Civil Servant Marigold.

4.

-Administrator.

A term used to address officials of the Imperial Central Administration. From this point on, nobles begin to show some respect.

-Senior Administrator.

A high-ranking Administrator. An Administrator of Administrators. From this point on, nobles finally start to tread carefully.

Even so, it wasn’t enough to reverse the power dynamic, but it was truly difficult for someone born a commoner to make a noble tread carefully.

In that sense, a Senior Administrator was arguably the most representative case of self-made success in this world. Among the positions one could ascend to purely through an elite course, it was the final boss.

Normally, it was a route one couldn’t even dream of.

But Marigold happened to be an Administrator.

‘Should I aim for the Senior Administrator route this time?’

After lunchtime.

“Record Keeper Mary?”

Lancel sought out Marigold. After being utterly humiliated in front of all the residents and having her report confiscated, she had been holed up in her inn room for half a day, refusing to come out.

“Record Keeper Mary? May I come in?”

There was no response to his knock.

He gently opened the door and peeked inside.

He saw Marigold sitting at her desk, engrossed in something. She had a piece of paper spread out and was constantly moving her pen across it.

‘What is she doing, not even locking the door?’

Lancel approached her from behind.

“Uuuuuum.”

She was so focused that she didn’t notice even when he deliberately made his presence known.

‘Is she studying? Or is she rewriting the report from scratch?’

Lancel subtly shifted his gaze over Marigold’s shoulder. He saw her constantly moving her pen across the paper. An unexpected sight came into view.

‘A drawing?’

And a very well-drawn one at that.

Marigold was meticulously drawing the figure of ‘a certain man’ on the paper.

“What are you drawing, Record Keeper Mary?”

“……!”

Marigold jumped up from her seat as if startled.

“Hiyak!”

The chair overturned, the paper she was trying to hide was crumpled in a rush, and her hastily moving toe collided mercilessly with the corner of the desk.

“Hic, aaaaaargh……!”

Marigold curled up in pain, silently groaning. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Lancel raised his hands as if to say, ‘I didn’t do anything.’ He simply stood there, watching the whole sequence of events.

It was at that moment that Marigold’s bag, which was on the desk, fell over, and the papers inside spilled out with a rustle.

‘What’s all that?’

The dozens of papers were filled with dense drawings.

It was questionable how she could have such skill and quantity, given how much time she must have spent drawing.

She always said she was writing a diary and secretly writing something, so it was all drawings.

“Record Keeper Mary, you have an unexpected talent.”

“Ah, it’s nothing, it’s nothing, it’s just a hobby, so it’s nothing! Please give it back, Lancel!”

Marigold, who hadn’t even fully recovered from the pain, hurriedly began to collect the drawings that had fallen to the floor.

As he picked up a drawing that had flown to his feet, he felt something familiar.

The interior of a train, a man in uniform tilting a teacup, a slightly tired face, the Imperial Knight’s insignia attached to his collar, and a hat placed on one side of the table…

‘This… is me, could it be?’

It was a slightly overly beautified drawing, but it was clearly Lancel’s appearance.

“Kyaaaaa!”

Marigold screamed and took the paper from Lancel’s hand.

“Um…….”

“It’s not! It’s not that……!”

“I didn’t say anything, Record Keeper Mary.”

“It’s not that! It’s not that! Please forget it!”

Marigold, looking tearful, collected all the papers and threw herself onto the bed. She covered herself with the blanket, completely hiding her body.

“Hic, I’m finished now. As an Administrator, as a human being, it’s all over. I can’t do anything, and I lost the report, I’m just a bug-like human being. Please leave me alone forever. Please.”

A sobbing voice.

Lancel scratched the back of his neck.

“Record Keeper Mary.”

“…….”

He poked the rolled-up wool blanket with his finger. It flinched and moved back.

Once, twice, three times. Each time he poked, it wriggled away from him.

‘An armadillo?’

A living, moving round shape. It’s a strange feeling.

No, if he lost his mind for a moment, he felt like he would get addicted to it.

Lancel reluctantly withdrew his hand, which he had been about to continue poking with. He sat on the bed and placed his palm on the rolled-up blanket.

“I know you’re upset, Record Keeper Mary. You worked so hard on that report, and it was taken away for such a ridiculous reason, so how upset you must be.”

“…….”

“You stayed up all night to make the report, so it must be hard. It must be painful. I know.”

The round shape began to tremble. He could hear sniffling and sobbing.

“Count Lunter probably didn’t have such bad intentions either. The bad thing is that the people next to him are misleading you with strange noises, Record Keeper Mary. That’s what lords are like. If you go and talk to them directly, they’ll understand, but it’s always passed on through one or two people, so misunderstandings pile up.”

Marigold’s face peeked out from the blanket. Emerald eyes, glistening with tears, turned to Lancel.

“……Then if I go and tell him directly to return the report…….”

“Well, at least there will be a way to resolve it through dialogue.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course.”

Lancel gave a thumbs up.

“Dialogue. That’s right, that’s what it was!”

Marigold threw off the blanket as if she had fully recovered her energy.

