On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 375

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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 375
Crow in the Darkness (6)
What had been Gilbert’s personal vendetta had grown far beyond its original scope.
Of course, even if they’d stopped there, the decline of Red Raven’s faction would have been certain.
Perhaps it would have crumbled of its own accord, slowly fading away.
But not anymore.
“Uuugghhh!”
“Not many fingers left now.”
Now that they’d decided to deal with the Commander himself, the fate of the Red Raven organization was as good as sealed.
“Going well?”
Zephyros stepped inside.
The reason no one outside could hear the commotion was because Zephyros had cast a silencing spell.
“Has he been tortured?”
“He learned by watching me do it.”
Ziel nodded with satisfaction.
Kelvin, who’d followed him in, looked envious.
“Me, me too! Torture!”
“You can’t control your strength.”
Kelvin’s face fell.
In the end, the Vice Commander confessed.
“…He’s in the Capital right now. Not here. He said he was going to meet the head of the Berte Trading Company.”
The Berte Trading Company.
An unexpected name had emerged.
“Why?”
“To meet Dark Ghost. Yes, for the plan they’re pushing forward based on that intelligence you saw.”
Gilbert almost glanced at Ziel then, but caught himself.
‘A waste of effort?’
Of all targets, the one they wanted to contact was Dark Ghost.
“The Commander… even someone like you won’t be able to capture easily.”
He muttered it almost like a last, desperate jab, but Gilbert let out a low laugh.
“Really?”
“The Commander is Master Grade. Moreover, he has inherited all the strength of Red Raven. Ziel Steelheart, no matter how strong you are, it won’t be easy.”
Ziel answered to that.
“The Commander is weak.”
“…”
Ziel knew the Commander.
Red Raven.
Back in Black Sky, they’d already identified all the leaders of the other organizations.
And they’d assessed their strength levels in case of emergency assassination.
“How can you be so certain?”
“Because he’s weak.”
The strength of the Red Raven Commander, codename “Luther,” had already been fully assessed.
Of course he was strong at Master Grade level, but…
“He’s definitely weaker than me.”
There was no comparison with Ziel.
“Damn it…”
The Vice Commander, with no strength left to argue or question further, looked up at Gilbert.
But one thing did occur to him.
Knowing the end was near anyway, curiosity got the better of him.
“You… even back when you were with the Crows, you weren’t particularly talented.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“But how did you become so strong?”
It was a genuine question.
A competent enough operative.
Someone who could have climbed higher with the right effort, but whom he’d judged could never reach the highest tier of the Crows.
That person was Gilbert—or rather, Erso.
“Four days and nights without sleep, swinging a sword. That’s all.”
“What?”
“Jumping off cliffs, fighting magical beasts until you think you’ll die, getting surrounded by dozens and rolling around until somehow you grow stronger without realizing it…”
Days of hell training flashing past like one’s life before death.
She felt tears welling up.
Kelvin was already wiping his eyes.
“The S-Specter Overcoming Training!”
The harshest ordeal they’d endured in recent memory.
For what it’s worth, Kelvin still hadn’t conquered that trial.
“I learned something while training under the Boss. If he tells you to do it, you can do it.”
The truth was, he only gave orders for things that were actually possible.
Though of course, the person enduring the training had to bear excruciating pain that blurred the mind.
“That about answers all your questions, doesn’t it?”
No reply came.
When she turned her head, the Branch Leader lay utterly still.
From the blood loss, survival seemed impossible.
“Time to move on to the Berte Trading Company then. We’re leaving. Gilbert, finish up.”
“Yes, Boss.”
As the three ahead departed, Gilbert delivered his final words.
“It’s a shame, Vice Commander. Though I must say, the days as a Crow weren’t altogether bad.”
“……Even if I returned, I would choose the same path.”
At the end, there was no begging for life.
The Vice Commander had never once harbored hope of dying peacefully in old age.
“I see. That’s how an organization stays intact. Still, I respected you, even if only for a time.”
