Star Instructor, Master Baek
Chapter 362: Why Is It So Noisy?

TL: FoodieMonster007

By the time Baek Suryong finished his story and rose from his seat, the view outside the window had grown quite dark.

"Are you planning to leave right away?" Yayul Hwang asked, still looking a little lost from the shock of hearing so many unbelievable things in just a few minutes.

"Yes."

"Stay for dinner, at least. We have more to discuss…"

Baek Suryong shook his head firmly. "I agreed to a similar request just recently and ended up being held up for several hours. All the information about the proposed alliance is in the letter I gave you. If you have any further questions, please direct them to the North Sea Ice Palace yourself."

"But I'm the Murim Alliance Chairman…"

"Well then, Chairman, will you teach my classes at the Azure Dragon Academy in my stead?"

"Ugh…" Yayul Hwang wanted to smack Baek Suryong for the infuriatingly clever reply, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The achievement of preventing an alliance between the North Sea Ice Palace and the Blood Cult, and instead eliciting an alliance proposal from them, was more than enough for Baek Suryong to be hailed as a hero of the entire murim.

In the end, he muttered, "…I've lost count of how many times you've thwarted the Blood Cult. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if you had a feud with them in your previous life."

"I suppose so. It must be a fateful feud from my previous life," Baek Suryong replied with a smirk. Yayul Hwang had hit the bullseye, but the old man didn't need to know that.

He got up to leave. Ryu Seol escorted him to the main gate of the Murim Alliance, while Yayul Hwang summoned his Chief Strategist for an emergency meeting.

"…So, what was it like after the Chairman returned?" Baek Suryong asked Ryu Seol as they walked.

Ryu Seol groaned. "Don't even ask. The moment that old geezer came back, he raised such hell that I thought I would lose all my hair from stress."

Baek Suryong chuckled. Now that they were away from Yayul Hwang's office, Ryu Seol didn't hesitate to vent. Her free-spirited and rough manner of speech was the same as ever, and her Demonic Eye of Illusions was once again covered by an eyepatch.

"So… what happened to Moyong Jun?" he asked, curious.

"……" Ryu Seol fell silent.

Baek Suryong waited for her to compose herself. He had deliberately not asked about Moyong Jun in front of Yayul Hwang, who loathed the Blood Cult more than anyone else. With the old man's fiery temper, he would have flown into a violent rage the moment he returned and found out that a Murim Alliance lieutenant had betrayed them to the Cult.

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In the worst-case scenario, Yayul Hwang may have crippled Moyong Jun's qi center, severed the tendons in his limbs, and thrown him in prison.

Fortunately, from Ryu Seol's calm expression, it seemed things had worked out better than he thought.

Sighing softly, Ryu Seol said, "He was demoted to the rank of a common martial artist, and he's to serve in the army without rank if a war breaks out. The Chairman was furious, but he went easy on him after hearing that you personally pleaded for leniency."

"That's a relief."

Of course, before that, Moyong Jun had already been beaten half to death by Yayul Hwang's fists. He had only survived because Ryu Seol fought vehemently to protect him, despite the risk of being charged with insubordination.

"…Even if he had been crippled, I was just going to take him as my attendant and look after him for the rest of my life. Isn't the bastard lucky to have such good friends?"

Baek Suryong grinned playfully. Hearing her talk about Moyong Jun reminded him of Master Eun and Moon Yul. "Be sure to send me your wedding invitation. I'll definitely be there!"

Ryu Seol immediately choked. "Cough! W-What the hell are you saying?"

"Hahaha!"

Finally, they reached the main gate of the Murim Alliance, and Baek Suryong parted with Ryu Seol. This time, he headed for the Jaegal Estate.

There, two familiar faces were waiting for him.

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"Oppa!" Jaegal Soyeong greeted merrily.

"…You're here," Namgung Su said as indifferently as ever.

