42

I went straight up to the 3rd floor Ministry of Finance and ran into the Minister of Finance.

“Y-Yes, Mi- Minister of Finance, Nathan Harkot?”

His full name slipped out on its own.

He flinched and acted as if a welcome guest had arrived.

“Oh, is the Chancellery’s talent Cornelia here?”

A savage smile spread across my face.

“This is all quite different from what I heard. This feels like a fake hire, Minister of Finance.”

“Now, now, calm down, calm down.”

The Minister of Finance slowly waved both hands up and down as if to tell me to relax, then turned my shoulder back toward the Chancellery and walked on.

“I won’t be giving my personal thoughts about the staff so as not to prejudice you. You should see and judge for yourself. Ha, since it’s another department I didn’t know much, but Marcus did more than his share of damage. From hiring corruption to stealing credit and harshly whipping staff. So now, with no leader, it’s… free time for them? Anyway, the willingness to work seems to have plummeted.”

He swore that he’s still getting a handle on things and that the chancellor handled work terribly and left nothing organized. Plus, he has Ministry of Finance duties, so he’s often away and it’s hard to manage.

“No, even so, this seems a bit extreme.”

“It’s good the chancellor who was nitpicking is gone, but with time it can feel neglected. As chancellor, the investigation and dismissal process doesn’t happen overnight, does it?”

“Exactly.”

I grabbed the Chancellery door handle again, pushed it open, and continued, dumbfounded.

“So you’re saying that while investigating, everyone kept lazing around for a day or two and that’s how it got like this?”

“I swear, just know I had no intention of recommending a department in this state to you.”

When I entered with the Minister of Finance, everyone recognized a high official and slowly stood. An older man who had been sitting in the chancellor’s seat hurriedly straightened his things. I murmured in a voice only the Minister could hear.

“I will submit my resignation.”

“Regrettably, I must refuse. It might actually be a better opportunity for you.”

“Eek?”

I was about to protest at the absurdity, but the Minister cut me off and slid me into a spot where the staff could see me.

“Ahem, as I mentioned earlier, this is a new hire joining as an assistant scribe from today. Introduce yourself.”

Ah, I was cornered.

“Hello. I’m Cornelia Libertas. I come from a minor noble family you may not know. Please take care of me.”

The Minister glared and asked why I introduced myself that way, but my plan was ruined and my mood had turned thoroughly sour.

“To prevent them from prying into my family background,” I thought.

The Minister put on a strained smile and ordered:

“Show this person to their seat and explain the duties.”

“Yes. Don’t worry, Minister of Finance.”

The older man in the chancellor’s seat responded with a hearty voice. The Minister nodded with a displeased look and scanned the Chancellery. The staff seemed a bit guilty about what they did and lowered their eyes.

“The Chancellery is the emperor’s direct administrative agency. Imperial policies only take formal effect when stamped with the Chancellery’s seal. It also discusses political and administrative matters, drafts laws, and is involved in imperial recruitment procedures — a very important department. It’s not a place anyone can easily enter, so I expect you all to work with that pride.”

“Yes.”

The staff answered in voices anyone could tell weren’t sincere. The Minister patted my shoulder a few times and left.

‘Wait, he left before finishing talking to me?’

I stood there staring blankly at the door, feeling betrayed, when a voice came from behind.

“Did you say you are Cornelia?”

It was the man who’d been in the chancellor’s seat. Since it was my first day, I answered dutifully.

“Yes.”

“You can sit in that empty seat. Learn the work from the other assistant scribes. Go on.”

Then he returned to his seat — not the chancellor’s this time. I set my bag on the empty spot, stifling a ridiculous laugh.

‘This… is it over? They won’t even introduce the staff or explain who does what?’

There’s a reason companies go through introductions: to learn faces and names, figure out ranks and roles, and break the ice so it’s easier to ask questions later — and to avoid awkwardness. Leaving me with just a seat and nothing else is like starting in front of a blank wall with no idea who to ask about anything.

