CHAPTER 03
“What are you thinking about?”
“Oh, well…”
The Crown Prince seemed suspicious when I suddenly went quiet, so I quickly started talking.
“Sir, you look like you have plenty of money. If I successfully complete your request, could you do me one favor?”
“I have already offered you an appropriate amount of money.”
“Of course. But I’m just a low-ranking employee who works for a salary, and my circumstances aren’t exactly great… And if you’ve come all the way here to find this person, I imagine you’re pretty desperate too.”
“……”
“Is it really not possible?”
“Tell me what you want first.”
“Oh, it’s nothing difficult.”
If I suddenly asked the Crown Prince to let me work as a double agent for him, it would obviously look suspicious.
After all, the Crown Prince had come to our guild while hiding his identity, and I was supposed to have no idea who he really was.
So, I needed to naturally make the Crown Prince think that Audret Lavendel was a trustworthy person.
What should I ask him for?
An investment in our guild?
Or perhaps ask him to come to our guild first whenever he needed an information-gathering service?
Unfortunately, our guild wasn’t even at the level where I could make requests like that.
“Please expand our guild building and build us a bathroom.”
That was the current level of our guild.
“…I’ll build one.”
For some reason, his voice sounded like he was talking to someone he felt sorry for.
Maybe I was imagining it.
No, actually, we really were pitiful.
“Anyway, sir, I’ll definitely have the information ready when you come back.”
I continued speaking in a cheerful voice.
“Let’s meet again three days from now, at this same time!”
After the Crown Prince left, I immediately started searching through the information.
‘I already know that the person the Crown Prince is looking for is the heroine. The important thing is figuring out how to connect the clues logically.’
If I simply insisted without any evidence that this person was the original heroine, the Lady of House Calliard, I would look suspicious.
‘She probably used an item to change her appearance…’
If I could find a sales record for an item that changed someone’s appearance to black hair and black eyes, I could connect it to the heroine.
After researching the laws, I discovered that sellers were legally required to record the sales of appearance-changing items.
Then finding a trace of the heroine shouldn’t be too difficult.
However…
‘Why can’t I find anything?’
Even after visiting the city hall and obtaining records, I searched through every single sales record for appearance-changing items.
But there wasn’t even the slightest trace connected to the heroine!
“Assistant Manager Audret, why aren’t you saying goodbye when I’m leaving?”
“Goodbye, Guild Master.”
“Haha! Assistant Manager Audret! Take good care of the work I assigned you!”
“Yes. You mean the snacks you told me to buy with my own money and stock in the break room. Of course I’ll take care of it…”
“Assistant Manager Audret, could you tell the Guild Master that I stayed late working before I left?”
“Why should I… Ah, forget it.”
After sending the three villains home one after another, I sat alone and thought.
The guild the Crown Prince had visited must have already searched through the sales records for appearance-changing items as well.
But if they hadn’t found any trace of the heroine…
‘What am I missing?’
I spun my pen around as I thought.
Then I suddenly realized something.
‘Right. The rule is to record and report the sales, and legally, that’s what you’re supposed to do. But…!’
There was one type of place that could easily slip through the cracks of the law because nobody ever inspected it.
A business with fewer than five employees!
‘If it was a business with fewer than five employees, they wouldn’t have recorded the sales of appearance-changing items!’
Of course, being a business with fewer than five employees basically meant being an X-company.
Normally, a place like that wouldn’t be able to obtain something as important as an appearance-changing item in the first place.
But…
‘There should still be one or two exceptions.’
I quickly began writing a list on a piece of paper.
When I combined the original Audret’s memories with my knowledge of the original novel, there was one business with fewer than five employees where the heroine might have purchased an appearance-changing item.
‘The Naitchel Trading Guild!’
It had appeared in the original novel as one of the groups that helped the heroine.
Appearance-changing items were normally only handled by large merchant guilds.
But Naitchel had originally been part of a major merchant organization.
Finally, I seemed to have found a clue.
I smiled.
Good.
Now all I had to do was gather solid evidence before the Crown Prince returned!
“So, did you find the answer?”
“Yes, sir.”
I confidently smiled and handed the documents to the Crown Prince.
“These are the sales records for appearance-changing items sold by the Naitchel Trading Guild. They didn’t report the sales to the city hall, but they did keep records.”
