On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 396

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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 396
Inter-Academy Exchange (2)
The final day of Festa dawned.
Today marked the closing of Festa.
And at the same time, it was the day the Exchange Tournament with Telvir Academy would take place.
“Come now, we’ll be starting entry soon! Please proceed in an orderly fashion!”
“Distinguished guests, please use the separate entrance line!”
The tickets had sold out completely. The venue for the Exchange Tournament was none other than the Arena where the Sword School typically held its tournaments.
The interest was exceptionally high.
Even ordinary tournaments drew considerable crowds, but an exchange with an outside academy made it inevitable.
“Imagine meeting you here, Family Head!”
“Oh my goodness. Have you been well all this time?”
In the process, it had become something of a social gathering for the nobility, though that wasn’t why they’d come.
“That said, you managed to get in, which is remarkable. Who would have guessed the Academy Festa would become this popular?”
“I hear people from across the entire Empire gathered here this year. Word is they’ve even started holding a Festa in the Capital itself thanks to the overflow.”
It was simply that Festa had become far too popular!
If one had to point to a single reason, it was none other than the man currently conversing with students near the Arena floor.
“There, over there. That must be the famous Teacher Ziel Steelheart, isn’t it?”
“Goodness, he lives up to his reputation. If we can see him from here, what does that say about his presence?”
It was Ziel.
Ziel had now become something of a symbol for the Valdrain Empire.
Not born of any Great Family, yet possessing immense martial power, he commanded the support of countless citizens through his heroic deeds.
And that was only the beginning.
He could have used that momentum to climb to the highest offices in a heartbeat, yet he persisted in the noble profession of educator!
“I’ve heard that if you request a meeting through the Academy Professors, it might be possible.”
“There’s also talk that he’ll meet with you if the donation exceeds a certain amount.”
So many nobles were desperate to meet Ziel that rumors and gossip about him ran rampant.
To exchange even a few words with him had become a matter of prestige, raising one’s standing in the bargain!
Of course, such people were rare indeed.
Ziel was not the sort to entertain pointless, inefficient meetings.
It would be faster to be born anew and re-enroll at Edelwein Academy.
Or else to join the Academy faculty, which he’d previously dismissed so thoroughly.
“Are you Teacher Ziel Steelheart? The distinguished guests wish to know if a brief conversation before the tournament begins would be possible.”
A servant approached with this request, and Ziel replied thus:
“I’m preparing for the tournament. That won’t work.”
“Then after it concludes, perhaps—”
“After it ends, I need to inspect the other students’ Festa results.”
“Ah…”
“And why do these guests wish to converse with me?”
“Well, that is…”
He couldn’t very well voice what was so transparently obvious.
“If there’s no particular reason, I won’t go.”
Ziel, as always, was a man who pursued efficiency!
Watching the servant depart empty-handed, Berhal nodded as expected.
‘If they came with swords and challenged him to a fight instead, he’d probably have time to talk.’
These guests were most likely elder nobles from the Imperial Palace or the various Famous Families.
The sort who, their status carried on strong winds, preened and postured in their advancing years.
“A refusal? Did he just refuse?”
“Y-yes, sir. He said he was busy with tournament preparations…”
“The audacity! Does he know who we are!”
Apparently not.
The servant swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
Of course, knowing wouldn’t have changed anything.
And it certainly wouldn’t have made them any happier.
“Teacher, do you really not need to go?”
“Why should I, Student Karen Aswan?”
“Well… I don’t know much about politics, but I heard those distinguished guests have considerable power.”
Ziel tilted his head slightly.
“Are all these guests Master-level?”
“I doubt it…”
“Then you’re weaker than I am.”
“Ah.”
“Student Karen Aswan, focus. Your goal is to climb all the way to the top.”
“Yes, Teacher! I trained with Professor Alyx all day yesterday too.”
The students’ preparations were thorough.
Rather than involving himself deeply in each student’s affairs as he did with other Festa events, Ziel confined himself to offering advice to the supervising professors.
“The students look a bit worn out.”
“Professor Isabella Altidor.”
Isabella, the only one notably absent from this inter-academy exchange due to her role as Sixth Year supervisor, had come to visit.
“My body’s still creaking. I hear Teacher Kelvin is doing fine?”
“He’s resting at the Faculty Dormitory. He should recover by today.”
“I would’ve felt a bit cheated if he’d recovered already.”
Isabella let out a quiet laugh.
She had become someone unmistakably favorable to Ziel now.
The growth she’d achieved in the meantime was something no amount of money could have bought!
Ziel was her greatest benefactor in the world.
“In any case, thanks to you, I’ll soon get to face my friend too.”
“Your friend, you say?”
“Yes. She’s here.”
Ziel’s gaze found a familiar face in the spectator seats.
“Sir Eleonore.”
“That’s right. She talks about you often, Teacher Ziel. Whenever she hears the story about cutting down the Root Tree on Osu Island, that’s all she goes on about.”
“I see.”
“And it’s not just casual talk either. At first I wondered if she was infatuated with you, the way she went on about it.”
Ziel tilted his head slightly.
“Does admiration arise so easily?”
“Well… there are people who fall for overwhelming strength.”
“I see.”
“Are you interested?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Ah.”
At his resolute answer, Isabella chuckled to herself.
She thought this would be perfect material to tease Eleonore with.
“Anyway… the Telvir crowd’s support is pretty fierce too.”
“Our cheers are louder.”
The moment Ziel finished speaking, a massive roar erupted from the spectator seats.
“Glory to Valdrain and Edelwein!”
“Glory!”
“Let eternal light shine upon the Sword School!”
“Let there be light!”
Isabella was taken aback.
‘I didn’t even hear anything like that when I attended the Academy…’
The blood-racing thrill of it all!
