I Became a Civil Servant Who Can Use Magic

The departure was immediate.

It was to drive out the turncoats before news spread that some influential figures had been arrested at the imperial palace where the imperial banquet was being held.

Loen rushed to her family home by car with Psyche and Seraphine.
And received a magic artifact from Carl Franz.

“This one doesn’t… make meteors fall from the sky or anything, right?”
“How could it?”

The situation is different from the Goldpiece Duchy.
Back then, the enemy they had to face was the Partisans, that is, the Allied Forces.
But this time, the eradication target is Duke Donnelly, the commander of the Southern Corps.

If an intense battle breaks out, the opponent will naturally be the Southern Corps.
The problem is that they belong to the imperial army.

No matter if it’s the Great Holy War, using meteor fall magic against fellow imperial troops is nothing short of madness.

It would only be doing the demons a favor.

Therefore, the key to this operation is to eradicate only the turncoats and their confidants while minimizing damage to the imperial army.

Carl, who heard about the decree from Loen, is well aware of this fact.
Therefore, he prepared artifacts accordingly.
Loen nodded as she listened to the artifact explanation and asked.

“Thank you. By the way, are the preparations going well?”
“We’ve already made it clear that we plan to fully enter the war-related business.”

While the Franz family is reaching out to the war business, coincidentally the Donnelly family is being purged.
Taking advantage of this gap, the Franz family absorbs Donnelly’s business and expands its influence.

This was the Franz family’s plan.

Loen didn’t ask further since the details were for her family to handle.
She had faith that her family would do well.

Afterwards, they left the family home and all boarded the train together.

“Ah~ So that’s why we’re conducting the operation in secret!”
“Yes, if we openly declare it a holy war or something.. it could easily escalate into a civil war.”
“It’s truly wicked beyond measure. They must have reached out to Duke Donnelly with that in mind, I’m certain.”

In the middle of their conversation, Seraphine cautiously opened her mouth.

“Inspector Loen, did the Director say anything? Was there any mention about the level of the magic-armored knight members?”
“From what I heard, they all possess combat power of 4-star high rank or above.”

Seraphine’s eyes widened.

“That’s better than expected.”

To compare the magic-armored knights to the previous life, they would be equivalent to special forces armed with the latest equipment.
They were high-quality forces deployed in situations like now when small-scale elite power was needed.

“Loen! What’s your plan this time? Total annihilation?”
“Not that…. Just the turncoats and those who cooperate with them.”

Seraphine’s raised eyebrows drooped.
Total annihilation..

Loen glanced at her and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Inspector Seraphine. You said it’s been a little over a year since you joined the Inspection Corps, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Have you ever personally done anything like an execution or such with your own hands?”
“……. No.”

Loen and Psyche exchanged glances at Seraphine’s rapidly diminishing volume.
I see.

“As a first-year in the enforcement department, wouldn’t you have had at least one chance to deal with someone by your own hands~?”

Psyche said, tilting her head.

“I’ve tried handling it with magic from afar. But directly executing someone with my own hands bothered me.. so a senior took care of it instead. So recently, I’ve been trying to steel my resolve.”
“Eh? You don’t look like that at all though?”
“…? What do I look like?”

Loen and Psyche answered inwardly at the same time.
Looking like a vicious young lady who doesn’t know fear in the world….

This time Seraphine asked.

“Aren’t you two bothered at all?”
“Nope!”

At Psyche’s answer without a hint of hesitation, Seraphine’s head turned towards Loen.

“What about Inspector Loen?”
“We’re not killing innocent people. Above all, I don’t consider those who collude with demons as human. So I’m fine with it.”

As a reincarnator, she knows well.
What kind of world this is, and how it will change.

The great empire occupying about 60% of the entire continent.
The empire, united under the emperor’s name, is humanity’s last bastion against demons.

The Allied Nations crying out for freedom and justice?
People don’t know, but part of the Allied Nations’ leadership has long since fallen into the hands of demons.
It was only a matter of time before the Allied Forces themselves fell into the demons’ hands.

Anyway, even now, those colluding with demons are popping up like moles all over the empire. In this situation, if the empire loses its power and splits in all directions?

The answer is in the original novel.

That’s why Loen made up her mind.
Long before all the talk about adventures and whatnot, she set her own line.

To not see those who collude with demons and those who threaten the empire’s existence as ‘human’.

It’s not for the empire’s sake, nor out of loyalty to the emperor.
It’s because that’s the only way to guarantee a stable future.

So she was fine with it.

“But there are ambiguous cases too, right? Like family members of their house, or people in simple cooperative relationships.”
“In those cases….”

Loen paused, froze for a moment, then sighed.

“Inspector Seraphine. If you nitpick every single thing like that, there’s no end to it.”

Loen looked straight into Seraphine’s eyes.

“Listen carefully. Just because I hesitate doesn’t mean they will hesitate too. If we don’t do it decisively… in the end, it’s me who will die.”
“Wow..!”
“..”

Beside them, Psyche looked up at Loen with admiring eyes.
As expected of Loen..!

Seraphine swallowed hard and nodded.

Loen’s group, who had rushed without rest, set foot in the mansion located in the duke’s direct territory.

And there, they encountered an unexpected situation.

“Oh my, what should we do? He’s not here right now.”
“He’s not in the mansion?”
“No. He left abruptly a few days ago, saying he had to command corps training.”

Loen fell into thought at the duchess’s words as she held a baby in her arms.

He left the mansion for corps training at this timing of all times?
Is it really a coincidence? Or….

Loen turned her eyes to look around.
The butler and retainers standing behind, and even the soldiers around.

There was nothing particularly special. They truly had looks of knowing nothing.

Loen glanced at the duchess’s baby again and said.

