The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 91
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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 91
Of course, both Warehouse 113 and Warehouse 241 contained scrolls in green boxes. Those scrolls had naturally been positioned so that no accidents would occur even if used at the banquet hall.
‘But those scrolls bore a mark that only I could recognize.’
When Kairo’s form vanished, the original scroll required waving one’s hand five times, but the scroll in Warehouse 113 required four waves, while the one in Warehouse 241 required six.
‘This way, I could tell whether the scrolls had been switched or not, and I could even identify which faction had done the switching.’
Had I divided the factions into more groups, I could have examined things more precisely, but given the time constraints, splitting them into two was the best I could manage.
‘No one could swap that many scrolls alone. There would naturally need to be cooperation from the Ministry of Education staff who transport the scrolls….’
In other words, it would have worked like this: the spy in the Scroll Department provides information, and then the Ministry of Education moves into action.
I took a deep breath and steadied myself.
It was a trap I’d set in anticipation of a spy’s existence, but seeing the results with my own eyes made my heart sink.
‘Did I suffer mentally over this without realizing it? My stomach keeps churning.’
The nausea that had plagued me since yesterday intensified. I suppressed that queasiness and whispered into Kiaros’s ear.
“Your Highness.”
If Kiaros had already found me suspicious earlier, it was better to offer some excuse now, however hastily.
“I was simply looking because I found Young Prince Jayden adorable. I had no time to concern myself with special abilities or anything like that.”
I had to lie despite knowing it seemed suspicious. I couldn’t reveal that I knew the future.
But I could expose someone even more suspicious.
“I was observing the results of the trap I set, as I mentioned before….”
I calmed my pounding heart.
At the final moment, when Kairo’s form vanished, he waved his hand four times.
No matter how long I waited, no matter how desperately I waited, Kairo waved only four times before disappearing.
Truly… I had actually hoped he would wave five times.
I had hoped no one had switched the scrolls, that there was no longer any spy in this organization.
“I’ve roughly identified the spy in the Scroll Department. The person who tried to ruin this banquet and bring me down.”
Kiaros’s expression was equally grave. After all, this plan was something we had devised together beforehand.
[Will you be attending the Saint Cairo Banquet?]
[Well. At first, I wasn’t planning to go.]
[I would appreciate it if you would attend.]
I glanced at the Minister of Education. Our eyes met immediately. The Minister of Education was in a panic, his expression one of disbelief.
Of course he couldn’t believe it—the scrolls had been switched, yet the event had concluded without incident.
Seeing that expression, Kiaros’s face also turned cold.
“As expected, Namia’s suspicions were… entirely correct.”
From that point on, Kiaros’s authority was necessary to corner him.
Since I couldn’t simply tell him, ‘I’ll handle it myself, just give me the signal,’ I had asked him to come to the banquet in person to confirm the scene.
Of course, I hadn’t expected him to ask for a partner… but thinking about it, thanks to Kiaros asking me to be his partner, having him right beside me made communication convenient.
“In any case, which faction does the spy belong to?”
Kiaros only knew roughly that I had divided the Scroll Department staff into two groups and given them different information. So I had to tell him the names now.
I maintained my composure as much as possible and whispered.
“Victor Awin, Anastasia Kayen.”
“Team Leader rank, then.”
“And….”
“Hmm? There’s more?”
“…Ah….”
My breath caught sharply in my throat.
Despite maintaining composure until now, my fingertips began to tremble. Speaking this name aloud was infinitely harder than the previous two.
My throat tightened and tears welled up. Only after taking several deep breaths could I barely, truly barely, suppress the emotion.
A voice within me whispered endlessly, ‘Surely not. It can’t be him.’ Yet I couldn’t exclude him from the list.
“It’s….”
I had spoken to the Team Leader inside the Minister’s Office, and to the remaining staff outside it.
Since the Minister’s Office had poor soundproofing, I had secretly used a soundproofing scroll. If the information leaked and the staff outside heard it, this plan would have to be abandoned.
And the meaning of that name was….
“…Kibon Altes, sir. He’s my secretary in the Minister’s Office.”
Though I didn’t want to believe it, there was a spy among these three.
* * *
“Where are you going, Minister?”
“Ah, I’ve developed a headache.”
The Minister of Education turned around hastily.
“I should leave first. Enjoy the banquet.”
My head throbbed as though the headache were genuine. Meeting Namia’s cool blue eyes, an instinctive fear swept over me.
That woman knows everything. She deliberately set this trap.
The day before the event, I received a note from the Gaejo Faction.
Office scrolls are stored in a green box in Warehouse 113.
Switch them with the scrolls in the blue box for the event.
The event is tomorrow, and the quantity is too large to switch them alone without being detected.
Fortunately, the Ministry of Education staff will be moving the scroll boxes, so have them switch them just before the event. The Scroll Department has too few personnel to monitor the Ministry of Education staff.
Then the final Kairo-shaped flame will strike the chandelier and cause a massive fire in the banquet hall.
The Gaejo Faction’s instructions were based on information provided by a spy in the Scroll Department.
The Minister of Education ordered seven civil servants with five years of service who had been mobilized.
[I just received a call from the Minister of Scrolls—apparently the scrolls are wrong. He says the scrolls in the green box from Warehouse 113 are for the banquet hall. Go get them switched right now. Ah, keep the boxes as they are. The Empress and the Young Prince must not learn of this mistake.]
The Ministry of Education civil servants nodded, thinking, ‘That’s just how the Scroll Department operates.’
[Still, preserve the pride of the Ministry of Education staff. Don’t even speak with the Scroll Department civil servants. I’m sorry to have you mobilized for this event, but I promise there won’t be anything like this in the future. As a token of encouragement, I’ve brought energy drinks—everyone have one bottle each.]
I had confirmed with my own eyes the switch taking place in Warehouse 113. Yet the result was this….
The sight of Namia whispering with Kiaros was chilling.
‘I need to hide myself first.’
It was as I quickly left the banquet hall.
“Please stop right there.”
When I reached the Palace Rear Gate, someone blocked my path as if they had been waiting.
A brown-haired youth standing with a group of unknown knights. The Minister of Education recognized at a glance that the man who had stopped him was merely an ordinary civil servant.
“Who are you? Get out of my way!”
“I am Luca Class, the rival of Namia Loapi, Minister of Scrolls.”
“What?”
The young man—whose face bore a peculiar blend of dullness and an obsessive intensity that stood out starkly—lifted his head.
“We conducted a drug screening on the seven civil servants from the Ministry of Education who were mobilized for the Scroll Department’s event earlier. Every single one tested positive for paralytic toxin.”
The Minister of Education’s heart sank with a heavy thud.
It was true—he had laced the energy drinks he gave his staff with paralytic toxin.
After all, there was a high probability they would testify that the “Minister of Education ordered the scroll substitution.”
Originally, amid the chaos of the massive fire, they should have all perished in the flames—
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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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