Chapter 209: [Top Secret]

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: [Top Secret]

「Meanwhile.」

In the inner room, just one wall away, Chief Records Officer Vance was leaning back comfortably in his large leather chair.

In front of him sat an even larger Alchemy Control Search Device.

He was performing a routine check of the Sequence assignments that had been compiled that afternoon.

These were related to tomorrow’s Heroic Spirit Baptism.

He had to be extremely cautious with these details.

He had managed to hold this lucrative, cushy position for so many years without any slip-ups.

And it was all thanks to his caution.

This included the few slots he had secretly instructed Ilya to replace.

He would use his master access to review the data in the system several times, ensuring there were no oversights.

"Hm?"

Vance stared at the newly transmitted Crystal Plate, his brow gradually furrowing.

’A direct inheritance slot from a Silver Griffin Medal holder was stamped and sent to the pending review queue by Ilya?’

He quickly ran through the buyer’s information in his mind.

’This should be the opening that Count’s butler needed, right?’

’Looks like the kid works pretty fast.’

Vance muttered to himself. Just in case, he decided to do a final check to clean up after Ilya.

Although the Royal Capital had forced them to adopt these advanced Alchemy Instruments, demanding that all procedures be handled by machines, many paper scrolls and files at the Veterans’ Hospital were still kept in old-fashioned physical storage.

Vance had always felt that this half-new, half-old reform was pure formalism.

’Those old masters in the Elder Council are only concerned with pushing for procedural updates. They don’t consider at all that the hardware conditions and various historical factors in the Provinces below are completely different.’

’This fragmented management style has instead created many loopholes.’

’Still, it’s hard to say if this is a bad thing for me.’

’Although the procedures have become more cumbersome than before, this system also gives officials like us, who know the ins and outs, more room to manipulate things.’

’If something really goes wrong, I can just push the blame onto the Elder Council that championed the reform.’

Vance stood up.

He walked into the records room.

Following the numbers, he found the old physical file folder for the name "Rein."

He took the dust-covered folder and sat back down behind his desk.

He untied the thin string sealing it.

But the moment he pulled out the documents inside and saw their contents, his face instantly turned deathly pale, as if he had been struck by lightning!

The file was divided into two parts.

One was the person’s local discharge record, which simply stated "Discharged from the Third Legion."

The other,

was the original record from when the military headquarters granted the Heroic Spirit Baptism reward.

On this original file, which should have been filled with merits, combat records, and a detailed biography,

the legion number, specific position, and combat history...

all the information was completely blank.

In the center of the entire page, stamped in conspicuous red ink, were two short but chilling words.

[TOP SECRET]

Vance sharply sucked in a breath of cold air.

He shot up from his leather chair like a spring.

The movement was so abrupt that his knee slammed hard into the edge of his sturdy desk, but he was too panicked to even feel the pain.

According to military regulations, the registration files for a Heroic Spirit Baptism had to be as detailed as possible.

But!

This file had nothing!

’This can only mean one terrifying thing.’

’When this person received the slot, the mission they were on or the department they belonged to had a ridiculously high security clearance!’

Vance had been navigating the murky waters of the military for many years.

He had only ever heard of one situation that would result in such a special, blank file.

It meant that the old veteran named Rein must have belonged to one of the Kingdom’s "Shadow Organizations"—the ones that held the power of life and death.

Terrifying entities hidden in the nation’s dark underbelly, responsible only to the highest authority.

Vance felt his legs begin to go soft.

In the officer system, he was merely a Level 3 [Lieutenant Rank].

If a small fry like him dared to meddle with the interests of such a sensitive department, even if he were secretly executed in a stinking gutter the next day, absolutely no one would dare to come and collect his body.

’Ilya, you blind, stupid pig!’

’If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you!’

Large beads of cold sweat rolled down Vance’s forehead, instantly soaking the liner of his expensive uniform.

’A slot passed down by this kind of person... and that reckless fool Ilya dared to use his authority to stamp it as "questionable"?!’

