still had much to learn from Odrette?

After all, she possessed a kingly quality of sacrificing herself for her subordinates.

"Excuse me?"

At that, Eric looked at Cedrian as if he were crazy.

"Didn't you used to complain about how weird that employee was?"

"Th-that was then. Now that I've adapted to the guild, I see more things. You could say it was entirely the previous Guild Master's fault."

"There's a name for that, isn't there? I think there's a syndrome for that..."

Eric muttered, but Cedrian didn't pay attention.

"Yes, I'll stop the infiltration soon. I can't have it seem like I was just monitoring Ms. Odrette, so I'll find a natural time to quit."

"Ah, yes..."

"Really. I really will quit guild work soon, so don't worry about it."

As he said that, Cedrian felt a dull ache in his chest, as if he'd lost something precious.

---

"Sigh, why has there been so much work lately?"

"I agree. I'm really tired and sad too."

Susanna and Morian grumbled as they worked—our guild had been growing significantly lately.

The name change and promotion seemed to have paid off, as people from all walks of life, not just nobles, were commissioning us, and the guild members were buried in work.

"Ah, I need to make a lot of money quickly so I can quit..."

"Assistant Manager Susanna?"

"Eek!"

When I suddenly popped my head out, Susanna flinched. She clutched her chest and exclaimed.

"G-guild Master? What is it..."

"Oh, nothing. It just seemed like you wanted to leave our guild. If you want to quit right now, just say so, haha."

"Oh, Guild Master. How could I ever?"

"Then let's quietly get back to work."

"Of course, hoho."

Hmm, Susanna's complaints were valid, though. She'd been happy at first when I raised her salary, but now she was dealing with a workload incomparable to before.

"Maybe we should hire more people..."

When I muttered that, Cedric, who'd been silently working, spoke up.

"I think it's better to maintain our status as a workplace with fewer than five employees until the guild is fully established. Having more staff would complicate administrative procedures."

"I suppose you're right? The previous Guild Master must have had reasons for keeping it under five too."

Still, my guild members needed some carrots. Paid leave, the break room... What other benefits could I offer? Ah, Park Geo-seong once came back from a government training session and tried to change the company atmosphere by doing something...

"How about we have morning chat time to build rapport? Come in 30 minutes early, eat something tasty, laugh, and talk together!"

"Guild Master, have you gone crazy?"

"...Not a good idea?"

"Honestly, I think it's a very bad idea."

After Morian and even Cedric said that, I decided to scrap the plan.

"Guild Master, I feel like your personality is changing... You're definitely trying to torment us with increasingly strange ideas."

"What did you say?"

"Hoho, nothing. But you do pay us well, Guild Master."

"Guild Master, a guest has arrived."

Cedric, who'd checked the visitor bell, said.

"It's Rakal."

"Rakal... the one from before?"

The owner of the Platinum Mercenary Corps, who'd received our help and become close with Sir Vane.

What business did Rakal have with us?

I gestured to Cedric to come with me to the reception room.

When we arrived, Rakal was seated as Cedric had said.

"Mr. Rakal, what brings you here?"

"Well, I came to ask for help. I have a commission."

"A commission?"

Rakal was trembling with urgency.

"Mr. Rakal, you seem to be in a hurry. What's the matter?"

"Sigh, well... everything I'm about to say is confidential..."

"Yes, we never leak our clients' commission details."

"Sir Vane agreed to become the patron of the Platinum Mercenary Corps. I was trying to wrap up some remaining commissions before that, but... one of my members went missing during a mission!"

"Missing?"

"A mercenary named Orion. He's been a mercenary for a very long time, strong enough that even retired knights don't take him lightly."

"Senior Staff Cedric, have you heard of him?"

"I don't know much about mercenaries either."

"That means no one should be able to harm him. But he went missing during a commission. I can't let this get out or it'll cause chaos in the corps—I've been agonizing over it alone!"

"Does Sir Vane know about this?"

"Sir Vane actually recommended this guild to me first. He said that just as you helped him, you could help with this too. I thought about it and decided I could trust this guild, so I came."

"I see. It's a good choice that you came to us first."

"I'll trust this Global... whatever it's called. Please help me, just like last time!"

"It's Arclight Guild."

I gave him a subtle glare. Why did he keep calling us by that awful old name?

"Alright, we'll investigate the situation from now on."

I exchanged glances with Cedric, who began questioning him in detail.

"How long has he been missing?"

"About four days..."

"How did you find out he was missing?"

"He wasn't responding, so I went to his house. The house was empty, and his medication from Saturday was still there. He takes blood pressure medicine every day—he'd never miss it. I think he went missing on Friday or Saturday."

"You figured it out from the medication... then what about the commission?"

"It was from a noble house—I believe it was Viscount Hartfield..."

"Ah, Viscount Hartfield. I know them. They're a family that runs a trading company."

As expected, Cedric knew about this noble family too.

"When did they come to commission?"

"Last Thursday. Orion started the mission on Friday."

"Then there's one most important question left. What was the commission?"

Rakal hesitated, swallowed, and spoke.

"For the sake of our mercenary corps' reputation, please keep this confidential."

"Of course."

I answered on our behalf.

"We're partners, so we wouldn't leak each other's secrets, right?"

"Y-yes, that's right. So..."

Finally, the full story of the commission came from Rakal.

"The Hartfield family said a relic of miracle they possessed was stolen. It's an important family heirloom, so they wanted us to catch the fleeing traitor and retrieve the relic. Orion went to track them down, but he hasn't come back."

"A relic of miracle... you mean the miracles performed by the Temple's High Priest?"

"Yes, as you know, some objects contain that power."

The item the Lady of Kaliad had used was exactly that—an item imbued with appearance-changing ability.

In other words, it was a "relic of miracle" containing a miracle performed by the High Priest.

"What kind of object is this relic?"

"Apparently it's a music box that plays hypnotic music."

"A music box..."

"An in-house employee fled with the relic, and they requested we track that employee. Orion followed the trail the Viscount provided, and after that, there was no contact."

However, my attention was drawn to the relic rather than the mercenary Orion's whereabouts.

Relics of miracle were the kind of thing noble families could obtain by spending a lot of money—so why commission a mercenary corps specifically to retrieve a lost one?

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