I Became a Civil Servant Who Can Use Magic

She thought entering when the banquet was in full swing would draw less attention, but it was quite the opposite.
Loen’s mind went blank at the sudden flood of gazes.

Her surroundings blurred and only her family appeared clearly.
Instinctively, Loen moved towards her parents.

“Have you been well?”
“Greetings to Duke and Duchess Franz.”

Loen and Psyche greeted the ducal couple in turn. Karin Franz, who had been watching Loen’s unconventional approach, let a brief silence pass before responding to the greeting.

“… Dragon Princess of Arteum, it’s nice to meet you. And Loen? The uniform suits you very well.”
“..”

Psyche nervously gauged the expression of the duchess, who seemed to have a lot to say in many ways.
However, Loen herself didn’t seem bothered at all.
Karin Franz’s eyes trembled slightly at her daughter’s demeanor.

If you had at least given some prior notice, I wouldn’t have been so flustered, isn’t that right, Loen?

Carl Franz, standing beside her, kept his mouth tightly shut and only watched his wife’s reaction.

“It seems sister didn’t have time to get a dress fitted.”

Johan approached with a wistful look and a worried tone.
Loen nodded lightly in response.

“That’s right.”
“I knew it! How difficult and hard must your life in the Inspection Corps have been for you to…”

Karin let out a thin sigh and scolded her son.

“Talk sense, Johan. To say she’s so busy she even forgot etiquetteㅡ”
“Loen, come with me for now. There are people waiting for you.”

Carl Franz cut off his wife’s words timely and led Loen away.
There were too many eyes watching to stay here like this.

Soon, through her parents’ introductions, Loen became acquainted with those who had connections to the Franz family.
Those who would become allies in the future.

Among them was a member of the Imperial Senate.

The Imperial Parliament.
Its authority has been greatly reduced by the current Emperor, and now it’s close to being just an advisory body to the imperial family. Even so, the honor and influence of those belonging to the parliament didn’t just disappear.
Especially if they were a senator.

“It’s an honor to meet you like this, Loen….”

The senator’s eyes glanced at Loen’s uniform.

“Inspector.”

And naturally added the title ‘Inspector’ after her name.
Didn’t she clearly express her will through her attire?
Yet calling her Lady Franz would truly be a foolish act.

The senator cleared his throat and said.

“First, congratulations on your early promotion to senior rank. By the way, with such an outstanding daughter, Duke Franz must feel very reassured.”

The senator and the ducal couple engaged in a friendly conversation with the awkward Loen between them.

After the senator came the Grand Duke of the North.

“It’s nice to meet you, Inspector Loen. Usually rumors tend to be exaggerated, but in your case, I was surprised it was quite the opposite.”
“You flatter me.”
“It’s good to see your modest side as well. It seems Duchess Franz has raised her children properly. Haha.”
“Loen takes after me, so from a young age, she’s had a good character and has been… very obedient. So there was no need to teach her separately.”
“Oh, I see. Indeed….”

Karin Franz, who had already put on her duchess smile, began to converse with the Grand Duke.

Watching them, Loen whispered to Johan.

“Johan, didn’t we originally not have much connection with the Grand Duke of the North?”
“Recently, the Franz family signed a magic item supply contract with the Northern Corps. That became the catalyst for our relationship to rapidly grow closer. If you think about it, it’s thanks to you, sister.”
“Why me?”
“The timing of the contract coincided with when rumors of your early promotion were spreading.”
“Ah.”

Loen narrowed her eyes.
I see.

The Grand Duke of the North.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army, commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, he was one of the Empire’s most powerful figures.
In the original work, he was also a figure who became a solid wall for the Empire, blocking the invasion of the demon army.

Continuing to maintain a relationship with him would be of great help to the family’s future.

“Keep developing our relationship with the Grand Duke of the North from now on. There’s absolutely nothing to lose.”
“Understood.”

At this point, Loen clearly felt that her status had changed.

Senator, Southern Corps Commander, Grand Duke of the North.
The caliber of those approaching her was far beyond common sense.

This wasn’t all.

In the past, the purpose of those approaching Loen was to form a connection with Duke Franz, so naturally, the conversation centered around the family.

But this time was different.

The gazes of those approaching were clearly directed at Loen,
and the conversation revolved around her position as an inspector rather than her family.

This meant that people had begun to see Loen not simply as a lady of a ducal family,
but as a key figure in the Inspection Corps.

How could she not notice when they were sending such expectant gazes?
Loen was perceptive enough to realize this.

If there was one problem, it was.

‘I want to rest.’

Her mind was gradually becoming hazy from the endless conversations.

Changed status or whatever, honestly, she just wanted to go home and rest right now.