‘Not even the damned X-company did this…’

The name of the Imperial Chancellery was crying out, but outwardly I acted like nothing was wrong and started unpacking my things. Then a boy about my age in the next seat spoke to me.

“Hi. A bit confusing, right? I’m Leo.”

Finally, a normal person.

“I also joined recently on the Minister of Finance’s recommendation. He told me to look after you when you arrived.”

“At least he has some conscience,” I thought.

“If you have any questions, ask me. I’ll tell you what I know.”

I had hardly brought anything so unpacking was quick, and I asked what I’d be doing.

“We mainly assist the secretaries. Errands, organizing incoming administrative documents to the Chancellery, or transcribing them — that’s the core work.”

‘Menial tasks and human photocopiers, huh.’

I got the gist of the work. Then I asked about the mint-colored stone embedded to the right of the desk that had bothered me since I sat down — about the size of a mousepad, like a boundary marker. Leo had one on his desk too.

“What’s this?”

“Ah, that? It’s a department communication artifact.”

“Communication artifact?”

“Because the central agencies are so spread out, it’s like an address book they made. Think of it like passing notes at the academy.”

It’s a magical in-house messenger. You write the recipient’s department and name with a message, and it appears on the recipient’s desk artifact.

‘It’s the only thing I like about being here.’

It might not send files, but it’s useful for notifying someone before dropping by or setting up meetings. It also serves as a morale booster in many ways.

Leo grabbed a stack of papers nearby, put them on my desk, and showed me how the other assistant scribes had organized things, explaining “just do it like this.”

‘Organization in name only — just copy it.’

He told me to call him if I had questions and went back to his seat. I skimmed the documents quickly, then glanced around the Chancellery. Thanks to the Minister’s earlier reprimand, it seemed people were more focused than before.

“I came to work, so I should work.”

But this time I decided to take a different approach than when I worked at the Daijo merchant guild.

Until now I preferred to keep my head down and blend in. Seeing this mess, I didn’t want to anymore. Back then people took responsibility, but here there’s not even teamwork — I doubt anyone’s motivated. I need mentors or bosses to learn from, and with my K-company experience, I haven’t found any yet.

‘As an assistant scribe, I’ll do my job.’

I decided not to worry about anything else. If things go south, I’ll cry to Miss Kiara and have her take me back.

Lunchtime. Leo asked me to eat with him, but I declined; I wasn’t feeling well.

‘How could I stomach food in this situation?’

I’m not denying how important meals at work are, but in this situation, eating with those people would’ve made me sick. I’ve lived alone and never expected anyone to look after me, but I had secretly expected more from the Imperial Chancellery.

‘Pull yourself together and work.’

I read the documents Leo gave me, sorted them by category and time, added subheadings so the content would be immediately clear, and summarized sentences concisely without particles to avoid a colloquial tone.

Assistant scribe work is close to simple labor, which was good for keeping my mind off things. My treasured magic fountain pen flew across the parchment. I loved the feeling and almost slipped into a trance. Then suddenly the report I was writing flew from my hands.

“Huh?”

Still dazed, I looked up and saw the Minister of Finance standing at my desk.

“What are you doing that you don’t even look up when your boss walks in? Protesting?”

He skimmed the papers I had organized. The atmosphere changed; when I looked up, the sky was red — it was already evening.

“Did you do this today?”

“Ah, yes.”

The Minister silently took another set of organized papers from my desk to look at.

“…”

“What’s this… I didn’t overhaul the format. I only changed it enough to make it readable.”

I made minimal changes to avoid backlash from suddenly changing the established format. I couldn’t see anything that would be a problem.

The Minister handed the documents back to me.

“You’ll start as a senior scribe from tomorrow.”

“What?”

At that moment, everyone’s gaze in the Chancellery fixed on me. I said I wouldn’t care about anything but work, but I hadn’t expected a promotion in just one day.

“A promotion, huh.”

The Minister of Finance grinned.