The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 51

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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 51
Within the Department Office, there was a separate Minister’s Office partitioned by glass windows.
Though the Department’s landscape was visible from outside, at this moment only Namia and Kiaros occupied the Minister’s Office.
And Kiaros found himself thinking.
‘Is this hell?’
He had never experienced such hardship in his entire life.
“Again.”
Namia picked up a red pen and spoke gently.
“Here, here, and here. These are all wrong. And for the day notation, it should be written as (Mon), not (Monday). And this should be 14:00, not 2 PM.”
In truth, Kiaros had already reviewed these documents thoroughly.
The problem was that Namia had ordered him to check every single minor detail that deviated from standard document formatting procedures.
“…I doubt those above would scrutinize such trivial matters.”
Unable to restrain himself, Kiaros spoke, and Namia smiled knowingly.
“Kibon.”
“Yes?”
“Are you the Crown Prince?”
“….”
“The Crown Prince would notice all of it.”
No, he wouldn’t. He absolutely wouldn’t!
Honestly, he wouldn’t scrutinize to this extent!
It was while Kibon was suffering internally over this unproductive task.
“And we’re not in an ordinary situation right now,” Namia said quietly.
Namia spoke quietly.
“What if these messy notations are actually a cipher between them?”
“Between them…?”
“The spies who had infiltrated our department. The ones who attacked the Crown Prince and had Oson frame the Empress.”
Kiaros’s brow furrowed. Namia’s expression darkened.
“They might have embedded codes within official documents. Things that violate standard document formatting procedures, yet still receive approval from above. If I were them, I would have used such methods to exchange information.”
Kiaros’s quill, which had been merely irritated, suddenly trembled.
Kiaros had always been in a position to merely review documents that reached him at the final stage.
He had never actually created documents himself. So he had never considered such a possibility.
“That’s why we need to verify everything and correct it all. So that even if it is a cipher, they can’t use it.”
“But what if it’s just an error, not a cipher?”
“We still have to do it.”
“But this is such grueling work.”
“That’s exactly why I have to do it. I can’t assign work with no visible results to the other employees.”
“Then what about me?”
“You’re my secretary, so you have to do it too. And your speech is getting too casual.”
“…Yes?”
It seemed Namia had no connection to those behind the conspiracy.
A spy wouldn’t go to such lengths.
‘No, she seems genuinely loyal to the Imperial Family….’
Otherwise, there’s no way she’d work so diligently on tasks that went unnoticed and unappreciated by others.
Meanwhile, she was also efficiently handling the basic work the Minister of Education needed to process.
“Hmm….”
In fact, she was handling most of the Department’s work.
She was even rapidly drafting the budget proposal to send to the Ministry of Finance herself—at an absolutely remarkable pace.
When Kiaros glanced at Namia’s documents, she spoke.
“Pay close attention to the basic formats and how to fill them out.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll need to help with this from now on.”
“…A secretary does this too?”
“It’s my work, so I need your assistance.”
“Does the Minister of Education really handle this personally?”
“Not exactly.”
Namia spoke matter-of-factly.
“There’s no one in this Department who knows how to do this.”
“…Excuse me?”
“There was no one to teach how to properly draft official documents or anything like that.”
“Then….”
Kiaros’s eyes narrowed.
Yet the documents Namia was drafting were flawless.
As the final reviewer of numerous documents, Kiaros could see that only the Minister of Finance possessed the ability to process documents with such precision and speed.
“How did you come to know this, Minister?”
As far as he knew, Namia had never transferred between departments.
In other words, there was no one who could have taught her this.
“You wouldn’t have had a superior to teach you this either, Minister.”
“….”
“….”
Kiaros thought quickly while studying her face.
If she didn’t answer, it seemed he’d have to circle back and ask her again later.
‘She still looks thin. I wonder if she’s eating properly…. I gave her plenty of meal vouchers. If I suggested we share a meal with them as thanks for saving her….’
That was when it happened.
