Chapter 5: The Tyrant is Too Competent
Casually spinning the vending machine, a Super Super Rare ticket popped out. But the issue was that this SSR ticket was a one-way pass to hell.
Initially, Lia was dismissed and Ascal had a serious discussion with Kane.
“After thorough consideration, regretfully, it seems she cannot join me. Thank you for dedicating your precious time to participate in this assistant recruitment.”
“..What’s wrong with your way of speaking?”
For a moment, flustered, Ascal’s past life’s trauma surfaced. He wiped the cold sweat with the back of his hand.
“In any case, you don’t like Miss Lia. But think again. Miss Lia is young and talented like you. Among the numerous applicants, she’s a standout talent.”
Kane was the type to not easily let go when he had taken a liking to someone. Of course, Lia was exceptional.
If the future Swordmaster, Archmage, General, Chef, Artist, Scholar, Author, Politician, and Tyrant weren’t considered talented, then the others might as well be crawling worms.
However, since Lia was actually Princess Yulia, Ascal couldn’t keep a walking time bomb by his side.
Ascal cleared his throat and rebutted seriously.
“Isn’t her identity unclear?”
“What are you talking about? Miss Lia is the esteemed daughter of the Viscount Cinus. There are very few people who are as clear as she is..”
Since she was hiding her identity as the Empire’s 3rd Princess, Ascal thought that might be a weakness, but it turned out she had already perfected her identity.
Ascal prepared his next attack.
“Isn’t her experience lacking?”
“Miss Lia has been excellent, maintaining top grades in the assistant courses for a year. There are numerous testimonies to her dedication. She doesn’t lose to anyone in terms of experience.”
‘No.’
‘She took assistant courses in the meantime?’
‘A genius who also puts in effort? That’s unfair.’
She was not an easy opponent.
Ascal pondered, smacking his lips.
If he continued to argue, there was a chance he’d inevitably be seen as picking a needless fight.
Perhaps his next attack should be his last.
He must be careful.
‘I swore I would never use this method.’
“But she is a woman, after all.”
“...”
Silence fell for a moment.
Before being forcibly transformed into a sexist, Ascal hurriedly continued his words.
“Undoubtedly, physical strength is needed when performing official duties. We already have Sushia in our third department. We need someone to do the heavy lifting.”
“What are you talking about, haha. This guy.”
Kane burst into a hearty laugh.
“Can’t she just use magic power?”
‘Ah.’
‘I forgot this is a fantasy world.’
“I thought I might have to retreat if you disliked women. But if you’re worried about that, it’s unfounded. Miss Lia is skilled in magic as well.”
‘I should have just boldly been sexist.’
Ascal’s head grew faint.
In the end, Ascal, failing to build an iron wall, reluctantly decided to accept Lia as an intern assistant after a dramatic negotiation.
‘During the probation period, I will find some way to find fault and dismiss her.’
Did his boss, who used to nitpick him in his previous job, feel the same? A moment of belatedly understanding his feelings came.
“What should I do first?”
“Do you have to ask about your work?”
Yulia.
The future empress, who was currently disguising herself with the background of being the daughter of Viscount Cinus, was now enduring her new role as Ascal’s assistant.
“We will start with cleaning.”
Lia bowed her head slightly and began cleaning the office.
Ascal didn’t even reply and skimmed through the documents.
Today, too, there were only simple tasks that would end in ten minutes.
‘Why is the workload at this damn job so light?’
“The cleaning is done.”
“Already?”
Not long after starting the document work, Lia approached and spoke to Ascal.
‘Surely she didn’t do a quick, shoddy job because I asked her to clean?’
If she did, it was even better.
Because he could kick her out for laziness.
Ascal, with fire in his eyes, checked every corner of the office.
‘It’s clean.’
It was amazing.
She managed to clean this thoroughly in such a short time. Did the future empress also possess the talent of a cleaner?
It was dangerous to underestimate an opponent.
Ascal knew the pitfalls of cleaning.
He moved towards the window, pressing his index finger against the frame.
“Look at this. It’s a problem if you don’t clean up even the smallest part of it. If you can’t perfect something like this, how will you handle official duties...”
Ascal’s words halted when he observed his finger.
No dust adhered to it.
None at all.
‘No.’
He couldn’t give up.
‘I can do this.’
Ascal, firm in resolve, rubbed the corner of the window frame once more with his finger.
Finally coaxing a single speck of dust onto his finger, he spoke again.
“How do you intend to manage official duties? Do it again.”
“I apologize. I will clean it again.”
“I’ll be stepping out for a moment, have it finished by the time I return.”