“They didn’t report them to the city hall? I also suspected that she had used an appearance-changing item, so I ordered a thorough investigation. But wouldn’t failing to report it be illegal?”
“The Naitchel Trading Guild has fewer than five employees. Nobody goes there to inspect them.”
“I can’t believe this…”
The Crown Prince, who had probably never thought much about X-companies before, sounded genuinely shocked.
“Still, they kept the records in case someone reported them. When I went there, they insisted that they had only delayed the report a little. Anyway, thanks to that, I managed to find the sales records.
“Since it’s a small guild, most of their sales happen through personal connections… And here. There’s someone worth paying attention to.”
“Faina Lorendal?”
“The Lorendal family is a vassal family of the House of Calliard.”
“That means…!”
“If someone secretly purchased such an expensive item and went to great lengths to erase the traces, there’s a high possibility that it was someone connected to the House of Calliard.
“You also said she seemed to be of high status because she had no calluses on her hands.
“And since no items capable of changing someone’s gender have been reported so far, that means…”
“The Lady of Calliard!”
“Yes. Without a doubt.”
Even though his face was hidden, I could tell from his reaction that he was flustered.
“But why would the Lady of Calliard…”
“I didn’t investigate any further because I was worried about guessing your identity.
“But finding out the rest is something you’ll have to do yourself.
“If there’s anything else you’d like to know, please commission us again.”
“…No. Simply knowing her identity is already a great help.”
“Sir, then, as we agreed…”
“I understand. I’ll build the bathroom.”
The Crown Prince muttered again in disbelief.
“That’s strange. According to the law, commercial buildings are supposed to have a bathroom…”
“We’re a business with fewer than five employees.”
“Enough with this ‘fewer than five employees’ nonsense!”
According to my research, businesses with fewer than five employees in this world were even further outside the reach of the law than those in my previous world.
Still, my previous company at least had a bathroom…
“I’ve prepared the documents here as well. Please read them and then destroy them.”
“Understood… Hmm?”
The Crown Prince’s voice changed slightly after taking the documents.
“Did you write this yourself?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“This is a format I’ve never seen before.”
“Ah.”
I had written them using the format I used at my previous company, so naturally, it looked unfamiliar to the people of this world.
“It’s the format I prefer.”
“I see… All right. As promised, I’ll also pay double the agreed-upon reward for successfully completing the request.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. Please come again.”
The money would never come back to me anyway, but I politely bowed.
I returned to the office and continued working.
A little while later, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Guild Master?”
“Assistant Manager Audret, did you complete this request? The client left an enormous amount of money.”
“Ah, yes. I…”
I was about to nod when a familiar voice interrupted me.
“Assistant Manager Audret helped me a lot!”
Susanna declared proudly.
“I did almost all of the work, but it was really fortunate that Audret helped me! Thank you, Audret! Hohoho!”
“Was this an assignment you were responsible for, Susanna?”
“Yes. It was originally my assignment! It should say so in the records too, right?”
“Oh? Susanna…”
I could see the Guild Master’s eyes shining as he looked at Susanna.
I immediately sensed danger.
No.
There was absolutely no way I was going to let her steal the credit for my work.
After working at an X-company, I had learned one thing the hard way.
When you accomplish something, you have to make sure everyone knows about it!
Even if you do one unit of work, you need to make it sound like you did ten units of work.
That’s how you survive!
Several thoughts flashed through my mind within seconds.
Then I opened my mouth.
“Huh? Assistant Manager Susanna, I think you might be confused.
“Guild Master, you’re talking about the assignment I was responsible for, right?
“I completed this entire task by myself.”
Before Susanna could shamelessly take credit for my work, I delivered the decisive blow.
“Didn’t you have other work to do at that time, Assistant Manager Susanna?
“For example, what was it again…?
“I’m only a low-ranking employee at an information guild, but still, I am the master of my own…”
“Ah! Aaaah!”
Suddenly, Susanna let out a scream that was almost at the level of a soprano.
The startled Guild Master covered his ears.
Watching them, I gave a sly smile.
After possessing this body and coming to this world, I hadn’t only handled the Crown Prince’s request.
I had also investigated Assistant Manager Susanna’s weakness.
