On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 356

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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 356
The Ladder of Struggle (1)
During his assassin days.
Ziel first harbored a “doubt” after completing an assassination mission against a certain nobleman.
Ziel heard it.
On the path out after a perfect assassination.
He heard the screams of children.
Such a piercing cry that made him regret not having slipped away sooner.
Ziel began to question.
He had certainly heard such things said.
That this man deserved to die, and that keeping him alive would bring greater harm.
Yet why did some people grieve for a man who deserved death?
It was Ziel’s fundamental doubt.
That was when it began.
The brainwashing started to crack, Ziel began to question the work he did, and he started to doubt his entire existence.
Then at last he came to understand that his work was not normal, that he was being controlled by someone, and that his memories were being wiped clean each time he completed a mission.
When he finally glimpsed the memories that existed scattered among layers upon layers of countless veils—
Ziel dreamed of bringing down the Black Sky and erasing all traces of it to begin a new life.
It was the first “ambition” Ziel harbored after being brainwashed.
Doubt and ambition.
Yes.
“Show doubt and reveal your ambition. It is the way to develop your swordsmanship.”
While the practical training was in full swing.
Ziel spoke these words to his students after finishing his final class of the day.
Drawing from his own experience!
“Show doubt and reveal your ambition…….”
There were two students who turned these words over in their minds.
Delev and Celia.
Both had lived confined within the frameworks of heavy sword technique and swift swordsmanship, respectively.
Those frameworks shattered shortly after they enrolled at the Sword School.
They had only ever heard that their family’s swordsmanship was the finest from early childhood.
What shattered that conviction was the existence of diverse swordsmanship in the world, and it was Teacher Ziel who taught them that every sword style, no matter how supreme, harbored weaknesses!
‘My swordsmanship is strong. But…… I must develop it further.’
‘I’ve grown stronger by incorporating swift swordsmanship, but that alone isn’t enough.’
Doubt.
That was precisely what Ziel meant.
To perpetually doubt one’s own swordsmanship
Through repeated doubt, one discovers gaps, and how one fills those gaps is the shortest path to advancing one’s swordsmanship.
If you settle here, it ends.
But if you nurture ambition, that is when true growth comes.
The students, unable to imagine why such words had been spoken, etched them firmly into their hearts.
Ziel’s words were law itself!
Thus, after all classes ended and practical training began in the evening, the family heads of each house found themselves intrigued by the noticeably different attitudes of the second-year students.
“They always work hard, but these second-years are especially diligent.”
“Indeed. Particularly…… Celia stands out.”
“Mm.”
Amos held few emotions toward Daren, but rather favored Celia, his daughter.
In truth, he had always wished for a daughter, and Celia was the very image of his ideal.
“Diligent and sincere and beautiful…….”
“Family Head, your true feelings are showing.”
“Ahem.”
“Though it concerns the fundamentals, she grasps the principles of our family’s heavy sword technique at once and wields it skillfully. Indeed, as you said, it appears she learned our family’s swordsmanship through our young master.”
When Amos first saw Celia’s swift swordsmanship, he was taken aback.
To sense the heavy, weighty sword force of heavy sword technique within that fierce and nimble sword style.
Now the secret seemed to be properly unraveling.
Yet blending two sword arts as opposite as swift swordsmanship and heavy sword technique into one’s own style was no easy feat.
“I’m growing covetous.”
“Surely you don’t mean to suggest that our young master and Celia…….”
“Why would you speak such nonsense all of a sudden?”
“I, I apologize. Matching them in a sparring match might be a bit…… difficult.”
“Are you saying I should become in-laws with that Daren?”
“…….”
“…….”
The conversation was concluded with an awkward cough.
The Rihart family’s reaction was much the same.
Only the intensity was somewhat greater.
“How could he grasp it in a single day? Our family’s intricate swift swordsmanship!”
“Talent is talent indeed, Family Head.”
One of the knight order members present at today’s training turned his head under Daren’s icy gaze.
Yet there was no choice but to acknowledge it.
From just a brief glimpse at the start, he had understood it at once and immediately absorbed and wielded it.
As much as he had stolen glimpses of Celia’s swordsmanship and grafted it onto his heavy sword technique, he already possessed some understanding.
But he’d had no knowledge of the foundations and bedrock of swift swordsmanship itself!
‘Talent is indeed talent.’
And so Daren muttered similar words.
“Growing covetous…….”
“I was only imagining, but what if Celia and Delev were to…….”
“Marriage? What nonsense…….”
“A sparring match…….”
“…….”
“……ahem.”
While this too concluded with a cough, a rather different scene was unfolding in the Renfield family, where Amil Renfield had stepped forward personally.
“If I were to speak of Northern swordsmanship in one phrase, it is this: once the blade is drawn, blood must be spilled.”
The tone was grim from the start.
“In the North, I must kill to survive. If I die, my parents, my siblings, all my family, and every servant in my household die with me.”
Everyone froze.
Yurio alone nodded in agreement.
He had nearly faced those exact circumstances himself in the Harmatan family.
“Therefore, henceforth all swordsmanship you learn will focus on targeting vital points and swiftly claiming your enemy’s life.”
“Um, what about…… suppression?”
A fourth-year student raised his hand cautiously to ask, but received only a merciless answer.
“If you suppress and spare an enemy’s life, what comes next? Revenge. You must erase that seed entirely.”
Certainly, the Northern temperament was far removed from what one might call dignity.
At least the sort of “dignity” people south of the mountain range claimed to possess.
Yet if one must kill enemies, there was no better swordsmanship than this.
“From now on, kill each other.”
“Sir?”
“This is the resolve with which you approach this training. If you wish to know Northern swordsmanship, if you wish your blades to carry sharpness and killing intent, remember what I have just said.”
