ARML 03

Chapter 3 

The male lead nodded lightly and said,

“Sorry for not explaining earlier. You’ve got sharp eyes.”

“N-no, it’s fine.”

“No, really. It’s a good thing. Anyway… the form you need to use for this document is…”

While listening to his explanation, I made a quiet promise to myself.

‘Ugh, I’m never asking a question again.’

I had only asked this time because I didn’t want to do the work twice.

But even if I understood things well, it just meant I’d get more work, and that wasn’t good at all.

When I was in the “Black Spoon Department,” I planned to just quietly do as I was told and survive unnoticed.

Then, I happened to glance sideways and saw something through the door crack.

‘Wait… is that a LaXLaX bed?’

It looked fancy, covered in gold like something out of a fantasy novel, but still—it was clearly a folding bed.

In this company, anything like that was definitely a LaXLaX brand.

I slowly rolled my eyes back without moving my head, and accidentally made eye contact with the male lead.

Neither of us said anything.

I stared at him for a long time.

‘Well? Are you going to explain?’

What is that ugly mattress doing here?

The male lead avoided my eyes.

“I don’t use it all the time.”

“Ah. Okay.”

“Just sometimes. When I’m really busy, it’s easier to rest here.”

“Right…”

How lovely. What a brag.

Seriously though, dear female lead, and dear second male lead,

Please, like in the original story, decide to join the Black Spoon Department!

Meanwhile…

Carlyle didn’t expect much from the 218th batch of new hires.

Why?

‘They’ll all leave for easier departments anyway.’

It’s true that the Black Spoon Department paid the highest salaries.

But it was also infamous for having hellish workloads.

Ever since it was created three years ago, new hires would transfer out to other departments one after another.

‘Actually, the bigger problem is that we don’t get good talent in the first place.’

To deal with black magic, one needed excellent magical ability—

and a strong mind on top of that.

These were things you couldn’t expect from complete beginners.

Because of that, Carlyle had to handle both fieldwork and paperwork alone. Every day was an overload.

He would grind his teeth in frustration when reporting to Minister Edgar Crow.

[I don’t have the time or energy to train rookies. Please bring in experienced staff.]

[Stop dreaming. That’s impossible, Lupesk.]

[Then at least increase the headcount.]

[Also impossible. Two new recruits are the best we can do.]

It was fine when Edgar first created the Black Spoon Department,

but since so few people passed the bureaucratic exams, getting even one competent person was a brutal competition.

[This time, the “Top-and-Bottom Team” is coming to our department first, right? Pick someone from there.]

Who even made these weird team names?

Anyway, Carlyle didn’t think much of this “Top-and-Bottom Team” at first glance.

‘None of them seem particularly special.’

The top-ranked one was way too tense. The second…

‘He’s clearly going to leave soon. No point in commenting on his outfit.’

Saying anything would just give Carlyle a headache.

The one left was the last-ranked, Layla Lowell.

His first impression of her was:

‘Her eyes look different… she’s not bright like the others.’

Most rookies had shiny eyes full of pride. But Layla Lowell…

‘They’re dead. Is that why she ranked last?’

But then, she surprised him.

[What font should we use for consistency?]

The moment Carlyle heard that question, he felt like his heart stopped.

Not because of a heart attack—but because of pure emotion.

‘She pays attention to detail!’

What tormented a perfectionist like Carlyle the most?

Mountains of documents?

The mystery behind cursed black magic?

Those were hard, yes, but the worst?

Messy documents with no consistent formatting.

Even when he taught rookies properly, they still messed that up.

Soon after, Layla handed him her batch of paperwork and asked him to check it midway.

It was neatly organized by type, easy to read.

He hated that he was impressed—but he couldn’t help it.

‘Last year’s interns turned in everything mixed together.’

And Carlyle had to waste precious time separating and fixing them himself.

Layla looked at him warily and asked,

“How is it?”

“Hm. Just a moment…”

Carlyle flipped through the pages slowly.

‘There must be mistakes somewhere. Definitely.’

Better not expect too much—less disappointment that way.

But as he turned each page, his throat dried up.

His heart was beating fast from the overwhelming emotion.

“…Perfect.”

“Thank you.”

Layla calmly returned to her work like nothing happened.

Yuliana Crosswell, another trainee, whispered to her,

“Layla, can you check this for me?”

“Hmm? Oh, Yuliana, your letter spacing is off.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“It’s the space between letters. If it’s inconsistent, the page looks messy.”

“Ahh! I’ll fix it!”

“And try to keep this kind of document on one page.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That way, the reader won’t need to flip pages. Just cut a few words.”

“Wow, got it!”

She was even helping her teammates!

‘Is this last-place girl a gift from heaven to save me from document hell?’

‘No, I can’t judge her on just one task.’

But still, Carlyle quietly shut the door that showed the folding bed.

‘They’re just here for a one-week visit… but maybe I’ll actually put in some effort this time.’

Later that Friday afternoon, the last day of the Top-and-Bottom Team’s visit to the Black Spoon Department,

Carlyle clicked his tongue hard at a sudden message he received.

“Ugh, a royal order just came down.”

The emperor’s message was short and annoying:

“By tonight, report the trends of black magic artifact incidents for the past three months.”

‘Should I rebel?’

Three hundred years ago, the Arpelt royal family had lost its authority after a huge scandal:

‘The Mad Emperor murdered the Holy Maiden.’

Originally, the Empire was governed by three powers: the royals, the temple, and the nobles.

But when the emperor killed the only person who could purify black magic, the empire almost collapsed.

Eventually, the nobles had no choice but to act:

They kept the royal family as figureheads and handed over real power to the Prime Minister.

‘But every now and then, the emperor likes to remind us he’s still around.’

This was one of those annoying times.

“Siiigh…”

Everyone in the department had to work when a command from the emperor came in.

Still, Carlyle knew he’d probably end up doing most of it himself.

‘This kind of pointless report… Like they’ll help much anyway.’

“Everyone, I have something unfortunate to say.”

All three rookies looked at him.

“I usually don’t ask trainees for extra work, but… we got an urgent order.”

Layla Lowell was the first to respond.

“Overtime work?”

“Yeah. I’ll try to let you go home before me, but I’ll need your help.”

Yuliana, the top student, responded cheerfully,

“Yes, sir! No problem!”

The second-ranked just stared blankly at Carlyle.

But Layla Lowell…

‘She’s definitely giving off a scary vibe.’

It was 4 p.m.

Carlyle quickly gave out instructions.

“All three of you: go over the past three months’ reports. Check how many incidents were reported for level 1 to level 3, and write down any unusual cases.”

Just before they started…

“Mr. Lupesk.”

Layla raised her hand.

“Hm?”

“Are we only looking at the past three months? Shouldn’t we compare with last year or the previous quarter?”

“…!”

In that moment, his heart raced wildly.