On My First Day Undercover, the Organization Collapsed - Chapter 418

—————
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 418
The procession will grow longer.
Gibson had only made a passing remark.
‘He’d said I could ransack the mansion freely, but……’
Surely he didn’t mean cut the mansion in half!
“W-what have you done!”
Rolte’s voice cracked with despair.
The Knight Order Members lost all will to resist at the sight before them.
It really had been cut.
The lower section of the mansion.
Cleanly.
As if a blade as massive and sharp as the mansion itself had passed through with a grinding screech.
The cut was so clean that the mansion stood exactly as it had been, just as butter stands upright after a knife passes through it.
But it had unmistakably been severed.
“I’ll be taking this mansion. Gibson, is this structure alone worth 22 million Cel?”
Gibson stood vacant and dazed, his mind scattered by his master’s display of power.
“Gibson.”
“Ah, yes, sir!”
“Is this mansion worth 22 million Cel?”
Gibson, regaining his senses, quickly ran the calculations in his head.
“A mansion begins to depreciate immediately after construction. The true value lies in the land itself. Though fine materials were used here, they alone cannot account for the full 22 million Cel.”
“I see. Then I’ll take what’s inside as well.”
Rolte cried out urgently.
“W-wait, wait! Please, wait a moment, Ziel Steelheart!”
He couldn’t bring himself to step forward and block the way.
His body might be cut in half next.
Rolte had grasped that protest, denial, or resistance held no further meaning.
“I-I’ll guide you to the storage facility!”
Rolte’s mind raced.
‘Fill it with the cheapest, most worthless items possible.’
The mansion could be repaired.
His goal was to block his way using only the cheapest items from his accumulated wealth—those that wouldn’t sell even if displayed immediately.
“This way, please. This is where I keep my treasures. You’ll find what you’re looking for here.”
“I’ll decide what there is to see.”
Of course, his strategy proved futile.
Ziel surveyed the treasures before him.
Though Rolte hadn’t anticipated it, Ziel possessed no exceptional knowledge of rare artifacts and gems.
But one thing he understood.
‘There are objects imbued with Mana here.’
An eye for perceiving Mana—exactly that.
As he drew upon the Polar Night Breathing Technique, objects suffused with Mana became visible one by one.
There were Magical Tools, and there were items that had naturally absorbed Mana.
Ziel selected only those and claimed them.
Everyone knew that Mana-infused objects—whether natural or artificially created—commanded high prices.
Thump.
Rolte sank to the ground.
Every scheme he’d prepared was blocked.
Then Gibson entered, and the situation spiraled further downward.
“This! This one here! It’s an extremely valuable item.”
“What is it?”
“An Ancient Royal Scepter. This alone is worth several million Cel.”
“I have no need for it.”
“Pardon?”
“These are items I don’t need.”
To Rolte’s relief, Ziel declined. Yet he continued selecting items with ruthless efficiency.
First priority: objects imbued with Mana.
Second priority: items with practical utility.
For example, the object that made Rolte gasp the moment it was lifted.
‘A creation by Aznil.’
The Phase Mirror, a hand mirror acquired by chance at the General Store.
And the Polar Night Dagger, which Ziel had been using even recently.
The items that Aznil had made.
They had been his possessions.
But what had made Rolte’s blood run cold wasn’t the expense.
‘That thing’s cursed!’
It was an extraordinarily dangerous object.
Rolte himself had bought it at an auction and deeply regretted it ever since.
Moving it to this warehouse alone had knocked three Knights unconscious, and one of them had been forced into retirement.
That object was none other than the Shadow Gauntlet.
Ziel had read about it in a book once.
‘This is my chance. If that bastard Ziel puts it on and collapses……!’
Unfortunately for Rolte, what he’d hoped for didn’t happen.
Without hesitation, Ziel fitted the gauntlet onto his left arm and looked around experimentally.
“Hmm?”
Rolte found himself retracing his memory, wondering if Ziel had perhaps drawn out a different gauntlet. No matter how hard he thought about it, he could only recall one.
‘It’s drawing in mana.’
Ziel understood at once.
This was an object that no one but a practitioner of the Breath of Extreme Night could use.
Upon activation, the gauntlet drained mana ceaselessly—at a tremendous rate, no less.
But Ziel, unlike other Knights and Mages, didn’t accumulate mana within his body. He channeled external mana through the Breath of Extreme Night.
Somehow, when he let the external mana flow through him, the drain rate dropped dramatically.
In other words.
