On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 377

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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 377
The Steelheart Family
Ziel had no interest in politics.
Even if his counterpart was the Emperor, he was hardly curious about the man’s true intentions.
He simply saw no reason to refuse a reward when one was offered.
Truthfully, he’d allowed himself a small measure of hope.
‘If they told me to choose anything, I’d ask for a chicken skewer merchant.’
He didn’t particularly want a position, nor did he crave a fortune in prize money.
Ziel simply remained present in the moment.
And so he found himself face to face with the Emperor.
Dozens of Imperial Knights lined both sides, an oppressive weight pressing down on the air.
‘There are a lot of people here.’
Yet to Ziel, the scene was bewildering all the same.
Among the assembled nobles, he spotted several familiar faces.
‘They dismantled the Red Raven… I can hardly believe it.’
‘Just how strong is he?’
Amos and Daren.
The two had rushed to the palace at the Emperor’s request.
Seeing them stand side by side, Ziel found himself thinking:
‘They seem to get along well.’
Had they heard his thought, they surely would have protested—but then he spotted Amil Renfield, the Family Head of Renfield, among the crowd.
The practical training had ended, yet he hadn’t returned to the Northern Region.
He too had caught wind of the news, his eyes now fixed on Ziel with admiration gleaming in them.
‘My defeat was nothing to be ashamed of.’
When he’d fallen to a single strike, the shock had been immense and lingered for some time.
But seeing it now, it seemed only natural.
One doesn’t complain that the sun burns hot, after all.
It was much the same principle.
A force of nature, nothing more.
The other nobles too had already heard the reports, and the way they looked at Ziel had transformed entirely.
Before, they had regarded him with a measure of disdain.
Strong though he might be, sought after by countless nobles, even courted by princes—his family was still unremarkable.
But now a single individual had transcended his family’s standing completely.
That name was Ziel.
An official teacher at the Academy’s Sword School.
“The master of the Empire and father to all subjects, His Imperial Majesty makes his entrance—all present shall show proper respect!”
And at last, the Emperor entered.
As always, his clothing clung sharply to his frame, muscular and defined—the Empire’s first Master-rank Emperor.
‘Siegfried Valdrain.’
As he raised his hand, the nobles released the tension from their bowed postures and could lower their heads.
Ziel too bent his head in formal deference.
At last, the Emperor’s lips parted.
“Ziel Steelheart. Your actions have safeguarded the Empire.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. I merely assisted with my subordinate’s revenge.”
His immediate reply made the administrator’s face go ashen.
They’d emphasized it so much before entering!
One must never answer so directly before the Emperor.
At the very least, one must show some measure of humility…
“Your modesty seems excessive, Ziel Steelheart. You claim revenge as your motive, yet the truth is your actions secured this Empire’s welfare.”
“My intention was merely to aid in my subordinate’s revenge.”
It was just as the Emperor’s smile began to form.
“However, regarding the elimination of the Commander, there was one other reason.”
“Another reason? Speak.”
“The Red Raven was planning to rebuild the Black Sky.”
The audience chamber plunged into a cauldron of shock.
The Black Sky.
An assassination organization that the Current Emperor had methodically dismantled in a single sweep, long after rising to the throne!
At the revelation that someone had been plotting its reconstruction, all present sank into astonishment.
The annihilation of the Black Sky!
It was Emperor Zeke’s most monumental achievement and had earned him the highest praise.
Yet to openly deny it like this.
The Administrator, who had gone deathly pale, was tense for the first time.
‘His Majesty had an almost pathological obsession with this matter, and he finally destroyed it.’
The Emperor had shown an inexplicable fixation on Black Sky, and he had utterly annihilated it.
Yet to hear that someone was attempting to rebuild it—he had never expected such a thing.
It would not have been strange for him to lose his temper in this moment.
But the Emperor simply gazed at Ziel Steelheart and spoke thus.
“You have accomplished something far greater than I imagined, Ziel Steelheart.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I have received reports more than once about remnants of Black Sky or its survivors lingering in the realm. But I learned only today that an organization was actually attempting to rebuild it—and that this organization was a considerable intelligence network of significant scale. Ziel Steelheart, you have saved the Empire itself.”
He had merely aided a revenge. He had killed the Commander for purely personal reasons, yet now those actions were being repackaged as a heroic deed for the Empire’s sake.
Of course, there was not a shred of falsehood in this accounting.
It was only a matter of how the person receiving this information chose to interpret it.
‘His Majesty’s strategy has proven even more sound than I anticipated.’
The Administrator had spoken with the Emperor yesterday.
Rather than punishing or censuring this Teacher Ziel Steelheart over the matter, the strategy was to bestow a reward instead, thereby drawing that person to his side.
And yet it turned out he had actually prevented the reconstruction of Black Sky all along.
‘That Teacher’s life will only grow smoother from here.’
Envy stirred within him.
Though they lived entirely different lives, he found himself envying the brilliant future that lay ahead for this Teacher Ziel.
There was something he genuinely could not understand, though.
Why on earth did he wish to remain at the Academy?
“Is there anything you desire? Speak freely. If you wish a position in the Imperial Court, I shall grant you whatever you ask—save for my own throne, of course.”
Soft laughter rippled through the audience chamber at the Emperor’s jest.
But Ziel did not laugh.
Instead, he spoke with perfect seriousness.
“Does the Imperial Palace have beer?”
……
The soft laughter that had been spreading vanished entirely.
Everyone seemed to have encountered a profound cognitive dissonance.
‘Beer? Is it a code?’
‘Is it some sort of current fashion?’
‘Beer… beer?’
‘Beer is beer when you drink it, and if it is not that beer, then what other beer could it possibly be?’
