This Place Is an Excellent Civil Servant Supply Source - 2
The Student Council officers numbered seven in all: the president, vice president, general affairs officer, treasurer, secretary, disciplinary head, and public relations head. Aside from the sole second-year—the vice president—every last one of them was a graduating senior, a civil servant in waiting.
In other words, six outstanding talents with three full years of internship experience were being produced every single year. And not just any interns: unbreakable ones who had spent those three years being ground down by high-ranking noble scions of higher birth than themselves.
It's a bottomless well.
Not infinite, no, but six fresh, thoroughly vetted, thoroughly capable recruits? Far too good to pass up. Why go through the bother of some exam to hire people like this? Just take them.
You could search forever and never find another supply chain this stable. The Academy had stood since the days of Apels; it wasn't about to collapse overnight.
Part of me wanted to expand the Student Council just to grow the pool of future civil servants, but the Council's current excellence came precisely from remaining a small, elite unit. Pad the numbers and the quality would plummet.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what next year's Student Council will be like."
"Don't worry. There are plenty of outstanding people among the second-years as well."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"If they don't meet Karl's standards, I'll personally whip them into shape as president."
She giggled as she said it, and I returned an awkward smile. One careless remark, and the futures of second-years whose faces I didn't even know had just been sealed.
Technically it was conditional—if they failed to meet my eye—but in practice Margeta would run them ragged for a solid year.
Sorry about that.
Still, one year of hardship for decades of security afterward wasn't a bad trade. Having a duke's daughter as your personal tormentor for that year was a bit harsh, admittedly.
No—think positive. They would learn early how to read a superior's mood. Once they entered any ministry, dukes' kin sitting as their bosses would be rare; the immunity they built would serve them well. Actually, that was a plus.
"I'll trust you completely, Mar."
"I won't let you down."
Anticipation began to rise at those words. If it was Margeta, she would handle it beautifully.
"I'm already looking forward to what comes next."
Next year the current president and officers; the year after that, the officers Margeta herself had raised. Two consecutive years of superb new blood pouring vitality into the administration. Perfect.
"Which department are you thinking of joining, Mar?"
And the one I was most eager about was Margeta herself. A member of a ducal house volunteering for the Student Council—just how much passion would she bring to public service?
"Ah."
But Margeta froze at that single short syllable.
Her body went rigid, yet her pupils trembled so pitifully I began to worry I had put my foot in my mouth.
If I had been alone, I would have been rolling around the floor clutching a pillow by now.
"Is failing a grade out of the question?"
Heh heh…
"Don't leave first. I want you to stay by my side."
Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo…
This is the best.
I barely managed to keep my melting expression under control while savoring the happiness. My heart trembled at the thought that even a moment's carelessness would show Karl a shameful face, yet even his casual words were steeped in affection for me. Holding myself together like this was already an achievement.
Back in the Imperial Capital, when Karl had told me everything, I had steeled myself inside. Whether his wounds took one year or ten to heal, I would wait. Even if I turned thirty, even if I turned forty, I would wait at his side.
Karl had shown me his heart before anyone else. No matter how long it took, he would come to me in the end. So I had chosen a wait without promise.
But Karl had looked at me right away.
I'm so happy.
One year? Ten years? Karl had smiled for me in a single day. Of course the wounds weren't gone. He hadn't forgotten the past either. Even so, to keep his word that he would be honest with me, he had shown me everything without concealment.
Karl's true feelings.
Seeing something this warm, he must have cared for me too. All my efforts until now hadn't been in vain.
I had no regrets. I was a truly happy person.
Now I would have about five children with Karl, watch even the youngest get married, and once all the grandchildren graduated from the Academy, then I would have no regrets at all.
I could die happy…
Of course I would die later than Karl. I could never leave before him.
Ah, but living in a world without Karl would be hard. Still, I couldn't give him another wound, so I would simply endure.
To outlive Karl, ninety should be plenty—
"I'm looking forward to seeing what next year's Student Council will be like."
"Don't worry. There are plenty of outstanding people among the second-years as well."
The moment Karl's voice reached me while he signed the recommendation letters, I opened my mouth at once. Even I had to admit that was excellent quick thinking.
Anyway—next year, the period when I would be president.
There can be no flaws.
I could not disappoint Karl while I was president. Absolutely, absolutely, I would create the finest Student Council and satisfy him.
I could do it. My years on the Council hadn't been for show. I had watched the current president and learned how to run the organization.
Capable new bureaucrats would make Karl's life easier. When Karl had more breathing room, the time he could spend with me would increase.
Let's do this.
For the sake of my five future children, if nothing else.
"Which department are you thinking of joining, Mar?"
The passion that had been blazing went cold in an instant at those words.
Right. Karl still believed I was becoming a bureaucrat too.
I don't need that.
