Duke’s Son: Re

Chapter 66

“Idiot. Moron. Sea anemone. You’re ugly.”

“If I’m ugly, then what about you!?”

Oh Jaha, who had been silently enduring his younger sister Oh Jadu’s criticism, finally shouted angrily.

He simply couldn’t stand being called ugly.

“I’m an idol! Admit that my shining face adds a little bit to the Silla family’s popularity!!”

“Even if I concede a hundred times that your ridiculous claim is true, it’s far from enough to justify forgiving you. Today, you smeared the Silla family’s reputation significantly.”

A girl with a bob-cut hippie perm criticized him.

Her cold gaze made Oh Jaha flinch, and he quickly collected himself and lowered his head again.

“I’m sorry, young family head.”

“Why did you stop your sword midway? It’s not like your character to suddenly become calm,”

Silla Kyung, who had been quietly looking out the window, suddenly asked.

Tilting his head slightly, Silla Kyung’s cascading hair reminded one of the Milky Way. It was a beautiful sight, no matter how many times one saw it.

“Well, that is….”

With a moment of hesitation, Oh Jaha felt a genuine inquiry in Silla Kyung’s attitude and answered truthfully.

“It seemed dangerous.”

“?”

The group tilted their heads in confusion.

They had been thoroughly briefed on what happened in the dining hall.

They heard that Oh Jaha, unable to hold back after being insulted by Lauren while arguing, had recklessly swung his sword first at a boy named Jinsung.

… They had no idea how the situation escalated to that point, but in any case.

Oh Jaha’s swordsmanship contained both speed and unpredictability, making it difficult for those encountering it for the first time to respond.

Especially if the opponent was weaker than Oh Jaha, it was no exaggeration to say they would be overwhelmed without being able to defend themselves.

Yet, for Oh Jaha to say he felt danger and stopped his attack?

“Why?”

“Well….”

Oh Jaha couldn’t answer hastily to his sister, who was blinking with eyes so similar to his own pink ones.

Kang Jaehyuk.

In the moment the boy had grasped the hilt of his sword, Jaha had felt a chill down his spine.

It happened just before the double swords were about to intersect.

Had Kang Jaehyuk drawn his sword at that moment, the two sword paths Jaha had created would have been blocked at the intersection.

This meant his swordsmanship had been seen through instantly.

‘… That can’t be.’

Could it have been just a simple coincidence?

In reality, Kang Jaehyuk never did draw his sword until the end.

He probably couldn’t draw it.

Yes, that’s it.

There couldn’t be another monster in the world who could exploit the weaknesses of swordsmanship after seeing it just once, other than So-gaju.

‘Even if, by any chance, the guy really did have exceptional eyes.’

The guy was still weak.

His level during the entrance reevaluation was only 10.

Assuming he had above-average talent, he would have reached a level between 17 and 19 by now.

Even if Kang Jaehyuk had swung his sword in time, it would have been meaningless.

At the moment his sword blocked mine, he would have been unable to withstand the force and would have been cut down, sword and all.

“What’s your level, Jaha?”

Silla Kyung, who had been silent until now, posed a new question.

“Level 38.”

This time, Oh Jaha answered confidently.

In terms of level alone, gaining admission to the Lion’s Castle wasn’t all that bad.

Since he roamed every night hunting monsters in search of quests, his level rose rather quickly.

Silla Kyung had a different opinion.

“Your growth is slow. We’ll have to schedule search routines a bit more intensively.”

“More intensively than now? We’re already barely resting for about 10 minutes every 3 hours.”

“We’re spending most of our time on travel rather than combat, so what’s the issue here?”

He spoke as if simply walking, running, and climbing rocks were akin to resting.

“It’s, it’s hard….”

Oh Jadu made a face, on the verge of tears.

She was already worried that her calves seemed to be cramping up recently.

Of course, the possibility of an awakened individual’s physique changing through exercise was low, but it was the feeling that mattered.

“If you’re not willing, consider this as atoning for the wrongs Jaha has done and accept it.”

“It’s his fault, so why do we… oww!? Ah, seriously! Moyo! Didn’t I tell you not to hit my head! You’re not responsible for what happens if I become dumb, so why do you keep hitting my head!”

Oh Jadu, who yelled, clutching her stinging head, was looked at with disdain by the bob-cut hippie perm girl who explained.

“It’s true that our growth rate has slowed recently. More precisely, it has relatively slowed… You don’t intend to be caught up by average students by any chance, do you?”

Recently, Class A’s average level surpassed 28.

Especially with students like Chae Dahui and Im Yujin showing remarkable growth, there was a risk that the levels of the Oh Jaha siblings and Moyo could be caught by them, which could damage the Silla family’s prestige.

‘Of course, that possibility is nearly zero.’

There’s a need to instill a sense of caution so Jaha won’t get into any more trouble.

“I will personally go and apologize courteously to Young Master Kang Jaehyuk,”

Moyo said, but Silla Kyung shook his head.

“No, I will go myself. He might claim my apology is insufficient, though….”

Silla Kyung trailed off as he got lost in thought.

He revisited the incident that happened in the dining hall.