To be honest, it was ridiculous.
It seemed like a tough plan to oust her using work negligence as an excuse.
He would have to switch tactics to office harassment.
Ascal, with a plan in mind, approached Sushia.
“Let’s have a quick talk outside.”
The weather was beginning to cool down.
Ascal took a long drag from his smoking pipe and spoke.
“What do you think of the new assistant?”
Sushia was a 9th-grade official.
Technically, the assistant to the head of the Evaluation Department was treated as a 7th-grade official.
Being suddenly parachuted in like this might be upsetting.
“…? I don’t think much of it?”
‘Ah, right.’
‘That was her character.’
Sushia was competent but only did what was asked and nothing more. Not lazy with work, she was precisely the type suited for a long administrative career.
“I have a favor to ask. Harass Lia for me.”
“You’re into that kind of thing?”
“No. Truthfully, I’m not too thrilled about her as an assistant, but I accepted her for now since I can sense the gaze of the head of Department 1.”
“Well, if it’s for that reason, I can help.”
Indeed, Sushia was reliable.
The two, pretending to be on a casual stroll but also scoping out the situation, returned to Department 3.
“...Did we enter the wrong office?”
But something was off.
They were sure they’d entered the right way, yet the office seemed peculiar.
It shimmered as if it were a new building freshly waxed.
“Welcome back.”
Lia, with her hair tightly pulled back, responded as she finished cleaning.
In less than an hour, she’d entirely flipped the office. She could win a global cleaning competition with those skills.
While Ascal was at a loss for words, Sushia approached Lia.
“Hey. Even if it looked messy, everything was arranged in a certain order, you know. What’s up with rearranging it as you please?”
‘Well done, Sushia.’
‘Press her some more.’
‘She must never know that the one she was pressing is the future empress.’
“Phew. No, don’t do that next time.”
Sushia sat in her chair with exaggerated, noisy steps. An excellent non-verbal expression.
Ascal hurriedly examined Lia’s complexion.
Except for a slight darkening, there seemed to be no significant change.
‘Pressing too hard could also be problematic. No matter how politically weak Yulia is at the moment, if she goes crazy, there will be no answer.’
The point was, that it was crucial to press just enough.
Since Sushia seemed to know that line well, he decided to leave it entirely to her.
And just like that, a week had passed.
“Ah? Really? She did that?”
“Yes. She seemed lost, wandering around the government building, but when I gave her a snack, she followed me to the entrance.”
“Wow. That must have been really cute. I wish I’d seen it.”
Ascal, working from his chair, looked towards where Sushia was. She was talking with Lia. But there was a problem.
They seemed too friendly.
‘Sushia, what are you doing?’
Feeling a sense of crisis, Ascal tapped Sushia’s shoulder.
“Let’s have a chat.”
Stepping outside, the two once again inhaled the smoke from their pipes.
“What happened? Didn’t you say you’d harass her until she left?”
“When we talked, she seemed like a good kid. Can’t we just work together?”
‘Work together, on what exactly?’
‘You and I have already booked our tickets to the afterlife.’
‘Don’t you see the ferryman of death waving from afar?’
Swallowing such words, Ascal spoke.
“No.”
“Hmm. Then it might be best if you harass her yourself, manager.”
A gut feeling struck him.
The dynamics were subtly shifting.
Go any further and he’d be the one ostracized. This was why a workplace full of women was tricky.
Ascal took a step back.
“Alright, for now. Go on in. I’ll head back in a bit.”
“Okay.”
Sushia, with her nonchalant disposition towards honor, was indeed great, but in situations like this, problematic.
Taking another puff of smoke and contemplating a solution, Ascal noticed a seemingly kind middle-aged man approaching from a distance. It was Kane.
“Ah. Taking a break too? Good timing. I have a message for you.”
“A message?”
“Viscount Yorick has requested civilian assistance this time. He said he needed help with farm labor. Originally, it’s a task for Department 1, but he insists that you, Ascal, should definitely come. Kind of a favor, you could say.”
“Me? To farm?”
“He’s one of your supporters. Despite everything, isn’t Viscount Yorick quite influential in central politics? It’s a good opportunity to build connections. And after all, you can just order your subordinates to do the farm work, can’t you?”
Farm work, with its heavy labor, would even exhaust the most seasoned soldiers during the peak of the season. Moreover, even though the weather had cooled slightly, it was still hot during the day. Ascal intended to refuse, if possible.
‘Wait a minute. Heavy labor?’
A good idea struck, and Ascal smiled.
“Understood. Let our Department 3 handle this civilian assistance.”