The lunch bell rang. The Department staff vanished in an instant, flooding out like a tidal wave.
Namia stretched and spoke.
“Go have lunch too.”
Kiaros blinked.
“Then… what about you, Minister?”
At that, Namia was startled.
“Did you just ask me how I’m going to have lunch?”
“Yes.”
“That won’t do. In standard Imperial speech, that phrase actually means something horrible like ‘Would you like to eat with the Minister as well?'”
“Pardon?”
Kiaros couldn’t understand a single sentence Namia had spoken.
So he asked with genuine bewilderment.
“Setting aside the meaning, why can’t I say it that way?”
“Are you insane? Voluntarily eating with your superior? When they dismiss you, you just shut your eyes and bolt.”
Kiaros quietly decided to abandon his earlier thought of suggesting they share a meal together later.
Namia watched him lost in thought.
Then she spoke slowly.
“…is normal, but our New Intern is on their first day, so of course we need to look after them.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s go.”
Namia rose from her seat with a smirk.
And lifting her chin, she spoke with confidence.
“To get expensive food with your sister.”
For Kiaros, who had always been the wealthiest and occupied the highest seat, these were words he’d never heard before.
And yet….
‘…What is this.’
Thump.
…His heart beat loudly.
* * *
I had been thoughtless.
Regardless of my position as a superior, and even if I found them utterly distasteful for no reason, it was essentially their first day.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t their first day, but close enough.
‘Still, on the first day I at least joined the department staff when they all went out to lunch together.’
Now I’d missed the timing to slip in among the other department members after being in the Minister’s Office with Kibon.
I observed Kibon’s bewildered expression for a moment.
‘Right. They’re already away from home, so they wouldn’t want to eat lunch alone.’
I should have told the other employees to take Kibon with them before lunch.
But they’d all already scattered.
In the end, I had no choice but to share a meal with Kibon.
From Kibon’s perspective, it would naturally be uncomfortable and irritating, so I thought I’d at least treat them to something expensive.
‘I have an enormous number of meal vouchers anyway.’
The meal vouchers I’d received from Kiaros were almost all for two people.
It seemed wasteful to go alone, and I had no one to invite, so they’d been sitting unused.
“Come on, let’s go.”
I selected one of the meal vouchers for a place near the Imperial Palace and took Kibon along.
When Kibon saw the course meal voucher I handed to the employee, their expression became peculiar.
As soon as the appetizer arrived, I picked up my spoon and spoke to the employee.
“I apologize, but our lunch break is only an hour. Could you prepare the food quickly?”
The Employee acknowledged and hurried into the Kitchen.
Kibon tilted his head and spoke.
“This course meal is quite lengthy…. Minus travel time, we’d need to finish and leave in barely thirty minutes.”
“Exactly. Eat fast.”
Kibon’s expression grew even more bewildered.
“If you’re going to eat this hastily, why did you ask me to come? Wouldn’t it be better to go after work with someone else?”
“I can’t really think of who that ‘someone else’ would be. I don’t have friends.”
“Well, I suppose….”
Kibon rolled his eyes before speaking.
“If you can’t think of anyone, perhaps the person who gave you this meal voucher….”
Rumors had spread throughout the Imperial Palace that I’d kicked out Kiaros.
I had no desire to mention that the Crown Prince had given me this, not even to a New Intern.
So I shrugged and replied.
“Oh, my superior gave me this.”
“….”
“Why would I deliberately eat dinner with my boss after work? How inconvenient.”
“….”
Kiaros was my superior, so it wasn’t technically a lie.
Kibon drank his water in large gulps without comment. Then he suddenly spoke.
“I don’t mind eating with my superior.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Aren’t you curious why?”
“Not really, since I’m sure your mind will change soon enough anyway.”
“….”
The appetizer arrived in the meantime.
I ate the appetizer quickly and continued speaking.
“Well, even if we’re eating in a rush…. I wanted to treat you to something nice.”
At that, Kibon, who had been holding his spoon quietly, looked directly at me and asked.
“…Why?”

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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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