“Lancel. I, Mary, Record Keeper of the Imperial Central Administration, cannot be destroyed like this! I will never allow the dishonor of ruining my first mission from the start! Please watch me. I will become the most capable Administrator in this empire!”

Marigold’s heart, which had suddenly switched from a cold bath to a hot bath, was boiling. She began to quickly put on her coat with a determined look.

“Let’s go! To get the report back!”

“Ah, I have some work to do for a while. Go ahead, Record Keeper Mary, I’ll follow you later.”

“I understand. By the time you come, I will have finished all the negotiations, so please come with a light heart, Lancel. Goodbye!”

Lancel quietly watched Marigold’s back as she ran out through the inn window. She was diligently running towards the distant lord’s castle.

A few hours later.

==========

—Emergency Event! Marigold has been imprisoned in the dungeon of Count Lunter’s castle. She was too cocky for a rookie Administrator, Marigold!

==========

“So it happened.”

Lancel moved only after seeing that things were going as expected.

‘Just hold on a little longer, Marigold!’

Lancel could picture Marigold, her eyes lifeless, receiving Oatmeal in the dungeon.

“Count Lunter wasn’t always such a harsh person. He used to be a good person.”

“Really? What was he like in the old days?”

“To give you just one example. He didn’t impose taxes on families in difficult circumstances.”

“That’s really a saint.”

“Of course.”

Every time Lancel heard stories about Count Lunter from the territory residents, he felt like his thoughts about him became complicated.

When Lancel was sweeping through the border and the battlefield, his perception of Count Lunter was just one thing.

‘The lord who was the first to side with the rebel forces.’

No matter how much the empire was a damn gangster state and packed with reckless thugs, it was a little difficult to tolerate being the first to join the rebellion.

In any case, rebellion was a sin.

Later, the empire would be fragmented and practically enter a period of warring states, and by that time, the word rebellion would be treated as a mere joke.

At least in this era, when the empire’s form was intact, it was still not normal to plot rebellion first, no matter how much he thought about it.

Someday, this land will become a battlefield. The day when the Lunter Plains, full of wheat fields, will burn brightly and corpses will be trampled underfoot like chunks of meat was not far off. It was one of the starting points of the great war that took place throughout the empire.

“You know how great the Duchy of Lunter was in the past, and how famous it was for chivalry. There was a time when everyone wanted to settle here, and every passing carriage merchant said that.”

“Why is he like this now, when he was such a good person?”

“I don’t know. It’s been about 10 years. Since he became like that. I wonder if the Count is getting old and his mind is a little confused… Ah!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Oh, thank you.”

As soon as Lancel summarized the stories about Count Lunter, he sent Marigold to him.

Lancel could easily see that the territory residents’ words were not much of an exaggeration. He was the one who didn’t escalate the situation further than tying her to the pillory for a day, even though Marigold was recklessly stirring up the territory.

It was a much milder measure than Lancel’s expectation that ‘she’ll get caught and be locked up for about a week.’

Even a knight family similar to the Dante family.

“Shall we go?”

Lancel headed to the lord’s castle, wearing a cloak.

To Marigold, who was probably sobbing while eating Oatmeal.

To make her the greatest Administrator in this empire.

5.

“What business do you have here?”

“I’ve come to see Count Lunter. He’ll understand if you say I’ve come to pick up Record Keeper Mary.”

A moment later, two guards opened the door and appeared.

“He says he has no business with you. Go back.”

They were holding clubs in their hands. It was an expression of their will to beat him up a few times if necessary.

Lancel lightly subdued the two of them in front of the lord’s castle and went inside.

“What?”

“What’s that noise!”

Hearing the screams, guards rushed in. Dozens of armed soldiers surrounded Lancel.

It was at that moment that Lancel took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“Your Excellency Count Lunter!”

The thunderous voice split the silence of the night sky.

“Lancel Dante of the Viscount Dante family has come to prove his chivalry!”

The flustered guards exchanged uneasy glances. They knew Lancel was a knight, but they didn’t realize he was the son of a Viscount family.

“Even if you pretend you don’t hear, I know you can hear everything! Come out quickly! Lancel Dante of the Viscount Dante family has come to prove his chivalry!”

How long had he been shouting?

The guards began to split to the left and right.

The elderly lord and the knights lined up around him appeared before Lancel.

“A reckless rookie knight has entered the territory, and he was the youngest son of the Dante family.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency Count Lunter.”

Lancel briefly paid his respects by placing his hand on his chest, then raised the sword he had in his arms.

Those who were startled flinched and put their hands on their sword hilts.

“What are you doing……!”

But Lancel’s actions were different from their expectations. As soon as he raised the sword hilt, he threw it to the ground.

Clang-!

The lump of metal slid across the ground, making a loud noise.

The knights, who knew better than anyone what that action meant, could not hide their shock. They widened their eyes as if they were about to tear, and looked back and forth between the sword hilt that had rolled to their feet and Lancel.

“What are you doing…….”

Count Lunter’s face twitched.

There was no change in Lancel’s expression.

“Record Keeper Mary’s honor, and my chivalry.”

A calm voice.

“I’ve bet them both.”