On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 385

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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 — Chapter 385
Preliminary Duel (3)
The Eve Festival was drawing near.
Today, too, the students were absorbed in preparations for Festa.
Someone had said it once.
That the process of preparing for events was more enjoyable than the events themselves.
“No, if we twist it one more time here, how are the kids supposed to escape?”
“That’s what makes it a proper maze! I know what I’m doing!”
They bickered occasionally, but overall worked well together on the Festa preparations.
The maze section was proceeding smoothly.
Following Mortis’s aesthetic for Maze Design, they’d engineered it to look beautiful even from a distance, while Quantus had taken exclusive charge of the internal complexity and trap placement.
“But isn’t Quantus making this way too hard?”
“Ever since Teacher Ziel said difficulty makes it more fun, he’s been like this constantly…”
“Never mind, it’ll work out somehow. What about our maze construction materials?”
“We’re almost done now. We just need to assemble everything according to the blueprints.”
The Masked Ball section was progressing well too.
“Yon, so you’re certain the moon will rise?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. We’re counting on you and you alone. If the moon doesn’t rise that night, we’re all done for.”
Some students trembled with anxiety at the thought of something going wrong, but there were no major problems in sight.
The masks were being prepared steadily.
They all had the same design, masks with voice alteration effects of unknown quality.
“By the way, did they say Zephyros? This new subordinate is remarkably skilled. How could anyone make something like this?”
Of course it was Zephyros’s handiwork, and because Zephyros was running the Arcane School event, Emeric had also been drafted into mask production.
“All right. We’ve finalized the detailed rules as well.”
Under Yon’s leadership, they’d settled on specific rules.
“First. Everyone must wear identical outfits. Hide your hands with gloves, and use hats to temporarily conceal your hair color.”
“Won’t that make it too difficult to match people up?”
“Look at Celia’s hair. Once you see it, you can’t forget it, right?”
At Yon’s thoughtless comment, Celia giggled.
“You know something. My hair is indeed quite beautiful and silky.”
“Isn’t that just the oil from not washing it?”
“Shut up, Delev!”
Leaving the bickering pair behind, Yon continued his explanation.
“Second. Once you choose a partner, you and your partner can share identities with each other.”
“Oh, so it’s team-based?”
“That’s right. Teams of two. We’ll give prizes to the winning team.”
“Sounds entertaining. How do we recruit participants?”
“We announce it beforehand, I suppose? It seems like it’ll draw huge crowds.”
The rules sounded more fun than expected.
“What should we use for prizes? It looks like we’ll have more budget left than the maze side.”
In this Festa, budgets were allocated by grade level.
The allocation was based on last year’s event performance, and as a result, the second-year students had received the largest budget.
So there was only one way to spend this excess budget.
“Let’s go big. Something amazing!”
“With what?”
“Magic Stones. Mages absolutely drool over them. With that, shouldn’t Arcane School students participate too?”
Then, suddenly, Ziel interjected.
“If you’re thinking of offering Magic Stones as prizes, leave it to me.”
“Pardon?”
“I have Magic Stones.”
That was true.
Ziel had Magic Stones.
Quite a lot of them, in fact.
Thanks to an investment he’d made in a Magic Stone Mine he’d spotted during a past mission.
He still held shares in it, so if he wanted, he could obtain more by tomorrow.
“If you purchase Magic Stones from the market separately, they’re expensive. Buy them from me at mining cost.”
“Oh!”
“Use the budget you save on other investments.”
Celia tilted her head in confusion.
“Do you have Magic Stones too, sir? And you’re not even a Mage.”
“Yes, I have them. I acquired them through investment.”
“Investment?”
Delev’s ears perked up.
“Y-you made a lot of money through investment, sir?”
“I made an exceptionally efficient investment.”
Without thinking, Delev grabbed Ziel’s hand.
“P-please teach me too!”
“No.”
“Why, why not!”
“If you fail, I won’t be able to take responsibility.”
“Oh.”
There was only one path left.
‘The scholarship is my only option now.’
