A Gathering of Shadows and Slaves

Five men and women were gathered in a dark room.

"A directive has come from Nicaea."

The group consisted of men and women ranging from their twenties to their fifties, representing a diverse mix of ages and genders.

"The target... is to assassinate Empress Theodora and bring Princess Joy back to Nicaea."

As the man in his fifties spoke, a heavy, peculiar silence settled over the room.

"That won't be easy," a woman in her twenties replied. "No one is allowed to enter the Gold Area except for high-ranking servants, and even then, only during cleaning hours."

A woman in her forties chimed in, agreeing. "On top of that, the security guards conduct incredibly thorough body searches on anyone who isn't of imperial blood before they can even step foot inside the Gold Area."

Hearing this, the man in his fifties spoke firmly. "I know it won't be easy, but a contract is a contract."

They were an assassin guild contracted with Nicaea—a group that performed the Nicaea Kingdom's dirtiest deeds in exchange for astronomical sums of money.

A man in his forties cut into the conversation. "Then why don't we split into two teams? One can poison the Empress, while the other immediately kidnaps Princess Joy. If we're only kidnapping Princess Joy, we won't even need to carry weapons."

The leader in his fifties fell into deep thought before slowly shaking his head. "No. Poisoning the Empress is impossible. Mary's Foxes are stationed there."

They were the cherished handmaidens of Lady Mary. Having undergone rigorous assassin training in their youth, they were highly infamous figures within the underworld.

"Those women will undoubtedly test all her food beforehand. If they catch even a trace of poison, security will tighten instantly."

As everyone fell silent, the leader continued, "First of all, we must carry out the assassination and the kidnapping simultaneously. Kidnapping Princess Joy itself is child's play."

Then, a man in his thirties stepped forward. "Currently, the Empress spends most of her time inside the Grand Duke's Office and the Gold Area, except when she is attending to official duties. The Grand Duke's Office is heavily guarded, making an assassination attempt there far too dangerous. What about targeting her in the Gold Area instead?"

The woman in her twenties countered immediately. "Lurking in the Gold Area is impossible. They keep a strict entry log. If the number of people who leave doesn't match those who entered, it will trigger an immediate alarm."

The leader frowned. "Can't we resolve that with a bribe?"

The woman in her twenties shook her head resolutely. "It is highly unlikely."

As the leader agonized over the problem, a man in his twenties spoke up. "Then let us gather more information before we finalize the plan."

"That sounds wise. Remember, everyone—there is no such thing as an unkillable human in history. Prepare yourselves to the absolute best of your abilities."

At his words, everyone in the room nodded in solemn agreement.

At a cafeteria in Roman.

"Lucius! Thank you so much, seriously. Working in the Grand Duke's Office? That's literally every Academy student's dream!"

Müller spoke with immense gratitude, prompting me to nod with an air of casual confidence.

"Of course. It was incredibly difficult to convince His Grace, you know."

I took a little bit of credit for the favor, fully intending to get a free drink out of him tonight.

"You've been doing so well lately that I thought you'd forgotten all about us. But as expected of Lucius! You're a true friend."

Hearing Maximilian's words, I swallowed my tears in silence.

I've been working myself to the bone, practically on the verge of death...

Looking at Maximilian making such a cheeky remark made me slightly annoyed, so I decided to tease him.

"Oh? Is that so? I guess you don't want to work at the Grand Duke's Office after all?"

Maximilian panicked instantly. "Ah, wait! I'm sorry, did I upset you? It's my fault, I misspoke! Seriously, I'm drowning in student loans and on the verge of dying here... Save me, Lucius!"

He looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"Alright, alright! Stop crying, you idiot."

Müller, a brown-haired man standing well over 180 centimeters tall, and Maximilian, a black-haired man barely reaching 170 centimeters with a pair of prominent, oversized glasses—these two were the newest recruits for the Grand Duke's Office.

"The Grand Duke will be arriving shortly. When he does, make sure you are absolutely polite. He's going to ask if you can work long hours and if you have good stamina. Just nod and say yes to everything."

The two of them looked at me as if that was obvious, but Müller asked with a hint of bewilderment, "The first part makes sense, but... why is he going to ask about our stamina?"

I let out a heavy sigh.

Because you'll have to pull consecutive all-nighters and still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠show up to work the next morning.

But if I told them the honest truth, they would bolt out of here immediately. I quickly made up a plausible excuse.

"Well, when you work at the Grand Duke's Office, you end up getting entertained by people from all sorts of high-ranking places... so you need to be in peak physical condition."

Entertained? What a joke. We worked until the crack of dawn; who on earth had the time to be entertained? In reality, high-ranking nobles who occasionally visited the Grand Duke's Office would send me invitations to grab a drink, but I literally had zero time to go.

After working all-nighters six days a week, I spent my single day off doing nothing but sleeping like a corpse.

"Really? Well, I suppose a lot of incredibly powerful people must visit the Grand Duke's Office. By the way, have you actually visited many noble estates yourself?"

Müller's eyes sparkled, clearly enticed by my explanation.

