On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Organization Collapsed on My First Day of Infiltration Episode 103

 

 

Crow’s Gratitude (1)

 

 

‘Senior is showing his will to recruit me!’

 

Erso was moved.

Anyone in this industry knows it’s impossible to solve a month-long commission in just one day.

But Senior said he would solve it within a day.

 

‘He wants me that much!’

 

That determination to make me take the test even if it means solving it within a day!

Erso’s misunderstanding was growing again.

 

“Senior, I’m grateful for your words, but it would be difficult. Since I received this commission, I will carry it out myself.”

 

At this point, he had to show a cool side of himself.

That way Senior would think, ‘This guy at least keeps his word.’

However…

 

“No. That won’t do. One month is too long.”

 

Ziel refused once more.

 

“No, Senior. A commission received as Crow must definitely…”

“I don’t know what kind of commission it is, but if it’s something that would take you about a month, one day is enough for me.”

“…”

 

Ziel had a relatively accurate grasp of Erso’s level.

 

‘Is he bragging or looking down on me?’

 

Erso sighed in this situation where he didn’t know whether to be envious or offended.

 

“Well, Senior. As you well know, commissions are…”

“I know. You can’t reveal them. You never revealed it.”

 

In the hand of the person saying those words—

 

“Th-that!”

 

The commission document was being held.

He had definitely put it somewhere it wouldn’t be visible, hadn’t he?

 

“How did you figure it out? How did you find this?”

“I just saw it.”

 

There’s that phrase again.

How does ‘just seeing it’ make sense?

Commission documents are usually kept in one’s chest or stored in absolutely invisible places.

But he says he saw it again.

Like with the secret door.

 

“I see.”

 

Ziel examined the commission document once and then handed it back to Erso.

 

‘Since you’ve seen it, you must understand. It’s not an easy job.’

 

Erso was confident.

The place to be robbed was none other than the Blackwood Family’s exhibition hall ‘Fantasy Basin’.

He had to retrieve some papers from the deepest part of that exhibition hall.

The Blackwood Family was famous for specializing in collecting art pieces.

Also—

 

‘They’re vicious bastards too.’

 

People in this business don’t make particularly strict distinctions between good and evil.

But even from their perspective, the Blackwood Family’s desire to collect art pieces was excessive.

They would get their hands on anything they liked by any means necessary.

Using whatever methods in the process.

Naturally, they also invested tremendously in security, making it a mission that would take a full month, let alone a day!

 

“One month, huh.”

 

As expected.

Senior’s thoughts seemed to have changed a bit too.

Infiltrating the Blackwood Family’s exhibition hall, of all places, was extremely difficult from the start.

He had accepted the commission because the item to secure was some papers, but if it had been an exhibit or some treasure, Erso would have declined.

He was even thinking that one month would be tight…

 

“It would indeed take a month, wouldn’t it, Senior?”

 

To Erso’s question, Ziel answered.

 

“One day is enough.”

“Pardon?”

 

How can you do this in just one day?

 

“O-one day?”

“No. I misspoke.”

 

As expected.

There’s no way—

 

“Tonight is enough.”

 

 

When it comes to ‘art’ in the Valdrain Empire, people commonly regard the Blackwood Family as the best.

The hobby of collecting all kinds of rare and wonderful art pieces from around the world!

Uniquely, rather than entering politics, it was a family that had been focusing solely on art collection and exhibition for generations with their inherited wealth.

Rather, thanks to that, there were people who received attention from numerous nobles and wanted to exercise that influence, but it was a family that focused only on art pieces!

 

‘Just looking at it makes me tremble.’

 

Near the Blackwood Family’s exhibition hall.

Security that looked thorough just by looking at it!

 

‘That way won’t work either… If I try to enter through there, the alarm system will definitely activate. I don’t see any gaps.’

 

Even with just a quick look around, the security was at a level where not even an ant could find a gap to enter.

Since they had gathered all those precious art pieces in one place, they must have deployed plenty of security magic devices as well.

I heard they hire 5th-rank mages to manage the magic devices.

 

‘It’s daunting, truly daunting.’

 

How was I supposed to break through that?

We came together, but as expected, even Senior…

 

“Senior?”

 

Where did he go?

 

“Huh?”

 

Erso was at a loss for words.

Ziel was already moving.

Ziel had already approached near the exhibition hall without him noticing when.

Erso hurriedly followed.

 

“S-Senior. If you approach so recklessly like that…”

“Do you see it, that small window over there?”

