On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 340
—————
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 — Episode 340
Sun God, I Beseech You (1)
Pursuit was flight.
When circumstances turn unfavorable, assassins are forced into a binary choice: end themselves and leave no trace behind, or flee.
Though the former image burns stronger in legend, assassins are trained to seek escape whenever possible, under any circumstance.
The reason is simple.
The time and money spent raising a single assassin is astronomical.
Especially if that assassin is Specter.
During his assassin days, Ziel received intensive training in evasion.
As its flip side, he knew very well how to escape better, how to leave no traces behind.
“The one moving now knows the methods of flight.”
“Pardon? You mean they were trained professionally?”
“Yes.”
The target knew how to escape without leaving traces.
If it had been Gilbert or anyone else, they likely would have lost the trail long ago.
But the pursuer happened to be Ziel.
“This way.”
Somehow, though the target had vanished from sight long ago, Ziel tracked them without obstruction.
“How on earth are you tracking them? I honestly can’t tell anything.”
“By sensing the scent lingering here, the faint footprints, the flow of air, and the mana.”
“Ah.”
It meant something only the Boss could do.
“Can I learn that too, Boss?”
“With training, it’s possible.”
“Oh!”
“Of course, you won’t reach my level.”
“Ah.”
“Focus. Maintain this distance and keep pursuing.”
The pursuit continued.
‘This direction… we’re crossing over District 40.’
The target had already passed District 40 and plunged fully into the slums.
Before District 40, buildings three stories or higher had been common sights; here they were nowhere to be found.
Beyond District 45, there were more people living without roofs than those living beneath them.
“Come on, take what you need, don’t be shy!”
“Thank you, thank you!”
“We’ll handle the cleanup too!”
In the midst of this pursuit, Ziel spotted staff members of the Berte Trading Company performing their charitable work. He made sure to commit the sight to memory.
“Everyone’s working diligently at their good deeds.”
“But isn’t that the Robson Family’s territory? Might they misunderstand it as territory encroachment?”
“I expect them to cooperate in doing good.”
“Whether the Robson Family will actually…”
That was one thing; pursuit was another.
Crossing District 40, the target pressed on to District 50—a place where no one lived.
“This place… I’ve never been here before.”
“I’ve heard it’s where the Capital disposes of all its garbage and refuse.”
District 50.
A space where no one dwelt.
Waste and filth from every district accumulated here.
Those who came here were the poorest of the poor.
In other words, only those who disposed of garbage or rummaged through it seeking something salvageable.
“They’ve stopped.”
“Could this place be… their headquarters?”
“It’s an excellent place to use as a base. Everyone avoids this location.”
Gilbert understood immediately.
Who could even imagine something would be here.
In a place where all the Capital’s garbage gathered, surviving even a single day was impossible.
With each breath, you’d inhale mold; with any movement, filth would touch your skin—
“A sight that’s… unpleasant to behold.”
The spectacle of an entire district packed wall-to-wall with garbage stirred indescribable feelings.
The stench was naturally vile.
“If Lord Mortis came here, would he call it art?”
“I don’t know.”
Ziel answered matter-of-factly and moved forward.
“When stepping between garbage, be careful. Wounds from contaminated objects can become infected.”
“You be careful too, Boss.”
“I’m fine.”
“Why?”
“I’m simply fine. Common poisons and substances can’t affect me.”
“……”
At this point, Gilbert had given up trying to understand and simply nodded.
It was the truth, though.
The Polar Night Breathing Technique was advancing in directions even Ziel found difficult to predict.
And so a new goal took shape for him.
‘I should track down traces of this Aznil character.’
Of course, that was for later.
Ziel pushed through the garbage heaps while continuing to use the Polar Night Breathing Technique to locate his prey.
Then the presence vanished.
“That’s the spot.”
He’d been watching, and suddenly the presence ceased.
Which meant something had happened there.
“Wait here for a moment.”
All around was silent.
Only the sound of garbage heaps rustling and tumbling in the breeze reached them occasionally.
Had Ziel not spoken, Gilbert might have thought it a wild goose chase.
How could anyone possibly be here.
That’s what he thought.
But less than ten minutes had passed—
Rustle.
A sound was heard.
Distinctly foreign to the surroundings.
Rather than calling out to Ziel, Gilbert pressed his lips shut and opened his ears.
‘Is there something there?’
“Gilbert, watch where I point. Draw your mana to its maximum. Then subtle differences will become visible to your eyes.”
Following Ziel’s instruction, Gilbert drew his mana to its peak and witnessed something astonishing.
Where his gaze fell, the garbage…
…was undulating.
Like smoke.
“That looks… strange somehow.”
“Correct.”
Now that the irregularity was spotted, confirmation came next.
As Ziel approached and released strong mana, the undulation intensified, then vanished entirely.
The garbage heap.
“What in the—”
It was a clearing.
And in the center of that clearing, the ground.
There was a door set into it.
“They’ve fashioned a convincing illusion to mask the garbage heap.”
From nearby, Ziel immediately identified a familiar object.
An Illusion Stone.
It belonged to Black Sky.
It seemed these people weren’t merely selling the objects they’d found from Black Sky—they were using them as well.
‘This feels dangerous.’
