Firing the Passion Villain
"…Right. That's the way of it."
The Crown Prince rose at last, as though he had finally finished arranging his thoughts, and stood before me.
"Declare your name, and the contents of your Oath."
When he laid his hand upon my head, a golden radiance flowed out from his palm.
"I, Audrette Lavendel, swear that I stand against the Temple. I, Audrette Lavendel, swear that I wish to see the Temple destroyed. I, Audrette Lavendel, swear that to that end, I shall give my utmost cooperation to His Highness the Crown Prince, who stands before me."
"What do you pledge upon this Oath?"
"I swear it upon my own life."
"…!"
He closed his eyes briefly, then answered.
"The Oath is accepted."
At last, the light faded away.
Which meant my Oath had proven true. Had it been a false one, my life would have flown straight out of my body.
The Crown Prince looked at me with astonished eyes.
"You truly intend to cooperate with me."
"Yes, Your Highness. I will bring you every piece of information needed to bring down the Temple."
"…Then the pact is sealed."
I smiled reflexively. With this, I had become entirely the Crown Prince's person.
Not that I ever wanted to insert myself into the original story, mind you. But what the Temple was doing was simply too outrageous to stomach.
How dare they force me into all-night overtime? They deserve the full hammer of labor law!
"Then I shall be in contact before long."
"Yes, Your Highness."
After answering with all due formality, I turned my mind to what came next.
Well, then, if that's settled…
Shall I start by getting this guild firmly into my grip?
"Alright, let's all put our fighting spirit into today's work!"
The Deputy Manager bellowed the moment he arrived at the office.
"Audrette! Why do you look so down? Come on, come on! Chin up!"
Smile all you want, buddy. Today will be your last day on the payroll.
I stared at the mountain of documents piled around the Deputy Manager's desk. Being the full-fledged enthusiasm villain that he was, his workstation was perpetually overflowing with stuff — stacks of memo paper, a fistful of pocket journals, cigarettes… and even a mirror for keeping tabs on when the Guild Master was approaching. Say what you will, his years of seniority at this hellhole of a guild hadn't been for nothing.
But more than any of that, there was something else I'd been watching closely for days.
Jobless Salaryman Grows Into a 3-Billion-Peso Tycoon?!
Miracle Morning: The Secret That Changed My Life
Don't Waste Even Ten Minutes — A Year Is All It Takes to Transform Your Life
Whereas Susanna had been a sentimentalist essay writer, the Deputy Manager favored get-rich books. The gist of them was always the same: don't waste even ten minutes, work yourself to the bone, earn money through sheer "hard work and hustle."
"Why's Susanna been so quiet lately?"
"Y-yes?"
Susanna flinched as he suddenly addressed her.
"What's this? Why are you doing the accounting ledgers by hand? Where's your calculator?"
"Ahahaha… well, you see, one simply can't trust calculators…."
"What kind of nonsense is that? Honestly, Susanna, you're a strange one when I stop to think about it."
I could feel Susanna's wounded gaze burning into me, but I breezily ignored it. Pay the price for tormenting me all this time.
Once he'd finished with Susanna, the Deputy Manager turned his attention to me.
"Audrette, why have you been leaving so early these days?"
"Oh? Have I?"
"You have. So let's put in some overtime tonight! We used to burn the midnight oil together all the time, remember?"
It was a lie, calculated to advertise himself to the Guild Master as the diligent sort who stayed late without complaint. I watched him in silence for a moment, then opened my mouth.
"That's right, Deputy Manager. You did stay late with me all the time."
"Hm? That's right…?"
"But I've been so worried about you. You must be exhausted — why don't you cut back on the overtime from now on?"
"Ha! I'm still young — without passion, a man's just a corpse. Tired? Tired of what, exactly…"
"You spend your days washing carriages as a side job, and after clocking out you work evenings at an inn. You take on far too much, and I'm afraid you're going to collapse one of these days."
