The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 276

The Blue House handled the work quickly. In no time, the president was standing behind a podium draped in the Korean flag, his face projected on television screens nationwide.

“I’m pleased to announce Young Master Kang as Korea’s newest—and youngest—National Treasure.”

"Waaahhhhhhhh!"

“Kang Jae-Hyeok! Kang Jae-Hyeok! Kang Jae-Hyeok!”

As the government and public sentiment were unified on this matter, there were no protests.

“Groan.”

Of course, some people—those who’d capitalized on the Kang family’s fall eight years ago—cursed the Kang family under their breath. But they dared not raise their voices.

For all their greed, even they knew what futility looked like; Kang Jae-Hyeok had only just entered the realm of transcendence, yet already he stood above famous seniors like Qilin, who’d undergone several tribulations. At this point, their best and only hope was to fade away unnoticed like a fart in the wind...

“He is the Republic of Korea’s fourth active National Treasure and the 51st National Treasure in our history, Thunder God Kang Jae-Hyeok.”

Jae-Hyeok climbed the stage, and the president pinned a gleaming gilded insignia to his collar. Its shape was that of a three-legged golden crow, the universal emblem of a Korean National Treasure. In the past, his father had flaunted his own insignia to his sons with great pride.

In fact, Jae-Hyeok had secretly resented it at times. Whenever he saw his father’s insignia, he couldn’t help but recall the lines across his father's forehead and the crows-feet etching the corners of his eyes. Of course, one particular scene also jumped to the fore of his mind.

“I’m going. Son, it might be a long journey. But I trust you’ll handle it. No son of mine is weak... And if you ever find yourself alone and full of doubt... remember to stand on your own two feet and do as you’ve done. As a Kang, we can die, but never our will.” Those were his father’s final words before he departed for the gate meeting.

At that time, the look in his eyes... the way he’d touched his insignia as steadying his resolve... His father had known full well that he was heading into a death trap. Did he want to run? Maybe he would have if not for the insignia pinned to his collar, that ever-present reminder of his loyalty to the nation.

“Can you swear in front of the people that you will protect the safety and glory of your country?”

The president’s voice interrupted Jae-Hyeok’s thoughts.

Admiration, expectation, trust...

The emotion in the president’s eyes reflected the feeling of his nation, or tens of millions of people. In that moment, the president didn’t seem like one person, but many.

“......”

Jae-Hyeok didn’t answer hastily.

The citizens watching the scene on-site or through the live broadcast grew agitated. The president also broke out in a sweat.

Young Master Kang?

This was one of the largest national events. Let alone across Korea, the whole world was probably watching. When it came to accepting a national oath, there was only one right answer. If Jae-Hyeok refused... the damage to Korea’s reputation would be irreparable.

Everyone gulped nervously.

“You all must make an oath first.”

At Jae-Hyeok’s words, the tension in the room redoubled.

“All of you, swear to me. Swear that Korea will never again betray the Kang family.”

The room froze.

The elevation of a new National Treasure was a solemn ritual steeped in tradition and ceremony. Not only was Jae-Hyeok breaking this protocol, but he was even doing so to make demands of his own. By all rights, the citizens should be insulted. And the president and the government officials could even step forward to criticize Jae-Hyeok.

Instead, all was silent.

At home and in bars, Koreans across the country lowered their heads.

On the stage, the president’s initial shock gave way to tight brows. He closed his eyes in thought.

“Jae-Hyeok...”

Among the first-row VIP seats, Kang Hyeon-Ah’s eyes were glistening as she smiled, her fists clenched in her lap.

As one herself, she knew what it meant to live as an aristocrat. It meant unconditional sacrifice. It meant putting the country and its people first in all things without regard for oneself and without seeking rewards.

Nevertheless, were she and her brother not humans, too? Jae-Hyeok sought not rewards but only a promise to do no harm.

Strictly speaking, this straddled the rules of their Kang family’s moral precepts. However, Kang Hyeon-Ah wasn’t opposed—after all, it wasn’t just her brother who’d endured hell these last eight years.

The president opened his eyes then. Then he placed a hand on his chest.

“Thunder God Kang Jae-Hyeok, I hereby swear to stand by the Kang family and to collaborate honestly in all matters. This is true by my oath, and by law.”

Kang, Shinra, and Jin...

Following the Great Upheaval, at the dawn of a new era, Korea had sworn an oath and had it writ by law: “Korea will protect the Great Three as they have Korea.”

It seemed he hadn’t forgotten this ancient clause. And by his words, the people were again reminded of the magnitude of their sins.

Men and women rose from their seats with fiery eyes. The hundreds of thousands of people gathered on-site shouted as if they were one: “We swear! We swear! We swear!”

Jae-Hyeok smiled and placed a hand on his chest. “Then I swear, too.”

A breeze swept by, and the Korean flags hoisted at the four corners of the stage fluttered in the wind.

“I am your unbreakable sword. I am your compassionate guardian. And I am your loyal demon. For those who tarnish your honor, I swear by the sword at my waist that they will know fear, and they will have death!”

The crowd erupted... no, all of Korea erupted.

Originally, an oath-acceptance speech followed general patterns. For one, the speeches were always tame; the last thing a newly elevated National Treasure wanted was to upset his or her seniors from other countries. And for two, the speeches were always simple and brief, which made sense: National Treasures knew their worth. So long as they made some vague statements about protecting the greater good, their lofty status was secured. Getting specific, on the other hand, would only tie them down further, restricting their freedoms and adding to their burdens needlessly.

