How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 92

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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 92
I sprinted across the Temple.
My breath came shallow and sharp, blood metallic on my tongue, but I didn’t slow.
Aria’s footsteps had faded somewhere behind me, but I couldn’t trust that. I had no idea what she might attempt next, so I kept running.
I’d learned firsthand that Aria wore the Temple’s gentlest smile while being more cunning than anyone else.
Even if I took her hand now and pretended nothing had happened afterward, she might still scheme—use the High Priest’s Miraculous Object, perhaps.
I had to find someone to protect me faster than Aria could move against me.
When I reached the Temple’s entrance, I saw a cluster of High Priests and Mid-rank Priests gathered in conversation.
“We should call the High Priest—”
“But we don’t know the purpose. It could be dangerous.”
“No, then we go ourselves.”
“I’m going.”
The High Priests seemed ready to act in the High Priest’s stead, but even as they moved to venture out, Seraphine, Etienne, and Mattheus were locked in rivalry, each trying to claim the credit.
“Where is Aria?”
“Who knows?”
All three High Priests except Aria were gathered here.
My legs nearly buckled from exhaustion, but I managed to push forward and reach them.
Without hesitation, I grabbed Seraphine’s arm.
“Hah—hah—Seraphine, High Priest…”
“How dare you.”
Anger flashed across Seraphine’s eyes as she looked at me.
“You overstep.”
She seemed about to rebuke me for touching her without permission, but I was faster.
“Take my hand.”
“What?”
“I’ve secured the Experimental Success.”
Leaning close to her, I whispered urgently.
“The experimental—hah—the success. I know of it. I’ve secured it—”
Seraphine’s expression shifted instantly.
She cast a glance toward Mattheus beside her, then gestured to Etienne.
“There’s someone who needs judgment. Etienne, come with me.”
“Huh? Sure!”
Etienne answered in his characteristically flippant tone, and Mattheus turned to stare at Seraphine.
“Are you conceding?”
“Yes. You go.”
Mattheus’s lips curved upward at Seraphine’s words.
“The Crown Prince is mine to deal with.”
I worried for Sedrian, who would have to face Mattheus alone, but first I had to survive this.
Seraphine led me into an empty office and locked the door. Etienne, grinning at something that amused him, called out to me.
“Wow, you’re a Mid-rank Priest in Aria’s faction. You’re betraying her?”
“…Yes.”
I looked up at the two High Priests and nodded.
“I need to survive. To survive, I have no choice—”
“What do you mean?”
“High Priest Seraphine.”
I said her name, working to keep my expression steady.
“There is an Experimental Success. They were the High Priest’s test subject for Ability experiments, exposed to that power for a long time. As a result, they lost their memories and their personality changed, but… they came to understand the Sacred Scripture more perfectly than anyone else. They came to follow the Prophet’s will more perfectly than anyone else.”
“Hmm?”
Etienne tilted his head.
“High Priest Aria found the Experimental Success first and reported to the High Priest. They will soon become a High Priest. Before Aria and this new High Priest become completely aligned, you must compete for that High Priest.”
What I had chosen was to pit them against each other so Aria couldn’t monopolize me.
Since Aria and Seraphine’s rivalry was always fierce, the more they clashed over me, the harder it would be for either to control me completely.
“A new High Priest? The High Priest didn’t tell us anything about that.”
“Wait, now that you mention it, didn’t he call a meeting for next week? He said he’d announce new information there!”
“I see. If that’s truly the case—”
Seraphine’s blue eyes and Etienne’s sky-blue eyes fixed on me.
“So where is this Experimental Success?”
“…Right here.”
I held their gaze without flinching.
“The Experimental Success, Odret Lavandel. I am here.”
“…Ha!”
In that instant, Seraphine broke into laughter—rare for her.
But it was not disbelief; it was a laugh tinged with exhilaration and delight.
