༺ I’m a Civil Servant (3) ༻
It had been a week since the thrilling reunion with Duke Gold almost happened. Until four days ago, I dreamt of the 3rd Manager exploding and Duke Gold coming to the Prosecutor’s office.
In my dream, I felt helpless while being verbally thrashed by his smiling face. I, later on, hit the table in regret while saying, ‘I should have replied like this!’ It made me even angrier because the dream was so detailed. Was someone controlling my dreams? How could I have dreamt the exact same thing four days in a row?
“You sleep so peacefully that you even had a dream?”
“You slept for four days consecutively…?”
“You… Slept…?”
“The Prosecutor’s office working condition has reached rock bottom, sigh…”
What’s wrong with the last one? What did you even do without sleeping for an entire week?
“Executive Manager, you gave me more work, and I was forced to move the date schedule. I couldn’t sleep because I was dealing with the messed up schedule.”
“I think not letting you go was the best possible thing for the ladies.”
What a guy. So it was possible to date even in such an atmosphere. The 3rd Manager looked bitterly at the 2nd Manager after he said something that provoked all singles. There’s no way that the guy would succeed.
Of course, that was also the case for me. His gaze turned to me. We realized we were both comrades in the same situation. But I didn’t want to get used to this.
The 1st Manager, who was looking at the scene, opened his mouth after scratching his head for a while.
“Executive Manager, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Huh? Didn’t you already finish the report?”
“Yes. Besides the report, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“The Minister was looking for you. He said you should go to his office after the meeting.”
My body stiffened after hearing that the Minister was looking for me. But I soon relaxed. Seeing that he asked me to meet him after the reunion was over, probably no ink bottle would fly through the air.
I felt sad about my own situation as I subconsciously flinched after hearing the word Minister. I didn’t have many higher-ups. But sadly, the one I had wasn’t a normal person. Would it not be better to have ten normal ones for my mental health?
“Why does that old man always uses someone to send a message instead of a communication device? The last time, he used the Senior Manager.”
Upon hearing those words, the 1st Manager looked at me. It was as if he were asking if I really didn’t know why.
“Executive Manager, the Manager said you often don’t receive his calls. According to him, out of 10 calls, you only receive 3 ~ 4 of them.”
“What’s wrong with someone not receiving a call if you’re in the middle of doing something important?”
There was nothing wrong with a Civil Servant being unable to take a call. After all, a Prosecutor wasn’t a rural security guard. It was one of the Empire’s core departments. So wouldn’t receiving all of the Minister’s calls mean I was doing nothing? He should be happy instead of getting angry.
The 2nd Manager laughed at my answer. It was as if he was saying, ‘That’s why you’re a frequent customer of the Minister’s room.’
“If I were the Minister, I would have already stuck a pen in the Executive Manager’s head.”
“Ah, so that’s why he swings it every time he sees me.”
Alas, I got the answer to one of the questions I always harbored in my mind.
“Haha… Anyway, shouldn’t you get going? It isn’t that he’s angry, but if you’re late, he’s for sure going to get angry with you.”
“I always see him in that state, so it really doesn’t matter.”
Although I said that, I quietly got up from my seat. Because even though it was a sight I was accustomed to, I really didn’t want to look at it this time around. My eyes felt drowsy. I felt like I was about to go crazy. The Minister always got angry and reacted in a new way.
“If you keep acting like that, I’ll name you the new Minister once I retire!”
I still couldn’t forget what he’d said. To think that he would threaten someone with what they feared the most…
“Anyway, there was nothing more to discuss. So you’re dismissed.”
“Yes~”
“Please, return safely.”
Knock knock-
“Minister, it’s me. The Prosecutor Executive Manager.”
“Come in.”
As I opened the door, I seriously thought about closing it again. I saw the middle-aged Minister training with dumbbells. Ugh, my eyes.
“What are you doing…?”
“Why did such a young man had already become senile? I’m training.”
No, that isn’t why I asked. Why is a Minister training in the middle of his work time?
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
The Minister was right before me, so I couldn’t say that.
‘It’s better for him to be training than be angry, so…’
When he was angry, those muscles came flying in my direction. So there was no way I’d be able to stand it. I wish he trained all the time.
After looking at me carefully entering the room, he threw the dumbbells to the side. The floor shook, along with a loud sound. Crazy… Crazy bastard…
“Why are you so surprised? Can’t you even lift that?”
“Yes? Why do you think I can?”
The Minister, who had a huge presence that seemed to be asking to be seen, walked towards me. It was as if a giant bear had stood up on its feet and was approaching me.
I was almost prepared to fall to my knees and beg for my life. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong, but it was my mistake… He hit me on the back while frowning.
“Agh!”
“You, why have you become so skinny? You’ve lost a lot of muscles because you’ve been stuck in the office!”
“No, I’ve never heard that before….!”
I’m sure that most people seem skinny to you!
As I replied angrily while feeling the pain coming from the back, the Minister answered with a laugh.
“You never go outside, so you have obviously never heard that.”
“No f, ah. It angers me more because it’s true.”
“Anyways, take a seat. There’s something I wanted to tell you.”
Because the Minister took a seat, I was also forced to do it.
