CHAPTER 104

“...Greeting the great Kang family?”

The Noble members were briefly stunned by Jae-Hyeok’s words before they burst out laughing.

“Isn’t it beyond shameless to put the word ‘great’ before ‘Kang family’? In addition, a greeting? You are but a stray dog that snuck into our home.”

“Listening to someone from a traitorous family talk about greatness is hilarious, although I am concerned about your mental health.”

The Kang family was one of only three ducal families in South Korea, and they had ruled the aristocracy up until eight years ago. Now, however, all their teeth and claws had been pulled out, and they were subjected to all types of stigma.

Not to mention, most of the members of Noble were teenagers, having never experienced the Kang family in its prime. They only knew to hate Jae-Hyeok and didn’t have an inkling of why they should respect him instead.

“Quit messing around and get lost.” A blond-haired boy, the same boy who had gagged Roh Jun-Yeop earlier, strode up to Jae-Hyeok, and as if uncomfortable with touching something dirty, he grabbed Jae-Hyeok by the collar using only his thumb and index finger.

His strength was enormous.

The protective magic built into Jae-Hyeok’s uniform cried out as if it would shatter at any moment.

As both an aristocrat and a second-year student, the blond-haired boy’s level was high, high enough to crush diamonds in his grip.

“I told you to get out of here. Your dirty blood is polluting our Noble’s air,” the boy said with a growing smile. Having shown his great strength, he expected Jae-Hyeok to react with fear.

But surprisingly...

“Since when did you guys start to value your reputation?” Jae-Hyeok was calm without changing his expression. “In the beginning, most noble titles—except for duke—were only conferred by the government to appease and control the thugs rampaging around the country without restraint. Understand that this is your foundation.”

“T-thug? You! Sooner or later, you won’t even be an aristocrat! Yet you dare to make fun of the aristocracy?”

Jae-Hyeok continued, “Truth is truth. But what about today? How many of your ancestors devoted themselves to this nation and its people for the aristocracy to be treated so honorably today?”

Jae-Hyeok spread his arms. The agitated blond-haired boy gripped his shoulder, clearly threatening to break it, but Jae-Hyeok was unfazed. “And... to what extent have idiots like you destroyed the honor they have worked so hard to build?”

A dark object smashed into the blond-haired boy’s head.

It was an inkstone from Cha Jo-Ah’s desk.

“Kuaack! B-blood?”

The blond boy’s eyes were covered by ink and he couldn’t see. He mistook the ink for blood dripping from his head and screamed—the pain in his head was splitting, so it was natural that he suspected a massive amount of bleeding.

Jae-Hyeok wondered, “You’re really whining over just this?”

Baaaang!

The blond-haired boy’s body flew up in a straight line and hit the ceiling. He didn’t come back down. His head was buried in the ceiling while the rest of him dangled beside the chandelier.

“I haven’t even started yet.” The corners of Jae-Hyeok’s mouth twitched as he swung his elbow and hit another boy on the chin.

He was excited.

Why had he struggled to be strong over the past eight years? The answer was clear.

“Pay the price for insulting my Kang family.”

It was for moments like these.

He dreamed of the moment he would sweep away the enemies who contributed to the Kang family’s downfall and punish the scum who dared to insult his family. That desire had driven him to endure eight hellish years of hardship.

Gulp!

The Noble members gulped nervously.

Did he grow up drinking elixirs instead of water?

He’s from a ducal family, after all... It must’ve had great power in the past.

Seeing Jae-Hyeok’s display of strength, the Nobles were worried.

Even if it were a dirty surprise attack, he’d still demonstrated enough strength to blow away their colleague with one blow. It meant his Strength was at least level 60, unless he’d awakened a rare passive Skill.

Just in time, the blond-haired boy fell from the ceiling. He brushed the dirt off his head and gritted his teeth.

“Launching a sneak attack the moment I let down my guard? You talked about thugs, but you’re the real thug here. The saying that it takes one to know one is just right!”

He took out the folded rod secured to his belt and swung while operating a button. Its segments unfolded and snapped together, becoming two meters long.

“Die!”

The end of his long rod reached Jae-Hyeok’s chest in an instant. The boy’s surprise attack maximized the advantages of his weapon’s rapid change in reach. It would be difficult for anyone who experienced it for the first time to deal with.

Not only the Noble members, but even Roh Jun-Yeop imagined Jae-Hyeok coughing up blood and flying away.

Slash!

But just as they imagined it, the blond-haired boy’s rod was cut short.

Jae-Hyeok had drawn his hwando with a speed that completely overwhelmed the speed of the boy’s own rod, cutting the rod into several pieces.

“Uh?”

The boy’s eyes were stunned as he looked between Jae-Hyeok and the rod in his hand, which had been trimmed down to the handle.

“Why are you using such a weapon?” Jae-Hyeok tilted his head as he strode up to the boy and cut away the rest of the rod like some sort of cucumber.

Folding weapons inevitably traded structural integrity for intricacy, causing their durability to be significantly weaker compared to normal weapons.