Jae-Hyeok’s oath-acceptance speech shattered the status quo.

Not only had Jae-Hyeok sworn directly to the people of Korea, but he’d also promised bloody vengeance on anyone who challenged their honor. That was all but a direct declaration of war on hostile nations like China.

However, no one was fearful.

Hadn’t Jae-Hyeok said it yesterday when trampling Qilin’s severed head? “In the future, other countries, including China, shouldn’t interfere with the diplomacy and politics of Korea.” The people of Korea had expected this from Jae-Hyeok.

No, more than that, they’d been oppressed for long enough and wanted a strong leader like Jae-Hyeok.

Moreover...

“I am your loyal demon. For those who tarnish your honor, I swear by the sword at my waist that they will know fear, and they will have death!”

Pride lit in the eyes of the citizens. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Why should they be the ones constantly under threat, subject to the whims and wants of other countries? Now, the shoe was on the other foot: offending Korea meant becoming sworn enemies with a sixteen-year-old transcendent.

Who would dare?

So long as Jae-Hyeok lived, Korea’s enemies could only toss and turn in the night. After all, who knew what level Jae-Hyeok might reach by the time he was twenty, or twenty-five? Foreign countries would have to think very carefully about the kind of relationship they wanted to have with Korea.

“Kang Jae-Hyeok! Kang Jae-Hyeok! Kang Jae-Hyeok!”

At the venue, down the streets, and in people’s homes—Korean’s everywhere chanted Jae-Hyeok’s name.

The raucous they caused was even greater than when Jae-Hyeok had passed his candidate exam or when he’d defeated Qilin.

Jae-Hyeok’s glory was now truly their own.

If in the past they’d feared Jae-Hyeok’s ruthless side, now, it thrilled them. Demon or not, Jae-Hyeok had forgiven them; he loved them, and he would protect them because they were brothers and sisters of the same motherland.

“...I can’t go against him anymore.”

An elderly man dressed in triple-layered mourning clothes sighed. He was none other than Geum Tae-Byeok, the head of the Geum family.

After leaving to assassinate Kang Jae-Hyeok, his son had never returned. At first, he hadn’t panicked. But after several days of hearing nothing back and watching Jae-Hyeok undergo his candidate exam, a kernel of doubt had taken root in Geum Tae-Byeok’s heart.

His son, Geum Tae-Shin, was the acting guildmaster of the Sun Guild, one of the top five Korean guilds. Geum Tae-Shin was not someone who could be erased without a trace—certainly not by a sixteen-year-old child.

That was what Geum Tae-Byeok had thought.

But as the days passed without word from his son, his certainty cracked. And when news broke of Jae-Hyeok’s attacking a military prison and killing General Cha, Geum Tae-Byeok was forced to confront the truth: his cherished son was almost certainly dead, and Jae-Hyeok had done it.

Geum Tae-Byeok had yearned for Jae-Hyeok’s death ever since. And when Zhang Soso announced she would publicly execute Kang Jae-Hyeok, he’d taken it as a sign of heaven’s blessing.

But in the end, it was all hopeless.

The scenes of Jae-Hyeok absorbing tribulation lightning through his palms and beheading Qilin were seared in Geum Tae-Byeok’s mind, so much so that whenever he closed his eyes, he felt his will dim and his spirit crumble that much more.

“He is a being backed by the heavens.”

Geum Tae-Byeok sighed and turned away from the stage.

“The bloodline high families are inherently selfish. They’re born blessed with talent, while people like me have to claw our way to the top step by step. It’s just unfair. But it seems that’s my lot.”

No matter how much he struggled and fought, in the end, fate had never once favored him.

Bloody tears flowed from Geum Tae-Byeok’s eyes, veins burst and drops of blood fell from his tightly clenched fists.

For a brief moment, his aura escaped him and he leaked killing intent.

Geum Tae-Byeok realized his mistake too late and gasped. His eyes snapped back to the stage where Jae-Hyeok was standing. Only then did he sigh in relief.

Jae-Hyeok was still smiling, shaking the president’s hand and waving to the crowd.

“Thankfully, he didn’t notice...”

Geum Tae-Byeok sighed again, and his shoulders relaxed.

I’m being too paranoid. In a crowd of a hundred thousand people, even those freakish contenders for the title of world’s strongest wouldn’t sense my wisp of killing intent.

“Things will be much easier with your cooperation,” a voice suddenly said.

Snapped from his thoughts, Geum Tae-Byeok whirled on the voice.

“Who—”

Geum Tae-Byeok was wrong about one thing. The skills of those contending for the title of world’s strongest were beyond his wildest imagination.

“I-it’s you?”

Geum Tae-Byeok gulped nervously as he recognized the identity of the man standing behind him.

It was none other than the strongest player in Japan, a contender for the title of world’s strongest and the rival of the current holder of the Sword Saint title.

“Chivalrous Yamamoto!”

Geum Tae-Byeok shivered as he announced the identity of the man who wore a straw hat low over his face and who had three swords strapped to his waist.

“Could it be... You are targeting Kang Jae-Hyeok?”

Yamamoto drew his swords and manifested a sword curtain around himself. The bystanders were none the wiser.

Yamamoto replied, “Don’t condemn me for pointing my sword at a junior. I must also preserve my life. Your position is no different.”

“!”

Geum Tae-Byeok followed Yamamoto’s gaze to the stage, only to feel a chill run down his spine.

Jae-Hyeok was looking his way.