Gilbert raised his sword high.
* * *
Berte had to work to conceal her excitement.
‘The Red Raven! The Red Raven!’
She felt as though she might burst.
Her standing was rising so dramatically!
The Commander of the Red Raven himself had actually come calling!
“Please, do drink. The tea is getting cold.”
“Thank you, but I’m afraid I don’t drink offered tea. I hope you understand.”
“But I— I haven’t poisoned it…….”
“When one runs an intelligence organization, such precautions become necessary. I ask for your understanding.”
“Well, then…….”
It was a touch disappointing, but she took it in stride.
This wasn’t just anyone—it was the Red Raven.
Not an assassination group, but an intelligence organization with a far-reaching name!
“Ahem, the tea really is excellent…….”
Sip.
Berte, still savoring the subtle taste of her tea with genuine regret, asked carefully.
“But forgive me—what brings you to seek an audience with me at this late hour……?”
“I’ll speak plainly. We are attempting to expand our organization. We need the strength of the Berte Trading Company.”
“Our Trading Company’s strength……!”
“Yes. I’m certain the Trading Company Head understands what I mean. Of course, our organization is not lacking in funds. Nor are we short of people.”
Then why come to us?
‘If they have money and they have people, then…….’
In that moment, Berte recalled the countless letters from nobles she’d received today.
Filled with flowery language, their true meaning was simple.
“You don’t mean…….”
“Yes. We wish to meet the Dark Ghost.”
The Commander Luther’s purpose was unmistakable.
To quietly assume the position left vacant by the Black Sky.
After the Black Sky’s destruction, several other fools and their organizations had tried to claim that place for themselves.
But all had failed.
There was only one reason.
They moved without thinking!
“I wish to meet the Dark Ghost and hold constructive discussions about our organization’s growth. Of course, it would bring considerable benefit to the Berte Trading Company as well. Should you enter into a cooperative relationship with the Red Raven, you’d be able to handle troublesome obstacles in managing your trading company quite smoothly going forward.”
It was an attractive proposal.
The other nobles had only asked for an introduction.
Berte had refused them all.
Her loyalty to the Dark Ghost was part of it, but she’d judged there was no practical benefit.
What the nobles had offered was money, or connections to the Imperial Family.
The Berte Trading Company isn’t the sort to move for just anything.
But the Red Raven is a different matter entirely.
“What exactly are you proposing?”
“It’s simple. I want to expand our organization. We wish to become the Empire’s greatest intelligence network—the largest and most formidable.”
Of course, he kept his true intentions hidden.
The moment word reached the Imperial Palace, the Red Raven would be destroyed.
This had to proceed without anyone’s knowledge, in complete secrecy, in perfect silence.
That’s why he needed the Dark Ghost’s power.
Of course, the Dark Ghost couldn’t know that either.
“…I’ll give it some thought. It’s difficult for me to give you a definitive answer right now.”
Berte approached the matter with caution.
Excitement had made him a touch reckless, but this wasn’t a decision to make lightly.
The Red Raven.
An organization as dangerous as it was thrilling to hear named!
Get tangled up wrong, and…
‘I should at least report this conversation to him.’
“I’ll certainly mention it to the Dark Ghost. But I can’t say what decision he’ll make.”
“That approach would be best for everyone—for you, for me, and for the Dark Ghost.”
It sounded almost like a threat.
A suggestion that this had better happen, or else.
Yes.
It was a threat.
‘Once I bring the Dark Ghost to heel, the Trading Company comes next.’
After investigating from multiple angles, Luther had concluded that while the Dark Ghost’s personal strength was formidable, the organization’s combined force could overcome him.
An individual cannot defeat an organization.
A natural philosophy for the leader of the Red Raven.
Lure the Dark Ghost into their fold as the organization’s cornerstone, and naturally swallow the Berte Trading Company whole.
Then even the Imperial Palace wouldn’t dare lay a hand on the Red Raven.
