On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 405

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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 405
The Masked Ball (2)
Enemies were gathering.
The enemies of Delev and Celia.
All of them burned with determination to eliminate the two by any means necessary.
Their aim was singular.
To witness Delev and Celia dancing!
More precisely, to see the two top students stumbling and flustered even as they danced!
The hunt was on, sustained by the delightful prospect of that very scene.
“Could that be them? They’re about the same height.”
“Try approaching?”
“Be careful. How many times have you challenged?”
“Twice.”
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
“You’re Delev Kundel!”
“I’m not…….”
“Not him? You’re lying! Wait, what? Teacher Ziel? Is that already my third attempt?”
“Student Omar Lucon. You’re out.”
“Argh!”
Some students grew confused about their count and were eliminated in turn, while others found themselves on the receiving end of a counterattack.
“You’re Lucretia!”
“No, how did you know?”
“Because you keep fidgeting with your hands!”
“Damn it.”
Meanwhile, the situation had begun to grow peculiar.
With only fifteen remaining, Delev and Celia still hadn’t been found.
Everyone had gathered to search for them, yet there was no trace of them anywhere…….
“There’s a spy among us.”
A chilling deduction from Jenesis!
That was it.
There was no other way to explain it.
Delev and Celia had blended into the crowd.
But Jenesis immediately fell under suspicion.
“Could it be you? You’ve been leading this the whole time!”
A game of hidden thieves!
A pastime where players lied continuously, and victory went to whoever remained undetected until the end.
The students had tumbled headlong into precisely that situation.
“Wh-what nonsense are you talking about!”
“Look, you’re stammering! You must be Celia!”
“I’m not, I said!”
The masquerade hall plunged into chaos in an instant.
“Student Din Rockwell. You’re out.”
“W-wait, aren’t you Celia?”
That counts as your third attempt. You’re eliminated.
“Argh!”
After that point, eliminations began cascading.
“I’m suspicious of you. Could you be…….”
“Y-you’re suspicious of me? I’ve been with you the whole time!”
“Hmph, that’s not…… T-Teacher Ziel?”
“Your guess failed. You’re out. Student Lydia Rojas.”
And so, only five remained.
They were truly among these five now.
The masquerade hall gradually fell silent.
The music dimmed, and the pace of the dance slowed.
Not only the dancing students, but every soul in the hall fixed their attention on those five.
‘I never imagined a masked ball could be this tense.’
A masquerade is, by nature, a place where laughter masks criticism, where probing and power struggles interweave!
But this tension transcended such ordinary intrigue entirely.
“My predictions have gone seriously awry.”
Though he’d admitted it before, Ziel had assumed the two would be eliminated not long into the game.
But there was no way they’d both survive until now.
‘So it’s not about dancing… Ah, they want to win as a joint champion?’
Ziel’s misunderstanding was deepening as well.
“It must be love, after all.”
“Pardon? What did you just say?”
“Love, I said.”
“Love…?”
Professor Emeric furrowed his brow at the sudden remark and asked.
“So one of those two will win the championship?”
“No. The champion is already decided.”
“Yes? Who is it?”
“I don’t want to say right now. You’ll understand once you see it through to the end.”
The game started again.
“All right. So Delev and Celia are among us.”
The remaining four students couldn’t even respond to that statement.
One careless word and they’d find themselves pinned down and exposed!
In fact, both Delev and Celia were indeed inside the circle.
They had made it this far, desperately trying not to even look at each other.
‘I can’t believe this strategy of hers is actually working.’
When they caught the Red Raven, Delev had taken the lead; this time it was Celia’s strategy.
To actively cast suspicion and press as hard as possible.
But avoid direct accusations.
It was their last resort, after all.
‘Three left besides us. And I’ve kept track of everyone in the masquerade hall… So that one has to be Pomlua for certain.’
Delev was making his deduction when he suddenly hesitated.
‘Wait—was Yon’s name called?’
He couldn’t quite remember.
He’d been so focused on staying hidden and blending in that everything blurred together.
‘Damn it. So the odds are back to fifty-fifty?’
Delev decided to gamble.
“You’re Pomlua Reshe.”
“…Damn it!”
He’d gotten lucky.
‘So Yon already dropped out? Judging by the fact that I haven’t seen him…’
Now only two remained out of three.
One female student.
One male student.
Fifty-fifty odds.
While Delev hesitated at those odds, Celia—who had odds that were essentially 100% in her favor—opened her mouth.
Because the only other female student besides herself was one!
“You’re Jenesis Dillon, aren’t you?”
“Damn it, should’ve said it faster, you idiots!”
Jenesis was eliminated.
Now only one male student and two female students remained.
The male student was essentially confirmed to be Delev.
In a race to see who could speak first, Celia got there first.
“You’re Felicia, right?”
“Agh, no!”
Finally, the scenario of only two remaining had become reality.
“Wow, made it all the way to the end. How is that even possible?”
“We’re doomed… They really are going to the very end.”
“Damn it, I thought we’d at least get to see them dance!”
That was when it happened.
A masked male student pushed through between the dancing couples and pointed at Delev.
“Delev Kundel!”
“…!”
Delev’s heart sank.
‘We’re finished.’
That very guess he’d been uncertain about earlier.
It was Yon.
“Celia! That’s Yon, hurry and match——.”
“You idiot! Why are you calling out my name!”
And Yon quickly pointed to Celia.
“Of course you’re Celia Rihart.”
With that, the champion was decided.
“It’s over.”
The final victor was Yon.
The one who had patiently hidden throughout the masquerade ball and emerged only at the end!
