On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 41
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Organization Collapsed on My First Day of Infiltration Episode 041
Advanced Psychological Warfare
Standing out in the Exchange Tournament brings various benefits.
What most students aim for are scout offers from famous family knight orders, including the Imperial Knight Order.
Once you receive an offer, your admission is guaranteed upon graduation, so you can secure your future to some extent.
This doesn’t apply to eldest sons who must inherit their families, but naturally there are more non-eldest sons at the Academy.
This is one of the reasons students desperately try to pass the selection tournament and get chosen as Exchange Tournament members.
There’s another reason.
“Yurio, Yurio. Did you hear?”
“You still have energy to make a fuss, Karen?”
“No. How can I not have energy! They raised the prize money for this Exchange Tournament!”
“Huh?”
“It was originally 500,000 cel, but now it’s 1 million cel!”
Yurio, who had been sprawled out, shot up.
The eyes of the two poor First Years came alive.
“1 million cel means….”
“Even if 10 people split it, that’s 100,000 cel each! 100,000 cel is our tuition for a whole year!”
Not all nobles are wealthy.
Rather, there are many noble families who live worse than commoners despite being nobles.
Whether they’re in debt.
Or failed in business.
Or they’re just poor for generations.
If Yurio’s Harmatan Family became that way due to medical expenses, Karen’s Aswan Family is one of the poorest noble houses even in the already poor Eastern Region.
“And it’s 1 million cel per competition. If we win both the breakthrough match and the battle royale, that’s 2 million! 200,000 per person!”
“That’s two years’ worth of tuition….”
The Academy’s tuition is 100,000 cel per year.
Some families even go into debt for that tuition.
The Aswan Family was one of them.
“I could pay off our family’s debt.”
Karen clenched her fist tightly.
The increased prize money was incredible good news!
Fire began blazing in the two students’ hearts once again.
On the other hand.
‘2 million cel. That’s a lot.’
There was also Delev, who felt no particular excitement.
It was a lot, but that was all.
It didn’t particularly motivate him.
Because he was from the Kundel Family.
‘200,000 cel… I’d spend all of that in one weekend outing, wouldn’t I?’
Celia felt the same way.
The stark contrast wasn’t openly displayed, but it was good news anyway.
It was providing motivation to students who needed money.
And….
“How much did you say the prize money was, student Karen Aswan?”
“If we win both competitions, it’s 2 million cel!”
“That’s eight hundred times my salary.”
“…Excuse me?”
Ziel suddenly revealed his salary.
“If you win, I’ll be envious of you all.”
Ziel knew too.
That prize money belonged to the students.
He was envious.
Truly.
‘I could eat chicken skewers without worry to my heart’s content.’
He had Dikelen’s Silver Coins, but the process of converting them to cash was somewhat complicated and risky of leaving traces.
He couldn’t exactly buy chicken skewers with silver coins either.
‘Opening a chicken skewer shop would be possible though.’
But right now he was a liberal arts instructor at Edelwein Academy.
He had to stay faithful to his cover identity.
“Right? We’ll definitely win it, Teacher.”
“Don’t get too excited.”
Because that would make him more envious.
But this was interpreted as:
‘He means don’t worry about the prize money and focus.’
‘Teacher really is something.’
After Ziel left.
“Teacher probably isn’t very interested in prize money, right?”
“Probably? There were rumors that he bought Delev really expensive food. They say he’s super rich.”
“He’s probably from some incredibly prestigious family that we don’t know about. But have you heard of Steelheart?”
“I think I’ve heard of it somewhere….”
A misunderstanding that wasn’t really a misunderstanding was spreading.
In fact, Ziel’s current balance was precarious.
‘At this rate, even one chicken skewer would be tight.’
That’s why he was tempted when he overheard talk about the prize money.
Envious.
Really envious.
But that was the students’ share!
There was only one thing he could do.
Help them win.
He actually believed that would happen.
‘Preparation for the tournament is almost finished now.’
Exactly two days until the Exchange Tournament.
He planned to end training early the day before for rest.
