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I Was a Bottom-Tier Bureaucrat for 1,500 Years, and the Demon King Made Me a Minister
Public Service x 1,500 Years + Pecora's Magic = Minister of Agriculture
A DEVIL'S WORK IS NEVER DONE!
Beelzebub is a demon of many roles—minister of agriculture, Azusa’s “big sister and the demon king's closest confidant. Before her illustrious rise to power, though, she was just a low-ranking pencil pusher in the government with no ambitions, no dreams, and no adventure in her life. Then, on a whim of the newly coronated demon king, she received the biggest and most terrifying promotion imaginable! How will Beelzebub handle the sudden responsibilities of the entire Ministry of Agriculture?! Originally published as short stories in the hugely popular I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, the spin-off is back with brand-new illustrations and additional tales from the demon lands!
A DEVIL'S WORK IS NEVER DONE!
Beelzebub is a demon of many roles—minister of agriculture, Azusa’s “big sister and the demon king's closest confidant. Before her illustrious rise to power, though, she was just a low-ranking pencil pusher in the government with no ambitions, no dreams, and no adventure in her life. Then, on a whim of the newly coronated demon king, she received the biggest and most terrifying promotion imaginable! How will Beelzebub handle the sudden responsibilities of the entire Ministry of Agriculture?! Originally published as short stories in the hugely popular I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, the spin-off is back with brand-new illustrations and additional tales from the demon lands!
- GenresLight NovelFantasyManga
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 14, 2019
14 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 18, 2021
I quite enjoyed this. It's really fun seeing Beelzebub's backstory and how she came to be the confident Minister she is in the "I've Been Killing Slimes" novels. The stories were all neat too and I liked how Beelzebub, Vania, and Fatla each got some attention and character growth. I do wish this was a regular series, and we could see more of Beelzebub's misadventures before the days of hanging out with Azusa and crew, because the time jumps seemed kind of drastic. But definitely worth reading for fans of the main series.
May 2, 2021
Quirky and humorous for its laissez-faire approach to conducting governmental business that ostensibly affects the lives of millions, BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . . puts a face on all manner of odd and obtuse paperwork. Now, that face may grow visibly frustrated with the sometimes stoic and sometimes frivolous nature of her secretaries, may have trouble navigating past loyalties and new bouts of political favoritism, and may have a problem hiding the fact that she comes from a hick town out in the boonies. But somebody has to be the new ag minister, right?
Beelzebub is a lazy, unmotivated demon lady. Whether a low-level demon with a high-sounding name is truly best fit for the role of Minister of Agriculture for the Demon Realm is a question for the ages. But it seems the new demon king is willing to gamble. Altogether, who would know a ministry better than a lower-tier bureaucrat who has spent the past 1,500 years creating, revising, delivering, and answering questions about administrative policy? Beelzebub remained a lower-tier schlub by choice. So when the demon king plucks her from obscurity and shoves her straight to the top, things are going to get weird. Fast.
BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . ., as a spin-off novel, knows its terrain and doesn't venture anywhere near the newfangled or the dramatic. Beelzebub was, by an uncomfortably wide margin, the most interesting character of the base novel series (I've Been Killing Slimes. . .). The base series, one must clarify, is markedly boring and unimaginative, with roguishly bland characters and unoriginal and unmotivated story dynamics. The author's introduction of Beelzebub, a high-minded demon who wanted to be nice but tried way too hard at everything she did, felt like a genuine attempt at reconciling reality and fiction. Beelzebub, in short, was the most relatable character.
And in BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . ., readers encounter the same awkward striving for success through complacency. Beelzebub lives a millennium and a half as a paper-pusher who lives in a crummy apartment and guzzles beer on the weekends. But when the demon lady is unceremoniously leveled up by a precocious demon king, in the guise of a little lamb girl, she adapts. She lives in a mansion, but she only uses a handful of rooms. She has a huge salary, but she only uses it to travel occasionally. She has two oddball secretaries, leviathan sisters (one fastidious and the other clumsy), but she doesn't fire them whenever they do something horribly wrong, because she knows earnest workers are more efficient than uptight ones.