"Huh? Huh?"
His pupils began to waver.
"Wh-what are you talking about? Me, working a side job?"
"Oh? But you told me yourself last time. Those three-hour cigarette breaks you take every day — you said you were actually heading out for your carriage-washing job."
"……!"
"And how you always bolted out the door right at six — that was so you could make your shift at the inn on time, wasn't it!"
The Guild Master was a typical old-school tyrant, the kind who despised anyone who didn't throw themselves into guild business with "ownership" and let their attention stray elsewhere.
An evening job at an inn, fine — he could shout and let it slide. But sneaking off to wash carriages for three hours of every workday under the pretense of a smoke break was a straight-up breach of contract. It was more than enough grounds for dismissal.
Which was why, for days, I had been shadowing the Deputy Manager's every move. So that's why the "three-hour cigarettes" seemed so fishy — all that time, he'd been slipping off to work his side job and coming back.
"A side job? What is this nonsense?"
Sensing the conversation had taken an unusual turn, the Guild Master butted in.
"Is what Audrette says true?"
"N-never! Audrette is slandering me!"
"Oh, come now. Why would I slander you, Deputy Manager? I'm simply worried about your health."
I babbled on, airily.
"You see that carriage-wash right up ahead? Go there and check whether the Deputy Manager works there! Oh — shall I call one of their employees over? And Guild Master, you really ought to keep a closer eye on the man's health!"
"Th-this can't be…."
Fury blazed in the Guild Master's eyes.
"You pretend to be loyal to our guild, and you're not moonlighting — you're triple-jobbing?"
"N-no, Guild Master!"
"You'd best confess before I visit that carriage-wash myself!"
Pushed that far, the Deputy Manager finally had no choice but to spill the truth.
"G-Guild Master, I only did it because times are hard! I've got a sick mother and a wife and children at home!"
"What nonsense is this? You've never been married, and didn't your mother pass away years ago?"
"I-it was just, circumstances were very difficult regardless!"
"Don't spew that rubbish! I trusted you, and this is how you betray me?"
Classic boomer-boss fury came pouring out of his mouth.
"This guild is your home! You should be grateful it puts food on your table! Open your eyes in the morning thinking of guild business, close them at night still thinking of guild business! How dare you let your attention wander to anything else!"
I shot Susanna a look that asked how on earth one was supposed to think about the guild while asleep. She returned a look that said she had no idea either.
"You kids these days think your own hides matter more than your workplace! Back in my day, I went hungry and still gave my full loyalty to the guild! At your age, I worked thirty-six hours a day without so much as glancing at anything beyond my proper duties! Tell me, boy — what does this guild mean to you?!"
I looked at Susanna again with eyes asking how a person could possibly work thirty-six hours in a day. She answered with the same bewildered expression. Still no clue.
"This is a betrayal of our guild! Betrayal!"
At last his rage reached its crescendo — and he began hurling the documents in his hand straight at the Deputy Manager.
"You're fired from this guild!"
"G-Guild Master! What about my unemployment benefits…"
"This is a workplace with fewer than 5 employees — that doesn't apply here!"
"Kghk!"
And so the Deputy Manager was chased out by the enraged Guild Master and sent packing in the most anticlimactic fashion imaginable. The Guild Master, grumbling that he was too furious to get any work done, knocked off early himself.
"Wow, that was truly impressive, sir… the sheer efficiency with which you sent a man packing…."
Susanna directed some words at me — I couldn't tell whether it was flattery or bait.
"Careful, Susanna. He might send you off one of these days too."
"O-of course, sir…. Why, just today I multiplied a four-digit number without a calculator."
"Very well done."
She seemed to be muttering curses under her breath, but I decided to let that much slide.
In the quieted office, I turned my thoughts to what lay ahead.
With the Deputy Manager gone, the Guild Master would want to hire a replacement. And if I had my way, that someone would be a useful ally — one I could move exactly as I pleased.