On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 416

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

First Day of Infiltration, The Organization Was Destroyed — Episode 416
No Losses Accepted
Clang!
A clear, ringing sound echoed across the Steelheart Territory.
Tap, tap!
The sound of hammering filled the air.
Thud, thud!
The noise of destruction and reconstruction mingled together.
It was the sound of the Steelheart Territory being reborn.
“Damn mercenaries! Move faster! Don’t you dare think of running! Our master and his subordinates are watching with keen eyes!”
At the center of it all stood Gibson, the Head Butler.
The same Head Butler who had waited faithfully even when the mansion lay in ashes, nothing but scorched earth remaining.
“Quite the impressive fellow. That voice of his. Wouldn’t you say so, Boss?”
“The volume of his voice carries as much power as mana itself.”
So thunderous was his voice that none of the mercenaries dared entertain thoughts of escape.
They followed without question.
Of course, there were ways to slip away unnoticed.
But just yesterday.
One man had tried to flee and been caught, and right before their eyes, this man called Ziel Steelheart had shown them something extraordinary.
With a single strike, he had split the earth itself, blocking the way forward.
After that, not a single mercenary dared harbor thoughts of escape.
The same held true for the ordinary bandits, not those of mercenary origin.
“Are we just… going to settle here then?”
“You fool. That’s wishful thinking. Settle? We’re facing execution, execution.”
“Surely they won’t execute all of us?”
“At minimum, prison. Our captain got five years — you think we’ll walk free?”
They accepted the reality with surprising resignation.
The facts were plain.
Intoxicated by victory before, they now faced a harsh truth after their captain’s defeat.
They had plunged the Western Region into chaos for nearly five years and even attacked several noble families.
Looting even a single noble house meant execution; attacking multiple families and becoming notorious left no room for mercy.
In other words, now was the time to do as ordered.
“What if we escape and survive?”
“We can’t without the captain.”
Of course, those who harbored any desire for survival were all caught cleanly.
“Hey, Kelvin. You know what? Once you reach Master-level, your speed increases too.”
“W-wait!”
“Come on, hurry!”
Gilbert and Kelvin.
Kelvin alone had reached a realm the mercenaries could only dream of.
With those two present, the bandits had nowhere to run.
And so the reconstruction plan for the Steelheart Territory began, with several hundred bandits pressed into service.
“Head Butler! What in the world is all this?”
“What do you mean, what? Our master has returned!”
“Has someone from the Steelheart Family truly come back?”
“Well, do I look like I joke around?”
“No, certainly not…”
The existing residents of the territory were equally shocked by the sudden reconstruction.
Most of them were not descendants who had lived there for generations.
Many had left when the family was destroyed, with only a handful remaining.
The rest had come to resettle for various reasons.
Because of this, the few residents who had lived here since before the family’s destruction felt joy not unlike Gibson’s.
“Will our territory finally see better days?”
“To think the master’s family would return like this…”
The Steelheart Family that they remembered was decent enough.
Taxes were slightly lower than average, and when poor harvests came, the granaries were opened to provide relief.
Though not exceptionally kind or benevolent, the family had never tormented its residents.
And this brought Ziel to realize one crucial fact: the existence of the Rim Family.
“We need to crush the Rim Family first!”
“Damn them! Those bastards who came regularly to rob us!”
The Rim Family.
The Lowarc Family, which had destroyed the Steelheart Family, was already gone.
Weakened by the aftermath of their conflict with the Steelheart Family, they fell to other Noble Families.
The Rim Family seized that opportunity, wedging themselves into the gap and plundering the Steelheart Family’s former territories.
“Gibson.”
“Yes, Master!”
“What sort of place is the Rim Family?”
“A cursed place!”
The moment I asked for an explanation, Gibson sputtered indignantly, his face flushed with anger.
“They plundered without restraint, yet bore no responsibility for anything!”
“I see.”
“We must seize them all and exact justice!”
Conveniently, I was in need of funds.
Though money was abundant, there was no reason to squander what I had when I could extract it from elsewhere.
“Gibson.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Calculate everything the Rim Family has plundered from us—money, food supplies, and all else.”
“Understood! By the way, might I enlist a clever lad who’s good with numbers to assist?”
“Do so.”
Reconstruction proceeded smoothly in this manner.
Yet within a single day, a problem arose—materials.
The land lay barren.
Not a single stone or tree remained.
