The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 192

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

Special Side Story 5
“Oh, of course it’s Namia. You’ve already finished today’s quota.”
The lecture hall assigned to the Scroll Management Department was tucked away on the first floor of Building B. Victor marveled at Namia’s learning pace.
“I was truly amazed by two things today. First, your memory is extraordinary. Second, I’m baffled as to why someone with such a gift ended up in the Scroll Management Department.”
Victor chuckled and tapped his pen rhythmically—a gift Namia had given him long ago.
“Unless you suddenly became an orphan during the entrance exam period like I did, there’s no explaining this.”
“Why didn’t you just retake the exam?”
“I didn’t know the Marquis Awin would become my adoptive parent back then.”
Victor scratched his cheek as he answered Namia’s question.
“I needed to earn money, didn’t I? Between retake fees and losing a year’s salary, the opportunity cost was astronomical.”
Namia’s eyes grew hot for just a moment.
His struggle with finances didn’t feel like someone else’s problem. She too had entered this lowly department due to unavoidable family circumstances.
“The Marquis Awin truly showed me great kindness.”
Yet regardless, Victor had successfully risen in status.
The Minister of Finance who had briefly visited the Training Institute earlier to give a congratulatory address to the new civil servants was none other than the Marquis Awin. The Finance Ministry officials seated in front had cheered and chattered among themselves, calling him an exceptionally capable person who had made the Finance Ministry the finest imperial civil service department.
Huan was among them. Namia’s mood plummeted instantly.
“That’s wonderful, truly.”
Namia offered her sincere congratulations while trying to hide her dampened spirits. Victor laughed good-naturedly in response.
“That’s right, Namia. But you don’t seem to be in a good mood today. Is something wrong?”
Victor was perceptive. Namia couldn’t bring herself to say “It’s my birthday today and thinking about that bastard Huan is irritating me,” so she simply deflected.
“Ah… it’s just that today is, well, um, the Training Institute’s lunch menu today was… not very good… In a way, today is supposed to be an incredibly special day for me…”
“The lunch menu? Now that you mention it, you’ve always memorized the school cafeteria menus, haven’t you?”
That was because the cafeteria food was the most delicious she’d eaten since arriving in the Capital. The Loapi Barony had served meals far worse than school lunches.
Come to think of it, on her last birthday, the Academy cafeteria had served candy for dessert. She remembered how delighted that had made her.
Of all days, on her twentieth birthday when she came of age, she couldn’t even freely enjoy a single piece of candy.
“If only… if only…”
Namia sighed as she spoke.
“If only they’d served candy… that would have been nice.”
At those words, Victor immediately checked his watch. There was still an hour until lunch.
“Then wait a moment, Namia.”
“…Pardon?”
“You want something sweet, right? I’ll get you some.”
The Training Institute was located in a mountain valley. There was nowhere nearby to purchase confections.
Of course, that wasn’t the real issue. Namia blinked and spoke.
“According to Article 56 of the Imperial Civil Service Law, the provisions regarding new civil servant training prohibit personal food items and valuables within the Training Institute. The supplementary appendix does mention exceptions for those with specific allergies, but I have no food allergies, so that doesn’t apply to me. Furthermore, Article 58 added this year a clause stating that when establishing practical plans by department, one must not create discord among other departments through conspicuous actions by a particular department. If you, Senior Victor, as the representative of the Scroll Management Department, were to show me special favor, that would also be classified as a distinction that sets us apart from other departments.”
“Um, Namia?”
Victor flinched and scratched his head.
“But there’s no one here but you and me… I could just quietly give you one.”
“Still, you came as the department representative, and I’m a new department member. Rules are rules. I haven’t received my official appointment yet, but according to Article 3, Section 16 of the Imperial Civil Service Law, I’m technically already an imperial civil servant. If the law is broken, I share equal responsibility with you.”
“…Ah, yes. Right. Haha, that’s true. Oh, then!”
Victor paused mid-thought, then clapped his hands together once.
“I should tell the Dining Hall to distribute candy to everyone today as a special treat!”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s perfectly feasible. It’s not favoritism toward any one person, after all. To be honest, the Dining Hall should have more than enough snacks in reserve, right? The Training Institute staff eats there every day. Processed sweets like candy have long shelf lives.”
“But how could you possibly…?”
“Well, Victor from the Scroll Management Department can’t do it, but Victor Awin, son of the Minister of Finance, certainly can.”
Victor winked.
“The Minister of Finance should be at the Training Institute right now. Just wait and see. I might even be able to arrange something better than candy.”
“…Pardon?”
“You looked far too gloomy today. I wanted to do at least this much for you.”
With that, he sprang to his feet.
“Just wait a moment, Namia. I’m going to see my father. Oh, I might end up having lunch with him too. If I don’t come back, don’t wait—go eat lunch yourself. Understand? If the menu changes, you’ll know I pulled some strings. And even if it doesn’t change, don’t be too disappointed…”
“Senior? Senior!”
“I’m glad you’re so quick-witted that you learned everything in just an hour. See you later!”
Before Namia could even grab him, Victor rose like a whirlwind, threw open the lecture hall door, and vanished.
Namia blinked without thinking. Then she let her shoulders droop and murmured to herself.
“I minded being alone more than missing out on candy…”
Of course, she lacked the enthusiasm to chase after him and tell him that. Namia exhaled a long sigh.
Quite some time passed. Even though I waited quietly, Victor never returned.
There was only so much I could do reading the teaching materials he’d prepared over and over. Laughter drifted from the lecture hall next door.
I knew Victor well. Based on the data I’d gathered so far, Victor was likely chatting away with everyone he encountered on his way to meet Marquis Awin, pretending to know them. It was highly probable he hadn’t even reached Marquis Awin yet.
And once he did meet Marquis Awin, he’d spend even more time greeting all the people around him.
Since Victor wasn’t coming, I had nowhere else to go, so I simply had to sit in the lecture hall and wait for him.
“I suppose we won’t be eating lunch together?”
Lunchtime approached. I heard people from the next lecture hall gathering in small groups and heading toward the Dining Hall.
Normally I’d eat with Luca or Agnes, but today they’d both definitely be eating with their respective department members.
It seemed I’d have to eat lunch alone. It wasn’t pleasant, certainly, but a balanced meal provided on time was still precious.
I waited for Victor as long as I could, dawdling as much as possible, but eventually I stood up. That’s when something caught my eye.
“…He left his pen behind.”
The pen I’d scraped together money to give Victor as an entry gift. It sat alone on the desk.
“He should have used it up long ago. Could he be refilling the ink and still using it?”
The pen wasn’t particularly high-quality. It could fairly be called cheap for the heir to Marquis Awin to use. Yet curious about why he was still using it, I carefully disassembled the pen. I wanted to see how much ink was left. But…
“Oh!”
I’d thought that since I’d given it four years ago, there wouldn’t be much ink left, but surprisingly, ink flowed out readily. It was a refillable type.
At the same time, the desk became stained with ink.
“Oh no, this won’t do.”
I panicked and looked around frantically. I searched for something to wipe it with, but there was nothing like that here. Instead, I remembered the map that had been in the handbook I received on my first day at the Training Institute.
“There was a Cleaning Supply Storage somewhere around here!”
It was definitely behind Building B. I hurried my steps toward the cleaning storage.

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