“Now then, we shall commence this historic inter-academy exchange tournament!”
And at last, the curtain rose on the inter-academy exchange.
“The first event is Flag Capture! Within the allotted time, the team that seizes the most flags from their opponents wins!”
The Flag Capture competitors took the field.
Sigmund’s eyes blazed with intensity.
‘We’ll take the first match no matter what.’
That first victory was absolutely necessary to seize momentum!
Already, the professors had suffered successive defeats in the preliminary duel, and the shock to the Telvir Academy students was considerable.
Because of this, Sigmund had altered his objective.
Not total victory in the inter-academy exchange, but a draw.
That strategy seemed to be working.
“They’re fast.”
Isabella was somewhat surprised.
The moment they began, the Telvir Academy students split apart in perfect coordination and moved toward Edelwein’s three flags.
Tremendous speed and breakthrough power!
One of Edelwein’s flags fell into Telvir’s hands in an instant.
“That’s it!”
Sigmund clenched his fist.
But Edelwein countered just as swiftly.
In that moment of opening, they seized the neutral flag at the center.
“Uaaaaaah!”
Each side was given three flags, plus one neutral flag in play.
This ensured that when time ran out, there would be no draws.
Therefore, the key was to stay one step ahead of the opponent, no matter what it took.
“A stalemate, then.”
It was just as Berhal felt an odd unease.
“Second Years, Third Years!”
At Elcanto’s shout—he who supervised the Flag Capture training—the Second and Third Years clustered together at once before—
“Break through!”
They surged toward enemy lines at tremendous speed.
In Flag Capture, only wooden swords were permitted as weapons.
Elcanto had fixed his attention on this.
‘You can’t die no matter how badly you’re beaten!’
At least not if they didn’t aim for the head. Besides, the moment mana was poured into a wooden sword, it shattered with a pop.
A strategy one could pursue because of this!
“Ugh! Gack!”
“These fools!”
Four of the Second and Third Year alliance charged forward—a flawless breakthrough by an elite few. The two Second Years in particular showed remarkable prowess.
“Go! Jenesis!”
One of them was Jenesis!
That same student whose growth had been striking since the events on Osu Island.
“Jenesis! Left side!”
“Yes, Senior!”
Her coordination with the Seniors they’d trained alongside was excellent.
Crack!
As wooden sword met wooden sword, Jenesis—befitting a Second Year—struck a Telvir Academy Fourth Year with a precise blow.
“Gack!”
She had thrust the tip of her wooden sword straight into the center of his chest.
It didn’t pierce, of course, but she’d struck exactly the right point with exactly the right force, and the Fourth Year crumpled.
‘Doing well.’
Indeed, she was a Second Year.
Their average skill matched that of typical Fourth Years—that was their standard.
Jenesis ranked in the lower-middle tier among those Second Years, but as of this training, she had climbed to a level that could be called solidly middle-tier.
‘It’s working. It’s really working!’
And so, at last, the Assault Unit led by Jenesis seized a flag from the deepest part of Telvir’s formation.
“Uaaaaaah!”
“Jenesis! Jenesis! Jenesis!”
Amid the cheers and roar of the Second Years, Jenesis held the flag aloft.
Telvir’s participating fighters watched the sight with hollow expressions.
Once a flag was seized, it couldn’t be taken back for at least a minute.
“First, let’s reorganize the perimeter defense!”
So Telvir, rather than simply wait, decided to scatter and focus on maintaining their defense.
‘Good. It’s flowing as I hoped.’
Elcanto smiled with quiet satisfaction.
Now it was four against three again.
Telvir held the neutral flag, but Edelwein had seized the flag from Telvir’s farthest position.
“Wait—was that Professor Elcanto’s strategy? This is no joke.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s our supervising professor for you. Don’t covet him, you Second Years.”
“We—we weren’t coveting anything, Senior…….”
“J—just keep it…….”
Of course, Telvir hadn’t crumbled.
Edelwein had sent four fighters down.
If they left just enough forces to defend their rear, the rest could easily overwhelm them by numbers.
“Go for Flag One!”
Telvir’s assault began again. They’d used the time window—during which their own Flag Three couldn’t be retaken—to rush at one of Edelwein’s other flags!
“Hold them!”
But Edelwein, moving in response, was no pushover either. The Second and Third Years were gone, but the Fifth Years, Fourth Years, and First Years remained.
Thwack, crack!
A fierce exchange erupted with wooden swords clashing.
Elcanto recalled Ziel’s counsel.
‘Getting hit with a wooden sword won’t kill you.’
‘But it hurts…….’
‘Pain and bruises can be treated once the match is over.’
That was true.
Ziel had chosen an approach of pure efficiency.
Simply absorbing blows with their bodies.
“Hold them!”
“Ugh! You’re not fighting properly? That’s cowardly!”
“Cowardly my foot!”
The Edelwein students who’d charged forward, taking every wooden sword strike against their bodies, tackled the Telbier students directly.
They were outnumbered.
Which made this precisely the right choice.
And so the Second and Third Years who’d attacked first seized their opening.
“Flag One!”
This time, the Telbier camp’s Flag One!
Other Telbier students rushed after them, but too late—
“Got it!”
Five to two.
Sigmund’s expression twisted.
‘Damn it all…….’
Edelwein didn’t have only Second Years.
“My people!”
There were also Third Years whom Elcanto had trained.
“Seniors! You’re amazing!”
And Fourth and Fifth Years as well.
“Those are First Years?”
“Even First Year standards aren’t a joke here.”
And among them were First Years who’d received instruction from the Imperial Knights.
“We’ve won.”
Surrounded by cheering crowds, Ziel murmured quietly.

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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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