How to Survive in a Good Small Guild - Chapter 93

—————
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 Good Small Guild
Chapter 93
“Hello, Aria.”
Aria narrowed her eyes at Seraphine, who was greeting her first for once.
It was clear why Seraphine was acting this way. Odret, who had fled from me, was probably….
“Odret says she’s a Successful Experiment.”
The words Aria had wanted to keep hidden from Seraphine spilled from her lips.
“She’s agreed to stay close with us for the time being.”
“…How dare you.”
Aria’s eyes sharpened in a way that was unlike her as she looked at Seraphine, but Seraphine remained unmoved.
“You must have been unbearably clingy and tedious for her to come to me and Etienne.”
…….
“You always ruin things at critical moments, Aria.”
At those words, which struck the very point she most hated to admit, Aria’s body trembled with fury.
“Besides, Odret will be on equal footing with us soon enough anyway.”
“Yes, that’s true. But I’ve already reported my contribution to the High Priest. My achievement is…!”
“That can’t be helped. But whose achievement it becomes when Odret accomplishes things going forward is another matter entirely. Whose side I take in the council is a separate issue as well.”
Odret, who had no faction within the Temple, would have no choice but to align with someone.
Seraphine spoke with a spite that showed she knew this well.
“Odret has taken my hand. If the three of us present our opinions together to the High Priest, surely he’ll listen to what we have to say more readily, won’t he?”
…….
“Let’s just watch and see what achievements Odret makes in the Temple going forward.”
When Seraphine turned sharply and left the office, Aria clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
‘It’s fine. I still have time.’
Odret would soon become a High Priest and would be granted a credible Special Ability by the High Priest as well.
How Odret would distinguish herself in the Temple and whose achievement it would become would be decided as the High Priests fought over her going forward.
‘I must be the one who remains at the Oracle’s side.’
The reason they competed so fiercely for the High Priest’s favor was simple.
Whoever made the greatest contribution in summoning the Oracle would be the one to attend to her.
And the Oracle was both the faith they believed in and the ideal itself.
It had been a long time since the Temple, that insular community, had looked only blindly toward the Oracle.
They could no longer conceive of any ordinary life that lay beyond the Oracle….
***
“Sedrian?”
I looked up at him with eyes brimming with tears.
Perhaps because I had learned such a shocking truth about my Possession, the shock didn’t fade even when I pretended everything was fine in front of Seraphine.
“Is something wrong, Odret?”
“No, it’s nothing….”
I still wasn’t ready to tell him that I was a Successful Experiment the Temple had put through trials.
If Sedrian learned about the terrible past I had endured through experimentation, he would pity me and worry, and would try to isolate me from the Temple, and if that happened, things would become difficult.
Which meant my resolve to tear down the Temple, even at the cost of danger, had only grown stronger.
‘How dare they use the pitiful Odret Lavandel as an experimental subject.’
Perhaps because this was a body I was Possessing, I felt intense compassion and empathy for that body’s previous soul.
“It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me, Odret.”
Sedrian spoke to me in a gentle voice.
“But understand this one thing: I have sworn an oath to protect you, and I am always thinking of you.”
…….
“So that I don’t break my oath to myself—come find me whenever things become dangerous.”
At his words, something inside me trembled.
‘This is the first time.’
In this world, I had always been the one protecting others, but now for the first time, I was being protected.
I felt a strong sense of responsibility toward my Guild members as their Guild Master. So I had always tried not to show them my weakness.
But Sedrian was my superior, and he was the only person I could show my weakness to….
“…Sedrian.”
In the end, I spoke with a trembling voice.
“I might soon become a High Priest in the Temple.”
“What? How…!”
“That’s why I was afraid. Now I don’t even know who I am anymore, and I can’t tell what I might become in the future.”
“It’s alright. I know better than anyone that you are virtuous and righteous….”
“…You seem to know me well.”
Ever since the possession, I myself find it hard to be certain of my own identity, yet Sedrian spoke of me as though he knew me exceedingly well.
“Then I’m always observing you, Odret.”
“How? Did you have someone follow me?”
“No, absolutely not. I simply mean I pay attention to you.”
“Ah, I see.”
Odret, your heart’s been racing terribly since earlier.”
“Oh, I was just a bit startled….”
The sensation of barely escaping danger at the Temple hadn’t faded. I pressed my hand against my pounding heart.
“I’ll take you home. The Temple won’t be able to follow us, so you needn’t worry.”
“Ah, well then….”
With Sedrian’s help, I mounted the horse. My legs had gone so weak since earlier that I couldn’t walk on my own.
