On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 16

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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 016

 

 

What Are You Thanking Me For?

 

 

“Teacher, this place is…”

“The Faculty Dormitory.”

“So you live here…”

 

This was Delev’s first time seeing the Faculty Dormitory.

 

‘It’s so run-down.’

 

He had occasionally passed by it since the Student Dormitory was next to it.

Even then he thought it looked old, but coming inside, it was beyond imagination.

 

Drip, drop.

 

Water droplets falling from somewhere even though it wasn’t raining.

Spider webs everywhere.

There seemed to be a strange smell too.

An eyesore that couldn’t even be compared to the magnificent Student Dormitory built with poured donations!

 

“Aren’t you… uncomfortable?”

“Is there anything to be uncomfortable about?”

 

Kundel is a Great Family.

Naturally, Delev couldn’t imagine living in a place like this.

Delev was the very person who used a Top Floor Single Room even in the dormitory.

 

‘Is he living here on purpose?’

 

Delev now thought that everything Ziel did must have some great reason behind it.

 

‘There must be a reason. Definitely.’

 

This was really a place with no reason to live in no matter how you thought about it.

It was so shabby and gloomy that even the poorest faculty member would rather commute from outside the Academy.

 

‘It wouldn’t be strange if ghosts appeared.’

 

“Behind Faculty Dormitory would be good for training.”

 

Meanwhile, Ziel led Delev to Behind Faculty Dormitory.

Trash was scattered carelessly and bushes grew thick, but there was decent enough land for one or two people to train.

 

“Do you also train here, Teacher?”

“I don’t.”

 

Delev interpreted this as meaning there was no need to.

 

‘As expected of a master.’

 

In fact, he couldn’t.

Because Assassins’ training often took place in closed rooms.

 

“Do it over there. I’ll watch.”

“R-really?”

“A teacher must accompany to avoid penalty points.”

 

Delev interpreted this as Ziel offering to supervise his training.

On the other hand, Ziel meant it literally.

 

‘Is he warmer than I thought?’

 

Amid layers of misunderstanding, Delev picked up his Wooden Sword.

 

Swish, swoosh!

 

A Wooden Sword with the same weight as a real sword.

Swordsmanship with sufficient power unfolded, lacking only a blade.

Delev was Kundel’s current greatest talent.

He was evaluated as having superior talent even compared to his Elder Brothers.

Though he hadn’t yet surpassed his Elder Brothers due to his growing body and experience, his Swordsmanship had received acclaim since enrollment.

Praise and expectations.

Having lived only within those, Delev’s encounter with Ziel was shock itself.

 

‘I’m still lacking.’

 

He realized he was insufficient—

 

‘I still have far to go.’

 

He was gradually recognizing that the world he saw was very narrow.

 

Swish, swoosh!

 

Delev’s Swordsmanship heavily cutting through the air.

This was the Kundel Heavy Sword Technique that the Kundel Family took pride in.

Swordsmanship that used Kundel’s Mana Breathing Technique to sequentially move Mana from waist to back, shoulders, arms, and hands, displaying tremendous destructive power.

Its power was said to not only crush and tear thick armor with a single sword, but depending on skill level, even split the ground.

 

“Huu, hup!”

 

Delev continuously displayed his Swordsmanship.

1st Form to 5th Form.

The Basic Forms were now perfect.

Next were the Intermediate Forms from 6th Form to 10th Form.

However, his movements came to an abrupt halt at the 7th Form.

 

Clang!

 

He even dropped his sword while forcing himself to execute the sword forms.

Delev quickly grabbed the wooden sword and started again from the basic forms.

 

‘Elder Brothers have already surpassed the intermediate forms.’

 

The final forms that begin from the 11th Form.

That was Delev’s goal.

However, he was ashamed of himself for still getting stuck at the intermediate forms.

Considering the extremely difficult Kundel Heavy Sword Technique, it was already remarkable that he had moved beyond the basic forms to execute the intermediate forms, but Delev was never satisfied.

How long had he been challenging himself like this?

Eventually, after failing to get past the 7th Form more than 50 times, Delev let out a sigh.

His breathing was labored from continuously using mana.

 

‘Still, I’ve improved.’

 

Previously, he would have been exhausted around the 30th attempt, but thanks to physical training, his endurance had increased significantly.

What was disappointing was that he still couldn’t get past the 7th Form.

 

‘I wanted to show Father at the exchange tournament.’

 

He would think I’m still stuck at the 6th Form from when I entered the academy.

I wanted to proudly execute the 7th Form and surprise him.

This was the reason Delev had been feeling impatient lately.

 

‘The selection tournament shouldn’t be a problem, but if it’s the exchange tournament…’

 

Such thoughts suddenly occurred to him.

Why did Teacher Ziel say he had the highest expectations for someone like him?