‘Why did he get bigger in just a few weeks?’
As I scanned him up and down, I noticed his muscles had grown bigger. Are these muscles that can grow endlessly? Who lets such a monster roam around freely in the world? There’s no way he’s a human. I wasn’t sure if he was at least a half-ogre. However, what I was certain about was that he wasn’t someone who should be stuck as an Administrative Minister.
As proof of that, every time we celebrated the incorporation of a new member, one could see their eyes tremble nervously. It doesn’t matter how you look at it. He should be a Defense Minister or an enemy. He’s too big to be a simple Administrative Minister.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing. Just that you’re amazing.”
If I tell people that I work for such a person, what would others think? They would probably think I’m a gangster…
After hearing me say he was impressive, the Minister seemed like he wasn’t interested anymore. So he laid back on the chair and stroked his chin.
Woah, even the chair looks small.
“Recently, I haven’t given you any task. Right?”
“Well, yes. If I’m doing something, it’s usually a task given by you. So you should know. Right?”
I had to deal with a lot of reports. But the Executive Manager didn’t have any task to do personally. I was almost forced to go to the field because of the Gold Duke incident. But thankfully that situation got resolved by the 3rd Manager.
“Hmm…”
“What’s wrong? Do you want to give me some work? But recently, neither of us were given any task.”
“No, there’s none. But.”
“Why did your sentence end with a but? Don’t make me anxious.”
That means there’s work now. I could already see my future being hit with a lot of work, so I frowned. But the Minister didn’t seem to care.
‘What’s going on? Is it something huge?’
He wasn’t someone who would stand still while watching someone else complain. It wouldn’t have been weird if a punch had come flying in my direction. Yet, he was just silent. They always said that no news was the scariest news. So it seemed like it was something big. Damn it, it’s only been a week since the Gold Duke incident. Another thing happened so soon?
* * * *
On the other hand, the Minister had also fallen into deep thought. Something he had to deal with, had happened. The incident was too big for an Executive Manager to go. But it was too small for him to go personally. Of course, he could always force the Executive Manager to go. But if something big happened, there was a chance he had to go there hurriedly.
The issue was that recently, the Minister couldn’t move without careful consideration. If that weren’t the case, he would have gone without hesitation.
‘As expected, I have to make this guy deal with it.’
Carl was one of the Executive Managers of the Ministry of Finance. But thinking about Carl, who was in charge of the Prosecutors, you couldn’t say he was just another Executive Manager. Although he wasn’t as important as a Minister, he was clearly in a higher position than others.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“You said you want to go to the Academy. Right?”
Carl’s face brightened after hearing those words.
* * * *
My eyes widened after hearing his words, as energy coursed throughout my body. Yes, I did say that a lot. That I didn’t want to be a Civil Servant and enjoy life at the Academy. Every time I said that, the Minister hit me and he asked me not to speak such nonsense.
‘Was he asking me to retire?’
If not, I couldn’t understand why he thought about it this much. He was letting a fine talent like me go. So it was understandable he would think about it a lot.
In reality, I always believed in the Minister. I knew that behind that muscular body and aggressive way of speaking, there was someone kind. That was why he didn’t ignore the desperate cry of his subordinate and accepted his request! Although we’d only spent 4 years together, those years had more meaning than 40.
Yes, of course.
“Minister! I’ve always respected you!”
As I said that, the Minister looked at me as if he asking what was wrong with me. But I didn’t stop. The Minister had listened to my request, and with that, he’d become a personal hero of mine.
“It’s too bad that I’ll have to leave the Minister’s side and live like a student of the Academy, but I’ll never forget these 4 years that felt like 40. From the moment I met the Minister, I felt like my time had begun flowing differently from others. That’s why instead of 4 years, I feel like I’ve spent 400 years…”
The Minister ignored my quitting discourse and gave me some documents.
“Don’t speak nonsense and read this.”
“- That’s why the 4 years I spent with the Minister felt like 4000… What’s this? Severance Pay Documents?”
That’s when I finally grabbed the documents the Minister had given me. Usually, I would’ve grabbed it carefully as if it were radioactive material. But the Minister had become a God-like being that existed to bring order into my life.
“Huh…?”
After I read the first sentence, that God-like image started to crumble.
I order Carl Krasius, the Prosecutor Executive Manager of the Ministry of Finance, to go to the Empire’s Academy as an emergency inspector.
– Kefellofen’s Finance Minister
Earl Deber Briad of Blotchen
I looked at the Minister with trembling eyes.
The Minister nodded.
“You wanted to go to the Academy. So for you, I especially considered this.”
“What the! I said I wanted to go to the Academy and study! What kind of crazy guy would say he wants to go there to work?!”
But the order was already given. The Finance Minister, who acted after receiving the Emperor’s orders, had ordered him. So if he refused without real reason, that would be like going against the Emperor. Challenging the Empire.
I had to do what he had ordered. If I didn’t want to follow orders, I could always change to another sector. What I usually did to the other Managers had come back to me. However, I learned this from the Minister. In the end, I was forced to leave the room with my slave certificate.
“You son of a bitch…”
The Minister had fell from a God-like position to a son of a bitch.
