On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 262

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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 262

 

The Sound of Coins

 

Everyone in the world was searching for the Dark Ghost.

 

Imperial newspaper reporters.

 

Fans of the Dark Ghost.

 

Followers of the Specter.

 

And even the Imperial Palace.

 

Eleanor was no exception.

 

However, her reasons were purely personal.

 

‘I need to test my secret technique once more.’

 

For the first time in her life, she had used her secret technique in real combat, and it was blocked before she could even properly cast it.

 

It was a greater shock than being eliminated in the special semifinals.

 

The shock of realizing that her hidden trump card was actually nothing at all!

 

Of course, it was a powerful secret technique.

 

But if she had to use that secret technique against an opponent weaker than herself, then the technique lost its meaning.

 

A secret technique is only truly a secret technique when it works in crisis situations, or when used against someone stronger than oneself!

 

‘I need to develop my secret technique.’

 

Eleanor wanted to ask.

 

What was wrong with her secret technique?

 

What should she do to prevent her secret technique from being blocked the same way again!

 

The Dark Ghost would surely know the answer that neither her father who taught her this technique, nor she herself, could provide.

 

This was why Eleanor, with her noble, elegant, and utterly aristocratic appearance, was wandering beyond the 30th District.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I asked if you’ve seen any suspicious people. Like the Dark Ghost.”

 

Eleanor specifically mentioned the Dark Ghost.

 

Her obsession was considerable.

 

“I’m looking for the Dark Ghost.”

 

Eleanor stared at Ziel intently, then tilted her head.

 

“Wait, I think I saw you at the swordsmanship tournament…”

 

Ziel tensed up for a moment.

 

‘There’s no way she’d figure it out.’

 

Having removed his human skin mask, Ziel now had his original appearance—the face of Ziel Steelheart.

 

Eleanor naturally meant something different.

 

“By any chance… are you that teacher who was instructing students in the youth and young adult divisions?”

 

Her tone suddenly changed.

 

Ziel nodded.

 

“That’s right. Ziel Steelheart, official instructor for second years at Edelwein Academy Sword School.”

 

Since there was nothing particularly to hide, he didn’t deny it, but an unexpected reaction came back.

 

“What a coincidence to meet someone our family has been keeping an eye on here.”

 

Someone they’ve been keeping an eye on?

 

“We were actually planning to reorganize our family’s knight order, and we were in the middle of arranging terms to invite you as our Knight Commander.”

 

Suddenly a scouting offer came in.

 

Of course, for Ziel, it wasn’t particularly surprising or special.

 

“I won’t go.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I have no intention of going.”

 

“…”

 

Eleanor was dumbfounded after being rejected when she had barely brought up the topic.

 

“At least listen to the conditions…”

 

“The conditions don’t matter.”

 

Even if they offered him an entire family estate, he wasn’t interested.

 

“…You’re quite firm about this?”

 

“Since I have no reason to go, there’s no reason to leave room for consideration either.”

 

“Ah.”

 

Eleanor had an intuition.

 

This person.

 

He’s different somehow.

 

‘Is that why the Imperial Palace and other influential families want him so badly…?’

 

Her father had said so.

 

It would be very difficult to bring that man into their family.

 

No, it would be nearly impossible.

 

Though she had never met him, judging by his actions so far, he was surely someone who dreamed of something so grand that such offers would seem trivial!

 

“…I understand. Setting that aside, what were you doing here?”

 

“I don’t want to tell you.”

 

“…”

 

She felt like she was hitting a wall.

 

“Ahem. Fine. Then returning to my original question, haven’t you seen any suspicious people?”

 

“I haven’t.”

 

“Hmm, I thought I might be able to see the Dark Ghost if I wandered around this area…”

 

From Ziel’s perspective, that wasn’t the case.

 

Even if the Dark Ghost really was wandering around, there was no way to track him down by openly scattering one’s attention like this.

 

“Have you heard any rumors related to the Dark Ghost?”

 

“No.”

 

Ziel became a little curious too.

 

“Why are you looking for him?”

 

“Well…”

 

Eleanor got that far before closing her mouth.

 

“I don’t want to tell you either.”

 

“…”

 

Ziel was a bit taken aback.