“Pardon?”

 

He did see it.

The third floor of the exhibition hall.

It was a window that could barely fit one person’s body through.

But what about it?

 

‘It’s impossible.’

 

Let’s say the height was manageable.

The problem was the security device applied to that window.

The notoriously strict security.

Not only did it check whether the window latch was open or closed using external air, but magic device scanning was also performed around the window.

If an object different from usual was detected and the contours changed, the security device would immediately activate!

Even this was just one piece of information that became known after countless intruders had fallen victim to it.

 

“I’m going to enter through there.”

 

But he said he was going to enter through there.

 

“How?”

“I’ll just enter.”

“…”

“I’ll go in first, so when I signal, leap and enter right away.”

 

It was incomprehensible.

However, instead of elaborating, Ziel took out a small dagger from his chest—

 

Whoosh.

 

He hit the window latch precisely.

What was amazing was what happened next.

Ziel took out something other than the dagger and threw it precisely through the gap that opened when the latch was released.

 

“Huh?”

 

The security device didn’t activate.

External air had flowed in, so it should have activated, right?

 

“H-how did you do that?”

“I prevented external air from entering.”

 

He figured that out without being told and executed it immediately?

 

“How?”

“I don’t want to say.”

“…”

 

Then Ziel said.

 

“As I said earlier, when I signal, leap and enter through the window.”

 

Without giving him time to respond, Ziel leaped.

The process of landing at the window after leaping and entering was the epitome of lightness!

 

‘How does he achieve such body movement…’

 

The leap was one thing, but he had never seen such flexibility either.

To slip just his body through the slightly opened gap without touching the window!

 

‘He said he would signal.’

 

Erso stopped his admiration and tensed up.

A moment later.

 

“Hup.”

 

The moment Ziel’s hand signal was visible, Erso leaped straight toward the window.

And he barely managed to get inside.

 

“Huff, whew.”

“Your flexibility is lacking. Strengthen the muscles around your spine more and loosen your hip joints beforehand.”

 

He had already strengthened them a lot and loosened them plenty.

 

‘Senior is the one who’s strange.’

 

Click.

 

Ziel closed the window along with his advice.

Erso wondered if this was a dream or reality.

 

‘But we really got inside.’

 

One month commission period!

Though it’s a period that considers failures, the actual timing for securing items after infiltration is usually near the end of the commission.

But now Senior had created that timing on the very same day!

He neutralized the security device that detects outside air, and somehow even avoided the magical tool’s scanning.

 

‘He really is an incredible person.’

 

The security device didn’t sound.

The inside was quiet.

Only then did the scenery come into view.

 

‘What a spectacle.’

 

Below the third floor gallery of the exhibition hall, the scenery of the second and first floors stretched out.

 

“We’re moving. From now on, don’t move without my signal.”

“Ah, understood.”

 

His respect was growing by leaps and bounds!

Erso made a vow.

He would definitely join Senior’s organization.

He would become part of the elite few and learn everything from Senior to become the world’s greatest…

 

“Now.”

 

Dash.

 

Erso quickly moved.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any troublesome security devices in the third floor gallery…

 

“Stop.”

 

That was Erso’s mistake.

 

“There’s nothing here, Senior.”

“The scent is slightly different.”

“Scent?”

 

Ziel pointed to the ceiling.

 

“Look carefully at the ceiling pattern.”

 

Befitting the Blackwood Family’s exhibition hall, there were artistic patterns on the ceiling as well.

 

“It’s a pattern that resembles magical tool circuits.”

“What? How can you tell…”

“I just know.”

 

Saying it resembles magical tool circuits means…

 

“The other ceiling panels are at a similar level, but only that panel matches the circuit composition exactly.”

“Then are you saying that ceiling panel you pointed to is a magical tool?”

“That’s right.”

 

The ceiling panel was positioned exactly above the path the two needed to pass through.

In simple terms, a security device disguised as a ceiling panel!

 

‘Now I can see it.’

 

The pattern that was slightly different from the other panels came into Erso’s view as well.

How on earth did he spot that?

In this indoor space with almost no light.

The two, who briefly hung from the railing to move, now headed to the second floor.

 

‘The papers are underground.’

 

The location of the papers they needed to secure was the underground storage vault.

This was exactly the problem.

After infiltration, passing through countless security devices, then infiltrating the underground storage again, opening the vault, and safely escaping.

