Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 23

The chief instructor approached him without any sign of interest and asked again.

“What did you find?”

Yan swallowed his dry saliva.

He had been waiting for him to show up, but… the problem was the booklet in his hand.

‘Keep calm.’

Yan tried to act nonchalantly and hide his true feelings.

“You don’t look surprised.”

“I’ve been waiting for you from the start, sir.”

Yan’s words made the chief instructor tilt his head.

“You waited for me?”

“Yes. I thought it would be uncomfortable for you if the other instructors saw me hanging around your office.”

The chief instructor’s eyes sank coldly.

How did this guy know him so well, as if he had read his mind?

The instructors were lower in rank than him, but they were not his people.

Some of them must have been planted by the special mission director.

He definitely needed a place to avoid the eyes of the other instructors.

The chief instructor stared at Yan, who boasted an unusual cunning, and asked.

“So why did you wait for me?”

“You said you didn’t see any reason to spare me, since the special mission director’s information was wrong, right?”

“Hmm.”

The chief instructor glared at Yan’s eyes.

He did say something like that.

But.

‘I’d rather have him in my hand than kill him.’

He was still curious about what he would say.

“So?”

“I found something interesting here.”

“Interesting?”

“Did you know that the special mission director’s daughter is sickly?”

The chief instructor frowned.

He had never heard of such information.

“Hey, you didn’t know that? She looked pretty serious… She was panting even with a little movement, and she looked like she could die any moment.”

“…”

The chief instructor’s eyes sparkled.

This was new information to him.

“How do you know that?”

“I told you, I met her a lot.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?”

“There are many people who are born weak. I didn’t think it was useful information.”

“You thought that way until now, but now you changed your mind?”

“Yes.”

The chief instructor looked at Yan sharply.

Was he spilling all the information he had hidden because he was afraid of dying?

‘He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy.’

The chief instructor’s lips curled up.

He found this situation quite amusing.

A mere trainee was barely keeping his relationship with him alive by walking on a tightrope.

The chief instructor hid his expression and asked calmly.

“Why did you change your mind? Did you find something here?”

“I realized something strange.”

“Something strange?”

The chief instructor’s eyes were filled with curiosity.

Yan did not avoid the chief instructor’s eyes and continued.

“I thought that the special mission director was moving his daughter around to avoid your pursuit, but… what if that’s not the case?”

The chief instructor’s curiosity turned into interest.

“What if the reason he moved his daughter was not for protection from the outside, but for treatment of her illness?”

“Treatment?”

“When I remembered that she was sick, it seemed a bit strange.

No matter how afraid he was of you chasing him, it was weird to keep moving his daughter who could die anytime.”

“…!”

The chief instructor’s face changed drastically.

His brows furrowed and his eyes became serious.

Yan smiled slightly.

He saw impatience and anticipation in the chief instructor’s face.

That meant he had the upper hand now.

Yan was confident that he would not lose this advantage to the chief instructor.

“…So what are you trying to say?”

“I found something interesting on the first floor. I thought it might help you if you knew.”

“Interesting?”

“Born with a disorder that makes the circulation of mana unstable, weak and prone to illness. And very rarely survives past twenty.”

“…Jeor-maeg?”

A famous disease.

Jeor-maeg-jeung (abstinence).

The most important thing for humans to live is air and mana.

Jeor-maeg is a disease, or a constitution, that prevents the proper circulation of mana in the body.

The chief instructor’s lips rose.

“The special mission director’s daughter has jeor-maeg?”

Yan also smiled like the chief instructor.

“Maybe, maybe not. But I think it’s worth doubting.

There are many other symptoms that I saw here that are similar to what she showed normally.”

Yan already knew that the special mission director’s daughter had jeor-maeg.

How could he not know about the first embezzlement case that occurred after the establishment of the special mission unit?

The case where he embezzled various elixirs and treasures for over ten years, even in a brainwashed state, to cure his daughter who had jeor-maeg.

“If this is true, it would be good news. But this is not evidence, and it’s only your word…”

Yan shrugged casually.

“I told you, maybe, maybe not. But what if this is really true?”

“…”

“Isn’t that awesome?”

“…I guess so.”

There was no need to say more.

The head instructor was a quick-witted person, so he understood everything Yan wanted to say.

“It takes a lot of money to treat, or rather, keep alive someone with jeor-maeg.”

“You have a lot of authority and power as the special director, but if you embezzled that much money, there must be some traces somewhere.”

“…If I only dig up the traces, there won’t be any backlash.”

“Right?”

Yan’s words were the end of it. The head instructor closed his eyes. He stayed like that for a while.

Then he opened his eyes again.

“Hey, did you come down to the first floor because of this? I should reward you for this.”

He returned to his usual tone.

He seemed to have made up his mind.

Yan was delighted by the head instructor’s words.

There were many books on the first floor, not only martial arts and skills, but also history books and other miscellaneous ones, so it was hard to find a flaw in his excuse.

The head instructor would probably imagine whatever he wanted to fill in the gaps.

By the way.

“A reward?”

“Yes. A reward.”

Yan felt a surge of nervousness at the unusual word from the head instructor.

“Do you have any thoughts of becoming my disciple?”

At that moment, Yan couldn’t control his expression.

His disciple?

Is he crazy right now?

No matter if the head instructor was the future one of the three swords of the continent, he had no desire to become his disciple.

He had seen how this author treated his disciples in his previous life.