It was then that he turned his head to look at Ziel.

 

“T-Teacher?”

.

The training had been going on for over an hour.

He had been so focused on training that he was only now looking at Ziel…

 

“Have you been standing like that the whole time?”

 

Ziel was standing in the exact same spot and posture as when the training had started, without moving an inch.

The Motionless Stance wouldn’t be difficult, but to not move even slightly as if time had stopped?

 

‘Is he human?’

 

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that… I just find it fascinating.”

“You can do it too, Student Delev Kundel.”

 

I suppose I could do it.

But it’s human nature to fidget with your hands when you get bored after a while.

Anyway, Delev asked cautiously.

 

“How… was I?”

“You mean the swordsmanship you just displayed?”

“Yes.”

“It was swordsmanship.”

“…”

 

That’s not what I meant, I was asking for your impression…

 

‘Does it just look like ordinary swordsmanship to Teacher?’

 

As expected of Teacher Ziel.

I still have a long way to go to catch his eye.

 

‘Or maybe he’s just being fair.’

 

I’m already receiving enough special treatment.

I ate that expensive meal after all!

Delev steeled his resolve and gripped his sword again to swing it.

The 7th Form still wouldn’t break through as usual.

 

‘Why won’t it work?’

 

That’s when it happened.

 

-It was swordsmanship.

 

Ziel’s words came to mind.

 

‘Just swordsmanship?’

 

Delev stopped abruptly.

There was a thought flashing through his mind.

 

‘Kundel Heavy Sword Technique.’

 

He had always heard such words.

Our family’s swordsmanship is special.

Other families can never match it.

So Delev naturally treated the swordsmanship as special and tried to execute it only in special ways.

For example, in the case of the 7th Form, it’s a downward striking form where you perform a Downward Strike while spinning your body once.

You have to circulate mana twice and swing twice in total.

At least that’s how it was with the Kundel Heavy Sword Technique.

 

‘Just ordinary swordsmanship… what if I approach it a bit more ordinarily?’

 

If it were general swordsmanship, in pursuit of efficiency, you would incorporate multiple forms into a single mana breathing circulation.

However, the Kundel Heavy Sword Technique infuses mana into each individual form to maximize destructive power.

At least up to the ‘Basic Forms’, that’s how he had done it and how he had learned.

 

“…!”

 

Eyes that had realized something.

A thought flashing through his mind like lightning!

Delev stopped his swordsmanship for now and steadied his breathing.

 

‘Ordinarily.’

 

His family’s heavy swordsmanship that he had only thought of as special.

Taking a step back to observe it, he finally felt something.

 

‘Put two forms into one breath.’

 

That had been the problem all along.

One form per mana breath.

Since the speed of one breath wasn’t that fast, it couldn’t keep up with the speed of the movements.

But what if he put movements, that is, two forms into one breath?

Like other ordinary swordsmanship.

What if he abandoned his preconceptions about being special?

The moment Delev finished thinking, he put two forms into one breath and-

 

“I did it.”

 

With elation, he succeeded at the 7th Form for the first time.

The amount of mana circulated in one breath was fixed, so the destructive power would be reduced, but he had succeeded for now.

 

‘So it was this simple.’

 

From now on, it would be resolved by gradually increasing the speed of his breathing.

Why had he only realized this now?

The fact that Delev was currently training the 7th Form was something none of his family knew.

Delev had also wanted to accomplish it alone, so he had been practicing without telling anyone.

But he had truly accomplished it alone.

 

‘There was no need to stubbornly stick to just one path.’

 

If it’s difficult, you can take a detour.

As long as you reach your destination in the end.

He felt like he had gained a great enlightenment about life, not just the 7th Form!

And that enlightenment was none other than what Teacher Ziel standing over there had given him.

 

“Teacher, thank you.”

 

Delev expressed his deep gratitude.

 

‘The advice was spot on.’

 

The enlightenment gained from that one word from Ziel!

Ziel’s status in Delev’s heart rose once again.

By the way, perhaps because he had trained twice today, fatigue suddenly rushed over him.

 

“Teacher, may I go in now?”

 

Ziel looked at his pocket watch once and then nodded.

 

“It’s late at night. Go in, student Delev Kundel.”

 

As expected of the teacher.

He could have shown off a bit, but he said nothing special.

 

‘Fucking cool.’

 

On the other hand.

 

‘What is he thanking me for?’

 

Ziel was pondering deeply why Delev had thanked him.

Meanwhile.

 

‘It’s Teaching Assistant Tiron.’

 

Ziel had also noticed the identity of someone who had been watching him from near the bushes.

 

 

Two days until the selection test.

 

“Teacher Ziel, as I mentioned before, you just need to be present at the selection test.”

 

Ziel was meeting briefly with Teaching Assistant Tiron before class.

 

“There’s nothing special to do. To convey the Professor’s words, you can think of it as just gaining experience.”

“I understand.”

“The other teaching assistants and I will handle grading the physical strength tests, and the professors will conduct the swordsmanship portion.”

 

Tiron handed over a document.

 

“Ah. And the test subjects are also written here. We evaluate physical strength items and swordsmanship items. There are two each for physical strength and swordsmanship.”

“One more criterion has been added to swordsmanship.”

 

Originally, swordsmanship was decided by sparring.

But ‘Sword Dance’ had been added to this.

 

“Yes. I heard it was decided at the Professor Council.”

“Is there a reason?”

“Well. I don’t know that much either.”

 

Sword Dance is literally about viewing the artistry of swordsmanship.

Watching swordsmanship unfold in the air and evaluating its beauty.

From Ziel’s perspective, it was an evaluation category with no meaning, efficiency, or practicality.

At least its weight was somewhat low.

About 10% or so?

 

‘Someone must have made another donation.’

 

When something suddenly gets added or removed from something that was running smoothly, it means there’s someone who benefits from it.

Tiron recalled last year’s selection tournament.

There had been one shocking situation.

Rowan Valkyrie, a first-year second son from the Valkyrie Family, one of the Five Great Families, had been eliminated.

It was by a very small margin, but his tournament bracket luck had been poor.

 

‘Did the Valkyrie Family make the third highest donation this year?’

 

The picture was roughly taking shape.

He could sense the intention to definitely send Rowan Valkyrie, now a second-year, to the exchange tournament.

The Valkyrie Family was already famous for their beautiful swordsmanship.

The anecdote of opponents being so mesmerized by their swordsmanship that they didn’t even realize they were being attacked was already well-known.

 

“Anyway, that’s how it is. You can view the selection tournament schedule like that… The students who get eliminated will probably be quite depressed. Please comfort them well, Teacher.”

 

Tiron continued in a whisper.

 

“In my opinion… if there are no surprises, Student Delev and Student Celia will probably be selected as first-year members for the exchange tournament. Oh, Student Maris also has a possibility.”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Ah. Student Maris is indeed borderline, right? A bit ambiguous…”

“More will be selected than that.”

“Pardon?”

 

Ziel glanced at the students preparing for class and continued speaking.

 

“Ten students from among those I’m in charge of will be selected.”

“…”

 

Rather than being flustered, Tiron was dumbfounded.

 

‘What kind of confidence is that?’

 

Just looking at them, the people who would be selected were already decided.

Among this year’s first-years, there were only two children from the Five Great Families – Delev and Celia – but that didn’t mean the other students’ skills were far below.

Especially among the 60 students Ziel wasn’t in charge of, there were quite a few high-level students.

 

‘Well, delusions are free.’

 

Tiron shrugged his shoulders.

Perhaps from dealing with Professor Elcanto for so long.

It had become a habit to just go along with it even when someone made strange claims.

 

“You could see it that way. Oh, and lastly, the Department Head will also attend the first-year selection tournament.”

 

Tiron expected.

For Ziel to get nervous.

 

“The Department Head is particularly concerned about this year’s first-year students.”

 

The Department Head of Sword School!

The pinnacle of this Sword School and a former commander of the Imperial Knight Order!

An existence before whom even decent nobles had to humble themselves!

 

“Yes. I understand.”

 

But what came back was a calm reaction.

 

“Since you said that was the last thing, there are no more matters to convey?”

 

‘What kind of person is this?’

 

When told the Department Head was coming, he should at least pretend to be nervous.

 

“Ah, yes. There aren’t any.”

“Yes. Then I’ll go teach my class.”

 

Watching Ziel’s retreating back, Tiron accumulated more misunderstandings.

 

“He’s not even afraid of the Department Head?”

 

Truly tremendous backing.

No one knew the exact identity, but it was probably enormous.

 

‘Seeing how respectfully Delev Kundel treats him… does the Kundel side know something?’

 

Just a few days ago.

Tiron had business at the Department Office and briefly left the dormitory at night.

By pure chance, he discovered Delev training behind the Faculty Dormitory and Ziel supervising that training.

What he saw there was a scene of Delev expressing his gratitude to Ziel very respectfully.

 

‘There’s something there.’

 

Question upon question.

Misunderstanding upon misunderstanding.

Something was accumulating layer by layer.

 

“What exactly did he used to do?”

 

But he didn’t have the courage to investigate.

Having tremendous backing meant one shouldn’t pry into their background.

Tiron wanted to live a long, long life if possible.

 

‘I can’t die before becoming a professor. Hell no.’

 

Teaching Assistant Tiron quickly left the auditorium.

Two days later.

Without even daring to imagine what would happen at the selection tournament.

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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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