On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 358

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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 358
Practical Training Results (1)
Even in the early days of practical training, Celia Rihart was showing clear progress.
Yet against the Kundel Family Knights in sparring, she struggled more often than not.
The fundamental gap in skill meant she was simply overpowered.
No matter how brilliantly she was fusing Rihart’s powerful Swift Swordsmanship with Heavy Sword Technique to create something remarkable, skill built through long years of experience wasn’t something easily overcome.
“Hiss!”
“Student Celia Rihart, again.”
“Understood!”
So Celia pressed her attack even as she fell dozens of times, yet over the course of four days she hadn’t managed a single successful counterattack.
There was instruction behind this as well.
“Don’t go easy on her. Fight her properly.”
“But sir… if you don’t hold back at all, she’ll have no chance.”
“A child with her temperament can’t be given gaps carelessly. Rather than showing her the path, she needs to be driven to find it herself.”
“Understood, Lord Family Head.”
The reason Celia failed to land a single successful attack even past four days, into the fifth, lay in this very instruction.
One might expect her to complain that Rihart was being singled out and treated unfairly, yet she simply threw herself forward without complaint — that quiet determination!
That was what she’d learned from Teacher Ziel.
Perhaps that was why.
‘I truly can’t keep doing this.’
She had no choice but to seek him out.
Him — Teacher Ziel, who’d been there from the start of today’s training, standing motionless in a at-attention stance, watching quietly.
After practical training ended, Celia went to find Ziel.
“Teacher, you saw, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“I really don’t think I can do this.”
“Right. You couldn’t.”
“…”
“Today alone you allowed eighty-nine attacks and were knocked down forty times. Thirteen of those you didn’t even manage a falling technique for.”
“You don’t have to keep track that precisely…”
Celia sighed and glanced back over her shoulder.
The figure of Riba, her sparring partner throughout, came into view.
His teeth were grinding together.
It was a face that would haunt her dreams.
Not giving even the slightest opening, not allowing even a single attack to land!
She wasn’t here asking for mercy.
She was just angry with herself.
“Are you here to tell me what you can’t do?”
“Of course not — I came to ask how I can succeed.”
“You mean how to win?”
“Yes!”
“It’s impossible. For now.”
“…Really?”
“You cannot achieve victory with your current approach.”
“Then what should I do!”
Ziel answered flatly to her bright, eager eyes.
“Abandon your swordsmanship.”
“Pardon?”
“Abandon the swordsmanship you’re using now.”
“What do you… mean by that?”
Her own unique swordsmanship — Swift Swordsmanship fused with Heavy Sword Technique.
She’d even received praise for it.
From Delev’s father, no less!
“But you said so yourself, sir. That my swordsmanship was sharp yet heavy at the same time!”
“Right. And that very swordsmanship is why you haven’t landed a single attack on your opponent.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean…”
Ziel asked.
“Who’s your opponent?”
“It’s Sir Riba.”
“What swordsmanship does Riba use?”
“I’ll use the Heavy Sword Technique.”
“Right. What’s the crucial thing when facing Heavy Sword Technique?”
“……Not forcing yourself to block the attacks.”
“You know that well. But Student Celia Rihart, what about you?”
“……!”
Celia recalled the last five days of sparring practice.
“I tried to block them with my swordsmanship.”
“Yes. Ever since you began properly incorporating the Heavy Sword Technique, you’ve been trying to block enemy attacks instead of evading and deflecting them like before.”
“That was…… the case.”
“Right. In sparring with your friends, that approach works well enough. But when you face Heavy Sword Technique at a higher level, it stops working.”
More than ten swords had snapped over those five days.
All of them broke from her forcing herself to block the attacks.
‘Now that I think about it, until last year I was doing more evading than blocking……’
Swift Swordsmanship was like that.
Rather than blocking the enemy’s attack, you deflect and evade, waiting for the opening, then strike in one swift motion.
If the gap widens further, you strike and slash more.
That was the foundation of Swift Swordsmanship.
But she had become so intoxicated with the new Heavy Sword Technique that she’d forgotten her own roots.
