CH 2.1

CHAPTER 2: SPRING COMES TO EVERYONE (I)

Part 018

The final successful candidates were twenty. Among them, there were only four women. Was that a glass ceiling too? No, there was only one commoner among them, so was it not a situation to discuss gender discrimination? After the entire training, the successful candidates were divided into four groups and go around the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Military Affairs, and have their own training period. After 25 days of total training, they would receive training for 100 days at the beginning of each 25th, and then receive formal placement on the 50th day of autumn.

The entire training period of 25 days was a really pointless waste of time. She memorized the names, family names, work tastes, and tea tastes of high-ranking people, learned the official language handwriting, which was full of decorations used in official documents, and even learned personnel management according to the position. For the 6th grade senior, starting with the weather and attire of the day, along with the impressions of the previous day’s work, a greeting showing the newcomer’s spirit to work hard today, and for the 5th grade senior, a separate long greeting should not be added, but should be said first. In case of handing over, give a greeting that appeals to the freshness of the newcomer and gives vitality.

Whether it’s this or not, I’ve been nagging all day just for the dress guide. Roman-style lace is allowed, but Agenta-style 3rd album lace is not allowed, skirts must not cover the shoes, but must not go above the knees, and the shoes must be 7 cm or less in a single color with no decorations. What the hell?

The most received practical training was practicing brewing tea with a teapot provided in the official residence. Rather than showing the taste of special milk tea rich in phlegm. 

Four new female recruits, including Lauren and she, were treated as female engineering students who had entered engineering college, and had to listen to all kinds of greasy self-introductions from young lords as a bonus. Well, it was there in the amount that seemed to be the purpose, but the lady of Viscount Dorote, now twenty-one years old, said that she had failed the exam twice before taking the exam. After persuading the viscount to quit the exam and get married, she finally managed to take the exam. There were many young girls who got married as soon as they had a coming-of-age ceremony. She burned her will to find a nice man quickly, have a splendid romance, and get married quickly, even if it is not to marry a man with a small chin who is sneaking up on her family. The four female prospective administrators endured the tedious training period while cheering for Lady Dorote, who clenched her fists saying that free love and love marriage were her dreams.

* * *

The boring and meaningless training period of 25 days was finally over, and from today the training tour began. They were grouped into four groups of five and decided on an order, and their group went through the Military, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and finally the Finance Department.

She wished to be in the same group as Laurel, but only one girl per group was allowed. The group composition was also absurd. Mario, the second son of the Marquis of Talers, who had behaved gruffly from the first day of education, was accidentally caught in the same group. He’s very colorfully pretending to be friendly that she didn’t even ask. He was the second son, so he couldn’t inherit the title, but he has decided to inherit the company from the marquis, and even if he did not, the title of viscount was guaranteed, and he had aspirations that he would not be satisfied with as a mediocre administrative officer. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes…

Tie up that hair or something. At her house, there was a horse with hair exactly like his. They were led to the commandant’s office in a hurry from the morning by Mario, who said that he could manage it. Really, tie it up a little and stop making a fuss or laugh gruffly.

First of all, they said hello to the highest person and were assigned a temporary place to work for 25 days. When she entered the door of the commander’s office, avoiding Mario, who spat that his dad would give him a honey job, and the other three who secretly tried to float him. ‘Oh, what is this refreshing feeling?’ Sitting with his back to the pouring morning sunlight, Duke Bigor, dressed in a neat uniform, stood up and was washing her eyes.

Come to think of it, the Duke said he was the commander of the capital army. She didn’t expect to see him again, but she was very happy. The Duke also made eye contact with her and nodded slightly. With the hair that has grown quite a bit since she hadn’t seen him for a while, neatly organized, his straight posture and straighter face line were beautiful today. She was even more happy because of Mario.

She was thinking that if they met again, they should give her thanks for the coming-of-age gift, but since they met in a public setting, they couldn’t greet each other personally. After a formal greeting, she had to step back and greet the heads of the five departments, including Marquis Talus, the head of the supply department. The greeting pilgrimage ended by staring dumbfounded at Mario and Marquis Talus, who were having a grand father-son reunion in the office of Marquis Talus.

Since they were useless and surplus personnel who did not know how to do anything, the education ended with field trips and bunting, usually at the lowest job, helping to organize documents. While the military administrator was arranging them with a businesslike face, Duke Bigor’s aide, whom they had seen in the commander’s office, appeared.

“Lady Ethart has been given an auxiliary job in the Commander’s Office.”

Was that the deep taste of human beings? The Duke called her personally, but he probably didn’t mean to take her and harass her. Leaving behind Mario and the other three, she went up to the third floor. She knocked and entered, and the Duke half-buried in the pile of papers raised his face and looked at her. Then he tilted his head for a moment, seemed to be thinking about something, then smiled.

‘Oh my.’

