Chapter 209: 【TOP SECRET】

Meanwhile—

Inside the inner office separated by only a single wall.

Chief Reviewing Officer Vance was comfortably reclining in a large leather chair.

Before him sat an even larger alchemical master-control retrieval terminal.

He was conducting his routine verification of the sequence registrations that had been submitted that afternoon.

Since tomorrow involved the Heroic Spirit Baptism—

He had to be exceptionally cautious regarding details like these.

The reason he had managed to sit securely in this lucrative position for so many years without any mishaps—

Was caution.

Including the several quotas he had previously instructed Ilya to secretly replace.

He would repeatedly review the records through his master-control authority to ensure there were absolutely no mistakes.

“Hm?”

Vance stared at the newly transmitted crystal tablet, his brows gradually furrowing.

“A direct quota holder with a Silver Gryphon Medal was stamped into the pending review slot by Ilya?”

He quickly reviewed the buyer's information in his mind.

“This should be the vacancy that count's steward wanted, right?”

“Looks like the kid works pretty efficiently.”

Vance muttered to himself.

Just to be safe, he still intended to do some final verification work for Ilya.

Although the royal capital had forcefully equipped them with these advanced alchemical machines—

And required all procedures to be handled mechanically—

Many physical dossiers and archives within the Veterans’ Institute still used old-fashioned storage methods.

Vance had always believed this half-new, half-old reform was nothing more than bureaucracy.

Those old men in the Senate Elders only cared about implementing procedural reforms.

They never considered that every province had different infrastructure and historical baggage.

This fragmented management style had instead created countless loopholes.

Though for him, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

While the procedures had become more cumbersome—

The system had also granted officials familiar with its workings far more room to manipulate things.

If anything ever went wrong, they could simply blame the Senate Elders who had pushed the reforms.

Vance rose from his seat.

Walking into the archives room, he followed the file number and located the old physical dossier labeled with the name “Ryan.”

Holding the dust-covered file pouch, he returned to his desk.

He untied the sealing cord.

But the moment he pulled out the documents and saw their contents—

His entire face turned deathly pale, as though struck by lightning.

There were two separate files inside.

One was Ryan's local retirement registration.

It simply stated that he had retired from the Third Legion.

The other—

Was the original military record issued when the Heroic Spirit Baptism reward had been granted.

On this original file, which should have been filled with military achievements and detailed personal records—

The legion designation.

His exact position.

His combat history.

Every single piece of information was blank.

At the center of the page—

Only two words had been stamped in bold red ink.

【TOP SECRET】

“Hiss—”

Vance sucked in a sharp breath.

He shot out of his chair like a spring.

The sudden movement caused his knee to slam violently into the edge of the desk.

Yet he could not even feel the pain.

According to military regulations, Heroic Spirit Baptism registration files were supposed to be extremely detailed.

But—

This file contained absolutely nothing!

There was only one possible explanation.

The mission Ryan had carried out when he earned this quota—

Or the department he belonged to—

Had possessed an absurdly high level of secrecy.

Vance had spent years surviving within the military bureaucracy.

He had only ever heard of one situation that produced blank files like this.

That veteran named Ryan must have belonged to one of the kingdom's internal “shadow organizations.”

The kind hidden within the nation's darkness.

The kind that answered only to the highest authority.

The kind that possessed the power of life and death.

Vance suddenly felt his legs go weak.

Within the military hierarchy, he was merely a Rank 3 officer.

A tiny fish.

If someone like him dared interfere with the interests of such a sensitive organization—

Even if he were secretly executed and dumped into a filthy ditch tomorrow, nobody would dare collect his corpse.

“Ilya, you blind idiot!”

“If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!”

Cold sweat poured down Vance's forehead in large droplets.

Within seconds, it soaked through the expensive lining of his uniform.

A quota inherited from someone like this—

And that brainless fool Ilya had actually used his authority to stamp it as “Pending Review”?!

Was he tired of living?!

With trembling fingers, Vance frantically began operating the master-control terminal.

At this point, only one thought remained in his mind.

Use the highest authority immediately.

Force the boy's crystal tablet back into the Official Sequence.

However—

Just as his finger was about to press the confirmation key—

He suddenly remembered the machine's most infuriating feature.

Once someone changed a crystal tablet's status through the terminal, an irreversible operation record would be permanently left behind.

Even if he corrected it now—

The boy's crystal tablet had already been physically stamped with a 【Pending Review - Returned for Correction】 mark.

That was irreversible physical damage.

Just yesterday, he and Ilya had been drinking together, boasting about how useful this alchemical machine was.

But now—

A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He was drenched in cold sweat.

If that important figure—

Or the young man outside holding the quota—

Insisted on investigating what had happened—

All they needed to do was bring the crystal tablet to the military and request the operation logs.

With how blatant their corruption had been—

Both of them would be sent directly to the gallows in the Royal Capital Plaza by the military police.

Inside the office, Vance did not even bother straightening his disheveled collar.

He grabbed the military cap hanging from the coat rack and jammed it onto his head.

Throwing open the solid wooden office door, he nearly sprinted toward Ilya's registration office.

The moment he stepped inside—

He immediately sensed the tense atmosphere hanging in the air.

This was definitely not his imagination.

It felt as though an invisible, heavy current was flowing throughout the hall.

The sensation reminded him of encounters with high-level magical beasts during his military service.

They naturally exerted this sort of pressure upon ordinary creatures.

The most famous example—

Was Dragons.

The pressure instantly reinforced his belief in the authenticity of the 【TOP SECRET】 file.

At the moment, distance and angle prevented him from seeing Lance's face clearly.

However, after only a single glance at the youth's ordinary, rough linen clothing—

Vance immediately understood.

No wonder that fool Ilya had misjudged him.

This was definitely some great noble from the royal capital!

One of those young masters who came to the countryside to experience common life!

Vance quickened his pace.

Taking several large strides, he rushed to the registration counter.

As soon as he arrived, he clearly saw his usually capable subordinate, Ilya.

The man's body hair was standing on end.

Fine beads of sweat covered the back of his neck.

His entire body trembled like a sieve.

Fortunately, as a professional, he was not completely incapacitated.

Without hesitation, Vance extended his right hand.

He grabbed the parchment that Ilya had been pressing down on.

But instead of pushing it forward—

He swiftly pulled it back toward himself.

Then, the Chief Reviewing Officer of the Veterans’ Institute instantly plastered an expression of terrified apology across his face.

“My deepest apologies, sir.”

Vance stepped around the counter and walked directly before Lance.

Standing perfectly upright, he performed a standard military salute with a hand over his chest—

The kind reserved only for high-ranking military officials.

“I am Vance, the supervisor of this registration office.”

“Just now, while my subordinate was operating the retrieval terminal for you, the extremely old issuance date of your contract caused a rare ‘gear-jamming misalignment’ inside the machine.”

Vance lied without the slightest hesitation.

“This was purely a mechanical malfunction, which temporarily caused your file to enter an incorrect review sequence.”

“This is entirely the fault of the Senate Elders. They insisted on changing procedures and forcing these impractical alchemical machines upon us. Those of us below are still unfamiliar with the equipment. On behalf of the registration office, I sincerely apologize.”

The explanation was flawless.

Clearly, Vance had thought it through carefully.

With a single statement—

He perfectly explained why the crystal tablet carried an irreversible pending-review mark.

He also neatly removed all responsibility for the intentional theft of the quota.

Instead, it became a simple workplace error caused by unfamiliarity with new technology.

He had even found the perfect scapegoat.

The Senate Elders, far away in the royal capital.