On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 296

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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First Day of Infiltration, The Organization Was Destroyed Episode 296
Final Evaluation Preparation (1)
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a Faculty Meeting. Everyone, please take your seats.”
The Faculty Meeting convened.
There were two items on the agenda.
“First, I’d like to inform everyone that Teacher Ziel will begin preparations for his Professor Appointment starting this semester.”
“Oh!”
Elcanto quickly stepped forward and began applauding.
Professor Isabella and Allix followed suit with their applause.
Merhen and Idel reluctantly raised their hands and clapped halfheartedly.
“As you all know, Teacher Ziel has achieved remarkable results this semester as well. Accordingly, the Academy has determined there are no obstacles to his Professor Appointment.”
“….”
Had it been the beginning of the semester, Merhen and Idel might have offered timid objections, but now they had nothing left to say.
“Furthermore, in addition to the credit for resolving the series of incidents that were disrupting the climate of Osu Island, word has come that the Imperial Palace will soon bestow a commendation upon him.”
Ziel nodded impassively.
I hadn’t known it would become a reward, but I had at least heard about it from Berhal.
“Thanks to Teacher Ziel, the prestige of not just the Sword School but the entire Academy has risen tremendously, and His Majesty the Emperor is well aware of this.”
Elcanto nodded vigorously.
And Allix followed suit.
Now Ziel possessed tremendous influence not only within the Sword School but throughout the entire Academy.
It was simply that he had no intention of wielding that as power.
“Therefore, once the thesis is prepared, we will proceed with the Professor Appointment procedures. Please be aware of this. Congratulations, Professor Allix. We’ll be gaining a junior colleague.”
Allix waved his hand dismissively.
“Oh, come now, junior colleague? Don’t say such things. How could I, who received a special appointment through external credentials, speak of seniority? Rather, I’m learning much thanks to Teacher Ziel. Isn’t that right, Professor Elcanto?”
“Indeed, indeed. I’m learning quite a bit myself. Hehe, when Teacher Ziel is appointed as a full Professor, he’ll be receiving well-deserved recognition, hehe.”
The two seemed to get along remarkably well.
In Berhal’s view, among the three neglected professors excluding Professor Isabella, Elcanto was the only one who had his head on straight.
Meanwhile….
‘When will those two finally come to their senses.’
Merhen and Idel, unable to genuinely rejoice at this good news, wore only lukewarm expressions.
In truth, Ziel’s Professor Appointment threatened no one’s position.
As prestige rose, Imperial funding would naturally increase, and donations from the Nobles would be incomparable to before.
The Academy was gradually gaining ground in competition with Telbier Academy, so the professors’ treatment would improve even further….
‘Why can’t they see further ahead? Tsk tsk.’
Perhaps it was because these professors had joined during the Sword School’s dark period.
“Then, the second item on the agenda. The Final Evaluation is approaching. As previously announced, the Final Evaluation will be conducted at each professor’s discretion. Usually, it’s been conducted appropriately to the current coursework, but Teacher Ziel has stated he will evaluate his students through Ruins Exploration.”
“Ruins Exploration?”
“My goodness, at such a practical training scale….”
Everyone reacted with surprise.
And rightfully so.
Leading dozens of students—not just one or two—on a Ruins Exploration?
“Will we have enough personnel? Controlling 100 students would require substantial manpower.”
“We have Teaching Assistant Gilbert and Assistant Lecturer Kelvin.”
Professor Isabella, who had posed the question, fell momentarily blank.
“You’re saying three people can manage that?”
“Why not?”
Isabella faltered at the counter-question.
‘How could it possibly work?’
Controlling 100 students with just three people was nearly impossible.
Especially not in terrain like that.
“Ah, come to think of it, bringing more people would be beneficial.”
That made more sense.
“We’re also planning to bring our Head Chef and kitchen assistants.”
“….”
Isabella abandoned any attempt to think within the bounds of common sense.
‘Kitchen staff? Ah, to feed the students, I suppose.’
In any case, Berhal continued.
“For that reason, I’d suggest the other Professors also consider their Final Evaluation approaches. There’s still time, after all.”
“But the students have already been notified….”
As Merhen timidly raised his hand, Berhal shrugged.
“Well, you can proceed as planned then. Conducting the Final Evaluation as usual isn’t a bad approach either. Of course, I’ve been mentioning this for some time—I simply thought it might be good to try something different this time.”
Those words felt like silent pressure!
That’s when Elcanto swiftly interjected.
“Ahem, for our Third Years, I’ve arranged contact with a Knight Order I know. I was planning to mention this soon anyway—it’s structured as an Apprentice Member arrangement where they lodge and receive evaluation for about a week.”
“Oh, like a Knight Order Practicum. Excellent.”
Allix quickly stepped forward as well.
“I’ve actually invited people from the Imperial Knight Order. Sir Horn and Sir Eton graciously agreed to assist. Even though they’re First Years, I think it would be beneficial for them to have an opportunity to meet with Imperial Knights.”
“That’s also good. Since First Years are still in their developmental stage, rather than evaluating them too rigorously, it would be better to focus on motivating them.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Department Head.”
The Sixth Years under Professor Isabella’s instruction were already exempt from both midterm and Final Evaluations anyway.
That left only two grades.
Fourth Years and Fifth Years.
“….”
“….”
Neither of them had anything to say.
Though the meeting continued afterward, Merhen and Idel remained sidelined, unable to speak a single word.
“We’ve covered two major agenda items… and it seems we’ve addressed all other matters. I’ll conclude the meeting here.”