Oh, I had visited them, alright.

I had visited plenty of them—to conduct search and seizure raids.

Whenever high-ranking nobles committed embezzlement or tax evasion, the Grand Duke's Office would personally lead ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the raid to seize their assets.

"Of course. Do you remember Paul from the Academy?"

Paul, the youngest son of a ducal house who ran the wealthiest merchant guild in the Empire, was a notorious bully who tormented his peers back at the Academy.

"Of course I do! Don't even get me started. The number of times I got targeted by him..."

Maximilian's voice flared with lingering anger. "Ugh... just thinking about that bastard makes my blood boil."

Even the professors had found it difficult to rein Paul in. The reason was simple: he was the son of an immensely powerful noble family. The commoner professors, who made up the vast majority of the faculty, chose to keep their heads down. At most, a few professors from demi-human races—who were somewhat free from the constraints of imperial law—would give him a stern talking-to, but that was it. As for expelling him, the Academy president had likely accepted a massive bribe, because he stubbornly refused to do so. To my knowledge, Paul was still enrolled.

"Well, Paul's father practically grovels whenever he sees me now."

In fact, not too long ago, Paul's father, Duke Heinrich, had visited the Grand Duke's Office regarding a tax evasion issue.

Calling it a "visit" was a polite understatement. Terrified of being prosecuted, he had crawled in on his own two feet to offer the Grand Duke a bribe, only to get utterly destroyed. In the end, he was forced to pay every single copper of his back taxes along with an astronomical fine.

When tax evasion is combined with bribery, even a high-ranking noble cannot escape prison. If they are truly unlucky, their entire fiefdom can be confiscated.

Since the Grand Duke preferred not to make a massive public spectacle out of the affair, he had settled for a colossal fine. On his way out, Heinrich had run into me.

I had immediately gone to the Grand Duke and reported the Duke's attempt to arrange a private meeting. I heard that because of my report, his fine was increased even further, so Paul's father was probably absolutely thrilled right now.

I had run into him a few times at the Imperial Palace since then, but he couldn't do a single thing to me.

After all, I had the Grand Duke backing me.

"Well... it is the Grand Duke's Office, after all," Müller murmured.

The Grand Duke's Office, the institution that truly ruled the Empire. And the Grand Duke, the head of that very institution.

To the outside world, it appeared as though the Grand Duke was ruthlessly suppressing the Empress to rule the empire. In reality, however, the Grand Duke was aggressively pressuring the Empress to teach her how to govern.

"Whew... I'm so nervous. Aren't you nervous, Müller?"

At Maximilian's question, Müller admitted with a tense nod, "Of course I am... How could I not be..."

Watching them, I smiled reassuringly. "I told you guys not to worry. I talked you up to him."

I told him you'd make excellent, hardworking slaves.

Knowing that my own workload would finally decrease once these two were hired made it incredibly difficult to suppress my grin.

Unaware of my true thoughts, Müller boasted proudly, "If I ever become a Minister, I'll treat you to a proper feast."

Keep dreaming... Do you have any idea how much ministers get grilled?

Just recently, Minister Frank of the Treasury had been absolutely torn to shreds during the cabinet meeting.

I heard that the Grand Duke had dumped a merciless mountain of work on the Minister, who had opposed the establishment of the Information Department citing fiscal health concerns.

Because of those sudden, sweeping directives, the Minister had to draft an entirely new tax reform plan from scratch starting that very day. It must have been an absolute nightmare for him.

"Oh?! Look, it's the imperial carriage."

Following Müller's gaze, I looked out the window and saw a magnificent imperial carriage pulling up.

Moments later, the Grand Duke stepped inside the cafeteria, and our eyes met.

"Your Grace, over here!"

At my call, the attention of everyone in the cafeteria instantly shifted to our table.

"Ah, so these are the hidden talents of the Empire you spoke of?"

Deviang extended his hand toward Müller.

Müller quickly grasped it. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace! I am Müller."

"Yes, a pleasure. If you are Müller, then you must be Maximilian."

With those words, the Grand Duke extended his hand to Maximilian.

"It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace!"

Once the introductions were finished, the Grand Duke took a seat and spoke.

"Let me see the resumes you prepared."

The two of them immediately handed over their papers. The Grand Duke lightly skimmed through them.

"I see. Both of you graduated from the Academy?"

They nodded in unison.

"Excellent. Maximilian, I was told you are a magic engineer. What was your primary area of study?"

Maximilian answered in a clear, confident voice. "I studied heat regulation using magic circuits at the Academy, Your Grace!"

Deviang's eyes gleamed with interest. "Impressive for someone so young. And Müller, I understand you graduated near the top of your class."

In truth, while Müller wasn't the absolute valedictorian, he had never once slipped from the top ranks.

After a lengthy and thorough conversation, the Grand Duke smiled warmly.

"Wonderful. I shall hire both of you to work at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Grand Duke's Office."

And just like that, two new slaves—no, two new employees—joined the ranks of our Grand Duke's Office.