The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 51

Beautiful.

The moment the boy in the shooting lane pulled the bowstring, all of Jang Yeon-Ju’s attention was captured.

In archery, it was said that posture determined everything.

In that sense, Jae-Hyeok wasn’t perfect; his posture was subtly flawed. And yet there was noble grace about it that she couldn’t place, as if this imperfect posture was somehow perfect for him.

It’s his muscles, she realized.

Showing through his thin activewear, the boy’s back muscles were tensed in perfect form. It was the same for his forearms, which she saw clearly below his rolled sleeves.

He has complete control over every muscle in his body...

Jae-Hyeok let go of the bowstring.

Tatang!

Even in that final moment, there had been no sign of an active Skill.

He hadn’t used mana or Skills to fix his aim or strengthen the arrow. Instead, he’d used pure strength and technique. And the result was amazing.

[Hit.]

“Ah.” To Jang Yeon-Ju’s eyes, the arrow had seemed destined for the target the moment Jae-Hyeok loosed it.

Jang Yeon-Jun trembled. So... beautiful.

She was so immersed in Jae-Hyeok’s movements that she didn’t notice her lollipop falling out of her open mouth.

She examined him from head to toe and tried comparing him to her grandfather.

...No, comparisons are pointless. The boy is already a fully realized archer with his own style.

This was someone she had to respect.

[Hit.]

Before she knew it, Jae-Hyeok’s eleventh arrow had hit an eighth target.

Eight points.

It was a record that Roh Jun-Yeop had never set despite being considered the future marksman of South Korea.

“D-does this make sense?”

One by one, the half-awake Shooting Club members came to their senses.

They’d slapped and pinched each other, but nothing changed. It wasn’t a dream; this was really happening.

[Hit.]

[Hit.]

......

Twenty-five seconds remained on the clock when Jae-Hyeok used his twentieth arrow and put down the bow, setting a record of thirteen points.

“Calling him a genius is an understatement. He is a monster.”

The fact that Jae-Hyeok was a swordsman and a freshman didn’t matter. From that moment on, he was an archer who scored thirteen points in Ragnarok mode without using Skills.

Anyone who walked the path of a marksman knew how great this was.

The eyes of the Shooting Club members changed. They’d treated Jae-Hyeok as a madman a few minutes ago. But now, their gazes were filled with envy and respect. They didn’t dare to be jealous of Jae-Hyeok; after what they’d just witnessed, some people even wanted Jae-Hyeok to become their manager. Of course, some denied it.

“This is a scam! This bastard must’ve used a trick!” Roh Jun-Yeop shouted. “Or are you all deceiving me as a group? Is this a hidden camera prank? Hah, that’s fucked up. Hahaha, I thought it was strange when Austria’s National Treasure candidate went crazy for Baek Do-Jin.”

“......”

The Shooting Club members sympathized with Roh Jun-Yeop's denial. Not a single person here had expected him to lose.

Roh Jun-Yeop continued, “He didn’t even use Skills and scored thirteen points in Ragnarok mode? Only a handful of people in the world can do that. You people must’ve manipulated the rules! You actually brought in this dog from who knows where to do such shit.”

Jang Yeon-Ju advised Roh Jun-Yeop, who was starting to go too far. “How long are you going to talk so rudely? Instead of talking nonsense, shouldn’t you be engraving what you just saw in your mind and trying to learn from it?”

“Learn? You want me to learn from such a scammer? Don’t criticize me, Jang Yeon-Ju! How long will the cripple abandoned by the Bow Saint keep talking so arrogantly in front of me?”

Roh Jun-Yeop shouted with bloodshot eyes, only to shut his mouth in the middle.

Dozens of Shooting Club members were pointing their guns and bows at him. They were the ones who had arrived at the scene with Jang Yeon-Ju.

“Roh Jun-Yeop. The only reason we’ve put up with your terrible behavior so far was because of your position as manager. In Lion’s Castle, the manager sets the club’s rules. So even if you tarnished the reputation of the Shooting Club, all we could do was clean up after you.”

Jang Yeon-Ju’s eyes were cold as she unwrapped a new lollipop and put it in her mouth. “You’re the manager no longer. Test us again, and I will show you how easily we can crush you.”

“......”

Marksman skills didn’t necessarily translate to great combat ability.

Just as Jae-Hyeok couldn’t guarantee winning if he fought head-on with Roh Jun-Yeop, Roh Jun-Yeop’s combat strength wasn’t the best in the Shooting Club, even if his marksmanship was.

And when it came to combat strength, Jang Yeon-Ju was a monster.

She was the granddaughter of Bow Saint Jang Ho-Beom. She would’ve been among the top of the second-year students if she hadn’t been so obsessed with archery.

“Dammit.”

Roh Jun-Yeop collapsed as he accepted reality. No one approached him. Without his manager position, he found that he didn’t have a single friend to comfort him.

Roh Jun-Yeop was trembling with anger and shame when Kang Jae-Hyeok reached out to him. “Get up.”

“...What type of trick is this?”

“It’s no trick. I’m saying I forgive you. You aren’t a vicious criminal. You’re just an immature and spoiled bastard. It isn’t a big deal to reach out a hand.”

Jae-Hyeok knew well the pain of being isolated. He was also an aristocrat and shouldn’t sit on the sidelines.

Roh Jun-Yeop had great talent and would one day serve the country. Jae-Hyeok didn’t want him to become shaken and hurt over this.

