The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 4

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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 4
After the scrolls neutralized the poisoned arrows, other knights rushed in immediately.
“Chase them! There aren’t many of them!”
As the knights came thundering forward, the assailants vanished into the crowd.
Yet the scene remained absolute chaos. It couldn’t have been otherwise.
This was the first assassination attempt on the Crown Prince—naturally, it shocked everyone present.
“No way… Are they insane? Against the Crown Prince?”
“Who’s behind this? Do they not fear the Emperor’s retribution…?”
Murmurs echoed from every direction.
Regardless, everyone believed that ‘someone had committed a meaningless, mad act.’ Because Kiaros remained completely unharmed.
‘That’s thanks to me….’
I thought this while swaying unsteadily.
The scrolls’ magic had been completely exhausted, and blank pages drifted down around me like snow, their magical circles fading.
‘Today’s attack was difficult to prevent.’
Originally, today, the Crown Prince—so formidable—would die absurdly due to an unexpected second period of darkness he couldn’t foresee.
After that, the Empress would also pass away, and the Emperor, who had been away from the Capital, would return to power, though he wouldn’t last even a year.
‘It’s classified information, but the Emperor is in such a state that his death at any moment wouldn’t be surprising due to illness.’
The sole remaining member of the Imperial Family and the protagonist—the youngest Young Prince—was merely eight years old.
Thus the Polariud Imperial Family would collapse, and the empire would be engulfed in war.
And now I had twisted the original narrative and saved the Crown Prince from the assassination attempt.
“I told you to stay at your post!”
While I was reveling in satisfaction alone, the White Knight Order Commander erupted in fury at the three knights who had abandoned their positions.
“What were you thinking, rushing out like that when you spotted enemies? Revealing a portion of your forces nearby is an obvious trap!”
There was one fundamental reason this situation had occurred: the escort knights had absolutely no combat experience.
How could the Crown Prince’s guards—a member of the Imperial Family—have any real battle experience?
“Truly… What would have happened without Miss Mina from the Magic Department!”
“…It’s Namia….”
Activating scrolls required magical power. I had exhausted mine to the absolute limit.
Even as I swayed, I corrected him awkwardly.
“Not the Magic Department—the Scroll Management Department….”
Before me, eyes as vivid as rubies suddenly appeared.
It was Crown Prince Kiaros.
Though he must have been most shocked by the unexpected second period of darkness, his expression remained unchanged, and he still emanated the cold, commanding aura of a sovereign.
“Defense scrolls… I was certainly reported yesterday that there were six of them.”
The plan must have been submitted last night.
He had read all of it and memorized even the scroll count that no one else would have cared about?
‘Wow, that’s a meticulousness our department hasn’t seen before.’
He truly was thorough. It was admirable.
His gaze swept across the scrolls piled like snow around me, then returned to me.
“How many of these are there in total?”
Even as I answered the question, my vision blurred and my mind grew hazy.
‘I didn’t sleep all night making this yesterday, and I’ve completely drained every last bit of mana from my body.’
Honestly, all that remained was for me to lose consciousness.
Still, I had to do my best to make an impression while the opportunity existed.
“…One hundred seventy-two pages.”
I barely managed to answer before I collapsed.
I thought I would crash straight into the ground, but it was surprisingly warm.
“Ah….”
As I barely managed to blink, Kiaros’s face came into view.
Wow.
Am I really being held in the Crown Prince’s arms right now?
‘He really does have an excellent physique.’
Kiaros seemed to be saying something, but I couldn’t hear it clearly.
In any case, the Crown Prince appeared unharmed. I barely managed to move my lips and whispered.
“I’m so relieved you’re safe…,”
And I added, my eyes fluttering.
“I wanted to protect you so badly. Really, truly, desperately.”
After that, I lost consciousness completely.
* * *
Upon returning to the Imperial Palace, Kiaros began pursuing the perpetrators.
They were undoubtedly the same group he had been chasing all this time.
‘They know about the Imperial Family’s circumstances—they might be a far more formidable organization than I thought.’
The very fact that they would plan such an attack against him, a dragon, was highly suspicious.
