On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 298

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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 298
Final Evaluation Preparation (3)
The Magical Beasts of the Trenia Mountain Range had been steadily increasing in number.
There was no single point where their population suddenly exploded, but there had never been a moment in the Empire’s entire history when their numbers decreased.
It was one of the primary reasons for the isolation between the Northern Region and other territories.
“So scholars have made all sorts of speculations, and one hypothesis I came across suggested there might be something that summons Magical Beasts?”
“I see.”
“Why does that come to mind now?”
Ziel answered Gilbert’s words simply.
“We’ll find out once we investigate.”
Led by Ziel, the three of us walked toward the Clock Tower.
And then Magical Beasts blocked our path.
We weren’t moving as discreetly as we had during reconnaissance, but the Magical Beasts’ movements were decidedly artificial.
“Th-the Clock Tower… b-blocking it.”
Kelvin was right.
It appeared as though they wouldn’t permit access to the Clock Tower.
But our opponents were quite formidable.
“Eliminate them.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Yes, Master!”
There was no need for me to step forward.
Gilbert’s Long Sword and Kelvin’s greatsword gleamed.
“Kyaaaagh!”
Though I’d never seen this Magical Beast before, it was no match for the two of them.
Even if they weren’t Master Grade, they’d already ascended to the ranks of formidable warriors!
Crack!
Gilbert’s blade pierced through the flying beast’s heart, while the stone-bodied Magical Beast was completely shattered by Kelvin’s sword.
‘His strength seems to have grown even more?’
‘He seems faster than me now…’
Even amidst this, their competitive spirits blazed!
Thanks to that, the Magical Beasts blocking the way were dying in rapid succession.
But there was something strange.
“Gilbert, Kelvin. Fall back.”
“Huh?”
The two retreated in confusion, but they obeyed nonetheless.
The commands of the Boss and Master were absolute!
The reason became clear immediately.
“Look at the shadow.”
“The shadow… what?”
The shadow of the tall Clock Tower stretched out ominously.
And the third flying Magical Beast that Gilbert had just eliminated was…
“What is that…?”
It was emerging from the shadow.
Gilbert hurriedly searched for the corpse of the flying Magical Beast he’d just defeated.
It was gone.
“…!”
His hands trembled slightly.
Kelvin realized why the corpse had vanished.
“Th-there!”
The corpse of the rock Magical Beast he’d just eliminated was being sucked into the shadow.
And then—
Thud!
A rock Magical Beast emerged from the Clock Tower’s shadow.
“Is it Magic?”
“C-could it be a ghost? Really?”
Whether it was Magic or a ghost, one thing was certain—it was something neither of them had ever experienced before.
This Ruins was dangerous.
That’s when Gilbert thought of the Students!
‘If I hadn’t come sooner, the kids would’ve been in serious trouble…’
Gilbert too seemed to be gradually becoming a “Teacher” without even realizing it.
“M-Master. The shadow is…”
The shadow writhed and began expanding its territory.
Like shadows stretching before a setting sun, it grew, and Magical Beasts began pouring out from within it.
“Grrrr…”
“Kyaaaah!”
They were of various types.
Gilbert and Kelvin looked at Ziel as if they’d made a pact.
“B-Boss? What do we do?”
There were too many of them.
At a rough estimate, dozens!
If all those Magical Beasts rushed at them at once…
“We’re all going to die…”
“A good training opportunity.”
“Huh?”
“Go fight. If you look like you’re about to die, I’ll save you.”
A ghost would’ve been better.
Gilbert gripped his Sword tightly.
Kelvin blankly raised his Long Sword.
“Uuuaaah!”
“Gyaaaah!”
The two of them rushed forward, emitting a pitiful sound that was neither a scream nor a battle cry.
Ziel, watching the pair, crossed his arms and nodded.
“It would be nice if I could obtain that.”
A Shadow where magical beasts respawned infinitely!
I coveted that Shadow.
With just that Shadow, I wouldn’t even need Magic Dolls.
I didn’t know what force was at work, but if I could make enemies suited to the Students’ level appear infinitely….
That would be the engine of infinite growth!
First, I needed to discover if it had any limits.
So I sent the two of them charging as a form of training.
Clang! Clang!
“Kelvin! Behind!”
“Ah, in front!”
Before long, their coordination had improved as well.
Surrounded by dozens of magical beasts, rolling about and enduring as they were pushed from side to side, even Ziel’s lips curled upward.
“They could reach Master Grade within a few years.”
Their current level was Mid-level Expert Grade.
It wouldn’t take long to reach Upper Expert Level, and acquiring the essential requirements for Master Grade wouldn’t take terribly long either.
A grade with an Official Teacher of Master Grade or higher, and Teaching Assistants and Assistant Instructors of Master Grade!
The day an absurd faculty would be born wasn’t far off.
Of course, Ziel wasn’t particularly interested in that.
What mattered was teaching well.
And right now, watching those two grow through this battle.
Whoosh.
Ziel stepped in appropriately at the critical moment!
Slice.
A magical beast approaching from behind Gilbert’s back was cleaved vertically in two.
Only after the beast fell did Gilbert realize that Ziel had saved him.
“Boss! My loyalty to….”
“Concentrate.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ziel withdrew again, and shortly after, saved Kelvin as well.
“M-m-master!”
“I know about loyalty. Concentrate.”
“Yes!”
Only then did the two truly understand.
They wouldn’t die here!
With confidence gained, their movements became faster and fiercer.
And so two warriors fighting among dozens of magical beasts were born.
“You fight well.”
