Home/How to Survive in a Good Small Guild/ch 93

Chapter 93

"Hello, Aria."

Aria glared at Seraphine, who had greeted her first. It was clear why Seraphine was acting this way. Odrette, who'd fled from her, had probably...

"Odrette is the successful subject, you know."

The words she'd hoped wouldn't reach Seraphine spilled from her mouth.

"She's decided to stay close to us for a while."

"...You dare."

Aria's eyes sharpened as she looked at Seraphine, but Seraphine was unfazed.

"She must have been so clingy and suffocating that she came to me and Etienne."

"......"

"You always mess things up at the crucial moment, Aria."

Hitting exactly the point Aria least wanted to acknowledge, the words made Aria's body tremble with anger.

"Anyway, Odrette will soon be on equal footing with us."

"Yes, that's right. But I've already informed the High Priest. It's my credit...!"

"That can't be helped. But whose credit Odrette's future achievements will be is another matter. And whose side she'll take in meetings is also another story."

With no faction of her own, Odrette had no choice but to side with someone. Seraphine, well aware of this, said slyly.

"Odrette took my hand. If the three of us present our opinions to the High Priest together, he'll listen to us more, won't he?"

"......"

"Let's see what achievements Odrette will make at the Temple from now on."

As Seraphine turned and left the office, Aria clenched her fist so hard her nails dug into her palm.

'It's okay, there's still time.'

Odrette would soon become a High Priest and receive a decent ability from the High Priest.

How Odrette would perform at the Temple and whose credit it would become would be determined by the High Priests fighting over her from now on.

'The one who stays by the Prophet's side must be me.'

The reason they fought so fiercely over the High Priest's favor was simple.

The one who contributed most to summoning the Prophet would be the one to serve him.

And the Prophet was their faith and ideal itself.

In the closed society of the Temple, they'd been blindly staring at the Prophet for so long.

They could no longer imagine a normal life beyond the Prophet...

---

"Mr. Rian?"

I looked up at him with teary eyes.

Having discovered such a shocking truth about my possession, I was still in shock—even though I'd pretended to be fine in front of Seraphine.

"Ms. Odrette, what happened?"

"No, nothing..."

I didn't want to tell him yet that I was a successful subject of the Temple's experiments.

If Cedrian knew about my horrific past as a test subject, he'd sympathize and worry, and try to isolate me from the Temple—which would only make things harder.

Now I had even more reason to take risks and bring down the Temple.

'How dare they use poor Odrette Lavendel as a test subject.'

Whether it was because I'd possessed this body, I felt a strong pity and empathy for its previous soul.

"Ms. Odrette, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Cedrian spoke to me in a gentle voice.

"But just know this: I swore to protect you, and I'm always thinking of you."

"......"

"So that I don't break my oath to myself, come to me whenever you're in danger."

His words somehow made me tremble.

'This is the first time.'

In this world, I'd always been the one protecting someone. For the first time, I was the one being protected.

As Guild Master, I'd always felt a strong sense of responsibility toward my members. So I'd tried not to show weakness in front of them.

But Cedrian was my superior, and the only person I could show my vulnerable side to...

"...Mr. Rian."

Eventually, I spoke in a trembling voice.

"I might become a High Priest at the Temple soon."

"What? How...!"

"So I was a little scared. I don't even know who I am anymore, and I don't know how I'll change in the future."

"It's okay. I know better than anyone that you're a good and just person..."

"...You seem to know me well."

After possessing this body, it was hard for even me to be sure of my own identity, but Cedrian spoke as if he knew me very well.

"Well, I'm always observing you, Ms. Odrette."

"How? Did you have someone watch me?"

"Th-that's not it. I just mean I pay attention."

"Ah, I see."

"Ms. Odrette, your heart has been racing since earlier."

"Ah, I was just a little startled..."

The feeling of barely escaping crisis at the Temple hadn't faded. I placed my hand over my pounding heart.

"I'll take you home. I'll make sure the Temple doesn't follow you, so don't worry."

"Ah, then..."

I accepted Cedrian's help and mounted the horse. My legs felt weak and I couldn't have made it home on my own.

