Chapter 88

Mishena, after leaving the lord's office, stumbled back to the room assigned to the junior officials, where many of them were gathered with worried faces. They quickly surrounded her, surprised by her appearance.

"Hey, Mishena. What's going on?"

"Ever since the higher-ups disappeared, we've been dragged here by Zoan..."

Mishena tried to calm her colleagues with gestures, who were trying to get information from her.

"Um, please calm down first. I'll explain everything."

Mishena took a deep breath, calmed herself, and then began to name a few of the more senior and trustworthy junior officials.

"From today, those I just named will be the financial officers. The rest will be financial clerks."

The financial clerks, who had been looking at each other in surprise, eventually broke into dry laughter.

"Haha, Mishena, cut the jokes..."

"No, I'm not joking. It's true."

Mishena then explained the series of events that led to this. When her explanation was over, the financial clerks, still half-disbelieving, began to murmur with joy.

Mishena then warned them.

"However! From now on, taking a portion of the taxes as a perk is strictly forbidden. If you break this rule, you will be severely punished!"

Several voices of discontent rose up. Even those who did not voice their discontent had grim faces. Everyone in the room was someone who needed to take a portion of the taxes to make ends meet.

"Please calm down. With the promotion, our salaries will increase! Not only that, but the salaries of the officials themselves will be significantly raised!"

When Mishena explained exactly how much the salaries would increase, a wave of positive murmurs arose. However, there were still some who were reluctant to give up their established right to take a portion of the taxes. Mishena explained in simple terms.

"Think about it carefully. As junior officials, we could only take a tiny bit of the taxes. In comparison, the salary we will receive from now on will be several times more. We can live comfortably without embezzlement or side jobs. Is it better to tamper with the accounts for a little money, or to work honestly and earn several times more? Which one is smarter, I'm sure you all know, right?"

Agreement came from various places.

In front of her jubilant colleagues, Mishena finally began to feel the reality of her promotion to chief financial officer and the significant increase in her salary.

If my family knew this, they would be happy, wouldn't they? Yes, let's celebrate today. I'll buy some freshly baked bread, a big fish, and maybe even a chicken. And instead of cheap ale, let's have some wine.

As she thought about this, her stomach growled.

Mishena, blushing with embarrassment, clutched her stomach, but fortunately, her elated colleagues did not hear it. She sighed in relief and smiled wryly.

Ah, I've been caught by the new lord's stomach.

Such thoughts came to her mind, but she did not feel bad about it.

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Dwarven craftsman leader Dvalin stomped into Mishena's office, making a loud noise.

"Hey, girl. I have a favor to ask!"

Dvalin's loud voice, which was rude even for a request, echoed through the office.

Mishena, who had been sorting through documents at her desk, slowly raised her head.

"Again, Dvalin...?"

Those who knew her from before would have been shocked.

Compared to just a few months ago, her face was heavily lined with fatigue. Her freckled cheeks were gaunt, her eyes sunken, and dark circles formed around them. Her voice was weak, as if her soul had been drained.

Ignoring her condition, Dvalin thrust a piece of paper into Mishena's hands.

"Hey! I want to make new tools and kilns. I need money and materials!"

Mishena, who glanced at the paper Dvalin handed her, let out an un-ladylike sound.

"What, what, what! The amount of money and materials here?!"

"Huh? Is it too little?"

In contrast to Mishena, who had jumped out of her chair in shock, Dvalin answered nonchalantly.

"It's not too little, it's too much! And why is there a barrel of ale in the materials?!"

"Aye. To dwarves, ale is the lubricant and fuel for work. We can't do without it."

Dvalin's matter-of-fact tone made Mishena feel dizzy, and she wobbled and sat back down.

At that moment, red-haired Zoan, Kraga Bigana Zugg, poked his head in.

"Hey! I'm going to hold a feast to celebrate the warriors. I need more meat and ale!"

With his arms crossed, Zugg leaned back and demanded.

"Come on, hand it over!"

Mishena, panicking, asked.

"Feast? But we just had one for a young warrior's wedding, didn't we?"

"Was it? Then this time—"

After tilting his head and humming for a while, Zugg snapped his fingers.

"—That's it! The young warrior who got married last time had his first marital spat and was thoroughly beaten by his wife. This is a feast to console him."

Clearly, he had just thought of this reason on the spot.

Mishena placed her hands on the desk and bowed her head, her body trembling.

Indeed, thanks to the new lord, life had become more prosperous. They no longer went hungry, and they had moved from a dilapidated shack to a solid rental house. As a result, her aged mother and young siblings looked much healthier.

She and her family were grateful for this. Her mother even bowed towards the lord's residence every morning and evening.

However, Mishena thought.

Isn't this workload a bit too much?

The mountain of documents that never seemed to decrease, the constant petitions from subordinates and town notables, and the negotiations with merchants made her head spin.

And yet, these fools, every time.

Gradually, a bubbling anger rose in Mishena's chest. However, Dvalin and Zugg, oblivious to her state, continued to demand the delivery of supplies.

"Come on, money and materials!" said Dvalin.

"Come on, meat and ale!" said Zugg.

