I Have Too Many Superiors - 2
Memories from before the transmigration floated up. The bittersweet recollection of accidentally tapping open a message I had been deliberately ignoring because its contents were less than pleasant, watching the little 1 beside it vanish, and knowing I somehow had to reply. The pitiful memory of fretting over whether there was any way to restore that unread 1.
If I smash it, will it be like it never happened?
I fought the urge to hurl the communication orb against the wall and entertained useless thoughts. Should I claim I had tried to contact her only for the orb to shatter and make it impossible? But if I did that for no good reason, it would probably come back as an even bigger headache.
That bastard of an Intelligence Chief.
No matter how I looked at it, the Intelligence Chief was the villain here. How could he do this to me? How many times had I turned a blind eye to what his family had been up to?
With a desolate heart I squeezed my eyes shut, then carefully operated the communication orb. If I dragged this out any longer and the Magic Duke contacted me first, I would be hit with the additional charge of insolence. Just imagining it was terrifying.
I sent a signal to the Magic Duke’s communication orb and watched the blinking light with a bitter expression. I would rather she not pick up so I could leave a message instead. Please don’t answer. Please don’t answer. Please don’t answer…
“Aga? It’s been a while.”
She answered.
“Karl Crassius, heir of House Crassius and Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Finance’s Audit Department, greets the esteemed Magic Duke—”
“That’s enough. No need for such bothersome greetings.”
“Understood.”
I bowed my head slightly toward the Magic Duke in greeting, and she lightly shook her head to cut me off. The Magic Duke found cumbersome procedures and ceremonies annoying, so she ruthlessly truncated any greeting that looked as if it might drag on. Of course, any fool who shortened their greeting without the Duke’s permission would find their tongue shortened as well, so caution was always advised.
“My little Aga, you’ve grown quite cheeky while I haven’t seen you.”
“I apologize, but what do you mean by that…”
“I heard. You were curious about a lady’s private life?”
That bastard Intelligence Chief. He really told her everything… Thanks for saving me the trouble of saying it myself.
While the thought of going after the Intelligence Chief’s family again right this instant wriggled through my head, the Magic Duke quietly watched me with her white eyes. I still could not get used to those eyes. The distinction between iris and sclera was hard to make out, so they made me flinch a little.
Still, because their owner was a beauty, the feeling was more mysterious than frightening. The irises were closer to silver than pure white, and the pupils were white as well—perhaps that was why. Then the Magic Duke, who seemed to have been thinking about something, opened her mouth again.
“I’ll come to the Audit Department, so wait for me.”
“Pardon?”
Did I mishear that?
I committed the mistake of questioning the words of a noble Duke, but the Magic Duke’s statement was that shocking. To the Audit Department? The Magic Duke herself? Wait—I was at the Academy right now.
“I’m currently on assignment at the Academy, so unfortunately I’m in no position to receive Your Grace.”
“So?”
At my pitiful struggling, the Magic Duke’s long ears perked as she tilted her head, as if she had been tripped up by an unexpected problem.
“Then I can just go to the Academy?”
“But since Your Grace is coming in person, isn’t it proper for me to go to the Audit Department to receive you?”
“Oh my. As expected, Aga thinks of me so much.”
“You flatter me.”
And my struggling ended as mere struggling. At the roundabout way of saying “don’t mess around and get over here,” I quietly bowed my head. The Magic Duke’s gaze, as if asking why I was wriggling if I was going to surrender right away, was also quite sharp. A sad affair.
“I’ll send someone to the main building, so come at your ease.”
“I’m grateful for your consideration.”
Meaning she would send a teleport mage herself so I could not sneak off somewhere strange. The heavy consideration nearly moved me to tears.
There was no way to resist a summons from a Duke I could barely even look up to. And she was even kindly attaching a teleport mage so it would not affect work much—what could I do? I urgently contacted the Principal, the Vice Principal, and Villar that I had to step out for a bit. At least those three needed to know about my absence so they could respond in an emergency.
Then, as I blankly waited for the mage in the main building, a mage popped out of thin air and landed in front of me. He had come faster than I expected. Well, from his perspective it was a sudden order from the Duke, so his feet must have been on fire. We briefly exchanged looks that understood each other’s feelings.
“Chief. I’ve come to escort you.”
“Right.”
But we did not exchange unnecessary words. Comrades who met for work were best parting after resolving only the work.
Look—once we arrived in front of the Ministry of Finance building, that mage simply bowed his head and vanished. Leaving without attachment once the business was done was the mark of an excellent civil servant.
Coming back here like this.
Left alone, I wordlessly looked up at the Ministry of Finance building. When I left for the Academy I had wanted to come back soon, but that had not meant I wanted to come back like this. Had someone gifted me a monkey’s paw? The wish was granted, but the process was a bit fucked up.
As I sighed and tried to enter the Ministry of Finance building, the communication orb splendidly flaunted its light. Fuck, what is it this time.
“Chief! It’s a disaster!”
The moment I answered, Section Chief Two’s face popped out and he shouted without preamble. A disaster? From Section Chief Two’s mouth—a disaster?
