I Became a Civil Servant Who Can Use Magic

Loen accepted Psyche as her aide.

There was no one else who passed the first interview anyway, and Loen thought she looked gentle and cheerful, which seemed quite nice.

Afterwards, the Director sent them out, telling them to get along quickly.

“Maintain a good relationship, as she’ll be assisting you from now on.”
“Yes.”

Click.

Loen and Psyche left the Director’s office.

“…”
“…”

An awkward silence flowed between the two.
They just glanced at each other.

Loen, having been the youngest until now, suddenly had a direct subordinate and was racking her brain about what to say,
While Psyche…

‘Wow! Amazing. Is this the Inspection Department Senior Inspector I’m supposed to assist? No, wait. Since she hasn’t been officially promoted yet, should I just call her Inspector? Or senior? Should I just call her Ms. Loen? By the way, her appearance is totally! Just like the cold ducal lady the previous Team Leader talked about!’

Buzz buzz.
Thump.
Thump.

Though she was just keeping her mouth shut, she was already a crucible of excitement. As if representing Psyche’s mood, her tail wagged furiously from side to side like a dog that found its owner.

Because of this, Psyche’s tail kept thumping against Loen’s side.

“Your tail keeps…”
“Ah, this is something I can’t control.. Instead, I’ll hold it tightly!”

Psyche made an “eigh” sound and grabbed her swaying tail tightly with both hands, hugging it to her chest.
Then she looked up at Loen with sparkling eyes.

What’s this? Does she want to be praised?
Loen gave an appropriate response.

“Well done.”
“Oh, it’s nothing~”

Despite her tone suggesting it was no big deal, the tail she hugged to her chest kept wriggling constantly.

Seeing this, Loen laughed inwardly.
The tail is honest.

“Since you’re my direct superior now, you can speak comfortably!”
“Should I? Then I’ll call you Psyche.”
“Yes!”

It had already been two months since joining.
Having spent half of that in the grand duchy, Loen was still unfamiliar with life at headquarters.
In this situation, she suddenly even got an aide.

Hmm. What should I do to become friends quickly?

After pondering for a moment, Loen opened her mouth.

“Want to go eat?”
“Yes!”

The two headed to the cafeteria located within headquarters.

Clatter..
Loen, who had been eating, stopped at some point and blankly stared at the aide in front of her.

Are you a squirrel?
Psyche was literally stuffing food into both cheeks.

Moreover, it was already her third bowl.
Clearing out a full plate of food and then filling it up again to clear out…

“It’s fascinating every time I see it.”
“As expected of a dragon person.”
“But it’s cute, isn’t it.”

Even passersby commented on her as they watched.
Loen had similar thoughts to them.

After finishing the meal, Psyche grabbed Loen’s hand and led her somewhere.

“I know a really delicious bakery!”
“A bakery?”
“Yes! A meal isn’t complete until you eat bread too, you know.”
“..”

And so they arrived at a certain bakery.
As if her words about it being really delicious weren’t a lie, the inside of the store was bustling with people.

Psyche, who had filled a wooden tray with bread, stood at the counter.

Eventually, the employee said.

“The total is 98 gold.”
“Eck.”

For reference, 1 gold has a similar value to 1000 won on Earth.
So, Psyche had just scooped up 100,000 won worth of bread.

Loen looked at Psyche’s back with an incredulous expression. But then she suddenly turned her head and made eye contact with Loen.

Psyche looking at Loen with an anxious face.

No way.
Nah, no way.

Loen’s ominous imagination soon became reality.

“Um, L-Loen. I don’t have any gold, so..”
“..I’ll buy it for you.”

Loen sighed and paid for the bread.
She decided to consider it as treating her to a meal to commemorate getting an aide.

“Thank you! As expected of Loen!”

Psyche’s loyalty towards Loen increased greatly.

Loen returned to headquarters with Psyche, who was hugging a full load of bread and immersed in happiness.

As she walked down the corridor, Loen suddenly fell into thought.

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s a familiar name.’

At first, she thought it was just a feeling, but now it became a bit clearer.

Psyche.
It was definitely a name she had heard somewhere before.

Is she a character from the original novel?

She had been so busy that she wasn’t paying any attention to the novel side, but she still remembered at least the names of the protagonist’s group.

So she could say with certainty.
She’s not part of the protagonist’s group.

Then that means she’s another character.
Perhaps she might be an important supporting character or someone from a force antagonistic to the protagonist.
Or it could just be my misunderstanding.

Loen turned her head to look at Psyche walking beside her.

Munch munch.
Psyche was following Loen while stuffing bread into her mouth.

“Psyche.”
“??”
“… Never mind.”

Seeing Psyche’s ridiculous appearance, Loen felt somehow deflated.

‘Let’s focus on the upcoming duel for now. It’s not too late to check later.’

The day of the decisive battle is approaching.
The day when the youngest members will have a magic duel staking their pride.

The so-called, “Jagangducheon”.

“How is it? The title’s good, right? I came up with it.”
“But why Jagangducheon specifically?”
“Because it’s a duel between two genius mages with strong pride.”
“I see..”

Senior Ria spoke as if boasting.
Loen, who wasn’t that proud to begin with, just went along with it.

What does that matter anyway.
More important than that is whether you win or lose.

“Wow~ It’s so cool! Jagangducheon! It’s a title overflowing with romance!”
“The youngest aide knows something, huh? While we’re at it, want to go do ‘that’ together?”
“Sure! Loen, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Alright.”

Senior Ria and Psyche got along extremely well.
Since they both had lively personalities and couldn’t stay still, they often paired up and ran around here and there.

