How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive in a Small-Scale Guild
Chapter 2
“Odette, why are you grinning like that?”
“Ha! I suppose I’m just excited about our meeting!”
Whatever nonsense the guild members were spouting, I kept my focus on my work.
Setting aside the mountain of tasks piling up on my desk, the first thing I needed to do was figure out which Romance Fantasy Novel I was trapped inside.
Fortunately, working at an information guild meant newspapers were abundant, so gathering intelligence was simple.
And as a result, I discovered the original work.
‘This world is from “The Tyrant Duke’s Daughter Saves the Nation.”‘
It was a novel I’d read lightly to kill time, and luckily, I’d finished it not long ago, so the plot was still fresh in my mind.
It was a Romance Fantasy that started as a childcare arc and developed until the protagonist came of age—roughly, the protagonist gets adopted by a terrifying duke, only to later discover she’s actually his real daughter, whom he’d lost when she was young.
In this nation, three powers—the Imperial Court, the Temple, and the Kalliard Duchy—each possess unique abilities and maintain a balance of power, with the female protagonist belonging to the Kalliard Duchy.
‘Though honestly, a duchy standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Imperial Court and the Temple seems like broken worldbuilding.’
I wondered why rebellion never erupted in this world, but I decided to accept this flimsy setting anyway.
From newspaper articles, I gathered that the female protagonist hadn’t yet come of age or held her debutante ball. The romantic arc with the Crown Prince hadn’t begun, but instead, a childcare arc would be unfolding within her household.
After that, the protagonist falls in love with the Crown Prince, allies with the Imperial Court, and eliminates the Temple—the corrupt faction among the three powers.
‘I think I’ve seen the name Odette before, or maybe I haven’t.’
Was I an extra? While I was pondering this, I felt a tap-tap on my shoulder.
“Odette, could you help me out?”
“With what?”
Susanna was standing behind me with a bright smile. Whenever she grins like that, something unpleasant always happens.
“We have a customer!”
“Oh, um… yes.”
As the name suggested, the Global Information Network Guild was a no-name, third-rate outfit.
Still, we received the occasional odd job—tracking down affairs, that sort of thing.
“Why don’t you take this assignment, Odette?”
“Why me?”
“Oh dear, my stomach’s been bothering me today….”
Susanna’s act was painfully transparent. But instead of telling her off, I paused to consider.
Susanna was hired the same time as me, yet she’d managed to curry favor with the Guild Master, so they had a decent relationship. It was too soon to antagonize her.
“What if you asked the Vice Manager for help? I’m still new—I don’t really know the ropes.”
“The Vice Manager went out for a smoke and hasn’t come back in an hour!”
Honestly. Our Vice Manager was an enthusiastic hypocrite who spent three hours a day smoking.
Feeling my irritation bubbling up, I asked Susanna, “What’s the client like?”
“Well, they’re wearing a black hood pulled down low, so I couldn’t see their face at all. They’ve got several cheap rings with low-quality gems on their fingers, so they struck me as some kind of nouveau riche.”

Wait. I know this character.
I recalled the description of the Crown Prince from the original work.
He wore multiple rings made from low-grade gems. Tilting my head, I asked, “Your Highness, why do you wear rings like that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. They’re just items.”
Someone matching that description had just walked in? This felt too convenient to be coincidence.
If the Crown Prince had any reason to visit an information guild at this point in the story….
“I’ve searched everywhere for you—even visited this shabby detective agency.”
The Crown Prince receives help from the protagonist before her debutante, and he searches for her afterward to repay the debt—all because she’d hidden her identity at the time.
‘That’s it!’
The Crown Prince has come to our information guild to find the original protagonist!
Just like the female lead who transmigrated into a Romance Fantasy, I’m building connections with important people! I need to cultivate these relationships fast.
Once I reached that conclusion, I slipped back into the bumbling Odette act and turned to Susanna.
“All right… I’ll take it….”
“Oh, thank you so much!”
Susanna fluttered her hands and returned to her desk. I hid the smile threatening to break through and moved toward the adjoining room.
