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Chapter : 07
“…Very well.”
Apparently, he had finally made up his mind. The Crown Prince rose and stood before me.
“State your name and the contents of your oath.”
When he placed a hand on top of my head, a golden aura began to flow from his palm.
“I, Audrette Lavendel, swear that I oppose the Temple.
“I, Audrette Lavendel, swear that I wish to destroy the Temple.
“And I, Audrette Lavendel, swear that, for that purpose, I will do everything in my power to cooperate with His Highness the Crown Prince standing before me.”
“What will you stake upon this oath?”
“My life.”
“……!”
He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again.
“I accept your oath.”
At last, the golden light faded.
That meant my oath was genuine.
If I had sworn falsely, my life would have been forfeit.
The Crown Prince looked at me in amazement.
“You truly intend to cooperate with me.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll bring you every piece of information you need to destroy the Temple.”
“…Then it is settled.”
I smiled instinctively.
With that, I had officially become the Crown Prince’s ally.
It wasn’t as though I’d wanted to get involved in the original story in the first place.
But the Temple had gone too far.
How dare they make me work through the night?
Those bastards deserved to be crushed under the full force of labor laws!
“Then I’ll contact you again soon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After responding respectfully, I began thinking about what I should do next.
Hmm.
In that case…
Should I take control of this guild first?
“All right! Let’s give it our all today!”
The Assistant Manager shouted energetically as he arrived at work.
“Team Lead Audrette! Why do you look so gloomy? Come on, come on! Let’s cheer up!”
Laugh all you want.
Today will be your last day coming to work.
I stared at the piles of belongings on the Assistant Manager’s desk.
True to his nature as the overenthusiastic villain, his workspace was always buried beneath a mountain of stuff.
Stacks of memo pads, several notebooks, cigarettes…
And even a mirror positioned so he could keep an eye out for the Guild Master approaching.
He certainly didn’t waste all those years learning the ropes of this god-awful guild.
But those weren’t what had caught my attention over the past few days.
<From Penniless Office Worker to a 3 Billion Peso Fortune?!>
<Don’t Waste Even Ten Minutes—Change Your Life in One Year>
Unlike Susanna, who preferred sentimental essays, the Assistant Manager mainly read books about personal finance.
The basic message seemed to be:
Don’t waste even ten minutes. Work hard. Put in the effort. Make money.
“Why has Susanna been so quiet lately?”
“Huh? Me?”
Susanna flinched when the Assistant Manager suddenly spoke to her.
“What’s this? Why are you doing the accounting by hand? Aren’t you using a calculator?”
“Hahaha… Calculators can’t be trusted, you know…”
“What are you talking about? Sometimes I swear there’s something strange about you, Susanna.”
I could practically feel Susanna glaring daggers at me.
I simply ignored her.
Consider it payment for all the misery you’ve put me through.
Once his conversation with Susanna ended, the Assistant Manager turned his attention to me.
“Team Lead Audrette, why have you been leaving work so early lately?”
“Oh? Have I?”
“Yeah. Let’s work overtime today! We used to work late together all the time, remember?”
He was lying to make himself look like a dedicated employee who was willing to work overtime in front of the Guild Master.
I stared at him for a moment before speaking.
“That’s right, Assistant Manager. We used to work overtime together quite often.”
“Hm? Exactly…”
“But I’m actually worried about you. You must be exhausted. Why don’t you cut back on the overtime from now on?”
“Haha! I’m still young. Without passion, I’m practically dead. Tired? What are you talking about?”
“You wash carriages for three hours during the day, and then you work at an inn in the evening after leaving work. You’re working far too much. I’m worried you might collapse one of these days.”
“Huh? Wh-what?”
His pupils began to shake.
“W-what are you talking about? Me? Working part-time?”
“Huh? You told me yourself last time. You said those three hours you spend ‘smoking’ every afternoon are actually spent washing carriages at a part-time job.”