“Abandon the swordsmanship you have now and start again from the beginning. A new technique must be grafted on according to the situation.”
“I understand what you mean, Teacher. You should have said so earlier!”
“Realizing it yourself is also important, Student Celia Rihart.”
“But you did tell me, didn’t you?”
Celia grinned as if she’d finally grasped it all.
“Now I’m finished.”
“Don’t kill yourself.”
“Don’t worry. Just hard enough not to die!”
Of course, no such thing happened. Celia fell again the next day, and the day after that.
But there was one thing that had changed.
‘I dodged it!’
She was gradually recovering her old footwork and beginning to evade attacks!
Ziel’s advice had proven effective.
“Something’s different since yesterday, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Lord Amos. Her movements are more concise and faster.”
“She’s not overextending with our Family’s Swordsmanship.”
Amos nodded as well.
That was precisely what he’d hoped to see in Celia.
There was nothing wrong with using Kundel Family Swordsmanship.
But since she didn’t know how to use it properly, he’d paired her with the strongest opponent to teach her that.
Of course, she still didn’t know that Ziel had helped her reach this understanding.
Swish!
And not long after, Celia succeeded in executing a counterattack.
“That’s it!”
This was Celia’s growth.
Focusing once more on Swift Swordsmanship.
And then carefully rebuilding the techniques of Heavy Sword Technique on top of it.
“Splendid.”
Amos offered his highest praise, though a pang of envy stirred within him.
‘If I suggested having a daughter now…… she’d kill me.’
Setting aside such stern thoughts, Amos found himself thinking of his youngest son.
This girl Celia was so pleasing to him — yet she was the daughter of the one person in the world he found most displeasing.
The problem was that Delev was learning from that man.
‘I wonder if he’s doing well.’
He hadn’t bothered to seek him out and ask why he’d chosen Rihart, or whether things were difficult.
He’d simply left him alone, fearing it would only add pressure.
And watching Celia now, it seemed Delev was going through a similar process.
It was exactly as it seemed.
Only, Delev was progressing a bit more slowly.
“So Kundel’s greatest talent fumbles about half-heartedly imitating our swordsmanship, does he?”
“…….”
Delev said nothing, gripping his sword.
Today alone he’d been knocked down dozens of times.
His lower back throbbed, and his shoulders burned.
He was even being mocked.
It was deliberate enough, and his blood boiled with it.
“Is Rihart Family Swordsmanship really so easy to handle?”
Well, yes.
There had been a time when he thought so.
There had been moments when he couldn’t fathom why Celia carried herself so high and mighty with such swordsmanship.
He’d thought it simple.
But not anymore.
‘The speed itself is different. I can’t block it.’
At first he’d managed well enough, combining Heavy Sword Technique with Swift Swordsmanship for the sparring class.
He’d even earned decent marks. But everything changed once the instructor raised the difficulty and switched partners.
“Why are you rushing like that? No matter how much you rush, it doesn’t even come close to the true speed of Swift Swordsmanship.”
There was a psychological element at play as well.
Debt, to be exact.
He wanted to perform well here and land a scholarship!
Of course, the psychological factor wasn’t truly the main issue.
“Listen, young Kundel. Do you think yours is the only family clumsily imitating Swift Swordsmanship? Why can’t those families surpass Rihart? Because they’re slow, that’s why.”
When deliberate provocation and mockery were added to this, Delev’s mind exploded.
“Ahhhhh!”
Clang!
But sadly he was blocked in an instant and sent sprawling backward.
“Tsk, seems some mental education is in order.”
One of the Rihart Knights who’d been watching this approached Daren carefully with counsel.
“Will it be alright, sir?”
“What concern is it of yours?”
“Well… if the Head of Kundel were to learn of this…”
Daren let out a soft laugh.
“Nasty temperament or not, he’s not petty enough to make a fuss over something like this.”
“Ah…”
“If he were in his right mind, he’d understand why this is happening. And if he truly cares for his child, he would.”
Daren too was curious about how his daughter was getting on during her practical training with the Kundel Family, but he didn’t go to ask her directly.
The hearts of fathers were all the same.