As was polite for a guest, Baek Suryong went to greet the Jaegal Patriarch. Afterwards, the three sat down with some wine, catching up after their time apart.

"Did you really go all the way to the North Sea Ice Palace?"

"You certainly roamed around a lot."

The stories each of them had piled up over several months were more than enough to last through the night.

Baek Suryong smirked faintly as he refilled Namgung Su and Jaegal Soyeong's wine cups.

They've both grown stronger. It appears that they also managed to spend their time productively.

Seeing his colleagues naturally made him think of his students.

"I miss the Azure Dragon Academy brats," he remarked.

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"Me too! I can't wait to start teaching again soon!" Jaegal Soyeong said excitedly.

Namgung Su nodded. "I wonder if they've finished the holiday homework I assigned them."

Early the next morning, the trio set off toward the Azure Dragon Academy.

For the past few days, Yeo Min would turn her head towards the main gate whenever she sensed a presence outside.

Did someone come back?

Whenever she went out to check, however, she mostly found loiterers or challengers who had come after hearing about the Azure Dragon Hero.

"Mr. Baek isn't here."

"Hey, just a moment…"

SLAM!

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Fortunately, she was strong enough to take down most challengers on her own. On the rare occasion an unmanageable nuisance came looking, she would go to Mae Geuklyom, and he would quickly come and chase them away. When Seo Ri'ae was around, she too would help take care of the troublemakers.

Today, however, no one was around.

Yeo Min stared at the main gate, sulking. "The new school semester starts the day after tomorrow, so why is no one back yet?"

The joy of living alone in a spacious house had lasted only for the first few days. The White Dragon Manor was simply too quiet and desolate.

Of course, she was busy training for most of the day, but in the evenings after even Seo Ri'ae had left, she had developed the habit of eating dinner alone while staring blankly out the gates.

"…Don't tell me those idiots don't know when school reopens?"

It was entirely possible. There were two men whose brains were made of muscles, an innocent boy who knew nothing but the sword, and a brainless idiot. It wouldn't be strange if they had all become so absorbed in their training that they forgot the start date.

"Nah, but surely… they can't be that stupid, can they?"

Yeo Min's faith in her seniors and juniors wavered.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Hearing someone knock on the gates, Yeo Min immediately kicked off the ground, executing her movement arts at top speed. The presence outside was a familiar one.

WHOOSH!

Her pure white hair fluttered in the wind. With movement arts that had improved by leaps and bounds compared to before the vacation, she arrived at the gate in an instant and threw it open without hesitation.

"Gehahahaha! Have you been well?!"

A giant with slicked-back hair, dressed in silk clothes that were expensive at a glance, waved at her. Having eaten well during the vacation, Geo Sangwoong seemed to have gotten even bigger. It wasn't that he was flabby, however. His entire body looked as solid as a large rock.

"What, it was just you, Senior Sangwoong?"

"How could you look so disappointed at my arrival, Junior? You've hurt your senior's feelings, you know?"

Contrary to his words, however, Geo Sangwoong grinned and strode into the White Dragon Manor.

After looking around, though, he asked Yeo Min with a puzzled face, "Am I the only one back? The new school semester starts the day after tomorrow. What are those bastards thinking…?"

Geo Sangwoong sighed, stroking his smooth, beardless chin. Ever since Tang Soso had forcibly shaved him and dressed him up during the first-semester finals, he had taken a liking to the clean-shaven look and maintained it.

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In Yeo Min's eyes, however, he was nothing more than a fat wannabe pretty boy with zero market demand. "Senior, you look exactly like a nouveau riche who just returned to his hometown to show off."

"Gehahaha! That's because you don't yet know the charm of a man like me."

"…I don't think that's the issue here."

"Have you had dinner?"

Yeo Min shook her head. "Not yet. Have you?"

Geo Sangwoong held out a food basket and grinned. "I thought so, so I brought some food from home. Let's eat together!"

