The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 3】

‘Of course I’d be grateful if they stayed… but still, spending one’s entire life with such a rotten department isn’t right, is it?’

Just then, Team Leader Torban, who had returned from his meal, poked his head out.

“What’s this? What’s going on?”

He seemed curious since there was suddenly a loud noise.

“Well, that’s…”

While Mel hesitated, unable to tell the truth.

“We were having a conversation about how our department is such a wonderful place that we’d want to be buried here.”

Torban’s eyebrows twitched upward.

This was the first time he’d heard someone with a team leader position say such things.

‘Usually people either submit resignation letters saying they can’t stand being in such a hopeless department, or say they’d become a doormat for the remaining period if transferred to another department.’

“Well, I can see you two are proper working adults… but I don’t like overly obvious flattery.”

Torban waved his hand with a smile.

Rianel, who had years of workplace experience, understood this meant ‘if you’re going to do it, do it properly and lift my spirits.’

“It’s not flattery.”

Then?

“I heard from my senior about what kind of work this department handles, and I came to realize this is a very fair and innovative place.”

‘Fair? Innovative?’

Fairness aside, you wouldn’t call something that had all its substance devoured by other departments, leaving only the shell, innovative…

Mel was dumbfounded, but Torban seemed pleased already and gestured for her to continue.

“This can be seen just by looking at how few people are assigned to this department. Isn’t that to focus on detailed work, strengthen the department’s expertise, and pursue efficiency?”

‘No, it’s because everyone who could escape did, leaving only the dregs.’

“I also liked the company culture that guarantees personal rest time. Team Leader, you ensure employees have time to separate from work, giving them autonomy and initiative to enhance their work capabilities, don’t you?”

‘Is guaranteeing just lunch break really worth such overestimation?’

More importantly, that wasn’t even the team leader’s achievement!

‘That’s just how the Empire’s labor laws are structured…’

“That’s right, our department’s work isn’t something just anyone can do. This new employee knows something.”

Rianel’s words sounded plausible at first glance, but with a little examination, the logic was full of leaps and exaggerations.

However, Torban seemed to be in a good mood already, starting to hum a song from 10 years ago while shrugging his shoulders.

He even generously overlooked an incident where errors occurred in other ledgers.

‘To think I’d see the day when someone who used to throw fits over a single mistake becomes so docile…’

Mel thought the team leader was one thing, but Rianel was even more impressive.

However, Rianel was.

“Ju, just now…”

“Ah, that was just ‘roughly’ making things up. To think he’d fall for such naive words. The team leader seems like such a nice person.”

“Oh…”

‘What a crazy half-hearted lunatic.’

Mel had nothing to say and just laughed.

The day was unnecessarily long.

* * *

As quitting time approached, Rianel, who had been practicing the Art of Not Working—spreading out already completed tasks and doodling on scrap paper—sensed some commotion.

She soon found out the reason.

“There’s a civil service banquet today?”

A civil service banquet was a social activity held among civil servants for smooth work exchanges.

‘But more than that.’

“Didn’t the Former Empress abolish that?”

Work exchange was just an excuse, and there were too many cases of people overlooking each other’s corruption through friendships built at banquets, so it was eliminated a few years ago.

“It was revived. Exactly three days after Her Majesty’s death.”

“…Ah.”

After Ensilen’s death, the nobles were devoted to erasing traces of the Former Empress.

The downsizing of the Special Tax Bureau was one of those things.

‘Something like civil service banquets would naturally be revived and then some.’

“Fortunately, the Bureau Director will attend the banquet. That way people from other departments won’t pick fights with us.”

“If I may speak out of turn, if it’s such a contentious gathering, couldn’t you just not attend?”

“That’s only possible if you have a certain level of position. What power do bottom-feeders like us have to skip such events?”

“…”

Anyway, so today there’s a group dinner.

‘Really unpleasant…’

Rianel substituted clenching her fist for the urge to contort her expression.

Meanwhile, seeing only the team leader skip out using other work as an excuse made Rianel’s mood even lower.

“What, can’t handle alcohol well? Should I drink for you?”

Just then, someone who had been listening to their conversation from behind joined in.

It was the woman who had only exchanged brief nods when their eyes met on the first day.

Since she had sat expressionlessly focused on work afterward, Rianel thought that was just her personality.

