The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 142

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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 142
‘Surely, Mother’s name is Aran….’
To be honest, I had anticipated this when entering the Grand Temple.
That Mother would be here too.
But I had tried not to think about it. Thinking of Mother had never brought me anything good. So I had resolved to think only of Grandfather and Father.
‘Yet Mother is… there….’
I trembled quietly as I activated a concealment scroll. My form dissolved from sight.
I had a teleportation scroll as well, but my feet refused to move.
‘I want to see her.’
My biological mother—someone I had only heard about vaguely from Father and Grandfather.
‘I’ve never actually seen Mother before.’
As I peeked out cautiously, I caught sight of a middle-aged man’s back.
‘Just to see what she looks like… just a glimpse….’
I took a deep breath and leaned out further.
Then I saw her—a woman with long black hair and azure eyes standing before the man.
“When you think about it, this whole mess is your fault, Aran.”
The man spoke with evident displeasure.
“Your father’s been poking around everywhere trying to find you, and that’s what caused all this.”
The woman, who had been glaring at the man, slowly opened her mouth.
“So.”
I clapped my hand over my mouth. My heart thundered in my chest.
It was the first time I had ever heard Mother’s voice.
“So, Bibeurus Awin, you’re trying to flee alone like this?”
My eyes widened as I gazed slowly at Mother.
‘What…’
She had left home and given birth to me the moment she came of age, so Mother would be in her early forties now.
Her fair complexion, her slender frame with well-defined lean muscle, her delicate and refined features—I found myself breathless.
‘She’s truly beautiful….’
Father had shyly mentioned that ‘your mother was truly beautiful,’ and now I understood completely—she was indeed a breathtaking beauty.
At the same time, I suddenly understood the purpose of the ‘confession scroll’ Grandfather had given me.
‘He said he originally meant to give it to his daughter.’
If Mother ever left the Magic Tower, there would surely be throngs of men confessing to her on sight alone.
“Your father has come here causing a disturbance. Since your father is allied with the Imperial Family, the Red Knight Order from the Southern Region will soon arrive.”
The middle-aged man called Bibeurus spoke with a languid, almost amused tone.
“And you’re trying to escape alone? Aran, you really do disappoint me sometimes.”
I lifted my gaze to look at Bibeurus.
He was a large man with light brown hair.
“I only collapsed the Underground Prison passage. The test subjects and researchers will all be fine. The air circulates well, and there’s water and provisions, so they can hold out for a long time. If something urgent comes up, I can slip in and out through the secret passage.”
Since Mother was looking in my direction, I could only see the man’s back.
“Even if the Red Knight Order investigates, they won’t find anything. So we can come back later and start again. Just like fifteen years ago.”
Biberus shrugged his shoulders.
“We can’t all be captured. You think I’m planning a full-scale battle here? We’ve always planned for a future day—even when the Emperor scorched everything, we survived like this.”
For the Gaejo Faction, what mattered most was the continuation of the experiments themselves.
It was obvious that the moment Grandfather arrived, he would hide the laboratory and slip away alone.
‘So that’s why the path leading underground collapsed!’
Because of that, I had infiltrated smoothly only to lose my way like this.
In the end, it was all because of this man called Biberus.
“We have our philosophy.”
Namia’s Mother said nothing, and Biberus continued.
“Our philosophy is to become Dragon-kin. To obtain that superhuman strength ourselves. We hide our bodies temporarily to preserve that philosophy. The sacrifices that occur in the process are unavoidable.”
In other words, the remaining organization members were simply being thrown as bait to the Emperor.
“So move aside, Aran. Or come with me.”
Looking more carefully, I noticed another passage behind Namia’s Mother.
It seemed Biberus couldn’t proceed because Namia’s Mother was blocking it.
“Of course, I’d prefer it if you came with me.”
Biberus laughed with ease.
“You know well that I like you. That’s why I’ve always been lenient with you.”
He slowly approached and grasped Namia’s Mother’s chin. Then he whispered ominously.
“You know I’ve always found you beautiful because of that pretty face of yours, don’t you?”
“Have you?”
Namia’s Mother spoke as though completely unmoved.
“Finding me beautiful? My father said I was pretty, so from childhood he summoned all the mages of the Magic Tower and had them compose praise poems all day long. So I didn’t know you found me particularly beautiful.”
I had no religion, but still I offered a brief prayer for the mages of the Magic Tower. As someone who had once been a mere subordinate there, it felt far too familiar.
“How disappointing.”
Even with her chin grasped, Namia’s Mother’s expression remained unchanged. Biberus continued.
“When Cedric Loapi came, you insisted I give him an excessive amount of money. Honestly, I didn’t need to give that much, but you pushed for it.”
“Really now. That was pocket change—not even worth what I spent on the jeweled exercise wheel for the hamster I raised as a child.”
“You lost an experimental subject and let it fall into Kiaros’s hands, yet I didn’t impose any real punishment.”
“Really now. Even if I’d lost ten subjects instead of one, my father wouldn’t have scolded me if he’d only lost twenty. What’s the fuss over just one?”
I bit my lower lip hard.
Somehow, I felt Namia’s Mother would be better off staying silent.
“Anyway, come with me. The experimental subjects and researchers are fine, so we’ll wait a bit and rebuild the Gaejo Faction again. Just like fifteen years ago. Actually, the situation is even better now. We received word that we’ve secured Dragon-kin blood.”
Namia’s Mother slapped his hand away sharply.
“Really. What do you mean being lenient with me? You deceived me thoroughly.”
“Here we go again… Now that it’s just the two of us, let’s not dredge up the past. I’m tired of it. Whether you or me, we both abandoned our children anyway. We’re a bond more solid than family.”
“Stop with that lie.”
Namia’s Mother narrowed her eyes and challenged him.
“You didn’t forget your child’s name.”
“Aran?”
“When Esther’s son said he’d leave the Gaejo Faction, you killed him immediately… but you just sent your own son overseas and called it done.”
Biberus hastily offered an explanation, his expression slightly flustered.
“Whether he’s my son or not isn’t the point. I didn’t even know he was with the Gaejo Faction. The High Priest said children like that would naturally return to the Gaejo Faction, so I simply listened to his opinion.”
“What? Either way, you knew he was your son all along.”
The argument between Namia’s Mother and Biberus continued.
Really, even at this critical moment, she kept nitpicking and dredging up the past—she was something else.
“Does that matter? He came back in the end. And he did something for us that no one else could have done.”
“You only saved him because he’s your son. You hid all of that from us.”
“Why are you bringing this up now, of all times?”
“Because I want to talk about it. I don’t care what other situations call for.”
Namia’s Mother displayed a thoroughly self-centered attitude, crossing her arms accusingly. Biberus sighed heavily, as if exasperated.
“Aran, you’re being too emotional right now. I understand—you were close to Esther, after all.”
“It’s strange that someone who left the Gaejo Faction could return whenever he pleased. Didn’t you give him a way to contact you anytime?”
So this man was the leader of the Gaejo Faction, then.
I felt I’d heard enough of substance now.
I slowly withdrew an attack scroll from my bag.

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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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