Yeo Min's eyes lit up with delight. She had wondered where that mouth-watering smell was coming from.

The two happily shared the meal that Geo Sangwoong had brought and caught up on their time apart. With just one person added to the mix, life was brought back to the White Dragon Manor.

"What did you do during the vacation?" Yeo Min asked.

"My father took me with him on a trading caravan. He dragged me along, saying that jianghu experience is also important for becoming a merchant. We even ran into bandits a few times…"

Geo Sangwoong vividly recounted the story of his journey with his father, the Golden Dragon Chairman. They had gone on a journey while deliberately hiding that they were the Golden Dragon Trading Company and almost died at the hands of bandits.

Yeo Min laughed. It seemed that Geo Sangwoong had also gone through quite a lot during his vacation.

After talking about himself, Geo Sangwoong asked Yeo Min, "By the way, I'm impressed at how much stronger you've gotten. I was honestly a bit surprised when I saw you earlier."

Yeo Min smiled mysteriously. "I started learning ice arts seriously. Turns out, I have quite the talent for it."

"Oho…"

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As the two were catching up, another person—no, one person and one animal—entered the White Dragon Manor.

"Nyaaah!" A white furball leaped over the wall and plummeted towards the two with the speed of a hidden weapon.

WHOOSH!

A little Silver Tiger leaped onto the dinner table and earnestly chomped on a large piece of meat with its small teeth.

"It's the Silver Tiger!"

"This fellow. Seems like he's grown a little?"

Their eyes were filled with delight as they eagerly stroked the Silver Tiger's head and back.

The Silver Tiger lifted its head, puffed out its chest proudly, and roared, "KYAOOOOH!"

Ya Suhyeok walked over, rolling his eyes. "Seniors, how is it that you see that tiny furball but not me?"

Only then did the two notice Ya Suhyeok.

Geo Sangwoong clicked his tongue as he regarded the tanned Ya Suhyeok. The boy had grown even bigger since he last saw him. "Hey, Suhyeok. How did you get even darker?"

"I got darker because I was running around the mountains all day. Why did you get paler, Senior? Did you slack off on your training?"

"I mostly trained indoors, and even while I was traveling, I made sure to wear a bamboo hat so my skin wouldn't tan. These days, men need to take care of their skin too."

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"What's this about a man taking care of his skin…"

Sitting opposite Geo Sangwoong, Ya Suhyeok grabbed a piece of meat from the table with his bare hands and ate it, his actions a perfect mirror of the Silver Tiger, a beast.

WHACK!

Yeo Min struck the back of Ya Suhyeok's hand with her folding fan and narrowed her eyes. "Use chopsticks, you barbarian. How was your vacation?"

Ya Suhyeok shook his head as if the mere memory was dreadful. "…All I did was train like hell in the mountains. My Hyung-nims kept pestering, asking me to do this and that for them. Those guys, they live for the fun of tormenting me."

Although his vacation plan was simple, the effects of his training were evident. His already muscular body now had even more well-defined muscles.

"Right. My adoptive father said he'd like to invite you seniors and the teacher over sometime," Ya Suhyeok added absentmindedly.

The two seniors' eyes widened in shock.

"You do know we're from the orthodox sects, right? Is it really okay for us to just visit the Viridian Forest Bandits' fortress?"

"…But are we really orthodox?"

"Well, on the surface at least…"

The three immediately went into an identity crisis.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Wiji Cheon was the next to show up. His condition, however, was a little strange.

"…Seniors. It has been a long time."

The three seniors stared blankly at Wiji Cheon. He wore a red headband on his forehead, and his eyes were sharply upturned. His steps were disciplined, his voice was authoritarian, and he was acting… like an instructor?

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"Cheon, what's wrong with you?"

"Did you eat something bad?"

"Did you suddenly hit puberty or something?"

Unfortunately, the White Dragon Manor family was not one to be cowed so easily. They rushed at their youngest junior, their eyes sparkling like siblings who had just discovered that their youngest brother was going through a rebellious phase.