Win the Festa once more and secure another scholarship—that was the goal.
He absolutely could not tell his family under any circumstances.
The most promising young noble of the Kundel Family gambling? Frequenting the Black Market no less?
If discovered, he would face a rage from his father that would be difficult to bear.
“We’re going to make this Masked Ball succeed no matter what.”
When Delev spoke with resolve, Celia snickered.
“What’s gotten into you, suddenly full of fire? Hey, wait—did you actually follow me here?”
“Why would I follow you if there’s nothing worth following?”
“Hey, hey! Cut it out!”
Children’s quarrels often flare up just as suddenly as this.
‘Or is this a lovers’ spat.’
Ziel quietly slipped away from the scene.
One student approached him as he left.
“Um, sir!”
It was Renoa.
“Renoa Nihalis, do you have a question?”
“Um, well, you see…”
Renoa looked timid, just like before.
That same cowering demeanor from when he was crushed beneath his father, older brother, and younger siblings.
‘Could it be that his family is coming to the Festa.’
If so, there was every possibility his timidity would resurface.
“Renoa Nihalis, if you’re worried about your family coming…”
“My family?”
“Yes, to this Festa.”
“They’re in the Northern Region, so they probably won’t come… And I heard they’re attending the Assembly meeting instead.”
Ziel was taken aback.
‘Then why did he ask so timidly?’
There was a different reason.
Renoa’s eyes gleamed.
“Is it true? That rumor?”
“What rumor are you talking about?”
“That Gilbert was formerly a member of the Red Raven!”
Ziel paused.
“I didn’t believe it when I first heard it, you know? But the rumor going around…”
“Not officially.”
“Pardon?”
“Not officially. He was a member of the Red Raven, but that fact is not official.”
“…So you’re saying it’s true?”
“Not officially.”
Renoa understood.
That was Teacher Ziel’s way of protecting the Teaching Assistant.
“That’s really cool… the Red Raven…”
“Is the Red Raven cool?”
“It’s an intelligence organization!”
…
He couldn’t bring himself to ask what the Black Sky was like.
If he’d given a cool answer, it probably would’ve been awkward.
“Intelligence networks and assassination orders aren’t cool, Renoa Nihalis.”
“Why not? Moving through darkness, conducting assassinations—”
“Regardless, they’re not cool.”
Anyway, there was no great harm in the students knowing now.
Everyone who mattered already knew the truth.
Moreover, now that he’d received official pardon from the Imperial Family itself, that very background might become a significant asset for Gilbert.
‘They don’t seem to know he’s reached Master-level.’
He appeared ignorant of an even larger fact—though that too would come to light soon enough.
“By the way, where do you go after classes end these days? You always seem to be in such a rush.”
“Teaching the professors.”
“I’m sorry?”
They would soon discover that having ascended to Master-level, he was now instructing the very professors themselves.
Today another training session was scheduled.
Even so, Ziel kept noticing a gaze directed toward him.
‘Why does she keep staring at me?’
It was Karen.
For reasons unclear, over the past several days she’d been watching him with unusual frequency.
The way she looked at him recalled the manner of surveillance before an assassination—studying the target.
Of course, there was nothing threatening about it.
In any case, as the final classes ended.
The professors had gathered once more in the 2nd Year Classroom!
They all looked battered before even beginning.
“Professor Elcanto, why is your gait so strange……”
“Ah, I have terrible muscle soreness… and Professor Allix here can’t move his shoulders at all since earlier……”
“The pain is so sharp I can’t even draw my sword……”
That was right.
Training volumes unlike anything before!
‘I’d rather go back to my apprenticeship days!’
Allix thought the brutal apprenticeship in the Imperial Knight Order had been easier than this.
‘Why aren’t Merhen and Idel going through this same torture!’
Elcanto, too, approached training with the grim resolve of someone coughing blood in his heart.
Isabella was no different.
“Professor Isabella?”
“”
“Professor, Professor Isabella?”
Isabella gave no response.
‘Did she… fall asleep standing?’