Beyond Oh Jaha, he had gathered and corroborated testimonies from the spies he had planted all over the school to fully understand the situation’s sequence of events.

‘Did Oh Jaha react excessively sensitively towards Kang Jaehyuk?’

The answer was undoubtedly ‘Yes.’

This arose due to Oh Jaha’s innate personality.

‘What if Kang Jaehyuk had grasped Oh Jaha’s personality?’

Wouldn’t it have been possible for him to induce Oh Jaha’s reactions one by one, dragging things out until a teacher arrived?

“…….”

Silla Kyung turned his gaze back outside the window.

The extended view of the Lion’s Castle was rich and beautiful.

The land guarded by Yaksha.

‘And Yaksha’s son.’

The beautiful silver-haired boy’s expression grew subtly complex.

***

Evening.

After finishing his daily routine, Jaehyuk prepared to move to the coast.

“Jaehyuk!”

While checking his route to avoid running into the military force, Chae Dahui appeared, waving her hand.

Her small, delicate body was covered entirely with sweat and dust.

She seemed to have been engaged in personal training even after the formal session ended.

Jaehyuk, amused, smiled at her and asked a new question.

“Why don’t you address me informally, even when others do?”

There were few people Dahui attached the honorific ‘ssi’ to.

She generally spoke informally with other first-year students.

The slight sense of distance made Jaehyuk belittle it a bit.

“Because you are the son of His Excellency Yaksha!”

Dahui wasn’t maintaining distance with Jaehyuk.

Her respect for Yaksha made her address him differently.

“I’m relieved then. I was almost disappointed.”

“By the way, I heard about the rumor. You almost got into big trouble this morning, didn’t you?”

“What big trouble. It was an internal matter of Class A, and I was only slightly involved.”

“From what I heard, Oh Jaha was at fault! They said he got worked up and picked a fight with the Kang family? You held back well.”

When Dahui first saw Jaehyuk.

She thought he was a troublemaker.

Throwing a tray in the middle of the cafeteria and brawling, planning to “assassinate” a teacher, and the like.

She thought he was completely unhinged.

But she was mistaken.

Contrary to what she thought, Jaehyuk didn’t freely wield violence.

Even when he was being snubbed mercilessly before his reevaluation, when provoked by the great presence of Silla Kyung, during his intrusion into the shooting club, and even this morning.

Despite what the rumors indicated, he never flaunted his extraordinary skills.

“Jaehyuk seems to be surprisingly kind.”

Surprisingly?

Jaehyuk shrugged, not sure whether it was a compliment or an insult.

“I’m not kind. Avoid forming prejudices. If you misunderstand and have expectations you shouldn’t, and when the disappointing day comes, it’ll be sad for both you and me.”

Jaehyuk was far from being naive.

He only refrained from using force lightly when necessary.

“I didn’t lose faith when everyone in the world criticized His Excellency Yaksha, either.”

So did Dahui, who peeked at the fleeting darkness that crossed Jaehyuk’s face.

“The duty of accepting who you are is mine.”

Her violet eyes remained as steady as ever.

“… Is that so.”

To create a person like you would be my duty.

Recalling the ever-changing Jinsung, dubaesoo, and Cheonhyeji’s faces, Jaehyuk waved his hand.

“Go clean up. Your sweat reeks.”

“P-Players sweating is perfectly normal! And they say my sweat smells like an industry reward!”

“… Be discerning when listening to Yujin.”

The rather fine atmosphere shattered completely.

Jaehyuk, with a mischievous smirk, bid farewell to Dahui, who ran off blushing, and started warming up.

It was time to move.

***

Name: Kang Jaehyuk

Level: 29

Mana: 1,270/1,270

Strength: 127 Stamina: 127 Agility: 99 Mana: 127 Insight: 99

Skills: 『Noble Chivalry』, 『King’s Roar』, 『Empty』

Jaehyuk’s status window had transcended significant expectations.

To surpass a B-rank player’s average at only level 29 was indeed grand or bizarre.

This, even when considering just the ‘stats’.

If one factored in his personal martial prowess and skills, the majority of B-rank players would now find it difficult to contend with Jaehyuk.

‘They should have given their all from the start.’

Jaehyuk, remembering the assassins who had targeted him, sneered.

Their current capabilities couldn’t do anything to him from now on, no matter how hard they tried.

Opportunities only reach those who truly yearn for them.

They weren’t desperate enough.

“Whew. Let’s not get too excited.”

Jaehyuk’s reason for possessing superior stats was clear.

Before awakening, he had honed his body and mind to the very limit and had achieved nearly 20 feats.

Were there not others like him?

Seeing Oh Jaha wield formidable swordsmanship reminded him of this.

‘I must always be mindful that there are always people stronger than me.’

Clang!

As Jaehyuk practiced his swordsmanship in the style of Iyarucgt, painting the night dark red, he sheathed his sword.

Splash!

He dove into the pitch-black sea.

Hunting aquatic monsters.

Jang Yeonju worried it might take him the entire weekend, but Jaehyuk had a completely different perspective.

〈King’s Roar〉

Boom!!

A roar submerged beneath the water’s surface caused a tsunami.

Startled aquatic monsters leaped out of the water in the frenzy.