But seeing her smile warmly and put her arms around both Mel’s and Rianel’s shoulders in a friendly embrace, she seemed to have more social skills than expected.

“Oh, I’m Wilbrin. Wilbrin Irax. You can call me Wil too. Actually, I prefer that.”

“I’d be grateful if you would… but are you sure that’s alright?”

“I don’t usually offer, but I like how politely you speak.”

Wilbrin joked around, talking about how the team leader had been humming.

“He’s someone I don’t usually like, but when the team leader’s in a good mood, my mood improves too. Bosses are really strange creatures.”

“I understand.”

Wilbrin was someone with a loud voice and even louder laughter. The free-spirited nature typical of people who don’t hide their likes and dislikes came through clearly.

Throughout the journey, Wilbrin gave them a crash course on how the banquet would proceed and when it would end, who to be careful of, and how to discreetly dispose of alcohol without others noticing.

“If all else fails, just spill it dramatically! Then everyone will think you’re drunk and leave you alone.”

“Or you could pass it to me… I can’t drink much, but a glass or two is fine…”

Fortunately, the banquet proceeded in a not-too-bad atmosphere.

Being assigned to the far end table, separated from the major departments, was disappointing, but the food served was the same as other tables, and the chairs were identical too.

People who initially complained about the seating soon showed satisfaction.

Some even secretly liked being separated, saying it meant they wouldn’t get into conflicts.

‘I thought banquets like this were a waste of time, but occasionally spending time like this doesn’t seem too bad.’

However.

“Well, well, who do we have here.”

Rianel’s thought was overturned within 30 minutes.

“I thought I recognized that face. Isn’t this Miss Rianel who transferred from the Finance Ministry to the ashtray department, hmm?”

Rianel’s former supervisor,

Cedric Bartello was looking down at Rianel with sarcasm.

* * *

The reason Rianel was kicked out of the Finance Ministry was for losing important documents.

‘But that’s just the surface reason.’

The real reason was a hole in the Finance Ministry’s budget, and the culprit who made that hole was Cedric.

But it couldn’t be helped.

‘I lost too much this time.’

Cedric, who had suffered huge losses from gambling, hastily used the Finance Ministry’s budget, then burned the documents that would serve as evidence and pinned the blame on Rianel.

But Rianel wasn’t fired—instead, she was transferred to another department.

What made it worse was that this department had direct connections to the budget, which made Cedric’s anxiety reach its peak.

‘Could she have noticed something and be planning retaliation?’

However, Cedric quickly found a solution.

‘If I humiliate her in front of many people, she might tuck her tail and resign.’

Rianel had strong pride, so she wouldn’t be able to endure it and would resign on her own. Then the truth of the incident would remain buried.

“It seems you’ve made a mistake due to the complicated layout, but the Finance Ministry’s seat is not here.”

However, before Rianel could even speak, another civil servant stopped Cedric.

‘Is she protecting her just because they’re from the same department?’

Then I’ll have to show them.

Just how pathetic the Special Tax Bureau really is.

“Right, I definitely made a mistake. This is a place where only the dregs sit—a leftover department that processes taxes others have already collected.”

“What did you just say—”

Just as the properly provoked woman was about to stand up.

Rianel pushed the woman’s shoulder, making her sit back down.

“Words that belittle others without basis lack logical persuasiveness. The Special Tax Bureau is a major institution established to fill policy gaps, and no one can deny its value.”

While it was suspicious that Rianel was being unusually talkative, Cedric didn’t think deeply about it since he found her logic quite ridiculous.

“Value, my foot. A mere miscellaneous department that handles odd jobs—”

“That’s a clear prejudice. The Special Tax Bureau is an institution with the authority to directly contribute to national finances.”

This was true because even though the Special Tax Bureau had been stripped of other authorities, it still firmly held onto the power to collect taxes from nobles.

This was the foundation and root upon which this department was established.

It wasn’t for nothing that other departments treated the Special Tax Bureau like a thorn in their side.

“Oh, is that so? Then whose taxes have you collected with that wonderful authority of yours, hmm?”

“Of course, we haven’t exercised that authority yet, but.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about—”

“So I’m thinking of taking this opportunity to collect taxes and contribute to the national finances.”

The moment Rianel’s lips seemed to form a clear arc.

“Count, didn’t you commit ‘tax evasion’?”

The counterattack had begun.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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