The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 27

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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 27
It was that woman again—Namia Loapi.
Kiaros was furrowing his brow when it happened.
Fron suddenly pointed at Oson and spoke.
“I always thought that slit-eyed bastard was suspicious from the start.”
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion. Fron continued without hesitation.
“Think about it. I only went out during weekday afternoons to buy poison. So when exactly did he see me?”
Oson then cried out as if wronged.
“I clearly saw the Empress several times at that location! That was the Shop Owner’s testimony….”
“Exactly. Who said I wasn’t seen?”
Fron let out a short laugh and lifted her chin.
“Weekday afternoons are work hours. Why were you out instead of working?”
“My, my attendance record has nothing to do with this matter….”
“How does it have nothing to do with it?”
Kiaros was left utterly dumbfounded.
Fron suddenly began speaking haltingly while gazing at Namia in the distance.
“Imperial Family Special Law Article 4, no, Article 3 Section 1, all Imperial Family members can manage and supervise, no, oversee Imperial Palace Civil Service. Imperial Family Special Law Article 5 Section 11, all Imperial Family members can confirm various types of inspections, no, audits of civil servants’ work situations. Palace Knights Law Article 33 Section 2, Palace Knights can conduct targeted and limited, no, entrapment investigations into suspicious individuals with Imperial Family permission.”
Everyone fell into silence.
Even those seeing Fron for the first time today could sense something was off.
The words were difficult enough, and with her stammering, almost no one understood exactly what Fron was saying.
‘Hmm?’
Kiaros, one of the few who understood her words, blinked with a bewildered expression.
‘Wait, that was accurate?’
But rest assured, Fron probably didn’t even know if such a law as the Imperial Family Special Law existed.
Even the Minister of Justice sat in perplexed silence.
“That bastard keeps sneaking around like a rat during work hours, so…!”
Fron shouted with confidence, then suddenly stammered again as she continued. Her tone was almost like that of a split personality.
“According to the Imperial Family’s authority to oversee Imperial Palace Civil Service, I chose the inspection method through Palace Knights, and as a Palace Knight and Imperial Family member, I received my own permission to conduct limited, no, entrapment investigations. I believe there should be no legal or procedural issues with the law and procedures I mentioned earlier, no, referenced?”
Kiaros was genuinely shocked.
‘How on earth did this happen?’
One thing was certain.
This was connected to Namia Loapi.
Fron could never do this, but that strange civil servant had definitely recited legal articles fluently before.
The Minister of Justice, who had been shocked alongside Kiaros, asked foolishly.
“…Pardon?”
“I’m a Palace Knight. I somehow became Empress, but I’m still on the roster…”
Everyone who hadn’t understood Fron’s earlier words wore confused expressions.
The Minister of Justice, who had been stammering for a moment, muttered.
“That, that’s… well, legally or procedurally, it’s not something that doesn’t make sense….”
According to Fron’s account, her collection of illegal drugs was itself an entrapment investigation to monitor Oson’s attendance record.
“That’s absurd!”
Oson Philon’s voice cracked as he shouted.
“The Scroll Management Department operates under dual authority with the Magic Tower. Even if you are the Empress herself, capable of summoning every official document, you cannot access our department’s attendance records!”
Though others might not have realized it, Kiaros understood perfectly.
Until now, Fron had never once examined a single official document.
In fact, she had likely lived without even being conscious that she possessed such authority.
Meanwhile, Oson continued his rebuttal, spittle flying from his lips.
“But why would the Empress concern herself with the attendance record of a mere civil servant like me? Why single me out specifically?”
Regardless, Fron spoke with unwavering confidence until the end.
“Intuition.”
Fron’s gaze shifted forward once more.
Everyone would have assumed she was looking at the audience.
But Kiaros narrowed his eyes, his attention fixed on Namia Loapi.
Fron continued speaking, her tone suddenly transformed, words tumbling forth.