‘He called them disciples, but they were really just toys, right? He would mercilessly discard them if they displeased him even a little bit, and there was no survivor among his disciples.’

But.

If he flipped it around, the position of ‘disciple’ was very attractive, since he had to form a deep relationship with the head instructor somehow.

Yan looked uneasy, but the head instructor didn’t care.

“Why? Don’t you like it? You should listen to my offer properly, shouldn’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“If you were just moderately interesting, I wouldn’t have gone this far. But you’re too appealing, what can I say? Anyway, I don’t have time right now, so let’s talk about the details tomorrow.”

Then the head instructor’s gaze went to the book Yan was holding.

“But what’s that? You’ve been holding it pretty preciously since a while ago. What is it?”

A brief alarm went off in Yan’s head.

He had diverted his attention, but he was interested again.

Yan’s mind spun quickly.

“It’s nothing.

It’s a book that summarizes the historical process of the empire’s birth, and I was a bit interested.

I had some time left, so… Anyway, it’s true that I have to live here for the rest of my life.”

Yan went one step further and thrust the book in front of the head instructor.

“Are you curious? Do you want to read it too, head instructor?”

A look of confidence.

The head instructor looked back and forth between Yan and the book.

Snicker.

He let out a deflated laugh.

“What do I need to read that for? I already heard and memorized it enough to get earwax when I was young.”

“Ah.”

Yan made a natural sullen expression and took the book back to his chest.

He sighed with relief inside.

And he asked casually.

“Then, can I borrow it for a few days and read it in my quarters?”

“That?”

The head instructor tilted his head and looked at Yan’s face. He shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not allowed, but it doesn’t seem like a problem. Do whatever you want.”

Yan tried to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out.

“Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah, the instructors are waiting outside, so let’s end it here for now. I’ll send someone tomorrow at midnight, so follow me.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yan bowed his waist.

And he followed the head instructor out of the royal library.

The instructors outside the library stared at Yan, who came out in a good mood.

“Why are you standing there?”

One of the instructors stepped forward.

“…Aren’t you going to punish him?”

“Do you think I’m going to kill the first place for such a reason? Maybe if it was those maggots down there.”

“Then there’s a problem of fairness with the other trainees…!”

“Fairness?”

The head instructor snickered and walked up to the protesting instructor.

“Hey.”

“…Yes.”

“Tell me honestly. You’re doing this because he killed your colleague a while ago, right?”

The instructor clenched his teeth at that.

But the head instructor just scoffed at him as if he was nothing.

Yan held his breath and watched their confrontation.

“…It’s the rule. If he stayed in the royal library after ten o’clock…”

“Yeah. He stayed with my permission. If you have anything else to say, report it to the director, but.”

The head instructor’s eyes curved like crescents. The shadows near his feet began to wriggle.

“But why are you so tongue-tied since a while ago? Do I have to report everything to you, even these trivial things?”

A fierce aura spread from the head instructor, and the instructor quickly bowed his head.

“No, sir. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah. Keep bowing your head like that. If you don’t have the courage to bare your teeth.”

The aura that froze the hall disappeared as if washed away.

“Hey, first place. You haven’t seen your new quarters yet, have you? Hey, instructor, if you have nothing to do, why don’t you guide this guy?”

Yan laughed incredulously at the head instructor’s behavior.

“Yes, sir. Head instructor.”

The approaching instructor sent him a burning gaze.

‘How blatant.’

The head instructor seemed to want to tell him that he would suffer from this guy if he didn’t become his disciple.

Not that it was a warning, though.

1: jeor-maeg is a fictional disease in martial arts novels, where the blood vessels are blocked or broken, preventing the circulation of internal energy. It is often a fatal condition that grants extraordinary talent to those who suffer from it

* * *

“This is where you’ll stay until the next test.”

“Thank you.”

Yan bowed his waist as the instructor glared at him, then turned around and left.

“It’s damn spacious.”

It was a huge difference from the dormitory he had stayed in before.

It was like he had taken the interior of a hotel where only nobles could stay in the imperial capital.

There was a fireplace in the living room, and a soft bed and sofa.

And there was a desk where he could study easily.

Also, there was a bathroom with a private shower, unlike the smelly communal one he had used before.

And a window that let him see the outside on one wall.

“I’ve seen it a few times before, but personal rooms are definitely the best.”

Yan lay down on the bed right away.

He felt a soft sensation envelop his back.

He felt like he could fall asleep at any moment.

“No. Not now.”

He opened his eyes wide as he said that.

He got up and picked up the book that was stuck in his side.

I, the dragon-man Bahamut, here is the breath of the divine dragon.

Let the beginning be recorded.

Yan sat on the bed and straightened his back.

The content he was about to see was the secret of the founding emperor, who was called the best of ancient times.

His heart pounded.

He didn’t know if it was because of the anticipation or the breath of the divine dragon… but he thought it was the former.

Like a hero facing a grand epic.

He stretched his back and his eyes sparkled.

With such a devout posture, he turned to the next page of the book.

Light and darkness are one and two.

“…?”

He saw that one sentence and flipped the page, but.

“What is this?”

It was all blank.

There was no other secret written.

There was no 구결, which was essential for all techniques.

Only one sentence.

Light and darkness are one and two.

“…?”

He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing it wrong.

But nothing changed.

Light and darkness are one and two.

That meant this was the first piece…

“What, what do you want me to do?”