Vaulted ceiling, ornate tapestries, polished marble floors.
This was the Scroll Managent Departnt of the Imperial Palace.
A small departnt under the jurisdiction of both the Tower of Mages and the Imperial Knight Order.
“Namia? Namia?”
“......”
“Namia!”
My na is Namia Roafi.
I’ve worked here for exactly three years and seven months—an imperial civil servant.
Even within the Scroll Managent Departnt, I belonged to the most pointless team of all: the Inventory Team, and I was the bottom of the bottom.
“Naaamiaaaa!”
...Huh? Is soone calling ?
I snapped out of my daze and jolted upright.
“Ah, yes.”
“Namia, what’s up? You always look like a dead fish, but today’s on another level.”
That was Oson, my direct supervisor and the Inventory Team leader, speaking in his usual bored tone.
“eting room. The Minister called for everyone in the departnt to gather.”
“Ah, yes.”
I scrambled to follow Oson toward the eting room.
The Scroll Managent Departnt was so small that, even fully assembled, we numbered about twenty.
The Minister let out a yawn before beginning.
“Alright, attention.”
Standing beside her was a stranger.
A young man with jet-black hair, glasses, and suspiciously good looks.
“This one’ll be working in our departnt starting today... as an intern, I guess.”
An intern was part of a system designed for foreigners interested in imperial civil service.
They worked for up to three months—mostly for training or simple assistance.
Huh? This is the first ti we’ve ever had an intern here.
The Scroll Departnt was the least popular placent.
It was a dead end inside and out, and the higher-ups were notoriously useless.
Even the Minister looked like she didn’t know what interns were supposed to do.
Once he sees the state of this place, he’ll probably quit by tomorrow.
I was zoning out in thought when—
“For his seat... Namia Roafi? The seat next to you is empty, right?”
“......”
“...Namia?”
It took Oson poking in the ribs for to finally process what was going on.
“Ah, yes.”
“He’ll sit next to you. Look after him from now on.”
“Ah, yes.”
Oson shot a “What is wrong with you today?” look. I gave a miserable sigh.
Of course I’m not acting normal today!
Up front, the intern had started introducing himself, but I didn’t hear a word.
Reincarnation. I... I’ve been reincarnated.
Last night, I realized I had been reborn into the fantasy novel I read in my previous life.
According to the original story, the empire I now lived in was destined to beco a war zone.
The Polariwood Empire, blessed by dragons, peaceful, beautiful, and a wonderful place to live...
Would soon beco a chaotic hellscape where there’s nowhere left to hide.
The story had a happy ending—the young protagonist survives the war and restores peace.
The problem? The war lasted thirty years.
And I’m not even a side character in the original. I’m just background scenery.
In a war, people like die first. So it’s no wonder I was totally spaced out today.
While I was lost in thought, the intern finished his intro, and the eting moved on.
“The Countess of Torres has passed. His Highness the Crown Prince will attend the funeral tomorrow morning...”
The Minister turned lazily toward our Inventory Team.
“Inventory team. How many defensive scrolls do we have?”
When it ca to not doing his job, Oson was no exception.
He poked again, and I quickly answered.
“Six total.”
“That’s enough. Submit a report with that. Namia, you’ll join the escort unit tomorrow and bring the scrolls.”
I swallowed dryly.
According to the original novel, the Crown Prince dies because of that funeral visit tomorrow.
Six scrolls... That’s not even enough to protect a left arm.
The imperial family of Polariwood were Dragonbloods—humanoids descended from dragons.
Their physical abilities surpassed human limits, and once they turned twenty-five, they could even manifest as full dragons.
They also had unique powers, but that’s beside the point.
Thanks to their rule, the empire had enjoyed peace for generations.
Among them, Crown Prince Kiaros was the most exceptional. People even joked—half-seriously—that he protected his escort knights instead of the other way around.
So, naturally, there had never been much need to use defensive scrolls for him.
But tomorrow, even that invincible prince is caught off guard! And all we’ve got are six scrolls?!
The eting ended. Everyone began trickling back to their desks.
I was dragging myself along when soone spoke to .
“Where is my seat?”
The new intern—good-looking and far too composed.
Oh, right.
I sighed internally.
When the Minister said, “You take care of him,” what she really ant was, “I’m not dealing with him. He’s your problem now.”