Meanwhile, Psyche, who had been watching Loen become increasingly haggard in real-time from a corner of the banquet hall, let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew.. I’m glad I got out of there~”

At first, Psyche had been sulking after being pushed away by the crowd swarming around Loen.
You said you’d spend time with me, Loen.. sob.

But that didn’t last long.

Watching Loen wilt in real-time,
she was increasingly thinking it was for the best, when at that moment.

“Ahem. Are you the Princess of Arteum?”
“Yes!? Me?”

At the sound of someone’s voice from beside her,
Psyche turned her head in surprise.

“Is Grand Duke Dragon well?”
“I haven’t seen my father in a long time, so I’m not sure.”
“I see. Ah! Come to think of it, I heard you’re Inspector Loen’s adjutant.”
“That’s true, but..”

Regardless of her behavior, Psyche was also a dragon princess and a member of the Inspection Department.
It was only natural that someone like her couldn’t escape the eyes of the ambitious.

Loen, who was resting at a corner table, welcomed Psyche who approached with hollow cheeks.

“So you finally managed to escape too.”
“Yes..”

Loen pulled up a chair.

“Sit here.”
“Thank you..”

They stared blankly at the interior of the banquet hall while leaning on their chairs.
Then suddenly, Psyche’s gaze turned towards Seraphine.

“Inspector Seraphine really doesn’t seem to get tired, does she?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”

Seraphine was sweeping through the banquet hall like a fish in water.
In Loen’s opinion, she wasn’t sure about her being a magic genius, but she certainly seemed to be a banquet genius.

Then at some point.

Loen and Psyche’s gazes were drawn to the head seat of the banquet hall as if pulled.

In that seat, which had been empty until just now,
sat a young man with golden hair and golden eyes.

“..?”

The heavy pressure he emitted pervaded the entire banquet hall.
In fact, he was just resting his chin and looking down at the banquet hall with an indifferent air.

“Loen.. Could that person be?”
“Shh.”

Although Loen had never faced the Emperor’s countenance in her life, she instinctively recognized.
That he was the master of the Empire.

As silence fell over the banquet hall,
some people recognized his identity and screamed.

“Y-Your Majesty the Emperor!?”

The entire banquet hall was instantly in an uproar, but when the Emperor raised his hand, it became quiet as if by magic.

Soon, everyone bowed their heads.
They paid their respects to the absolute ruler of the Empire.
There were no exceptions.

“Raise your heads.”

At the Emperor’s words, everyone lifted their heads.

“I merely dropped by to see new faces, so continue as you were, at ease.”

As the Emperor withdrew his aura and said so, the expressions of those in the banquet hall relaxed.
Soon, the banquet hall regained its usual atmosphere.
Everyone conversed with the person in front of them as they had been doing.

Of course, this was only on the surface.

Everyone’s minds began to work intensely.
It was to grasp the hidden meaning in the Emperor’s words.

New faces that His Majesty is interested in….

At that moment, as the Emperor slowly looked around, his gaze passed over several people.
It was truly a fleeting moment.

Simultaneously, all those who could handle mana reacted instinctively.
Concentrating all the mana in their bodies into their eyes, they traced the Emperor’s gaze with extremely enhanced dynamic vision.

0.4 seconds on a young officer, 0.5 seconds on a knight.
………
1 second on Seraphine Bastard, and finally….

At that last moment, Loen’s and the Emperor’s gazes crossed.
His gaze quickly scanned Loen’s entire body.

‘Huh?’

The Emperor’s gaze, which had lingered for several seconds, soon scattered.
Immediately after, he vanished as if he had never existed in the first place.
The head seat of the banquet hall returned to its empty state.

People who had been rubbing their eyes at the mysterious sight soon came to their senses and turned towards Loen, on whom the Emperor’s gaze had lingered the longest.
Everyone’s gazes poured down like a waterfall.

“….”
“….”

Psyche, who had been gauging the situation, whispered.

“L-Loen. I’m going to get some fresh air for a moment.”

Grab.
Loen caught Psyche’s arm as she was about to stand up.

“Let’s go together.”

Loen and Psyche hurriedly left the banquet hall and headed to a nearby garden.
And let out sighs of relief.

“Loen, can’t we just return like this? We’ve exchanged enough greetings, and we’ve seen His Majesty’s countenance, so there’s nothing more to see, right?”
“That’s true.”

As they were discussing whether it would be alright to return to the capital like this, the Inspection Corps Director suddenly appeared.

“So you were here.”
“Director?”
“What brings you here?”

The Director, who had approached Loen briskly, pulled something out from his chest.

“What’s this?”
“Take it. It’s a letter containing His Majesty’s secret decree.”

Loen, who received the letter, made eye contact with Psyche.
She too couldn’t hide her bewildered expression.

Just as Loen was contemplating whether to open the letter.

The Director’s firm voice rang in her ears.

“The time for the hunt has come, Loen.”