A few minutes after the entrance ceremony. Martina was being led by a senior official to the Ministry of State, where she would be assigned. There were two other newcomers besides Martina in the Ministry of State.
“I’m Roland, a fifth-year official. I was born into a viscount family, but since family names don’t matter for officials, I’ll skip it. We’ll be addressing each other by our first names from now on.”
The three newcomers reacted in different ways to Roland’s greeting. The first to speak was Sylvan, who furrowed his brow.
“I am Sylvan Cadour. I believe nobles should take pride in their family names. To not even use them…”
“Ah, I get it. Another troublesome one,” Roland cut him off.
“What? I am a member of the Cadour family! Whoever you are, someone from a viscount family should not behave this way toward a count like me…”
Roland, seemingly finding the situation troublesome, waved his hand in the air dismissively, trying to stop Sylvan.
“I’m sure they told you during the official exams, but rank doesn’t matter for officials. And while it might have been acceptable ten years ago, acting arrogantly just because you’re a noble will get you strange looks now.”
“Our family teachings say nobles should take pride in their name and lead everyone…!”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it, the noble supremacy talk. What I’m trying to say is, while we’re working, the position is everything. You’re just a newcomer, a low-ranking official for now. Keep that in mind.”
Sylvan, though still not entirely satisfied, closed his mouth after remembering the basics of being an official.
“Nobles and commoners may be different, but the age of nobles lording it over others is over. Yet, there are still families like this.”
Roland muttered that under his breath, and the words disappeared into the air without anyone catching them. A moment later, a beautiful, strong-willed woman spoke up.
“I agree with the idea of working regardless of status. No matter how high someone’s rank is, I don’t want to respect incompetence.”
“…You’re quite a character too, huh?”
Roland looked at the woman with a tired expression as she lifted her chin and spoke.
“That’s not true at all.”
“So, what’s your name?”
“I’m Nadia. Is it okay to call you Roland-san?”
“You can call me whatever. As long as you add ‘san,’ that works.”
“Understood.”
As Nadia smiled and nodded, Roland finally turned his gaze toward Martina.
“You’re a commoner, right? What’s your name?”
Martina, feeling intimidated by the strong personalities of the other two, shrank back but managed to summon the courage to step forward, nervous.
“I… I’m Martina. Nice to meet you.”
I wanted to become an official so I could read books from the royal library, but maybe I rushed into this…
“Martina, huh. You seem pure and straightforward, that’s nice.”
“Yes! Um… I’ll do my best!”
“Good, I’m looking forward to it. You got a perfect score on the official exam, after all. It’s been more than ten years since anyone got a perfect score, and you’re the first commoner to do so.”
Martina felt her tension ease slightly at Roland’s genuine praise, and her cheeks softened with a smile.
Nadia, too, cast a friendly glance at Martina.
“You got a perfect score on that exam…?”
“Seems so.”
“I can’t believe it… I’ve studied with tutors for years, but I couldn’t get more than eighty percent. How did you manage to get a perfect score?”
Was that exam really that hard? I thought it was easy enough if you read all the books in the commoner library.
“I read books in the library,” Martina replied.
Nadia, unable to believe this, seemed to position Martina as a genius from a place she couldn’t understand.
With a delighted expression, she took Martina’s hand.
“Your name’s Martina, right? Let’s become friends. I’d love for you to teach me a lot.”
“O-of course! I can’t believe I’m going to be friends with someone as beautiful as you, Nadia-san…”
Martina smiled bashfully, and upon seeing her expression, Nadia embraced her.
“What is this? She’s so cute when I look closely! Martina, just call me Nadia, no need for honorifics. We’re peers, so no need for formalities.”
“Okay… I’ll call you Nadia. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
As the two deepened their friendship, Sylvan looked on with a look of disdain. But it seemed that, with Roland present, he didn’t speak up.
“Alright, we’ve arrived at the Ministry of State. I’ll introduce you to the other officials.”
“Understood.”
The Ministry of State was located near the center of the royal palace, and it had more officials than other departments. The room where the department was housed was quite large, and it was so spacious that one could barely see the far side from the entrance.
“Oh, the new recruits for this year?”
As Martina and the others entered the room, a few nearby officials called out.
“Yes. Could you all gather around? I’d like to introduce them briefly.”
“Hold on.”
A friendly-looking official smiled and walked to the back. In a few minutes, most of the officials gathered near the entrance.
“Alright, I’ll introduce them. From the right: Sylvan, Nadia, and Martina.”
After Roland’s words, the three introduced themselves. Most of the officials greeted them with friendly smiles and applause. However, a few seemed to be casting awkward glances at Martina.
Though status didn’t matter for officials, and even though the gap between nobles and commoners had been narrowing in recent years, there were still those like Sylvan, who took great pride in being noble and resented commoners intruding.
“Since you won’t be able to remember everyone’s names right away, I’ll introduce them gradually. Now… let’s get started with the job details.”
At Roland’s words, the other officials returned to their desks, and Martina and the others were guided to one of the break areas with sofa sets.
“First, let’s go over the role of this department.”
