How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 59

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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
Episode 59
Now that the former guild master’s petty scheming had passed, it was time to return to the real work.
I had to find the true daughter of the Calliard Duke’s House.
Or rather, I already knew who the true daughter was—I simply needed to find the proof.
“Well, let me look over the documents first.”
The documents weren’t much: a criminal organization member who’d fallen to his death, just as the Calliard Noble Lady described, and traces of a missing child. The criminal organization claimed they’d been motivated by money alone; some were dead, and the rest remained in Prison.
‘Can I follow the method I learned from the Original Work exactly as it played out?’
Truth be told, I’d accepted the commission on impulse just now, thinking I’d be working alongside the Original Work’s heroine, but there was one problem.
‘This could entangle me with the Temple.’
The true disappearance of the Calliard Duke’s House’s real daughter was connected to the succession dispute over the Ducal Position.
In the Original Work, the Temple is the Main Villain, but the Secondary Villain is the Cadet Branch of Calliard, who harasses the noble lady at every turn.
Fairfax Count, the Cadet Branch of the Calliard Duke’s House, rages that he did not inherit the Ducal Position.
He harbors the delusion that his eldest brother inherited the position merely for being eldest, and that he himself doesn’t fall short of his brother’s abilities.
Fairfax Count, believing he’d been robbed of everything—talent, wealth, and title—by the Calliard Duke’s House, devises a plot to shake the Ducal Position, and he kidnaps the Calliard Duchess.
Though the Duchess was rescued in the process, he spirited away the infant she had just birthed, intending it to be killed as an act of revenge.
Yet by their own miscalculation the child did not die, and by extraordinary chance it was returned to the Calliard House.
Even after barely cutting ties by framing it on the criminal organization, the Fairfax Count’s House continues to watch keenly for another opportunity to strike at Calliard.
The Fairfax Count’s daughter, the same age as the heroine, persistently attacks her by calling her a “fake daughter.”
‘Is it truly necessary that a female rival of the heroine’s age make an appearance…?’
In any case, I knew the truth of the matter, so uncovering it would not be difficult.
The only problem was that in the Original Work, after the Fairfax Count’s House’s crimes are exposed and they fall, Fairfax Count alone manages to escape to the Temple.
He steals secrets from the Calliard Duke’s House and becomes a priest at the Temple, which becomes the reason the Calliard House joins forces with the Imperial Palace to strike down the Temple.
‘If Fairfax Count hides in the Temple as the Original Work foretells, I’ll be in trouble.’
I am a contractor to the Temple’s Guild—I cannot attack the Temple.
Let me think of a way to naturally expose the incident while also preventing Fairfax Count’s escape.
What if I approached it differently from the Original Work?
In the Original Work, after the Fairfax Count’s House is revealed as the culprit, the Calliard Noble Lady’s true identity is then exposed. While everything was in chaos over the real daughter’s identity, Fairfax Count escaped to the Temple.
So let’s do the opposite: first reveal that the Calliard Noble Lady is the true daughter, then immediately expose that the Fairfax Count’s House is the culprit, leaving them no time to escape.
“Listen up, everyone.”
I called my guild members to gather around my desk. Since we had no separate meeting room, when we needed to hold discussions we either spoke loudly from our workstations or gathered in one spot to examine documents.
“This is a commission we’ve just received from the Calliard Noble Lady.”
As I showed them the documents the Calliard Noble Lady had given me and explained the details of the commission, their faces filled with surprise.
“I remember reading the newspaper about the Calliard Noble Lady’s adoption when I was young. I suppose everyone’s come to think of her as a real daughter and forgotten the original story.”
“They’d entrust us with a commission like this…?”
“Good heavens, that person we saw earlier was actually the noble lady?”
The reason I shared the commission with these guild members was that I trusted their abilities.
Our guild may be small, but that doesn’t mean the members themselves are small-time.
“Huh? Guild master, what’s this?”
Susanna pointed to a section of the documents.
“This is plainly odd.”
“…It truly is strange.”
“That’s right.”
“Now I see what’s strange about it.”
The people of the Duke’s House wouldn’t have noticed, but we found the inconsistency immediately.