From Ziel’s perspective, the magical beasts were not at a level of extreme danger.
Though they had undergone their own evolution in isolation, both opponents were mid-level Expert Grade practitioners.
That said, it would be unfair to diminish their performance—they fought exceptionally well.
Had the Students witnessed this spectacle, they might have regarded the two Assistant Lecturers in an entirely new light.
Thus, after approximately twenty minutes of fierce combat, the battle concluded.
“Huff… wheeze…”
“P-please… spare us…”
Once they confirmed no more magical beasts emerged from the Shadow, both collapsed where they stood.
“I need to develop more Physical Strength.”
Ziel’s solemn declaration, which would normally have startled them, left them too exhausted even to respond.
They had fought with their full power.
‘This is the first time I’ve fought this hard since the ten-versus-one battle against the Kellax Mercenary Corps…’
‘The Crow training days were actually easier than this…’
A gift was bestowed upon the two exhausted warriors.
“You did well. Get up.”
It was Ziel’s Mana Injection—the kind that could raise even the dead to their feet!
With a mere tap of his fingertip, vitality surged through their entire bodies.
“…”
“…Please… have mercy…”
It was truly a regrettable situation.
“Your Physical Training requires further development, but you’ve made progress. Well done.”
Right now, a Bed was far more necessary than praise.
Yet before the Boss, even death could not occur without permission.
“But Boss, has the Shadow’s power been completely exhausted?”
“No. I believe the magical beasts aren’t being resurrected.”
Ziel’s expression showed clear disappointment.
“Look around. You won’t sense the presence of magical beasts anywhere.”
“…!”
The magical beasts that had existed throughout the Ruins were truly gone.
“Rather than resurrecting them, it seems the Shadow drew other magical beasts from within the Ruins.”
“Now that you mention it… there really aren’t any magical beasts left.”
“Indeed. What a shame.”
“…”
Gilbert, who had shuddered at the word “shame,” suddenly tilted his head in confusion.
“Then that Shadow can absorb other things too? Does that even… make sense?”
“There are many things in this world that you and I do not know.”
With that single statement, Ziel amplified their sense of dread.
“C-could it be Secret Arts?”
“It could be, or it might not be. We’ll find out once we go inside and investigate.”
Secret Arts that drew magical beasts from other locations into the Shadow and expelled them back out!
‘Such Secret Arts could exist in this world…perhaps.’
The world is vast, and Secret Arts are diverse.
And Secret Arts refers to extremely secretive techniques.
Of course, there was a sufficient possibility it wasn’t Secret Arts.
‘Why would there be a Secret Arts Practitioner in this place?’
In any case, I’d find out by going to the Clock Tower as the Boss suggested.
But for some reason, the Boss’s disappointment was plainly evident.
“But Boss, isn’t our training at this level already… sufficient?”
“The training is complete.”
“But why do you seem disappointed….”
It was a very subtle change in expression, but Gilbert, as my first subordinate, caught it skillfully.
I revealed my regret a bit more.
“If Shadow possessed the power to endlessly produce training opponents, extremely efficient training would be possible.”
“Ah….”
“That’s not the case, so it’s unfortunate.”
“….”
“Come to think of it, it’s impossible by the laws of nature.”
It felt strange hearing such words from someone who ignored all those laws entirely.
The Clock Tower wasn’t far.
Shadow no longer writhed either.
Click.
Finally, the three of us stepped inside the Clock Tower.
A ladder leading upward within the Clock Tower.
And—
Tap. Creeeeak.
When I touched the device on the wall, the floor opened and a passage leading downward was revealed.
“How did you know?”
“I just knew.”
I’d grown tired of being surprised by now.
A person who discerned a cunningly hidden wall device simply by seeing it.
“There’s something below.”
This time, it was clear enough even without Ziel’s remarkable Ki Sensing and Observation Skills.
“Guuuuuuu….”
A distinct cry echoing from beyond the abyss-like darkness.
A shudder—every cell in my body stood on end from this sensation.
Both Gilbert and Kelvin had experienced most things through their respective lives with the Crow and as mercenaries.
But this cry was different.
A chilling cry that seemed to hint at something we’d never encountered before.
“W-w-what on earth… could it be?”
It wasn’t a ghost.
I wished it had been a ghost instead.
Kelvin trembled as well.
“M-Master. The… the thing under the bed from childhood stories…”
He seemed to be recalling some childhood terror.
Only Ziel analyzed it calmly.
“There’s Mana woven into its cries. Is it affecting the nervous system directly?”
Ziel sensed it too.
It simply didn’t manifest as fear in him the way it did for the other two.
“You two stay back. Getting closer will affect your brains.”
“B-Boss? Then you too…”
“Not me.”
I could clearly feel something trying to exert influence, yet it had no effect on me whatsoever.
“Once I go down, cover the opening again. Then search through the Village once more and see if there’s anything else unusual.”
“Y-Yes, understood… Boss!”
I leaped down without hesitation.
“Boss!”
“Master!”
The moment I descended, something crashed down upon me.
It wasn’t physical, but that something I’d felt above seemed far more intense now.
‘Is it because of the Polar Night Breathing Technique?’
I took another step forward, speculating on why I remained unaffected unlike Gilbert and Kelvin.
Something appeared deeper within.
Pitch black darkness.
‘Iron bars.’
Inside the thick iron bars.
There was something gelatinous and writhing.
“Guuuuuh…”
It was a form of life I had never encountered before.
And as I drew closer, I suddenly understood.
“How strange.”
Within that aura that Gilbert and Kelvin had found so repulsive.
Something familiar coexisted alongside it.

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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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