This novel relies on the cheeky humor and plainclothes discomfiture native to what happens when mediocre people are put in difficult situations and ultimately succeed, not because they necessarily become better people, but because being a mediocre person is often better than being anyone else. Beelzebub come close to being hustled by nobles, is very nearly poisoned by a rival, and motivates her co-workers to up their game, and all by being pragmatic and putting her experience to good use. BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . . is about a dork who doesn't really know how much of a dork she is.
There are no do-or-die action scenes. There are no high-stakes moments of political indecision. There are no risky encounters threatening to undo the interface between the human world and the demon realm. This novel keeps things simple: a training excursion to the hot springs; an assignment to collect back taxes; a disastrous attempt to redecorate the office space with greenery. Later chapters forcibly integrate Beelzebub's story with that of Azusa from I've Been Killing Slimes. . ., and the result is a mire of inconsistent time-skips and non-existent character development. But on the whole, BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . . is a fun, comfortable read.
Beelzebub is a lazy, unmotivated demon lady. Whether a low-level demon with a high-sounding name is truly best fit for the role of Minister of Agriculture for the Demon Realm is a question for the ages. But it seems the new demon king is willing to gamble. Altogether, who would know a ministry better than a lower-tier bureaucrat who has spent the past 1,500 years creating, revising, delivering, and answering questions about administrative policy? Beelzebub remained a lower-tier schlub by choice. So when the demon king plucks her from obscurity and shoves her straight to the top, things are going to get weird. Fast.
BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . ., as a spin-off novel, knows its terrain and doesn't venture anywhere near the newfangled or the dramatic. Beelzebub was, by an uncomfortably wide margin, the most interesting character of the base novel series (I've Been Killing Slimes. . .). The base series, one must clarify, is markedly boring and unimaginative, with roguishly bland characters and unoriginal and unmotivated story dynamics. The author's introduction of Beelzebub, a high-minded demon who wanted to be nice but tried way too hard at everything she did, felt like a genuine attempt at reconciling reality and fiction. Beelzebub, in short, was the most relatable character.
And in BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . ., readers encounter the same awkward striving for success through complacency. Beelzebub lives a millennium and a half as a paper-pusher who lives in a crummy apartment and guzzles beer on the weekends. But when the demon lady is unceremoniously leveled up by a precocious demon king, in the guise of a little lamb girl, she adapts. She lives in a mansion, but she only uses a handful of rooms. She has a huge salary, but she only uses it to travel occasionally. She has two oddball secretaries, leviathan sisters (one fastidious and the other clumsy), but she doesn't fire them whenever they do something horribly wrong, because she knows earnest workers are more efficient than uptight ones.
This novel relies on the cheeky humor and plainclothes discomfiture native to what happens when mediocre people are put in difficult situations and ultimately succeed, not because they necessarily become better people, but because being a mediocre person is often better than being anyone else. Beelzebub come close to being hustled by nobles, is very nearly poisoned by a rival, and motivates her co-workers to up their game, and all by being pragmatic and putting her experience to good use. BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . . is about a dork who doesn't really know how much of a dork she is.
There are no do-or-die action scenes. There are no high-stakes moments of political indecision. There are no risky encounters threatening to undo the interface between the human world and the demon realm. This novel keeps things simple: a training excursion to the hot springs; an assignment to collect back taxes; a disastrous attempt to redecorate the office space with greenery. Later chapters forcibly integrate Beelzebub's story with that of Azusa from I've Been Killing Slimes. . ., and the result is a mire of inconsistent time-skips and non-existent character development. But on the whole, BOTTOM-TIER BUREAUCRAT. . . is a fun, comfortable read.
March 9, 2022
It is very slight. Probably best enjoyed by enthusiastic fans of the original series.
March 13, 2025
Obvious 5/5
December 2, 2025
As someone who has never read the original I still thoroughly enjoyed this story.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews