The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 59

Keyvon was utterly composed. Even his gestures were graceful.

Of course, this was all prearranged by me.

“Haa…”

The Finance Minister looked on the verge of tears.

‘Well, obviously. The figures are flawless.’

I had already calculated exactly how much budget the Finance Ministry could allocate us.

The amount I asked for was likely the maximum he had in mind.

It also roughly matched the added cost of undergoing an audit.

‘If we’re going to get new funding anyway, I’d better secure a huge chunk upfront.’

Smiling gently, I looked at the Finance Minister.

He breathed heavily, then finally spoke quietly.

“It’s your first budget. Starting next year, the Scroll Department’s budget will be set based on this figure. I’ll give you three times. Let’s call it that.”

“……”

“Fine. I’ll go up to five times. That’s generous, no?”

“……”

No matter how long he stalled, the number was already set.

Eventually, the Finance Minister stamped his foot and shouted.

“If you’d just asked for ten times, I could’ve yelled at you for being ridiculous! But no, you just had to name this annoyingly realistic figure!”

“……”

“Damn it, seven times! You get seven!”

“Ah, yes.”

At that moment—

From right beside me, blood gushed out of Keyvon’s nose with a splatter.

“O-oh no! Keyvon? Are you okay?”

Startled, I quickly tilted Keyvon’s head back.

His skin was already pale, and with the bright red blood flowing down—it was quite the visual.

Even Keyvon looked a bit shocked.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

He pinched his nose with tissues and quickly left the Minister’s office.

The Finance Minister, stunned, said,

“…Isn’t that the intern who couldn’t speak the imperial language well? How much did you work him?”

“Uh… well…”

I was flustered too.

To be honest, we had been pulling late nights since the first day.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Getting our first budget from the Finance Ministry was crucial. We had to be thoroughly prepared.

“Just… enough to write all this, I guess? Though I drafted the outlines myself.”

I gestured toward the mountain of reports.

The Finance Minister’s jaw dropped.

“…You wrote all this in the meantime? Is that even possible?”

“So we kept working late.”

I’ll admit, it was a bit exhausting for me too. But again, it had to be done.

‘I don’t want to live as a parachuted-in, decorative Minister sent by the Tower. And my team should at least be able to eat lunch without shame!’

Sure, preventing war was important, but while there were no urgent crises, I figured I might as well take control of my life too.

‘It was what I dreamed of ever since I first got assigned to this department…’

So, yeah, I poured myself into the work. But apparently, it was too much for Keyvon.

Panicked, I murmured,

“But he never stayed overnight. We always left by ten…”

“Really?”

The Finance Minister tilted his head.

“Then he must just have poor stamina. What, he’s bleeding from the nose over this? He looks perfectly healthy…”

Typical of someone competent. A few late nights didn’t even count as overwork in his eyes.

I mean, I still considered it overtime—but if I’d known it would push him to nosebleeds, I would’ve been more careful.

“He always ate separately, never joined in small talk, and went straight home… I thought it’d be fine.”

“Hmm, cutting out chatter and social meals should reduce the fatigue by half. He really must be a weakling.”

“Right? I even made sure he got his own snacks, always individually prepared.”

“That’s key. In that case, he’s just fragile—not your fault.”

We shared a brief look—and were both a bit surprised.

What was this? We were clicking?

“Uh… yeah.”

The atmosphere was unexpectedly pleasant.

Keyvon’s nosebleed somehow created this strange sense of camaraderie between us.

I glanced around and grinned.

“Thank you so much for the budget.”

I stroked the reports gently and said,

“I understand that setting the initial budget this high is a risk. But I promise I won’t waste a single coin. I’ll show you results.”

The Finance Minister folded his arms and looked at me.

Then, with a faint chuckle, he replied.

“I approved it because I trust you. Those project reports earlier weren’t bad.”

“Then why did you start at 1.2 times…?”

“Filtering people out is part of my job, you know that.”

The Finance Minister signaled to his secretary waiting outside.

The secretary’s eyes widened as they looked over the reports Keyvon and I had prepared.

“Make copies of all this and send them to the Finance Ministry. Clear off my desk.”

Despite his words of trust, he clearly planned to personally review everything from the beginning.

Such thoroughness—I loved it.

It was something I hadn’t seen once since I’d joined the civil service, at least not from my past superiors…

“A large budget’s a double-edged sword. Don’t let me down.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll never forget this moment, and I won’t show you anything but results.”

“That’s too bland a promise.”

“I’ll stake everything on this department—my body, mind, and soul—to fully prepare and deliver.”

“Still too fluffy.”

“I’ll make the money count.”

“Yes! Now that’s what I like to hear. That’s the spirit.”

The Finance Minister gave my shoulder a pat.

By then, I had a sense that it was his own way of encouraging me.

Then he stood abruptly.

“Damn. I ended up getting totally swindled.”

He didn’t look too upset about it, though.

“Swindled to the bone! Tch!”

And as he glanced at me, he casually tossed out,

“Victor—he’s on his way, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“You know he’s my adopted son, right? He’s got a meddling streak. I bet you two got along well at the academy…”

Back then, it was hard to find anyone who wasn’t friendly with Victor.

He got along with that entire massive student body.

[“…If it were Victor-sunbae, maybe.”]

That’s why Luka had said that.

Even someone like me, who didn’t really talk to people, had gotten along with Victor.

“How’d you two get on in the Scroll Department? Well, knowing him, there’s no way he didn’t get along. I was going to try and drag him back into Finance once he returned, but…”

The Finance Minister spoke with a contemplative look.

“For now, I don’t mind him working under you.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Usually, people ask why.”

He chuckled to himself, then turned away.

And suddenly tossed back over his shoulder,

“If you two ever say you’re getting married, I’d approve.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Usually people ask, ‘Why would you suddenly say that?’”

With a smirk, he walked right out the door.

Even after the Finance Minister disappeared, Keyvon still hadn’t returned.

So I was left alone in the Minister’s office.

‘Whew…’

At least I’d secured our first budget.

All those late nights had paid off. I could finally relax a little.

‘The immediate fire’s out…’

The Finance Minister seemed to like me.

The next cabinet meeting should go more smoothly.

And if we got results, it’d go even better.

‘First, I need to give Keyvon some time off. Clearly, he overexerted himself with all the overtime.’

A nosebleed! He’s more fragile than I thought. If I push him too hard, he might want to quit more than he wants to learn.

‘I can’t lose someone this competent.’

As soon as Keyvon returned from the bathroom, I’d force him to take a break.

I’d reassure him—this level of work wouldn’t be the norm going forward.

‘I need to stop him before he quits again.’

He’d already left the job once before, after all.

Even if it’s just a small gesture, I had to show I cared as his boss. I immediately ran out of the Minister’s office.