The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 134

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

Chapter 134
Aran had never been able to use magic since childhood. Even manipulating mana proved difficult for her.
But her athletic prowess was exceptional—a gift inherited from the Tower Master.
She climbed the trembling staircase with nimble grace, biting her lower lip.
‘If anything feels dangerous, Biberus will definitely reconstruct the Temple.’
She had served as an executive in the Gaejofa Faction for twenty-three years.
Thanks to the merit of bringing the Tower Master’s blood, she had received special treatment immediately after undergoing a single experiment.
Since many executives had died during their experiments, long-serving veterans like Aran were rare.
‘If I just shift a few stone positions, the Temple’s interior will reconfigure and create a secret escape passage….’
Long ago, Biberus had personally shown Aran how to create the escape route.
It was when she had just left the Magic Tower.
[This is the headquarters building? It’s so dilapidated and shabby…. It’s narrower than my rooms in the Magic Tower.]
[Hehe, Aran. This is the oldest and largest of all the Temples. Even the Dragon-kin don’t dare enter here carelessly.]
[Isn’t it just that there’s nothing worth seeing, so they don’t bother coming in?]
[Nothing worth seeing? Look here. See how magnificent this building is? The basement happens to be empty since all the test subjects died—let me show you.]
It was a story from more than twenty years ago. Biberus had probably forgotten he’d shown her such things.
After that, he had never revealed the passage to any other executives.
But Aran lacked magic, not memory—her recall was exceptional.
So she could remember it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. Not just the secret escape route, but exactly how the Temple’s interior had moved.
‘When the Temple reconstructs, the building shifts chaotically. That way, I could crush any intruders caught in between….’
Aran swallowed hard.
‘But the basement where the test subjects are will just collapse as is.’
It was also a method of destroying evidence.
Of course, the basement passages would connect elsewhere, so air would flow through, and it could be restored later. But anyone trapped there would have to endure several days underground.
‘Yet he still threw the key to Cedric and left….’
That’s when it happened. With a rumbling sound, the staircase began to shake and crumble.
It was the sound of the Temple’s interior shifting.
‘As expected, Biberus activated it.’
Aran quickly pressed several stones on the wall. A new passage began to form alongside the original path.
As the staircase collapsed, she nimbly threw herself toward the narrow passage that had just appeared.
* * *
‘What is this?’
The staircase was dark and narrow. Worse, it seemed to have no end.
‘…This is exhausting! How am I supposed to climb back up later?’
I had become the strongest wielder of Scrolls, yet my stamina was weak. My knees trembled as I descended endlessly.
‘Why is this taking so long….’
At the same time, the Concealment Scroll’s effect ceased. My form gradually became visible.
Despite pouring considerable mana into it, the effect didn’t last long. There was a reason it hadn’t been commercialized.
‘So Grandfather had no choice but to expose himself in that position….’
In any case, the long, endless corridor was empty. Whether my concealment broke or not hardly mattered.
My heart pounded as I descended the staircase, each step echoing in the darkness.
Could Father really be down here?
My stubborn old man—the one I hadn’t seen since I was eight years old.
‘I’ve come this far with nothing but the resolve to see Father again.’
Every choice I’d made in my past had Father at its center.
I endured the Loapi Barony to meet him, suffered through the degrading work at the Scroll Management Department. After learning about the future, I saved the Dragon-kin and became Minister of Education.
All of it was to be with Father again.
‘Will it really turn out the way Grandfather said?’
I would save Father, and Grandfather would save my mother.
All three of us would hide away in the Magic Tower for the rest of our lives, living quietly beneath the Dragon-kin’s gaze.
‘Would that be happiness?’
I’d thought that as long as I could see Father, I’d be happy.
Confinement in the Magic Tower? There was a time I’d thought that wouldn’t be so bad.
Long ago, right after becoming Minister, Grandfather had suggested, ‘Let’s stay in the Magic Tower until we’re forty!’
Back then, I’d honestly thought that sounded fine. Aside from seeing Father, I had no lingering attachments to the outside world.
But now…
‘No. That doesn’t sound happy anymore.’
Descending alone through the darkness, my mind wandered.
‘Now, that doesn’t seem like it would make me happy at all.’
It was truly paradoxical.
Grandfather had once pinpointed exactly what I wanted, but I hadn’t felt joy at hearing it.
‘The truth is, I love showing off in front of others.’
At the same time, what I truly desired surfaced clearly.
‘I hate being forgotten by people. I love being praised as competent. I absolutely love when my subordinates follow my orders. I love being recognized by others. I completely love it when people try to get my attention as I pass by.’
As I recalled these genuinely cherished memories, I found myself breathing heavily.
Becoming Minister and gaining access to all departmental documents had felt genuinely wonderful.
‘I love reading official documents. Over these past two days, how many documents must have accumulated in each department? There are so many departments run chaotically besides the Scroll Department, and I want to meddle in all of them… I want to become someone like the Minister of Finance—someone with enough ability to abuse their power while making others powerless…’
That was a desire entirely my own, unrelated to Father.
It was my true aptitude, something I’d only discovered after escaping the lower ranks.
‘Dressing up beautifully and attending high-class banquets was really wonderful too. I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of Kibon, but I absolutely want to go back and stay in the VIP Seating until the very end.’
In the end, my thoughts always circled back to Kibon.
Thinking of Kibon, tears welled up again. He was the only thing that made me cry.
‘Then I’d bring Kibon to every banquet… I absolutely couldn’t stand watching him dance with another woman, so I’d insist we dance together. And Kibon would agree to everything I said…’
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, a deep rumbling sound began echoing through the darkness.
“What?”
Already nervous, I jumped in fright.
“What is that?”
Since earlier, I’d heard “boom, boom” sounds and felt the ground trembling slightly.
I’d assumed it was Grandfather breaking through the eastern wall, but this sound was different somehow.
Is the underground really moving beneath my feet?
“What, what is it? What’s happening!”
It didn’t seem like everything would collapse completely, but something felt deeply unsettling.
And I was never the type to take risks when I didn’t understand a situation.
‘Let me get out of here. I can always come back later. This is terrifying.’
I briefly considered using a teleportation scroll, but since the passage was still intact, it seemed better to conserve my mana for now.
And there was a way to escape quickly from here while preserving my mana.
[Stay hidden here. Since you’re a test subject, even if you’re chased back into the maze, you won’t die.]
[Woof woof.]
[When I call you, come then. You can do that, right?]
Kibon in his dog form was waiting at the entrance to the Underground Prison.
I shouted loudly toward the staircase above.
“Kibooooooooon! Come here now!”
That was when it happened.
With a thunderous rumble, the ground beneath me suddenly began to collapse violently.
‘What? Why so fast!’
The space crumbled so suddenly that I didn’t even have time to pull the teleportation scroll from my bag. I rolled frantically across the floor, swallowing my screams.
‘Aaaah! So this is what happens when you act recklessly outside your area of expertise just because you suddenly gained power! Why is the Underground Prison collapsing all of a sudden!’
As the ground vanished beneath me and the stone stairs disintegrated, panic seized me instantly.
As I thrashed about helplessly, I was nearly struck by a falling stone when—
“Kyaaah!”
Someone wrapped their arms tightly around me, shielding my head. With a thunderous crash, the wall collapsed mere inches above us.
In the small pocket of space created by the collapsing stone wall, our breaths mingled in the darkness. The familiar scent made my eyes widen instantly.
“I have arrived.”
A low voice resonated against my ear. Whether from the harrowing moment or the surreal nature of the situation itself, my heart ached with its frantic beating.
“The Minister of Education’s Kibon…”
It really was Kibon Altes.

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