「…Meanwhile, the Second Prince, whom Empress Patricia praised for his brilliance almost daily, has recently become mysteriously absent.

It is presumed that the Second Prince, who was close to Crown Prince Kenneth, has gone into hiding to avoid unnecessary succession disputes.

Thus, these days, the Empress has been pushing forward the Third Prince to confront Crown Prince Kenneth.

However, many believe that the Third Prince, who is only fourteen this year, is still too young and lacks insight compared to the Crown Prince.」

This must be news that would twist Patricia’s insides, who wants to make her child Emperor.

Anyway, I hoped the succession would go smoothly to avoid chaos in the Empire.

It would be troublesome if civil war broke out when we were already overwhelmed dealing with monsters from other dimensions emerging from gates.

“At any rate, it won’t involve me.”

I closed the newspaper that I had read so seriously it gave me a headache.

I decided to stop thinking about imperial matters here.

My ultimate goal is to leave the capital, love someone peacefully, and live as a wealthy person!

At that moment, someone threw open the office door and shouted.

“Dear! Are you alright?”

The Guildmaster came to see me during the day, which was unusual.

“Yes?”

“You don’t seem… injured.”

The Guildmaster, who had rushed to my side and examined me thoroughly, let out a dry breath.

“Did something happen? Is it an emergency?”

“There were reports that Lord Lambert was lurking around the guild last night.”

“Whaaat─?!”

My office was near the guild, disguised as a potato wholesaler.

I could have been caught helplessly by Lambert. It sent chills down my spine.

“W-what did Lord La-Lambert hear that made him come here?”

“At least he wasn’t here to buy potatoes in the middle of the night.”

“For your information, he doesn’t eat things like potatoes. He loves barbecue… No, that’s not important! What should we do?”

“I rushed here to discuss that very thing.”

The solution came quickly.

Because I had been thinking about it until the Guildmaster arrived.

“Please set up the first branch in the Philia Islands right now. I need to go down there.”

“The Philia… Islands?”

“Yes. It seems like a perfect place to hide. Gates don’t appear much there either, so I won’t have many occasions to take action.”

The Guildmaster seemed to think for a moment, then finally nodded.

“Since hiding you is the top priority, I’ll start looking for a suitable building right away. That said, could you summon one Ptero for me?”

It seems the Guildmaster plans to go there personally to handle things.

I nodded solemnly.

“Yes. I’ll prepare it for departure.”

When I finished communicating with the Ptero through my watch, the Guildmaster spoke as if suddenly remembering something.

“Ah, could you take care of the guild while I’m away in the Philia Islands?”

“…Me?”

“Yes. We might have a visitor today.”

After speaking these meaningful words, the Guildmaster left the office in an instant. It was such a swift movement that I didn’t even have time to ask who the visitor was.

“The Guildmaster’s visitor? Could it be a woman?”

I suddenly thought of the woman he said he couldn’t forget.

***

The visitor to the guild was someone unexpected.

The woman who popped out of the elevator-like room made a pleased face upon seeing me.

Despite wearing a hood, she seemed to recognize me immediately.

Of course, I hadn’t forgotten her either.

“Lady Olivia?”

“It’s so nice to see you again! Um… what should I call you? Might I learn your name today?”

She seemed genuinely happy about our reunion.

Pretending to be the Guildmaster, I got up from his desk chair and approached her.

“Please call me Anya. And please, have a seat over here.”

“Anya. What a cute name.”

She probably can’t imagine it’s short for ‘Aniya’ (meaning ‘No’). Hehe.

Olivia sat in the chair I often used, and I sat back down in the Guildmaster’s seat.

“Weren’t you supposed to come to the potato wholesaler? This is a secret space. How did you get in?”

The Guildmaster’s study could only be entered by speaking an agreed-upon password.

“Duncan told me. I met him by chance while leaving the Center, and when I said I was going to ‘Hot Potato,’ he told me about the guild hidden in the wholesale shop and even taught me the password.”

“Duncan? Do you know why he told you about this guild?”

“He said he told me about the information guild as a way to repay me for helping him with his work?”

The work she’s helping with must be taking care of the three troublemakers. That terribly difficult task.

“He said knowing at least one guild would make life in the capital easier.”

It seemed Duncan had told her about this place out of concern for Olivia, who had come to the capital without any relatives.

Duncan had been dealing with us for a long time and was close to the Guildmaster, so of course, he would know the guild’s headquarters.

He was a kind person anyway.

Would he take off his jacket for Olivia too, just like he did for me?

If giving his jacket four times to me was just his generosity toward everyone, it would be quite disappointing.

I really don’t like that…

I bit my lower lip hard.

I knew the emotion that had swept over me without warning was jealousy.

Even knowing this, I couldn’t dismiss it as ‘just jealousy.’ It was hard to suppress the surge of jealousy that welled up.

‘I… I must really like Duncan.’

The question stemming from my jealousy-tinted heart slipped out without my realizing it.

“What do you think of Duncan? Do you think you might like him?”

Even though I knew she would end up falling in love with Benjamin as the original story’s protagonist, I couldn’t help but ask.

Unlike the original story, I worried that Duncan might become a second lead.

“No. He’s not my type.”

It was a perfect rejection without any room for doubt.

Olivia didn’t seem to view Duncan romantically at all.

“He’s just my superior. Besides, I’m not interested in workplace romance.”

Phew, what a relief.

I let out a small sigh of relief.

“Thanks to Duncan, I’m glad to meet you again. I prefer you as a friend rather than a superior.”

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”

“You helped me, so of course I would. So Anya, who carefully hid her identity, was part of the guild?”

Honey. It seems Olivia knows about our identity because of Duncan, is this okay?

While I couldn’t gauge the Guildmaster’s thoughts, it was actually favorable for me.

This meant Olivia had successfully formed connections with the guild, as in the original story.

Of course, there was the difference that it was Duncan, not the Guildmaster, who had led her to the guild.

‘So even if Benjamin hadn’t been injured yesterday, would the future still unfold as in the original story?’

That would be really nice if it did.

I briefly prayed for a peaceful future that I could hardly predict.

“Yes. Somehow, I ended up selling potatoes and becoming a guild member too. But I’m glad I ran into you. There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Since I met Olivia, I should ask directly about yesterday’s battle.

Additionally, I was curious about how the three troublemakers were treating Olivia.

Whether they were following her around like baby ducks following their mother, just like in the original story…

Olivia’s face wore an innocent, childlike smile.

“Ah, don’t expect too much. It’s nothing special.”

I lowered her expectations about the question to create an atmosphere where Olivia could answer comfortably.

Then, I used the most gentle voice possible. So that Olivia would completely fall for my gentleness.

“Have you participated in any missions as a guide?”

“Oh! I thought it was going to be something else. Yes, yesterday was my first mission.”

She answered with an excited expression.

“How was your first encounter with a monster? Weren’t you scared?”

“I was a bit scared, but since I wasn’t in an attacking position, it was fine.”

“Were there… any injuries?”

Perfect! The question about injuries came out so naturally!

“No. There wasn’t even a chance for injuries. As soon as we arrived where the monster appeared, Baron, Lambert, and Benjamin immediately went on the attack.”

“….”

“I think they’re somewhat strange people, but they looked really cool during battle.”

That’s how I double-checked about any injuries through Olivia’s own words.

But you know what? Among what she said, there was one shocking thing that made my jaw drop.

I spoke in disbelief.