Leaning against his chest as we rode, I felt my heart racing wildly.
‘Thank goodness there’s someone in this world who helps me, someone I can rely on.’
If Sedrian hadn’t shown up, I might have been handed over to Aria right then and there.
“Please, don’t make me break the vow I’ve made to myself. I hope you’ll stop being in danger, Odret….”
But why is my heart still pounding like this?
As I tried to calm my restless mind, a single word suddenly came to me.
Suspension Bridge Effect?
‘…No, get a grip on yourself.’
Are you seriously about to fall for the original work’s male lead right now? Just because he rescued you from danger doesn’t mean that’s love.
The Suspension Bridge Effect won’t do—not for me. I can’t suddenly turn into a villainous woman consumed by unrequited love for the original protagonist.
But in this world, the only superior I have to rely on is just one person….
“Aah!”
“What, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just remembered I had work tomorrow.”
No matter how loudly I cried out to regain my senses, it didn’t work. To avoid thinking of Sedrian, I conjured up Park Geo-sung’s essays in my mind instead.
***
“La-di-da-da-da~ La-di-da-da-da~.”
“Susanna, what song is that?”
By fortunate coincidence, the very next day was when we returned to work at the newly completed Guild building.
I’d barely managed to erase thoughts of Sedrian before coming in, when Susanna suddenly began humming a strange tune.
“You really don’t know this song?”
“How would I know it?”
“This music plays everywhere when people show houses these days!”
“That’s because you’re addicted to phonographs, Susanna.”
After giving Susanna a pointed look, I turned my attention to the new Guild building.
“Wow, such a pristine building….”
“There’s a coffee room.”
“What’s a coffee room?”
“Chief Sedrick, from what I can see, I believe he’s referring to a break room.”
Morian marveled at the tea and coffee equipped in the break room. Now we had an actual break room instead of just tossing a few tea bags in the corner of the office and calling it one.
“There’s also a conference room.”
Sedrick was utterly charmed by the conference room. Gone were the days of meetings where we’d jump up from our desks and shout information like it was breaking news.
What I loved most about this building was the records room. Newspapers from various press outlets organized by date, wanted posters of fugitives, official documents from public institutions—we finally had a records room where all manner of materials were stored systematically.
“Then shall we begin our work here with fresh resolve?”
“Yes.”
Susanna, who normally despised work, was grinning with excitement as she headed to her post.
“Guild Master, are you all right?”
“Chief Sedrick, if anything, you’re the one I should ask—you’ve asked me if I’m okay fifteen times since I arrived.”
“It’s just… I was worried about your wellbeing.”
“Oh, how loyal of you….”
“Chief Sedrick is always like that, you know.”
Susanna spoke in a cynical tone.
“Guild Master, you can be pretty foolish sometimes!”
“Are you picking a fight with me right now?”
“Ugh, sometimes you’re really exasperating!”
“I agree with Susanna, Guild Master.”
“Morian too?”
I stared at them in bewilderment, but they showed no signs of taking back what they’d said.
Why were these two ganging up on me and picking fights every so often? Is it just that no employee truly likes their boss?
I was still trying to make sense of the situation when I saw a newspaper delivery person approaching the building through the window. He stuffed several bundles of newspapers into the mailbox and left.
“Susanna, never mind that—go fetch the newspapers, would you?”
“Me, sir?”
“Or would you prefer I do it myself?”
At my pointed look, Susanna grumbled under her breath but disappeared to retrieve the papers.
Shortly after she returned from the first floor, I took the newspaper from her hands and examined it. My eyes widened as I read the headline on the front page.
“This is…!”
[Next Month’s List of Debutantes Entering High Society… Will the Duchess of Kaliered Finally Make Her Appearance?]
The article was about none other than the Duchess of Kaliered making her debut into high society.
“Oh my, isn’t that the Duchess of Kaliered we saw before! She was truly beautiful, wasn’t she?”
Susanna, unaware of my inner turmoil, exclaimed with excitement.
“A rather late debut, I’d say. Though I suppose the Duke’s household has been protecting her quite carefully.”
Morian muttered the observation without much concern.
But unlike them, I stared down at the newspaper with a grave expression. What did it mean that the heroine was making her debut into society?
‘Part 2 of this novel is beginning!’
Part 1 had unfolded as a domestic, child-rearing narrative within the household, so it had little bearing on me, but once the heroine began her full activities, the original story would progress rapidly.
And Part 2 was precisely when the Temple and the real confrontation would begin….
‘And here I am, stuck playing the role of High Priest.’
Wondering what changes might befall my life, I sat there holding the newspaper for a long while, simply reading.

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