’Does he think he’s lived too long?!’

Vance’s fingers trembled as he rapidly operated the main console.

He had only one thought in his mind now: to immediately use his highest authority to forcibly change the boy’s Crystal Plate from the pending review queue back to the "Official Sequence."

But, just as his finger was about to press the confirm button, he suddenly remembered the rigid mechanism of this Alchemy Machine.

Once someone changed the status of a Crystal Plate through a terminal, it would inevitably leave an indelible record of the operation.

Even if he changed it back now, the boy’s Crystal Plate had already been physically stamped with a [Questionable - Returned for Correction] mark by the machine.

It was irreversible physical damage.

Just yesterday, he had been drinking with Ilya, smugly boasting about how useful this Alchemy Machine was.

But now, all he felt was a chill shooting up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He was drenched in sweat.

’If that big shot, or the boy outside who holds the slot, insists on investigating this... all they’d have to do is take that Crystal Plate to military headquarters and request a check of the operation logs. With our blatant methods of corruption... the two of us would be sent straight to the gallows in the Royal Capital’s square by the military police!’

Inside the inner room, Vance didn’t even bother to straighten his disheveled collar. He snatched his military cap from the coat rack and haphazardly slapped it on his head.

Shoving open the solid wood door, he practically sprinted all the way to Ilya’s office.

The moment he stepped inside, Vance immediately sensed the tense, hostile atmosphere permeating the air.

It was definitely not his imagination.

He felt an invisible, heavy current swirling throughout the hall.

The feeling was very similar to the pressure he’d felt when he came face to face with a High Tier Demon during his military service—the kind of pressure they exerted on ordinary beings.

The most famous example being Giant Dragons.

This oppressive feeling instantly reinforced his belief in the authenticity of the [TOP SECRET] file from the records room.

At this moment, he was still some distance away, and due to the angle, he couldn’t see Lance’s face clearly.

But a single glance at the boy’s incredibly Ordinary, rough linen clothes was enough for Vance to understand everything.

’No wonder that idiot Ilya misjudged him.’

’This has to be a Great Noble from the Royal Capital!’

’The kind of young master who comes to the countryside to experience the life of a commoner!’

Vance quickened his pace, rushing to the registration counter in just a few long strides.

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

Right now, not only was every hair on his body standing on end, but the back of his neck was also covered in a fine sheen of cold sweat. He was trembling like a leaf.

Fortunately, he was a Professional, so the effect wasn’t as severe.

Vance unhesitatingly reached out his right hand.

He slapped his hand down on the parchment Scroll that Ilya was pressing onto the counter. Instead of pushing it toward the boy, however, he swiftly pulled it back in front of himself.

Then, the face of the Veterans’ Hospital’s Chief Records Officer instantly filled with a deeply apologetic and fearful expression. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"My sincerest apologies, sir."

Vance walked around the counter, came directly in front of Lance, stood up straight, and performed a standard, forceful fist-on-chest military salute—one reserved only for high-ranking military officials.

"I am the supervisor of the registration office here, Vance."

"Just now, while my subordinate was operating the search device for you, the issuance year of your contract was so old that it caused the brass gears inside the machine to suffer a very rare ’jamming and misalignment’ phenomenon."

Vance fabricated the lie without batting an eye.

"It was purely a mechanical failure, which caused your file to briefly slip into the wrong pending review Sequence."

"It’s all the fault of the Elder Council and their blind directives, insisting on changing procedures and pushing these flashy, impractical Alchemy Machines. We down here aren’t yet Skilled enough with this new equipment. On behalf of the registration office, I offer you my solemn apology."

Vance’s words were watertight, clearly the result of careful consideration.

With this explanation, he not only perfectly covered up why the indelible review mark was left on the Crystal Plate, but also cleverly absolved them of responsibility for intentionally embezzling the slot, transforming it into a work error caused by technical unfamiliarity.

He had even found someone to take the fall: the Elder Council, far away in the Royal Capital.