Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

How many bandit keeps are there around here?"

Ya Suhyeok's new lieutenant thought for a moment, then replied, "Including the unlicensed ones, there are five."

'Unlicensed'?

Do even bandits need government permits these days?

While Baek Suryong and the students blinked in confusion, only Ya Suhyeok nodded in understanding.

"How many bandits are there in total?" he asked.

"About two hundred… but why are you asking about this?"

Ya Suhyeok looked at Baek Suryong. "With the help of two hundred bandits, we should be able to find every rabbit hole in these mountains within half a day. What exactly should we be on the lookout for?"

Baek Suryong grinned. Ya Suhyeok's plan was to ask the local bandits to help them find the demonic beast. With their help, unless the creature ascended to heaven, there was no way it could completely disappear in the mountains without a trace.

The only problem now was whether the bandits would be willing to cooperate…

He must have a plan.

Baek Suryong decided to trust Ya Suhyeok, who was taking the initiative for the first time since enrolling in the Azure Dragon Academy.

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"Tell them to search for anything suspicious: a giant snake or tiger, a cave large enough for a huge monster to hide in, a quiet pond, and areas with excessive energy."

"Understood." Ya Suhyeok turned to the lieutenant. "Issue a request in the name of the Viridian Forest Alliance."

"…What?" The lieutenant's jaw dropped in shock. We'll be in trouble if the Viridian Forest Alliance finds out we made a false request under their name!

Deep down, he wanted to scream, but didn't dare to. Instead, he hastily made up an excuse, "We need the previous Boss's name and the name of our keep to make the request… But as you know, he's passed away, and since our keep is too small, I'm not sure anyone will listen to us…"

"What's the name of your keep, anyway?"

Baek Suryong and the students listened intently. Come to think of it, none of them had bothered asking the name of the very bandit keep they were staying in.

"…Gu Il Keep. It's named after our late boss, Gu Il."

"And you're absolutely sure you're registered with the Viridian Forest Alliance?"

"Of course! Still, it's too dangerous for a small keep like ours to make a request using the name of the Viridian Forest Alliance. We have no powerful backers."

"……" Ya Suhyeok glared at his new lieutenant, making the middle-aged man flinch.

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Terrified, he turned to Baek Suryong and the other students. With teary eyes, he pleaded desperately, "Please have mercy on us, Masters! We'll be in big trouble if we use the Viridian Forest Alliance's name carelessly."

"…Go outside for a moment," Ya Suhyeok commanded, chasing the bandits out of earshot.

He frowned, unsure of what to do. He wanted to ask the Viridian Forest Alliance for help, but at the same time, he didn't want to get these bandits in trouble with them.

There is one way…

There was a surefire method, but it required revealing his secret and potentially disrupting his current lifestyle.

I'll have to tell them someday anyway…

After a brief moment of contemplation, he made his decision. With utmost seriousness, Ya Suhyeok said, "…There's something I haven't told you guys. Well, maybe Senior Sangwoong already knows."

Everyone stared at Ya Suhyeok. He had never looked so serious before. Some nodded as if they already knew what he was going to say.

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"You'll never believe this, but…" Ya Suhyeok squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm from the Viridian Forest!"

There! I said it! I finally said it!Maybe it will be awkward with the seniors now. Maybe I'll have to leave the White Dragon Manor…

He hung his head, afraid to look at his teacher and schoolmates. Known to the world as thugs who robbed people and killed innocents, the Viridian Forest Bandits were considered the most despicable of all the unorthodox sects.

He knew that wasn't true, but stereotypes were hard to break. This was why his Hyungs had told him to hide his identity.

"……" Ya Suhyeok waited, mentally preparing himself to face anger, contempt, and criticism…

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"So?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Eh?"

"What's the big deal?"

"I thought you were going to tell us something interesting."

"I'd be more surprised if you said you were from an orthodox sect."

To Ya Suhyeok's surprise, no one was surprised.

"Why aren't you surprised? I'm a Viridian Forest bandit! A dangerous bandit!" he protested.

"Yes, yes. How impressive."

SMACK!

Suddenly whacked by the Black Dragon Pointer, Ya Suhyeok saw stars, but Baek Suryong's words were more shocking than the pain.

"Everyone already knows that you're a bandit, dumbass."

"What? No way! I thought I was hiding it so well…"

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Everyone burst into laughter.

"I thought only Senior Sangwoong knew… Did you tell them, Senior?" Ya Suhyeok asked, still struggling to believe that his secret hadn't really been a secret.

Geo Sangwoong chuckled, "I didn't need to. Your acting was just that terrible!"

Hyonwon Kang slapped Ya Suhyeok's back, and Yeo Min asked how much money bandits made these days.

Wiji Cheon, his only fellow freshman and the person who looked most like an orthodox martial artist, grinned and sent Ya Suhyeok a telepathic message: [Actually, I'm from the Blood Cult. Don't tell anyone though.]

…Unfortunately, Ya Suhyeok was too bewildered to pay close attention to Wiji Cheon's mind-blowing statement.

"You all knew…" Ya Suhyeok mumbled.

Everyone already knew that I was a bandit, but they never treated me differently despite that.

Realizing his stupidity, he said helplessly, "Damn, I should have just confessed earlier."

"…Right, but back to business. You were going to send a request to the Viridian Forest Alliance earlier. Were you going to use your name?" Baek Suryong asked.

