How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 33

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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 33
“You’re truly admirable.”
Sedrian’s gaze upon Odret had shifted.
He no longer thought of him as a mad guild master, but rather as one worthy of respect despite his eccentricities.
Every word Charles, an Intermediate Priest, had shouted in the reception room reached their ears.
They understood that Odret had fabricated false weaknesses to protect Morian, and that he’d kept him from being bound by internal loans.
‘But the information about the Temple….’
Until now, he’d assumed Odret obtained information legitimately as a Subcontract Guild of the Temple.
Yet watching how the priests from the Temple treated him left a bad taste.
‘He’s extracting information while enduring treatment like that?’
Susanna had even mentioned that whenever work went wrong at the guild, they’d be dragged to the Temple to finish it as overtime.
During that process, Odret had sacrificed sleep, working through the night.
After hearing that, Sedrian found himself uncomfortable simply leaving information in Odret’s hands.
‘Odret shows responsibility as the guild’s master, yet I’ve been taking her sacrifice for granted, haven’t I?’
Just as Sedrian was worrying about Odret, his phone rang. Since only a select few knew the number, he answered immediately.
—Hello, Lian. This is Odret Lavendel.
The caller was none other than Odret Lavendel.
“…Yes. What’s the matter?”
—Ah, I’m calling to give you a progress report since I’ll soon have access to the Temple.
“I see. So you’ll be visiting the Temple.”
—Yes, I’ve become an Intern Priest at the Temple. Now I have official access and can reach more information.
“I see….”
Though he already knew this, Sedrian hesitated before asking.
“There’s no danger when you extract information from the Temple?”
—No, I’m fine.
“Truly? No hardship?”
—Sorry? Yes, I’m….
At Odret’s continued reassurances, something stirred in Sedrian’s chest.
‘She’s truly remarkable….’
His original plan had been to gather information quickly from this guild and leave, but now he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
For now, his authority as “Sedric the Manager” didn’t yet grant him access to the Temple’s information….
‘Leaving Odret here would be abandoning my duty.’
Knowing how much she struggled to obtain information, he decided he should stay and support her work, watching over her.
“Well, do your best.”
Encouraging Odret and ending the call, Sedrian resolved to remain at the guild a while longer.
***
“Why are you being so kind all of a sudden?”
Tilting my head in confusion, I hung up and headed for the Temple.
Our guild worked on weekdays, and I’d arranged to report to the Temple every Saturday.
I worried whether an Intern Priest like me could get away with working just these hours, but Aria readily agreed to cover my shifts.
‘What she really wants is probably to build her own faction.’
According to the source material, the Temple had four High Priests.
Since factional conflict among them ran deep, Aria seemed intent on currying favor with me—a decent first impression—and recruiting me to her side.
With the credentials Aria had given me, I entered the Temple boldly through the West Gate.
Unlike my days as an outsider, I could now use the West Gate without shame. Of course, the East Gate was still restricted to Intermediate Priests and above.
“So you’re Odret Lavendel, the Subcontract Guild master?”
“Yes, how do you do.”
“I’ve heard about you from High Priest Aria. I’m Olson, an Intermediate Priest.”
He extended a hand, and I grasped it firmly with both of mine, bowing slightly. Olson’s face brightened with satisfaction.
“Excellent! You’re exactly the kind of talent the Temple needs!”
Right, so I should act toward Temple priests like I would toward exploitative corporate superiors. Be as servile as possible, kowtow to them….
“Let me explain the Temple’s structure first.”
I followed him and familiarized myself with the Temple’s interior layout.
“Intern Priests can only use this building.”
Inside the structure was a single large desk in the center, surrounded by chairs.
“You’ll work here.”
“…Yes, understood.”
No dividers or partitions—truly the worst possible seating arrangement….
“There are no assigned seats, so sit wherever you need to.”
“Yes.”
“In fact, Intern Priests aren’t yet considered to have reached the true stage where they can perform the Temple’s work, so they begin with Doctrine Study first.”
“Doctrine Study… Is that the teachings from the Prophet’s Scripture?”
“That’s exactly it.”
The Crown Prince had mentioned it just now. To gather more information about the Scripture, my eyes lit up.
“Can we see the actual Scripture itself?”
“The actual Scripture is displayed in the Central Museum. Intern Priests can only view it from five meters away.”
“I see.”
“The Scripture’s language is written in mysterious characters, so deciphering it was an extremely difficult task. Fortunately, through linguistics we managed to learn the letter patterns and achieve some level of interpretation, but… still, there are many passages that our limited understanding cannot comprehend.”
Suddenly something occurred to me.
Wait—if those mysterious characters in a Korean webnovel meant what I thought they did… wouldn’t they be Hangul by default?
If so, I’d be able to read that Scripture myself!
‘And the Prophet might even be Korean!’
Given how Korean webnovels worked, it could be a diary from a Korean who’d dimensional-traveled to this world long ago, or perhaps the original source material itself…
I decided that as soon as the explanation was over, I had to go see the Scripture.
“Intern Priests first learn the doctrines of the Scripture, and once they pass inspection on the contents, that’s sufficient. Only those who have completely understood the doctrine can become Lower Priests. From Intermediate Priest rank onward, one can even directly participate in Doctrine Interpretation.”
“What sort of people are the High Priests, sir?”
“Those who have come close to miracles.”
“You mean through the High Priest’s abilities?”
“Yes, they have personally experienced those miracles….”
It was a meaningful statement, but I didn’t pay it much attention. What mattered to me now was the identity of the Scripture.
“So while I’m here, I’ll be doing Doctrine Study—is there anything else I should be doing?”
“It’s not as though an Intern Priest has no duties at all. What might an Intern’s duties be? Those too are part of the doctrine.”
“…Emptying trash cans? Cleaning? Photocopying papers?”
“Oh!”
Olson, the Intermediate Priest, looked at me with genuine amazement.
“Just as expected from someone with a Subcontract Guild background—you understand the way of life according to the Temple’s doctrine! Spot on!”
“Th-thank you.”
I had no idea what this Temple’s doctrine actually was, but it seemed treating it like a sweatshop was the way to go.
After Olson’s orientation ended, I headed alone to the Central Museum.
“This place is quite grand….”
Either the Temple priests were already used to it, or I was the only one in the Central Museum.
In the center, I could see a single book displayed in a glass case.
I wanted to get closer, but someone might appear from somewhere, so I kept the five-meter distance that Intern Priests were allowed.
“So that’s the Scripture….”
Squinting at the book, I tilted my head in confusion.
“…What?”
I knew that book.
Even though I couldn’t see the title clearly, the cover design was familiar.
“Surely not.”
It couldn’t be. That made no sense whatsoever.
But the design was far too familiar.
And when I squinted harder, the book’s title became faintly visible.
This was absurd.
The title of the book that this world revered as the Prophet’s Scripture was as follows:
『Park Geo-sung: Beginning the Magnificent Second Act of Life』.
The Prophet whom the Temple worshiped was none other than Park Geo-sung, CEO of an X corporation. This was insane.

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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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