It had been designed from the start for only those who practiced the Breath of Extreme Night.
‘I need to take this.’
The Shadow Gauntlet.
He already knew its capabilities.
Of course, most people in the world dismissed its function as absurd nonsense.
Hadn’t Amos himself, who’d given him the Polar Night Dagger, rated the dagger’s value quite low?
It was an excellent haul.
Ziel asked him.
“What’s this gauntlet worth?”
“Th, that is…….”
In his confusion, Rolte answered honestly.
“I bought it for 100,000 Cel…….”
“100,000 Cel. Understood.”
Gibson quickly entered it into the ledger.
Just what had already been recorded exceeded 10 million Cel.
In other words.
He’d only taken the cream of the crop.
‘I don’t need anything else.’
With nothing more to collect, Ziel crushed Rolte’s last shred of hope.
“Next is the mansion.”
“No, please!”
“We’re going.”
The mansion was a true treasure vault!
Countless art pieces!
Countless suits of armor and swords!
Everything was housed there.
‘It’s over.’
A lifetime of collected art pieces, stripped away like this…….
‘Hmm?’
But when Ziel entered the mansion, he headed straight for the Underground Vault.
And there, he found alcohol.
“So this was it.”
That fragrant liquor Rob O’Connor had been drinking—it was right here.
‘That’s the alcohol the Nellia Family bought for a fortune…….’
“Gibson, record this liquor as well.”
“Yes, Master!”
Ziel was delighted.
For Rolte, it was a small mercy.
Alcohol could fill in the gaps to some degree, after all.
“Master, that comes to 22 million Cel.”
Fortunately, 22 million Cel was gathered quickly enough.
‘Thank heavens. We’re alive.’
His cherished artworks had remained untouched.
Rolte’s pride!
The means by which he could swagger before guests visiting the Family House and parade his artistic refinement had mercifully been preserved.
That’s what he believed.
“Well then, I suppose I’ll need to claim damages now.”
Ziel’s reckoning was only beginning.
“Damages… what do you mean?”
“Imperial Law stipulates that beyond the principal and interest, one may claim damages arising from the acts themselves.”
“That’s absolute nonsense!”
But what if he was telling the truth?
“I will claim the indirect damages to my Territory and its people from your past extortion.”
Rolte grasped yet another reality.
The Rim Family had no glory left.
And the Rim Family was, quite literally, stripped bare.
The indirect damages came to roughly 30 million Cel!
In exchange, Ziel selected the Mansion.
“If… if you take the Mansion, where am I supposed to live!”
“That is not my concern.”
“Ah…”
“Where you live from now on is your own affair to sort out. I’m simply collecting what I’m owed.”
The Rim Family was finished now.
More precisely, the Family’s wealth had reached its end.
The artworks accumulated through sheer grit!
The collectibles scraped together from auction houses across the land!
More than half of them had passed into Ziel’s hands.
Who could have foreseen that extorting 2 million Cel would come back to haunt them like this?
It felt like facing a natural disaster!
But Gibson showed no pity, muttering with evident satisfaction.
“That’s what comes of daring to…”
Rolte’s ears caught none of it.
Ziel, observing the man, spoke once more.
“My Territory needs people, and you need them too, so I won’t be taking any of your staff.”
People were needed.
At those words, the ears of the House Staff and Knight Order Members nearby perked up.
‘He needs people?’
‘This place seems ruined anyway…’
Those present could only leave with Rolte’s permission, but the Family’s circumstances might soon deteriorate enough to force his hand.
Rolte stared at Ziel with hollow eyes.
The Mansion would be gone.
The collectibles would remain, but the Mansion to safely house them would vanish.
‘But how does he plan to take the Mansion? Surely not by tearing it down!’
Rolte issued urgent orders.
“Hurry, get everything inside out at once. Quickly!”
Rolte had no idea that Ziel planned to summon Zephyros and remove the structure wholesale!
“Well then, I’ll be heading back. The workers from my Territory should be arriving soon.”
The moment the words left his mouth, the ‘laborers’ from the Steelheart Territory poured in front of the Rim Family Mansion.
They were led by Rob O’Connor—former bandits to a man.
They’d brought carts with them.
“Load everything.”
“Yes, Family Head!”
Such obedience in their manner!
Rob especially was eager to comply.
If he were cast out from the Steelheart Territory, he’d face execution for rebellion.
Survival meant doing whatever he was told.
He had his Secret Arts, so he’d manage to endure…
But after his defeat at Ziel’s hands, his thinking had changed.
‘There are many in this world stronger than me.’