The same tension that had gripped him with the Siren Family surged up.
But the tension was fleeting.
The moment he saw the Boss’s expression, his anxiety melted away like fried bread dissolving on the tongue.
‘Why worry with the Boss here?’
Yet apart from the tension, he was genuinely curious about the purpose of those who went to such lengths to hide in this garbage-filled District 50.
A good opportunity presented itself.
“Hide yourself, Gilbert.”
Ziel cut off the mana he’d been releasing and concealed himself behind a garbage heap.
Gilbert too found a hiding spot nearby.
A moment later.
Clang.
A sound echoed through the illusory garbage, and someone emerged.
“Everything’s fine, so what was all that noise?”
The man’s muttering ended there.
Gasp.
He was subdued in an instant by Ziel’s charge.
After that, the familiar scene would unfold, he’d thought.
First resistance, then opening his mouth after several ‘appropriate measures’.
But this time was different.
“I, I can’t speak!”
“Then we’ll use your toes instead.”
“If I talk, I’ll die! The moment I open my lips, my heart stops! P-please, look at my left shoulder!”
Rip.
Without hesitation, Ziel tore open the clothing and discovered a Magical Seal, primed to trigger at any moment.
“Th-that’s it. If I disclose anything… I die.”
“I see. Wait a moment.”
“Yes?”
Slide.
Ziel drew his dagger.
Gilbert quietly averted his gaze.
Grunt!
Another ‘appropriate measure’ was carried out.
“I’ve eliminated the cause. You won’t die now.”
“I, insane… how can a person be like this…”
The man trembled as though about to lose consciousness on the spot.
That was it.
Ziel had carved out the mana-inscribed area.
If a Magical Seal was the problem, you removed the source.
Extremely efficient reasoning!
Of course, a Magical Seal was ultimately just a ‘method’.
If it could be solved by carving it out, such seals wouldn’t be widely used.
A powerful Magical Seal creates an entirely new pathway within the body from the moment it’s inscribed.
So as Ziel carved it away, he infused his own mana into that pathway to block it.
Ensuring it could never activate again.
In other words, it was something only Ziel could do.
‘Something feels slightly different here.’
But as he removed the seal, he distinctly sensed something alien.
The mana was mana, but it differed subtly from ordinary mana.
Mana’s results vary depending on how it’s used, but the foundation remains the same.
Yet this one’s foundation seemed different from the start.
“Speak. Who are you people?”
“I, will I really not die?”
“If you’re curious, try speaking and see.”
“But if I die then…”
“You won’t die. But if you do, then I simply didn’t know something.”
“What kind of irresponsible thing is that!”
Ziel tilted his head.
“Either way, if you don’t speak, you die. You’re failing to grasp the situation.”
That was true.
Not speaking meant bleeding out; if something went wrong and the organization’s seal activated, that too was death.
There was only one way to survive.
To speak.
The man finally opened his mouth and spoke what he’d been holding back.
“…That damned leader!”
He didn’t die.
The seal remained dormant.
“D-did I live?”
“Is your leader the child of a dog?”
“…It was just swearing.”
It seemed he’d indeed survived.
He remembered one of his comrades cursing the organization before—only to have their heart stop and drop dead.
“I, I lived…”
Relief tears streaming through his pain!
But the true terror lay before him.
‘What kind of person is this?’
District 50.
A place no one paid attention to.
Yet he’d tracked it down, found the entrance perfectly, and even removed the organization’s Magical Seal.
The methods were somewhat crude, but he’d understood that once an organization’s Magical Seal was inscribed, one had to die for it to disappear.
“I’ll speak. Tell me anything.”
A swift shift in attitude!
This was the only way to survive.
“I’ll decide whether to apply hemostasis based on your answers’ quality.”
“I’ll tell you everything I know, no matter what!”
“An excellent attitude.”
It was at that very moment.
Ziel stopped his intended question and scanned the surroundings.
Then he spoke to Gilbert.
“Prepare yourself.”
Ziel quickly applied hemostasis to the shoulder and surveyed the area.
“Many. Around twenty people.”
“…!”
When had they arrived?
“Is it a mechanism where someone notices once you remove the seal?”
“That wouldn’t even… make sense, would it?”
“It’s the most probable inference. The unexpected unfolds when common sense is overturned.”
The man couldn’t comprehend the situation itself.
“Wh-what’s happening? Are other organization members coming out?”
“Yes. I’m currently detecting around twenty individuals in the vicinity with mana similar to yours.”
“I’ve never heard anything like that about seals…”
The man trembled with terror.
“Wh-what do we do? We’re all going to die!”
“We won’t die. They haven’t detected us yet.”
The proof lay in how they approached while continuing to scan the area, hesitating—
If they’d clearly pinpointed the location and sensed the enemy’s presence, they would have charged straight at him.
Ziel immediately installed the Illusion Stone.
“That’s from our organization…”
“Yes. Your organization took items leaked from Black Sky.”
In the midst of all this, Ziel reached a new conclusion.
“The numbers are increasing.”
Throughout the garbage heaps.
Presences multiplied.
Initially twenty.
Now that number had grown to fifty.
The conclusion Ziel reached was this:
“The entire District 50 is their territory.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————