The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 38

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

Chapter 38
With those words, silence settled over us for a moment.
Well, it was understandable.
The Empress had already expressed all her joy and astonishment about the past—and then some, quite excessively at that.
Kiaros seemed equally uncertain how to express his own emotions again in this awkward atmosphere.
After a brief pause, Kiaros opened his mouth with a solemn tone.
“Ah, first… about what I said earlier regarding the background investigation on Namia Loapi.”
I responded respectfully to Kiaros’s words.
“Yes, as I’ve said repeatedly, it’s perfectly fine. If there’s anything suspicious, you should absolutely investigate thoroughly.”
“I’ve ordered my direct intelligence operatives to search for your missing father as well.”
My eyes widened at those words.
He’d ordered the Crown Prince’s own intelligence operatives to search for my father?
No information guild could find a missing person better than they could!
“My father…? You mean my real father, not the Loapi Baron who is my father on paper?”
Well, if he’d noticed I was in the Southern Region, he could certainly have figured that out too.
At the earnestness in my voice, Kiaros cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ahem, well! It seemed like you wanted to find your biological father.”
My heart pounded fiercely.
If Kiaros had taken action, I could truly find my father.
I no longer needed to search for him myself.
My only worry was that Father might have become entangled in some terrible crime.
“Your Highness, I’ve promised that no matter what that stubborn man has done, I’ll spare his life!”
The Empress cried out, having read my anxiety.
“Obviously! He must have made money through wrongdoing! But regardless, didn’t his daughter save the Imperial Family? Please apply the principle of collective punishment!”
“That’s not the proper use of collective punishment, and besides, such matters must be decided based on the circumstances…”
Kiaros sighed with a complicated expression.
Then he muttered, “Why do I keep feeling like I’m cast as the villain?” before speaking firmly.
“As long as he hasn’t killed innocent citizens of the Empire, I will arrange to honor the Empress’s promise.”
At those words, I exhaled a deep sigh of relief.
That was enough for me.
I understood well that I couldn’t unconditionally demand his life be spared if Father had committed truly heinous crimes.
The fact that he’d offered such leniency despite the possibility of Father’s involvement in crimes was remarkable.
‘How is this… everything’s been resolved.’
My chest swelled with emotion.
Finding Father and meeting him safely…
I’d endured everything for that.
Now, all I had to do was wait, and Kiaros would find him for me.
‘Now I can see Father again.’
The Imperial Family’s involvement had resolved all my circumstances.
At the same time, my burden to protect the Imperial Family and prevent war had grown even heavier.
‘I barely managed to stop the incident. But I still don’t know who’s behind it.’
Everything’s going well thanks to the Imperial Family, but what if they all die and a war breaks out?
“In any case.”
As my thoughts grew tangled, Kiaros continued with solemn gravity.
“After that day, I searched for that girl for a very long time.”
It felt like we’d entered another round of formal pleasantries.
I arranged my face into an expression of respectful attentiveness.
Meanwhile, the Emperor was struggling to suppress his laughter.
“I truly… wanted to repay the debt.”
The Emperor’s eyes gleamed brilliantly as he gazed at Kiaros.
He was keeping his mouth firmly shut, despite seeming like a character who normally wouldn’t be so quiet.
‘Why does he have that expression?’
The way he kept glancing between me and Kiaros with such interest…
It was exactly like a parent listening to their young son’s confession.
Kiaros spoke softly, his smile measured and precise.
“I’m truly delighted to meet you again like this.”
At that, the Emperor let out a muffled sound and clamped both hands over his mouth.
Kiaros, who had been gazing at me with profound eyes, released a deep sigh.
Then he asked in a somewhat irritated tone.
“Your Majesty, what is the matter?”
“No, no. Do continue.”
The Emperor spoke while his shoulders trembled with suppressed mirth.
“I’ve been waiting just as long for those words you’ve wanted to say for so long. Hehehehe, this is quite the spectacle. Are you going to say it now?”
“…I suddenly don’t wish to do so in Your Majesty’s presence.”
Kiaros pressed his hand to his forehead.
I remained seated with a professional smile plastered on my face.
To be honest, the Empress had been so excessively delighted earlier that Kiaros’s words seemed rather ordinary.
And naturally, I was nervous being surrounded by three members of the Imperial Family.
