Star Instructor, Master Baek-Chapter 386: The Azure Games (5)

The Azure Games, which began in the morning, continued until the sun was high in the sky.
"Die! Die! Die!"
"Let's wipe them all out!"
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
"We will now take a short break for lunch! The Azure Games will resume in two hours, so please have your lunch and come back!" Dokgo Jun croaked, amplifying his now-hoarse voice with qi.
Instantly, the Blue and White Teams, who had been throwing beanbags at each other's heads for the Piñata-Breaking Game, froze in unison. Just the mention of 'lunch' had magically ended the chaos and restored peace and harmony.
"...Lunchtime!"
"Let's fight again after eating!"
Teenage boys and girls took food more seriously than anyone, and having run around all morning, the starving students swarmed the dining hall, snack bar, and food stalls set up at the academy.
Dokgo Jun let out a sigh of relief as he also guided the spectators. "You can enjoy an affordable meal at the Azure Dragon Academy cafeteria. Lunch boxes are also available for purchase. Most importantly, we humbly ask you to try the food from our student-run food stalls!"
Hungry from cheering at the top of their lungs, the spectators eagerly scattered in search of lunch.
"Skewers! Delicious skewers!"
"Get your sweets! We have candied fruit and mooncakes!"
Among the students who did not participate in the Azure Games, some were manning food stalls. Though they couldn't prepare elaborate dishes like professional chefs, they could easily make simple snacks, and their stalls proved quite popular.
Soon, families could be seen gathered together everywhere, eating lunch boxes they had brought from home.
"My dear daughter, are you hungry? I saved a spot over there, so let's quickly eat our lunch."
Such was the case for most parents of children at the Azure Dragon Academy.
Sometimes, however, conflicts arose between family members for unexpected reasons.
"Uh, Mom? I'm on the White Team, so why do you have a blue headband?"
"...I'm sorry, but Mr. Azure Dragon Hero was so handsome that I just..."
"MOM!"
The Five Young Azure Dragons gathered for lunch, too.
"Do you guys have family to eat with? Geo Sangwoong asked.
Yeo Min, Wiji Cheon, and Ya Suhyeok shook their heads. They were all orphaned at a young age, and either had distant relatives who lived too far away or family members who were preoccupied or otherwise problematic.
Yeo Min asked, "Are your parents coming, Senior Wonkang?"
Hyonwon Kang shrugged. "They're busy trying to restore our family's honor, so I told them not to come. What about you, Senior Sangwoong?"
Geo Sangwoong grinned and held up a huge bundle. "Same here. My parents can't come because of an important business deal. Instead, they sent this special lunch box for all of us to share."
"Ooh!"
"That looks delicious!"
A delicious smell wafted from the huge, multi-tiered lunch box, which seemed to contain enough food for twenty people.
However, the moment the box was opened, everyone hesitated.
""......""
Feeling that everyone was thinking something similar, Hyonwon Kang asked cautiously, "Should we invite Mr. Baek to eat with us?"
"I think that would be good."
"...I was feeling uncomfortable too."
"We can't possibly eat this much food anyway."
The Five Young Azure Dragons closed the lid of the lunch box and went to find Baek Suryong, who was hanging out with Tang Soso, Ak Yeonho, and Myeong Il'oh.
As they approached, Baek Suryong stared at them suspiciously. "What is it? Did Namgung Su send you to here to spy on us?"
Armed with the shamelessness he had learned from his master, Hyonwon Kang said, "Oh, come on, Mr. Baek. Senior Sangwoong brought a lunch box for all of us, so let's eat together."
He took a step forward, but Tang Soso blocked his path and glared at him. "What are you plotting now? Don't tell me...did you put laxatives in the food?"
Hyonwon Kang jumped up with an aggrieved expression. "Hey! Do you think we're like you?"
Tang Soso narrowed her eyes.
Isn't he overreacting? How suspicious. Very suspicious...
"Think about it. How could we put laxatives in something we're going to eat too?!" Hyonwon Kang argued.
Tang Soso snorted. "...It's not impossible. You could have taken an antidote beforehand, or combined the poisons so that it only takes effect when one eats several side dishes at the same time. Or it could be an intention to send your teacher to the privy even if it means sacrificing all of you. How vicious! You would go that far to eliminate your
former
teacher..."
""What former teacher! He's still our teacher!"" The Five Young Azure Dragons protested indignantly.
"Hmph!" Tang Soso regarded them scornfully.
"She's not entirely wrong. If you betrayed me once, why couldn't you do it a second time?" Baek Suryong added, backing up Tang Soso who was on his side for now.
"No, why are you like this too, Mr. Baek...?"
"We're really not like that..."
The Five Young Azure Dragons looked at Baek Suryong with sulky puppy-dog faces. Although it was true that they had betrayed Baek Suryong and joined Namgung Su, and it was also true that they had fought hard, wanting to win at all costs, that was because...
"...Pfft! Ahahahahahahaha!" Suddenly, Baek Suryong burst out laughing so hard that his shoulders started shaking and tears welled up in his eyes. "You're all such softies! If you're going to betray someone, do it properly. What's going to change if you feel guilty now?"
"We're sorry..."
"Mr. Baek..."
Baek Suryong shook his head. A smile had formed on his lips without him realizing it. "Come over here and sit down. We'll call a truce while we eat."
""Yes!"" The Five Young Azure Dragons rejoiced.
Tang Soso, on the other hand, pouted. "Mr. Baek, how can you trust these traitors..."
"Are you afraid there's poison?" Baek Suryong cut in. "What's there to worry about when we have a genius from the Sichuan Tang Clan here with us? You can just detoxify it, right, Soso?"