Amil’s purpose for this training was unwavering.
The sword as a tool for killing people.
Therefore, the students infused their blades with killing intent.
It was potentially dangerous, but Berhaldo also consented.
The knights these students aspired to become were those tasked with cutting down enemies to protect this Empire and their houses.
“You took up the sword to become knights. And becoming a knight means protecting your house and the Empire. Remember what must inevitably follow in that process.”
After concluding his austere address, Amil issued his command to the Renfield family’s knights.
“Begin. Show no mercy and press them hard.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
At this moment, Amil was no longer the head of the Northern Council.
He was simply the family head of one house and a single Northern man.
Therefore, the training was far harsher than one could imagine.
“I, I’m dying now.”
“Break time is over. On your feet!”
“Ugh!”
Grade level was irrelevant.
Most students were experiencing such brutal training for the first time!
The Renfield knights showed no mercy.
Clang, clang!
Though they were practice swords, the moment they landed, it felt as though you would be cleaved in two—the tension only doubled—
“Rise, student.”
“My, my legs are so…….”
“Will you whimper like that in real combat against enemies?”
The knights were cold.
All of this was at Amil’s direction.
“The students are managing somehow. But I wonder what will happen in the next training session.”
There was one reason for setting such a demanding intensity.
He had observed Ziel’s class.
In fact, the intensity of the training now underway was comparable to Ziel’s lesson.
Therefore, if there was a single grade level that would remain unscathed—
“At minimum, the second-years should endure.”
They were second-years who had already survived Ziel’s hellish class.
And indeed, the second-years endured very well.
While other grades were gasping for breath within an hour of training beginning, they seemed to be managing adequately.
“Their physical training is properly developed. Markedly better than Northern children of the same age.”
“Quite so, Family Head. And indeed, Yurio stands out most notably.”
“Mm.”
Yurio Harmatan.
For various reasons, the Renfield family had begun supporting the Harmatan family, and Yurio was part of that reason.
There is no support without compensation.
Amil wanted to employ the talent of one who could be called the finest in the North for his own family’s benefit.
“Pay him the utmost attention. He is talent that will play a significant role not just in the North but across the Empire.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Also observe the other second-year students carefully. Should any notable talent appear, actively recruit them.”
“Understood.”
Amil’s dream was to expand exchange between the lands south of the mountain range and the North during his tenure as council head.
In other words, his plan was to have their respective influences project into each other’s territories.
If exchange between North and South increased, the North could become more prosperous than it was now.
As it stood, the Northern people would rot and perish from infighting or fall to barbarian invasion.
That was Amil’s diagnosis.
Therefore, this training was the beginning of that exchange.
An improvement of the North’s image!
‘They will come to understand the true worth of Northern swordsmanship.’
The training proceeded thus.
One side driven by the reason that they could never lose to another house.
One house driven by reasons far greater than that.
And the Sword School professors…….
“Will the kids be okay for class tomorrow…… ?”
“Mm. It is pretty grueling.”
“The kids are full of enthusiasm, which is good, but…….”
They worried.
The training was proceeding with far greater intensity than anticipated.
Meanwhile, only Ziel showed a different response.
“They’re applying well what they learned in class.”
“Boss, you see it that way too?”
“Yes. They stand out most.”
Whichever family’s training he observed, the second-years were the most conspicuous.
Their physical level, their refusal to give up, their understanding of swordsmanship!
And on top of that, an attitude that acknowledged their own shortcomings and quickly accepted them.
That was what the students had learned in Ziel’s class.
At least while class was in session, their family lineage meant nothing, held no value.
There existed only students, equally receiving instruction under equal conditions!
That was precisely what was creating the difference now.
“Hey, the first-years are pretty strong? It’s scary.”
“Professor Allix teaches well, I’ve heard. Though not quite like our Teacher Ziel.”
“I think I heard the first-years’ training is somewhat similar to ours?”
While praising the first-years’ excellence, the seniors did not dismiss them even when they fell behind somewhat.
Had they not seen it themselves?
Friends who had once lagged behind them catching up and showing equal skill in sparring!
In any case, the training was quite effective.
Though the students’ physical fatigue would certainly rise, from the perspective of learning new swordsmanship, the benefits would be considerable.
“Boss, you predicted all of this!”
“No.”
“You are truly a sun deity!”
“No.”
“You may deny it, but it’s true, Boss.”
Gilbert seemed as though he would never relent.
“By the way, Boss, this Northern curriculum…… what is the ‘Ladder of Struggle’?”
“It is a method proposed by Amil Renfield, the Family Head.”
The Ladder of Struggle.
A training format modeled after the coming-of-age ceremony of the North.
The goal is to defeat up to ten successive opponents and reach the end.
Scarcely had those words left his lips when, halfway through training, the break time ended, and Amil stepped forward to declare:
“We now enter the ‘Hour of Struggle!’ Group 1 shall undertake this training today. Come forward!”
The first challenger was Quantus.
The student who was the first to volunteer to the Renfield family after being enticed by Ann!
“Let me give it a try!”
“Mm. You have quite the impressive bearing.”
Amil gazed at Quantus, whose frame was clearly enormous, with great satisfaction and explained:
“The method is simple. Defeat these ten knights of our family here and reach the end. Then you will rank first in this training.”
“So I just need to crush them all!”
“Yes. If you can. Do not worry. If you land two successful attacks, I will count them as defeated.”
“And at the end, I’ll be able to learn the sword directly from the Family Head!”
“That is not all. Greater rewards await.”
Quantus stepped forward eagerly.
‘Just two successful attacks and I win!’
And the moment he charged toward his first opponent—
“Urgh!”
He fell.
Quite easily.
“……What was that just now?”
“Quantus went down in one blow……?”
From the start, it was quite harsh.

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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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