The Duke's Son :Re
Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Jae-Hyeok was someone who suffered from attempted kidnappings even inside Lion’s Castle. Normally, he had no intention of leaving Lion’s Castle and taking even greater risks.

Of course, that’s when I’m on my own. This situation is different.

The Gugang Group had offered an astronomical sum of money, so it was understandable for many Shooting Club members to mobilize—and since most people didn’t know about Jae-Hyeok’s connection with the Shooting Club, his leaving disguised as an ordinary club member should go undetected.

It’s unlikely that information about my outing will leak.

This was an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. The commission fee was a windfall, but that was only a secondary benefit. Jae-Hyeok predicted that the impact of this commission would be huge.

If the Association-hating Gugang Group stopped the gate outbreak without help from the Association, it would signal the complete severance between the two organizations, publicly damaging the Association’s reputation and perhaps emboldening other forces to resist.

In addition, the Gugang Group will want to establish a relationship with the Shooting Club after it has proven its skills.

Overall, this was an opportunity to both weaken the Association and increase his own influence.

Jae-Hyeok also double-checked the information of the Gugang International Group. As a five-star hotel, it had many famous restaurants, and among them included a fine-dining restaurant called Hirai.

Ocean. The skyrocketing commission fee was most likely their doing. A slight smile spread across Jae-Hyeok’s face as he got ready.

***

“Why aren’t you taking us?”

“Our team should work together!”

When the school day was over, Jae-Hyeok prepared to leave with the Shooting Club team, but Da-Hee and Do-Jin stood in the way.

Bewildered, Jae-Hyeok replied, “But it wouldn’t help if I took you with me?”

The content of this mission was sniping, a purely ranged task. And it had already been decided that Jae-Hyeok and Roh Jun-Yeop would be in charge of shooting.

“By that logic, the other club members are also useless and only you and Roh Jun-Yeop should be going!”

The Shooting Club members snorted at Do-Jin’s rebuttal.

“We are the support. Gunners can read the wind and notice various things, so we can help based on our knowledge and skills. Baek Do-Jin, you don’t even know what the things we’ve just mentioned are.”

“......”

Baek Do-Jin’s shoulders slumped.

Knowing the perfect draw length for consistent aim; deciding whether the drawing hand should stop at the chin or the cheek; grasping the arrow's trajectory through the tension in the bow; and so forth—Do Jin had a vague idea of what the Shooting Club members meant. Many variables had to be accounted for in long-range shooting. He couldn’t refute that.

A few club members comforted him.

“You seem to understand some of what we’re talking about? Baek Do-Jin, you’ve been studying hard.”

“I’ve been watching you, man. Stay strong. If you keep that enthusiasm going, you’ll definitely receive a mission soon.”

A smile grew on Do-Jin’s face. “Y-you think? Hehe.”

“Do-Jin is too simple.” Da-Hee shot a pitying look at Do-Jin, who was now in a good mood. She was still grumbling with puffed cheeks when Jang Yeon-Ju handed her a piece of candy.

“I’m well aware that in unexpected situations, few people are as capable as you when it comes to protecting Jae-Hyeok. However, this is a mission for the Shooting Club. Removing a member in favor of an outsider could lead to internal discord and the breakdown of our teamwork. Da-Hee, you should understand.”

Ever since the Shooting Club fell into Jae-Hyeok’s hands, the members stopped being split into the Jang Yeon-Ju and Roh Jun-Yeop factions, instead blending into a unified group. Even so, this was a critical mission. Jang Yeon-Ju didn’t want to test the group's unity during this period.

“O-of course, I understand!” D-Hee blushed and nodded. No wonder Jae-Hyeok treated Jang Yeon-Ju respectfully as a senior. She wasn’t arrogant, even though she was the granddaughter of the Bow Saint and one of the strongest among the second-year students.

Da-Hee was happy that such a great person acknowledged her skills and couldn’t help asking, “Should I join the Shooting Club?”

“...Uh? That’s up to you. Think about it carefully.” She had no shooting skills, right? Jang Yeon-Ju really didn’t want a second Do-Jin. Still smiling warmly, she stepped away from Da-Hee.

In any case, the atmosphere had cleared.

They registered the Shooting Club for a business trip with the administration and the Student Council before taking their thirty-member group and heading out.

***

“The Shooting Club... Hmm, that’s fine. You can pass.”

As Jae-Hyeok had expected, the guards at the entrance to the gate weren’t meticulous. They took a cursory look at the ID card that Roh Jun-Yeop had presented and then glanced at the faces of the students in the lead before allowing the entire group to pass.

They weren’t enthusiastic enough to compare the identities and faces of each of the thirty students. In first place, the Shooting Club boasted the second-largest club size after the major clubs. They often left school to carry out duties, so they didn’t arouse the guards' suspicion.

“Oh, Roh Jun-Yeop?”

The Shooting Club members flinched as they came out of the gate. As it happened, they’d encountered the returning Swordsmanship Club, who had just finished undergoing a check with the guards.

The Swordsmanship Club...

It was one of the top organizations among the major clubs. In particular, the manager of the Swordsmanship Club, Yun Byeol, was acknowledged by all the students as the strongest in the second year.

“Thirty or so members? Isn’t it unusual for the Shooting Club to go on a business trip of this magnitude?”

“Don’t pretend to be friendly.” Roh Jun-Yeop glared as he got on his arcane bike. His eyes seemed as if they were about to shoot lasers.

