The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 35

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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 35
3. The Tower Master’s Circumstances
A grotesquely towering structure stood at the center of a vast expanse of land, encircled by towering walls and shrouded in mist.
The Magic Tower, which prized isolation from the outside world.
From early dawn, an elderly man cut through the fog and entered the Magic Tower.
“Tower Master!”
The moment the elderly man with a large staff entered the Magic Tower, the Tower Master’s Secretary sprang to his feet.
“Welcome back! It’s been such a long time!”
Though draped in a black robe, his imposing height could not be concealed.
Long white hair with a lustrous sheen and a flowing white beard stretched down his chest.
Large, bulging eyes that gleamed with a steely blue light.
The Tower Master resembled death itself.
“Yes, it’s me.”
The Tower Master strode forward and settled onto his chair.
“By ‘long time,’ you mean to reproach me for abandoning the Magic Tower, is that it? Hmm?”
The desk was piled high with documents and letters.
Among them were some bearing the Imperial seal.
“Well, yes. In any case, did you have a good trip?”
The secretary quickly took his staff and spoke.
“Did you achieve anything worthwhile?”
“Damn it.”
The Tower Master cursed first. The effectiveness of this communication was remarkable—the secretary immediately understood there had been no success.
He glanced at the secretary and clicked his tongue in irritation.
“Don’t have children.”
“Pardon?”
“Raising them properly is difficult, and cleaning up after them is even harder.”
The Tower Master pressed his forehead as if troubled.
“Since it’s my child who caused this mess, I must take responsibility… but even that is proving this difficult. Ugh. So don’t have children at all, you hear me?”
“Well, that’s simply a failure on your part in educating your child, Tower Master. It has nothing to do with my future children, does it?”
The secretary reorganized the documents that had become disheveled as the Tower Master sat down.
“In fact, I believe Aran’s deviation stems from your problematic educational methods.”
“Problematic? I only told her objective facts from a very young age!”
At the secretary’s words, the Tower Master bounced up and down, his anger flaring.
“How could that possibly cause such deviation?”
“Seeing Aran, it seems that way to me. I’ve learned much from her.”
“Hmph. Aran will only come to her senses after she gives birth to a reckless daughter like herself.”
“I see. Though at this point, it wouldn’t be strange if that daughter had already given birth to a daughter of her own.”
The Tower Master let out a groan and pressed his forehead.
It had been nearly twenty-five years since his daughter disappeared after causing a major incident, and he’d been searching for her ever since.
Now he simply wanted to at least clean up the mess his daughter had made. Yet even that seemed beyond his reach.
The Tower Master’s Secretary spoke in a businesslike tone.
“Since you’re here anyway, would you mind reviewing some documents? They’ve piled up like this.”
The Tower Master gazed at the stack of documents with a weary expression, then sighed. He then feigned indifference as he spoke.
“I’ll review just five important documents and then take a break, so pick them out quickly.”
“Well… I have my limitations in distinguishing priority, but…”
“If you do well, I’ll give you a raise.”
“I’ll do my best.”
The Secretary tilted his head before selecting five documents. The Tower Master, after glancing through them, became irritable.
“What’s this? Why are two of these five documents stamped with the Imperial seal? Do I really need to know about matters outside the Magic Tower?”
“One is from the Crown Prince’s Office, and the other was sent by the Scroll Management Minister.”
The Tower Master picked up the one from the Crown Prince’s Office first. He then muttered irritably.
“What, a request for review and an opinion statement? That impertinent Crown Prince—it better be something trivial.”
“Ah, well…”
The Secretary interjected with a confused expression while looking at the Tower Master.
“Shouldn’t you read the one from the Minister first? It’s a petition, after all. Something seems to have happened in the Scroll Management Department…”
“Hmph, what do I have to do with those people who make their living off magic without even entering the Magic Tower?”
“…Then, shall we just remove the Scroll Management Department from the Magic Tower’s jurisdiction entirely? Have the Imperial Palace handle everything instead…”
Hope dripped from the Secretary’s voice. He was thinking perhaps his workload might decrease.
However, the Tower Master erupted in anger.
“That’s impossible! It’s still a magic-related department—why would the Imperial Palace handle it entirely? No way!”
“But you said you don’t have time to manage it…”
“Once I resolve the Aran situation, I’ll have time! Once that’s finished!”