In that process, they couldn’t arouse any suspicion and had to escape without leaving traces.

But Ziel was unhesitating.

 

“Stop. Based on the floor you’re standing on now, there’s a pressure detection device three spaces ahead.”

“Move now. When passing the statue on the left, keep your head down.”

“There’s a disguised thread. Step over it without getting caught.”

 

Security devices disguised as art pieces.

Devices that detect pressure on the floor.

Security devices that are placed invisibly and activate the moment someone gets caught.

Ziel seemed like someone who knew everything.

As if… he had been here before, or even just yesterday.

 

‘This exhibition hall rearranges its security every month.’

 

Unless he had actually come yesterday, Ziel was truly identifying and avoiding security devices on the spot.

It was amazing.

Where were the limits of Senior’s abilities?

Keen observation.

Situational response.

And-

 

“Hide behind the statue.”

 

Even intuition.

 

Step, step.

 

Shortly after, a security guard passed by near where Ziel and Erso were hiding behind the statue.

Even when all the guards had passed, Ziel didn’t signal.

Sure enough.

The security guard walked back the way he came and returned.

Only after some more time had passed did Ziel signal.

 

“Come out. We’re moving again.”

 

Erso followed Ziel while thinking.

Would he have been able to do this himself?

 

‘No.’

 

Such a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Was this… a mission possible within a month?

Lost in doubt, the two passed through the second floor and first floor, finally reaching the passage leading underground.

 

‘This won’t be easy.’

 

At the end of the passage.

A security guard was standing watch.

After all, the most reliable security was placing people.

If you place people to block physically passable areas, there’s no better security than that.

 

“We’ll find a detour.”

 

Naturally, Ziel also chose the detour.

The basics of infiltration were leaving no traces.

It would be simpler to put them to sleep or suppress them, but that would leave traces of intrusion.

 

‘What to do. This is where the problem starts.’

 

Looking around, there didn’t seem to be anything suitable for a detour.

That’s how it looked to Erso’s eyes.

But not to Ziel’s eyes.

 

Click.

 

Ziel carefully examined part of the wall, looked around the ceiling, then removed part of a panel.

Surprisingly, a ventilation duct was revealed.

 

“It’s a disguised ventilation duct.”

“How did you…?”

“The air flow is different.”

“Ah.”

“And those who commit what we usually call ‘evil deeds’ tend to like these kinds of secrets.”

 

Now he was too tired to be surprised.

Leaping up to the ceiling and entering, a long passage came into view.

As expected, there were security devices inside as well.

A passage so narrow they had to crawl.

It detected things passing through, but only at a height where small animals like rats that usually live in such places wouldn’t trigger it.

Here, Ziel completely neutralized the security device.

He attached something sticky around the device.

 

“How did you do that?”

“I melted red tree sap with body heat and attached it. When the mana scan emitted by the security device passes through the red tree sap, it gets distorted upward.”

 

In other words, the range the magical tool scanned became upward instead of the intended range.

Then they could pass underneath it.

 

“Now we go through.”

 

After passing through the passage, Ziel finally stopped.

 

“Look down below.”

 

The view of the storage facility visible beyond the ventilation duct.

They had finally arrived.

About 20 minutes since entering.

It would take a day?

 

‘Another hour should be more than enough, right?’

 

Erso was amazed when he suddenly listened to conversation sounds coming from below.

Were there people down there?

 

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Wait.”

“For a month?”

“Are you crazy? How can we wait here for a month? We’ll just mess around for about 2 weeks, then stay for another 2 weeks or so.”

“Two weeks here? That’s quite long too.”

 

What kind of conversation is this?

Are they security guards?

 

“Are you sure? That guy is really coming?”

“I’m telling you he is. The commission period is one month. Usually he does preliminary investigation before that and infiltrates at the end, so we’re waiting two weeks in advance.”

“Wouldn’t one week be enough?”

“Just in case. If he comes earlier, we’d have to make plans all over again. We wait here in advance, and when we get the signal that he’s infiltrated, we immediately stand by.”

“And then?”

“We signal outside. So he gets caught naturally the moment he comes out.”

“How unfortunate for him. Heh heh.”

 

What is this about?

Erso froze in place.

This commission right now…

Is it a trap?

That’s when Ziel threw out a comment.

 

“The commission you received doesn’t seem to be a normal one, Crow.”

 

Erso suddenly recalled something that had happened recently.

It was when he had rejected the Southern Branch Chief’s commission.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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