I Became a Civil Servant Who Can Use Magic

Creak—

The heavy iron door of the storage room opened with a dull sound.
As Loen entered, a dusty space with faint remnants of mana revealed itself.

Psyche and Seraphine followed, their eyes full of curiosity.

“Wow~ Is this Duke Donnelly’s secret storage room?”
“Not quite secret, hmm. More like an important storage room?”

Psyche looked around in admiration.
Seraphine didn’t say anything, but she also seemed surprised.

The shelves filling the walls and boxes placed here and there were full of weapons and armor that looked extraordinary.
These were things the duke had collected over a long time.

And on the central pedestal.

Several artifacts were placed along with scrolls containing detailed explanations.

“How kind of him.”

Loen said as she picked up the instruction manual.
The scroll meticulously recorded the name, effect, and usage method of each artifact.
As if trying to hand over to someone.

This was rather good for Loen.
Originally, she had planned to send the artifacts to the Franz family for investigation,
But thanks to the existence of the manual, that was no longer necessary.

“Everyone gather around.”

Seraphine and Psyche, who were looking around, clung tightly to Loen’s side.
The three faces gathered towards the manual.

While reading it together amicably, Loen said.

“You can each choose one.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Psyche let out a joyful exclamation.

“Wow! Us too? As expected of Loen!”

On the other hand, Seraphine asked back with round eyes.

“I-Is this really okay?”

Seraphine was momentarily flustered.
The Bastard ducal family had a strong atmosphere of valuing strictness and honor characteristic of knight families.
She was naturally influenced by that too.

As such, taking expensive artifacts privately like this was something Seraphine was reluctant to do by her standards.

“What’s wrong with it?”

Loen asked, shrugging her shoulders.
Her eyes contained a slight puzzlement, as if she truly couldn’t understand why Seraphine was hesitating.

“But taking artifacts for personal purposes is..”

Loen interrupted Seraphine’s words and shook her head firmly.

“Don’t worry. These will be used for inspection activities.. no, for carrying out the Great Holy War. Not for personal use.”

Loen continued.

“Since they’ll be used as tools to carry out His Majesty’s decree, there shouldn’t be any particular problem.”

Psyche chimed in excitedly from the side.

“That’s right. Come to think of it, we’re the ones who caught Duke Donnelly, and we’re the ones who swept away those holding out under him, right?”

“So doesn’t the right to the spoils naturally belong to us? Moreover, Loen has been granted special discretionary power by His Majesty the Emperor. Anyway, it’ll be fine!”

Now that you mention it, that’s true?
Seraphine was gradually drawn in by their words.

We’ve gone through all sorts of hardships from the mansion, so maybe it’s okay to take this much..
But I have my pride as a ducal lady..

At that moment, Loen delivered the finishing blow with a rather serious face.

“Inspector Seraphine. Remember that the Great Holy War is not over yet. And that we must not discriminate in means and methods for this.”

At those words, Seraphine, who had made up her mind, reached out and picked up an artifact.

“Then. I’ll take this one….”

As if she couldn’t help but feel guilty despite everything,
Loen and Psyche looked at Seraphine, who was blushing, with pleased expressions.

What Seraphine picked up was a bracelet-type artifact.
A soft blue light, as if a faint electric current was flowing, emanated from it.

“Platinum bracelet. Optimizes mana flow to shorten casting time. Speed improved by about 10%. That’s what it says in the manual.”

While Loen was reading the artifact’s effect, Seraphine’s eyes remained fixed on the artifact.

“Inspector Seraphine? You didn’t choose it just based on appearance, did you?”

Seraphine’s shoulders flinched at Loen’s words.
However, she soon answered with an elegant smile.

“Of course not~ I chose it after careful calculation.”

Seraphine quickly slipped the platinum bracelet onto her left arm.

She did choose it just based on appearance.
Loen and Psyche were certain.

This time, Loen chose an artifact.

“I’ll take this one.”

What Loen chose was an autonomous attack artifact.
Its name was Mana Light Trigger.

It was an item consisting of a pair of cold steel rods.

When activated, the two steel rods would fly up behind the user’s back and periodically fire mana beams towards enemies.

It was the same type of artifact that had annoyed her when battling on the rooftop earlier.

The power of each individual mana beam is not strong enough to be fatal.
But it’s certainly not a level that can be ignored.

Even a skilled knight would have to parry or dodge it without fail, and a mage would have no choice but to use defensive magic against its power.

It’s essentially like using one more attack magic,
So for mages, it was the best auxiliary means to maximize combat efficiency.

Loen put the Mana Light Trigger into her bosom without hesitation.

Now all that was left was Psyche.

“I’ll take this!”

Psyche chose a continuous healing artifact.
It was a quite useful artifact for her that greatly enhances the body’s natural healing power.
However, it was somewhat disappointing compared to the other two.

“Will that be enough?”
“Yes~”

Loen looked at Psyche, who said it was fine so readily, with narrowed eyes.
Hmm.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, it’s nothing.”

Psyche’s uniform pocket was somehow bulging out. But she just pretended not to see it.

Afterwards, Loen swept up all the remaining artifacts and items that looked important.
Among the things Duke Donnelly had gathered, there were quite a few that could help with the Franz family’s magic research.

“Weren’t we supposed to take just one each? Then why are you sweeping up everything..”

Loen boldly faced Seraphine’s astounded cry.

“I’m going to use them to strengthen our forces.”
“….”

After pondering for a moment, Seraphine stroked the platinum bracelet and silently nodded.