That’s a surprise. It’s a smile that’s not good for the heart. He was a handsome man with thick lines and a very manly appearance, but how could he shine when he smiles? The long eyes without double eyelids curved prettily. It’s a big difference from his usual cool look, so he looked softer.

“Lady Damian.”

“Nice to meet you, Commander.”

She bent down on her knees to greet the distant superior, and he briefly opened his eyes wide, made a surprised face, then smiled and nodded his head.

“Commander… Okay. Long time no see. How are you?”

“Yes, Commander. Thank you very much for coming that day. I really liked the brooch you gave me as a gift.”

When she smiled with flattery from her heart, the Commander also smiled broadly with a relaxed face. Then he got up and led her to her seat. The small desk attached to the side of the entrance door was said to be her seat.

The black-haired, scary-looking man who had been standing behind him the whole time was looking at her and the Duke with a strange expression on his face. She looked at the chair with obvious traces of someone sitting on it, then looked at the aide again, and averted her eyes, sighing. It must have been the seat of an aide?Could she just sit down? But the Duke didn’t care and took the chair away.

“Young lady, you can come to this place throughout the training period. You can help me organize the paperwork. It won’t be difficult, but as you can see, it’s a bit much.”

Indeed, the papers were piled up like a tomb. He smiled apologetically when she glanced sideways at the pile of papers behind him.

“Would you like some tea, young lady?”

“Shall I prepare it, Commander?”

She thought it was her first job, so she asked bravely, but the Duke asked back.

“Young lady? Why?”

Asking, hee moved on and was already on his way to the wall where the tools were prepared. Neither his aide nor she, but the Duke prepared it himself.

“All I have is coffee. If you prefer another drink, I will make arrangements for it.”

“Coffee is enough, Commander. Then…”

She thought she could prepare the service.

“I cook quite well too.”

He smiled refreshingly and put down a cup of coffee on the small desk named her seat. She sat quietly and took a sip of coffee. The Duke, who had been watching her like a mother bird feeding the chicks drinking coffee, returned to his seat with a satisfied smile when she smiled at his face.

‘Um, was this person this kind of a laughing stock?’

Then, terrifyingly, he was again buried in the paper grave. Looking closely, both he and his scary-looking aide had long dark circles. Being a Commander wasn’t just something you do. If you have to do as much work as he did, you shouldn’t be unconditionally happy about being promoted.

While she was sipping coffee, the commanders with documents wrapped around their faces, who were also cultivating dark circles, entered the office one after another and were smashed one after another.

He rejected the papers with a look that he would kill them if they didn’t do it right, with a hard tone, but one person was kicked out of the office trembling as if they were going to pee. Also, the Commander didn’t do anything. First of all, it seemed to be a job where something had to come out of the eyes. For a while, he came in with a report, then he was hacked up with his eyes and kicked out.

She was embarrassed to see the scary-looking soldiers breaking up, so she kept her eyes on her coffee cup. She tried to cover her eyes for no reason, but the commander, who had just been throwing a knife with his eyes, laughed softly. At first, she laughed too. Seeing her smiling face, he lowered his eyes to the paper again.

She finished her cup of coffee and, careful not to disturb the Commander, brought a pile of papers cluttered up on top of the cabinet to her left. She couldn’t just sit still and bruise, she had to do something, or at least pretend to do something.

It seemed that it had already been reviewed, so it was decided to categorize it. The dark-haired aide glanced at what she was doing, but judging from the fact that he turned his head away without saying anything, it must be a document that they didn’t care if she touched them, or a document that she wouldn’t even notice if she looked at it.

She glanced over and saw that it was a bill for supplies. Was the same item claimed, the same form, rewritten here and there? Upon closer inspection, the calculations were all wrong. So they wrote it again? But the next document was also not correct.

“Why is this calculation all wrong?”

As she murmured, the aide looked at her with his eyes wide open. She didn’t think he’s angry, but he’s shrunken for no reason, maybe because his impression was so rough. She didn’t want to get in the way, so she stumbled and shut her mouth.

She kept turning over the papers, paying attention to the sound of the papers being turned, but all five stacks were wrong. All of the calculations on the detailed pages, which were well over ten, were all wrong, but only in the final two chapters were the additions correct. All charges were 1 million gold.

“This isn’t a calculation, it’s the final amount plus the billing cost?”

When she turned over the first bundle of documents, she began to see which part was pointed out. In the second bundle of documents, the number of people required was significantly modified. However, the unit price was lowered because the amount was the same. However, the calculation was not correct. In the third bundle of documents, the total amount for each unit came out roughly the same, but the overall total was a complete sham. Even though it was a world that couldn’t do multiplication and division, wasn’t it too much that addition and subtraction were so wrong?

After grumbling, she felt a gaze, so she raised her head to see both Duke Bigor and his aide staring at her.

“Oh, sorry. I’ll be quiet.”

“Young lady, is there a problem with the documents?”

The Duke asked softly, but in a voice that sounded somehow desperate.