With that, the meeting ended and Berhal exited first.
Merhen and Idel flinched at the sight.
They seemed to be gauging the atmosphere.
“Professor Allix, shall we head out? I’ve found a great restaurant in District 15.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful. But didn’t you mention you were on a diet?”
“Ahem. Well, one day off shouldn’t hurt.”
Elcanto and Allix, who had grown surprisingly close lately, exited, followed shortly by Professor Isabella.
Three remained.
Ziel.
And Merhen and Idel.
Only then did the two professors rise abruptly.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Berhal harbored one misunderstanding.
They were certainly feeling a sense of crisis.
But there was one difference from before.
“Um, Teacher Ziel.”
After their complete disgrace at the exchange tournament, they had begun to reflect on themselves.
Their sense of crisis was evolving into survival instinct!
“Do you have a moment to spare?”
Ziel checked the time and nodded.
“Yes. About twenty minutes should be fine. What is it?”
“…Well, it’s just…”
The words wouldn’t come easily, but they could delay no longer.
“It’s embarrassing, but… I was hoping to ask for some advice regarding the final evaluation.”
“We’ve given it some thought, but we can’t seem to come up with anything fresh…”
At this rate, maintaining their professorships seemed unlikely.
Ziel tilted his head.
“Why would that be embarrassing?”
“…!”
The question struck at the heart of the matter, and both fell silent.
Why embarrassing, he asked.
Well, because of everything they’d done.
In truth, they hadn’t actually harmed Ziel directly.
More precisely, they hadn’t been able to.
They’d whispered behind his back and interfered openly, appearing antagonistic, but they’d never managed to inflict real damage on him.
Because they lacked…
The ability to do so.
Even scheming required skill.
So they had come to Ziel now, belatedly.
“Asking about something you don’t know is nothing to be ashamed of.”
And at those words from Ziel, both seemed to receive a shock, their expressions going blank.
“Are you curious about how the final evaluation will be conducted for the Fourth and Fifth Years? Please, ask away.”
At Ziel’s attitude, Merhen felt an even greater sense of shame.
‘What a different vessel.’
It would be strange if they didn’t hate me, yet they’re showing such magnanimity!
Of course, it was a misunderstanding.
I harbored no particular feelings toward these two.
Perhaps if it were a professor like the quite cooperative Elcanto.
I never once thought their actions would harm me.
They were simply never a threat to begin with.
But unaware of all this, Professor Merhen handed over an apology with genuine emotion.
“…I apologize for all the trouble.”
Idel, harboring similar thoughts, hastily added as well.
“I, I too. We were really… Yes. A, a bit like that, weren’t we?”
Their apologies—forced before someone they should truly be ashamed before—were quite awkward.
Yet I continued to tilt my head at their apologies.
“Are you asking about being embarrassed? As I said before, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
At my words, both of them gained great insight.
‘He’s pretending not to notice!’
‘Truly magnanimous…!’
Two people misinterpreting a complete non-sequitur!
“Ahem. Yes, we were embarrassed, but in any case, that’s how it is. Um… would it be possible to request your opinion on the final evaluation?”
“By opinion, do you mean how to conduct the final evaluation?”
“Yes. If possible, something the Department Head would find fresh and worthy of evaluation when he hears about it….”
Fresh.
Upon hearing that word, I pondered briefly before a good idea came to mind.
My assassin days.
More precisely, the days when I underwent training to be reborn as an assassin.
There were certain trials one had to pass to become an official assassin.
One of them was this.
“What if the two professors faced all students from each grade level?”
“All… students from each grade?”
“Yes.”
One of those trials was stealing an identification token designated by a training instructor.
By any means necessary.
One could even kill the instructor.
‘Asking them to kill a professor would be too much.’
I explained it in a more Academy-appropriate manner.
“The two professors would each hide what could be called an ‘identification token’ and begin the test at a specific location. The students would take the test with the goal of stealing the token from the professors.”
“…Would that serve as an evaluation?”
At the absurd proposal, both professors stared blankly at each other, but my plausible explanation continued.
“It would. You can induce competition among students and also induce cooperation. The evaluation criteria can be set by the professors. Additionally, you could assign different scores based on how the students attack the professors.”
It was entirely feasible.
Period.
From Ziel’s perspective.
It was an evaluation method these two professors had never even considered.
Face off against all the students?
‘Could it work?’
‘Does that even make sense?’
Yet it was a question posed despite their embarrassment, and neither could think of a better approach.
“The Capital Outskirts Forest would work fine as a venue, or we could revisit Osu Island now that its climate has stabilized.”
“Ah….”
“That’s the proposal I have in mind.”
Ziel finished speaking and rose from his seat.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
Having left behind a fresh yet shocking proposal, Ziel departed, and the two remaining professors sat in contemplation for quite some time.
“…Still, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea. We should probably go through with it, right?”
“First… let’s draft a plan. We don’t have much time.”
There was no choice.
If the final evaluation proceeded ordinarily as well, there might be no position for them next semester.
Their sense of crisis reached its peak.
Yet they remained unaware of the future bearing down upon them.
Each professor would have to face the students alone.
Only Ziel could conceive of such an idea!
It was a test format demanding the physical stamina and skill that only Ziel could dare attempt.
Which meant—
‘Well, it should be fine, right? A few kids rushing at me won’t make me lose….’
‘One or two Identification Tokens should suffice? That much ought to work.’
A path of hardship had been reserved.
Unwittingly, Ziel had taken his revenge for all the scheming up to this point.

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