“Ah, yes. Please follow .”
The seat next to mine had been vacant. We hadn’t had any new hires in ages.
The intern sat down beside and imdiately pulled out a scroll.
“Please sign this first.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
A quick glance told it was a magic scroll that granted access rights to departntal docunts. As soon as I signed it, the spell would activate.
“Ah, yes. And your na?”
“Kibon Altess.”
Kinda bold for an intern. Maybe because he was foreign?
Well, it made sense. Any intern assigned here would need access rights.
Still, I wasn’t paying him much attention.
Even after handing the signed scroll back, my head was spinning.
If the Crown Prince dies tomorrow, the war begins on fast-forward. I have to stop that, at least!
The war began with his death—and then the rest of the royal family followed like dominoes.
That’s why I had to do sothing—anything—I could.
I waited for a good mont, then carefully asked Oson:
“Team Leader... Don’t you think six defensive scrolls is a little too few?”
Oson was picking his ear when he replied.
“Namia? Did you just offer an opinion?”
“Ah, yes...”
“The Minister said it’s enough. And you’re just the junior-most staff, bottom of the ladder, right?”
Ha. I knew it, but still... ugh.
This departnt was full of hopeless dead weight.
I hung my head in despair.
“...I’m sorry.”
“Watch yourself. In this kind of organization, think before you speak.”
Oson soon started nodding off. I buried my face in my hands.
This is why the war happens. Do they even care about protecting anyone?
As the lowest-ranking nobody, this was the furthest my voice could reach.
But I can’t just let the war happen.
I had no other choice.
Fine. I’ll do it myself. I’ll save him...
Among the pebble-strewn masses of palace civil servants, I was the most insignificant of them all.
But I had made up my mind to save the Crown Prince—soone impossibly above my station.
***
Having accomplished his goal, Kibon—or rather, Kiaros—was just counting the minutes until he could leave.
Kiaros had a unique ability—he could transform into other people.
That was how he’d taken on his current identity as Kibon the intern.
No one knew of this power, so nobody had the slightest clue he was the Crown Prince.
He’d taken this drastic step and infiltrated the Scroll Departnt for a single reason:
While tracking suspicious elents within the palace, his investigation had led him here.
But—
The Scroll Departnt is tied to both the palace and the Tower, so even the royal family has restricted access to its files.
To view the docunts naturally, he had to beco a mber of the departnt.
I already knew this place was a ss, but seeing it up close—it’s worse than I imagined.
Also, if he was going to investigate, he wanted to see it with his own eyes.
If not for the Tower’s involvent, I would’ve blown this place up already.
The Scroll Departnt was a dumping ground for those with the lowest exam scores.
They handled magic scrolls but lacked the talent to get into the Mage Tower.
Useless staff collecting a paycheck while contributing nothing.
If I find anything I can use, I’ll dismantle this place from the ground up.
Soon enough, the workday was ending.
The mont it hit six, the slackers all jumped up and left.
That’s when Namia, who’d been sitting like a corpse all day, suddenly spoke.
“Mr. Kibon, would you mind bringing over a box of parchnt and a box of scroll ink... no, maybe two boxes of each? That should be enough, right?”
His impression of Namia wasn’t great.
She’d asked for his na even though he’d already introduced himself.
Big, unfocused eyes. Couldn’t get a full sentence out without stuttering. Only ever said, “Ah, yes.”
She’s clearly just one of the useless drones that make up this whole departnt.
Kiaros replied, unintentionally letting a bit of disgust leak into his voice.
“Ah, I was just about to leave for the day.”
Namia stared straight at him.
Her dull gaze wasn’t even remotely intimidating. He was about to ignore her when—
She opened her mouth and spoke in the flattest voice possible.
“According to Article 34 of the Imperial Civil Service Code, civil servants must comply with directives from their superiors. Also, Article 28 states ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) that interns, when granted authority, are obligated to fulfill their duties as civil servants. Since you’ve been granted access to Scroll Departnt docunts, you are now an intern with official authority. Therefore, you are required to follow my orders. Furthermore, Article 4 stipulates that working hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and right now, it is exactly 5:45:22. My request that you bring scroll parchnt and ink falls within work hours and qualifies as a legitimate work-related directive. Which ans—you have ti to complete the task and still leave on ti. Please proceed imdiately.”
...Huh?
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