The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 128

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 128
“Woof, woof!”
The White Dog glanced at me cautiously.
I shoved more scrolls at it while pointing to the corpses of magical beasts scattered around us.
“If you don’t want to end up like that, you’d better listen to me.”
After the threat, I even flashed it a smile.
“Woof, woof!”
And true to form, the creature was as quick-witted and clever as Namia had always been. It sniffed urgently, then immediately crouched low.
“Ah, you want me to ride? Fine. You’ve got good instincts.”
I climbed onto the massive dog’s back.
It had tried to deceive me by playing dead, so naturally my first impression wasn’t great.
But once it quickly grasped the hierarchy between us and began following my commands with such keen awareness, it was almost like…
‘Like Kibon.’
At the thought of that name, my heart ached.
Throughout my life, Kibon was the only person I’d ever felt truly comfortable around.
That comfort had gradually transformed into affection, and affection had blossomed into something that made my heart race.
He was the first person precious to me besides my Father.
‘On the day of the Saint Cairo Banquet, I hope you’re not sick.’
I buried myself in the dog’s soft fur and thought.
‘I wish we could have danced together at least once…’
Kibon probably would have been a good dancer.
‘And there are still so many meal vouchers I haven’t used…’
There were plenty of meal vouchers left from Kiaros. I missed the way he’d calmly say “next time, let’s go here” as if they were all his own.
‘Or maybe we could have taken another walk through the Imperial Palace…’
The Imperial Palace had many beautifully decorated places scattered throughout.
But since it was as much a stranger’s home to both Kibon and me, it felt awkward to suggest wandering around aimlessly.
‘There’s so much we never did together.’
When I think about it, most of my memories were just working him to death in the Office.
Even amidst our fleeting glances in that office, he always remained composed, probably because…
‘I thought he’d always be by my side.’
He was just a three-month intern, a foreigner with poor command of the Empire’s language, yet I felt that if I simply said “don’t go,” he would never leave me.
So nothing felt urgent. I thought there was always time.
‘But… Kibon was always by my side. It was I who left.’
Even after coming to the Imperial Palace, he would come running quickly whenever I pulled the bell cord.
Imagining that sight, tears welled up slightly in my eyes.
“Hey.”
So I whispered to the White Dog carrying me.
“Your name is…”
“Woof, woof!”
“Let’s call you Kibon.”
There didn’t seem to be any room for confusion.
I would never see Kibon again after this.
“Woof, woof!”
“That’s right, Kibon. Let’s go!”
I stroked the nape of Kibon’s neck, swallowed my tears, and spoke with deliberate cheerfulness.
“I’ll take care of all the monsters blocking our path!”
And so we began racing through the Maze at an incredible speed.
There were monsters blocking our way, but it didn’t matter.
“Activate!”
“Shrieeeeeeeek!”
With attack scrolls alone, I could handle everything.
“Kibon, if it gets too far, don’t turn back. Just destroy straight through the Maze walls as a shortcut.”
“Woof, woof, woof!”
With firework scrolls used skillfully, I could even shatter the Maze walls.
It wasn’t for nothing that the Gaejo Faction had once tried to use fireworks to cause casualties.
“Let’s keep doing our best from here on, Kibon.”
This dog certainly hadn’t chosen to become an experimental subject.
It was probably just caught by chance and ended up this way.
Looking at it, the creature was cute and quite intelligent.
‘Under different circumstances, it could have become a beloved pet.’
Or perhaps it had been forcibly separated from its owner.
I felt an inexplicable kinship.
I hadn’t chosen this either. I too had been forcibly separated from someone I wanted to be with.
“Fellow experimental subjects….”
Kibon stared at me intently before barking once more.
* * *
The deeper I ventured toward the Temple Center, the more monsters roamed the Maze.
It also meant the Tower Master’s pace was gradually slowing.
The Tower Master moved his body slowly while using an invisibility scroll.
‘This requires far more mana than I anticipated….’
