On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 336

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

First Day of Infiltration, The Organization Was Destroyed — Chapter 336
The moment when the fate of an organization is decided
Construction work was in full swing.
Ziel had submitted all his second semester class operation plans.
Festa would gather student opinions, so substantive discussions couldn’t begin until the semester started.
“A break, then.”
With that, Ziel left the Academy briefly to handle some personal business.
This time, he brought Gilbert along.
“Isn’t Kelvin coming with us?”
“This requires discretion. Kelvin still falls short.”
Unfortunately, Kelvin’s physical bulk made inconspicuousness impossible.
“You understood what I instructed?”
“Yes, Boss. The name ‘Berte’ is common, so it gave me some trouble, but I learned a bit through an old contact.”
“Mm.”
“Boss, do you know where all those items in the Black Market come from?”
“Isn’t it just individuals putting things up for sale?”
“Usually, yes. Though it goes through intermediaries. But here’s the thing — before those intermediaries, there’s apparently a ‘supplier.'”
“A supplier.”
“Generally, it’s hard to sell things openly, but items that can only be sold in the Black Market — the suppliers gather those and distribute them through intermediaries to various Black Markets. The scale seems quite large.”
“So the name Berte comes from there.”
“Yes. It appears to be the name used by the organization handling that supply.”
It was more complex than expected.
On the list Ziel had seen earlier, all items that leaked from Black Sky had the name Berte written beside them.
“Persistent, aren’t they.”
“Sir?”
“Never mind.”
Black Sky had been an enormous assassin organization.
Paradoxically, it was so powerful and vast that even as an assassination organization, there wasn’t an Imperial citizen who didn’t know its name.
So it seemed many items lost in the organization’s destruction still remained scattered about.
‘Other things don’t matter, but I should dispose of the important ones.’
“But Boss, why are you suddenly looking for the Black Market supplier?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“Ah.”
Gilbert added his own speculations and misinterpretations once again.
‘Could it be… that you’re taking control of the supply chain to secure the organization’s distribution network!’
Gilbert had now reached a point where he believed everything Ziel did, even the strangest things, must have some reason behind it.
“I understand your intentions well, Boss.”
“I said nothing.”
“Isn’t it a loyal subordinate’s duty to discern intentions even when nothing is said?”
Ziel flinched slightly.
‘Does Gilbert know something?’
This felt like it had happened before.
‘I’ll need to be more careful.’
“Where is this supplier called Berte located?”
“First, we need to make contact with the Black Market’s supplier organization. They’ll buy ordinary items at fair prices, but the rarer the goods, the higher up the chain you go.”
“So that’s why I told you to procure something rare.”
“Exactly. But what did you bring?”
What Ziel showed him was the Phase Mirror.
Back at the beginning of his infiltration—or rather, his appointment to the Academy.
He’d found it at a general store when he went to buy practice equipment.
With this mirror, he’d thoroughly outmaneuvered the Arcane School.
“What is that?”
“An item that leaked from Black Sky.”
“How did you come to possess it, Boss?”
“I bought it. With money.”
“I see.”
Fortunately, Gilbert harbored no suspicions.
“It’s something that detects and reacts when someone uses magic. It senses even the faintest mana.”
The Breath of Extreme Night had grown without Ziel’s awareness, which was precisely why he no longer needed it.
His breathing technique could detect not just an opponent’s mana usage but even the subtlest flows of mana itself.
Perhaps this too had belonged to Aznil, the creator of the Breath of Extreme Night and maker of the Polar Night Dagger.
“Isn’t this an incredibly rare item?”
“It is.”
“You’re not thinking of selling it… are you?”
“I won’t sell it. It’s bait.”
“Ah. Phew, almost lost it then. Selling just that one would set someone up for life. Nowadays, anything that comes from Black Sky sells instantly, they say.”
“Is that so.”
Ziel was beginning to wonder if he should sell some of his daggers.
“Then sell some of your daggers.”
“What? Come on, Boss gave them to me so they’re precious, but they still won’t sell.”
“Is that right.”
Ziel mistakenly believed that even if items came from Black Sky, trivial goods like daggers wouldn’t fetch much.
‘They used to sell for high prices, but now they don’t. So this is how economic logic works—supply goes up, price goes down?’
Knowledge gained from books seemed quite useful.
“This way, Boss.”
The contact point was surprisingly not in a secretive location.
It was just an ordinary market.
Unlike the Black Market, it was a place anyone could use, but that was precisely why more information circulated there.
“You heard? Apparently a huge gambling game went down in District 34.”
“Who doesn’t know that? They were trying to fleece some rich young master, but ended up running into a real operator.”
“Heard those guys got their teeth knocked out and were thrown out?”
“Just their teeth? Heard their wrists got broken too.”
“Tsk, tsk. That’s what happens when you get caught cheating.”
The fate of gamblers seemed truly pitiful.
“We’ve arrived.”
“A general store.”
“Yes. Apparently run by the suppliers. From here on, I’ll handle it.”
“Understood.”
Gilbert, holding the Phase Mirror, entered with Ziel.
The general store was unremarkable.
True to its name, various goods lay scattered about, and the owner didn’t appear suspicious.
“Welcome. What are you looking for?”
“We’re looking for someone who buys special items.”
