Episode 50: Kibune Altis' Circumstances (Part 1)
Namiya released her hand that was holding his with a slight smile, and spoke with a relaxed expression:
“Since we've met before, let's skip dating and get down to business.”
"Yes."
“……”
“Is there a problem?”
“Hmm.”
Namiya stared at Chiaros intently.
Then, with a slight sigh and polite demeanor, she said:
“Normally… in a situation like this, you are supposed to ask me to speak freely first.
But since you are a foreigner and may not know, I will start directly.
Can I speak freely?
You look very young.”
Ah, now that he thought about it, it was true.
Bosses usually talk freely with their secretaries.
'I deliberately set Kibune's age as 22 years old.
She must have seen the personal records.'
Kiaros had intentionally made the age of his pseudonym identity young.
Even the date of birth has been roughly modified.
He chose his homeland to be the Kingdom of Emot because its interaction with the Empire was very limited.
Creating a character that doesn't exist means reducing the possibility of problems.
'Since this is my mother's homeland, it's not entirely a lie.'
Half of his blood was from the Emot Kingdom.
Of course, he had only visited the Emot Kingdom once…
Anyway, he now had to get used to Kibune's identity.
"Yes."
When Kiaros nodded, Namiya smiled slightly.
"Great.
Shall we start reviewing some old documents together?"
The first assignment seemed light, as it was just a review.
Namiya, noticing the apprentice's confident face, added in a sly tone:
“Don't forget your oath.
You promised yourself you wouldn't quit.
I'll check it out anyway...”
Her slightly trembling eyelashes looked strangely attractive, as if she was nervous.
This may have been due to the large number of documents that needed to be reviewed.
"Yes."
But Chiaros was quite comfortable with that.
Those documents had already been reviewed by Chiaros once.
Based on that review, most members of the Records Management Department were removed.
‘I can’t believe she gets flustered just being assigned the task of reviewing documents… and saying she’ll do a second review herself too…’
Namiya seemed very kind to play the role of the boss.
Trying to reassure her, he said again:
“You said it was your first time dealing with subordinates.”
“Um…”
“When you deal with me, just remember one thing.
If you give an order, I will follow it without question.
So, don’t worry about giving orders, just give them.”
"H-Really?
I'll definitely give you orders, but you must never quit."
Without any change in his expression, Chiaros immediately replied:
“Yes.
I will not quit no matter what.”
But after less than two hours...
'I want to quit.'
Kiaros took a deep, shuddering breath.
'That woman...'
Namiya's smile didn't look so pretty anymore.
'...Is she a demon?'
✧✧✧✧✧✧
On the morning of Namiah's first day as minister, some ministers gathered informally.
Their expressions reflected anger.
“This is unbelievable.
A 23-year-old minister?”
“No matter how much chaos that department is in, wouldn't it be inappropriate for someone like her to become a minister like us?
Are we supposed to see her at ministerial meetings?”
They were upset with Namiya's appointment as minister.
There were different opinions among the ministers.
Some of them were lenient—accepting her appointment, believing that there was a good reason why the Master of the Magic Tower had placed her in this position.
Others were indifferent, saying it didn't matter as long as it didn't affect the work of their departments.
And then…
“Oh my God.
I saw Namya’s personal record...
Her academic grades and exam results were very mediocre.
It is a historical shame that someone like her became a minister.”
“Our subordinates will make fun of us.
Don’t you agree?”
…There was a group that could not accept Namiya’s appointment as minister in any way.
These were the ones who met secretly to discuss their plans.
“We have to get her out of office.”
Among them, there was a middle-aged man sitting quietly, his eyes shining seriously.
Speak in a low voice:
“Didn’t we all feel dissatisfied with the incompetence of the previous Minister of the Records Management Department?
But now, the bottom of that department is the Secretary.
That says it all.”
He was the Minister of Finance, known for his strong influence among ministers.
Historically, the Minister of Finance has naturally led ministers.
“Even if she is young, I can accept it if she is competent.”
The Minister of Finance continued his speech with a serious face:
“But that doesn’t seem to be the case.
We barely succeeded in transferring the department from the Magic Tower to the Imperial Palace.
We can’t leave the department in disarray like the old Records Management Department was.
If that were the case, it would be better to get rid of it completely.”
“Do you know Namya Rawabi personally, Minister of Finance?”
one of the ministers asked cautiously.
The Finance Minister was speaking on the assumption that Namia Rawabi was incompetent.
“The Minister of Justice said Namia seemed very intelligent.”
The Minister of Justice was not present at this meeting.
But he said that he himself heard the Master of the Magic Tower requesting that Namiya be appointed Minister.
He only said, “I was against it at first, but… well, she seems strong.” He was one of the ministers who was not interested in the matter.
The Minister of Finance nodded slowly and spoke:
“I have Namia’s twin brother who works in my ministry.
Juan Ruapi.”
"Really?
Do you know him?"
"He's often a day late for his deadline, but he does his job well.
His results were excellent, so he was quickly promoted.
I've been keeping a close eye on him."
In a ministry as large as the Ministry of Finance, it was unusual for a minister to know the name of an employee in his fourth year.
On the other hand, this meant that Juan Ruape's abilities were prominent enough to be recognized by the minister.
The Finance Minister was the type of person who did not discriminate between people based on age or gender.
Therefore, even though Juan Ruapi was only in his fourth year, the Minister did not hesitate to acknowledge his abilities.
“Even if they were the same age, I wouldn't mind if Juan became a minister.
He may be a little immature while working, but in the end he achieves great results.
Whenever he requested access to high-level documents for review, he always returned results worthy of it.
As for his sister...”
The Minister of Finance paused for a moment, touching his chin thoughtfully.
“Juan often complained that his sister was stupid from birth.”
“I understand.”
“They were on the same team during the entrance exams.
Juan helped her a lot, but she barely passed the exams.”
Then, one of the ministers was surprised and asked:
“No, Minister of Finance.
Even you know the family circumstances of a fourth-year employee?
This is impressive.
There are many employees in the Ministry of Finance...”
"I also don't know all the details.
There's a big difference in rank, so I haven't had many conversations with him.
But I've heard some conversations at social gatherings."
The Minister of Finance shrugged his shoulders.
“His sister is not the type of person who should be here.
Apparently, he has been helping her a lot since his student days.
It is unbelievable that someone like this could become a minister.”
He said with a stern look:
“If the Imperial Court appointed her because of her connections, her magical skills must be good.”
Normally, the Minister of Finance would not intervene in such matters.
He held a rare position among civil servants, where his abilities and background were strong.
“But regardless of her magical skills, this is the imperial palace.”
He saw this situation as a power struggle between state officials and the imperial court, which is why he intervened.
“If the Emperor appointed her because he couldn’t bear the Magic Tower Master’s insistence, couldn’t we hold her accountable and impose a disciplinary punishment on her?”
“We'll see.”
He had always looked down upon the Records Management Department.
But he couldn't get close to him because he was under the authority of the Magic Tower.
But now that the Records Department was under the palace's authority, it could intervene.
“The minister’s primary duty is to prepare the budget.
Do you think anyone in the records department knows how to prepare a budget properly?
Even the previous minister wrote it messily.”
The Minister of Finance said coldly, touching his chin with his finger.
“By the end of the day, I will make sure you resign voluntarily.”
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