“Increase the intensity. If you don’t know what needs to change, that’s simply the limit of your talent.”
“Understood, sir.”
Delev had to endure his own pathetic form through the first week of practical training.
‘What’s the problem?’
Alone in the Auditorium, Delev picked up his sword again.
He acknowledged that his opponent was strong.
Among the Rihart Knights, this one seemed quite skilled indeed.
But not blocking a single strike, not even allowing a counterattack—he couldn’t make sense of it.
‘What have I done wrong?’
He thought that at least once he should succeed.
It was humiliating.
It felt as though he were bringing disgrace upon the Kundel name.
He’d been under scrutiny throughout the training anyway.
The mere fact that a young Kundel had chosen Rihart’s practical training was astonishing.
Now everyone seemed to mock him.
“Damn it.”
The instant he raised his sword to strike—
Clang!
“Ahhhhh!”
Delev landed flat on his backside.
In his shock, he even dropped his sword.
It hadn’t been there when he raised it to swing, but in the moment his blade cut through the air, a figure appeared from nowhere to block it.
“Teach… teach… Teacher?”
It was Ziel.
“You’re facing a similar problem to Student Celia Rihart. Truly, you are alike.”
“What? Yes?”
“Draw your sword, Delev Kundel.”
“Oh, that’s… when did you arrive?”
“I’ve been behind you the whole time.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t use magic, did you?”
It seemed as though Ziel had been hiding right in front of him using Invisibility Magic before suddenly appearing.
Delev couldn’t believe it.
“I was behind you. You simply didn’t notice.”
“……”
“Draw your sword.”
The moment Delev complied, Ziel attacked without hesitation.
‘What?’
He fell at once, yet something felt distinctly off.
“Could it be…?”
“Yes. It’s the swordsmanship of the knight you’ve been facing.”
“How are you wielding that, Teacher?”
“I just can.”
Delev relearned the futility of questioning Ziel.
“Focus. Again.”
Clang, ring!
Delev still couldn’t block it.
He fell and rose again, again and again.
That old helplessness crept back in.
He must have been thrown down roughly twenty times.
“You’re still forcibly dodging the blade and attempting to counter with Swift Swordsmanship.”
Ziel finally identified the flaw.
“Is that a problem?”
“It is. A serious one. Who exactly are you fighting?”
“A knight of the Rihart Family.”
“Exactly. So shouldn’t you be adapting to that opponent?”
“But if I counter with Heavy Sword Technique, it takes too long! I’m already slow, so Swift Swordsmanship is better—”
“Your clumsy Swift Swordsmanship only makes the enemy see you more clearly. Let me ask again. Who is your opponent?”
“…A knight of the Rihart Family.”
“More precisely: a Rihart Family knight whose understanding of Swift Swordsmanship is so far beyond yours that comparison is meaningless.”
Ah.
Then Delev understood.
“You’ve been doing nothing but repetitive counterattacks with no real progress.”
“……”
“Of course, you might improve your Swift Swordsmanship if you keep at it. But why aren’t you using what you do best?”
“Well… because this is practical training with the Rihart Family.”
“Did you go to learn the Rihart Family’s swordsmanship? Or did you go to advance your own?”
It was a question with only one right answer, and Delev lowered his head.
“I’m embarrassed to admit… I was thinking I’d just go, learn their Swift Swordsmanship, and incorporate it into my own style.”
“But now Swift Swordsmanship has become your priority. Use your own swordsmanship. At least then you’ll be able to mount some kind of counter against your opponent.”
Ziel raised his sword again after awakening this crucial insight in him.
“Again. This time I’ll match the exact power and speed of that knight’s technique.”
“Teacher, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Did you come to the Auditorium suddenly just to teach me this?”
“……”
Ziel hesitated before answering.
“I was just passing by.”
“That doesn’t seem right…”
“……”
Ziel was still clumsy at lying.
So he changed the subject instead.
“Odd thing to say. Let’s begin.”
“Be honest—you came to help me, didn’t you?”
Clang!
He answered with an attack instead.
“Ugh!”
But this time, there seemed to be slightly more force behind 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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