On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 306

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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 306
Journey to the Northern Region (1)
The fervor of the First Semester finally subsided, and the Break Period began.
The Students returned to their respective Noble Families.
Even those Students who had been absorbed in the 【Unlimited Dining Table】 and exhausted all their Praise Cards had now departed for their Families.
Thanks to this, the Academy fell silent.
Both the Sword School and the Arcane School were the same.
Only Professor Emeric remained at the Arcane School and came to find me.
“Teacher Ziel, I heard you accomplished something remarkable this time? They say you discovered Ruins.”
“It wasn’t Ruins, but a hidden Village.”
“Well, that’s much the same thing. In any case, it’s impressive. You create an issue every semester.”
Emeric’s expression appeared quite bright.
He had risen to the center of the Arcane School this semester and become a Power Holder with the full support of the new Department Head.
As a result, the Arcane School was changing, but that was of no concern to me.
“Next Semester will be different, Teacher Ziel.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Emeric spoke with words that were half-warning, half-excited announcement, and then simply left.
“Now I suppose it’s time to depart.”
I had finished my work at the Sword School.
Now it was time for the Teachers to properly enjoy their vacation.
Returning to the Faculty Dormitory, I discovered two figures in the midst of bustling activity.
“Kelvin, are you ready?”
“I-I’m r-ready, or, sh-should I not, or, sh-shouldn’t we go?”
“You’re stammering more than usual. Does that mean you won’t go?”
That was right.
Gilbert and Kelvin were preparing for a journey to the Northern Region.
It combined Home Visits and Training, but according to my logic, it was a journey nonetheless.
“I-is, is the Northern Region really that c-cold?”
“It’s cold. Even in summer it’s cold. Extremely cold.”
During my Crow days.
I had been there a few times on Missions.
And I had made a vow.
Never to work at the Northern Branch.
The Red Shadow, Gilbert’s former organization, was a considerably large Crow Organization with a branch in the Northern Region.
In any case, the Northern Region was extremely cold.
“When night falls, you freeze to death. If it snows while climbing the Mountain, you freeze to death.”
“H-how, how do p-people even live in the Northern Region?”
“That’s the question.”
The Trenia Mountain Range.
That very place which could explain all at once the Northern Region’s frigid climate, harsh temperament, and Culture.
To reach the Northern Region, one must pass through it.
Of course, it’s possible to avoid it.
But taking a detour would consume far too much time.
However, I already knew well that the Boss would never choose a detour over an ‘efficient’ route.
“A detour takes three months; crossing the mountain range takes two weeks. The difference is obvious, isn’t it?”
“C-couldn’t we… take the detour instead?”
“Would the Boss do that?”
Gilbert’s prediction was accurate.
“We’ll cross the Trenia Mountain Range.”
Though only half of it was correct.
“The crossing will take one week.”
“Pardon?”
One week instead of two weeks to cross the mountain range?
“We’ll train while we go. There’s nothing better for building stamina than climbing mountains.”
“Ah.”
“That’s all. Finish preparations within the hour and we depart.”
The Boss always exceeded expectations.
“I’m looking forward to what awaits us in the Northern Region.”
Please have mercy, Boss.
My throat tightened at the thought of the trials ahead, and words wouldn’t come.
“I was originally planning to wear sandbags for the journey.”
“Th-that would be…”
“Right. It would make for even more efficient training. However, since travel is also important for this Northern trip, I’ll moderate the intensity of the training appropriately.”
“Ah…”
Gilbert and Kelvin both understood.
Resistance and objection were meaningless once the Boss made a decision.
And they also knew this.
‘Somehow we’ll manage to survive, even if it’s brutally difficult?’
‘It’ll probably end, but I’ll be on the brink of death…’
That they would endure.
Ziel was skilled at pushing them to their absolute limits—knowing their boundaries so well that he never quite let them die.
Meanwhile.
“What should I name it?”
I gazed at Subject One, contained within a glass tube in my room.
It was the very test subject I’d retrieved from the Ruins Underground.
I’d reconnected the glass container and the nutrient solution.
According to the research materials, it was currently in a dormant state.
Unless I injected a different solution to awaken it, Subject One would continue to grow slowly within this glass tube.
Based on the research materials, I’d decided to cultivate Subject One as a ‘parasite.’
In the literal sense of the word.
A form that parasitizes inanimate objects and grants them abilities.
Biologists and Mages alike would have marveled at this discovery—an organism that defied all conventional understanding of the world!
But I remained fixated on a single metric: Efficiency.
“If it grows as large as Subject Zero, control becomes impossible. A parasite is clearly the optimal choice.”
This extraordinary organism, created by a mysterious organization whose name I didn’t yet know, had become my pet.
‘By the time I return from the Northern Region, it will have grown sufficiently.’
I completed my calculations based on the research materials and sealed the Glass Container carefully.
Now only the journey to the Northern Region remained.
I reviewed my itinerary one final time.
First, I would cross the Trenia Mountain Range.
Upon entering the Northern Region, I would prioritize the Home Visits.
There were four noble families to visit.
Since there weren’t many Students from the Northern Region, it shouldn’t take long.
After that, I would travel through the Northern Region.
“How exhilarating.”
Was this what anticipation felt like?
I left my Room in high spirits.
Thus the three of us departed for the Northern Region.
Only I was going for Rest.
“Gasp, pant. Boss, slow down, just a little slower…”
“M-Master, my, my legs…”
Two of the three ascending the Trenia Mountain Range were experiencing hell.
I didn’t stop.
I granted brief Rest periods intermittently.
But we continued climbing.
