Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 7

Chapter 7

"...Very well."

As if he'd finally made up his mind, the crown prince stood and walked in front of me.

"Speak your name and the content of your oath."

He placed his hand over my head, and a golden aura flowed from his palm.

"I, Odrette Lavendel, swear that I oppose the Temple. I, Odrette Lavendel, swear that I wish to destroy the Temple. I, Odrette Lavendel, swear that to this end, I will do my utmost to cooperate with Your Highness the Crown Prince before me."

"Upon what do you stake this oath?"

"I stake my life upon this oath."

"......!"

He closed his eyes briefly before opening them and replying.

"I accept your oath."

Finally, the light faded.

This meant my oath was true. Had I made a false oath, my life would have been forfeit.

The crown prince looked at me with astonishment.

"You truly mean to cooperate with me."

"Yes, Your Highness. I will bring you all the information needed to destroy the Temple."

"...It's a deal."

I reflexively smiled. With this, I had fully become the crown prince's ally.

I hadn't originally wanted to meddle in the original story. But what the Temple had done was so infuriating I couldn't stand it.

How dare they make me work all night? Those bastards deserve the full force of labor law!

"Then I'll contact you soon."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After replying with proper courtesy, I contemplated what to do next.

Hmm, so next...

Should I take this guild into my grasp?

---

"Alright, let's work with full energy today!"

The Assistant Manager shouted enthusiastically as he arrived.

"Senior Staff Odrette! Why are you so down? Come on, come on! Cheer up!"

Laugh all you want. This might be your last day coming to work anyway.

I stared at the pile of materials cluttering the Assistant Manager's desk. True to his nature as a passion villain, his desk was always overflowing with stuff.

Massive stacks of memo pads, multiple notebooks, cigarettes... and a mirror to spot when the Guild Master was approaching. He certainly hadn't wasted his time in this trash guild.

But more than that, what I'd been watching for days was something else.

<From Penniless Office Worker to 3 Billion Peso Asset Owner?!>

<Miracle Morning: The Secret That Changed My Life>

<Don't Waste Even 10 Minutes – Your Life Will Change in a Year>

Unlike Susanna, who wrote emotional essays, the Assistant Manager mainly read economics and self-help books. Their gist was basically: don't waste even ten minutes, work hard, "strive" to earn money.

"Why has Senior Staff Susanna been so quiet lately?"

"Y-yes?"

The Assistant Manager suddenly spoke to Susanna, and she flinched.

"What's wrong? Why are you doing the accounting calculations by hand? Not using the calculator?"

"Ahahaha... calculators just can't be trusted, you know..."

"What are you talking about? Senior Staff Susanna is pretty odd sometimes too."

I could feel Susanna's sharp gaze on me, but I ignored it with ease. Pay the price for all the trouble you've caused me.

After the exchange with Susanna, the Assistant Manager now turned his attention to me.

"Senior Staff Odrette, why have you been leaving so early lately?"

"Oh, have I?"

"Yeah, let's do some overtime today! We used to do overtime together all the time, right?"

He lied to appeal to the Guild Master that he was a diligent employee who even did overtime. I stared at him calmly before speaking.

"That's right, Assistant Manager. You and I did do overtime together often."

"Huh? Yeah, I suppose..."

"But I'm really worried about you, Assistant Manager. Your body must be tired—how about cutting back on overtime from now on?"

"Haha, I'm still young—without passion, I'm just a corpse. Tired? What's there to be tired about..."

"You also do a part-time job washing carriages during the day, and in the evenings after work, you work at an inn. You're doing so much work that I'm worried you might collapse."

"Wh-what?"

His pupils began to shake.

"W-what are you talking about? Me, working part-time?"

"Huh? You told me about it yourself last time. You said that the three hours you spend smoking during the day are actually for your carriage-washing part-time job."

"......!"

"And the reason you always rush out at 6 o'clock is to make it to your evening inn job on time!"

The Guild Master was a typical boomer—he hated anyone who lacked "ownership" of the company's work and looked elsewhere.

An evening inn job might be something he could overlook with a scolding, but secretly doing a carriage-washing job during work hours while pretending to smoke for three hours was a breach of contract. That was more than enough grounds for dismissal.

To investigate this, I'd spent days tailing the Assistant Manager. I'd always found it odd that he smoked for three hours—turns out he was sneaking off to do part-time work and coming back.

"Part-time work? What's this about?"

Sensing that the conversation was taking a dangerous turn, the Guild Master interjected.

"Is what Senior Staff Odrette saying true?"

"I-it's absolutely not! Senior Staff Odrette is framing me!"

"Oh, come on. Why would I frame you, Assistant Manager? I'm just worried about your health."

I continued prattling on.

"You know that carriage-washing place right up ahead? Go check if the Assistant Manager's working there! Oh, shall I call an employee over here? Guild Master, please care about the Assistant Manager's health!"

"Th-this can't be..."

Anger filled the Guild Master's eyes.

"Pretending to be loyal to our guild, but doing not just two jobs, but three?!"

"N-no! Guild Master!"

"It'd be best if you confess before I visit that carriage-wash myself!"

At that point, the Assistant Manager had no choice but to admit the truth.

"G-guild Master! I did it because I'm struggling financially! I have a sick mother and a family to support!"

"What are you talking about? You said you weren't even married, and your mother passed away long ago!"

"Ah, anyway, my circumstances were too dire!"

"Stop your nonsense! I trusted you, and this is how you betray me?"

The typical boomer rage poured from his mouth.

"This guild is your home! If we feed you, you should be grateful! You should think about guild work the moment you open your eyes in the morning, and think about it again when you go to bed at night! And you dare scatter your focus on other things?"

I looked at Susanna with an expression that asked, "How can you think about the guild when you go to bed?" She shot back a look that said, "I have no idea either."

"You young people these days care more about your own bodies than the company! In my day, even if I starved, I gave my all to the company! When I was your age, I worked 36 hours a day and never took my eyes off my main job! You brat, what does this guild mean to you?!"

I looked at Susanna with a look that asked, "How can someone work 36 hours a day?" She still responded with a baffled expression.

"This is a betrayal of our guild! A betrayal!"

Finally, his fury reached its peak. He began hurling documents at the Assistant Manager.

"You're fired from this guild!"

"G-guild Master! What about unemployment benefits...?"

"Our guild has fewer than five employees, so none of that applies!"

"Urgh!"

In the end, the Assistant Manager was chased out by the enraged Guild Master, making a pathetic exit. The Guild Master fumed for a while, then declared he was too angry to work and left early himself.

"Wow, that's truly amazing... your skill at getting rid of people..."

Susanna said something that sounded half-flattering and half-unsure.

"Susanna, you'd better be careful too—you never know when it'll be your turn."

"O-of course... I did four-digit multiplication without a calculator today."

"You're doing great."

I could hear Susanna muttering something under her breath, probably curses, but I decided to let it slide for now.

In the quiet office, I thought about what lay ahead.

With the Assistant Manager gone, the Guild Master would want to hire another person. Ideally, that person would be someone useful—someone I could move as I pleased, and who'd be on my side.

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