‘Especially since I could lose my job right now… What’s going to happen to the Scroll Management Department? If the leadership gets wiped out, doesn’t that mean dissolution?’
For someone of my common status, the present mattered far more than the past.
Well, I should at least receive some compensation for my contributions in this matter.
But if I lost my position in the Civil Service, I’d also lose the opportunity to provide Kiaros with hints about the original work.
Just when I’d reunited with my father and experienced a joyful reunion, I could end up dying miserably in a war.
‘Right now, a stable position working in the Imperial Palace is important too…’
I’d complained every day about being at the bottom. I’d said I’d need to become at least a Minister to do anything meaningful…
But now that things had come to this, I felt grateful even for a lowly position.
It was while I sat there with such a complicated expression, clutching my skirt tightly.
“That won’t do! Tower Master! That won’t do!”
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside.
“Tower Masterrrrrrrr! This can’t happennnnn!”
“Get out of here!”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The desperate sounds of someone trying to block the way and the noise of failure erupted simultaneously.
“Tower Master, you cannot do this. There are proper procedures for these matters….”
“You get out too!”
“Please, come to your senses. I am the Minister of Justice. Surely we must maintain at least basic courtesy?”
“Hmph, you should leave as well!”
Not long after, the door burst open.
And an astonishing sight unfolded before my eyes.
‘What?’
An elderly man with white hair draped in robes came stomping through.
He was dragging the Crown Prince’s Aide on his left and the Minister of Justice on his right.
The old man’s strength was formidable—despite hauling two grown men along, his strides remained wide and commanding.
“What is the meaning of this commotion?”
The Emperor rose slowly, his expression hardening.
The Empress, Kiaros, and I rose to our feet as well.
As if facing a particularly troublesome opponent, the Emperor’s voice—which had been so affectionate moments before—grew noticeably strained.
“…Tower Master.”
I held my breath, my eyes darting about.
Yet inwardly, I marveled.
‘So that’s the Tower Master!’
Despite his skeletal appearance, his gaze was formidable.
His sharp, piercing blue eyes gleamed like glass marbles.
His long white hair, flowing like his eyes, left an equally striking impression.
‘There was a time when I too dreamed of entering the Magic Tower….’
Anyone with an interest in scrolls and magic naturally harbored such a dream.
A place where talented individuals gathered to dedicate themselves solely to magical research.
Neither status nor wealth mattered there—one was evaluated purely on ability.
‘But I gave it up to find my father.’
Magical talent was something one had to be born with. It was not a field where effort alone could suffice.
That was why the Magic Tower only accepted applicants in their late teens.
They even administered written examinations to assess basic intellect.
‘Academy graduates receive special consideration and are exempted from the written test….’
More than just exemption, the Tower Master himself would visit the Academy to assess talent.
Those with insufficient magical talent could always pursue the scholarly path instead.
All children at the Academy who showed interest and aptitude in magic were sent to the Magic Tower.
I… deliberately feigned an inability to channel mana into scrolls to avoid that opportunity.
‘Once you enter, you cannot leave until you’re thirty-five. That’s far too long.’
While magical research appealed to me, my circumstances did not permit such a prolonged stay in the Magic Tower.
So I concealed my talent.
‘And that Tower Master… is the greatest mage this era has produced.’
Not only in fundamental magical power, but in the originality of scroll craftsmanship, the calculations required for activation.
A figure who has transcended the limits of humanity in every regard.
The representative of the Magic Tower—someone even the Imperial Family dare not treat carelessly.
‘He came because of the Scroll Management Department. It’s on the verge of dissolution!’
No matter how indifferent the Magic Tower had been to our department, it was still a division intrinsically tied to the Tower’s authority.
Watching the Tower Master push his way in here with such determination, I could feel in my bones that the Scroll Management Department truly faced dissolution.
“Tower Master, I understand your sentiment, but when presenting yourself before the Imperial Family, at minimum you should follow proper protocol first….”
It was as the Emperor began speaking with measured calm.
The Tower Master’s eyes blazed as he cried out.
“Where is Namia Loapi? Come out at once!”
…Me?

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