So today was the last day to prepare for the breakthrough match.
Physically, they were already sufficient.
Even Yurio, who had the worst stamina compared to other students, was no longer a concern.
From now on, he had to trust in the students’ cooperation.
Especially for the first match.
The breakthrough match held in the forest.
A dangerous test where they had to face various traps, wild beasts, and poisonous insects.
Of course, minimal safety measures were in place, but due to such dangers, withdrawals often occurred midway.
However, it didn’t feel dangerous at all to Ziel.
This was essentially the final training.
‘For now, all training will be completed as planned.’
After it was decided that he would be in charge of the First Year exchange meeting, this was the very training he planned last when creating the schedule!
It was also the training Ziel was most confident about.
“Training begins. Everyone gather.”
Just then, afternoon training time arrived.
By now, everyone gathered with determined expressions.
“From now on, we’ll begin training for the breakthrough match.”
Training for the breakthrough match.
‘Is there something else besides wall climbing?’
‘We did long distance running, so is it sprinting this time?’
‘What other ridiculous training this time… there’s only one day left.’
Everyone imagined different things.
Since it was Teacher Ziel, he must have brought some tremendous and difficult training.
They were right.
“I will now begin the lecture.”
Except it was a theory class.
That is to say…
“After the lecture ends, we’ll move on to practical training.”
It was combined with hands-on practice-
“What kind of class is it, Teacher?”
“Training for traps, poison and detoxification, and emergency situations.”
It was completely different training from before.
Scrape.
Ziel dragged over a blackboard from somewhere.
“We only have one day. Six hours of lectures in the afternoon, then practical training at night.”
The First Years were dumbfounded.
They naturally thought it would be physical training.
Of course, they had already heard plenty from other professors and seniors about all kinds of obstacles waiting in the breakthrough test.
“Nothing difficult about it.”
Of course, none of it was difficult for Ziel.
But for the students…
‘We’re screwed.’
‘Do it all in one day?’
It seemed hopeless.
But they had no choice but to do it.
Just like they had been doing all along.
However, the moment Ziel’s lecture began, the students couldn’t hide their surprise.
‘It’s going straight into my ears.’
‘It’s interesting.’
Was it because they weren’t doing difficult physical training anymore?
It was interesting.
They could concentrate well too.
Most of all, Ziel’s teaching method was more engaging than expected.
“This is an actual trap. It’s a trap that’s good to use in forests and mountains. Be careful of camouflage colors. If you focus on the unnaturalness that’s hard to find in nature, it will stand out.”
Click.
“It works exactly like this. The method to dismantle it isn’t too difficult, but if you’re in a situation where you must dismantle it to pass through, use it like this.”
Ziel reloaded the trap and pushed the prepared stick into the gap.
Then the trap clicked into action and bit down on the stick.
“We don’t know yet what kind of traps will be used in the tournament, but it’s estimated that similar types of traps will be used. Now, next.”
The trap lecture continued.
Before long, the 10 students were diligently taking notes in their notebooks, drawing the appearance, operation methods, and disarmament techniques of the traps.
Next came simple practice.
“Disarm it yourself. Give it a try. Student Karen Aswan.”
Surprisingly, the student who showed talent in identifying and disarming traps was Karen.
She also quickly found traps that had been camouflaged among several flower pots from who knows where.
“Well done, Student Karen Aswan.”
On the other hand.
“I, I really don’t know, Teacher.”
“Student Quantus Hopel. Use your brain more.”
Quantus had no talent for traps.
“If you thought and answered with even half the effort you put into your muscles, you’d get better results.”
Of course, part of it was that he had already decided he didn’t know and gotten scared.
“No matter how you look at it, that guy lacks brain capacity.”
“Hey, I can hear everything!”
“See. His hearing is amazingly sharp though?”
Quantus refocused after the provocation from Ann, his close friend and rival.
“It’s here… Ahhh!”
“Use your brain, Student Quantus Hopel.”
Finding the trap was fine, but he got his hand caught in it.
Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.
“How did that guy even get admitted?”