The small building had only two rooms—our office and the reception room for clients.
Oh, and the bathroom was in the building next door. Ha. This pathetic third-rate place.
As I opened the reception room door, I saw a man sitting with his hood pulled deep over his head.
“Hello, welcome….”
I settled into the seat across from him and greeted him.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Is there anything to drink?”

“There are tea bags in the office, but since I have to buy them myself, it’s better if you don’t drink them, if possible….”
“…Understood. I won’t drink any.”
“So what brings you here?”
“…I’m looking for someone.”
He hesitated before continuing.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to find them at such a small guild, but my situation has become desperate enough that I’m here.”
“Yes, please tell us. It might be something we can help with.”
“I’m looking for a woman.”
At last, the story I’d been waiting for spilled from his lips.
“Black hair, black eyes. She had a large scar on her neck and claimed she couldn’t speak because of a throat injury. She said she was a maid from a noble house, but that was a lie. Her hands had no calluses at all.”
“Yes, and?”
“Now that I think about it, the throat injury was probably a lie to hide her voice. The scar must have been fabricated.”
“Where did you meet her?”
“…In the Alail Forest, on the outskirts of the Capital. It was no place for people to be, yet she appeared suddenly from nowhere.”
It was perfect. This was the exact meeting between the Female Protagonist and the male lead from the original work.
At that time, the Crown Prince had been poisoned by a conspiracy of the Temple and was dying in the forest, and the Female Protagonist had saved him.
I could have revealed the woman’s identity immediately, but what mattered here was discovering it naturally. I couldn’t afford to seem suspicious.
“When was this?”
“Mid-August last year.”
“Ah, I see….”
I twirled the pen in my hand. To connect this naturally to the Female Protagonist….
“The larger information guilds haven’t been able to find her either, have they?”
“…I haven’t visited those places.”
“Why not? We’re just a small guild that handles trivial affairs.”
“There are personal reasons. Don’t ask.”
“Yes, I under—Ack!”
A thought suddenly struck me, and I cried out. This couldn’t be happening!
I’d read the original work only to kill time and had forgotten—now Odette’s role came back to me!
“Hello, I’m Odette. What would you like to commission?”
“I’m looking for someone in particular….”
“Yes, I understand. I’ll do my best.”
In the original work, Odette appeared as “Extra #1 from the information guild commissioned by the Crown Prince.”
“Sir, I’ve brought you reliable information.”
At first, Odette brought the Crown Prince quite useful information. Thanks to that, he trusted her and entrusted her with gathering intelligence.
But then….
“Something’s wrong. Someone is leaking our information.”
“Your Highness, allow me to set a trap this time. Let’s spread different information to everyone and see who the culprit is.”
“What? That information guild was working for the Temple?”
“I never thought they’d go so far as to take over even a small guild like this, but that information guild itself was a subcontractor for the Temple.”
That was right. The Guild Master had called this wretched information guild a “subcontractor,” and the principal client who gave us work was none other than this world’s final boss and villain—the Temple.
Damn it, of all the places to transmigrate into, I had to land on the Temple’s side!
In Romance Fantasy Novels, it’s rare to find a Temple that’s actually legitimate! They’re all corrupt and evil organizations!
If I’d actively participated in wrongdoing, I wouldn’t complain, but all I did was follow orders in exchange for a paycheck!
So what happened to Odette Lavender, who leaked the information in the original work….
“I couldn’t help it…!”
Ha, it ended with her rotting in prison, if I recall correctly?
My face went pale as I remembered all this. There was no way I could end up in prison.
‘Should I leave this guild after all?’
No matter how much knowledge I had from the original work, as long as I was part of this Global Information Network Guild, it meant nothing.
Since the guild itself was a subcontractor for the Temple, staying here meant I’d be classified as part of the villain’s faction.
Then a good idea came to me.
‘What if I propose to work as a Double Agent for the Crown Prince?’
After all, the Crown Prince is the male lead and destined to defeat the Temple, our superior—wouldn’t it be better to switch sides to his?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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