How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 85
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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 85
The Logistics Warehouse had always been a space of labor that stood open equally to all—regardless of experience, age, gender, or circumstance.
The moment I submitted our application in everyone’s name, word came back within minutes that we were approved to start work.
“This can’t be real….”
Susanna, who’d never worked a warehouse job before, wore an expression of despair.
“This is hell.”
Morian, unsurprisingly, seemed to already have experience doing this.
“Move faster!”
“Just toss it!”
Under the floor supervisor’s watchful eye, we got to work.
Truth be told, I’d only ever heard about warehouse jobs in conversation—this was my first time actually doing one.
And I genuinely came to appreciate what it meant.
“Labor truly is a sacred thing.”
Even Sedrick had started muttering such things by this point.
‘I’ve never heard of someone who’d transmigrated into a Romance Fantasy World working at a logistics warehouse.’
Even as that thought crossed my mind, my hands never stopped moving. Sweat poured down like rain.
“Let me help you out.”
“Thank you so much, Morian….”
The work was so grueling that when Morian lifted a box for me, I nearly teared up from sheer gratitude.
“You’re starting to look amazing….”
That’s how exhausting the work was—I was drawing on every last ounce of strength I had. Never thought I’d see why warehouse workers sometimes catch each other’s eyes like that….
That said, I’d finally begun to understand the phenomenon.
“Sedrick, you don’t have to work that hard.”
Sedrick had suddenly seemed to awaken with a fervor that made me worry he’d be sore tomorrow, so I tried to talk him down.
“No. I enjoy labor.”
……
“I can see exactly what’s going through your head.”
I’d always suspected it, but Sedrick might be the least mentally stable person in our guild.
Wait—I came here to gather information, not just do manual labor and leave.
As I carried boxes, I made sure to keep track of where everything was being shipped.
Hmm, most of it seems to go to shops in the Capital. The expensive fabrics appear to be heading to some famous salon….
“Huhhhh….”
The moment break time arrived, Susanna let out a strange sound and collapsed where she stood, eyes glazed over.
“Susanna, we’re supposed to be investigating!”
“Where does the guild master even get that stamina from? It feels like people just keep getting weirder and weirder….”
Susanna muttered while pointing at a box behind her.
“We’re just hourly workers here—there’s barely any intel to gather anyway…. Look, this box is going to the Grand Theater too…. Huh? Do they sell things at the Grand Theater?”
She squinted at the box.
“Fresh produce…. Asparagus? Why would the Grand Theater even sell asparagus? It’s so heavy!”
Susanna complained, but there—I caught something suspicious. They were shipping goods to the Grand Theater?
“You’re right, I wonder why they’d be sending things to the Grand Theater.”
“Break time’s over! Everyone back to work!”
“Dammit.”
By now, sweat was practically blinding me. It was the middle of a sweltering summer, which made everything twice as hard.
“This pitiful excuse for a break…. I’m definitely going to improve working conditions around here….”
Sedrick, who was working the hardest, seemed to be losing his mind by degrees, but I kept my eye on the boxes heading to the Grand Theater as I worked, spotting several more.
But these weren’t theater props or costumes—mixed in were items that had nothing to do with the theater at all.
The Grand Theater…. Did they sell things there?
“…Wait? The pay’s pretty good, isn’t it?”
When the work ended, the manager paid us in cash.
Susanna’s expression lifted considerably when she received her wages. The work had been brutally hard, but the hourly rate they’d given us was exceptionally generous.
“Perfect for when living expenses run dry.”
“Morian, is that speaking from experience?”
In any case, our next destination was decided.
For today, we’d each rest at home, and we agreed to meet in front of the Grand Theater tomorrow.
My gut was telling me something was off about the Grand Theater. There was no reason—none—for them to be sending asparagus there.
“Well then, thanks for your hard work today. See you all tomorrow….”
I stumbled forward, utterly exhausted. I must have looked precarious because Sedrick offered to walk me home, but I refused—it wouldn’t be right for an employee to escort his boss.
***
The next day, we gathered in front of the Grand Theater.
Yet no matter where I looked around the outside of the theater, I could spot nothing suspicious, so it seemed we’d have to buy tickets and enter after all.
“This is the cheapest seating available.”
Susanna, who usually enjoyed performances, recommended affordable tickets for the upcoming show. I gladly purchased them from the Guild’s budget.
We stepped into the Grand Theater and found our seats among the sprawling audience section.
Because they were cheap seats, we were quite far back and the space was cramped, but it hardly mattered.
“…This is my first time.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, this is the first time I’ve sat in seats like these.”
“Ah, so you’ve never been to the Grand Theater before.”
Seeing Sedrick survey our section with an unfamiliar gaze, I made a mental note to arrange more cultural opportunities for my staff in the future. After all, good companies offered cultural welfare benefits.
“Sigh, I’ve always dreamed of sitting in such high-class seats someday…”
Susanna gazed at the terrace seating on the second floor, her eyes taking on a distant, dreamy quality. Those terrace seats were reserved exclusively for nobility and the extraordinarily wealthy.
“Wow, a famous chef came today?”
Susanna seemed to recognize the face of a man seated in one of the terrace sections.
“He’s the head chef at the most prestigious restaurant in the Central Arcade! He became even more famous recently after catering a banquet for His Imperial Majesty.”
“I see.”
“Yes, I’ve heard his skills are quite excellent.”
If even Sedrick knew of him, he must truly be a renowned chef.
Soon the play began, so we maintained our composure and fell silent.
The performance was unremarkable—a common romance story about a baron’s daughter from the countryside who falls in love with a duke after coming to the Capital.
Various amusing incidents occurred during the tale, prompting the audience to burst into laughter.
“Oh, it was so entertaining!”
My face darkened as I’d failed to find the Karsan Merchant Guild’s secret method, but Susanna, unlike me, began chattering excitedly.
“Especially the part where the duke did Fencing with Asparagus—that was absolutely hilarious!”
“That part stood out most in my memory as well.”
“Right? The comedy really hit the mark with me!”
As I listened to my guild members converse while exiting the theater, something caught my eye.
“That’s…!”
At a mobile market in front of the theater, vegetables were being sold.
And of course, among them was Asparagus!
“Susanna, I wasn’t fully focused during the musical, so I wanted to ask—do you think other people found the Asparagus Fencing scene memorable too?”
“Of course! The mise-en-scène there was really…”
This was it. I’d found the Karsan Merchant Guild’s secret method!
The renowned chef who had watched the musical from the central terrace seats just moments ago had apparently spotted the Asparagus as well and was now walking toward our direction.
“Oh, Asparagus.”
“Ha, indeed.”
“There are so many dishes you can make with this, but Fencing, no less!”
“I’ve figured it out!”
I turned to my guild members and exclaimed.
“The Karsan Merchant Guild sends Performance Tickets to famous people, and after the play ends, they sell whatever made the strongest impression! When celebrities use the product, it naturally becomes a trend.”
“Then…”
“They didn’t pay off these celebrities. But they’re using a natural promotional method that lets these influential people believe they chose the product themselves!”
“It’s a more sophisticated method than one might initially think.”
Sedrick nodded in admiration.
With this, the Golden Scale Society’s commission was resolved.
“Now I just need to report this finding to the Society’s proprietor.”
“Will the Golden Scale Society use the exact same secret method, then?”
As Sedrick asked, I shook my head.
“What the Golden Scale Society truly wants is to suppress the Karsan Merchant Guild. I’ll need to share a few Marketing tips with them.”
Now that I knew Marketing worked in this world too, I had plenty of ways to assist with the Golden Scale Society’s commission.
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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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