Chapter 10: Where I Belong

“Is this the place?”

Standing before Oren’s office, Dien took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Soon, a familiar voice echoed from behind the door.

“Come in.”

“Greetings, Aide.”

“Oh! You’ve arrived, Young Lord!”

The aide, Denver, stood up and welcomed Dien.

As one of Oren’s closest confidants, he was someone Dien had exchanged greetings with quite often.

“Hahaha, ‘Aide’? Please, Young Lord! Call me Denver, just like you used to.”

“No, that won’t do. Since I have strictly entered the palace, how could I treat such a great senior with such informality?”

“Heh heh heh… well, if you say so…”

Denver found himself momentarily speechless at the mature response.

He felt remarkably proud of Dien, who had overcome the curse and come to receive succession training.

“The Demon’s Curse… are you alright now?”

He continued speaking while guiding Dien to a seat.

“Yes, as you can see.”

“That is a relief. Truly.”

Denver scanned their surroundings as he finished his sentence.

While it wasn’t always the case, the Demon’s Curse usually broke out in opium dens or cheap brothels, so when a noble family was afflicted, they often kept it a secret to protect their prestige.

Of course, Dien’s curse was also a secret known only to family members and close associates.

“Young Master, your atmosphere seems to have changed a bit.”

Dien looked around the office, and Denver watched him with a look of satisfaction.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It seems you’ve become more robust after going through such a difficult ordeal.”

It was a level of composure unbecoming of his age.

He exuded an air of leisure, much like someone who frequented the royal palace every day.

“Hahaha… I suppose after experiencing something like that…”

“I’m sure. It’s very good to see.”

“I recovered quickly because you were worried about me, Aide.”

“Hahaha, you flatter me.”

After returning the man’s smile with a warm one of his own, Dien surveyed the office.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

“It feels strangely familiar.”

Though inside an office, workers were sweating away.

The busy footsteps of those moving to get approvals.

The stacks of documents and the scent of paper filling the air.

Even the sticky notes plastered everywhere and the open law books.

When had he started missing the warmth of an office he once hated so much?

Only the computers were missing; since the atmosphere felt exactly like the accounting department of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office where he had commuted daily, it felt as though he had returned to his hometown.

“Is this really the place where I belong after all?”

Dien didn’t reject that warmth; he embraced it.

***

“The Baron is currently out at the site for the castle wall repair project. Please take a seat and wait for a moment, Young Master.”

The reality of the grand succession training was acting as his father Oren’s shadow.

The lesson was to follow him around and learn the business, but when Oren wasn’t there—like today—there wasn’t much to do.

However, he couldn’t just sit around idly.

“Aide, may I see the organizational chart?”

“Yes, of course.”

“It would be great if the nobles’ ranks and titles were written together on the chart. Ideally, the most up-to-date version. It would be even better if their assigned duties were listed as well.”

“Hahaha. The organizational chart is on the desk, and I will provide the list of duties separately.”

Denver nodded.

The number one priority in grasping any job was memorizing the organizational chart.

‘He already knows what’s important before coming here.’

Denver nodded, satisfied with Dien’s attitude.

He found it incredibly admirable that the boy had prepared in his own way.

And then—

“Aide, if you aren’t too busy, please teach me the approval lines as well.”

“Hahaha, already?”

“I should become a help to you as quickly as possible.”

“I don’t think you need to know the approval lines yet. Hahaha.”

The approval line: the sequence of superiors who sign off on documents.

He didn’t have any assigned tasks yet, so he wouldn’t have anything to submit for approval.

However, knowing the approval line meant more than just doing the work.

Fundamentally, if you know the approval line, you can grasp the sequence in which documents move.

It meant understanding the flow of business processing.

Not only did it enable fast processing, but it also deepened one’s understanding of the organizational chart.

Simply memorizing a chart made it difficult to identify which departments and Secretaries were involved in the exchange of interests.

To perfectly understand the organizational chart, grasping the approval lines was essential.

And more importantly—

It allowed him to quickly identify the superiors who held the ultimate authority.

In every organization, there is such a thing as internal politics.

To avoid being left behind, one had to quickly learn the relationships of interest.

Who is the superior that creates projects?

Who is the superior that gives orders from the side?

Who is the superior who can provide help from time to time?

Who is above whom, and who is beneath whom?

Which line am I standing in right now, and how should I conduct myself?

“Hahahaha. Seeing your passion, Young Lord, reminds me of the old days.”

Denver thought the Young Lord simply wanted to get to work.

He couldn’t even imagine how far ahead Dien was looking.

“I will organize the approval lines and give them to you.”

“Thank you, Aide.”

After finishing his request, Dien sat down and scanned the organizational chart, while Denver watched him intently.

‘My worries were for nothing.’

Before Dien arrived, Denver had spoken with the other aides.

Aides often complained because of successors who treated them like servants.

This was especially true for those serving young successors, so Denver hadn’t been able to shake his anxiety before meeting Dien.

Character is something you only truly know once you work together, and there was a possibility that Dien—who was gentle outside the palace—might treat him like a servant inside.

However, seeing Dien’s attitude, those worries seemed to be nothing but groundless fears.

‘I suppose blood doesn’t lie.’

In Dien’s steadfast figure sitting at the desk, the image of Oren overlapped.

Even after that, Dien was careful not to interfere with Denver’s work and made no demands.

He only quietly asked for consent whenever there was a document he wanted to see.

After some time had passed and he had become roughly familiar with the work, Dien stretched.

“It’s simple.”