Finally, they began to egg each other on, chanting in unison.

Finally, Mishena snapped.

"Enough, just stop it!"

She grabbed the documents spread out on the desk and slammed them down, barking.

"You're depleting our reserves by spending without thinking! I won't give you a single bronze coin, a single drink, or a single piece of meat!"

Dvalin and Zugg were both shocked by Mishena's words.

"You scoundrel! What a wretched creature. Are you telling us dwarves to drink water? You cold-blooded woman!"

Zugg also agreed.

"Indeed, a heartless creature. Her body must be filled with ice instead of blood!"

"That's right, that's right! A woman with ice in her veins!"

"Ice-blooded woman!"

Mishena, falsely accused in front of them, pointed to the entrance of the office with trembling fingers, unable to contain her anger.

"Get out, now!"

She let out a loud, angry voice that echoed throughout the lord's residence.

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Mishena's angry voice reached the lord's office, a short distance away.

"Hmm. It seems Mishena has become quite accustomed to everyone," Shemul said, listening to Mishena's voice with a reflective tone.

"From being as meek as a rabbit surrounded by wolves, she now stands up to those two fools. She's grown quite a bit."

Cangma, who had also smiled, agreed.

Recently, when Mishena had come crying to him, unable to refuse everyone's demands, Cangma had not scolded them but instead hinted at a salary reduction, indirectly threatening her to solve the problem herself.

Of course, it would have been easier for Cangma to directly scold them. However, if he did that, Mishena would not grow and would continue to make the same mistakes. He wanted her to solve such problems on her own, as he planned to entrust her with all the finances in the future.

Moreover, what Cangma sought was to dispel a false perception.

Currently, there was a widespread false perception among the town's residents that non-human races were terrifying rulers who dominated humans. As a result, when conflicts arose between humans and other races, even if the humans had a legitimate claim, they often gave in.

This would not create the country where all races lived equally, which Cangma aimed for.

To dispel this false perception, he wanted to create a scene where a human woman, Mishena, stood up to non-human races like Dvalin and Zugg on equal terms.

Of course, he trusted that Dvalin and Zugg would not raise a hand to a woman over a mere argument and had arranged for Shemul to intervene if necessary. Despite this, he was relieved that no bad situation had occurred.

At that moment, Zugg and Dvalin burst in, stomping their feet.

"Hey, Soma! We were told that we need your permission to get ale and food, so we came!"

"Me too! I want to make that ice-blooded woman eat her words, so give us permission quickly!"

Their aggressive approach made Cangma lean back.

Upon reflection, he realized that as the highest authority in the town, if Mishena could not approve the budget, it would naturally be sent to him.

A cold sweat trickled down Cangma's cheek as he realized this.

He had thought that if Mishena had trouble, he could easily resolve it by scolding the others, but now, confronted by these two hot-headed men, he finally realized how difficult it was.

"Um, well... Dvalin, you just had one, and Zugg, you just had a feast—"

Before Cangma could timidly list his reasons for refusal, the two began to rant over him.

"Of course, we expect Soma to approve it! Unlike that cold-blooded, heartless woman!"

"Indeed, indeed. That ice-blooded woman!"

Faced with the two of them calling Mishena "ice-blooded," Cangma, at a loss for how to make them leave quietly, let out a dry laugh.

Mishena would later be called the "Ice-blooded Chief Officer," but that is a story for a little later.

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Mishena Elbaziso, as mentioned at the beginning, was not a person of great achievement.

Her only notable achievement was the adoption of the new numerical system, which Soma had devised, in official documents.

However, in reality, she had only followed the order of Soma Kisaki, the Destroyer, who had accepted the recommendation of the Great Sage Solon, known as the Second Horn, to use the new numbers.

Mishena also evaluated herself in this way.

"I have no talent other than faithfully performing my duties."

This humble statement did not make her seem like an ambitious person who had trapped her superiors and exiled them.

In response, the Destroyer Soma Kisaki had a witty reply.

"To faithfully perform one's duties. How many people can do that? It is a rare and valuable talent."

Indeed, as Soma said, to faithfully perform one's duties seems simple, but how many people can actually do it?

However, even so, if we look at her achievements alone, the Great Sage Solon, who is said to have laid the foundation of the country alongside Soma, has a much greater impact.

Therefore, many consider Solon to be the foremost of the Three Horns.

However, the great historian Socrates, like Soma, left a high evaluation of her.

"If Mishena Elbaziso had not been there, the Destroyer Soma Kisaki would have starved hundreds of thousands of people to death and turned many more into refugees. In that case, the Destroyer Soma Kisaki would have lost the country before invading the empire. Considering this, it is not an exaggeration to say that Mishena Elbaziso was the one who brought the disaster of the Destroyer to the empire."

Thus, while some, including the Destroyer, highly evaluate her achievements, her contributions remain modest.

Therefore, in the painting of "The Destroyer Soma Kisaki" by the Master Painter Numari, she was given a small horn on her forehead. Compared to the other two horns, this horn was much smaller but was depicted as shining brightly.

It is not clear what intention the Master Painter Numari had in mind when he