Geo Sangwoong and Yeo Min pinched Wiji Cheon's cheeks like they were mochi, while Ya Suhyeok yanked off his red headband.

"W-Why are you doing this?!" Wiji Cheon cried, flustered.

Sadly, no matter how hard he tried to resist or how much of a crane among chickens he was, three against one was too much. In the end, Wiji Cheon returned to his original self.

"S-Stop! I'm sorry! I'll stop! Ahaha! That tickles! I surrender! I surrender!"

Freed from his over-immersion in his teaching role, Wiji Cheon reverted to being a shy, timid boy and recounted his experience at the SRS training camp.

"What? You were a swordsmanship instructor?"

"Puhahaha!"

"Are those kids okay?"

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The White Dragon Manor quickly became boisterous with laughter. Despite not having seen each other for several months, they lost track of time as they chatted and shared stories.

Suddenly, they felt a presence rushing toward them from afar. Recognizing the aura, everyone sighed in unison.

"That bastard. Does he have to make a huge scene out of his arrival?"

"He's practically announcing his presence to the world."

"Should we jump him the moment he enters?"

"Let's see what he's planning to do first."

BOOM!

A figure shot up from outside the wall, kicked off of it, and explosively leaped up again. Performing a somersault in midair, he landed lightly on the roof of the tallest pavilion of the White Dragon Manor.

It was a young man. Standing on tiptoes with his hands clasped behind his back like a master, his hair, which had grown a little longer over the vacation, fluttered in the cool night wind.

With a flourish, Hyonwon Kang announced, "I, the pride of the Hyonwon Clan, Sky Sundering Blade Hyonwon Kang, have returned from vacation."

ZOOOOOM!

Immediately, pebbles rained down on him, accompanied by jeers and criticisms.

"What bullshit is this!?"

"You are shameless."

"It's embarrassing, so get down from there right now!"

Leaping lightly to the ground, Hyonwon Kang grinned as he approached his seniors and juniors.

Everyone sighed. With each passing day, this idiot's shamelessness was growing increasingly reminiscent of his teacher's.

"How's everyone been? Am I the last one here?" Hyonwon Kang asked.

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With his arrival, all of the White Dragon Manor students had gathered.

"It seems everyone has returned," a familiar voice remarked.

Everyone shot up from their seats and looked toward the manor entrance.

""Headmaster!""

Mae Geuklyom looked over the students one by one, his eyes glittering with a peculiar light. "Good. It seems none of you have spent your vacation in vain."

Even considering that he was used to seeing young martial artists improve daily, the students of the White Dragon Manor had improved tremendously.

They have made what they learned their own.

He nodded approvingly. Vacation was not simply a period of rest. It was a time to look back on what one learned during the semester in one's own time, to ruminate on it, and to make it completely one's own.

In his eyes, these children had spent their vacation to the fullest.

"Uh, Headmaster… I know that it's late now, but may I request a duel?" Wiji Cheon asked gingerly.

"…Very well."

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The old man and the boy, both of whom loved the sword, clashed under the moonlit sky.

Seeing this motivated the other students as well.

"Shall we have a go after so long?"

"Senior. A match, please."

Geo Sangwoong and Ya Suhyeok pitted their trained bodies against each other, while Yeo Min and Hyonwon Kang faced off with their finely honed skills.

The nighttime White Dragon Manor came alive with the sound of footwork and clashing weapons.

Suddenly, a man's voice rang out, "Why is it so noisy this late at night… Oh?"

"…!!"

Everyone immediately paused mid-movement and whipped their heads around in unison.

""Mr. Baek!""

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The students dashed toward Baek Suryong, grinning brightly. Behind them, Mae Geuklyom smiled warmly.

Baek Suryong smiled back at them.

"I'm home," he said.

He had finally returned to where he belonged.