—Well, that lowly subordinate made off with the baby on his own. It was his last-ditch act of desperation, feeling he wasn’t being treated fairly. Did he not plan to take the child and use it for blackmail?
—That’s right, anyway he was the lowest-ranking subordinate. Since there was nothing to gain from him, he took the baby and ran, or so we thought?
—But what he didn’t know was that his own Asthma Inhaler was in the trash bin!
—He probably left searching for his inhaler when he couldn’t find it, and suffered respiratory distress halfway through, which is likely why he fell over the cliff?
“How could they have missed this?”
“Since this concerns a lost daughter, the Duke’s House would have had at least knights and elites conducting the investigation. But those people have servants attending to their needs, and the Duke’s House family members hardly need to say anything.”
I nodded at Sedrick’s answer. Sedrick clenched his fist.
“In other words, this testimony makes no sense! A subordinate wouldn’t know what’s inside a trash bin!”
Those of knight rank or higher, who have servants attending them, don’t know this. But we do.
“It’s the subordinates who empty the trash in the first place!”
Sedrick, who handles the trash disposal duties in our guild, cried out.
There was definitely something that didn’t add up in their records.
Even if the Duke’s House people viewed it as a tragic accident and moved on, we could be certain that these documents are not entirely truthful.
“This part is definitely a lie. That the subordinate ran off with the baby on his own.”
“That’s correct. It’s possible this too was a scheme that failed in the end.”
“Let’s each dig through the records in our own way. Everyone, let me know if you find anything.”
After assigning tasks to everyone, I sank into thought. If I’m to follow the original work while avoiding it at the same time….
“Argh!”
Unable to bear the throbbing in my head any longer, I cried out from my seat, and Susanna muttered without so much as a twitch.
“Guild Master, may I use that small recording device?”
“You mean the thing to muffle all that noise?”
“Deputy Susanna, if you’d lend me one too, I’d be most grateful.”
“I’ll give you both a set, then.”
“Guild Master, let me at least fetch you a cup of coffee.”
“Indeed, it seems only you truly care for me, Sedrick.”
“That’s just… no, thank you!”
At first, when I saw Sedrick voluntarily join this guild, I’d thought his judgment was questionable—but he really is quite the capable talent.
All right, let me clear my head and think this through again.
The fact that this low-ranking member suffered from asthma had already been proven by hospital records dating back to childhood.
We knew full well that the low-ranking member didn’t carelessly leave the asthma inhaler in the trash—that much was certain.
But when the low-ranking member died, no asthma inhaler was actually found on him. Which meant someone had taken it.
‘So the low-ranking member was being used.’
To sum it up: this is what happened.
The organization’s higher-ups ordered the low-ranking member to flee with the baby.
After that, they extracted the baby and killed the low-ranking member, then made it look like his actions alone—a rogue agent’s deviation.
But blast it—there’s no link back to whoever was behind it!
“Don’t you think we need to visit the Prison again?”
Morian spoke, apparently having arrived at a similar conclusion.
“Some of the organization’s members are still in the Prison. We need to interrogate them—using the power of Calliard Duke’s House.”
“If it’s necessary, then we’ll have to do it that way.”
Though that would mean the Noble Lady’s personal request becomes known to Calliard Duke’s House. Hmm, that’s rather distasteful….
‘Wait! I have the Crown Prince!’
Sedrian has been giving me considerable help. Last time, he even gave me an Identification Pass and told me to use it whenever needed.
I could either use that Identification Pass or contact Sedrian directly—either way seemed fine. After all, we help each other.
“Oh, I just thought of a way to interrogate them without the Duke’s House knowing.”
“How?”
“I have a collaborator inside the Imperial Palace. I’ll reach out to them.”
“As expected of you, Guild Master—truly impressive!”
“…Five minutes until quitting time. Would it be all right if I left early?”
Sedrick suddenly sprang from his seat.
“What? Is something the matter…?”
Knowing that the always-diligent Sedrick certainly had a reason, I asked him so, and he rolled his eyes before answering.
“I just remembered some important Post Office business. I need to go before it closes.”
“Well, if that’s the case, hurry along.”
I sympathized with the inconvenience of living alone. The moment I gestured, Sedrick swiftly vanished.

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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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