 

It felt strange to hear from someone else’s mouth the line that had only come from his own until now.

 

‘I can’t exactly say it’s because of my secret technique…’

 

Eleanor had also searched for appropriate words before finally giving that answer.

 

It wasn’t entirely unrelated to Ziel giving the exact same answer earlier.

 

“Anyway, if you hear any news about the Dark Ghost or know anything, please let me know. I’ll reward you.”

 

Ziel thought for a moment.

 

After all, he was the Dark Ghost himself!

 

He thought it wouldn’t be bad to give information and receive a reward.

 

But he soon changed his mind.

 

‘This is dangerous.’

 

The moment he was recognized as someone who knew about the Dark Ghost, there was no telling what threats might come later.

 

Money was important, but more important than that was stabilizing his identity!

 

So he answered like this.

 

“I refuse.”

 

Somewhat honestly.

 

“…You refuse? Why?”

 

“The Dark Ghost is precious.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Eleanor ended up misunderstanding.

 

‘This person is a fan of the Dark Ghost.’

 

Just as the Specter has fans, the Dark Ghost also has fans.

 

Suddenly appearing to easily dominate the general department swordsmanship tournament!

 

And then mysteriously disappearing again – many people were enthusiastic about that story.

 

The absolute majority were citizens who disliked nobles, and in fact, many nobles including Eleanor secretly admired the Dark Ghost.

 

Whatever the Dark Ghost’s symbolism, his skill itself was overwhelming.

 

‘Well, it’s understandable they’d react this way.’

 

Anyway, Eleanor, who had thoroughly misunderstood, nodded.

 

“I understand. Oh, by the way… I think we’ll be seeing each other soon.”

 

“Are you coming to the Academy?”

 

“No. Our family has decided to sponsor the upcoming practical training.”

 

She was talking about that practical training going to Osu Island.

 

“As you know, I’ve become interested in the Academy.”

 

In reality, she was interested in Ziel, but either way, the Delphis family had begun showing interest in the Academy due to this incident.

 

“Is that so. Then I’ll see you then.”

 

“Yes. Let’s meet on Osu Island.”

 

With that, Eleanor departed.

 

It had been a strange encounter.

 

‘Why did she come looking for me?’

 

Leaving behind only questions that wouldn’t be resolved for a while.

 

His mood was peculiar.

 

But soon his mood improved.

 

“Hey, this is Robson Family territory!”

 

“Walking around at this hour means you’re asking us to rob you, right?”

 

Shing.

 

The moment to test the Ether River sword had arrived.

 

“Look at this guy. Has he lost his mind?”

 

“How dare he oppose our Robson Family…”

 

Was this the third or fourth time meeting the Robson Family?

 

‘Did I exchange change with these guys when I first met them?’

 

They had exchanged change nicely and seemed like decent enough guys.

 

“Compared to the guys who exchanged change, you all seem like low quality.”

 

“What did you say?”

 

“Change? What is this guy talking about?”

 

As expected.

 

They seemed to be the low-quality ones.

 

It was important to teach them a proper lesson so they could never pick fights again.

 

“Hmm, that sword looks good too… Fine. Leave that behind and we’ll let you go.”

 

And now they were coveting other people’s belongings.

 

“No.”

 

Ziel answered firmly and then raised his mana.

 

A mana sword was excessive for dealing with back alley thugs, but right now this was purely for testing purposes.

 

‘The mana is only circulating inside.’

 

Ziel confirmed that no mana was leaking outside and was satisfied.

 

However, while it was shielded and not visually apparent, its cutting power and force were actually much enhanced.

 

It was due to the characteristics of Ether River, but also thanks to the rune characters carved on the surface.

 

‘That sword looks good.’

 

Ziel first calmed his mana.

 

A sword held by one of the Robson Family, or rather gang members, caught his eye.

 

“Come at me.”

 

“Has this guy really lost his mind!”

 

Thud!

 

The moment they charged.

 

Slice.

 

The sword was cut through.

 

“…”

 

“…Huh?”

 

It snapped cleanly, like cutting a turnip.

 

“Excellent.”

 

The test results were very satisfying.

 

That wasn’t the end of it.

 

“Next, you.”

 

“M-m-me?”

 

The gang members suddenly became polite!