The Tower Master struck his desk with a bang as he spoke.
“Cleaning up the mess Aran made is more important than managing a single Imperial department! For the sake of the entire Continent!”
“But at this rate, it will either be forcibly taken away or fall apart entirely.”
The Secretary answered with an expression that hadn’t lost hope for the Scroll Management Department’s dissolution.
“It seems the Crown Prince has taken document viewing rights. This petition is asking you to stop that. It’s clear something serious has happened.”
The Tower Master snorted and made a displeased expression.
He disliked the Scroll Management Minister, but he disliked the Crown Prince even more for touching the Magic Tower.
“How audacious… That green twenty-something Crown Prince dares to lay hands on the Magic Tower?”
The Tower Master’s angry eyes scanned the message from the Crown Prince.
“And he has the nerve to ask me to read about the incident where he nearly died and send an opinion statement? Does he think the Magic Tower is so idle, you presumptuous brat…”
The Tower Master’s eyes narrowed as he read the documents with a combative expression.
“How can he ask for an opinion statement when he can’t even grasp the situation properly?”
He smiled crookedly as he became irritated.
“A mere subordinate suddenly activated 172 defense scrolls alone? Is this a joke?”
“Ah, I also found that strange, so I inquired further.”
The Secretary spoke while tilting his head.
“Namia Loapi, that subordinate, did indeed activate 172 scrolls, and apparently she crafted 166 of them alone the night before.”
“…What?”
The Tower Master’s brow furrowed.
The Tower Master’s Secretary glanced at the cantankerous old man’s expression, yet added his words with unmistakable pride.
“Surely this qualifies as important documentation? Please give me a raise.”
“….”
After a long silence, the Tower Master—who had been staring intently at the report—rose to his feet.
Then he grasped his cane once more, his eyes gleaming with intensity.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Sir?”
“If you were worth your salary, you should have shoved this document in my face the moment I arrived—forget about five of them or whatever nonsense.”
The Tower Master’s Secretary had no chance to protest his unfair treatment. The Tower Master laughed like a madman and spoke.
“I’m going to see this myself.”
“Pardon?”
Without answering the Tower Master’s Secretary, the Tower Master immediately swept his robes around him and bolted from the Magic Tower.
* * *
Grant me a wish….
This was certainly the line I had been hoping to hear.
I had helped her precisely to provoke this response.
Yet despite the outcome, it differed from my expectations.
[Thank you for saving my life. Tell me everything you desire. I shall grant you anything in exchange for your life!]
I naturally expected her to say something like that….
But the Empress said instead that thanks to me, the Imperial Family had been spared from danger, and she would repay that debt.
Something warm bloomed in my chest, and affection welled up within me.
“Yes…. Your Majesty.”
I answered, my voice trembling slightly with emotion.
“Thank you. I will not refuse.”
My heart felt strangely unsettled.
It seemed she was acknowledging me not as a personal benefactor, but as a professional worthy of recognition….
“By suspecting your superior, you drew out the hidden enemies of the Imperial Family.”
“Ah….”
“Of course you may ask for anything.”
I took a deep breath.
And slowly, I opened my mouth to speak.
“Your Majesty, then… would you be willing to hear my story? It’s rather long….”
“Of course! I have nothing pressing to do right now anyway!”
The Empress laughed heartily.
“His Imperial Majesty and the Crown Prince must be handling the aftermath diligently! Ahahaha!”
After offering me a seat, she spread her legs wide and sat down.
Then she pulled a bell cord and called out to a maidservant.
“Let’s eat meat first! I must have lost muscle mass from not eating properly yesterday!”
The Empress gazed at me intently, then sighed and added her words.
“Our Namia clearly needs to eat much more.”
I laughed awkwardly.
And shortly after, I began recounting old stories while eating the various meats spread across the table.
My birth alongside usurious debt, the circumstances of becoming an adopted daughter, and even my father’s disappearance.
The more I spoke, the more serious the Empress’s expression became.
“…So… if I ever find my father, no matter how deeply he’s involved with criminal organizations, if you could just spare his life….”
“Damn it, you call that talking, Namia?”
The Empress let out a sharp exclamation.
“That goes without saying, but first we need to deal with that bastard Loapi Baron!”
Her eyes blazed with fury.
“And your mother is just as guilty! What kind of wretch burdens the child she bore with such debt? Tell me everything you know about your mother right now!”

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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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