On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 143
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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 143
The Initiative Goes to Ziel (1)
Brainwashing is truly a complex operation.
Because it’s the act of making someone ‘listen’ to orders.
Therefore, brainwashing proceeds on the premise of obliterating memories and emotions.
Only then can variables be minimized before starting.
However, removing memories and emotions is just the beginning.
Brainwashing is only completed after implanting complex commands that consider all sorts of situations.
For example-
Crack.
To prevent situations like this from happening.
Thud.
A living being that had been breathing just one second ago died with eyes wide open.
It was a security guard of the Valdrain Imperial Palace.
Even though he was just a security guard, an Imperial Palace guard possessed considerable skill.
Such a security guard had died.
And inside the Imperial Palace at that.
“….”
Sigrim.
Once an assassin of Black Sky, now an existence that only listens to Remal’s commands.
Only two commands floating through Sigrim’s mind.
‘Find out about the Dark Ghost in the Slum District. What its identity is, when it appeared, and what it’s plotting.’
‘Kill all who get in the way.’
Find out the identity.
Kill all who interfere.
Sentences summarized in two lines.
The reason brainwashing is difficult lies here.
Even when giving simple commands, ‘basic commands’ must be implanted to prevent situations like this.
Don’t touch anything except specific targets.
Or avoid specific targets.
Or don’t leave a certain area, etc.
But Remal didn’t know that.
He had only given two commands.
This was why Sigrim, the assassin Black Sky had been proud of, had come all the way to the Imperial Palace.
“Where is the 2nd Prince… Dietrich?”
It was also a situation Remal would never want.
Imperial Palace infiltration!
An unthinkable incident had occurred.
The Imperial Palace as darkness fell.
Sigrim stared blankly at the corpse of the security guard who had met death without knowing why.
He moved toward the next victim.
Stab.
Another security guard died in the shadows.
“The Iron Keep….”
Information the security guard had just revealed.
Prince Dietrich II would be staying at The Iron Keep tonight.
“Kill all who interfere.”
Sigrim had been hindered by the knights pursuing him.
He killed one of them and obtained information about Prince Dietrich II in the process.
Sigrim was an assassin who moved according to his brainwashing.
He was also an assassin who absolutely followed the commands of whoever possessed the black gem.
Although it took quite a long time to enter the Imperial Palace-
“The Iron Keep is… that way.”
Now that he was inside, only one purpose remained in Sigrim’s mind.
The 2nd Prince.
Dietrich Valdrain.
The sky above The Iron Keep, unusually bright due to the campfire.
Sigrim began moving toward that place.
“Teacher, please try this.”
“Mm. It’s delicious.”
“Try this too!”
“Alright, put it there. I’ll eat it soon.”
“Teacher, this too….”
“I understand.”
Ziel was eating.
That is to say-
“He keeps eating.”
“Wow, that’s crazy.”
“How does all that food fit inside him?”
He was eating without pause.
“Delicious.”
The meat was delicious.
Just grilled over fire with only salt, and it tasted this good.
‘There really are many delicious foods in this world.’
When he returned and signed the official teacher contract, his salary would increase too, so he’d be able to try even more foods.
“Could the reason Teacher is so strong be… because he eats a lot?”
“Father said it’s good to eat a lot when you’re young! Could it be…?”
“You idiots, if we ate like that we’d get weaker. Our stomachs would burst.”
The audience watching with fascination!
Ziel seemed like someone who didn’t know what being full meant.
“Did you perhaps go hungry when you were young?”
“Come on, even so, would Teacher have starved?”
Ziel flinched.
It was the correct answer.
‘I did starve until I was 3.’
Then he took the hand of an assassination organization recruiter and entered Black Sky.
There, he never went hungry.
However, he also never had the chance to eat delicious food.
They claimed to eliminate desires and shoved tasteless lumps of nutrients into his mouth.
Anyway, it was delicious.
If Ziel’s emotions had been a bit richer, it would have been delicious enough to bring tears to his eyes.
So he had set one goal.
“I’m planning to try something called ‘culinary tourism’ during vacation.”
“Culinary tourism?”
“Yes. The dictionary definition is… taking pleasure in tasting various foods extensively.”
“Then it has to be our family! Come to our family! You know Southern cuisine is amazing, right?”
“What are you talking about? You should come to the Western Region. Teacher, I’ll invite you to our family! You’re going to do home visits again, right?”
Home visits.
Of course he planned to do them.
Since he went to the South last time, this time he planned to visit the Western Region.
“This time I’m going to the Western Region.”
He wouldn’t accept anything from the Family Heads.
But he was looking forward to each family’s dinner.
Especially, he still remembered the food he ate at the Kundel Family.
‘The Sopen Family food was delicious too.’
“Teacher, come to our family first! You must!”
Celia got excited at the mention of going to the Western Region.
The Rihart family was a Grand Lord family of the Western Region.
“If you just come, I’ll treat you to enough food to feed the entire Western Region and still have leftovers!”
“I can’t eat that much.”
“It’s just a figure of speech! Just a figure of speech! I should write to our kitchen in advance. To tell them to be ready!”
“Celia, you seem too excited…”
“You guys probably won’t be like that, right?”
“We probably won’t be as excited as you…”
While Celia was passionately explaining why she was so happy about Teacher’s visit.
‘Knights are running.’
The actual person in question, Ziel, was focusing on other sounds.
The clanking of armor could be heard at extremely short intervals, and heavy footsteps were chaotically intertwining.
Knights were running somewhere.
It was a sound the students hadn’t noticed at all.
In such a noisy place, only Ziel could catch sounds coming from far away.
‘The number of Apprentice Members has increased.’
Also, there seemed to be more Apprentice Members around the training ground where they were having the campfire than before.
