How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 50

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

How to Survive in a Small-Scale Guild
Episode 50
Sedrian gazed down at the sword with cold eyes. So now they were adding a murder accusation on top of everything else.
The other guild members watched him with worried expressions, but Sedrian felt no anxiety about the situation at all. If he could just walk out of this mansion alive on his own two feet, everything would end.
The moment he returned to the Imperial Palace as Sedrian Elbaron instead of Sedrick Altega and gave orders to Eric, House Hatfield would be annihilated.
Secretly developing military supplies was serious enough, but adding a murder charge and attempting to pin it on someone else? Once he issued the command, everything would be resolved.
Proof might take time to establish, but with witnesses and evidence this solid, there would be no real problem.
‘Though the Temple would cut off its tail to escape, so I won’t be able to entangle them in this.’
Having thought it through coldly, Sedrian made his decision. He would touch the sword and slip out of this mansion.
The guards were reluctant to kill anyone, so Hatfield wouldn’t directly harm all of them.
“…I understand.”
With that answer, Sedrian reached toward the sword. In that moment—
“Wait!”
A hand grasped the hilt before he could. That hand gripped the sword repeatedly, deliberately leaving fingerprints.
“It doesn’t matter who gets caught, does it? I did it. I killed him.”
Looking at Odret Lavendel’s face as she spoke, Sedrian was momentarily stunned.
***
If Sedrick takes the murder accusation, it’s going to be a problem.
He’s a junior employee with nothing to his name, and he won’t get any help.
Of course, my situation is just as difficult… but I’m still the guild master with responsibility for my subordinates, and I have a connection to the Crown Prince.
So it makes more sense for me to take the fall.
“It doesn’t matter who gets caught, does it? I did it. I killed him.”
As I spoke and took hold of the sword, everyone stared at me in shock. Susanna and Morian especially looked as though I’d just moved them to tears.
“Well, I’ll be. Your loyalty to your subordinates is quite something.”
Hatfield spoke with a deflated expression, then gestured to me.
“Fine, that’s enough. If you report it, I’ll produce this sword as evidence.”
“Yes, and I don’t want to be accused of murder either, so I won’t report it.”
At that moment, the basement door opened and guards rushed in.
“We have a crisis, sir! Retired Imperial Knight Order Commander Bain and his associates have raided the estate!”
“What—what did you say?”
“There’s word of illegal activities, but what does that even mean? I should first report to the Imperial Court—”
“No, don’t report it!”
As Hatfield cried out, a familiar man appeared behind the guards, sword drawn.
Commander Bain expertly struck the guards unconscious with the flat of his blade, then smiled when he saw us bound by rope.
“Well, now I understand. You really were asking for help.”
“Commander Bain!”
That was right. The moment I’d acted out a phone call to the Temple in the reception room, I’d actually been calling Commander Bain for assistance.
“Yes, we’re at the Hatfield Estate right now. I called about the military supplies situation. I think you heard about how we nearly got exposed to an internal traitor before—well, another problem’s come up. Another mercenary found out about this. We were worried the Temple might get exposed too. Yes, yes.”
I’d hinted at our location and the general situation, weaving in the keyword “Temple.” I’d calculated that Commander Bain, understanding the context, would come to our aid. He was the strongest fighter I knew, and as a former Imperial Knight Order commander, he stood on the opposite side from the Temple.
“Military supplies and kidnapping? I’ll mention this to the current Imperial Knight Order commander as well.”
“No!”
At Commander Bain’s words, Hatfield’s face went pale. Commander Bain untied the ropes binding us, and his companions looked at us with bewildered expressions.
“How did this…?”
“I called Commander Bain for help over the phone. In the reception room.”
“Oh! So that was actually Bain!”
The guild members looked at me with sparkling eyes. Rakal said he’d go find Orion and headed outside.
While Commander Bain’s associates reported to the Imperial Court and prevented the servants from escaping, I explained the situation to the guild members. Morian looked at me with admiration.
“Wasn’t leaving your fingerprints on the sword a dangerous move?”
“I’m the guild master. If there’s any risk involved, it should be me taking it.”
“…Is that really the only reason?”
Sedrick, who had been silent, looked at me with wavering eyes.
“You were sacrificing yourself to protect me—”