“All Imperial Palace civil servants can access the night duty reports that arrive every dawn at six o’clock. From those reports, I consistently noticed that the recipient of night duty allowances and the author of the reports were different individuals. According to the Finance Ministry documents I reviewed using the Empress’s authority, Oson Philon receives the supplementary overtime compensation for night duty, yet the reports for those corresponding dates were always submitted by Namia Loapi.”
Civil servants rotated through night duty, each taking a turn guarding the building.
Those on night duty submitted reports detailing any incidents that had occurred overnight.
Naturally, they typically read “nothing to report.” So no one paid attention to those brief reports arriving each dawn.
And certainly no one would cross-reference them with Finance Ministry compensation documents.
“Who would even look at something like that!”
“I did. I have the authority. I was simply observing out of boredom. It’s my prerogative. It’s my time.”
Fron’s tone shifted again as she spoke with deliberate provocation.
Only then did Kiaros understand with absolute clarity.
Fron’s gaze had been directed precisely at Namia Loapi’s slightly moving lips.
For now, how events would unfold was secondary.
‘Is that even possible? From this distance?’
Could one truly discern the subtle movements of lips from such a great distance?
Even Kiaros, blessed with exceptional eyesight, could not comprehend what Namia was saying.
“I tailed that wretch and discovered him prowling through the filthy Black Market during work hours, so I conducted an entrapment investigation. There’s nothing procedurally wrong with that, is there? Go ahead and interrogate that scoundrel thoroughly and have him executed.”
Fron spoke with triumphant confidence.
“Of course, I haven’t used any of the poisons I’ve collected anywhere. If you want to investigate, then investigate.”
The Courtroom descended into chaos.
Kiaros too was bewildered, pressing his hand to his forehead.
It was immediately obvious which words belonged to Fron and which to Namia Loapi.
‘To fit everything together so precisely like this, simply consulting law books wouldn’t suffice.’
The legal provisions Namia Loapi had mentioned were scattered throughout the law books.
One had to know where something was located before one could even look it up.
‘Yesterday, during that brief moment when those two encountered each other in the Prison, something transpired.’
One fact became abundantly clear: Namia Loapi was not merely memorizing the clause about “delegating tasks to subordinates.”
She knew every single provision. And her ability to weave them together in such a short span of time was exceptional.
“Wait, just a moment….”
The Minister of Justice spoke amid the chaos.
“Let’s take a brief recess and reconvene at two o’clock.”
Fron yawned and stood up, saying she needed to use the restroom.
And it was then that Kiaros saw it.
A scroll of parchment peeking slightly from between Fron’s pockets.
* * *
‘Perfect!’
I smiled wryly and let out a breath.
As someone beneath him, I knew better than anyone how atrocious Oson’s attendance record was.
Fabricating it so that the Empress appeared to have discovered it wasn’t particularly difficult.
‘Of course, everyone would sense something amiss, but since there’s nothing technically wrong, they can’t point it out.’
This meant I could buy time.
Kiaros, too, had likely intended to simply suppress the matter through authority and drag things out.
‘Had he done so, the backlash would have been severe and quite troublesome.’
Wasn’t it precisely to avoid causing such inconvenience that Fron had considered taking her own life?
Yesterday in the prison, I had persuaded the Empress by saying, ‘I can prevent causing trouble for Kiaros.’
Then I handed her a piece of paper inscribed with dialogue that I had carefully woven from legal statutes.
Fron, receiving the densely written paper, muttered in bewilderment.
[There’s no way my brain can memorize all of this. Not even if I stayed up all night. There are so many words I don’t understand.]
[Just memorize as much as you can… and then take this as well.]
Having already anticipated that situation, I gave her a scroll as well.
And I instructed her to use it just before entering the courtroom.
[It’s a scroll that lets you see distant things clearly. If you use this, you’ll be able to see the shape of my lips. Then you can use that as a reference.]
No one could recite lines fluently by merely watching someone’s lips.
But once you had memorized something to a certain degree, watching another’s lips naturally allowed you to use them as a guide.
[You absolutely won’t get caught. Only I in this world know that such a scroll exists, and only I know how to create it.]
It was a scroll I had researched and created entirely on my own.
For my father, who had always wanted to gaze at the stars together with me.

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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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