The Nobles, and the Imperial Knights who had stood at attention all day, nearly lost the strength in their legs.
“Beer.”
Even so, the Emperor fell into contemplation with a rather serious expression.
‘Could it actually be a cipher?’
‘What manner of metaphor is this? He desires beer? What did beer taste like again?’
‘That bubbling sensation, that sharp strike at the throat—is it connected to that somehow?’
As the misunderstanding deepened among those present, the Emperor finally nodded.
“So it shall be.”
Having contemplated it as though it were a grave request, even nodding in agreement, the confusion only intensified.
Meanwhile, the Emperor thought to himself.
‘He is refusing obliquely.’
It had been so before.
But to do so again this time.
‘He will not incur a debt.’
Beer was, after all, a trivial thing.
The Imperial Palace possessed not merely beer, but countless rare and precious spirits.
Should he wish it, he could grant him spirits offered to his ancestors—three hundred years old or more.
Yet to request only beer was to draw a line.
The Emperor found himself intrigued.
Had such a man existed before?
Neither Amos Kundel nor Darren Rihart would dare answer him in such a manner.
Then there was no help for it.
“But will that alone suffice?”
“It is not insufficient.”
“Then you should receive the reward I have prepared as well.”
There was no choice but to present it by imperial decree.
“Ziel Steelheart. I have inquired into your family’s history.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Indeed. The territories your family once held have become ruins. Only the foundation of the mansion remains.”
It was something I already knew.
That’s why I had “chosen” the Steelheart Family.
Almost no trace of it existed anywhere in this world.
No living members remained.
“Therefore, I shall return to you that territory, which has reverted to the Empire’s holdings, Ziel Steelheart. Additionally, I grant you nearby lands amounting to fifteen thousand acres.”
Everyone gasped.
Fifteen thousand acres.
To own land of that magnitude in any region besides the capital, one would need to be an established Family Head of considerable standing.
Not enormous in scale, but certainly sufficient to constitute a substantial fief!
In this very moment.
Ziel had become the true master of Steelheart.
A new lord of the family—one that had not existed for the past dozen years!
Now every eye turned toward Ziel.
In that silence, countless thoughts swirled.
‘If one receives land, one must reside there. Which means….’
‘Would he have to abandon his teaching position at the Academy?’
‘How strange. What on earth could His Majesty’s reasoning be….’
Granting fiefs was not such a rare occurrence.
There were occasions when useless lands were distributed as a form of political exile, but this was different.
It was productive land, and if managed well, would grant considerable influence throughout the Western Region.
As a result, Darren Rihart, the Family Head of Rihart, grew uneasy.
And Ziel’s response was thus:
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
That was all.
The administrator nearly fainted.
Then Ziel added one more thing.
“And someone else besides myself should receive compensation as well.”
* * *
Ziel had returned.
“Boss!”
Gilbert first checked that all of his limbs were still attached.
He had agreed with Zephyros’s assessment, but he couldn’t help worrying!
“Arms and legs accounted for, and fingers…… Boss, would you mind removing your shoes for inspection?”
“No.”
“Very well.”
Ziel was unharmed.
There was just a slight problem.
“What is that….”
“Imperial Beer.”
“Pardon?”
Carts were pouring into the Academy Main Gate in great numbers.
They were loaded entirely with barrels of beer.
“Brewed in the Western Region, they said. I brought what was offered as a gift.”
“Surely not…… as compensation…….”
“Yes. It looked delicious. I should buy some chicken skewers later.”
“…….”
Beer received as a reward for eliminating the Red Raven?
In that moment, Gilbert felt the same cognitive dissonance the Imperial Court had experienced.
“Why beer…?”
“Oh, beer. That looks delicious.”
“It’s mine, Zephyros.”
“……Could you not spare even one barrel?”
“Very well. I’ll give you one.”
“Thank you!”
The sight of carts pouring in and beer barrels being stacked in the brewery had a strangely surreal quality.
“Boss, did you really bring back beer?”
“Yes. Ah, there were other things too.”
Well, that’s to be expected.
Yet nowhere on Ziel’s body could she see anything newly received.
Not his sword, not his shoes—nothing had changed.
‘Maybe the Imperial Palace will ship it later?’
“What exactly did you receive, sir?”
“A territory.”
“Ah, a territory. A territory… I’m sorry, did you say a territory?”
“Yes. I recovered the ancestral lands of the Steelheart Family and received a territory of roughly 15,000 acres in the surrounding area.”
……
She wondered what she’d just heard.
“So… you’re saying… the Boss’s family lands were restored and you received a territory of that magnitude?”
“That’s right.”
……
She grabbed his sleeve.
Gilbert seized hold of Ziel’s arm.
“Boss, you can’t leave!”
“Where would I go?”
“To your territory, sir! Now that you’ve received it, you’re meant to go develop your family lands, aren’t you? Get married, have children, grow your territory…”
Gilbert’s voice was trembling on the edge of tears.
Kelvin came rushing over, his eyes glistening too.
“Master, don’t become a lord!”
Ziel gazed at them quietly, tilting his head slightly.
“Is that what one must do when receiving a territory?”
“Of course, sir! You’re becoming a true Family Head now!”
“Must a Family Head do such things?”
“Yes!”
“Strange.”
Ziel looked at Gilbert with an expression that suggested he didn’t understand.
“I have no intention of it.”
“What? But you’ve received the land, sir?”
“I have. But no condition was placed on developing it as a typical territory.”
“Then… what do you mean?”
Ziel said something that made no sense.
“You’re not going to develop a territory, sir?”
“No, I will develop it.”
“Then you must go there, Boss…”
“I’ll arrange things so there’s no problem even if I don’t.”

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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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