Chapter 66

It was clearly a pleasant morning.

Just coming to work at the Hidden Department instead of the Chancellery had already improved my condition. But when I sat down and looked at the stack of documents on my desk, my head throbbed.

‘This is a mess — it’s not like we’re working at some random shithole.’

When I only worked in the Chancellery I didn’t notice it so much, but this was a problem that arose from multiple departments collaborating together.

‘The formats between departments are way too different.’

The formats and templates of the reports were all different. Important parts weren’t even highlighted, so every time I read one it felt like picking up a brand new document. There was no copier, so I couldn’t mark them freely. Because it was the trial operation period for the noble asset registration system, there were even more documents to report on progress and preparations.

“Secretary Cornelia, I’ll check this report and then hand it to aide Illya. Then the Chief Justice will review it, pass it to the other department heads, send it to His Majesty’s aide, and then it will reach His Majesty.”

The second issue was the reporting system. Even for a trivial report there were too many hurdles.

Because I was the proposer of this ordinance, I had to take the lead in writing the reports. But as a practitioner I couldn’t even report directly to the Hidden Department head, the Supreme Justice. It had to go through a senior first-class official and an aide for verification. Oh, and when handing it to the Emperor, we had to rewrite the document to make it look presentable.

‘It was truly unusual that the Minister of Finance arranged for a private meeting with the Supreme Justice last time. The Emperor calling me was only possible because he was very interested in this bill.’

With every minor issue handled like this, work couldn’t move quickly. Other officials noticed it too, but having done this life for so long they seemed not to feel much discomfort. At this rate we’d waste a year on pointless tasks and end up with a few ineffective administrative measures. Efficiency was terrible.

And then something happened.

“Coco, I’m ready. Now I just need to infuse my mana into this seal. Then it’ll be usable freely until it needs recharging. Shall we start?”

It was when Aidan had finished preparations at the Magic Tower and came to do the work. Befitting the next Magic Tower lord, he drew the magic circle in an instant and engraved his mana into the seal.

“I have to report to higher-ups first. Please wait a moment.”

He tilted his head.

“Wasn’t it already all reported? You were checking everything before I came. Can’t we just do it and report afterward?”

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying.’

The Duke who had come with him intervened.

“There are internal procedures, so wait.”

“Supreme Justice, we’re not idle either. Shouldn’t this be done quickly?”

When the Duke told him to wait, the naive Aidan sighed softly.

“Alright. Then Coco, let’s have lunch together!”

He tried to accept eagerly, since he knew me and had taken the request on that basis.

“She is on duty, so she can’t right now. Eat with the aide who came with you.”

He refused that too. Isn’t having lunch with an outside contact part of the job? We should be treating him, not turning him away. In reality, department heads often meet internal and external people, so this happened often.

‘Even if I’m just a secretary, couldn’t he allow this much?’

I was annoyed — it wasn’t like I was going off to play outdoors.

Aidan smiled faintly and said.

“That’s a shame. I was hoping to see Coco often, but if you’re so stingy… Oh well. I’ll ask you out properly another time.”

Then he said it was fine and returned to the Magic Tower with his aide. Letting him just walk away felt embarrassing and a little shameful.

That afternoon, during the Hidden Department meeting, when a report on Magic Tower certification was added to the agenda, I had no choice but to make a suggestion. It was the only time junior officials were allowed to speak.

“Supreme Justice, I have a work-related suggestion; may I present it?”

He nodded expressionlessly and granted permission.

“I request a simplified reporting line that allows practitioners to report directly to the approvers. The reason is that even after the major report on the ordinance has been completed, a lot of time is spent on quickly confirming who visited and how far preparations have progressed. Tasks that should take ten minutes are taking two days.”

The other practitioners, including myself, nodded in agreement.

“Is that all?”

No. Not at all.

“I request simplification of report documents and unification of formats. Because each department uses different formats, a lot of time is spent understanding and reorganizing them quickly. This is especially a problem in our department where officials from multiple departments gather. There will be many collaborative tasks between departments going forward, and a unified format would be much more efficient. Also, there would be no need to rewrite reports being sent to department heads and above. I suggest at least organizing this within our department.”

The Duke listened quietly and then closed the document he was reading, as if it wasn’t worth his attention.

“Why do you think there are intermediate reporting stages? Reducing them is connected to denying authority. I acknowledge it can be troublesome, but I cannot accept it. And the reporting formats between departments have been established over decades of tradition. We must respect that.”

I retorted.

“Of course issues requiring major decisions should be reported. What I’m talking about are minor matters. Reporting these doesn’t mean the authority of middle managers is being respected. Do we need to retransmit a confirmed Magic Tower visit through so many people? And regarding report formats, prioritizing efficiency would let us handle more issues. Keeping things solely because they are customary will only result in accumulated work.”

“So are you saying the empire’s established ways passed down by your seniors are wrong?”

“I’m not saying they’re wrong. I’m saying they need to be ‘different’ to meet current needs.”

“You are unreasonable.”

The Duke stood up and said.

“Secretary Cornelia’s opinion is delusional. You seem to be in a world of your own. You can’t do everything by chasing efficiency. You don’t seem suited to serving as an imperial official.”

I knew he was conservative and a bit suffocating, but I hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

“My suggestion was simply that we shouldn’t spend unnecessary time. It’s not that I don’t fit — it’s that central administrative procedures are completely clogged.”

“Is writing one more report really that hard? Are you just eager to go home sooner?”

At that moment I also lost my composure for a bit. Does working overtime magically make you more capable?

“I’ve never neglected my duties to go home. If it’s understandable, I work overtime even without being told. Still, having a warm meal with my family is more valuable than doing the same task over and over.”

“If authority wavers, the system collapses.”

“I don’t understand why seeking efficiency equates to undermining authority. We could process more matters faster.”

“Hah, a secretary who’s only been in the central department a few months acting like they know everything.”

“Supreme Justice, you reached the top in just two years too; so I don’t think time is the crucial factor.”

The tense atmosphere continued to tighten.

“Secretary Cornelia, that’s enough. You’ve already crossed the line.”

Simon grabbed my arm and shook me.

“The secretary should cool her head.”

The Duke said that and left the meeting room with the documents. The slam of the door echoed his unspoken feelings.

“Secretary, what were you thinking? What if the Supreme Justice retaliates?”

Mr. Bull — aide Illya — was frantic.

“I only expressed my opinion.”

I hadn’t expected everyone to accept it, but the opposition was stronger than I thought.

Reyra, the finance officer, sighed, “These old folks are so stuffy and afraid of change.”

“You have a point. We stay up late writing reports that lead to hardly any progress. But I didn’t expect you to confront them head-on like this. I didn’t think you were this kind of person.”

I shrugged my shoulders, calmer than before.

“There are so many petty reporting procedures, yet when real problems arise they’re quick to wash their hands of it. It’s meaningless. I know the Supreme Justice is doing his best. I just didn’t want to waste the time and energy of the officials, including him. We’re not machines. That’s all.”

I hadn’t expected to raise my voice like that, but I had no regrets. If I continued working here, it was something I’d have to say sooner or later.

‘I should have been more composed.’

I regretted losing control and having a petty argument with someone in their twenties.