Chapter 4

Chapter 3

I Am a Civil Servant - 3

After almost getting into a thrilling and heart-pounding interview with the Golden Ball, I managed to salvage the situation at the last moment, and a week has passed. Until four days ago, I had dreams where Section Chief 3 exploded spectacularly and the Golden Ball finally came to the Inspection Department.

In those dreams, I was helplessly swayed by his hollow laughter and soul-stripping eloquence, and I must have slammed my desk several times, thinking, "I should have countered like this!" The details were so vivid that it made me even more frustrated. Is someone controlling my dreams? How could I have the same dream for four consecutive days?

"Did you sleep so well that you had dreams?"

"For four consecutive days...?"

"Slept... well...?"

"The working environment of the Inspection Department has hit rock bottom..."

What was that last part? What did you do for a week without sleeping?

"Section Chief, you covered my shifts, so my date was postponed. I’ve been so busy catching up that I haven’t been able to sleep."

"Maybe not letting you go home is for the good of the young ladies in the department?"

What a bastard. It seems that even in such an environment, some people can still manage to date. Section Chief 3 looked at Section Chief 2 with a sad expression in response to his broad provocation. That guy was a typical failure.

Of course, I am too. After a brief exchange of camaraderie with Section Chief 3 when our eyes met by chance, we both turned away. I don’t want to get used to this kind of camaraderie.

Section Chief 1, who had been watching the scene, scratched his head and spoke up.

"Director, I have something to say."

"Huh? The report from Section 1 isn’t finished yet?"

"No, it’s not a report. I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"The Minister is looking for you. He said to come after the meeting."

My body stiffened at the mention of the Minister, but then relaxed. The fact that he gave me a grace period until after the meeting suggested that it wouldn’t be another ink bottle and shouting session.

I felt sad that I instinctively shrink at the mention of the Minister. There are few superiors, but each one of them is not an ordinary person. Maybe it would be better for my mental health to have ten ordinary superiors instead?

"Seriously, why does that old man use a messenger instead of a perfectly good communication system? He did the same thing to the Deputy Director last time."

At that, Section Chief 1’s red eyes silently looked at me, as if asking, "Do you not know?"

"What, what, what?"

"Director, you said the Minister doesn’t answer calls well, right? He gets angry when he only answers three or four out of ten calls."

"Sometimes people can’t answer calls when they’re busy with important work."

A civil servant can sometimes be unable to answer calls due to important work. The Inspection Department is not a small guard post in a village but one of the core departments of the empire. If the director answered all calls, it might be a sign of idleness. The Minister should be happy that his subordinate is busy with work.

Section Chief 2 burst out laughing at my brazen response, as if saying, "That’s why you’re a regular visitor to the Minister’s office."

"If I were the Minister, I would have stuck a pen in your head long ago."

"Guess that’s why you always aim for my head."

One of my long-standing questions was finally answered. Indeed, that’s why...

"Ugh... Anyway, should I go now? He didn’t call me in anger, but I’ll see an angry Minister if I’m late."

"It’s always the same, so it doesn’t really matter."

Even though he said that, I quietly stood up from my seat. It’s precisely because it’s always the same that I don’t want to see it. Every time, he gets angry in a new and different way, which is maddening for the person on the receiving end. My eyes momentarily glazed over.

"If you keep acting like that, I’ll designate you as the next Minister when I retire!"

I still can’t forget that roar from a year ago. To touch on what a person fears the most is too much...

"Anyway, since there’s nothing else to say, let’s adjourn."

"Yes~"

"Come back safely."

-Knock knock

"Minister, it’s me, the head of the Inspection Department."

"Come in."

As soon as I opened the door, I seriously considered closing it again. The Minister, with his hands full of dumbbells, was flexing his muscles. Oh, my eyes.

"...What are you doing?"

"Are you already getting old? I’m working out."

No, I’m not asking because I don’t know you’re working out. Who works out in their office during business hours?

"Ah, yes, I see."

Of course, I couldn’t say that with the Minister right in front of me.

'Being in a workout state is better than being in a rage...'

If he were in a rage, those muscles he’s flexing would fly at me. I had a small wish that he had spent a hundred days training alone.

The Minister, who had been watching me enter cautiously, threw the dumbbells to one corner, and the floor shook violently with a thud. Crazy... crazy bastard...

"Why are you so surprised? Can’t you lift that much?"

"Excuse me? Why do you think I can lift it?"

The Minister, who seemed to be showing off his muscles, walked towards me, as if a giant bear was standing on two legs and approaching. At that incredible sight, I almost knelt down and begged for forgiveness, even though I didn’t know what I had done wrong. Anyway, I did something wrong... The Minister, who had approached, frowned and hit me on the back.

"Ouch!"

"Brat, you look so thin. You’ve been stuck in your office, so you’ve lost all your muscle."

"I haven’t heard that from anyone...!"

Do you think anyone looks fat to you?

I protested spasmodically from the pain in my back, but the Minister ignored me and laughed instead.

"Of course, you haven’t heard it. You never go outside."

