The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 113

 

“…As I thought.”

I examined the scrolls from every angle.

But just as I had first seen, they were as plain and ordinary as any standard scroll.

The only notable thing was the sheer variety of them.

‘They’ve got almost every scroll I’ve ever used.’

Things like the 271-page defensive scroll required to block anything, the attack scroll that, according to the Empress, hurts less than a mosquito bite, or the movement scroll that’s slower than walking…

Scrolls of that sort could be found scattered around the Scroll Division.

“But still, why go out of the way to send me these?”

I glanced around the room, then pulled the curtains shut.

Then, I slipped a light scroll under the blanket and activated it.

Just in case, I only infused it with a quarter of the usual mana—but an intense burst of light exploded forth.

“Kyaaaah!”

Panicked, I threw whatever clothing I could find over the light scroll to cover it.

Good thing it was daytime. If it had been night, that light would’ve been visible from very far away.

“What the—this thing could double as a lighthouse!”

Maybe because I’d used so little mana, the light faded quickly.

Breathing heavily, I sat there stunned.

‘I don’t know why, but… ever since I coughed up blood, I’ve definitely gotten stronger, haven’t I?’

The heating scroll had already been a little suspicious.

These flimsy scrolls were now becoming amplified through my mana.

‘At this rate… there’s nothing in this world I’d need to fear…’

I looked at one of the attack scrolls and swallowed dryly.

I was honestly scared to test its power.

I had no idea what had happened to my body all of a sudden. But still…

Don’t think of it only as something bad. For some, it’s a power they’ve desperately desired.

Those words from the Tower Master were a great comfort.

If it’s not all bad, that meant it wasn’t some dangerous, damaging thing to my body.

‘What the heck… Did I just become the strongest in the world overnight?’

The Tower Master clearly knew I had awakened this kind of power and sent me these scrolls because of it.

But how did she notice something that even I hadn’t?

This never happened in the original story. Sure, there was war, but no humans with special powers appeared.

That was why I had feared the war more than the Reformists’ experiments—until I found out my father was involved.

‘Anyway, I need to keep these on me at all times. Seriously… thank you so much.’

It felt like a loving grandfather had sent them, and a part of my heart warmed at the thought.

I carefully placed the scrolls I’d received today into a small handbag, along with the “scroll that activates when a man confesses”—the one the Tower Master had given me before.

Namia, I’m about to leap into the heart of enemy territory to rescue my daughter and son-in-law.

I really hoped she would return safely.

I stared at the phrase “the heart of enemy territory” for a while.

‘I have to stay strong too and do everything I can.’

Because I was sure the High Priest would be doing everything he could as well.

‘I can more or less guess what method he’ll use. The same method he used to try and kill Jayden.’

In the original story, Jayden, suspecting the temple to be behind the Reformists, had gone to confront the High Priest directly.

On his way back, with no evidence in hand, he almost died in a cave-in accident.

The villains assumed he had no special powers, so they thought they could finish him off.

But Jayden used his abilities to barely survive.

Similarly, Kiaros once said:

“I was supposed to escort him on his final day leaving the palace, but I’ll have to cancel that.”

Just like with the cave collapse, they were likely planning to bring down the chapel during Kiaros’s visit.

Even with his physical prowess, Kiaros—being in his “dark phase”—would never survive such a large-scale accident.

That made it easy to frame it as an unfortunate accident.

And since they already had a plan in place to assassinate him, they wouldn’t walk into my traps easily.

‘Then I’ll make sure they have no choice but to fall into my trap.’

So I had to force them into a situation where entering the trap was inevitable.

Would you be able to lend me a small bomb and Keyvon Artes tonight?

I picked up my quill and began writing a letter to Kiaros.

I plan to damage the temple inside the imperial palace. It doesn’t need to be much—just enough.
If you could send something appropriate via Keyvon, I’d be very grateful.

***

Late that night, beneath a high-hanging moon—

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

Standing at the door was Keyvon, holding a small box containing a bomb.

He frowned slightly when he saw me dressed in a tight-fitting one-piece and leather shoes—outfit chosen for ease of movement.

“Take off your coat too. We’ve got to move in secret.”

“It’s November…”

“I’ll give you a thermal scroll.”

I activated the thermal scroll with only a trace amount of mana.

If I infused it fully like earlier, I’d be drenched in sweat in no time.

“Let’s go.”

I grinned as the scroll warmed us.

“To the temple.”

So Keyvon and I, lightly dressed, quietly left the room and crossed the garden.

Even though the imperial palace had many workers, at this hour—past midnight—there was no one around.

It felt strangely surreal.

In this beautiful palace garden, it felt like only Keyvon and I existed.

After a moment of silence, Keyvon hesitantly spoke.

“…Why the chapel, of all places…?”

“If there’s a group here with evil intentions, we need to rattle them. Best to shake their base first, don’t you think?”

There were about five or six clerics currently staying at the temple inside the palace, along with the High Priest.

“They’ll panic a bit, and that’ll force them to act differently.”

We soon arrived at the small temple building.

The building—divided into a chapel and a living quarters—was quiet. Everyone was clearly asleep.

Looking around, I pointed to a small storage shed next to the chapel.

It was a tiny space used to store gardening tools and seed supplies.

“As soon as the bomb goes off, people will swarm here. We won’t have time to escape, so we should hide in there.”

“Where are you placing the bomb?”

“Anywhere on the outer wall of the living quarters. Doesn’t need to do much.”

In this world, bombs weren’t all that powerful anyway.

At most, it would collapse part of a wall.

Seeing the doubt in Keyvon’s eyes, I added,

“If the Construction Department shows up starting tomorrow to conduct safety inspections, then we’ve done our job.”

They were probably weakening the temple little by little to make it collapse with even the smallest shock.

‘That’s why we need to trigger a small accident first.’

Even if it was a temple, it still counted as a building within the imperial palace.

Tonight’s incident would just be a case of “part of the wall collapsed, no casualties”—and easily brushed aside by the attendants.

But starting tomorrow, the Construction Department would step in and inspect it daily, following protocol.

“You get it, right? Leave the bomb near that spot and come inside.”

I pushed Keyvon’s back to send him off and slipped inside the storage shed.

He was better at handling physical tasks than I was, so it made sense for him to handle it.

But then—

‘Hm?’

I wedged myself between some farming tools and grew slightly flustered.

‘It’s smaller than I thought.’

I had expected a fairly spacious shed—but there was way more stuff inside than I realized. It felt cramped even for one person.

The door opened.

“I’m coming in—um.”

Keyvon returned quickly after placing the bomb near the living quarters wall. He blinked in mild disbelief.

He, too, had realized just how tight this space was.

But before either of us could react—

BOOM!

The bomb went off with a loud bang.

“Get in!”

I hissed, grabbing his arm and pulling him in, then quickly shut the door.

In that tight little space, our bodies pressed close together.