Eventually I’ll be caught—that’s the truth of it.
Better to hold out here, and when another chance comes……
“You bandit scum! Move faster!”
“Yes, yes!”
And so the procession of carts stretched from the Rim Family Mansion all the way to Steelheart Territory.
Naturally, as they passed through the Rim Family’s lands, the territory folk grew puzzled at the sight.
“I heard noise from inside—did something happen?”
“That thing there, I saw it back when I worked at the mansion……”
“Are they sending tribute to Steelheart Territory?”
Oh, if only it were tribute!
Something that sounded like weeping seemed to drift from the mansion’s direction.
Before returning, Ziel issued Rolte a warning.
“Don’t lay a hand on the mansion. If I find you’ve hidden anything away, I’ll discover it.”
“……”
How would one even smuggle away a mansion?
It wasn’t as though it had legs.
Rolte, lost in a void of helplessness, could only nod blankly at the absurdity of the question.
‘The Master has handled this thoroughly.’
Had he seized things clumsily, it would have been nothing but a cycle of suffering—the territory folk would have suffered further extortion, and the Rim Family might have scraped by somehow.
But the Master had crushed them completely.
So the family could never even dream of rising again.
The Rim Family had not simply lost their money and mansion.
Their pride.
Their reputation.
And the prestige they would never recover again.
They had lost it all.
‘Truly a terrifying person. Well, having survived such hardship and become a hero of the Empire……’
“Master, with this much, I believe we could rebuild the territory and construct a new mansion!”
“The mansion can wait. I’ll sell it all and use the proceeds to build facilities for the territory folk.”
“M-Master……”
Gibson was moved to tears.
Such kindness of heart!
“However many days remain for me, I shall spend my remaining life in service to you!”
“See that you do.”
In truth, for Ziel it was a matter of efficiency.
Since he planned to return to the Academy anyway, he had no need for a mansion.
Rather than nobility of spirit, it was simpler than that—the territory folk had been plundered, so he would simply return what was taken.
Ziel took the opportunity to examine Gibson’s condition.
‘His mana flow isn’t particularly strong.’
He was older than Zephyros and had done no real training. His body was so gaunt that malnutrition would hardly be surprising.
“Gibson.”
“Yes, Master!”
“From now on, I’m placing the territory’s management in your hands while I’m away.”
“Master, how could you entrust such responsibility to me……”
“Then you must improve your health first.”
“Understood! I’ll exercise and eat properly from now on—ugh, cough!”
Before Gibson could finish, Ziel swiftly pressed his fingers into vital points across the old man’s body.
“Wh-what…… to one who has pledged his loyalty……”
“Move your body.”
“……Eh?”
Something was different.
His hunched back felt refreshed.
His shoulders, which he’d constantly kneaded and tapped in frustration, had grown flexible.
And that wasn’t all.
The tightness in his chest!
The tension in the back of his neck!
The numbness in his legs that plagued him constantly!
All of it had vanished.
“You…… did this for me, Master?”
“Yes.”
“Um, how so?”
“Too bothersome to explain.”
“Ah.”
Kelvin was taken aback.
‘Well, he’s progressed from “I don’t feel like talking”!’
He wasn’t sure which was better, but either way it seemed like progress.
“I’ve temporarily normalized your body’s mana flow. From now on, maintain steady nutrition and exercise. Jog a bit, or walk briskly. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master!”
Gibson bounded ahead to the front of the cart and back, his spirits high.
On his way, he made sure to say something to Rob and the other former bandits.
“You lot, brace yourselves! I’ve been reborn!”
His voice seemed somehow louder too.
Ziel regretted not having left the throat alone.
He felt a twinge of second thoughts.
In any case, they returned to the Territory.
“It looks like the Family Head brought back quite the haul?”
“Haul? You don’t say! Where did he acquire it?”
Ziel was met with fervent cheers.
The Territory folk, who had been scraping by barely alive, could now finally be compensated.
“Boss, you’ve arrived.”
“Mm. Send a letter to the Academy to have Zephyros brought here. Call Chef Teo as well.”
“Yes, understood.”
Gilbert’s lips curled upward at the edges despite himself.
“Boss, I have something to report.”
“What is it?”
“As you instructed, I’ve identified matters among the neighboring families that would warrant receiving ‘gifts.'”
Ziel nodded as he observed the procession of carts heading toward the Steelheart Territory.
“The procession will only grow longer.”
Thus began the moment when the Steelheart Territory commenced its rapid and magnificent prosperity.

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