‘The timing of that sudden Dark Period is also deeply unsettling.’
Had it not been for that sudden Dark Period, he could have eliminated them all before they even fired their poisoned arrows.
‘If they somehow predicted even my second Dark Period, which I myself didn’t anticipate, then they’re no ordinary adversaries. But is that even possible? It’s as if they know the future….’
He immediately began investigating the “second Dark Period.”
Nothing like it had occurred since the First Emperor of Polariud, so the Imperial Family had never made any preparations for it.
‘I should keep the fact that I experience Dark Periods classified from the outside world, just in case.’
He showed no outward sign of it. Yet even breathing felt suffocatingly difficult right now.
‘According to the records, the second Dark Period is identical to the first.’
Then he could regain his strength in six months. As he sat lost in thought, the White Knight Order Commander approached and bowed to report.
“I am truly ashamed. Here is the disciplinary roster.”
Three knights who had ignored the Commander’s orders and rushed out anyway, along with the White Knight Order Commander himself for allowing a breach in the escort, were listed for discipline.
“What.”
Kiaros muttered with a dark expression.
“I was careless as well, so there’s nothing more to say.”
“And the Scroll magic, no, Scroll planning, no, wait…. My apologies. The Scroll Management Department’s Inventory Team member, Namia….”
“Give it here.”
The moment Namia’s name was mentioned, Kiaros snatched the report from the stammering White Knight Order Commander’s hands.
Namia Loapi, second daughter of the Loapi Baronial Family, currently twenty-three years old.
The report contained her personal information.
Three years and seven months employed in the Inventory Team of the Scroll Management Department under the Imperial Knight Order.
Her twin brother Huan Loapi was also an Imperial Palace civil servant, currently working in the Ministry of Finance.
Yet among the following details, one particular phrase captured his attention.
‘Top scorer on the Imperial Academy’s fifty-fourth entrance examination?’
However, her average grades throughout her time at the Imperial Academy were in the lower ranks, her graduation examination scores were in the lower ranks, and her Imperial Palace civil servant recruitment examination scores were in the lower ranks.
Afterward, she was assigned to the Scroll Management Department, a minor bureau.
‘Hmm.’
Amid countless scrolls fluttering down like snow, her blue eyes that met his were clear and bright.
He had certainly thought those eyes lacked enthusiasm, spirit, and focus.
[Yes, understood.]
That voice, devoid of even minimal sincerity, remained vivid in his memory.
Was she truly the same person who had recited legal statutes fluently and activated one hundred seventy-two scrolls?
[I really wanted to protect it.]
Why did that particular voice carry such genuine emotion?
In any case, she was a very strange woman.
[Truly, really, so very, desperately.]
When he heard those words, it had felt somewhat unsettling….
Kiaros lowered his gaze before asking quietly.
“Has Namia Loapi still not regained consciousness?”
“No. According to the Medical and Health Department, she should wake up by tomorrow….”
After Namia lost consciousness, Luca from the Medical and Health Department immediately took charge of her care.
[She exhausted her magical power to its limit. Combined with accumulated fatigue, she should be fine after getting proper rest.]
[She is my benefactor. See that she is cared for until she awakens.]
[Hmm…. Her nutritional condition is not particularly good, so I wondered if it would be acceptable to add intravenous fluids.]
[Use all the intravenous fluids in the Imperial Palace if necessary.]
Kiaros fell into thought for a moment.
‘Poor nutritional condition? Her salary shouldn’t be insufficient. Then why?’
Moreover, her twin brother was stationed in the Ministry of Finance, the most crucial department among all Imperial Civil Service divisions.
“The Loapi Baronial Family? Where are they from?”
“Hmm… They’re just an unremarkable lower-ranking noble house.”
“Is that so? Are their circumstances quite difficult?”
“I’m not entirely certain, but it shouldn’t be that severe. After all, they do have a reasonably respectable baronial estate in the Capital, and both the twin siblings are Imperial Palace civil servants….”
The Empire was a good place to live. Cases of poor nutritional condition among adult women were rare even among commoners.
Kiaros furrowed his brow.

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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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