Chapter 3: I’m a Civil Servant (3)

It had been a week since the thrilling reunion with Gold Duke almost happened. Until four days ago, I dreamt of the 3rd Manager exploding and the Gold Duke 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 for 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, so 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 actually possible to date even in such an atmosphere. The 3rd Manager looked bitterly at the 2nd Manager, who said something that provoked all singles. There’s no way that he would succeed.

Of course, that was also the case for me. His gaze then turned to me, realizing that we were comrades in the same situation. However, this wasn’t something I wanted to get used to.

The 1st Manager, who was looking at the scene, opened her mouth after scratching her head for a while.

“Executive Manager, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Huh? Didn’t you already finish the report?”

“Yes. There’s something I have to tell you besides the report.”

“The Minister was looking for you. He said you should go to his office after the meeting.”

My body stiffened when I heard that the Minister was looking for me. However, I soon relaxed. Seeing that he asked me to meet him after the reunion was over probably meant that no ink bottle would fly through the air.

It was rather sad that I would subconsciously flinch whenever the Minister was mentioned. I didn’t have many higher-ups. But sadly, the one I had wasn’t a normal person. Wouldn’t it 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 crystal? The last time, he used the Senior Manager.”

The 1st Manager looked at me upon hearing those words. It was as if she was 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.’

“I would have already stuck a pen in the Executive Manager’s head if I were the Minister.”

“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? I don’t think he’s angry, but I’m sure he’s going to get angry with you if you’re late.”

“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 I really didn’t want to see that happen this time even though it was a sight I was accustomed to. My eyes grew dim, and 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. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes~”

“Please return safely.”

Knock knock-

“Minister, it’s me, the Prosecutor Executive Manager.”

“Come in.”

I seriously thought about closing the door after opening it when I saw the middle-aged Minister training with dumbbells. Ugh, my eyes.

“What are you doing…?”

“Why did such a young man already become senile? Can’t you see 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…’

Those muscles came flying in my direction whenever he was angry, so there was no way I’d be able to stand it. I wish he trained all the time.

He threw the dumbbells to the side as he saw me carefully entering the room. 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 walked towards me, exuding an intimidating presence. It was as if a giant bear had stood up on its feet and was approaching me.

I almost fell to my knees and begged for my life, wondering what I did wrong, when 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?’

I noticed his muscles had grown bigger as I scanned him up and down. 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 Finance 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 Finance 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…

The Minister seemed like he wasn’t interested anymore after hearing me say he was impressive. Then, he laid back on the chair and stroked his chin.

Woah, even the chair looks small.

“I haven’t given you any task recently, right?”

“Well, yes. If I’m doing something, it’s usually a task given by you. Naturally, you should know.”

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 that situation thankfully 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. Did something else happen 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, then there was a chance he had to go there hurriedly.

The issue was that he recently couldn’t move without careful consideration. If that weren’t the case, he would have gone himself without hesitation.

‘As expected, I have to make this guy deal with it.’

Carl was the Executive Manager of the Ministry of Finance. But thinking about Carl, who was in charge of the Prosecutors, you couldn’t say that 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, and I felt energy course throughout my body. Yes, I did say that a lot. I didn’t want to be a Civil Servant and just enjoy life at the Academy. Every time I said that, the Minister hit me and he asked me not to speak such nonsense.

‘Is 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 that he would think about it a lot.

In reality, I always believed in the Minister. I knew that there was someone kind behind that muscular body and aggressive way of speaking. 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 years.

Yes, of course.

“Minister! I’ve always respected you!”

The Minister looked at me as if he asking what was wrong with me as I said that, but I didn’t stop. The Minister had listened to my request, and he’d become my hero because of that.

“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…?”

And that God-like image started to crumble after I read the first sentence.

I looked at the Minister with trembling eyes.

The Minister nodded.

“You wanted to go to the Academy, so I especially considered this for you.”

“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?!”

However, the order was already given. The Finance Minister, who acted after receiving the Emperor’s orders, had ordered me, so that would be like going against the Emperor and challenging the Empire if I refused it without a real reason.

I had to do what he had ordered. If I didn’t want to follow orders, then I would have change to another department. 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 fell from a God-like position to a son of a bitch.