To Delev and Celia, nothing could be more cowardly—but to the other friends, he was a hero.
“Just as expected from our leader.”
“He’s the team captain for the masquerade. I knew we could trust him?”
“Yon, well done!”
At last, Delev and Celia had been eliminated.
Which meant.
“……We’re done for.”
“Hey, what are you—I’m the one who’s done for!”
The moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived.
* * *
The two clasped hands.
“Ugh.”
“Hey, I’m suffering more!”
Their eyes met.
“Can I throw a punch?”
“Hold on. My sword’s over there.”
They kicked at each other too.
“I feel sick.”
“You’ve got thirty minutes. If you throw up before then, you’re really dead.”
The two seemed to get along quite well.
“Now the masquerade ball truly begins, Teacher Ziel.”
At Berhal’s words, watching the scene with satisfaction, Ziel nodded as well.
Now all the students had found partners.
Though the gender imbalance had caused some male students to pair off with each other—a catastrophe in its own right—once the designated time elapsed, they were able to switch partners.
“Yurio.”
“K-Karen? Your eyes are so intense——.”
“Shut up and dance.”
Students like Karen, who had been forced to dance with someone else after being assigned a partner against their will, were among those affected.
Of course, for the two whose identities had been revealed last, none of this applied.
“How long are those two going to keep dancing?”
“Probably until the end?”
The moon climbed higher, its light scattering beautifully and dizzily across the scene, as the atmosphere of the masquerade ball deepened and ripened.
“A beautiful sight, Boss.”
“What a large moon.”
Gilbert, who had joined late after the event concluded, and Kelvin, who had only recently recovered enough to emerge, both stood transfixed by the spectacle.
Ziel agreed.
“Magnificent.”
The view of the masquerade hall from above—how could one describe it?
Beneath the vast ballroom lay moonlight, and above it, a hundred students dancing.
The sight stirred something in his heart, setting it aflutter.
“Don’t you wish to dance down there as well, Boss?”
“It’s the students’ stage.”
“So you do want to dance?”
“Mm.”
Ziel hesitated briefly before nodding.
He didn’t fully understand his own heart yet, but it seemed to be the case.
“When you visit the Imperial Palace this time, won’t you find a partner? Weren’t you saying you’re going to receive commendation for the Red Raven matter?”
“That’s right. I’m scheduled to visit the Imperial Palace.”
Festa was drawing to a close.
For his services in eliminating the Red Raven remnants entirely, Ziel had been promised a medal and formal honors at the Imperial Palace.
He’d heard that a masquerade ball would be held at that time as well.
“So you’re getting married now too, Boss.”
“Not interested.”
“Come now, surely I can’t go first without your blessing, can I?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Well, in traditional noble doctrine, a servant marrying before his master would be considered improper.”
“Not interested. And you’re not my servant.”
“Subordinate or servant—what’s the difference? Either way, I’m just waiting for the day my boss gets married.”
Ziel gave it no real thought.
Marriage, partnership, romance—none of it mattered to him.
What he found curious was the emotion itself.
Books said it this way.
Love was the emotion of thinking of another person sincerely, ardently, with deep tenderness—remembering them with all of oneself.
“Those two are obvious. They like each other.”
“From where I’m standing, they look like they despise each other.”
“Hate and love are pretty similar, I’ve heard. You hate as much as you love, and love as much as you hate.”
If that were true, could what Delev and Celia displayed be love?
“Hey, you trying to break my hand? My palm’s sweating!”
“That’s because you’re gripping me so hard! Why are you squeezing like that?”
It seemed difficult to define just yet.
In any case, the Masquerade Ball had been a resounding success.
In the beauty of that scene, not only the students but everyone watching was filled with admiration.
“Now then, let us proceed with the awards ceremony for this Masquerade Ball’s champion.”
The champion was Yon.
The prize was five Praise Cards and the full entry fee refund.
“I’m jealous…….”
“Those Praise Cards should’ve been mine…….”
Delev, eyeing the money, and Celia, eyeing the Praise Cards, sighed as they looked at Yon.
“All that’s left is the wound…….”
“Hey, I’m the one who got wounded! And another thing—when did you stop using formal speech with me?”
“The festival’s over. Why are we talking about ranks?”
“Tch, subordinate. This is how trust breaks between us.”
“When did we ever have trust?”
Behind this bickering pair—whether they were a couple or not, nobody could quite say—stood another couple on the verge of their own beginning.
“……Karen, are you really going to the Imperial Knights?”
“Probably. I never had any intention of carrying on the family name anyway.”
“If you go there……you’ll be stuck there until retirement, won’t you?”
“Then maybe I should go there too?”
“Stop talking nonsense and focus on restoring the family after graduation. What, you can’t bear to see me go to the Imperial Knights?”
“N-no, I suppose not.”
“A family has to exist for you to exist, for me to exist. And you have no siblings to share the burden.”
At last festival they’d bonded through a Sword Dance Performance; at this one, through the Masquerade Ball, the second-year students had grown closer still.
Some had grown close enough to become couples.
Of course, graduation was still far away, and the world is full of unexpected turns. Before family opposition could even arise, many would drift apart.
But for now, everyone was intoxicated by the beautiful scene they had created, savoring the moment.
“The moon hangs high tonight.”
The festival had ended, and the second semester was drawing to a close.
Soon Ziel would have work of his own to do.
Before the break: a visit to the Berte Trading Company.
Not as Ziel. As Dark Ghost.
‘The Territory.’
A noble house that had vanished entirely, leaving no survivors, had awakened.
Now it was time to go rebuild that house.

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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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