“B-But Baek Do-Jin—”

“Apologize and serve him until you are forgiven. You’re going to teach him how to shoot anyway.”

Roh Jun-Yeop and the other members of the Shooting Club looked at Jae-Hyeok with strange eyes. Da-Hee was the only one who knew Jae-Hyeok’s temperament. She wasn’t surprised and nodded proudly.

“...Yes. Thank you.”

In the end, Roh Jun-Yeop grabbed Jae-Hyeok’s hand and got up from his seat.

He was a prideful person, so the Shooting Club members were surprised when they saw his meek appearance.

Jae-Hyeok didn’t think much of it.

Even my homeroom teacher changed, so other students will change even more easily.

Would he change someday, too?

He wondered if he would be able to clear the hate from his heart and find peace once his father’s health and his family’s pride were restored.

Jae-Hyeok was immersed in thought when Jang Yeon-Ju held out a hand to him.

“Welcome to the Shooting Club, new manager.”

Jae-Hyeok shook her hand and replied blankly, “The manager is Baek Do-Jin, not me.”

“Ah, a shame. I was hoping to ignore that matter.” Her lips pursed in regret before she asked, “Is Baek Do-Jin a good shooter?”

“He is terrible!” Da-Hee replied on behalf of Jae-Hyeok, who looked away.

“......”

“......”

Hearing this, the Shooting Club members' visions darkened. Jang Yeon-Ju just laughed and swept back her long blue hair.

“Well, from now on, the Shooting Club is your domain. The manager’s marksmanship won’t matter.”

Since when did the manager of the Shooting Club not need to shoot well? Such an absurd situation might not last long.

In the future, every time Jae-Hyeok made an unreasonable demand to the Shooting Club, the number of members who protested would only increase.

Jang Yeon-Ju thought, I’m sure this kid knows it as well.

Although Kang Jae-Hyeok had no intention of joining the Shooting Club, he was a great archer. And by reaching out a hand to Roh Jun-Yeop, he’d shown that he would be considerate to the members of the Shooting Club.

Crunch, crunch.

Jang Yeon-Ju’s gaze was deep as she rolled the candy around in her mouth and stared at Jae-Hyeok.

As the granddaughter of the Bow Saint, becoming the best archer was her long-held dream.

Unfortunately, her Initial Skill had nothing to do with marksmanship.

She’d trained hard in archery, awakening as many as four Initial Skills, but none of them had been what she’d wanted. Then, her parents began pressuring her to enrol in school. It was also her grandfather’s wish.

Although it had nothing to do with archery, the fourth Skill she’d developed was a really good Initial Skill. Her parents and grandfather wanted her to awaken; they feared her talent would be wasted if she continued chasing a good archery Skill...

Then, after many years of dreaming about becoming an archer, Jae-Hyeok had appeared in front of Jang Yeon-Ju like a ray of hope.

“Don’t worry,” Jae-Hyeok reassured her, who seemed to have a lot to say.

“If the Shooting Club teaches and respects Baek Do-Jin well, I don’t intend to make any impolite requests to the club. Just allow me to take the first pick of the requests coming to the club. Oh, and of course, the club manager’s activity funds are also mine.”

The thing Jae-Hyeok wanted was pleasure without responsibility. He was careful not to ask for too much. If he went too far, he risked having to take on responsibility.

“I’m glad that you’re as wise as your archery skills are excellent.”

Please teach me how to shoot a bow well without any skills. Jang Yeon-Ju barely swallowed down those words and smiled coolly.

She wondered if it was right to call a freshman who’d completely smashed a club wise, but she wasn’t the type to care about such little things.

“Then, I’ll be going,” Jae-Hyeok said.

“Yes. I’ll handle repairing the range, so you don’t need to worry about the rest.”

“Ah, please don’t spread word about what happened here. Things might become annoying.”

“That’s what we should be asking you for. It’ll be dangerous for us if word gets out that a freshman wrecked half the Shooting Club and the manager’s position was taken.”

***

“I’m... the manager of the Shooting Club?”

Do-Jin was called to the cafeteria and blinked his swollen eyes with surprise. He couldn’t understand Jae-Hyeok’s words.

“Why am I the manager of the Shooting Club?”

Three hours ago, Do-Jin had told Jae-Hyeok about what had happened to him at the shooting range.

And this was the result?

He’d woken up after a short sleep and found he was the manager of the Shooting Club. He didn’t know where to start with his questions; his mouth moved silently like a fish’s.

Jae-Hyeok said calmly, “A member of my team wants to practice archery. As team leader, I naturally needed to create an environment for training.”

“Cool! As expected of an aristocrat, you are truly generous!” Da-Hee was past her initial surprise and easily accepted the situation. She gave Jae-Hyeok a thumbs up before happily going back to her frozen yogurt.

The simple Do-Jin also soon accepted his new role.

“Really? Then I can use the shooting range freely from now on? Okay! As expected, you’re the best, Kang Jae-Hyeok!”

“......”

Will these two be okay? Jae-Hyeok worried about his teammates.

Then Da-Hee asked, “By the way, why did you speak formally to Senior Yeon-Ju? Jae-Hyeok, you usually talk impolitely to everyone.”

“I don’t speak informally to everyone. Anyone who hears you will misunderstand.”

A faint smile appeared on Jae-Hyeok’s face. He remembered what he’d felt when shaking hands with Jang Yeon-Ju. “I think she’s a person worthy of respect.”

The weekend was coming to an end.