“I, I must have dozed off for a moment.”
Elcanto’s mind went blank at this uncharacteristic lapse.
A woman who had never shown even the slightest loss of composure, no matter the circumstances—and now she was falling asleep on her feet!
“You’ve all gathered, I see.”
Then dread descended.
Ziel and Gilbert.
Both seemed perfectly fine.
“Boss, the three professors look quite fatigued.”
“Mm.”
Without hesitation, Ziel tapped each of the three professors once.
“My apologies.”
Apologies were indeed warranted.
From the professors’ perspective!
“Why… why do I have such vigor……”
“The muscle soreness is gone……”
“……I’m suddenly wide awake.”
Whatever he’d done, all three were now perfectly restored.
It was utterly inconsiderate.
Without this, they’d have collapsed partway through!
“Now we shall begin.”
Shing.
Ziel and Gilbert drew their swords.
The three professors drew their swords with bitter resolve, quietly weeping inwardly.
‘I have to beat Telbier, if only to settle this injustice.’
Whether his skill was actually improving, he couldn’t say.
It was all so grueling.
He was experiencing the exact same process the students had endured.
Throwing himself into Hellish Training without even knowing if he was getting stronger!
“Continuing, Professors!”
“Uaaaagh!”
“Hak!”
Gilbert was merciless.
As if purging a grudge, he was unleashing every single torturous training technique he’d suffered at Ziel’s hands.
‘Damn it, he’s too fast!’
‘Where is all this strength coming from……’
And that wasn’t even half of it.
Since reaching Master-level, the combined assault of the two professors had become so swift and forceful that it was nearly impossible to counter.
Even Isabella, who’d trained under Ziel, found herself pitying them somewhat.
‘So this is what you become when you reach Master-level…… When will I ever get there?’
Suddenly her childhood friend Ellenoor came to mind.
In their youth, Isabella’s talent had been rated higher.
But now it was the complete opposite.
Ellenoor had even injured her dominant hand and been forced to fight left-handed, yet she’d still reached Master-level.
In the end, nothing but one’s birth family could determine everything.
“Focus, Professor Isabella Altidor.”
This was no time to lose herself in thought.
Clang!
Ting!
This was her first time crossing blades with Ziel.
His swordsmanship was faster and more precise than she’d anticipated, and its origins were utterly impossible to discern.
He responded perfectly to her every movement, yet attacked from directions she could never have foreseen!
Anyone watching could see it plainly.
‘Of course—he’s matching my level.’
Right at that razor’s edge of what she could counter!
He was adjusting his attacks to land precisely there.
The ability to control one’s own power was itself a form of power.
‘How is he even doing this?’
Before she could dwell on it, his blade swept in and grazed her shoulder.
“You must keep your concentration during the bout, Professor Isabella Altidor.”
There was no room to think of anything else.
Pure hellfire.
He was dragging her skill higher through sparring that felt like actual torment, and even between exchanges, Ziel’s corrections rained down on her relentlessly.
“When you strike diagonally, your right hand angle is off significantly. Too much mana release through your arm. Reduce the output by twenty percent.”
His feedback was precise and intuitive.
‘So that’s why the Second Years are so strong……’
An altogether different teaching method!
Of course, she still couldn’t tell if she was actually getting stronger.
All she knew was……
“I’m… I’m dying here.”
It was simply unbearable.
“Gilbert! I think… I think I broke something!”
“You’re fine. Nothing’s broken.”
“My… my shoulder is killing me!”
“Bear it.”
Those training under Gilbert didn’t look to be faring much better.
The path to Expert Highest-tier!
A battle that absolutely had to be won!
With such a clear goal burning in their hearts, Isabella and the other two professors rolled across the ground again and again.
And then the fourth day arrived.
Finally, Isabella felt it.
‘What is this?’
It came during their sparring match that day, her body broken and battered as always.
Deep within the core of my being.
From the stirring mana—
“We’re nearly there, Professor Isabella Altidore.”
A path began to reveal itself.
‘This… already?’

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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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