 

They sensed something was seriously wrong.

 

But they had missed their chance to run away.

 

“That’s right. Swing that axe at me.”

 

“Th… this?”

 

“I don’t see any other axes here. Is there something wrong with your eardrums?”

 

An unintentional harsh remark after a long time!

 

“…I-I’ll do it right away.”

 

This time it was his turn to raise mana and try cutting.

 

‘How much will the cutting power be enhanced?’

 

It exceeded expectations.

 

“Hyaaaah!”

 

The moment he swung the axe as instructed.

 

“Hmm?”

 

The axe split apart.

 

Into several pieces.

 

The moment the Ether River sword and axe blade touched each other, the mana emanating from the sword spread along the axe blade and cut along that trajectory.

 

“So it had this kind of power.”

 

It seemed the mana characteristics of Ether River were reflected.

 

The characteristic of emitting mana in a radial pattern seemed to be reflected.

 

Of course, even if mana was emitted radially, having the axe split into multiple pieces like this was surprising.

 

‘The cutting power is tremendous.’

 

The Robson gang fell silent at the axe blade fragments that scattered down.

 

‘…We’re screwed.’

 

‘Seems like we picked the wrong guy…’

 

‘An Imperial inspector…perhaps?’

 

There was a reason the Robson Family confidently picked fights.

 

The area around District 40 was truly Robson Family territory!

 

Within that area, just mentioning the Robson name made everyone tremble.

 

Since the Security Guards’ reach barely extended there, the Robson Family was essentially the law.

 

They could be called a group that maintained order on their own while making a decent living.

 

So they naturally picked a fight.

 

They hadn’t expected their opponent to be like this.

 

‘Wait.’

 

Come to think of it, the earlier talk about change came to mind.

 

He had heard that some of the lower-ranking guys had met someone who asked them to exchange change and got thoroughly beaten…

 

‘Could it be?’

 

“You guys are the bad ones. Right?”

 

“What?”

 

“Your hearing isn’t good either. I’ll ask again. Are you bad guys?”

 

They hesitated briefly at the completely unexpected question.

 

“Yes! That’s right! We are bad guys!”

 

Survival instinct kicked in.

 

“That’s right! We are very, very bad guys!”

 

“We try to extort money from pedestrians passing by at night! We’re absolutely rotten!”

 

The desire to live is a frightening thing.

 

“I see. Then hand over your money.”

 

“What?”

 

“Didn’t you say you were bad guys? Then I can take that money.”

 

“Uh…”

 

Survival instinct wavered.

 

Because money was precious too.

 

Ziel tilted his head.

 

“No?”

 

That’s when the pitch-black sword blade caught their eyes!

 

‘Would we die without even knowing we were cut if sliced by that?’

 

The moment that thought occurred to them.

 

“Here it is!”

 

Survival instinct activated.

 

Ziel nodded and counted the money.

 

“103 cel in total. But you.”

 

“Y-yes? Me?”

 

“There was a sound when you took out the last coin. If there were no more coins, that sound wouldn’t occur.”

 

“…”

 

Clink.

 

5 cel was added.

 

108 cel in total.

 

“I don’t smell any more coins, so it seems you’ve taken out everything.”

 

Ziel was even smelling for the scent of coins so thoroughly!

 

108 cel.

 

This was enough.

 

‘108 chicken skewers. These days they give 2 as service when you buy 10, so I can secure at least 20 additional ones.’

 

Ziel had somehow become a regular customer and was even getting service!

 

He had secured an unexpected benefit.

 

Tomorrow morning, chicken skewers would be good.

 

“Then I’ll be going.”

 

Ziel didn’t forget to say this.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“…”

 

It was thanks for helping him test his new sword.

 

However, to the enemies, it was unintentional mockery!

 

‘That bastard…’

 

‘Damn, several days’ worth of living expenses…’

 

‘I spent all day in District 45 trying to rob that guy…’

 

Of course, they couldn’t express their complaints out loud.

 

“Take care!”

 

“Get home safely!”

 

Leaving behind the bowing Robson Family members, Ziel headed toward the Academy.

 

He had secured gifts for his two subordinates.

 

He had also finished testing his new sword.

 

“The practical training is soon.”

 

The time to depart for Osu Island was approaching.

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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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