“I heard there was a lot of worry because an heir to the Donnelly family hadn’t been born for a long time.”

The duchess quickly opened her mouth.

“After long prayers, we recently succeeded in having a baby.”

Her voice was mixed with relief and pride.

“Thanks to that, we’ve been able to put our minds at ease.”

Loen carefully observed the Duchess Donnelly’s expression.
She seemed nonchalant but…

Meanwhile, the baby kept crying.

At that moment, the duchess greeted Seraphine.

“By the way, how is Duchess Bastard doing?”
“Mother is doing well. Anyway, congratulations. You must not have to worry about an heir anymore.”

The duchess spoke gently to Seraphine as if they were acquainted. Seraphine responded to all her words while wearing an awkward smile.

“Would you like to hold him?”

The duchess held out the baby to Seraphine. After hesitating for a moment, Seraphine relaxed her expression and held the baby. As soon as the baby was in Seraphine’s arms, it stopped crying and looked comfortable.

“He’s cute..”

Seraphine said as she hugged the baby.
The duchess’s gaze turned towards Seraphine’s eyes for a very brief moment.

During all this, Loen was constantly deliberating.

The purge of the Donnelly family is confirmed, but there’s a procedure.

According to the investigation, only Duke Donnelly and his knight commander were turncoats, just the two of them.
Therefore, the eradication of the duke should be carried out first.

Suddenly overturning the Donnelly ducal family without doing so would be an action that didn’t make sense.

However, apart from that, Loen had a strange feeling.
Something….

She looked around at the duchess and the surrounding people again but couldn’t find any peculiarities. No suspicious traces were found in them.

“It’s getting late, how about staying at the mansion for tonight?”

At the duchess’s words, everyone’s gaze turned to Loen.

After pondering for a moment, Loen accepted the duchess’s consideration.

“Let’s do that.”

Late at night.

Loen’s group gathered in Seraphine’s room.
The magic-armored knight captain was also present.

The rest of the magic-armored knight members were on standby in the next room, wearing their armor as per Loen’s instructions.

“Even after looking around the mansion, I didn’t see any suspicious traces.”
“I kept talking with the duchess, and she seemed no different from before.”
“After the members dispersed to search, there were no notable findings.”

The rest of the group reported to Loen in turn. Nevertheless, Loen’s expression didn’t relax. Everyone was puzzled by this.

“Loen?”

Loen answered Psyche’s words.

“What kind of existence are inspectors to nobles?”
“Umm, a symbol of fear and authority?”
“Then how was the duchess’s reaction when she suddenly faced us?”

Everyone’s expressions hardened at Loen’s words.

“Come to think of it, she did come out to greet us as if… nothing was wrong, didn’t she?”

While Psyche was questioning, Seraphine interjected.

“But as the mistress of a ducal family, couldn’t that be possible? Since the Donnelly family itself is deeply involved in war, that level of boldness isn’t strange. Above all, my mother, Duchess Bastard, also possesses boldness on par with Duchess Donnelly?”

Seraphine’s words have a point.

She’s the mistress of one of the top families belonging to the Empire’s ten dukes, not just an ordinary noble.
As such, she could be someone with the mettle to not even blink an eye when inspectors suddenly barge in.

But.

“Seraphine. We’re not here on a visit. We’ve come to eradicate turncoats under His Majesty’s decree. So put aside such easygoing thoughts.”

Unexpectedly harsh words came out of Loen’s mouth. Seraphine’s eyes widened at this. Then she lowered her eyes. Because she realized the meaning behind Loen’s words.

From Loen’s perspective, she was saying this out of concern for Seraphine.

There were signs from the imperial banquet, but Seraphine’s way of thinking was too….
Easygoing in itself.

It’s not for nothing that young ladies from noble families are called hothouse flowers.
It was honestly frustrating to see someone who had spent a year in the Inspection Corps acting like this.

With such a mindset, she definitely won’t survive long. It might be fine now since team members are together, but when the time comes to perform solo missions after being promoted to senior…. Well.

No matter how much of a genius mage she is, the moment a knife is stuck in the back of her head, that’s it.
That’s how the world works.

At that moment when the room was immersed in silence.

Knock knock.
Lady Seraphine?

Along with the sound of knocking on the door, the duchess’s voice was heard from outside the room.

Soon after, the sound of a baby crying followed.

At this, Loen gestured to her companions.

The knight captain silently put on his helmet. Psyche quietly chanted enhancement magic. Lastly, Seraphine hesitated but started casting magic.

Knock knock.
The baby can’t sleep. When he’s in Lady Seraphine’s armsㅡ.

As Loen strode over and flung open the door, the duchess’s seemingly surprised face came into view.

“Ah.. You were all gathered here?”
“We had something to discuss briefly.”

The duchess and Loen’s gazes crossed.

“Duchess Donnelly.”
“Yes?”
“You cherish the baby very much, don’t you?”

Loen continued.

“Well, it’s understandable since there was no heir for a long time. The family line could have been cut off.”

Loen’s eyes glanced at the baby.

The baby clearly looked uncomfortable.

“But, for someone who knows well what kind of people inspectors are, in a situation where you don’t know why we visited, to so openly display such a precious baby…. Isn’t that a bit too much?”

Loen quietly extended her hand to the side.
Even at that moment, the duchess’s gaze was directed only at Loen.

“As if you’re trying to show it to us on purpose.”

After a moment of silence, the duchess smiled elegantly and said.

“You’re quite perceptive.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than both women moved simultaneously.

The duchess’s arm stretched out at a speed invisible to the eye.
It was a movement mixed with killing intent and instinct.

At the same time, Loen’s lips parted.
Short and clear activation words leaked out consecutively, as if cutting through space.

Mana shield, mana blade.. and flash.

A light that seemed about to burst filled the room.