"Damn, that’s true, which makes me even more angry."

"Enough, sit down. I called you here to talk."

The Minister turned his back on me and sat in the main seat, so I had no choice but to sit down without further protest.

'Why does he look even bigger after a few weeks?'

Scanning him quickly, I noticed that his muscles had definitely grown more than the last time. Infinite growth muscles? Who let such a crazy creature loose in the world? Is he even human? He’s more like a half-ogre. One thing is certain: he’s not the kind of talent who should stay as the Minister of Finance.

Every time the Finance Department holds a welcome party for new officials, the pupils of the new recruits shake wildly when they see the Minister. This is proof that it’s not just my opinion but everyone’s. He’s more suited to be the Minister of War or a marshal, not the Minister of Finance. In many ways.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just that you’re amazing."

If I told people I work under someone like him, they would probably think I’m in a gang, not the Inspection Department...

The Minister, who didn’t seem to care about my flattery, leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin. Wow, even the chair looks small now.

"You don’t have any work to do these days, right?"

"Well, no. If I had any work, it would be something you assigned, and you would know."

There are many reports and tasks from the sections, but there’s nothing the director needs to handle directly. I almost got involved in the Golden Ball incident, but fortunately, it was resolved at the third section level.

"Hmm..."

"Why are you doing that? Are you trying to give me a break? But there’s no work for either of us these days, right?"

"There wasn’t, but there isn’t anymore."

"Why did you say it that way? It’s unsettling."

So, there is something now. I instinctively saw a future of being beaten up and frowned. But the Minister didn’t care whether I showed dissatisfaction in front of him.

'What is it? Is it really a big deal?'

Showing my dissatisfaction openly, the Minister, who doesn’t just sit there, didn’t immediately shout or punch me. Silence is the most terrifying, and it’s clear that this is not a trivial matter. Damn, it’s only been a week since the Golden Ball incident was resolved, and something else has happened?

Meanwhile, the Minister, who seemed to be in deep thought, was indeed in deep thought. A task had come up, but it was too big for a section chief to handle and too small for the Minister to go personally. Of course, he could force a section chief to go, but if things went wrong, the Minister might have to go himself.

The problem was that the Minister couldn’t move around freely these days. If he could, he would have acted without hesitation.

'Should I really give this to him?'

Karl was one of the section chiefs in the Finance Department, and he was also a member of the upper echelons. But considering the status of the Inspection Department and Karl’s personal status, he couldn’t be considered just a section chief. He was not on par with the Minister, but he was definitely above other section chiefs.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"You said you wanted to go to the Academy, right?"

At the Minister’s words, my eyes widened, and I felt a surge of energy. Yes, I often said that. I wanted to enjoy a simple life at the Academy instead of this hellish civil service life. Every time I said that, I would get a slap on the back from the Minister, telling me to stop whining.

'Could it be? A promotion? A retirement?'

If so, it makes sense why the Minister was so hesitant. He had to let go of a high-level talent like me, and he naturally had to think about it until the very end. But he decided to accept my resignation.

In fact, I trusted the Minister. I believed that beneath his burly body and fierce tone lay a serious and considerate heart. That’s why he didn’t ignore my pitiful pleas and eventually accepted them! Although we only spent about four years together, those four years were more meaningful than forty. Ah, yes, that’s right.

"Minister! I have always deeply respected you!"

The Minister looked at me with an expression that said, "This brat is at it again." But I didn’t care. In my heart, the Minister had already become a hero who granted my lifelong wish.

"Leaving your side to be just a student at the Academy is a sad thing, but I will never forget the four years that felt like forty years with you. From the moment I first met you, my time has flowed differently from others. That’s why these four years felt like four hundred years..."

The Minister, who had been listening indifferently, handed me a document while letting my retirement speech go in one ear and out the other.

"Stop whining and read this."

"─That’s why the four thousand years I spent with you... What is this? A retirement document?"

Only then did I stop my resignation speech and take the document the Minister handed me. Normally, I would have received it as if it were radioactive waste, but in my heart, the Minister had already become a god ruling the world for the sake of order.

"...What?"

A single sentence in the document made the god’s position waver.

[...The head of the Finance Department’s Inspection Department, Karl Krasius, is dispatched to the Imperial Academy as an emergency inspector. - Minister of Finance, Dever Briard von Blochen, Count of Blochen]

My trembling pupils turned to the Minister.

The Minister nodded calmly.

"You said you wanted to go to the Academy. I made a special effort for you."

"This crazy! I said I wanted to attend the Academy, not work there! Who in their right mind would want to work at the Academy!"

But the order was already written. The Minister of Finance, who oversees the Finance Department by imperial decree, had issued the order directly. Refusing it without a valid reason would be a challenge to the Emperor and the Empire.

If you’re told to go, you have to go. If you’re unhappy, go to another department. The karma I usually inflicted on the section chiefs was now coming back to me. Although I had learned all of that karma from the Minister. In the end, with no justification left, I had to leave the Minister’s office with the order, which was essentially a slave certification.

"Real bastard..."

The Minister’s position changed from god to bastard.