The organizational chart was nothing compared to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, so he memorized it quickly. Furthermore, the business processing was simple enough that he understood it easily.

The problem was that this simplicity wasn’t based on a high-level administrative system, so flaws and holes were visible here and there.

Of course, there were many administrative practices that were better than his previous life.

However, Dien already possessed elevated standards forged through a vast amount of work.

“The budget classification isn’t detailed enough.”

Budget classification.

In budgetary terms, these are called statistical items.

Budget should be spent separately according to its purpose and use—construction costs as construction costs, material costs as material costs, and labor costs as labor costs.

Only then could the scale of spending be grasped, and only when the contents of the budget were clear could financial operation plans and budget allocations proceed.

But here, they were just carving pieces out of a giant lump without any classification.

“On top of that, the supporting documents are flimsy, and there are no standards.”

Every job involving money must have documents proving the transaction.

Generally, that includes quotes, delivery notes, contracts, receipts, and so on.

Moreover, in cases like construction where a large budget is spent, supporting documents should follow endlessly—from feasibility studies to design, ordering, and maintenance matters.

There were more than a few things to fix, but for now, he had no choice but to leave these as points for future improvement.

“This is enough for grasping the workload.”

He put down the documents regarding previous projects and examined the contract laws.

As expected, Dien’s high standards were not satisfied with the content of the contract laws.

But he decided not to be hasty.

Once he was appointed as a Secretary and gained the right to speak, he would change them.

Ten years’ worth of contract law was stored in his head.

He just had to keep the strengths and fill in the gaps.

He just had to do his best as a benevolent and wise Secretary.

Just then—

Vance entered the quiet office, fuming with rage.

“Those Kandebara bastards…”

Vance was Oren’s aide, just like Denver.

Seeing him, Dien offered a greeting.

“Hello, Aide.”

Vance was a junior to Denver in terms of rank, but having been appointed later in life, he was much older.

“Ah! You were here, Young Lord!”

“Yes. It seems something bad has happened.”

Dien spoke while observing Vance’s expression.

“Hahaha… well, that is…”

Having entered while swearing loudly thinking only Denver was there, he scratched his head in embarrassment.

“The Kandebara Merchant Group, who is in charge of the current castle wall repair project… well… they are demanding more budget…”

“What?”

Vance avoided Dien’s gaze and looked toward Denver.

It was too early for Dien to know such things, and he wouldn’t understand even if he were told.

He was hesitating whether to speak or not.

“Hahaha, it seems something happened.”

Without waiting for an answer, Dien sat back down and shifted his gaze.

“You truly have a lot of trouble.”

“Hahahaha, not at all, Young Lord.”

He could see their stress clearly.

The expression of someone crushed by work.

His own expression in the past must have looked just like theirs.

Dien said nothing more and examined the documents for the castle wall repair project.

It was because he wondered if the reason for Vance’s anger was in the paperwork.

“The castle wall destroyed by Masalata…”

Masalata was a wicked monster controlled by Amon, one of the Ten Demons.

A monster controlled by a demon.

It was a novel concept, but something else caught his eye.

“This looks like the material cost specification provided by the contractor…”

His eyes moved rapidly.

As he scanned the specifications, his eyes lingered only briefly on the important parts.

His seasoned eyes found the core and the blind spots of the business.

Soon, after quickly reviewing other contracts made with the Kandebara Merchant Group, Dien finally checked the statutes.

It was to clarify the errors within the project.

“These guys are complete thugs, aren’t they?”

Dien roughly set down the contract he was holding.

He thought he knew why Vance was so angry.

“To think they’d rip us off this much…”

It was a situation that occurred because the concepts of government-supplied materials and unit price contracts didn’t exist.

The merchant group was ghosting through the holes in the contract laws to rake in profits.

“Aide Denver, Aide Vance, please come here for a moment…”

Dien gathered Denver and Vance together.

“Where exactly is the castle wall repair project taking place?”

“It’s at Agolla Hill north of the royal castle,” Vance answered.

“The responsible company—no, which merchant group is supplying the construction materials?”

“The Kandebara Merchant Group is handling both the construction and the materials… but why…?”

Budget waste caused by the holes in the kingdom’s administrative power couldn’t be helped, but he couldn’t tolerate the blatant tyranny of the merchant group.

And a civil servant being swayed by a company?

That was something that should never happen.

“What are the regulations for punishing a merchant group that deceives the kingdom?”

Denver and Vance only stared blankly at Dien.

“My pride is hurt for the first time in a long while.”

“Eh?”

It meant his pride as a prospective Secretary was wounded. But they didn’t seem to understand.

Soon, Dien placed the documents he had been looking at in front of them and continued his explanation.

As he did, a chilling air pierced through their bodies.

“This is the extent of the quote manipulation I have confirmed so far.”

Dien’s explanation ended.

After a brief silence—

Denver and Vance’s eyes were wide as they stared at Dien.

“Hahaha! These crazy bastards, they’re dead meat now!”

Vance clapped his hands as if he felt refreshed.

But unlike Vance’s reaction, Denver alone looked at Dien significantly.

“Young Lord. How did you know this?”

“Well, you know…”

“How could you find this with just the contracts…”

“Hahaha, I’ll tell you that later. For now, it’s just circumstantial evidence. Aide Vance, please report this to my father, and I will go out to the market to gather physical evidence.”

“Ye… yes!!”

Forcefully ignoring Denver’s gaze, Dien hurried out of the office.

“Young Lord?”

Even after Dien left, Denver stared at the door for a long time.