Thanks to this, the Inspection Department office became even noisier.

“It’s like Ria has increased to two.”
Nod.

Gilbert lamented, and Ead quietly nodded.
Loen also silently expressed agreement.

By the way, Senior Ria’s aide is still in Pellon viscounty dealing with the aftermath of its complete ruin.
Gilbert’s aide was the embodiment of taciturnity, quietly doing office work in a corner, and the Team Leader doesn’t have an aide.

As a result, Psyche was the only aide exuding presence in the office.

“By the way, what exactly is ‘that’? Do you know, Senior Gilbert?”
“Ah, that. Well, it’s…”

Gilbert’s explanation continued. Even he had been forced to participate in ‘that’ when Ria dragged him along.

Anyway, after the explanation ended, Loen’s reaction:

“Isn’t that just fraud?”
“Probably.”

At that time, outside the office.

“Youngest aide! The key to ‘that’ is to make it plausible. You know what I mean, right?”
“Yes!”

Ria and Psyche were walking down the corridor, scouting for targets.

[ Firearms Research Lab ]

By chance, a signboard caught their eye.
It was dwarf blacksmith Hans’ research lab.

Originally it was a Production Research Lab, but recently Hans, who became obsessed with a weapon called the musket, changed the signboard completely like this.

“Let’s go there.”
“Okay!”

Creak.
Bang! Bang! Taang!

As they opened the door and entered, hot air and the smell of gunpowder engulfed them.
At the same time, the sound of hammering and musket firing could be heard.
Inside, there were four or five people including Hans.

“Ugh, what’s this. It’s so chaotic I could die. Old man Hans!”
“It’s been a while, Ria and Psyche.”
“Oh? Looks like you know the youngest aide?”
“It’s a similar case to you.”
“Ah~”

Hans welcomed the two. In fact, it was more worry than welcome.
He wondered what kind of trouble they came to cause this time. Both of them were tomboys who went around causing problems everywhere.

“So, what brings you here?”
“Are you still researching that musket or whatever?”
“Just get to the point. I’m busy right now.”
“Ahem.”

Ria glanced around slightly and said.

“You’ve heard the news, right? About the duel between the Inspection Department’s youngest and the Enforcement Department’s youngest.”
“I’ve heard about it.”
“But how can there be no ‘betting’ on something like this? Right?”

Ria deliberately emphasized a certain word. As a rule, men are a species that goes crazy over the word ‘betting’.

Even the other blacksmiths in the lab who were pretending not to listen all flocked to Ria’s side.

“Ahem. Did you just say betting?”
“Betting? I can’t resist that.”

Ria continued speaking.

“I’m planning to set up a proper betting pool this time. So if you’re interested, bring plenty of gold to me on the day of the duel! Got it?”
“Is that all?”
“Ah~ Really. I shouldn’t be saying this normally..”
“We’re not strangers who’ve only met once or twice! Don’t be like that and tell us clearly!”

A blacksmith who met Ria for the first time urged her.

“This is really something you shouldn’t tell anyone else. You know?”

The blacksmiths’ ears opened wide as they nodded.

After that, Ria spilled Loen’s secrets to them.

You know she’s a dual attribute holder, right?
But it’s light and darkness attributes!
Both are higher attributes!

Ooh.

And one more thing.
The decisive reason for accepting the duel.

“Her magic casting speed is mu~~uch faster than others. In my opinion, it’s about 1.5 times faster. How about that? It’s no joke, right?”
“S-Senior Ria! Loen said not to go around telling that!”
“It’s fine~”

Psyche pretended to stop Ria, saying how could you reveal even that in a way that suggested she shouldn’t.

“What about double casting?”
“What double casting for a 4-star mage. Our youngest will win even without that, I tell you? Haven’t you heard the rumor about her repelling a 5-star elf mage in the viscounty?”

The words “That was because you drew their attention, allowing her to repel them, wasn’t it?” circled in their minds.

“Anyway, if you bet on our youngest, you’ll definitely win. So everyone, prepare plenty of gold! Well then, I’ll be going now~”
“Thank you for such valuable information!”

Ria, who had skillfully mixed truth and lies, left the research lab.

Right after that.

“I thought she might have learned double casting or something. What’s the big deal about casting quickly.”
“You know how the arm bends inwards.”

Unless the casting speed is two or three times faster, there’s no way to beat a double casting mage even if you’re reborn.

“From the way she talked, it doesn’t seem like a lie.”

The blacksmiths began a thorough analysis based on the given information.

Seraphine.
5-star lightning mage.
Capable of double casting.

Loen.
4-star light and darkness mage.
Casting speed 1.5 times faster (probably.)

“Even considering she’s a dual attribute holder….”
“While the Inspection Department’s youngest is a member of the Franz family, the Enforcement Department’s youngest is also a mage called a genius.”

The analysis was complete.
Without further consideration, it’s Seraphine’s victory.

They decided to scrape together all their assets and go all-in on Seraphine on the day of the duel.
It was a chance to earn gold without risk!

Only Hans, who had been quietly listening in the back, silently decided to bet on Loen.

Afterwards, the Inspection Department duo continued to spread rumors in the same way, going around various places.

Time passed and finally, the day of the decisive battle arrived.

Loen got up from bed and put on her clothes.
She left the house without hesitation.
As always, she picked up Ead and headed to headquarters.

“Loen. Are you confident?”

At Ead’s question, Loen thought.

Her body condition is at its peak.
She’s more proficient in double casting than before.
She’s also shortened the casting speed of the magic to be used in the duel to the limit.

After finishing her thoughts, Loen said.

“Of course.”