There wasn’t any special password required.
The owner, unbothered, gestured toward the counter.
“Put it up there. If you want to sell it, tell us the story too.”
“Well, if you want a story, I’ve got quite an incredible one.”
Gilbert’s practiced acting continued smoothly.
“It comes from an organization that no Imperial citizen could fail to know about…… so, is that quite the story?”
The owner’s gaze snapped toward Gilbert immediately.
“Could it be…….”
“Ah, in times like these, one must guard one’s words carefully. Silence is golden, after all?”
“Where did you acquire it?”
“Ahem. This item…… well, the door’s wide open here. Just a moment—wouldn’t someone hear us?”
Click.
“The thing is, I happened upon this item in the Black Market by chance. I can’t tell you the price. At first, I didn’t know what it was for, but then I realized it was something that leaked from Black Sky, you see?”
“How do you prove that?”
“Heh, well now. Do you perhaps have a magical tool here? Something that affects its target? Something that works discreetly would be even better. Of course, if the person using it can generate mana themselves, all the better. That would settle it conclusively.”
The owner, viewing him with suspicion, eventually returned with a magical tool.
“This device scatters nearby mana by channeling mana into it. So how does that help you prove anything?”
“You see, this mirror responds immediately if it channels mana-based effects toward its holder. Any magic, any magical tool, or anything using mana whatsoever!”
“That’s all?”
Just as disappointment was setting in, Gilbert’s lips curled upward as he continued.
“Of course not! It doesn’t just respond—it absorbs and blocks it too.”
……
That was certainly interesting.
‘I’ve never heard of such an item.’
Items that detect mana fluctuations when they spike are common enough.
“Moreover, it even detects the faintest mana directed at you—incredibly minute mana! And it blocks it too? Have you ever seen something like that?”
“Sounds like a scam…”
“That’s exactly why you can call it something that came from that organization. Have you seen the leaked assassination records? There’s documentation of this very mirror being used in them.”
“Is that so?”
“You’ve been had before, haven’t you? Well, in this line of work, you learn to be suspicious. I understand the caution.”
Gilbert began working the owner over skillfully.
“But I’m telling you, if you let this slip through your fingers, you’ll regret it deeply.”
“Something unverified—how am I supposed to…”
“Come now, believing or not is your own responsibility. Besides, would we walk all this way just to sell medicine if we weren’t serious? Is there any corpse left unbeaten in this line of work?”
Though there were always senseless fools about, the owner’s resolve began to waver.
“Very well. However, I can’t complete the transaction right now. The item must be verified.”
“Of course, of course. But you’ll need to bring someone legitimate to inspect it. If you bring someone reeking of fraud to do a half-baked verification, this deal’s off. Understood?”
If those words were true, then this was certainly an extraordinary item.
Only one organization had ever used such an item: Black Sky.
There’s a saying.
That mages are desperately searching for items that leaked from Black Sky.
Whoever made them, they’re extraordinary goods that far surpass the current level of mages!
‘Was it Seitus?’
The mage who died with the organization’s destruction came to mind.
A mage nurtured by the organization.
Sadly, throughout his life he never saw sunlight, used only as a tool for the organization, and died.
He was likely the one who made this.
“I’ll call someone to inspect it in a moment.”
“You’re not planning to call a whole bunch of people and rob us, are you?”
“We don’t do business that way. What do you take us for…”
In any case, it seemed to be working.
When the owner left to step away, Ziel praised Gilbert.
“It seems you have another personality within you.”
“Ah, was my acting good?”
“Brilliant. I’ll find plenty of use for it going forward.”
“Heh, thank you. Truth is, I have quite a bit of experience with this sort of thing. From my days with Crow, one way or another.”
“I see.”
“But Boss, is it okay to tell them all this?”
“It doesn’t matter. I never intended to sell to them anyway.”
“Ah.”
The reason he’d come here with a Human Skin Mask on and revealed even his goods was single-fold.
To find ‘Berte’ and crush the supplier.
Of course, given how this underworld worked, new players would fill the void, but at least he’d gain insight into how Black Sky’s items flowed in and where they came from.
‘With this, I can remove anything that might connect me to them.’
Ziel didn’t care if his strength and abilities became known.
What mattered was concealing the very fact of any connection to Black Sky.
“If you crush the supplier like this…… wouldn’t controlling the underworld be a matter of time, Boss?”
Gilbert seemed to be dreaming of something entirely different.
“Elimination.”
“Yes, eliminate and we rebuild everything new from scratch.”
Ziel paused briefly at Gilbert’s words.
“Inefficient.”
“Sir?”
“Replace only the top. Even if I eliminate them, others will fill the positions.”
“Then……”
“It’s far easier than building anew.”
Ziel, always acting with perfect efficiency!
“Boss, let me offer my congratulations in advance. You’re about to consume an entire organization.”
“Be ready, Gilbert.”
“Yes?”
“Approximately forty people are surrounding this general store right now.”
Faster than expected, but it proceeded as foreseen.
“They come on their own. I can handle this efficiently.”
The legend of the Dark Ghost, who would soon control the underworld, was about to emerge once more.
And……
The moment when the fate of an organization is decided.

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