I had zero interest in becoming a civil servant. I had only aimed for it in the first place to get even a little closer to the indifferent Karl.
But once Karl was dispatched to the Academy, the need to become a bureaucrat vanished, and once he grew warm toward me the final nail was driven in. I had already drawn close to him without becoming a civil servant—so why bother?
How often would Karl, Chief of the Audit Department, even see a brand-new bureaucrat like me? Even if we did meet, we couldn't exchange private conversation during work hours. Far better to use that time managing Karl's mansion or his territory.
What do I do?
Karl was expecting the Student Council members to become bureaucrats. In that situation, if the president herself didn't become one…
"Thanks to Mar, someone else has lost the chance to become a civil servant."
No. He might think of me as a villainess who ruined another's future over a personal whim.
Then should I leave the Student Council before graduation?
"So the Student Council was nothing more than amusement to Mar."
That was no good either. He might see me as a frivolous woman who lacked perseverance and didn't know how to conduct herself.
Then grit my teeth and become a bureaucrat after all? The claim that I couldn't marry right after becoming one had been a lie anyway.
"I had hoped Mar would take charge of the territory as the lady of the house… what a shame."
Ah, aah…
Once my thoughts started sliding into the negative, everything became terrifying. No matter what I considered, it felt like I would only disappoint Karl.
What do I do? What's the right answer? He asked which department I would join, so becoming a bureaucrat must be correct, right?
"Mar?"
"Ah, yes. Did you call me, Karl?"
I answered in a fluster, and Karl looked at me with an inscrutable gaze. Don't look at me like that… please don't look at me with those eyes…
I unconsciously lowered my head, and Karl's voice came from above.
"Is it possible you have no interest in becoming a civil servant?"
The words that struck deep into my chest made my body tremble for a moment. I hadn't even said it out loud, yet he knew—as expected, Karl and I were connected at the hea—
No, that wasn't it. Stop fleeing in weird directions.
"…Yes. That's right."
After long hesitation I carefully nodded. Karl had been honest with me, so I had resolved not to hide anything from him either. After making that vow, I couldn't possibly conceal something this small.
The moment I answered, I dropped my gaze. I was too afraid to look directly at whatever expression Karl wore while watching me.
"What a relief."
Huh?
At the unexpected words I lifted my head a fraction and found Karl smiling.
"I don't particularly want to recommend the civil service, you see."
"I-is that so?"
Coming from someone who had just been writing recommendation letters with such enthusiasm, the reliability of that statement took a small hit.
"If there were no other path, it would be different, but that isn't the case for you, Mar."
Yet Karl seemed completely sincere—as if he were genuinely glad I wasn't choosing the bureaucracy.
"If you can avoid it, it's better not to do it."
A faint trace of weariness colored his eyes as he spoke.
It took several more rounds of coaxing and soothing before the fidgeting Margeta finally recovered her spirits. Had she actually thought I would be disappointed?
It's a relief, if anything.
I had been interested in Margeta's public career, but only because it seemed she truly dreamed of becoming a civil servant. The correct approach was to stay out of the civil service as much as possible.
I was already getting ground into dust in real time, and she wanted to step into this den of horrors too? If she were someone who had to worry about her future path it might be different, but she was the beloved youngest daughter of a duke.
No matter how many times I thought it over, the civil service was something to avoid if you could. Myself—already with both feet in the mire—and those future civil servants waiting outside were the only exceptions.
"That face of yours is so pitch-black it matches your rotten personality."
"The pitch-black thing isn't me—it's your future, you reject who didn't get chosen."
"I'm not a 'him,' I'm a 'her,' you know?"
So how long are you two going to keep fighting?
I had already reached the door, ready to head back to the clubroom, but the noise outside made me hesitate to open it.
The president's dazzling rhetoric had been steadily eroding the general affairs officer's mental fortitude until, at last, physical violence seemed to have erupted. The sounds of collar-grabbing and hair-pulling came through without the slightest filter.
Still, they clearly got along. Three years of this and they were still at it—that wasn't an ordinary relationship.
"Mar, I think I'll be heading out now."
I deliberately spoke loud enough to carry beyond the door, and the UFC match came to an immediate halt. I had been standing there enjoying the show, but it was time to leave.
"Are you returning, Audit Department Chief?"
"Yes."
When I opened the door, the president greeted me with a perfectly calm face and neat attire, as if nothing had happened.
Looking closer, though, the area around his collar was rumpled, and his hair floated oddly, as if someone had been yanking on it.
And compared to the general affairs officer standing with bowed head behind him, the president looked far more wrecked.
So you lost.
He was the type who specialized in words rather than fists.
When I turned my gaze back to the general affairs officer, her bowed shoulders were still trembling faintly. Still worked up, it seemed.
If I simply left, a rematch would probably break out, so I had better hand over the recommendation letters right away and go.