The three left the storage room with satisfied expressions, each wearing their artifacts.

Afterwards, Loen busily moved about for the upcoming execution ceremony.

As a result.

Based on the investigation materials received from the Inspection Corps Chief, additional testimonies obtained through interrogation, and documents found in the duke’s office, she was able to finalize those to be executed.

And at the same time, she faced the reality of the corps being more rotten than expected.
She faced an uncomfortable truth.

“This is really a mess..”

Loen decided.

To show a clear example on this occasion,

She resolved to completely extinguish the spark of betrayal or treason.

A few days later,
At dawn when day was just breaking.

The vast plains beyond the corps fortress were filled with the heat of metal, leather, and humans.
The entire Southern Corps force of 50,000 was endlessly spread out there.

The soldiers’ gazes were directed towards the center of the formation.

There stood a wooden platform erected for the execution ceremony.

On the platform, about twenty men were kneeling.
They all looked shabby, unlike before.

Suppressed murmurs spread like waves among the watching soldiers.

“I knew this would happen.”
“They deserve to die.”
“After all that swagger. Tsk.”

Hostility towards the prisoners burst out from the soldiers.

“You know Commander Bern?”
“Who doesn’t know him? He’s famous for being an imperial soldier to the bone.”
“Anyway, the reason he couldn’t get promoted…. was because he didn’t side with the corps commander.”
“No wonder! I was wondering why that incompetent bastard with a bad temper got promoted while Commander Bern didn’t.”

Duke Donnelly used every means to privatize the corps.

He prioritized the promotion of those who swore loyalty to him.
Even if they were highly capable, those who fell out of the duke’s favor were repeatedly omitted from promotions.
Sometimes they even received punishments for ridiculous reasons.

On the other hand, those who offered flattery and loyalty rose to key positions at an unprecedented pace.

This wasn’t all.

He systematically embezzled the empire’s military supplies and funds and secretly distributed them to his loyal faction.
Through this, he won their favor and solidified their loyalty.

He grew his own forces and lined his pockets with the empire’s assets.

Other officers and soldiers around weren’t unaware of this corruption.
They all knew.

But even if they raised their voices, the opponent was a duke and corps commander.
The Donnelly family’s power in the south was at a level that no one could easily go against.

So they kept their mouths firmly shut.
They had to just hold their breath without making a peep.

But not anymore.

Duke Donnelly was dead.
The once powerful man had fallen to the ground as a cold corpse.
An inspector who suddenly arrived one day had judged him.

Immediately after, the duke’s confidants, who had been throwing their weight around without limit, fell to become criminals on the platform in an instant.
It was truly a great upheaval.

Shortly after, the executioner appeared.

Two inspectors and knights wearing full body armor followed behind.

An indescribable pressure flowed from their uniforms, unified in black.

“Here they come!”
“Shh.”
“..”

The vast plains instantly fell into silence.

Everyone watched her with eyes mixed with fear and expectation.

Thud, thud, thud.

Soon, she who stepped up onto the platform raised her sword.

Cold eyes devoid of any emotion were directed at the prisoners’ necks.

The soldiers watching this scene from below silently swallowed.

“Those kneeling here.”

Soon after, her voice cut through the silence.
A low and resolute tone echoed across the entire vast plains.

“You have betrayed the empire and His Majesty the Emperor.”

Her gaze fell on those who were once corps staff.

“Despite knowing Duke Donnelly was a traitor, you cooperated and participated in his plan to privatize the military.”

“Riding on his influence, you committed all sorts of tyranny, and arbitrarily ignored and violated the imperial military law you should have upheld.”

“You committed all kinds of corruption and embezzlement, such as diverting military supplies and funds that should have gone to imperial soldiers to fill your own greed.”

She listed the prisoners’ crimes one after another.

“As a result, the discipline of the Southern Corps has been driven into the ground.”

The atmosphere around gradually intensified.
Everyone sensed that it was now time for her final declaration.

“All these crimes are a disgrace to the honor of being an imperial soldier, a clear treason against the empire, and an unforgivable act of betrayal.”

“Therefore, to all of you.”

Her gaze sharpened like a blade.

“In the name of His Majesty the Emperor, I sentence you to summary execution.”

As the sentence was passed, cries and sobs burst out among the prisoners, but her expression didn’t even twitch.

Eventually,
An alien white line began to be drawn in the air.
The line, as if splitting space itself, extended long from one end of the platform to the other.

“..?”
“A line?”

Just as the soldiers were feeling puzzlement and unease at the strange line that suddenly appeared,

Slice—!

Thud thud thud.
The prisoners’ heads were cut off all at once.
Blood spurting like a fountain dyed the platform red.

“!!”
“Huk.”

As the entire vast plains froze,

She proclaimed to the corps.

“Imperial soldiers must be loyal only to His Majesty the Emperor and the empire.”

At those words, some soldiers flinched.
Her gaze seemed to pierce through their innermost thoughts.

“If you violate this….”

Her red eyes slowly turned towards the bottom of the platform.

It was a cold gaze as if whispering, ‘This is the end of traitors.’

Meanwhile, the sun finally rose beyond the horizon where darkness had lifted.

The intense golden rays embraced her back as she stood on the platform, creating a dazzling halo.

Looking up at that overwhelming sight with eyes mixed with awe and fear,
Everyone standing here recalled once again the official name of the Inspection Corps.

And they engraved her warning deep in their hearts, like an irrefutable truth.

Treason and betrayal were death.