There was a reason invisibility scrolls hadn’t been commercialized.
Ordinary mana reserves couldn’t sustain them. Only someone of the Tower Master’s caliber could hide their body for even a few minutes.
‘I wonder if I can last until I enter the Temple interior….’
It was as he carefully moved his footsteps.
From far away, explosive sounds began echoing—boom, boom, boom, boom.
‘What, what is that?’
The Tower Master pressed himself against a wall covered in ancient script in surprise.
The explosive sounds coming from the distance grew steadily closer.
Each boom was followed by a monster’s agonized shriek.
‘It’s heading toward me?’
The Tower Master swallowed hard.
The sound grew louder and louder.
As if the destination were me myself….
Cold sweat dripped down my face. It was at that moment I decided I had to run.
“Screeeeeech!”
The monsters lurking nearby collapsed in an instant.
With a tremendous crash, one of the Maze sections crumbled.
The Tower Master’s jaw dropped in shock.
Floating in the air was a magical formation.
‘This can’t be happening!’
The Tower Master felt dizzy and pressed my forehead.
At this moment, there was only one thing I could think of.
‘A monster that uses scrolls! How many experiments have these Gaejo Faction bastards conducted?’
I hadn’t passed on information about the Gaejo Faction Headquarters to Kiaros.
It was because I was worried about Aran and my Son-in-law inside.
But if there are monsters that use scrolls… shouldn’t I just hand this over to the Dragon-kin quickly and destroy everything?
‘Don’t come to your senses! Don’t worry about your conscience! Act irrationally! Think only of my blood relatives!’
The Tower Master quickly composed myself.
After slapping my own cheek once, I used an invisibility scroll again.
I was about to pretend I hadn’t noticed and slip inside.
“Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!”
A loud dog’s barking began.
The Tower Master crouched down and lay flat. Since I had used an invisibility scroll, my form wouldn’t be visible.
‘Just pass by… hurry and pass by….’
But the dog’s barking from above didn’t stop.
As if to say “right here,” the dog continued barking persistently.
Only the large paws of the dog circling around the Tower Master came into view.
‘What is this? A monster that hunts intruders?’
Meanwhile, my mana was reaching its limit.
I had used invisibility scrolls continuously without time to recover mana.
At this rate, my form would gradually become visible, but I couldn’t move because that large dog wouldn’t leave.
Then it happened.
“Kibon? Why are you hovering around here….”
A slow yet precise voice was heard.
“There’s no one here….”
A frail voice trembled, mixed with sobs.
“Could it be… could it be that this is… the Tower Master’s last moment?”
“Woof woof woof!”
“…Really?”
“Woof woof!”
“You’re not messing with me, right? You’re not, are you?”
“Roooaaarrr!”
Then came the sound of something heavy dropping and the owner of that voice leaping down.
The Tower Master, pressed flat against the ground in a prone position, furrowed his brow and tilted his head in confusion.
“…Ugh… Ughhhh… Ugghhhhh….”
A sobbing sound echoed from nearby.
“How could this be…. I came as fast as I possibly could….”
Only then did the Tower Master realize who owned that voice.
That voice was….
“Ugghhh, sob…. It seems there were many monsters around the Tower Center… You must have fought valiantly until the very end….”
That voice belonged to Namia!
The Tower Master was about to rise and reveal his presence when—
His mana had finally depleted, and his body began to shimmer into visibility.
‘No! This posture is far too undignified!’
Clinging flat to the ground in a defensive crouch!
And Namia was under the impression that he had ‘fought valiantly and fallen’!
The last time they had met, he was grappling with the Empress before her, muscles flexed in display.
Compared to that moment, his current position was utterly pathetic. Then it happened.
“No, Tower Master! Tower Masterrrr!”
Before he could gather his wits, Namia threw her arms around him.
By then, his mana had completely run out, and the invisibility scroll’s effect had ceased.
“No, no, nooooo!”
Namia embraced the prone Tower Master and began to weep uncontrollably.

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