I Became a Civil Servant Who Can Use Magic

The area where troops of nobles opposing Loen were stationed.

“Hey! Polish them like brand new!”
“Understood.”

A man came out pulling a cart, opening the door of the tent where the nobles’ close aides and captain-level knights were staying.

The cart was piled full of swords.
They were collected to check and polish weapons before the decisive battle.
As it was a common occurrence, they handed over their swords without thinking twice.

Clatter, clatter.

A group of about thirty knights passed by the man pulling the cart indifferently. Their attire was quite different from those inside the tent.

They approached the tent in perfect order.

And at the front of the group, walking, was the blonde female knight, Veronica.
As she headed towards the tent, she suddenly recalled when she first heard the plan.

That plan she had asked about several times, unable to believe it.

The nobles’ resistance will be considerable, won’t it? How do you plan to handle the aftermath?

Resistance? You don’t need to worry about that. Because…

But the moment she heard from the Count about the true identity of the plan’s designer, she completely let go of her doubts.

Imperial Inspection Corps.
What more needs to be said?

Veronica, now at the front of the tent.
She issued orders to those following her.

“Capture every single one of them without exception. If anyone resists.. it doesn’t matter if you kill them.”
“Yes.”

As long as the Inspection Corps has our backs, there’s nothing to worry about.

Inside the spacious tent, knights were gathered in small groups chatting.

At that moment, someone asked the closest aide of Count Dolce.
He was the commander of the Dolce Knight Order and the most influential figure among the knights here.

“I heard that Count Dolce is planning to firmly put that bitch in her place soon. Is that true?”
“…”

He nodded silently.
At this virtual affirmation, the inside of the tent instantly became noisy.

Seizing the moment, words against Loen poured out from here and there.

“She’s climbed too high.”
“Well, I’ll admit her skill is worth recognizing. That mana storm or whatever, when I first saw it, I wondered if it was really magic. But you know, the world doesn’t run on strength alone.”
“That’s what I’m saying! Having only strength without power just means you’ll end up being used and discarded~ Right?”

In the midst of this, someone threw out a new topic.

“Power or whatever. I just wish I could embrace our goddess once~”
“Heheh, you crazy bastard. What if you get arrested for insulting the goddess?”

Most of the knights chuckled at those words.

Just as their lord looked down on Loen, they too didn’t hide their contemptuous attitude towards her.

Bang!
While vulgar conversation was going on, someone forcefully threw open the tent door.

The eyes of those resting in comfortable attire turned towards the door. And soon, their eyes widened.

“Wh-What?”
“Veronica?”

Because Count Lidyte’s fully armed elites burst into the tent.

“Capture them all.”

At Veronica’s order, an untimely chaos broke out in the tent.

Meanwhile, Veronica approached the closest aide of Count Dolce.

“What are you doing! Even if you’re Count Lidyte’s guard knight, this is-!”

Clang!
And she silently drew her sword and swung.

The closest aide tried to respond by hurriedly throwing his body, but… because the blacksmith had taken away the swords.

Shing.
He hastily drew a backup sword, but Veronica’s attack was faster.
Despair filled his eyes.

“You damn…, gah.”

Veronica’s sword pierced his heart.
Then she pushed the corpse away with her foot and pulled out the sword in one go.

Swish.
Shaking off the blood-stained sword, Veronica emphasized again.

“Kill anyone who shows even the slightest sign of resistance.”

Miserable screams constantly erupted from inside the tent.

The inspector’s right of summary execution.

There’s no noble who doesn’t know about this. Nobles in the frontier are no exception.

Because it’s their habit to thoroughly understand factors that can affect their life and death, as they value their own lives above all else.

By the way, summary execution of nobles?
One might wonder what on earth this means.

But if it’s authority directly granted by His Majesty the great Emperor, who would dare to question it?
The moment one raises doubts about this, it’s tantamount to denying the Emperor’s authority.

Anyway, faced with the sudden appearance of an inspector, something extremely rare to encounter in person, the nobles in the meeting room didn’t know what to do.

“…”
“…”

Especially the nobles who had been opposing Loen turned completely to stone.

A situation where their own necks might fly off with one wrong move.
Not daring to even breathe properly, they just swallowed their fear in silence.

“From this moment, I strip all command authority from those who participated in instigating internal division.”

It wasn’t for nothing that the nobles of the anti-Loen faction had opposed her.
They were all sub-commanders holding command authority over the soldiers they had brought.

In other words, while outwardly called the goddess’s army, looking at the actual structure…

Orders were issued in the order of Loen > Nobles > Knights > Soldiers.

Because of this, even if Loen was the supreme commander, if the nobles united and refused orders, she would be powerless to do anything.
They had their own grounds for confidence.

Perhaps if Loen hadn’t been an inspector, she might have been pushed around by them.

But not anymore.
Because their command authority has been stripped.

“Any objections?”

How could there be any objections?

“Lastly, keep the fact that I’m an inspector strictly confidential. If rumors spread that an inspector has appeared in the Barrier…”

Loen glanced sideways and deliberately left her words hanging.
It was a silent warning.

The nobles hastily nodded.