The Rim Family had stripped them all away.
Truthfully, several of the territory’s inhabitants had thought Rob’s Bandit Gang’s invasion a blessing.
At least they would no longer suffer plunder from the Rim Family.
Of course, Rob’s Bandit Gang now labored as slaves.
“Boss, materials seem rather urgent at present. Apparently, they’ve been grinding other crops into porridge instead of baking bread. They’d occasionally venture to neighboring territories to trade for meat.”
Essential facilities needed to be built immediately, and for that, materials were indispensable.
Food supplies, meanwhile, Ziel and his companions had obtained with ease.
Mountains of corpses from those beasts!
Thanks to that bounty, the territory’s inhabitants had enjoyed meat for the first time in ages, though materials could not be hunted—therein lay the true problem.
“I’ll fell the trees.”
“Pardon?”
“With my sword.”
“Ah.”
“And you’ll transport them.”
…….
The problem resolved far more easily than anticipated.
Not through Ziel felling and Gilbert and Kelvin hauling—
“Extraordinary. That entire bandit gang…….”
It was the Rihart Family.
“Family Head Daren Rihart.”
“Teacher Ziel, I came by out of concern, but what in the world has happened here?”
“They attacked, so I subdued them all and am putting them to work as laborers.”
…….
After that brief, succinct reply, Daren fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“Are you…… naturally unharmed…… and there were no other complications?”
“No.”
How could there be?
It was a needless concern.
“What will you do with Rob O’Connor?”
“Employ him as a laborer.”
“Ah, I see—then when the time is right, you might arrange for his execution…….”
“I’ll keep him as a laborer indefinitely.”
“Pardon? He’s the leader of the bandit gang that threw the Western Region into chaos.”
“Yes. That’s precisely why he’ll pay the price—by laboring for me for the rest of his life.”
“For the rest of his life…….”
“Yes. For life.”
Ziel had already decided Rob’s fate.
He had also decided the fate of the mercenaries under Rob’s command.
They would spend the rest of their lives toiling in the Steelheart Territory, working themselves to death.
“The other noble families will lodge protests, sir.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. You’re establishing yourself in the Western Region now, and to do that properly, your relations with the other families…….”
“Then I’ll have them work on behalf of those families as well.”
…….
Daren realized there was no point in saying more.
When the man involved had already decided, there was no way to stop him.
If he were merely an ordinary family head, perhaps. But this was—
None other than Ziel Steelheart himself.
“Ah, I understand. Only, if this man should escape, it could become problematic. So his personal safety management requires special attention…….”
“That won’t happen.”
Ziel spoke with certainty.
“There are many ways to know if Rob O’Connor tries to flee.”
“Ah…….”
Daren couldn’t ask how he knew.
He’d only refuse to answer anyway—that much was obvious!
And there was another reason as well.
It was something Ziel didn’t know.
Namely, that Rob O’Connor’s situational judgment was far keener than one might expect!
If he ran now, he’d be captured, and that meant execution.
Staying here was actually a blessing by comparison!
Though it looked like a prison, the Steelheart Territory was in fact a place that protected Rob and his gang.
“I understand. I’ll leave his disposition entirely to you, sir.”
“Very good. And Lord Daren Rihart—do you have materials available?”
“Pardon?”
“Materials are needed to rebuild the territory.”
Daren didn’t need to think hard about it.
“Of course we should provide whatever support we can! I’ll send letters to each family.”
“Very well. Thank you.”
Daren had no intention of checking Ziel’s ambitions.
Open interference would have no effect, and subtle interference would be transparent and useless besides.
Who was he dealing with, after all?
A war hero of the Empire itself.
It was far better business to help with the reconstruction and provide material and spiritual support, building good relations instead!
“I’ll dispatch essential personnel as well. It appears the territory currently lacks nearly all basic facilities.”
“Yes, and I’ll cover the costs.”
“Costs? I’ve already been paid. Didn’t you subdue those bandits on our behalf?”
Ziel found that argument reasonable.
“That is indeed a great price. Then I’ll accept it with gratitude.”
“You’ve done enormous work. You’ve brought peace to the entire Western Region.”
“Then I’d also ask for food supplies. We’re short on provisions.”
“Food supplies, understood.”
“We’ll need settlers as well.”
“Settlers…… understood. I’ll arrange quotas by family.”
“We need servants too.”
