The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 112

 

“Hahaha… truly.”

The High Priest laughed incredulously, then replied with a slight edge of irritation.

“Divine power is meant to heal many at once. Using it for a single individual is a waste.”

“Then go ahead and waste it.”

“From what I can see, your symptoms don’t even seem that severe…”

“Oh, come on. I’m giving you a chance here.”

Namia twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she spoke.

“A chance for you to get on His Highness the Crown Prince’s good side.”

The High Priest let out a sigh.

Then, perhaps thinking ‘It’s best to just get rid of lunatics quickly’, he clasped his hands together and murmured a prayer.

Paaang!—a flash of light shimmered as divine power rippled outward.

Hmm…

Even Kiaros felt a wave of lightness in his body as the divine energy swept through him.

‘It doesn’t cure illness, but it does refresh the body temporarily.’

The High Priest looked at them coolly and said,

“Is that sufficient?”

“Hmm…”

Namia puffed up her cheeks in mock dissatisfaction, tilting her head.

“It does feel better. Thanks. But I might get sick again, so… if I do, can I count on you to use your divine power again?”

“…Excuse me?”

“The chapel’s too far. And I’m staying at the palace too, so if I call, please come right away.”

The High Priest frowned deeply and flatly refused.

“That’s… a bit much.”

That was when Namia jabbed Kiaros in the side.

He swallowed dryly and cut in.

“His Highness the Crown Prince will not take this lightly.”

Then, adding a bit of flair, he followed up,

“Unless you’re not afraid of the consequences, of course.”

Namia nodded with satisfaction. Then she flashed a grin and said,

“If you do as I say, I’ll call you over when I’m alone with His Highness. I’ll ask him to support the temple, and you can drop your requests in the mix.”

Kiaros watched Namia with interest.

She understood exactly how people clustered around someone favored by those in power—and why.

“Everyone’s always asking me for favors. You’re no different, are you, High Priest?”

With that, Namia spun around and clacked her way out of the chapel in her heels.

***

The chapel door slammed shut behind her with a thud. I let out a long sigh.

‘If you’re not part of the Reformist Faction, I sincerely apologize. But… you are, aren’t you?’

For now, this was just bait.

The moment we stepped into the garden, Keyvon, walking beside me, frowned and muttered,

“I doubt the High Priest will come. He rejected the offer outright.”

“Of course. Their plan is probably going smoothly right now. Why would he go out of his way to help me?”

Just then—

A large hawk landed in front of me and dropped a box with a thunk.

“Huh?”

What was this?

I blinked, startled, as Keyvon slowly murmured with a furrowed brow,

“…Looks like one of the Tower Master’s hawk messengers…”

“You know about those?”

“Open it.”

Keyvon no longer seemed to be pretending to be just an ordinary intern.

He stared at the box the hawk had delivered.

“It likely won’t allow anyone but the intended recipient to open it.”

Sure enough, the hawk’s yellow eyes were locked solely on me.

I reluctantly opened the box. Inside was a letter and several scrolls.

I unfolded the letter first.

Namia, I’m about to leap into the heart of enemy territory to rescue my daughter and son-in-law.
You’ve been noticing changes in your body, haven’t you?
Don’t think of it only as something bad. For some, it’s a power they’ve desperately desired.
Dangerous though it may be, I believe you might be someone worthy of wielding it.
Don’t speak to anyone about your uniqueness.
Even so, I was worried about you, so I picked out a few scrolls. Keep them on you at all times.

Changes in my body…

I swallowed dryly. While I read the letter, Keyvon slipped off his jacket again.

“It’s cold. Here, put this—”

“No, it’s fine.”

I immediately refused and shook my head.

“I’m so tense I don’t feel cold at all. Actually, I’m hot.”

Sweat was trailing down my back.

I was genuinely hot. Honestly, I’d felt that way for a while now, though I hadn’t shown it.

‘This is strange. A thermal scroll shouldn’t be able to produce this much heat.’

It was supposed to be like a hand warmer. Instead, it felt like I had a bonfire strapped to my back.

After I coughed up blood earlier, the mana within my body seemed to have settled… Could it be related?

I stared at the letter again.

“You’ve been noticing changes in your body…” Is this what she meant?

And coming from none other than the Tower Master herself, I couldn’t help but trust it completely.

“Your uniqueness…” Does that include my knowledge of the future? Just how much does the Tower Master know?

For now, I etched her warning into my heart—tell no one.

“Is something wrong?” Keyvon asked cautiously.

“No, nothing. Just a kind of… update. The Tower Master is a warm-hearted elder, full of affection.”

Keyvon gave me a deeply skeptical look and muttered,

“I heard that woman cares for no one but her own blood…”

“Then I guess you don’t know her very well. Besides, this is why she gave me another gift.”

I had received a strange scroll from her once before, supposedly as a farewell present.

She told me to use it when confessing love…

It was so bizarre, I couldn’t even guess what it was for.

Excited, thinking she might have sent more oddities, I rifled through the box.

“Hm.”

After checking each scroll, I shrugged and muttered,

“Just normal, standard scrolls.”

The hawk had already flown off at some point.

I picked up the box and returned to my room.

***

The High Priest clicked his tongue in disbelief.

‘I was planning to kill her at the same time as Kiaros, but…’

Though a high-ranking official within the Reformist Faction, the High Priest had no choice but to act personally.

To push the plan through, Kiaros had to die—but he’d been holed up inside the imperial palace, refusing to come out.

‘The Minister of Education was right, after all.’

He had complained that the Crown Prince was obsessed with some tactless, shameless woman, putting the empire’s future in jeopardy.

He had said she had no sense of her station, getting ahead just because of sudden royal favor.

Now, having experienced her firsthand, the High Priest could see she was indeed infuriatingly skilled at pushing people’s buttons.

‘I’d like to get rid of her first…’

But unlike what the Education Minister claimed, nothing had gone wrong at the Saint Cairo banquet.

He didn’t know the exact reason why.

‘Maybe the Scroll Department messed up from the start. Or maybe the Minister was followed…’

He couldn’t trust the Minister of Education either. That man had always been a bookworm in government, and might have failed to act thoroughly.

Now that he was completely missing, he was likely being pursued by the Crown Prince.

‘If Namia Roapia somehow anticipated all this…’

She had once saved Kiaros from a perfect assassination plot crafted by the Reformists.

‘Still… unless she knows the future, how could she have done it? Maybe it was just an act to get close to the Crown Prince. Banking on her looks, dreaming of becoming Cinderella…’

And now, Kiaros truly was obsessed with her. In that sense, Namia had succeeded.

Lately, she had been behaving like someone drunk on newfound favor, unaware of her place.

The High Priest furrowed his brows and crossed his arms.

‘Killing Namia Roapia won’t be hard. Right now, Kiaros’s death takes priority.’

Everything was proceeding smoothly. The High Priest understood the order of priorities and didn’t want any new variables.

No matter how arrogant Namia acted, she was disposable—easily dealt with later.

***

Back in my room, I set the box from the Tower Master down without much thought.

Stretching casually, I said,

“Alright, you can go. I’ll call you again later.”

“Yes.”

Keyvon left right away.

Once his footsteps had faded into the distance, I looked around the room to make sure I was alone.

Then I reopened the box the Tower Master had sent.