To make an enemy of the Dark Ghost would be too great a political burden.
Was it not so?
The Dark Ghost had become something like a symbol to the Empire’s people.
A figure the Nobles feared, one the Imperial Palace itself courted!
“Then I think we should end today’s meeting here.”
Luther rose from his seat.
Berte, setting aside all disappointment, offered tea once more as if nothing had happened.
“You’re leaving far too soon—won’t you at least have another cup of tea…?”
“You do keep insisting on tea.”
“It’s such a shame. Truly, what a shame.”
He genuinely meant it.
‘It really is exquisite.’
Tea of this quality wasn’t easy to come by.
From Berte’s perspective, this was a blend he desperately wanted his guest to savor.
“Very well. Let me have just a sip.”
The moment he lifted the teacup—
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
“Gahhhhh!”
Berte lurched backward in shock.
Again.
He’d appeared again, just like that.
The Dark Ghost!
“W-wait, is that…the Dark Ghost?”
It was Ziel, wearing a Human Skin Mask.
He held a dagger to Luther’s throat.
“So you’re the Commander of the Red Raven.”
Luther was incredulous.
He’d felt no presence whatsoever.
Then suddenly, cold steel pressed against his neck.
As if the figure had materialized from shadow itself.
Luther’s gaze fixed on Berte.
“…So it was a trap after all.”
No.
There’s no way that’s it.
“You must have poisoned the tea as well.”
That was absolutely not the case.
Berte, who loved tea, would never dream of tainting it with poison—not even if it killed him.
It was a matter of courtesy!
“You bought us time well, Head of the Berte Trading Company.”
And when Ziel drove the wedge home, Berte felt as though he might go mad from the injustice of it all.
“So all of this was a trap set for me.”
Luther’s gaze toward Berte turned razor-sharp, cutting as a blade.
How could things have come to this…….
“I have a question. Is it true you were trying to revive the Black Sky?”
“……!”
Even his secrets had been exposed.
“……Dark Ghost, was it? Then let me propose something. Yes. I had thoughts of rebuilding the Black Sky—in the way of the Red Raven. I would offer you the position to lead that organization.”
Of course it was a lie.
He himself had to be the leader of any such organization.
But survival was what mattered now!
To survive, he would promise anything, anything at all…….
“No.”
“What?”
Crack!
Luther fell.
Berte’s mouth gaped open.
The most unreal sight he had ever witnessed in his life!
A person collapsing so simply, so utterly without resistance…….
“A, ah, Dark Ghost. What on earth is—what is this situation?”
“I eliminated the Commander of the Red Raven.”
“Th, that is, s, so suddenly what is—”
“He attacked my subordinate.”
“Ah…….”
And for such a reason, the head of a vast intelligence organization had met his end.
‘Truly, the Dark Ghost is remarkable…….’
Berte hurried to explain.
“That fellow came to find me first. He came asking that I arrange a meeting with the Dark Ghost…….”
“I see. You bought us time well. Excellent. Did you know I would come?”
How could he have?
Of course he hadn’t known.
“I will dispose of the body.”
“Understood. Then, what should I do going forward…….”
“Continue as you have been.”
“Ah…….”
“However, forget what you saw here today.”
In that instant, a flash of light blazed across his vision.
Berte lost consciousness.
Ziel was meticulous.
What the Red Raven had been pursuing would soon be revealed.
But here and now, he had come as the Dark Ghost.
Berte could not yet know this truth.
At least, he could trust Gilbert in a way he could not trust himself.
Thud.
Berte collapsed, and the bodies of Ziel and Luther vanished.
And moments later.
“Huh?”
Berte’s eyes opened on the floor.
“……What happened?”
His last memory was of pouring tea while waiting for the Commander of the Red Raven.
The tea had long since gone cold.
Berte’s heart sank.
“Such a waste—the tea’s gone cold…….”
Berte’s love of tea was extraordinary.

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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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