Riding in his arms, leaning against him, I felt my heart racing wildly.

'Still, I'm so glad there's someone in this world who helps me and whom I can rely on.'

If Cedrian hadn't shown up, I might have fallen into Aria's hands.

"Please don't make me break the oath I made to myself, Ms. Odrette. I want you to stop being in danger..."

...Why was my heart racing like this?

Trying to calm my unsettled heart, a word suddenly came to mind.

The suspension bridge effect?

'...No, get a grip.'

Is this really the time to fall for the original male lead? Just because he saved me from a crisis doesn't mean it's love.

The suspension bridge effect is a no-go, self... I can't suddenly evolve into a villainess who falls for the original male lead and turns evil.

But the only superior I could rely on in this world was one person...

"Aah!"

"Wh-what is it?"

"Ah, nothing. I just remembered I have work tomorrow."

Even shouting to snap myself out of it didn't help. I tried to think of Park Geo-seong's essay to stop being conscious of Cedrian.

---

"La la la la~ la la la la~."

"Assistant Manager Susanna, what song is that?"

Unbelievably, the very next day was our first day back at work after the guild building construction was completed.

I'd barely managed to push thoughts of Cedrian out of my mind and come to work, only to hear Susanna humming a strange tune.

"Don't you really know this song?"

"How would I know?"

"Hah, they play this music everywhere when showing houses these days!"

"That's because you're addicted to your phonograph, Susanna."

After shooting Susanna a sharp look, I turned my gaze to the new guild building.

"Hah, a proper building at last..."

"There's a coffee room."

"What's a coffee room?"

"Cedric, I think he means the break room."

Morian admired the tea and coffee set up in the break room. We'd finally gotten a real break room, not just a corner of the office with tea bags.

"There's also a meeting room."

Cedric was fixated on the meeting room. Now we could say goodbye to the trash-company style meetings where we stood and shouted from our desks.

What I loved most about this building was the archive room. A place to systematically store all kinds of materials—newspapers by date, wanted posters, official documents...

"Then shall we start working with a new mindset?"

"Yes."

Even Susanna, who usually hated work, headed to her desk with an excited face today.

"Guild Master, are you alright?"

"You're the one who's been asking if I'm okay fifteen times since I arrived. What's going on?"

"I, I was just worried about your safety."

"Oh, you're very loyal to me..."

"Cedric's always like that."

Susanna said in a cynical tone.

"You're really oblivious sometimes, Guild Master!"

"Are you picking a fight with me right now?"

"Sigh, sometimes I get so frustrated too!"

"I share the same idea as Assistant Manager Susanna."

"Even you, Assistant Manager Morian?"

I looked at them with a bewildered expression, but they showed no sign of taking back what they'd said.

Why did those two join forces to pick on me sometimes?

Was it just that no employee ever likes the boss?

While I was alone in confusion, I noticed a newspaper deliveryman approaching the building through the window. He dropped several bundles of newspapers into the mailbox and left.

"Assistant Manager Susanna, enough—go get the newspapers."

"Me?"

"Would you rather I do it?"

When I glared, Susanna grumbled but went to get the papers.

Soon, I received the newspapers from her and checked them. My eyes widened at the front-page article.

"This is...!"

[Next Month's Glittering Debutante List... Will the Lady of Kaliad Make Her Social Debut?]

It was none other than the Lady of Kaliad's social debut.

"Wow, that's the Lady of Kaliad we met before! She was so beautiful, wasn't she?"

Susanna, unaware of my inner thoughts, exclaimed excitedly.

"A somewhat late debut. Well, the House of Kaliad dotes on her so much."

Morian muttered nonchalantly.

But unlike them, I stared at the newspaper with a serious expression. The heroine's social debut meant...

'The start of this novel's second act!'

Act one had been a childcare story set within the family, which hadn't affected me much. But once the heroine started full-scale activities, the original story would progress rapidly.

And Act two was the full-scale confrontation with the Temple...

'I'm about to become a High Priest myself.'

Wondering what changes awaited my life, I held the newspaper in my hands and read it for a long time.

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