“Those as well—I’ll allocate them across the families…….”
“Weapons are necessary as well.”
“Spears, swords, and bows…….”
“Books as well. I intend to build a library.”
…….
The requests kept mounting, but Daren had no choice but to agree to all of them.
In truth, even if things were different, the Western families would have granted everything Ziel asked for.
They simply now had a perfect justification—that he’d eliminated the Western bandits on their behalf!
And so, from that very night, the materials, personnel, and other supplies Ziel had requested began pouring into the Steelheart Territory.
“Teacher Ziel Steelheart—or rather, Family Head!”
“How long we’ve waited with anxious hearts! Now the Steelheart Family truly returns to the Western Region!”
“The journey here must have been terribly arduous. As a fellow member of the Western families, we ask for your continued favor!”
“You’ve become a proper Family Head now. Congratulations on your restoration!”
It was right alongside the Family Heads.
The Family Heads had come in person to offer their congratulations to Ziel!
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Family Heads from across the entire Western Region had gathered all at once.
Materials and personnel that Ziel had requested, weapons, servants, books—and of course all manner of gifts besides—filled the space to bursting.
“Please accept this, Lord Ziel Steelheart. We offer it as a token of our joy at your restoration!”
“I cannot accept it.”
“Pardon?”
Ziel refused at first.
But nobles were masters of propriety and justification!
When he would not accept, they made him do so.
“Then we would be ungrateful wretches! We would be shamed in the eyes of the people!”
“But I am the one who refused. Why should you suffer slander for that?”
“Because that is not how people will see it! It is human nature, you understand. No matter how graciously Lord Ziel Steelheart puts forth his refusal, we nobles would be seen as those who showed no gratitude and offered no gifts!”
Ziel came to understand the concept of propriety a little better.
“I see. Then I shall accept these gifts as compensation for the elimination of the bandit gang.”
“Thank you so much!”
Yet the nobles did not know one thing.
Ziel truly did regard all of this as nothing more than gifts.
‘Everyone has such generous hearts. I never expected they’d send so many gifts just for dealing with one bandit gang.’
Obtaining any direct benefit beneath Ziel’s influence—something they desired—would not prove easy.
‘I don’t see the Rim Family among them.’
Noting the absence of the Rim Family, Ziel made a decision.
He would seek them out himself.
And a promising idea had taken shape in his mind.
“Gilbert.”
“. . . .”
“Gilbert.”
“Yes? Oh, did you call for me?”
“Gilbert, my master is calling you. Go on! The Head Butler and I shall manage things here!”
Ziel gave Gilbert an order.
“From now on, gather information about rumors.”
“Rumors? What sort of rumors?”
“Rumors about magical beasts, bandits, and anything else that troubles the other families.”
“Understood. But may I ask your purpose, sir?”
“When we eliminate them, gifts will arrive.”
“Sir?”
“When we deal with whatever is troubling the Western families, gifts like these will keep arriving.”
Ziel was planning to send letters to each family after each elimination, requesting gifts as payment.
“So… gifts come that easily?”
“All of this is compensation for the bandit gang’s elimination. Do similar work, and we shall receive similar gifts.”
Gilbert finally grasped the Boss’s true intention.
‘He truly is terrifying. Is he planning to strip the Western families bare under the guise of propriety?’
Gilbert had naturally misunderstood.
The beginning of a true expansion of influence!
The Academy would nurture fiercely loyal subordinates for the future, while here at the main base, he would rapidly establish his foundation!
“I understand your orders. I shall carry them out at once.”
That the main base was here in the Steelheart Territory was indeed a great misunderstanding.
‘The Academy is more comfortable after all. Once the preparations are complete, I should observe Gibson and grant him full authority.’
The gifts had arrived as well.
The territory’s organization seemed to present no major problems.
“Gibson.”
“You called for me!”
Gibson came rushing over and dropped to one knee!
“Why are you kneeling?”
“Because you are my master!”
“I am not your master. I never purchased you.”
“That is what I wish to do!”
“Stand up.”
“I refuse!”
“Stand up. That is an order.”
After a prolonged struggle, he finally rose to his feet.
His stubbornness was extraordinary.
“Have you finished calculating the Rim Family’s debts to me?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Then go to the Rim Family now.”
Since they hadn’t come to him, he would go to them directly.
Ziel’s principle was simple.
Efficiency.
In other words.
Never take a loss.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————