He congratulated himself inwardly on his brilliant response. Fortunately, he now knew how to handle this girl to some extent.
Well, I do have Thousand Poison Immunity, but I don't think now's a good time to reveal it...
Tang Soso sighed, "I guess it can't be helped then... I'll taste each one first before I feed it to you."
"No, that's a bit..." Baek Suryong rejected her immediately. Despite Tang Soso's obvious disappointment, what couldn't be, just couldn't be.
They opened the large tiered lunch box Geo Sangwoong had brought.
Ak Yeonho's and Myeong Il'oh's eyes shot wide open at the sight of its contents.
"Holy moly..."
"What kind of lunch box is this glamorous?"
"Haha! The most skilled cook at the Golden Dragon Inn made this himself."
"It looks really delicious..."
"It looks as good as Mr. Namgung Su's cooking!"
As everyone was commenting on the food and reaching for their chopsticks, Baek Suryong sensed a familiar presence from behind and rose from his seat. Mae Geuklyom was walking over with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Am I interrupting your meal?" Mae Geuklyom asked.
Baek Suryong shook his head. "Not at all. I was planning to go and see you after lunch."
Mae Geuklyom nodded. [We found five of them.]
He explained the locations and characteristics of the assassins he had identified to Baek Suryong.
[I'm sure there are more, but finding the rest won't be easy...]
[Did the Divine Azure Dragon Sword say anything?]
Previously, Baek Suryong had asked Mae Geuklyom and Noh Goonsang to find assassins during the Azure Games, even entrusting them with the Divine Azure Dragon Sword. Since it would be much easier to find assassins with the help of sorcery, he also told them the secret of the sword.
The plan worked wonderfully. By enhancing their senses with sorcery, Mae Geuklyom and Noh Goonsang were able to identify even more assassins than they otherwise would have.
[No, she's been quiet. I left her with the Principal, who will notify me immediately if a problem arises.]
[Don't worry too much, they won't move yet. As much as I hate to admit it, they are excessively patient fiends.]
Baek Suryong planned to use this opportunity to draw out Deathshroud, who was lurking nearby and testing the waters. Aside from his rivalry with Namgung Su, another reason he had willingly joined the Azure Games and stirred up hype was to deliberately lure them out.
Even the five that Grandpa and the Principal found could be the bait they laid out for me.
[I know this is exhausting, but please help me a little more, Grandpa.]
[I understand.]
Their secret conversation over, Mae Geuklyom turned to leave, saying, "I see. Continue your meal, I will be on my way..."
Hmm? That bundle he's trying so hard to hide, could it be...?
"Grandpa, is that a lunch box you're holding behind your back?" Baek Suryong asked.
"...Ahem!" Mae Geuklyom cleared his throat softly and held out the bundle to his grandson. Between the tightly tied cloth wrapper, an old lunch box could be seen peeping out.
Baek Suryong's eyes widened. "Did you pack this yourself?"
"...Well, you're not one to pack a lunch box, are you?" Mae Geuklyom mumbled.
In truth, he had woken up at the crack of dawn to pack a lunchbox for his grandson. Upon seeing Baek Suryong happily eating with his students, though, he decided to leave quietly.
"Please sit over here, Grandpa!" Baek Suryong shouted. Now that he knew about the lunchbox, there was no way he could just let the old man go.
"I've already eaten."
"No you haven't, I heard your stomach growling."
"...The presence of an old man will only make things awkward between you youngsters."
Baek Suryong turned to his colleagues and students. "Headmaster Mae Geuklyom will be joining us for lunch. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
Everyone shook their heads. While they were afraid of the Headmaster, everyone respected him as a martial artist and an esteemed elder.
"...Then perhaps I will stay for a little while."
Mae Geuklyom sat down, pretending that he couldn't refuse. He felt sorry for Noh Goonsang, who was guarding the rooftop alone, but he wanted to stay with his grandson a little longer.
"Since it's come to this..." Baek Suryong looked around, searching for someone.
Luckily, the person he was looking for was not far away.
"Hey! Namgung Su!" he yelled, imbuing his voice with inner qi and waving dramatically.
"What is it?" Namgung Su groaned, frowning. He was just about to eat with the other instructors.
"If you haven't eaten yet, why don't we eat together?"
"...Just what are you plotting?"
"Nothing. We can continue fighting after we eat, can't we?"
"......" After hesitating for a moment, Namgung Su nodded. "Let's join them."
In the end, everyone sat down to eat lunch together, regardless of whether they were on the Blue Team or the White Team.
At first, only the people around Baek Suryong and Namgung Su showed up, but gradually, more than a dozen people joined in.
All sorts of stories were exchanged, and boisterous laughter erupted. They talked about who they had fought in which event, how they almost won, and how they could win next time.
"I'm telling you, we could have won if there was no interference!"
"Don't make me laugh, it was already over by then."
"Listen. There's a lantern festival on the second day, right? There's a girl I've been interested in lately, and this time, I'm going to ask her out..."
"Hey, hey, shh!"
Despite being on opposing teams and fighting fiercely to defeat each other all morning, everyone agreed on one fact. No matter which side they were on, food tasted better when eaten together.
Glancing at his grandson, Mae Geuklyom smiled faintly. "You look like you're having fun."
Baek Suryong scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Haha, yeah."
He was indeed having fun. Including both his present and past lives, this was the first time he had experienced anything like this.
It wasn't just the festival, either. Many of the things he was experiencing at the Azure Dragon Academy were totally new to him.
"...That's why I want to show them."
He would show the Blood Cult how impenetrable a fortress the Azure Dragon Academy was, and teach them the consequences of encroaching on his territory.
All so they would never dare threaten his sanctuary again.