If they lost the path, they had to catch up on their own.
This was my Training method.
“What good are a Compass and a Map if we can’t keep pace with the speed…”
In short, they’d been given a Mission.
Breakthrough the Trenia Mountain Range and set foot in the Northern Region within a week.
We’d departed together, but an impossible task—one where they could never match my pace!
“If, if we succeed, you said you’d buy us whatever we want in the Northern Black Market…”
“Hah…”
And I’d dangled the perfect Incentive.
The Northern Black Market.
To have anything they desired purchased there!
“We have to make it somehow.”
“Yes, understood.”
Gilbert and Kelvin, having faced Magical Beasts at the Ruins, renewed their resolve and began ascending the Mountain Range.
To reach the destination, they had to cross two peaks and traverse a massive valley.
Any magical beasts we encountered along the way were merely bonuses!
I had cultivated my subordinates to be formidable.
Of course, I wasn’t pushing them unreasonably.
“K-Kelvin, over there!”
“Huh?”
As the second day drew to a close.
The two discovered an Identification Token.
It was the minimal Safety Device I had left behind.
However, there was a problem.
“Wait, Kelvin.”
“Why, why?”
“Don’t go that way. Could it be a trap?”
“A, a trap?”
“Maybe he’s deliberately leading us down a difficult path!”
“…!”
Kelvin nodded at the plausible speculation!
The Boss—or rather, my teacher—was certainly capable of such a thing.
“W-we’re being t-tested again!”
“Right. We absolutely cannot go there. We go this way.”
Unfortunately, the two headed in a direction contrary to my intentions.
And they never discovered another Identification Token.
“I’m dying… We’re on the fourth day now, right?”
“N-no matter how far we go, it never ends….”
Indeed.
Having misinterpreted my signal, the two were now traversing an extraordinarily difficult path.
“Psst. Shh!”
“Your voice is louder!”
They pushed through treacherous terrain, evading magical beasts far more numerous than anticipated.
And so a week passed.
“Less than an hour remains.”
I, who had arrived four days earlier than expected and waited, checked the time.
‘If they had simply followed the Identification Token, they would have arrived yesterday.’
My expression twisted slightly at the realization that my calculations were off.
And when roughly ten minutes remained.
At the faint sound reaching my ears, I turned to look in that direction.
The two, battered and broken, were practically tumbling down toward me.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“Run! Just keep running!”
Finally arriving before me, the two burst into tears.
“Guh-huh-huh….”
“F-finally… I can rest…”
There were no major injuries, but I was scraped and torn in places, a complete mess.
“Boss… we made it in time, right? Right?”
“M-master… this was… so incredibly difficult…”
Ziel nodded at the two of them sniffling.
“Yes. You still have about nine minutes left. You pass.”
“We… made it…”
“W-we’re alive…”
Their joy was short-lived.
“You arrived a bit later than I anticipated.”
“Pardon?”
“Originally, I expected you to arrive yesterday.”
“T-that can’t be!”
This was the result of pushing my body to its absolute limits and running.
But he expected them to arrive yesterday?
“We crossed over Picone Ridge… and that part was quite difficult. There were an enormous number of magical beasts…”
At Gilbert’s strained voice, Ziel tilted his head.
“Picone Ridge?”
“Yes. As we went along…”
“You didn’t follow the markers I left behind.”
Something seemed off.
“Picone Ridge was never a place I considered in the first place.”
“Ah…”
“I calculated that it would take at least another full day for you to break through there with your current abilities. And I anticipated a fairly high probability of serious injuries occurring.”
“…”
Gilbert asked the question that had been circling in his mind.
“Then… those markers were really left by you, Boss…”
“It was the path I intended. So you could arrive within a week. If everything went as planned, you would have arrived around yesterday on that route.”
“Ah…”
Kelvin huffed indignantly, pointing at Gilbert with his finger.
“M-master! This… this guy didn’t follow the m-markers!”
“Hey! You thought the same thing!”
“Y-you alone wouldn’t have… we’d still arrive yesterday!”
Ziel muttered as he watched the two bickering.
“You didn’t follow the markers I deliberately set up…”
Gulp.
The two of them straightened their posture in alarm.
‘Oh crap, we’re done for.’
‘We’re finished.’
But unexpected words came out.
“Yet you arrived within a week. Well done.”
“Y-yes…?”
“In the end, you reached your objective. Even through a more difficult path.”
“…!”
Praise? From the Boss?
Gilbert felt his emotions surge.
A week of grueling hardship flashed before his eyes like his life itself.
“Boss… I swear my loyalty….”
“But you made mistakes.”
“Ah.”
“You nearly died.”
Both of them grew solemn and bowed their heads.
He was right.
They had nearly died, truly.
While they ultimately arrived alive, they had faced multiple crises along the way.
Not only were they pursued by dozens of magical beasts, but there were moments when they were surrounded and had to accept death.
“You cannot die now.”
At those words from Ziel, both of them felt their hearts swell.
“Boss…!”
“M-master…!”
This feeling of being acknowledged!
The warmth of a superior who cherished his subordinates—it conveyed itself completely!
‘I will offer my loyalty.’
‘Unlimited loyalty!’
Of course, as always, Ziel’s words were misinterpreted, but it felt heartwarming regardless.
“Treat your injuries and prepare to depart.”
“Yes, Boss!”
“Yes, Master!”
Despite their battered state, their spirited responses rang out as Ziel glanced back.
July.
Summer was beginning in the Capital, but what stretched behind them was a landscape of snow that had yet to melt.
The land that would unfold from here on was the Northern Region.

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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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