Ya Suhyeok scratched his head. "No, of course not. I was planning to use my stepfather's name."

"Your stepfather?"

"The one who took me in when I was orphaned."

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Ya Suhyeok called the lieutenant back in. Now that his teacher and classmates knew about his background, there was no reason to hide anything from them.

"Hey, Lieutenant. Write this: 'The Viridian Scholar's son asks his brothers in the Viridian Forest for aid.'"

The lieutenant's jaw dropped. "W-Whose son?"

He wasn't the only one surprised.

"The Viridian Scholar, Ju Pyo!" Geo Sangwoong exclaimed, his eyes widening upon hearing the name. As the son of one of the Ten Great Companies, he recognized the names and aliases of most of the leaders of the Viridian Forest's seventy-two bandit gangs.

"Who's that?" Baek Suryong asked. He wasn't interested in bandits, so he had never heard the name before.

Hyonwon Kang, Wiji Cheon, and Yeo Min were also curious.

Flabbergasted, Geo Sangwoong explained, "The Viridian Scholar, Ju Pyo, is the boss of the Yama Keep, one of the top bandit gangs… and a leading candidate to become the next Bandit King. He's also… one of the Ten Great Villains."

Everyone gaped at Ya Suhyeok. Not only was this kid a Viridian Forest bandit, but his stepfather was one of the Ten Great Villains and a leading candidate to become the next Bandit King?

This was completely different from their expectations.

Geo Sangwoong looked at Ya Suhyeok with a serious expression. "If anyone besides us finds out about this, you wouldn't just be expelled, you could be assassinated. The Viridian Scholar has a lot of enemies."

"I wasn't planning on saying that much… but you guys didn't seem to care that I was a bandit, so…"

Turning to the others, Geo Sangwoong said sternly, "We don't care, but we're different from most people in the orthodox. Please keep this a secret from everyone else."

This was a grave matter. Although no one here was much of a gossiper, it could still slip out by mistake.

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Hyonwon Kang nodded nonchalantly. "Alright, so this kid's stepfather is a real big shot, huh?"

"If he's a candidate for Bandit King, then he must be rich. You're loaded, aren't you, Junior?" Yeo Min asked, more interested in the money.

Delighted to find a fellow villain, Wiji Cheon smiled brightly and sent a telepathic message to Ya Suhyeok. [Actually, I'm from one of the Blood Cult's Eight Great Clans!]

"Oh, is that so…" Ya Suhyeok didn't know what the Eight Great Clans were, but nodded blankly anyway.

Fate really works in strange ways… Baek Suryong mused. He had learned a lot from the Bandit King Maeng Ho'ak in his past life and was only able to become an instructor now because of the solid external arts foundation he had built using the Eighteen Strikes of the Viridian Forest.

Adding to that…

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Hyonwon Kang was a descendant of the Crazy Demon's Hyonwon Clan.

Wiji Cheon coincidentally learned a faulty version of the Sword Saint's Unlimited Sword.

Yeo Min had the perfect constitution for the Ice Moon Goddess' martial arts.

The Bandit King's martial arts had strengthened everyone, and its ultimate techniques were being passed down to both Geo Sangwoong and Ya Suhyeok, a merchant's son and the stepson of a potential Bandit King.

I should go meet the Viridian Scholar someday. If he's a worthy successor of Master Maeng… then I should return the martial arts that should rightfully belong to the Viridian Forest.

However, all that could wait.

CLAP!

Baek Suryong clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. Looking at the lieutenant, who still seemed flustered, he demanded, "Send the request as soon as possible. There should be no problem now, right?"

"B-But even if I send it, they might not believe us…"

"Why not?"

The lieutenant lowered his head. "I-If I heard that the Viridian Scholar's son had come here, I wouldn't believe it…"

Baek Suryong fell into deep thought. The lieutenant had a point. This area was part of the Namgung Clan's territory, and there were no large bandit keeps around here, so if a request were suddenly sent in the Viridian Scholar's name…

At least, he would definitely think that something was fishy.

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"What should we do then?" he asked. Although he had a plan in mind, he wanted to hear Ya Suhyeok's opinion first.

"If they don't believe us even after seeing the request, then I'll consider it equivalent to looking down on my stepfather. That means… we will be forced to make them believe us." Ya Suhyeok replied, grinning and cracking his knuckles intimidatingly.

Glancing at his schoolmates, who all looked like they would make excellent bandits, his eyes gleamed like a tiger's.

Baek Suryong nodded. He'd been thinking the same thing. "Luckily, there are five of you and five bandit keeps, so split up and go deliver the requests to them."

The lieutenant quickly prepared five copies of the request and stamped them with the seal of the Gu Il Keep.

Smirking maliciously, Baek Suryong took the request letters and handed them to his students. "We will now form the Azure Dragon Viridian Forest Alliance—a joint task force consisting of the Azure Dragon Academy and the Viridian Forest Bandits—to hunt the demonic beast plaguing this region. Now, go and 'persuade' those bandits, kids."

The students cackled evilly, instantly understanding what Baek Suryong meant by 'persuade'.

"Heheh…"

"Leave it to us."

"We'll 'persuade' them."

"I'll be right back, hyung-nim!"

The five students left to 'persuade' the bandits.

---

Translator's Note: And here's Namgung Su's new look! The new artist seems to be good at drawing action scenes and chibis, but the normal faces are not very expressive and kind of wooden? Here's hoping they improve with practice.

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