Civil Servant in Romance Fantasy - Chapter 256

It had been a few days since I issued the secret orders to the Vice Captain. Of course, it wasn’t a directive that required immediate results, so I decided to wait patiently.

Fixing the twisted affections of the 4th Manager, which must have been warped over years, couldn’t be done in just a few days. It’d be like soft rain soaking your clothes—change would come gradually, little by little.

Still, it would be nice if we saw some progress by March. If we let it drag on past the school opening in March, it’d be summer vacation before I could see the 4th Manager again.

“So, when you see the 4th Manager, be kind to her.”

“I’ve always been kind.”

I quietly turned my gaze away from the 1st Manager who seemed a bit offended, even sniffling as if she was upset.

While it was true that the 1st Manager and the 4th Manager were close, calling the 1st Manager ‘kind’ might be a bit of a stretch. To others, it might honestly seem like she was just pestering and annoying the quiet 4th Manager.

Can I really trust her?

I couldn’t help but worry. What if she only ends up making the 4th Manager’s condition worse?

“Don’t worry about it! If Penelia ends up with you, then I’ll finally be off the hook as the youngest!”

But somehow, her words brought me some comfort. Yes. I shouldn’t trust her kindness but her self-interest.

“There’s no such thing as the ‘youngest.’”

Of course, I corrected that little misunderstanding. Among them, there was no older or youngest; it was just a matter of who joined first.

With that in mind, I pulled on her lips as a mild reprimand for her careless words, and she quickly nodded in understanding. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice now that she had been warned.

“But, Executive Manager, there’s something I’ve been curious about.”

“Go on.”

She stepped back a few paces and carefully spoke up as soon as I released her lips.

“...You’re writing the evaluation for the minister, right?”

“Yeah.”

It was an obvious question, so I gave an obvious answer.

“Who else would I be evaluating besides the minister?”

The year-end performance evaluation was the only time a direct subordinate could evaluate their immediate superior.

These year-end evaluations were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which compiled them and submitted them to the Emperor. It was one of the rare opportunities for the voices of the civil servants, who were toiling away in the field, to reach the Emperor.

“No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t sound like an evaluation of the minister.”

The 1st Manager, mumbling in a disgruntled tone, snatched the paper I was writing on.

How unbelievable that the subordinates these days were stealing from their superiors. The world really was going downhill.

“Current Finance Minister Deber Briad of Blotchen is fair and just, always leading by example, and listens to even the lowest-ranking subordinates before making efficient decisions...”

The 1st Manager turned her gaze back to me as she read the evaluation I had written.

“Who is this supposed to be? If there’s a minister like this, then let’s go work for him together.”

“He’s sitting in the minister’s office right now.”

I said as I retrieved the stolen evaluation paper.

I knew that the minister I described in my evaluation was nothing more than a fantasy character that only existed in fairy tales. But, what could I do? All I’d be doing would be cursing him out if I wrote my true feelings.

“If I write the truth and the minister gets fired, then what?”

Then, damn it. It was already pretty obvious who’d be taking that spot—me.

The Crown Prince was already itching for a chance to promote me, and the Minister was looking for any excuse to retire. If I submit a negative evaluation, then the Crown Prince wouldn’t hesitate to seize the opportunity.

Of course, the Minister wouldn’t retire but would be transferred instead. Still, staying here would be better for him than being transferred in a job he wasn’t suited for.

“And you’re okay with submitting a false evaluation?”

I wish other departments were like this, too.

A fleeting thought of greed crossed my mind, but so what? Weren’t we free to dream?

Anyway, making people laugh with just a few words on paper was a talent in itself. I was already looking forward to next year’s evaluations.

***I knew the Vice Captain was diligently writing something, but since it was time for year-end performance evaluations, I just assumed he had a lot to say about me. If the Vice Captain had a lot to say, then it meant that I had fallen short somehow, so I didn’t blame him for it.

I wondered if I had really been that bad as a captain when I saw the other members whispering with the Vice Captain, but I tried to let it go. I shouldn’t get angry at the members who were dissatisfied with my shortcomings, anyway.

...I should have gotten angry.

“Vice Captain.”

“Yes.”

“What is this?”

The Vice Captain handed me a paper with a solemn expression. As soon as I looked at it, I closed my eyes.

“This is the collective opinion of the entire Masked Unit.”

Hearing those grand words made my head spin. Collective opinion? Could you even attach a term like that to a document like this?

“This represents the loyalty of myself and all the members.”

“In what way is this loyalty—?”

“If it’s not loyalty, then please consider it an expression of familial love.”

His words shut me up.

Bringing up family at a time like this—how underhanded. How could I refuse after that?

“Please, just this once, read it through to the end. That’s all we ask.”

And what choice did I have if he pleaded like that?

...Fine, I should think of it as an earnest suggestion from a subordinate or as a show of affection from a family member. That’d be the right way to approach this.

So, I steadied my trembling hands and began to read the paper the Vice Captain handed me—

[ The Masked Unit, including Vice Captain Giuseppe Digo, formally requests of Vice Captain Penelia Euse.

Several years have passed since we were reborn thanks to the grace of the Prosecutors’ Office’s Executive Manager. That grace is something we could never repay, even if we were reborn dozens of times. But to give up on repaying it would be the behavior of beasts.

However, it breaks our hearts that our captain regards the Executive Manager not as someone to whom she should repay her debt, but as someone to follow blindly.

Right now, the captain— ]

I couldn’t read much further before closing my eyes again.

“Captain.”

But the Vice Captain spoke up again as if he was determined not to let me avoid the issue.

“The reason for repaying a debt cannot be just the repayment itself. Isn’t it sad to treat the relationship between the Executive Manager and us to a mere master-servant dynamic?”

“...”

“Of course, we are more than willing to be his servants. But if the Executive Manager desires something beyond that, then wouldn’t it be an insult to do nothing under the pretext of repaying a debt?”

For once, I was left speechless by the Vice Captain’s serious tone.

Still, I needed to argue back. As the Vice Captain said, we owed a great deal to the Executive Manager. We must repay that debt fully.

But approaching the Executive Manager with such familiarity despite that would be presumptuous. Surely...

“If you truly want to repay the Executive Manager, then think about what he wants. Doing what you want is just self-satisfaction.”

However, I couldn’t bring myself to argue.