Chapter 36: CH 35

No matter how much the imperial family and the government officials of the empire tried, the shadow of God continued to loom over them. This shadow had been cast over human history for thousands of years, and so it was not easy to erase.

“In a way, it is like a law of nature. Well… I mean, people who have been afflicted with the epidemic are just ill, in a different manner… Are the only people who receive the wrath of God those who fall ill from infectious diseases? But something as misleading as this would only be to our own expense…”

As the superiors were listening to Reina’s explanation, their faces suddenly hardened frostily. On the contrary, the newer officials of the Ministry of Health nodded in agreement.

Ethan rose from his seat and approached the person who asked the earlier question.

“And you are?”

“I am Pedro, from Lindberg County.”

When ‘that’ Ethan asked what his name was, Pedro seemed momentarily mesmerized, but he soon put on a proud look.

Unfortunately for him, however, his bravado couldn’t even start in earnest as it was stopped right there.

“Do you think that this meeting is your chance to socialize?”

A cold wind swept through the entire meeting hall in response to Ethan’s cold words.

After being asked a sharp question, flustered Pedro could only blink.

“…Huh?”

“Do you not realize that I’m asking for your position as a public official, not your surname?”

Belatedly understanding what Ethan meant, Pedro scratched one cheek in embarrassment.

“Ah… I am an administrative officer.”

As soon as this answer came back, Ethan immediately asked one more question in a voice that did not contain a single hint of warmth.

“An administrative officer is a position attained by people who supposedly have adequate critical thinking skills. But why, pray tell, do you still continue to talk about the ‘Seed of Bharan’?”

The words being hurled at Pedro became a bit more vehement compared to before, and he could only blink in his shock. On the other hand, those who seemed to be very used to this already just went, ‘Ha… Here we go again,’ murmuring under their breaths.

Even so, instead of trying to stop Ethan or attempting to shield their struggling newbie, they just averted their eyes. They clicked their tongues and prayed for Pedro’s survival.

“D-Deputy Director, what do you mean by—”

“Since you’re an administrative officer, then that means it hasn’t even been a year since you’ve entered the ministry. So, on what grounds have you decided to pull out a question as mindless as that?”

As he spewed out one sarcastic remark after another, Ethan let out a deep exhale while sweeping his hair up.

“Tell me again, which part do you not understand exactly?”

“……”

Pedro’s silence just made Ethan more irritated.

“Administrator Pedro.”

As his name was called with a heavy tone, Pedro timidly opened his lips to speak.

“I-It’s… I mean…”

However, it seemed like he didn’t know what to say. Pedro opened and closed his lips, but the only thing that he could push out was but a meager sentence.

“It’s just… Overall, it doesn’t make sense.”

Fortunately, his superior was more patient than he expected.

“…That’s why I’m asking. In what way does it not make sense? Be more detailed about it so that it can be explained to you further.”

Ethan’s voice was obviously as cold as it could be, but all he was saying were helpful words to kindly support his subordinate.

Well, there’s a problem though. Pedro, over here, answered in a way that just completely blew away any chance that this patience and kindness would be continued.

“Uh… I mean… I just think it’s weird… Everything about it…”

Rather, should the guy be praised for his courageous act? Even though he was discouraged at first, he simply squirmed, did not back down, and answered back with that.

‘If I was Ethan, I’d be furious, too.’

Of course, ignorance was not a sin.

Right now though, hell yeah it is.

Health officials had the duty and responsibility of fighting against the preconceived notion that infectious diseases were borne out of the ‘Seed of Bharan’.

“Administrator Pedro.”

Ethan looked calmer right now. As he called the name of the other man, Ethan tilted his head to the side—say, about fifteen degrees.

“Administrator. May I know, is that thing attached to your neck just a mere decoration you’re lugging around?”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Perhaps if this was a cartoon, there’d have been a sound effect like this:

Whoooosh—

“You can’t even figure out which part you don’t understand, so I wonder. How the hell you can even handle work at the Ministry of Health with a head like yours.”

“……”

‘….Yep, never mind him being a bit softer.’

It was a mistake to think that Ethan had gone softer just because there was one (1) instance wherein he didn’t say anything harsh.

“If not that, then is your head perchance not working well enough to even distinguish what’s up or down? Is that why you’re wasting everyone’s time with your absurd question?”

Reina was frustrated by the guy too, but hearing Ethan continue hurling such aggressive words made her feel flustered.

“As an official working at the Ministry of Health, you have a duty to be cognizant about epidemics and plagues—that they could no longer be considered as a sign of sin or self-indulgence. And that’s something that you should be aware of in a life-or-death situation such as this. No, scratch that, you should have drilled that into your mind even before you were dispatched.”

As criticism after criticism, delivered without even a breath taken in between, was thrown at the guy who asked a question, his face gradually went bright red.

“Furthermore, the fact that you’re from the human resources department is, frankly… pathetic.”

‘…That’s why he’s called the Cerulean Freak.’

Apparently, what Reina had seen thus far was only a taste of the true blue monster he actually was.

Perhaps because of this generous display of how their superior could turn into an absolute predator, no one else dared to bring up anything akin to ‘But what about Bharan?’ Well, was there anyone here who had the guts to try and do a follow up on that?

t/n: this was suuuuuch a fun chapter to translate hahahaha