‘She’s really an inspector to the bone.’

Anyone watching would think she’s someone who’s rolled around in the Inspection Corps for years.
This was Psyche’s thought as she watched Loen’s actions from the side.

“Veronica!”

At Loen’s call, Veronica and the knights entered.
Whatever had happened, their armor and faces were covered in blood that seemed to have just splattered.

At this sight, some nobles glanced at each other with uneasy eyes.

Loen asked,

“The things I mentioned earlier?”

She was asking how the elimination of the nobles’ close aides went. Veronica answered,

“All have been dealt with.”
“Well done. Next, the nobles who participated in internal division here. Take them all away.”
“Yes.”

The nobles were dragged outside.
Until the war ends, they will be confined in designated tents. It’s essentially no different from being imprisoned.

‘With this, the military power is secured.’

Now there will be no more nobles raising opposition. All unstable elements have been removed.

“Phew.”

Loen quietly exhaled.
It’s fortunate things went well.

Bending her legs to sit back in the seat of honor, Loen returned her manner of speaking to normal.
There was no need to maintain the atmosphere anymore, as the remaining nobles were all supporters.

“Count.”
“Yes!”

Count Lidyte answered with a stiffened posture.
Loen was bewildered at this.

“Why are you so tense?”
“I’m not tense at all!”
“..”

The nobles who supported Loen had also watched her actions until just now.
And they thought,

Somehow, her impression seemed unusual from the start.
So her appearance until now was just a mask, and this merciless side is her true nature!

It was a very plausible guess considering she was an inspector.
So their attitudes couldn’t help but change.

“Let’s end the meeting here for now.”

Loen, sighing, ended the meeting.
They agreed to meet again tomorrow after each prepared themselves.

Clearly, it was the nobles opposing Loen who had been struck by the inspector’s iron hammer,
But somehow, the aftereffects seemed to have spread even to the allies.

Thus, the meeting ended.

The noble faction that tried to stand against Loen collapsed in just one day.

“Loen! I’ve become curious about something.”
“What is it?”
“I’m a second-year investigator in my own right, right?”
“That’s right?”
“When I was in the support department, I went on inspections with people from other departments a few times.”
“And?”

While Loen was lying on the bed in her private tent resting after finishing work, Psyche came in and asked a question.
She walked in naturally and soon sat on the edge of the bed.

Thump, thump.

“Your tail.”
“Ah, sorry.”

Psyche, hugging her tail, turned her head to meet Loen’s eyes.

“Loen. You’re really a newbie, right?”
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

Psyche scanned Loen’s face back and forth.
Is she pretending not to know? Or did she really act without knowing?

Whatever it is.

How can a newbie who hasn’t even been in the Inspection Corps for a few months blow away a noble faction so cleanly?

Summoning the nobles, setting an example to establish dominance, and in the meantime eliminating their close aides… No matter how you look at it, this isn’t the work of someone who’s done this only once or twice.

‘But I know for sure this is her first solo inspection.’

Psyche beat her chest in frustration.
As she has a personality that can’t stand not knowing things.

“Ahem. So, you completely eradicated the faction’s seeds, right? But that process… No matter how I look at it, it’s the kind of action only an experienced inspector would take, right~?”

Loen understood Psyche’s meaning.

“Isn’t that how an inspector should be? Team Leader was even more so than me. Not less.”

Psyche made a dumbfounded expression.

“No, that’s, Team Leader has spent years in the Inspection Corps.. and you’re a newbie.. right?”
“I suppose so?”

Psyche’s eyes narrowed.
You still won’t tell me even like this?

Aish!
Psyche leapt into Loen’s arms as she was lying on the bed and hugged her tightly with both hands. Then a small scuffle broke out.

“You’re not letting go?”
“I won’t let go until you tell me, ow”

Thwack!
However, Psyche’s rebellion was quickly suppressed by Loen’s consecutive flicks to the forehead.

“Ow..”
“I just, thought of a method.”

It’s literally that.

The moment she decided to deal with them, the method naturally formed in her mind.

Presumably, it might be due to memories from her previous life.

In her previous life, she had indirectly experienced political machinations or purges of opposition through various media.

However, she couldn’t reveal such facts, so she just said “just”.

But that answer increased Psyche’s misunderstanding.

‘Really just?’

In other words, it means she was born with the Inspection Corps temperament, right? Loen, really, it’s not for nothing that you became part of the Inspection Department.

Nodding her head, Psyche returned to her own tent.

The next day in the strategy meeting room.

The nobles sat down with stiffened postures.
It was a sight reminiscent of the military.

10 minutes before the start of the meeting, Loen entered with Psyche.

The nobles glanced around and then stood up to give a resounding greeting.

Loen received their greeting and sat in the seat of honor.

Rustle.
The Count unfolded a map on the table.
And placing chess-like pegs on the map, he said,

“Our forces are here, and the enemy forces are positioned around here.”

Loen, who had been intently looking at the map, stood up and picked up one of the pegs representing our forces.

Now that internal unstable elements have been removed,
It was time to face the dark mage’s forces head-on.

Thud.

Sticking the peg into the map, she declared,

“We will engage the enemy here.”