Promotion and Pay Raise

For unmarried young ladies, a gentleman could only touch her fingertips with his forehead; for married ladies, he had to lightly kiss the back of her hand.

Charlotte had heard that this senior had once been engaged, but had broken it off for a reason everyone knew. She was still single, so touching her fingertips with his forehead was the only way to preserve a gentleman's decorum.

Menilman said softly, "Transfer here and work under me."

Charlotte showed a faint hint of resistance and asked in a low voice, "A demotion through reassignment?"

His indignant retort was merely a strategy of advancing in order to retreat.

Under normal circumstances, low-level government employees like clerks received a promotion every three years. But if they were transferred to a new post, the promotion period had to start over.

There had always been a saying in the Imperial Government: "A transfer without a promotion is the same as a demotion."

Menilman gave a cold snort and asked, "When is your next promotion due?"

Charlotte answered without hesitation, "In a month and a half. I should be promoted to a Third-Rank Clerk."

It was true that Charlotte had graduated from Sheffield University, and he had entered the Central Government Office as a clerk on the strength of that degree, enjoying a high salary. But he came from a merchant family and had no connections in official circles. In his two years at the Central Government Office, he had never received any additional opportunities for promotion. He could only wait out his years and advance step by step according to procedure.

As a transmigrator, Charlotte possessed far more nerve than the natives of this world. He had raised his position by a rank and claimed that he would soon be promoted again. It was utterly audacious, practically earth-shattering.

Menilman shook the bell in the room. Before long, a middle-aged military officer entered. She pointed at Charlotte and said, "Transfer this man to Kilmainham Prison. He'll serve as the Chief Clerk of my office."

After merging with the original owner's memories, Charlotte had once been shocked by the corruption of the Imperial Bureaucrats and the darkness of the workplace. But now that corruption had landed on his own head, making him a beneficiary of the workplace's black-box dealings, he looked astonished on the surface while inwardly he was thrilled beyond measure. He had not the slightest desire to resist.

Charlotte had originally thought that this senior agreeing to grant him the status of a Second-Rank Clerk and promising future promotions was already an enormous windfall. If she had directly given him the post of a Third-Rank Clerk, that would have been a leapfrog promotion. He had never expected Menilman to promise him the position of Chief Clerk.

The Empire's bureaucratic system was exceedingly complicated, divided into fifty-three grades.

Imperial clerks, the most numerous government employees, began as forty-first-grade First-Class Clerks and could rise as high as thirty-seventh-grade Fifth-Class Clerks. That was the end of the line for the position; they could only continue advancing by changing professions. Chief Clerk was the most common choice for clerks changing professions.

A First-Rank Chief Clerk and a Fifth-Class Clerk were both thirty-seventh-grade Imperial Bureaucrats, but their prospects for advancement were utterly different. The former had a bright future, while the latter had none at all.

He had risen from a forty-first-grade First-Class Clerk to a thirty-seventh-grade First-Rank Chief Clerk. It looked as though he had only advanced four grades, but in reality he had risen five ranks, with an additional class-crossing promotion hidden within.

As an aside, Madame Aldegonde, who held supreme authority over an office, had spent a full twenty-one long years rising from a forty-fifth-grade assistant officer to a thirty-seventh-grade Fifth-Class Clerk. Since she had been unable to change professions for so long, Madame Aldegonde would most likely remain in that post until retirement.

Charlotte dearly wanted to say, "I am willing to die for you, Senior." Or perhaps, "Greetings, my lord and master, Senior." He had even considered the classic line: "I have drifted for half my life, crossed between two worlds, and never encountered a worthy lord. If you do not reject me, Senior, I am willing to take you as my adoptive mother." But considering the differing cultural atmospheres of the two worlds, he could only abandon those thoughts resentfully. He smiled like a proper gentleman and said, "Please look after me in the future, Senior Menilman."

Menilman gave a slight nod and said, "You must be exhausted today. Go home and rest first. Move into the prison tomorrow. You'll be working overtime these next few days, so remember to bring enough daily necessities."

Charlotte did not mind.

It was only overtime, wasn't it?

As if he had never worked overtime in his previous life.

High school math teachers did not have a 996 schedule, but staying up late to grade homework was commonplace. Their workload was no less demanding than anyone else's.

Seeing that Menilman had nothing else to say, Charlotte withdrew from the office and hurriedly left Kilmainham Prison.

There were no public carriages in Marne District that could be hailed from the roadside.

Charlotte could only walk to another district before he encountered a public carriage. He waved it down and returned to his residence in Alexander District.

Although Alexander District was far inferior to Val-d'Oise District, it was still one of the Upper Seven Districts of Strasbourg, the Imperial capital. Its residents were mainly wealthy merchants, and the community was quite prosperous, with several large shopping centers and markets.

Charlotte rented an apartment in Alexander District.

The apartment had been built by the Savings Union and was called the Savings Society Apartment. It was specifically offered to unmarried young people with a certain amount of savings. The living environment was excellent, and the services were highly comprehensive.

This was Charlotte's "first" visit to the Savings Society Apartment. The last time he had come here, he had been someone else.

Charlotte entered the building looking as if he knew the place well, though he was actually extremely uneasy.

The elderly doorman smiled at him kindly and did not question him.

Charlotte let out a breath of relief and went up to the second floor. Since the lower floors facing the street were relatively noisy, the rent was a little cheaper.

He unlocked the door with his key, pushed open his room, and could not help shaking his head.

The room was rather messy. Its former owner had not been a tidy person.

Besides men's clothing scattered everywhere, there were also some rumpled women's garments in the room.

According to the memories, those clothes belonged to different women, though their faces and names had long since become blurred.

Charlotte casually tidied up, separating the men's clothes from the women's. Early the next morning, he planned to wash all the clothes that belonged to "himself" and throw away every item that did not belong to "him."

Slumped in a rattan chair in the room, Charlotte suddenly suffered something of an emotional breakdown. He did not want to say anything or do anything. He only wanted to sit quietly for a while.

He had inexplicably transmigrated here, taken on another identity, and arrived in a completely unfamiliar world.

This was a world with gods.

He was unquestionably a follower of a foreign faith.

Every minute, Charlotte Mecklen worried that a stranger might suddenly leap out in the street, shout that they were carrying out divine punishment, tie him to a pyre, douse him in oil, and set it alight.

And there were evil gods too!

The previous owner had died while summoning an evil god.

Every one of Them in this world was "dangerous."

A single slight misstep might contaminate his spirituality, turn him into a monster, or even reduce him to ashes.

The weight pressing down on him was simply beyond words.

Today was Charlotte's first day back from vacation, as well as the first day of his attempt at a new life.

He chose to integrate into this world rather than resist it.

This day had begun exceptionally well.

This beginning had even exceeded Charlotte's own expectations.