“……!”
“And the reason you always rush out of here at exactly six is because you’re trying to make it to your evening shift at the inn on time!”
The Guild Master was a stereotypical old-school boss who hated employees who didn’t show ‘ownership’ toward the company and allowed themselves to be distracted by other things.
A part-time job at an inn in the evening might be something he could get angry about and eventually let slide.
But secretly leaving work for three hours every day under the pretense of smoking while actually working another job?
That was a clear violation of his employment contract.
It was more than enough grounds for dismissal.
I’d spent the past few days diligently following the Assistant Manager around to investigate.
I’d always wondered why he needed three whole hours to smoke.
Turns out, he’d been sneaking off to work another job during that time.
“A part-time job? What are you talking about?”
Apparently sensing that the conversation was taking a serious turn, the Guild Master stepped in.
“Is what Team Lead Audrette says true?”
“N-No, absolutely not! Team Lead Audrette is framing me!”
“Oh, come on. Why would I frame you, Assistant Manager? I’m just worried about your health.”
I continued blithely spilling everything I’d learned.
“You know the carriage-washing shop right over there? Go check whether the Assistant Manager works there yourself! Or, should I call one of the employees here? Guild Master, you really should pay more attention to the Assistant Manager’s health!”
“H-How could you…”
Anger began to burn in the Guild Master’s eyes.
“You’ve been pretending to be loyal to our guild while working not one, but three jobs?”
“No, that’s not it! Guild Master!”
“You’d better confess before I go to that carriage-washing shop myself!”
With that, the Assistant Manager had no choice but to confess.
“G-Guild Master! I only did it because I’m struggling to make ends meet! I have a sick mother and a wife and children to support!”
“What are you talking about? You aren’t even married, and didn’t you say your mother died years ago?”
“W-Well, anyway! My circumstances were extremely difficult!”
“Don’t give me that nonsense! I trusted you, and this is how you repay me?”
The Guild Master’s rage erupted in the most stereotypical old-boss fashion imaginable.
“This guild is your home! You should be grateful that we put food on your table! The moment you open your eyes in the morning, you should be thinking about the guild! And when you go to sleep at night, you should still be thinking about the guild! How dare you waste your mental energy on other work?!”
I turned to Susanna with a look that clearly asked:
How exactly are you supposed to think about the guild while you’re sleeping?
She looked back at me with an expression that said she had absolutely no idea either.
“These young people nowadays care more about their own bodies than the company! Back in my day, I stayed loyal to my company even if it meant starving myself! When I was your age, I worked thirty-six hours a day and never once looked toward anything outside my primary job! You brat! What does this guild mean to you?!”
I stared at Susanna again.
This time, my expression clearly asked:
How can anyone work thirty-six hours a day?
She answered with the same bewildered expression as before.
“I’m talking about betrayal! Betrayal!”
At last, his fury reached its climax.
He began grabbing the documents in his hands and hurling them at the Assistant Manager.
“You’re fired!”
“G-Guild Master! What about unemployment benefits…?”
“Our guild has fewer than five employees! You aren’t eligible for those!”
“Ghk!”
And so, the Assistant Manager was driven out by the furious Guild Master, making an utterly pathetic exit.
The Guild Master continued fuming for a while before declaring that he was too angry to work and leaving early.
“Wow… You’re really incredible, Team Lead. The way you just send people packing…”
Susanna spoke to me in a tone that I couldn’t tell was flattery or mockery.
“You’d better be careful. I don’t know when you might be the next one sent packing.”
“Of course I will… Today, I even did four-digit multiplication without a calculator.”
“You’re doing very well.”
Susanna seemed to mutter something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse.
I’d let that one slide.
In the now-quiet office, I thought about what I should do next.
Now that the Assistant Manager had been fired, the Guild Master would probably hire another employee.
If possible, I’d like that person to be someone useful—
Someone I could control freely.
