How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 58

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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 Guild
Chapter 58
Unable to refuse her outright, I guided Calliard to the office. She wore the earring again, concealing her true identity.
When I opened the door, I found not only Morian, Susanna, and Sedrick, but two unfamiliar men standing in the room.
“Sedrick, what’s going on?”
“As the guild master instructed, I investigated the situation and identified someone suspicious.”
So these two are suspects?
“I asked an employee from the neighboring building, and they witnessed a janitor peering into our guild’s reception room. The man on the left is the janitor.”
“And the one on the right…?”
“When I questioned the janitor, he said he’d actually seen a newspaper delivery man loitering around the guild. That’s him on the right.”
So through questioning, we did manage to narrow down to some suspects.
“Guild master, but is it appropriate to showcase this to a customer?”
When Morian raised the question, I finally introduced Calliard to the guild members.
“Our customer here has offered to help. She’s… rather intelligent, you see.”
“Intelligent? My intelligence score is a perfect 100 out of 100….”
At that rate, I wished she’d raise her self-esteem a little.
Just then, Sedrick’s gaze turned toward Calliard. His eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“……!”
“What is it?”
“Ah… it’s just the dress from the Music Salon.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Sedrick seemed to have grasped her identity, while Susanna and Morian appeared to merely sense her elevated station.
Now we turned our attention back to identifying who’d stolen the money.
“Well then, would you tell us what happened?”
At my words, the janitor and newspaper delivery man began their accounts.
“Come on, I’m being framed! I was just passing by while cleaning, and I got curious about what this place was. I mean, why would an Information Guild building look so shabby? So I took a quick look without thinking. I really didn’t steal anything!”
The janitor protested vehemently.
“I’m innocent too! I only heard this was an Information Guild that subscribes to a lot of newspapers, so… a new newspaper company just opened, and I was checking if there was anyone here to solicit subscriptions from!”
The newspaper delivery man voiced his own grievance.
“Hmm….”
As I narrowed my eyes studying them, Susanna spoke up this time.
“I think the janitor is lying! It’s suspicious that he was just ‘looking around’ the guild!”
“No, it’s the news delivery man. If he wanted to pitch subscriptions, he would’ve gone to the office.”
Morian identified the newspaper delivery man as the culprit.
No, that’s not it. So what I’m thinking is….
“They’re both lying. They must have met beforehand and conspired together. So they’re accomplices and collaborators.”
As I spoke, Calliard added from beside me.
“That does seem to be the case… Though my humble observation may be mistaken, just now both of their pupils dilated, they looked nervously to the left, and their hands trembled slightly. Of course, I could be mistaken….”
“No, I think you’re right….”
I spoke in a measured tone.
“Most people, when suspected and interrogated by a private company without real authority, would fly into a rage and refuse to answer, demanding to know what this is all about.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at that.
“That’s true. If I were falsely accused, I’d be furious and demand to call the Security Guard.”
Morian nodded in agreement. And in that same moment, looking at the janitor and newspaper delivery man….
“Now!”
They tried to flee as if they’d coordinated their story beforehand, but Sedrick was faster in blocking the exit.
“Ugh!”
Sedrick secured the entrance first, cutting off their escape. The two men tried to force their way past him with brute strength, but he didn’t budge an inch.
As Sedrick grabbed the janitor, Morian seized the opportunity to restrain the newspaper delivery man. I quickly brought over the rope from the corner, and we succeeded in binding them completely.
“Guild master, what should we do?”
“Hey! This is illegal confinement! We’re calling the authorities!”
“Of course, if you report this, we’ll face punishment as well. However….”
Sedrick looked down at them with cold eyes.
“You’ll tell the Security Guard exactly who’s behind this.”
“…….”
Their mouths shut tight. So there definitely was a mastermind behind it.
“What on earth is happening?”
Calliard seemed alarmed, so I answered in a calm voice.
“Our guild has made some enemies over time, and this appears to be the work of one of them.”
My gaze fell on the two men kneeling on the floor.
“Well, if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. I already know who’s behind this.”
“……?”
Someone with a grudge against our Guild would orchestrate something like this.
The answer was simple enough.
“The former Guild Master, wasn’t it? What was his name again….”
“Harbert Heim.”
Sedrick answered from beside me.
“……!”
At that moment, their expressions shifted from disbelief to shock.
“How did you…!”
“You tried to infiltrate the Guild and do something, but couldn’t open the Office lock, so you went to the Reception Room instead. Then you searched through Susanna’s bag, but found nothing of importance—just a small phonograph and a tedious essay. And then you discovered a money envelope and took that instead. Though I’m not certain why the two of you tried to implicate each other.”
“Tedious essay?!”
“In any case, I don’t know the exact details of your conflict. But now that I’ve identified the mastermind as the former Guild Master, I need to strike back against him.”
I signaled to Sedrick with a glance.
“Sedrick, let them go.”
“Are you certain about that?”
“Though I don’t know precisely what this is all about, I’ve identified the former Guild Master as the mastermind. Now I need to move against him in turn.”
I smiled at them with a slight curve of my lips.
“These two—I’ll report them to the Security Guard as accomplices who stole money.”
“My word, something so shocking… Though I happen to know the Security Guard of the Current Capital, I can’t say whether that will help….”
The moment Calliard finished speaking in that shocking tone, the two of them cried out in fear.
“Wait, just a moment!”
“Please, no!”
As expected, they began pleading desperately.
“Have mercy on us!”
“We didn’t know things would escalate like this!”
“We were just supposed to cause a little trouble!”
“We were only paid to do what we were told!”
“Hmm, what exactly happened?”
“It’s… it’s nothing serious. He gave us money and told us to steal any information that could be used as leverage, said it wouldn’t become a big deal. We only saw the envelope, so we grabbed that quickly, but we didn’t know it was money….”
“We never intended to steal money! We met that man as day laborers, and he paid us to do a job, said it wasn’t dangerous, so we took it….”
The way they spoke, the way they thought—neither bore the mark of a professional. They were clumsy amateurs.
And given that they mentioned meeting him as day laborers and being asked for a favor, it seemed they’d been seduced by someone who needed money.
‘So the former Guild Master is scheming something….’
Used properly, this could prove useful later.
“Shouldn’t this be reported to the Security Guard?”
At Sedrick’s words, I shook my head.
“No. I have a better idea.”
“Then….”
“Let’s use them as double agents instead.”
I handed them the envelope containing my performance bonus.
Their eyes widened—the amount was larger than what the former Guild Master had promised.
“Deliver this document. Make it look like you stole it from us. That way, you’ll receive the money he promised you. And now you’re getting paid by us too, so you’re making money from both sides.”
“Then we….”
“There won’t be any problem. Go quickly.”
Grateful that we hadn’t reported them to the Security Guard, they gathered the document and left hastily.
“Sigh, I’m afraid I wasn’t much help….”
Watching Calliard sigh, I felt an odd sensation again.
Now that I think about it, when she mentioned knowing the Security Guard of the Current Capital, they grew frightened and everything fell into place….
“In any case, I’ll contact you as soon as the client’s identity is revealed.”
I bowed respectfully to Calliard before sending her off.
With only the Guild members remaining, Sedrick, still on guard, asked a question.
“Guild Master, what exactly was that document you gave them?”
“It will become clear soon enough….”

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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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