“You little shit! What the hell did you do this time!”
I instinctively started with a curse. There was already the major incident of the Magic Duke’s visit scheduled, and now an incident that even Section Chief Two acknowledged as a “disaster” was stacking on top of it. And since it was not a report through the Deputy Chief, it meant the matter was truly urgent.
“No, I didn’t do anything! Suddenly the Magic Duke is visiting! We really don’t know anything about it!”
At Section Chief Two’s appearance of spouting words as if wronged, as if innocent, and as if going out of his mind, I closed my mouth. Ah. It was not stacking. It was my doing.
“We’re hastily preparing the reception, but can we handle this among ourselves? Doesn’t the Chief need to come?”
“I’m already here.”
“Huh?”
“I said I came too.”
After a brief silence, Section Chief Two seemed to reach the truth on his own and shouted again.
“What the hell did you do outside!”
It was the first time this year I could not refute Section Chief Two’s words. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry… Fuck, I didn’t know that Intelligence Chief bastard would do that either.
Magic Duke, Beatrix Katoban of Servet. One of the five Dukes of the Empire.
The title of Magic Duke held by the current Duke of Servet carried the meaning of having reached the end of magic. It was a name other mages dared not even mention, but the Magic Duke fully deserved it. Even the mages of the magic powerhouse Uven Alliance Kingdom could not even speak to the Magic Duke.
In fact, being compared to the Magic Duke would be unfair from other mages’ perspectives. Because the Magic Duke was not human. Not as a metaphor—she was truly not human.
“My Aga. Making a lady wait is not a gentleman’s etiquette.”
“I apologize, Your Grace.”
Two ears perked up amid white hair so long it dragged on the floor. House Katoban had elven blood flowing through it, and the Magic Duke was also a half-elf. Among the Dukes who were not human brats in various senses, the one who was not human in the racial sense was the Magic Duke. Of course, not just race but ability and personality were not human either.
But for a lady, as a half-elf her age was overwhelmingly high, so she was closer to an elder. Even the Iron Blood Duke, the oldest among the five Dukes, was only treated as such by excluding the non-human Magic Duke—
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
At the Magic Duke’s words that cut off my thoughts, I quietly took my seat. Clearly the guest was the Magic Duke and the host receiving her was me, but the name of Duke was enough to reverse such futile relations.
The Magic Duke drinking the tea the Deputy Chief had set down and fled looked far too leisurely. At least she could understand how the pitiful civil servant in front of her was feeling. Or not? Maybe just drinking tea without a word like now would put her mind at ease?
“Aga.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The Magic Duke, who had closed her eyes savoring the aroma, opened her white eyes again and gazed at me. She set the teacup she was holding on the table and interlaced her fingers, looking ready to thoroughly… talk.
“Since when has the Audit Department taken an interest in a Duke’s private life?”
Damn.
I had been prepared, but from the start an instant-death pattern attack came out. Unable to find words at the solid straight punch to the solar plexus, the Magic Duke drooped her ears and spoke as if hurt.
“I thought our Aga and I had a special relationship, but it seems it was a one-sided courtship, so my heart aches.”
“How could I not know of the interest Your Grace bestows upon me. I committed a discourtesy by failing to restrain my curiosity.”
“Come closer.”
I carefully approached the Magic Duke who crooked her finger, and she pointed downward with her finger. Roughly understanding, I bowed my head, and the Magic Duke’s hand was placed atop my head. What was this? A hint that she would use lightning magic to roast me like this?
“What hurt my heart the most was hearing news of Aga through the Intelligence Chief. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
“Good. Be careful from now on.”
She spoke softly, simply as if hurt, but each and every remark was a jewel. Decorated this way and that, but ultimately she was annoyed by the dogshit of trying to find out her personal information through the Intelligence Department.
Still, it ended with a light head pat instead of lightning magic. For a moment I felt like a dog, but it was fortunate. She still did not seem to have any intention of blasting her experimental subject. I had never felt more grateful that I cooperated with the Magic Duke’s experiments like today.
“You saw a child using my unique magic?”
“That’s right.”
And the Magic Duke, most mercifully, seemed ready not only to stop at forgiveness but also to resolve my questions. Today… was lucky…
“By any chance, a girl with pink hair and blue eyes?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Since it was someone she had taught her unique magic to, she clearly remembered the appearance as well. Then was she definitely a disciple she had raised intentionally? How many more were there like Luise?
“Actually, she’s a daughter I tearfully sent for adoption. How pretty she looked, grown up so well.”
“…Pardon?”
What?
At the unimaginable secret of birth, my body froze. No—even if she was simply a disciple it would be concerning, but a daughter…?
Looking at my appearance, the Magic Duke nodded her head slightly and continued.
“You seemed tense, so I tried a little joke. Was it fun?”
Ah.
“Your Grace’s sense of humor is always admirable.”
“Hehe, right?”
At her satisfied smile, I also awkwardly let out a laugh.
I had momentarily forgotten that this elder who had lived a generous amount of years liked weird jokes.