The Tyrant Empress is Obsessed with Me

1 – How can this be a success

The morning commute of a 9th-grade imperial official is tough.

Rainy days are suffocating, foggy days make it difficult to see, and nice weather days are challenging simply because they are enjoyable.

‘I want to go to work by carriage.’

Ascal had just glimpsed a carriage overtaking him, mocking his walking, and felt a genuine sense of envy. A carriage, powered by magic, is a symbol of wealth or power in this place.

Usually, it’s something owned by rich merchants, nobles, or officials ranked at least 5th grade, who receive government support to use. In any case, Ascal was none of the above. So today, he diligently and earnestly moved his legs.

Stopping by his usual bakery on the way, Ascal grabbed some freshly baked bread and fresh milk. Tearing off a piece of bread, he took a bite.

The crispy bread, rich with the scent of butter, was honestly much tastier than his past life’s bread.

‘The bread there was expensive, but seriously lacking in taste.’

After moistening his slightly dry throat with some milk, Ascal eventually arrived at his workplace, lost in thought.

Barbar Empire – Government Office.

True to its name, the opulent and magnificent building seemed like it was heavily coated in money, even to those unfamiliar with the place. In fact, it was a bit luxurious.

“Is it… 9:10 now?”

Ascal glanced at the massive clock hanging at the top of the government office, which had been made on request by the imperial government, and he flinched instinctively.

Office hours start at 9 AM sharp.

However, he didn’t plan to walk right in. Instead, he decided to take his time, arriving as late as possible.

Ascal loitered around the office as much as possible to kill time and looked at the clock again. It was 9:17 am.

“This should be enough.”

It wasn’t enough.

Ascal, who entered the Evaluation Department 4 again today, despaired.

“Ah, you’re the first to arrive again today, Ascal! As expected, you’re our department’s most diligent employee!”

These crazy people didn’t start showing up until after 9:30 am for a 9 am start time. Some of them even reeked of alcohol as if they had been partying hard the previous night.

This was the reality of the empire.

In this uncivilized fantasy world, bureaucracy was still an early culture.

“Come to think of it, it’s about time to choose this month’s outstanding employee.”

His senior colleague scratched his nose and approached the framed certificate hanging on the office wall.

＜Outstanding Employee for August ~Ascal Debré~＞

“It’s time to take this down.”

Phew.

Ascal sighed with relief.

Seeing his face on the framed certificate every day when coming to work was seriously burdensome.

It was worth deliberately being late every day and being lazy.

“Congratulations, Ascal. You’ve been unanimously chosen as the outstanding employee for September as well.”

＜Outstanding Employee of September ~Ascal Debré~＞

‘Damn it.’

“Congratulations!”

“Congratulations, Ascal!”

“You’re really the hope of our department!”

As he watched his colleagues clap enthusiastically, Ascal seriously worried about the empire’s future. No wonder there would be a rebellion and subsequent executions later on. These crazy people.

Ascal vowed to escape this place once and for all.

However, resigning from the empire was never an easy thing.

“Did you hear? The employee who ran away saying he couldn’t work anymore was finally caught by the hunting dogs.”

“Along with his whole family being executed, right?”

“Yeah, and I liked him because he was quite clever. It’s a shame he didn’t escape better.”

His senior scratched his head.

It was a natural conversation about who had tried to run away today and got caught. It even had a supportive atmosphere. Most of them were caught miserably and executed, though.

The hunting dogs refer to the emperor’s direct agency, the intelligence department. They have all the authority under the emperor’s permission and monitor and investigate the officials.

Once one has become the empire’s official, there is no way out through normal means. You either reach retirement age, die in an accident, or be fired for messing up the job seriously.

The first method is unrealistic. It is rare for anyone in here to complete their work safely until retirement age, and Ascal knows the future. The empire falls into chaos due to a rebellion long before his retirement age.

Dying in an accident is not worth mentioning, so, in the end, the third method is all that Ascal is seriously aiming for.

Being fired for incompetence.

“Time has already flown by like this. Well then, shall we all take a nap today?”

The senior official stretched out on a goose feather pillow that he had brought from somewhere, snored heavily, and immediately fell asleep. It all happened within one minute.

I looked around to see if there were any other people who shared my serious doubts about the abnormality of this workplace.

None.

Everyone is fast asleep.

It’s very depressing.

Before screwing up the job, these people simply don’t do it.

‘How can I get fired from here…’

It’s not easy.

It wasn’t until late afternoon that a serious work atmosphere finally resumed in the evaluation department.

Even if we call it work, the fourth division, not the first, which deals with the most critical tasks, hardly does anything other than categorizing and tagging antiques,

Or, we read the business plans of absurd young entrepreneurs asking for the nation’s grants and laugh it off before stamping our denial.

“Wow, this guy is trying to teach trolls how to speak and use them on construction sites? He’s seriously crazy.”

“It’s more constructive than the guy who tried to farm using goblin feces last time.”

Ascal casually replied to the senior’s ridicule.

In fact, from Ascal’s long observation, it didn’t matter how realistic or plausible a business proposal was. What the senior official cared most about was the background of the person who wrote it rather than the proposal itself.

“Think about it. If your background is solid and you have good connections, your chances of business success are higher, right? And if I approve, some crumbs might fall for me too. All these reasons are logical. Oh, this business proposal is from the heir of the Berke Viscount House. Approved.”

Anyway, after procrastinating for a long time, the senior sighed while dealing with a mountain of piled-up business proposals.

“Please take care of the rest.”

The senior used his ability to slack off.

In fact, even if the lowest-ranked officials like Ascal slacked off, they had no authority to take responsibility. What if they accidentally approve a wrong proposal and waste the national budget? They could be held responsible and fired.

…Fired?

A lightning-like idea crossed Ascal’s mind.

-Title: Improving Mana Stones using New Materials

＜The current production of mana stones in the empire is highly inefficient. The current mana stone production process consumes a lot of resources, with plenty of room for improvement. By using new materials and alchemy, we can greatly improve efficiency and increase mana stone production. Although there would be significant costs initially, the empire will gain permanent benefits that cannot be compared. Therefore, I propose the following method.＞

The dozens of pages that followed in the proposal were filled with professional jargon and incomprehensible concepts, making it impossible for anyone outside the field to even interpret it.

However, Askal believed the business plan to be a fraud. The reason was that it was overly elaborate, reeking of a swindle.

Moreover, if the person had real abilities, wouldn’t they have sent their proposal to Division 1, rather than corrupt and incompetent Division 4?

On top of that, the proposer was an anonymous alchemist.

Naturally, he had to stamp it with rejection.

‘Even if it needs a huge amount? To such a scam-like proposal, of course…’

– Title: On the Improvement of Magic Stones Using New Materials

＜Approved＞ Askal Dever

Askal looked around cautiously. Obviously, no one cared about what he was doing.

Then, he sneaked into the empty office of the manager who had left to enjoy horsemanship, and inserted the magic stone improvement plan, which asked for a huge amount of funding, among the proposals that had been secretly approved.

With this, the swindler would take the national funds, and Askal would become an incompetent manager who had failed to recognize the scam.

‘If I’m lucky, I’ll be fired, or at least my reputation will plummet.’

He’d have to eat crow, but now he could be one step closer to being fired.

‘Please, help me, swindler.’

– The Empire Newspaper Front Page

＜Giant Breakthrough! Success in Improving Magic Stones! Court alchemists predict an increase of over 300% in the efficiency of the magic stones, and the pioneering alchemist Tey expresses his inexpressible gratitude to the Evaluation Division which approved his reckless plan…＞

“What the f*ck.”