However, the one who’d been speaking, the deputy manager of the Swordsmanship Club, Kwon Se-In, didn’t even blink an eye. “We aren’t trying to pretend to be friendly. It’s just curious that someone paid such a large commission fee to mobilize thirty members of your cheap and small Shooting Club. What type of idiot would spend that much money on the Shooting Club?”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Shooting Club members, are you okay? Didn’t your manager tell you that the more idiotic the client, the more likely it is that the mission will be dangerous? Ah, so I guess Roh Jun-Yeop is still the club manager? It’s a shame that you bastards got screwed over. With him leading the charge, you’ll all probably end up dead soon. Kikik.”

Every time Kwon Se-In spoke, the members of the Swordsmanship Club laughed. They showed outright mockery and contempt.

The members of the Shooting Club didn’t respond and looked away. They understood that the Swordsmanship Club was overwhelmingly powerful and getting involved with them would bring nothing but trouble.

Only Roh Jun-Yeop thought differently. He believed he was the best and wasn’t afraid of anyone.

“Kwon Se-In, you son of a bitch. Maybe if I shoot you in the XXX, you’ll realize your mistake.”

Clink!

Roh Jun-Yeop loaded his bullets.

“Haha! The manager of a club is acting like this? Don’t you realize you have a lot to lose?” Kwon Se-In excitedly gripped the hilt of his sword.

Suddenly, a Shooting Club member standing in the back spoke bluntly.

“When are we going to leave?”

He wore a heavily tinted helmet, making it hard to tell who he was. However, it was clear he was male. He wasn’t Jang Yeon-Ju, yet he was talking to Roh Jun-Yeop like this? Did he have ten lives?

Kwon Se-In and the other members of the Swordsmanship Club were dumbfounded. Even more shocking, Roh Jun-Yeop put down his gun and turned on his bike's engine.

“...Right now.”

Including Roh Jun-Yeop, thirty black bikes departed in formation; the sight, spectacular.

The Swordsmanship Club members were left filled with confusion.

“What? Why does Roh Jun-Yeop listen to this person?”

“W-who knows?”

***

Gugang International Hotel.

The tall building in the middle of Songpa-gu was particularly gorgeous today, as hundreds of lights installed on the building’s exterior illuminated it.

However, the surroundings were deathly quiet. Barriers and signs warning of the imminent gate appearance had cleared the area of civilians.

“Oh, as expected! You also received this commission!”

One by one, people gathered in a tent set up as a makeshift headquarters.

They were players employed by the Gugang Group, all well-known celebrities. Three were players who had reached the peak of B-class, and the last was an A-class player.

“Ugh, it’s you guys again? I’m already sick and tired of this.” The A-class player examined the faces of his colleagues and clicked his tongue. Unlike his words, his expression wasn’t bad. He acknowledged their skills.

The trio of B-class players were all level 78 or higher. They were certain to break through the A-class barrier within a year.

“What about the other one?” The A-class player, Byeon Seok-Gu, tilted his head. Less than two minutes were left before the appointment time.

Judging by how little time they left for themselves, the last person was likely to be another A-class player, but no one came to mind.

All of the most skilled shooters in South Korea would have rejected this commission, wary of offending the Association.

“I’m not sure. But seeing how late they are, is it the Bow Saint?”

“Who else would accept this commission other than the Bow Saint? Haha.”

Could it really be the Bow Saint?

The players were half-joking, but they sent looks of expectation toward the people from the Gugang Group. However, the reactions of the executives from the Gugang Group were strange. They refused to make eye contact and averted their gazes.

What’s with these guys? Did they fail to find a final person for the mission?In that case, I might as well take on two targets and raise my price. Byeon Seok-Gu was an experienced A-class player and quickly caught on.

Suddenly, the sound of rumbling engines approached the tent, made especially loud since the surroundings were so quiet.

“It isn’t just one or two?”

The players noticed that dozens of vehicles had arrived. They stepped out of the tent, and their expressions distorted in unison.

“Kids?”

“Did they come on a group tour?”

The boys and girls who got off their bikes were all dressed in black uniforms adorned with an epaulette[1] and a badge, both embossed with the head of a golden lion. It was the symbol of Lion’s Castle, a status worthy of respect in the private sector.

However, in the eyes of active players, they were still just children.

Especially in the eyes of the players gathered here, who were A-class or would soon become A-class. They had never imagined they would be working with students from Lion’s Castle.

“I wouldn’t mind if they were third-year students... ”

After checking the color of the students’ ties, Byeon Seok-Gu glared at the people from Gugang Group. “Are you really asking us to work with them? Even if you ignore us, there’s a limit to what we’ll accept.”

“That’s right. This is too much. In the first place, what can they do? Did you seriously recruit kids to assist us?”

“Hmph, they won’t be of help, so we don’t need them. The four of us can do the work of five people. Let’s just draw up a new contract.”

The players didn’t even give the Gugang Group executives a chance to explain. They pressed without stopping, already shoving a contract in the executives’ faces.

The members of the Shooting Club were treated as if they didn’t exist, making them blush in embarrassment.

The impatient Roh Jun-Yeop was about to say something when he stopped.

Jae-Hyeok stepped into the tent and pointed to one side of the hotel blueprint spread on the table. “We’ll take care of this place.”

“Uh?”

The shocked Roh Jun-Yeop and the other Shooting Club members fell into a daze.

1. An epaulette is an ornamental shoulder piece on an item of clothing, especially on the coat of a military uniform. ☜