“YOU DID WHAT?” Charlotte’s eyes went wide.
“I offered her 25%,” Rika replied.
“I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME.”
“Then… why did you ask?”
“Tch. Please tell me she did not accept it.”
“She did.”
Charlotte turned away, facing the window. She was behind the desk, and Rika was across the room. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, nooooooooo! The Acting Guild Master is going to kill me! Especially because she was ultimately responsible for the finances of the guild. She was the head treasurer. Okay, don’t panic, don’t panic. You can fix this, Char, you can fix this. You can fix this, yes, you can. You’re a brilliant girl.
“She’ll also be the Vice Guild Master.”
Charlotte spun back around to Rika. “WHY WOULD YOU MAKE SUCH ABSURD OFFERS WITHOUT OUR CONSENT?! AND TO A RANDOM LEVEL 221 D-RANK?!”
“I had to be convincing.” Rika shrugged. “And she’s really good. If you don’t like it, fix it yourself. It’s your problem now, dumbass. Anyway, I’m off to do something else so I don’t have to see your face.” She turned and walked towards the door of the office.
Charlotte wanted to throw something at her. “Fine, go! You’re useless as always!”
Rika shut the door behind her. The way she always flipped to a different personality behind closed doors always irritated Charlotte. It was as if some demon possessed her.
How do I fix this?! She began pacing back and forth across the room, nibbling on her thumbnail. She couldn’t just increase the tax to compensate for the 25%. Everyone would question that. And the tax percentage on everyone’s earnings was at an optimum point. No one was complaining, and she didn’t want to ruin that. If the guild as a whole would be willing to grant that 25% payout on a consistent basis, the guild would have to find revenue elsewhere to keep itself up and running because right now, it ran primarily on taxes.
But she couldn’t think of where else to get revenue. And she also couldn’t simply revoke her access to that 25%—not on her own; she didn’t have the legal or physical power.
Wait… do I need legal power? The 25% hadn’t yet been officialized, so she could do whatever she wanted within reason including kicking her out. But then the girl could just complain to the Guild Master and tell everyone that she had been promised 25%, and then Charlotte would be in trouble. She would look bad.
She doubted that a physical confrontation would be effective to deter her. What was the difference between their levels and skills? If Rika had told the truth, then this girl must be exceptionally good, so fighting was off the table.
But still… a Level 221 D-rank? Difficult to believe.
She would have to get help from the Acting Guildmaster, but of course, she would have to inform him first. No, she wanted to handle this matter privately. The Acting Guildmaster was busy enough already. Charlotte wanted him to trust her. She wanted to prove that she was competent in his absence—that she didn’t need him for every little thing. And if she ever managed to impress him, that would be a dream come true.
She imagined his stern, rigid voice. I thought you were better than this. Can’t I trust you with 1 simple thing? Worthless treasurer. Can’t you do this on your own? Did I make the wrong choice in choosing you? If you can’t do this by yourself, I’ll get someone else to take your place.
What was worse was that she would have to include that unusual 25% disbursement in her biweekly financial report. She couldn’t sweep it under the rug and write it off. It was huge.
No, no, no, no, no, nooooo! I need a solution!
The guild had a 10 million gold stockpile in its bank account that it could use in case of emergencies, so the guild wouldn’t be going broke anytime soon. But she shouldn’t rely on the stockpile.
And a fundraiser was only a temporary solution.
Or maybe the guild didn’t have to find revenue from somewhere else. What if Charlotte flipped that? The D-rank could instead receive that 750 000 from elsewhere—a place that was still affiliated with the guild. From an adjunct, a source connected to the guild but wasn’t an essential part of it. Something auxiliary and in the background…
And then she remembered. There were several sources. The guild had a few small businesses on the side, ran mainly by hired NPCs: ore mining, fishing, enchanting items, buying stocks at low prices to sell at higher prices, crafting and smithing mid-level gear of all kinds, hunting, woodcutting, tanning hide, and potion brewing.
Charlotte took the calculator from the desk, put in a few numbers, and got her answer. The total weekly net profit for those was currently at 910 000. She would take the 750 000 from that amount then.
The Acting Guildmaster hardly cared for money. As long as the guild was alive and well, he left all that stuff to whoever was assigned to it. So, it was all up to her and the deputy treasurers to handle it.
And once that 750 000 came from those sources, Charlotte wouldn’t have to include any of that in her report since it wouldn’t be an essential matter of the guild. But the other businesses, if they did reports, would likely include it in theirs. But those reports wouldn’t reach the guild and would instead reach the proprietors who ran the businesses on the guild’s behalf. And then Charlotte would have the option to request a copy of each report, but of course, she couldn’t care less. She just wanted the problem out of her hair.
Ah, she could rest easily. But only for now; granting the position of vice was a different matter she would need to address later.
