Duke’s Son: Re

Chapter 51

“Beautiful.”

The moment the boy on the field drew the bowstring, Jang Yeonju was captivated by him.

There was a saying that in archery, stance determined everything. In that sense, Kang Jaehyuk was not perfect. His posture was slightly off.

Yet, there was a noble dignity about him. This imperfect stance seemed fitting for him, and somehow, it was automatically convincing.

“Muscles.”

Jang Yeonju realized why she found it convincing.

Even in comfortable sportswear, the boy’s back muscles were tensely poised in an ideal form.

The muscles on his arms, exposed due to his rolled-up sleeves, were the same.

Surprisingly, the young boy was perfectly controlling his entire body’s muscles with each breath.

*Taang-!*

Until Kang Jaehyuk released the bowstring, there had not been a hint of skill.

He did not rely on skills to fix the bow’s aim or enhance the arrow’s power.

He just shot arrows using pure physical strength, magic power, and technique.

And yet, the result was astounding.

『Hit.』

“Oh.”

Perhaps the moment the boy pulled the bowstring, I foresaw this outcome. Hence, it felt beautiful and exhilarating.

Without realizing it, Jang Yeonju was engrossed in the boy, unaware that candy had fallen from her agape mouth.

She scrutinized him from head to toe and compared everything to her grandfather.

And soon, she realized.

“Comparisons are meaningless.”

He was simply someone worthy of respect. The boy was already a complete archer.

『Hit.』

Before she knew it, Jaehyuk’s 11th arrow hit the 8th target.

8 points.

A record even Noh Junyeob, who was touted as the future of Korean shooting, had never achieved.

“Is that even possible…?”

The half-dazed members of the shooting club began regaining their senses one by one. This was reality.

Pinching their thighs and trying to wake up from a dream didn’t work.

『Hit.』
『Hit.』

With 25 seconds of the time limit remaining, Jaehyuk used all twenty arrows and set his bow down, achieving a score of 13 points.

“Being called a genius isn’t enough. That’s monstrous.”

It didn’t matter anymore that Jaehyuk wasn’t part of the shooting club or that he was a freshman who had just enrolled in Lion’s Castle.

An archer who scored 13 points in Ragnarok Mode without the help of skills. Anyone who walked the path of shooting knew how tremendous a feat this was.

Until a few minutes ago, the shooting club members regarded Jaehyuk as a madman, but now their eyes were filled with 180-degree admiration and respect.

They couldn’t even muster a hint of jealousy.

Some even began hoping Jaehyuk would become the club president. Of course, there were dissenting voices.

“This is a scam! That bastard must have cheated!!”

It was Noh Junyeob.

“Or are you all trying to trick me together? Is this a hidden camera? Ugh, I found it suspicious since you were babbling about Baek Dojin and claiming Austria’s National Treasure candidate went wild.”

“……”

The shooting club members fully empathized with Noh Junyeob’s denial of reality. Nobody here had anticipated he would lose.

“Scoring 13 points in Ragnarok Mode without using skills? There are only a few people worldwide who could do that. If you’re going to fabricate, keep it reasonable! Dragging some unknown stray dog and pulling this kind of prank.”

As Noh Junyeob’s harsh words crossed a line, Jang Yeonju advised him.

“How long are you going to behave disgracefully? Wouldn’t it be better to learn from what you just witnessed by imprinting it in your mind rather than spewing nonsense?”

“Learn? You want me to learn from that fraudulent bastard? Don’t be ridiculous, Jang Yeonju! Stop blabbering in front of me, you pathetic fool forsaken by the art of archery…!”

Mid-sentence, Noh Junyeob stopped and clamped his mouth shut, his eyes bloodshot.

Dozens of shooting club members, who had followed Jang Yeonju to the scene, aimed their guns and bows at him in unison.

“Noh Junyeob. The reason we tolerated your despicable behavior so far is solely because you were the club president. In Lion’s Castle, the club president represents the club’s law, so when you smeared the reputation of our shooting club, all we could do was clean up after you.”

Jang Yeonju, her eyes cool, inserted a new lollipop into her mouth.

“Don’t make us test how far we can crush you now that you’re no longer the president.”

“……..”

Shooting proficiency didn’t necessarily equate to martial prowess.

If Jaehyuk and Noh Junyeob had fought head-to-head, no one could confidently say who would win, just as Noh Junyeob’s might wasn’t the greatest in the shooting club.

Especially since Jang Yeonju was a monster.

The granddaughter of Jang Hobum, obsessed with archery, she would have been in the top 10 of her class in her second year if she hadn’t fixated on archery.

“Damn it…”

Facing reality, Noh Junyeob, his spirit broken, slumped down. Nobody approached him.

Stripped of his title as president, he didn’t even have a friend to comfort him.

“Stand up.”

The person who extended a hand to the trembling Noh Junyeob, overwhelmed by rage and shame, was unexpectedly Kang Jaehyuk.

“… What kind of trick is this?”

“No trick, damn it. It’s just a gesture to make peace. You’re not some vile criminal, just a naive, brash kid, so offering a hand isn’t a big deal.”

Jaehyuk understood the pain of isolation. Besides, as a noble, he couldn’t ignore a loner.