Of course, this was only the case when the folded part was targeted, and there were only a few people who believed that such a thing was possible, but Jae-Hyeok was one of them.

Bam!

Jae-Hyeok slammed the hilt of his sword into the boy’s side, rattling the boy’s liver and turning his legs to jelly.

This is your punishment for insulting my family.

The boy's legs buckled, causing him to drop to his knees at JaeHyeok's feet as if he were a vassal paying respect to his lord.

Everyone was silent.

Whether it be gate experience, elixirs, items, or Skill books—aristocratic families supported their children both materially and mentally. Unsurprisingly, the growth rate of noble children exceeded the common sense of ordinary people.

Naturally, the Noble members’ grades were all among the top at Lion’s Castle, and one thing was for certain: before today, none of them had ever witnessed a first-year student make a member of Noble kneel.

Cha Jo-Ah silently watched the situation while everyone in the hall was stunned. She finally put down her brush.

She sat back in a large chair and made eye contact with Jae-Hyeok.

“Are you crazy? Jae-Hyeok, how should I deal with you for assaulting a Noble member and ruining my favorite inkstone? The student you assaulted is the eldest son of a baron, and that inkstone was the work of a master craftsman worth one billion won. Can you even handle it at your level?”

Her eyes were dyed gold.

It was the Bloodline Skill of a count, and the terrifying pressure it caused sent chills down Roh Jun-Yeop’s spine despite the distance. However, Jae-Hyeok only said, “You have yet to address me properly. Seeing as you still haven’t grasped your situation, are you actually as dumb as you look?”

“......!”

“I’m not the one you have to deal with.”

Boom! Boom!

Just then, explosions rang out in all directions as the windows on the second floor of the Noble Hall shattered in unison. Noble’s ambush teams, which had been quietly positioned on the second floor, came tumbling down in a rain of glass.

Cha Jo-Ah, top student of the Tactical Studies Department, had her strategic troops seamlessly neutralized. Her tactics, useless.

“I, Kang Jae-Hyeok, seventh generation descendant of Peak Sword Kang Dae-Han and only heir to the great Kang family, hereby command—”

The sound of footsteps increased, and a line of Shooting Club members took positions along the second floor’s railings. Meanwhile, Jang Yeon-Ju, Baek Do-Jin, Chae Da-Hee, and Park Hae-Rin stepped through the front door. Jang Yeon-Ju’s eyes were fierce at the front of the group. Between her lips, the stem of her lollipop looked like a cigarette.

Jae-Hyeok declared, “—You aristocrats, who have ruined the image of the aristocracy for too long, are to disband.”

One of the Noble members was too shocked by Jae-Hyeok’s words and lost his composure.

“You crazy bastard... Ack!”

Before he could finish, the Shooting Club members on the second floor fired, and the Noble member collapsed like a stringless puppet with his eyes rolled back. Had the Shooting Club members shot real bullets instead of arcane bullets, that student would’ve been dead, turned to swish cheese.

The Noble members stiffened.

They realized then what it meant to be in the Shooting Club’s sights when they held the high ground.

Jae-Hyeok sat on the desk and urged Cha Jo-Ah. “Stop overthinking and make your decision. Disband now, or be reformed under me.”

Cha Jo-Ah’s calm expression distorted for the first time as she asked, “You are speaking as if you are an emperor?”

“Isn’t that the case? In a place like this, where the daughter of a count reigns like a queen, it seems only natural for me to be the emperor.”

“You are insane!”

Cha Jo-Ah couldn’t stand it any longer. Dark ink poured from her brush. Imbued with mana, it tore through space toward him.

Jae-Hyeok drew his sword despite his unstable position on the desk.

The Kang family’s sword drawing technique, which the younger generation only heard about these days, scattered the mana-imbued ink and struck Cha Jo-Ah in the shoulder.

Thump!

Unable to withstand the blade’s impact, Cha Jo-Ah flew back and crashed into a pillar. When she stood up, her hair was disheveled and black ink smeared her shoulder. She was astonished. Is this really a first-year student?

Meanwhile, Jae-Hyeok rose from the desk.

She has good eyes.

She’d reacted as soon as he had struck her, wrapping a protective layer of mana around herself before she’d crashed into the pillar.

Jae-Hyeok spread his legs and leaned his upper body forward in a proper stance.

Cha Jo-Ah sneered at his serious appearance.

“You think to take on the Cha family’s self-defense, which can even block artillery shells, with just swordsmanship? How ignorant. You grew up confined to your home and know nothing about the world.”

“You don’t know history.”

Jae-Hyeok refused to talk further. He’d warned her enough.

“Uh?”

Before Cha Jo-Ah could register the sword flying toward her like a beam of light, it crashed into her abdomen and she collapsed, writhing in pain.

“Why does everyone here need to be hit before I can start a proper conversation? Why are you guys like this? Is getting hit your hobby? Is this what you enjoy?”

Jae-Hyeok’s grumbling made Baek Do-Jin and Roh Jun-Yeop flinch.