They all seemed tense.
It was hard to see it as simply the expression of people standing guard.
‘What’s happening?’
That’s when it happened.
Whoosh!
Wind blew.
“Whoa, the flames!”
“Burn higher!”
The students were excited, but Ziel smelled the scent carried by the wind and put down the meat he was eating.
‘It’s the smell of blood.’
It was almost the first time he’d smelled this since entering the Imperial Palace.
There were times when students got hurt and bled during sparring, but this was different.
It was a very thick smell of blood.
Ziel stood up from his seat.
And he gave the students advance instructions.
“All 1st Year Students, absolutely do not leave this training ground.”
“How can I leave when things are getting this exciting?”
“Delev, Celia. You two spread the word to the other students.”
Celia shrugged her shoulders and answered nonchalantly.
“Yes, understood.”
Meanwhile, Delev felt a strange sense of unease.
“…Teacher?”
“Everyone keep your swords on you and don’t let them leave your side for even a moment.”
It sounded almost like a warning.
Delev nodded without understanding why.
It felt like something he absolutely had to do.
‘What’s going on?’
Ziel soon disappeared from sight.
The students were confused but quickly changed the subject and started talking about other things.
Only Delev remained momentarily stunned by this sense of unease.
There was no way to find out.
Ziel, who he could have asked, had left, and he’d been told not to leave this area.
But one thing was certain.
“Celia, let’s go.”
“…”
“Celia?”
“Delev, did I mishear just now?”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“The teacher called us by just our names, without our family names or the title ‘student’…”
“…”
Only then did Delev realize what the unease was about.
The teacher hadn’t been acting like himself.
‘What on earth is going on?’
His anxiety was growing.
The scent of blood grew thicker.
Ziel ran without his Human Skin Mask.
‘At least the only thing I brought with me is one Illusion Stone.’
Of course, even without a Human Skin Mask, there were plenty of ways to conceal his face.
‘Good thing I brought spare clothes.’
He could disguise himself with different clothing and change his voice by adjusting his vocal cords.
Besides, it was dark right now anyway.
“Boss, what exactly is the situation?”
It was a question from Gilbert, who had been following behind Ziel.
“I smell blood.”
“Blood?”
“Yes. And all of The Iron Keep is in chaos.”
He couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was the Boss speaking.
‘Something must be happening.’
Gilbert no longer questioned it.
“In emergency situations, I’ll take the lead. Don’t move unless your life is directly threatened.”
“Yes, Boss. I’m touched.”
“Why are you touched?”
“Because you’re protecting me!”
“No. It’s a matter of your skill level.”
Oh come on.
Acting like that’s not it.
‘Boss is being shy too!’
Gilbert had now started thinking whatever he wanted.
But Ziel’s words were genuine.
‘The scent of blood is getting stronger.’
There were two reasons.
One was the location – the Imperial Palace.
The other was a familiar scent mixed in with the increasingly thick smell of blood.
‘An assassin?’
It was the scent of an assassin.
That very scent so familiar to Ziel.
The most recent time he’d smelled an assassin was at Siren’s Black Market.
‘So is it Siren again?’
And if it was an assassin skilled enough to infiltrate the Imperial Palace, Gilbert wouldn’t be able to handle them.
If he rushed in carelessly, he’d die.
So when you think about it, Gilbert’s words weren’t wrong either.
‘Or it might be another assassin… but it doesn’t matter.’
An assassin infiltrating the Imperial Palace meant the students could become targets.
Especially Delev.
Delev had already faced a life-threatening situation once before.
From Siren, who had targeted Delev’s life to incite war between major families or internal strife within the Empire.
That was why Ziel had stepped forward, even refusing the meat he could have continued eating.
“Getting closer.”
“Yes. Should we attack immediately?”
“No. We follow for now. Keep a 30-step distance from me while tracking.”
“Understood, Boss. Don’t worry, we absolutely won’t be detected.”
The two had already left The Iron Keep and reached an area close to The High Spire.
And finally, they spotted it.
“There it is.”
A whitish object moving through the cover of darkness.
‘He… saw that?’
After hearing him and focusing intently, Gilbert could barely make it out.
And this was a place where even the lighting was dim.
Boss really was something else.
“It’s definitely an assassin.”
How could he tell that too?
“We start tracking now.”
Ziel and Gilbert also melted into the darkness.
Gilbert suddenly had a question.
‘But why isn’t he capturing them right away?’
An assassin had infiltrated the Imperial Palace.
Shouldn’t they capture them immediately?
‘He even said there was a smell of blood.’
That meant there were already victims…
What was Boss’s intention?
He tried to think it through, but now was the time to focus on tracking.
‘Absolutely won’t be detected.’
He couldn’t disappoint Boss.
Meanwhile, the direction their target was moving gradually became clear.
‘The Iron Keep.’
An assassin.
The reason Ziel was simply following an assassin who had infiltrated the Imperial Palace instead of immediately capturing them was clear.
‘To find out Siren’s intentions.’
There were two options.
Capture them now and make them talk.
Or leave them be until their intentions became clear.
The former had too much uncertainty.
This was the Imperial Palace.
A place that wouldn’t allow Ziel much space or time.
Also, since there were already victims, the Imperial Palace would be on high alert.
‘There’s a high chance things would go wrong before finding out their intentions.’
Then the latter option was more appropriate.
Of course, it was a method only Ziel could choose.
A skilled individual capable of silently tracking an assassin who had infiltrated the Imperial Palace.
And whatever might happen—
‘The distance is 20 meters. Sufficient distance to intercept.’
A skilled individual who could stop them at any time.
The situation had already unfolded, but…
The initiative was in Ziel’s hands.
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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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