Especially Noh Junyeob, who had an abundance of talent. He didn’t want a future asset to their country to become shaken due to emotional wounds.

“But… I….”

“Keep apologizing and doing community service until you get forgiven. Besides, you have to teach Baek Dojin shooting anyway.”

Both Noh Junyeob and the shooting club members looked at Jaehyuk with curiosity.

Only Dahui, who knew Jaehyuk’s disposition, nodded proudly without surprise.

“Well…thank you.”

Ultimately, Noh Junyeob took Jaehyuk’s hand and stood up.

The prideful Noh Junyeob revealing his gentle side stirred murmurs among the shooting club members.

Jaehyuk didn’t think much of it.

“If even our homeroom teacher changed, kids will change more easily.”

Will I change someday?

On the day his father’s health and the Kang family’s honor were restored.

Jaehyuk wondered if he, too, could shed the anguish knotted in his heart and gain peace.

Lost in thought, Jang Yeonju extended a handshake to him.

“Welcome to the shooting club, new president.”

Holding her hand, Jaehyuk replied with a dumbfounded expression.

“I’m not the president; Baek Dojin is.”

“… I was hoping to gloss over it, what a shame.”

She smacked her lips in disappointment and asked an important question.

“Is Baek Dojin any good at shooting?”

“He’s extremely bad!”

Dahui answered on behalf of Jaehyuk, who avoided eye contact.

“…….”

“…….”

The shooting club members’ faces turned grim. Jang Yeonju swept back her long blue hair with a wry smile.

“Well, the shooting club will only be your sponsor in the future, so the president’s shooting skills won’t really matter.”

A situation where the shooting club president didn’t need to be good at shooting. This absurd situation might not persist long.

When Jaehyuk made any unreasonable demands on the shooting club, the opposition among the members would grow.

“This child knows it too.”

Kang Jaehyuk, despite having no intention of joining the shooting club, was a remarkable archer.

When he extended his hand to Noh Junyeob, there was hope he would empathize with the shooting club members.

*Crrunch, crrunch.*

Jang Yeonju, chewing on candy with sharp incisors, watched Jaehyuk with deep eyes.

Becoming the greatest archer had been her long-time dream as the granddaughter of the Bow Saint.

However, her First Skill had bloomed completely unrelated to archery.

She had painstakingly bloomed four First Skills through sheer archery effort but couldn’t achieve the desired outcome and was pressured into entering school by her parents.

It was also her grandfather’s wish. Despite having nothing to do with archery, her fourth awakened First Skill was exceptional.

Caught between her parents’ and grandfather’s wish not to waste her talent and her dream of becoming an archer, she wandered for years until Jaehyuk appeared before her like a ray of hope.

“Don’t worry.”

Jaehyuk reassured her, who seemed to have a lot to say.

“If the shooting club treats and respects Baek Dojin well, I have no intention of making unreasonable demands. Just allow me to seize the incoming requests for the shooting club’s endorsement. Ah, of course, the president’s activity funds are mine.”

Jaehyuk sought pleasure without responsibility.

He wanted to avoid any incidents of indulging too much in pleasure and inadvertently shouldering responsibility.

“I’m relieved you seem as wise as your excellent shooting skills.”

Teach me how to shoot without using skills.

The words lingered at the tip of her tongue, but Jang Yeonju swallowed them and laughed brightly.

Calling a freshman who had just thoroughly disrupted an entire club wise felt odd, but she wasn’t the type to care about such trifles.

“Then, I’ll be off.”

“Sure, go ahead. We’ll fix things here, so don’t worry about the aftermath.”

“Oh, and please don’t spread today’s incident. It could become a nuisance.”

“That’s more a favor we should ask. If it gets out that a freshman demolished half the shooting club and took the president’s seat, there could be all sorts of trouble.”

***

“I am the shooting club president?”

Summoned to the cafeteria, Dojin blinked his swollen eyes. He couldn’t comprehend what Jaehyuk was saying.

“Why am I the shooting club president?”

Three hours ago, Dojin had vaguely told Jaehyuk about what happened at the shooting range.

And now, this is the result. He fell asleep for a while and woke up as the shooting club president.

Unsure where to start questioning, he gaped like a fish as Jaehyuk spoke matter-of-factly.

“A team member wants to practice shooting a bit, so as the team leader, shouldn’t I at least provide an environment for practice?”

“Awesome…! You indeed have a broad mind, just like a noble!”

Dahui had gone beyond the stages of feeling astonishment and disbelief.

She had long adapted to this nonsensical situation and continued to praise Jaehyuk while eating yogurt ice cream.

Being simple-minded, Dojin went with the flow too.

“Really? Then, I can use the shooting range freely from now on? Okay! You’re the best, Kang Jaehyuk!”

“…….”

Are they okay?

Jaehyuk, worried about his unimaginably simple teammates, was questioned by Dahui with curiosity.

“Why did you use honorifics with Yeonju? Doesn’t Jaehyuk usually speak informally to everyone?”

“What do you mean, speak informally to everyone? People might misunderstand if they hear that.”

A faint smile spread across Jaehyuk’s lips.

He recalled the sensation when shaking hands with Jang Yeonju.

“She seems worthy of respect.”

The weekend was coming to an end.