“That’s right, it was strange. Your movements were far too strange. Aria’s path, and your success too!”
“…….”
“If you’re an Experimental Success, everything fits into place.”
“Remarkable, truly. No wonder you showed such extraordinary skill in the Mid-rank Priest promotion exam!”
“So why did you tell us this?”
“…Because I need to use you both as well.”
My honest circumstances spilled out.
“We should use each other. You need me, and I don’t wish to fall into Aria’s hands. So I’m asking you to extract me.”
“Yet you’ll end up under our hand regardless?”
“…….”
“Using this time to build your own power and slip away won’t work. We’ve served in the Temple for years, and someone who became a High Priest as suddenly as you could never match us.”
“I understand.”
Which was precisely why I had no intention of facing them as equals.
In a Temple where the lines of four High Priests were already completely established, I could never suddenly amass power to stand alongside them.
If becoming a High Priest was an inescapable fate, what I needed now was time to prepare a countermeasure. For that—
“Compete over me. I won’t be left in Aria’s hands.”
Speaking through the chaos of my mind, Seraphine extended her hand.
“Very well, Odret Lavandel. This is a deal made first by you, the Experimental Success.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ll keep Aria in check regarding you. But you must remember one thing….”
Our eyes met in the void between us.
“You will eventually come under my command. And if you ever try to strike me from behind again, my Judgment may well turn toward you. Remember that.”
“…I will.”
I took Seraphine’s hand.
In the end, I had chosen Seraphine over Aria.
While Seraphine and Aria fought over me, I would find some way forward in that gap.
“Excellent! Aria will brag about reporting to the High Priest, but really, now Odret is closer to us, isn’t she?”
Etienne said, grinning widely.
“Once you become a High Priest soon, let’s do well together, Odret?”
“Yes.”
Answering Etienne, I exhaled a quiet sigh of relief inwardly.
At least I had avoided being bound to Aria alone.
I had struck first before Aria could reveal I was an Experimental Success, so now the remaining task was….
***
“Mattheus, what was the Crown Prince doing here?”
“Nothing serious.”
I watched Seraphine converse with Mattheus.
“He came claiming to have evidence of the Temple’s slush fund dealings. We can trim a few loose threads, though I’m not sure how it leaked.”
“Merely that? We can issue a statement saying he tried to suppress a religious institution without grounds!”
Etienne exclaimed with enthusiasm.
‘…I passed on the slush fund information after I became a Mid-rank Priest. But since this alone isn’t enough to strike the Temple, I held it back.’
Yet the Crown Prince came alone despite knowing he couldn’t attack the Temple—there must have been some urgent reason compelling him. Perhaps….
“Odret, shall we call it a day?”
“Yes, I’ll head out now.”
“Mm, do. Besides, Odret will soon become special anyway…. Don’t mind it, Mattheus! Oh, did you hear? In front of the Temple this time….”
Mattheus looked at me with confusion, but Etienne chattered away in front of him, turning his gaze.
I slipped out of the Temple in that moment.
I moved quickly through the winding alleys before the Temple, as though being pursued, when a hand grabbed me.
“…Sedrian!”
Hidden in the alley, Sedrian looked at me with an urgent expression.
“Lady Odret….”
“Why did you come so suddenly? To come here even while sacrificing the slush fund matter….”
“You’re not asking because you don’t already know, are you, Lady Odret.”
His manner was unlike any I had seen before.
“There is only one reason I came here.”
“…….”
“Odret Lavendel, I made a Vow to myself that I would protect you. When I felt that Vow wavering on the brink of breaking, I came running at once to save you.”
In that moment, I felt a sudden dissonance.
Why had Sedrian made a Vow for my sake? All this time he’d shown no interest in the original heroine, yet why would he…?
“Please, don’t make me break the Vow I’ve made to myself, Odret.”
Sedrian spoke those words in a voice that sounded almost desperate.
“I simply wish that you would stop being in danger….”

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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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