“No, it wasn’t a sacrifice. I knew Commander Bain would arrive.”
“He might not have arrived in time.”
I answered in a cold tone.
“Listen well, Sedrick. This is a good lesson. We’re an information guild, and information never betrays us.”
“Pardon?”
“The sword I touched earlier looked incredibly heavy. Hatfield, an adult man, held it with both hands, and his arms were trembling. Yet you’re saying an adult woman like me killed someone with one hand? That doesn’t add up, does it?”
“Ah—!”
“Even if Hatfield reports me as the murderer, the fingerprints on that sword will actually serve as evidence that he coerced us. An obviously frail adult woman swinging a heavy sword with one hand to kill someone—it’s full of holes.”
Sedrick blinked, then nodded slowly.
“That’s absolutely right, yes….”
“Information will never betray us.”
“With Bain here, the Imperial Court won’t attack us, will they? I’m worried they might side with the Hatfield Estate instead, since he outranks us and is a nobleman.”
Morian still wore an anxious expression, so I set his mind at ease.
“No, I trust the Imperial Court. They uphold justice.”
I couldn’t exactly tell them about my connection to the Crown Prince, so I deflected—but Sedrick’s eyes shifted once more.
“Guild Master, you truly are a remarkable person.”
“I am?”
“Genuinely responsible, intelligent, and above all….”
His brown eyes fixed on me.
“To trust the Imperial Court so completely…. There are still people who believe in justice….”
“Ha, well. I suppose so?”
“…I look forward to working with you going forward, Guild Master.”
Sedrick looked at me with eyes transformed from before. He seemed genuinely moved by this moment.
“Isn’t that exactly what we thought?”
“The same idea, yes.”
“This one’s locked in, no doubt about it.”
“Total love at first sight.”
Susanna and Morian huddled together again, whispering conspiratorially. Were those two having a romance lately?
***
“Sigh….”
“Your Highness, what troubles you today? Why do you sigh so heavily?”
The moment Sedrian returned to the Imperial Palace, he began exhaling long sighs, and Eric regarded him with a puzzled expression.
“This is serious. I don’t know what this feeling is.”
“That is love.”
“But I haven’t even explained yet?”
“His Majesty the Emperor instructed me to say precisely that whenever such circumstances arise. Truly, the sun of the Empire sees through all matters with perfect clarity.”
Normally, Sedrian would have bristled at such nonsense, but he fell silent instead, lost in thought at Eric’s words. Eric himself looked startled at what he’d said.
“Is it truly love, Your Highness?”
“No, not exactly… well, I….”
Sedrian began to ramble.
“At first it was admiration. To sacrifice oneself for those beneath you—how exemplary. As Crown Prince of the Empire, I thought I should emulate such virtue and become a just ruler. Because that is the path I must follow….”
“Ah, yes.”
“But then, what came next unsettled me for some reason.”
“What did she say?”
“That information would not betray us—she explained the reasons why she was reliable with such rational, logical clarity….”
“Yes.”
“It was shocking. How do I even describe it….”
Eric grasped the situation before Sedrian could finish. This was love, without question. No wonder he’d seemed odd lately—it had come to this.
“But the moment my heart truly raced was the last one.”
“The last moment?”
“She said she trusts the Imperial Court! That she believes in the Imperial Court’s justice!”
“What? You fell in love at that sight?”
“To trust the Imperial Court’s justice like that—I’ve never met anyone like her…. The nobles curse the Court for being rigid, and the commons show no interest in it at all….”
“Yes, yes….”
Sedrian, who had been speaking at length, suddenly wore the expression of one struck by revelation. Like he had just succeeded in sorting through his own feelings.
“…I see. So that’s what it was.”
“What, what is it?”
“Whether the source of information is suspect, whether I need to extract secrets—none of that matters anymore. I won’t approach her with such intentions again.”
“Surely not….”
Eric looked at Sedrian, uncertain whether to find this delightful or to intervene.
At last, the words Eric had been waiting for spilled from Sedrian’s lips.
“Yes, I know what this feeling is. I’ll stay in the Guild from now on. As long as I can be with her, I don’t care what work I take on in the Guild.”
Of course. The wise Emperor was never wrong.
Eric nodded in agreement, yet felt a vague unease settle in his chest.
‘Is this truly love? It seems a little unhinged for romance.’
But he couldn’t very well say to his superior, who had just awakened to first love, “This looks less like love and more like Stockholm syndrome,” so Eric swallowed the words whole….

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