“Isn’t it a similar case to Yurio? One thing being exceptionally good.”
“Right. But Yurio even pushed Delev hard.”
Flinch.
Delev’s eyebrows twitched as he was suddenly attacked while minding his own business.
The culprit was Celia.
‘That girl really…’
It happened to be Delev’s turn.
“Student Delev Kundel. Your turn.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Delev successfully disarmed the trap as if to show off.
But the next part was the problem.
“Ow.”
He had disarmed it, but got pricked by a plant thorn.
“Similar to Student Quantus Hopel.”
“I, I disarmed it though!”
“Disarming a trap and getting pricked by thorns is no different from being caught by a trap, Student Delev Kundel. Many species of thorns on forest plants contain poison.”
“…”
Somehow this feeling that his image was gradually solidifying in a different direction.
Returning to his seat, Delev deliberately ignored Celia’s gaze while also harboring doubts.
‘But how does Teacher know all this?’
Poison and traps.
Generally, this isn’t knowledge that professors would have.
Much less a liberal arts instructor.
To be precise, it’s difficult to learn.
Because it requires extremely broad and deep study.
‘Well, nothing should be strange anymore…’
Still, since new aspects kept popping up, doubts couldn’t help but arise.
Of course, they were doubts that soon transformed into admiration and awe.
“Next is this trap. And this time I’ll explain poison as well. Naturally, I’ll also explain detoxification knowledge, so listen carefully.”
The students had become absorbed in the lecture.
The First Years’ preparation for the Exchange Tournament was now reaching its final stages.
Around the same time.
The other grades’ preparation for the Exchange Tournament was also nearly finished.
However, the Second Years were continuing training as difficult as the First Years’.
‘We can’t lose to Teacher Ziel again this time.’
This was quite an ambivalent feeling.
If Teacher Ziel did well, it would be their achievement too, so that would be great…
But to lose to Teacher Ziel would be utterly humiliating for a professor.
Especially after that disgraceful showing at the selection tournament, and hearing some professors whispering about it, he couldn’t stand it.
In that sense, being in charge of the Second Years was actually a good thing!
‘This time will be different.’
First Years at 15.
Second Years at 16.
For underclassmen at the peak of their growth, a one-year difference has a bigger impact than you’d think.
The difference in experience can’t be ignored, and neither can the amount of knowledge they’ve learned since coming to the Academy.
The Exchange Tournament is precisely the stage where that difference shows most starkly!
In a one-on-one fight, naturally the underclassmen could win.
But the Exchange Tournament is a stage of cooperation.
Rather, a few outstanding talents can actually become poison.
‘Delev is too independent, and Celia doesn’t like mixing with others either.’
Elcanto chuckled as he recalled the two’s behavior from early in the semester that he had briefly observed.
“This time it won’t work out.”
Elcanto looked down at the Second Years training their hearts out with a pleased expression.
Just then, Tiron approached.
“Professor.”
“Oh, right. You’re back? Why are you so late?”
“I apologize. It took some time. Anyway, the other grades seem to be almost at the final stage now.”
“Really? They should rest for about a day. What about the First Years?”
“They were having a theory class.”
“A theory class?”
Elcanto tilted his head in confusion.
“Suddenly?”
“Yes. From what I saw, it seemed like they were lecturing about traps and poison.”
“Traps and poison?”
It was absurd.
A lecture at this point?
He could only laugh.
There didn’t seem to be anything to worry about.
“Shouldn’t the Second Years do that too?”
“What difference would doing that make? Just breaking through quickly is the best approach.”
Elcanto didn’t know.
The reason Teaching Assistant Tiron was late was because he had unconsciously gotten absorbed in Ziel’s lecture.
‘It really went straight into my ears.’
As he listened, that feeling of being drawn in!
That’s why he asked if the Second Years shouldn’t prepare a bit too…
‘He doesn’t seem very interested in doing it.’
Well, it wasn’t his concern.
The professor in charge would handle it.
But he also had this thought.
‘Will the First Years pull something off this time?’
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————